بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم

IN THE NAME OF GOD, the MOST GRACIOUS, the MOST MERCIFUL

POLICY OF THOUGHTS CLOSED IN CAVES

By: Wahba Mahmoud Diyab

THE FORCIBLE DERELICTION OF EDUCATION IS THE BEST PATH FOR THE STULTIFICATION AND THE ABSENCE OF KNOWLEDGE.

It is a well-known factor that ‘mankinds have the nature of goodness created within him.

This goodness needs more knowledge for human being to have Faith which leads to humility, avoidance of vanity in word and deed, charity, continence, faithful observance of trusts and covenants, and devout approach to God is the surest steps to bliss.

And for him to obtain cognizance so as to reach knowledge via learning, God the Creator has sent down to us in revelation the Qur’an which He the first Surat Igraa/Read/Proclaim 96, verses 1-5:

Read (Proclaim)! In the Name of your Lord and Cherisher who Created (all that existing).  (1)	اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ (1)
Has created man from a clot (congealed blood). (2)	(خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ (2
Read, Proclaim and your Lord is most Generous/Bountiful. (3)	اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ (3)
He Who Taught (the writing) by Pen. (4)	(الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ (4
He Taught man what he didn’t know. (5)	(عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ (5

Verses 1-5 were the first direct Revelation to the Holy Prophet. Glory to God Most High, full of Grace and Mercy; He created All including Man. To man He gave a special place in His Creation.  He honored man and endured him to be His Agent, and to that end endued him with understanding, purified his affections, and gave him spiritual insight; so that man should understand nature, understand himself and know God through His wondrous signs, and glorify Him in Truth, Reverence and Unity.  For the fulfillment of this great trust man was further given a Will, so that his acts should reflect God’s universal Will and Law, and his mind, freely choosing, and should experience the sublime joy of being in harmony with the infinite, and with the great drama of the world around him and with his own spiritual growth.

Not until forty years of earthly life had passed before the veil was lifted from the Preserved Tablet and its contents began to be transferred to the tablet of the mind of the holy Prophet, and to be proclaimed to the world, read and studied for all time, a fountain of mercy and wisdom; a warning to the heedless, a guide to the erring, an assurance to those in doubt, a solace to the suffering, a hope to those in despair, to complete of Revelation through the mouth of divinely inspired Apostle. The “Chosen One” was in the cave of Hiraa. For two years and more he had prayed there and adored his Creator and wondered at the mystery of man with the corruptible flesh –just growing of a clot- and the soul in him reaching out to knowledge sublime, new and ever new, taught by the bounty of God; leading to that man himself didn’t come to know yet. But now behold; a dazzling Vision of beauty and light overpowered his senses, and he heard the word “IGRAA”!? .

“Igraa” which its interpretation many mean (Read) or (Proclaim) or (Recite). The unlettered/illiterate Apostle was puzzled; he couldn’t read. The angel seemed to press him to his breast in a close embrace and the cry rang clear “Igraa”! And so it happened three times; until the first overpowering sensation yielded to a collected grasp of the words which made clear his mission; it’s Author. God the Creator, its subject; man –God’s wondrous handwork- capable by Grace for rising to the heights sublime, and the instrument of that mission, the sanctified Pen, and the sanctified Book – the Gift of God- which men might read, write, study or treasure in their souls.

