The Quran on Fossil Fuels and Modern Travel – New Tafsir

There are still many scholars who insist we should not “re-interpret” the Quran but only take the interpretations of prior scholars from hundreds of years ago. Whereas finding new relevant additional interpretations that are applicable to our current developed world (and could not have been known in prior eras) show the timeless, eternal applicability of the Quran to all eras, acknowledging that each era changes and therefore has its separate circumstances. Therefore it is imperative to be able to understand how the Quran is relevant to people of each “world” and timeframe, taking into account how it applies to one’s own time and place. To deny such interpretations is to deny that change occurs or that we are living in a world of time which is indeed ever-changing. So will they not use their minds? Or would they prevent us from using ours?? 

Among the fascinating new applications for Quranic ayat are these from Surat Ya Seen 36 and Surat Al-Waqi’a 56 below, referring generally to the benefits Allah gives to humankind from trees, specifically how they are used as fuel to ignite fire. In a modern context this meaning is expanded even further.

Sura 98 Al-Bayyinah, Sign of the Hour’s Approach

Examining the latter suras in the Quran, we may consider them as showing us signs of the  approach of Judgment Day, starting with the sending of the Quran itself described in Surat Al-Qadr 97. Sura 98 Al-Bayyinah, or “The Evidence/Proof,” further strengthens that understanding, describing the Quran, the final revelation, as a Proof, where such a proof’s denial is not a matter of a single community as were previous messages, but given to all humankind. This sura tells us it is prophet Mohammad as the messenger, and the Quran itself that separates those who deny from those who trust in Allah and His way (presented in the Quran as universal, a system of ethics and compassionate behavior) — for all humanity over time, which is now rapidly approaching its end. 

Sura 103 Al-‘Asr: Time

The second-shortest sura, with only 3 ayat (verses), gives us much to think about: time, eternity, and how we spend our time in this world. It’s been said that the sahaba (followers) of Prophet Mohammad used to recite this sura whenever they departed, and this sura is considered of great importance, perhaps surprising for such a small sura. But it poses an important question. Shall we invest our limited time and resources towards this world or the next? And what does it actually mean to “invest towards the next” life?

The Heart of Thikr Allah, Thikr Allah of the Heart

Listening to a khutba on thikr Allah today, a more comprehensive definition of thikr was brought to my attention: “anything you do to remember Allah.” Examples were salat (formal prayer connection), tasbih (glorification), du’a or supplication to Allah, acts of charity whether obligatory (zakat purification) or voluntary (sadaqa), making the Hajj pilgrimage, or even simply being honest in one’s work, or helping others in innumerable ways from thoughtful acts or greetings, bringing comfort to someone in distress, or acknowledgement of another’s point of view, or helping jump-start a car, anything really one does for no personal benefit or gain such as money but only for the sake of Allah, or out of innate charitable feelings if one is fortunate enough to have them.

Eid Mubarak!

NYC: Empire State Building turned green for Eid

Celebrations of Eid ul-Fitr Worldwide below.

Beyond Ramadan, Let’s Work Toward Saving the Planet

Pollution has appeared in the land and the sea by the hands of humankind for what they earned. He will make them taste some of what they have done, perhaps they will revert (from corruption).

Al-Ruum 30:41

If ever humankind has tasted ”some of what they have done” in terms of corruption and pollution, it would be now. The word ”pollution” has also frequently been translated ”corruption,” but the Arabic word fasad can mean either or both. ”What they earned” shows us that greed and corruption in the sense of short-term greed for long-term harm played a major part in this. Most people now know that plastics, toxic chemicals, an imbalance of nutrients, and other products of modern human development have corrupted earth’s precious resources that sustain us, without which we cannot survive. But to take effective action, even to save the planet for our children’s future, is the hard part, left to political leaders whose power depends on the very corporations who produce and thrive on the pollution-producing systems in place. The solution? Faith-based cooperative activism such as the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change. Nothing motivates people to take action like faith; cooperation between religions has been shown to create a grassroots movement that in turn can affect how corporations conduct themselves. And the beneficiary? Humanity itself. Solutions and Faith-based organizations working on them are linked below.