The Fire of Surat Al-Masad and the Light of Surat Al-Ikhlas: Wisdom in their Placement

Ring Composition of Surah 111

Surah 111 Al-Masad, less commonly called Surat Lahab (flame) directly precedes Surat Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity) #112, one of the most important surahs in the Quran, one could say its very “heart.” Since I have seen “connections” between adjacent surahs, I wondered how two so vastly different surahs could be connected. To find the answer, I examined the surah using ring composition, as the illustration shows, supplementing this analysis with other Quranic verses, as well as examining the number of words and letters in this surah, and found some striking results.

Quranic Architecture as a Calendar

Quranic Architecture as a Calendar with one surah in each chamber.

the-calendar-q-nautilusDownload

Above is an image of the spiral Quranic architecture discussed on this site, where each surah is shown by number in its chamber. Due to size consideration, there’s insufficient room for the surah names; however the first 12 surahs are named, and on the outer edge of the circle are the Hijri calendar names as well as the names of the zodiac constellations.

A full explanation of the calendar design and meaning is above in a downloadable PDF. It shows the exact match between the Quran’s size of 114 Surahs and arrangement here as 9.5 “years” (12-month/ chamber “cycles”) with Noah’s time as prophet of “a thousand years minus fifty years” or 950 years, making this symbolic “calendar” architecture of the Quran an “ark” protecting those who “embark” the Quran’s ark by reading it from the cataclysm of the Day when time as we know it, and therefore the universe as we know it, ceases to exist, that is, the Day of Resurrection or Judgment Day.

Timekeeping is all about changing quite literally “what is between our hands,” the Quran’s expression for the “present”, by increasing its size from a “moment” to “the present day” as it were, and beyond. And the Quran uses this meaning of time in its text and message, so it makes sense that its very architecture would also be a calendar, showing us how to spend our lifetime’s limited term wisely, leading to success outside that lifetime, when this world of time ceases to be.

The Quran’s Architecture as a Calendar, by S. Karami

Allah’s Name Al-Samad: a Beautiful Elucidation

From Surat Al-Ikhlas 112:2 “Allah is Al-Samad”

The name Al-Samad is mentioned only once in the entire Quran, in Surat Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity) 112. Below is the link to a beautiful and very thorough explanation of its meaning, significance, roots in the Arabic language, application in our lives, and more, including an answer to the question “why is this name mentioned only once in the Quran?” To which I would also add: its placement in the Quran is also expressive of its meaning, right in the center or “heart” of the Quran. (Article below by Sheikh Mohammad Elshinawy on the Yaqeen Institute website.)

Allah’s Name As-Samad

The Powerful Statement Hidden in the Basmalah

“He has decreed (literally “written”) on Himself mercy.” (Surat Al-An’am 6:12)

When I try to explain to other Muslims that the name Al-Rahman in Arabic is better translated as the Almighty as explained here in another post, most recoil from the idea, as if I am suggesting the removal of compassion from Allah’s primary attributes, even from the most important first aya of the Quran, the Basmalah. Most, if not all, major Islamic sites and organizations translate the name Al-Rahman as some variation of mercy such as The Most Merciful, The Compassionate, The Beneficent, and The Mercy-giver. This last name always struck me as the closest to the truth, although in a deeper sense, Al-Rahman is essentially a name, not simply an attribute. They say the name derives from the root word rahma, which means “mercy,” or possibly rahim, which means “womb.” But which came first, Al-Rahman, The Creator, or the “womb” which is part of creation?

The Chambered Nautilus and Its Connection to the Quran

X-Ray of a chambered nautilus shell

What is the connection between the Quran and the chambered nautilus shell? The shape fits the gradually descending size of the Quranic surahs, which, unlike chapters in most human-authored books, are each separate self-contained “enclosures” of text — the word “surah” means “enclosure”—, each containing words found only in that surah and nowhere else, yet adjacent surahs are connected by small shared references, all of this being similar to the chambers of the nautilus shell.

For the living nautilus, a cephalopod or “head-foot”, it provides both protection and a system of propulsion capable of “neutral buoyancy,” the same property that keeps the human brain, our “head-foot,” safe from gravity which would otherwise have pulled the brain’s delicate tissue against the skull, damaging our uvery-much-essential neurons. Herein lies a metaphor on many levels.

The downloadable PDF below gives more details of the amazing connections between the Quran and this ancient creature’s shell, long noted for its beauty and inspiring sacred geometry. Beyond that are Quranic and scientific connections which ultimately make this shape the perfect way to present the Quran as a whole, giving us a way to envision and interpret its multiple depths of meaning.

chambered-nautilus-sectionDownload

Also, this link gives a discussion among mathematics and science professors/ scholars on whether or not the chambered nautilus shell is an example of a golden spiral. To which the answer is not precise, but then, life is more complicated than it is precise.

https://114chambers.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/chambered-nautilus-section.docx

Wisdom from the Quranic Story of Al-Khidr

Photo by author S. Karami

The name Al-Khidr is given (not in the Quran but in other texts such as hadiths – it being useful to have a name in discussing this Quranic narrative) to the knowledgeable man whom Prophet Moosa (Moses) met under unusual circumstances, hoping to gain more knowledge from him. This is narrated in Surah Al-Kahf (the Cave) 18:60-82 starting with the arduous journey Moses and his servant undertook to reach such a man, who taught Moses that Allah gives knowledge to people according to their need to know and purpose in life.

Looking Deeper at Tawheed

Tawheed, the bedrock of Islam, is the immutable truth that Allah is ineffably One. It is not enough to say it is “monotheism” because Christians call themselves monotheists, but insofar as they worship Jesus the son of Mary as a god or “incarnation” or God the Almighty, All-Merciful, no, this is not monotheism and it is a violation of tawheed, sometimes translated “oneness.” The Quran is unequivocal and emphatic about this, quintessentially made clear in Surat Al-Ikhlass. In particular one needs to examine the word Al-Samad.