The veil was lifted from the eyes of the “Chosen One” and his soul momentarily was filled with divine ecstasy. When this experience had subsided, and the holy Prophet has returned to the world of time and circumstantialities and this world of sense, he felt like one whose eyes had seen a light of dazzling beauty, and he felt dazed. On his return to common sights, the darkness now seemed tenfold dark; the solitude seemed tenfold empty. The mount of Hiraa henceforth became known as “the Mountain of Light”.  Was all that a dream? Terror seized his limbs and he straightaway sought her – the lady who shared his inmost life, and told her of his sense of exaltation, and the awful void when the curtain drabbed back. She understood, rejoiced and comforted him; gave strength to his shaken senses, wrapped up in warmth his shivering body. Inexperienced yet to bear the strain and stress of an experience rare to mortal me, she knew it was not a dream or delusion. She went and consulted her cousin (Waragata Ibn Nofl) a devout worshipper of God in the Faith of Christ, learned in spiritual lore. He listened to her; and with her the both rejoiced that Mohamed was God’s Chosen One to renew the Faith.     The word (Igraa) may mean “read”, “recite or rehearse” of “proclaim aloud”, the object understood being God’s Message. For an account of the circumstances in which this first revelation the divine commission to preach and proclaim God’s Message came to the holy Prophet in the cave of Hiraa (as explained above) .In worldly/earthly letters he was unversed, but with spiritual knowledge his mind and soul were filled, and now had come the time where he must stand forth to the world and declare his mission.

The declaration or proclamation was to be in the name of God the Creator. It was not for and personal benefit to the Prophet; to him there was to come bitter persecution, sorrow and suffering. It was the call of God for the benefit of the erring humanity. God is mentioned by his title of “thy Lord and Cherisher” to establish a direct nexus between the source of the Message and the one addressed to. The Message was not merely an abstract proposition of philosophy, but the direct concrete message from God to the creatures that He loves and cherishes. The Message addressed to the Prophet is appropriate in two ways: (1) he was in direct contact with the divine Messenger (Gabriel) and Him Who sent the Messenger: (2) he represented the whole of humanity, in a fuller sense than that of Christ Jesus; he is a “son of man”.

The lowly origin of the animal in man is contrasted with the high destiny offered to him in his intellectual, moral, and spiritual nature by his “most bountiful” Creator. No knowledge is withheld from man. On the contrary through the faculties freely given to him, he acquires it in such a measure as an outstripping his immediate understanding, and leads him ever to strive for newer and newer meanings.

The symbol of permanent revelation is the mystic Pen and the mystic record (S. Al-Galam 68).

The Arabic words for “teach” and “knowledge” are from the same root. It is impossible to produce in a translation the complete/comprehensive orchestral harmony of the words for “read” , “teach”, “pen” (which implies reading, writing, books, study, research) “knowledge” ( including science, self knowledge, spiritual understanding), and “proclaim” is an alternative meaning of the word for “to read”. This proclaiming or reading implies not only the duty of blazoning forth God’s message, as appropriate with the prophetic office, but also the duty of promulgation and wide dissemination of the Truth by all who read and understand it. The comprehensive meaning of garaa refers not only to a particular person and occasion but also gives a universal direction. This kind of comprehensive meaning –as we have seen- runs throughout the Qur’an for those who will understand.

God teaches us new knowledge at every given moment. Individuals learn more and more day by day; nations and humanity at large learn fresh knowledge at every stage. This is even more noticeable and important in the spiritual life.

All our knowledge and capacities comes as gifts from God. But man in his inordinate vanity and insolence mistakes God’s gifts to his own achievements. The gifts may be strength or beauty, wealth, position, power or the more subtle gifts of knowledge or talents in individuals “science or arts, or government authority or an organizational benefits for mankind in general”.

The second revelation was Surat Al-Qalam/the Pen 68 verses 1-4:

Nun! By the Pen and by the (Record) which (men) write, _ (1)	ن وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ (1)
You are not [O’ Muhammad –PPBUH], by the grace of God, mad or possessed. (2)	مَا أَنْتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ (2)
And verily, for you [O’ Muhammad-PPBUH] is an unfailing Reward. (3)	وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ (3)
And verily you [O’ Muhammad-PPBUH] (stands) on an exalted standard of character. (4)	وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ (4)
Soon! You will see, and they will see; – (5)	فَسَتُبْصِرُ وَيُبْصِرُونَ (5)
Which of you is afflicted with madness? (6)	بِأَيِّيكُمُ الْمَفْتُونُ (6)

A} The Pen is the symbol of the permanent Record, the written Decree, and the perfect Order in the government of the world. And by that token, the man of God comes with a Plan and Guidance that must win against all detraction. The mystic Pen and the mystic Record are the symbolical foundations of the Revelation to man. The adjuration by the Pen disposes of the flippant charges that God’s Messenger was mad or possessed. For the spoken words of power –not incoherent- but full of meaning, and through the Record of Pen, that meaning unfolds itself, in innumerable aspects to countless generations. Muhammad Al-Mustapha [PPBUH] was the living Grace and Mercy of God, and his very nature exalted him above abuse and persecution. B} People usually call any one mad whose standards are different from their own. And madness is believed by superstitious people to be due to demoniacal possession. C} Instead of being out of his right mind, the (learned) man of God had been raised to a great spiritual dignity, a reward that was not like any earthly reward that passes away, but one that was in the very core of his being, and would never fail him in any circumstances. He was really granted a nature and character far above the shafts of grief or suffering, slander or persecution.

As the going say that: “we judge the artist (here is the one who is in charge, i.e. chief, president, minister, etc…) by his highest moments (his deeds), and the criminal by his lowest resultants of deed; creativeness involves a certain mental effort; destructiveness doesn’t”. The optimists always say: ‘when thought is closed in caves, then love shall show its root in deepest hell’; this applies even when [ruthless men seizes the power and wealth, and the masses had to live in slums]; because then the important question about us is not how far we are capable of being disoriented and demoralized, loosing self control, but how far we are capable of going in the opposite direction, of using our intelligence for creativity and organization?!

It is truly responsibility of human beings demands a real effort of (good) will rather than our usual vague assumption of ‘mutual concern’; of course the ill minded thoughts makes him takes the decision to abandon control. He can see no sound reason why he should waste his time establishing a higher level of self-control! Let other people worry about that. Definitely the result is bad for the society, but far more disastrous for him.

We are seeing nowadays invidiously embittered, agitator decisions, like the threatening of the man from the East, and the other from the North who wanted to take to arms; and where what amazed me that much how come they easily could get the weaponry, where the countries has to do a lot of Diplomatic, Political negotiations, and after all the country must pay money for that!!!

But the decision of the best destructiveness is the one concerning EDUCATION. It is the best decision to destroy the future of the country by preventing the majority from getting lore; besides the free hand the narcotic merchants are finding in distribution, where the wealthy students who could find a seat in the school, will be flourished with the best kind of narcotics which will quicken their addiction.

I hope the verses 37-38 from Surat Al-Nur/The Light 24 would be applicable on our leaders:

By men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert (them) from the Remembrance of God, nor from regular Prayer, nor from the practice of regular Charity; their (only) fear is for the Day when hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new),- (37)	رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ (37)
That God may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace; for God do provide for those whom He will without measure. (38)	لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَيَزِيدَهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَاللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ (38)

God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. High above our petty evanescent lives, He illumines our souls with means that reach our inmost being. Universal is His light, so pure and so intense that grosser beings need a veil to take His rays; His elect are ever absorbed in prayer and praise and deeds of love, unlike the children of darkness, struggling in Depths profound of vanities False. All nature sings to the glory of God, and men of fraud and hypocrisy are but rebels in the Kingdom of God:

(Verse 37)- A/”Remembrance of God” is wider than Prayer; it includes silent contemplation, and active service of God and His creatures. The regular Prayers and regular Charity are the social acts performed through the organized community. B/Some renderings suggest the effects of terror on the Day of Judgment. But here we are considering the case of the righteous, whose ‘fear’ of God is akin to love and reverence and who (as the next verse shows) hope for the best reward from God. But the world they will meet will be a wholly changed world.

(Verse 38)- The best of the righteous do not deserve the reward that they get: all their faults are forgiven, and only their best actions are considered in the rewards that they get. Nay, more! Out of the unbounded Grace of God even more is added to them. For in giving rewards, God’s bounty is boundless.