Limit

source: porepurpose.org

Recently, I have been reading a book, In the Footsteps of the Prophet, written by an Oxford Scholar, Tariq Ramadan who is a grandson of Hasan Al Banna. This book offers lessons from Muhammad SAW story since he was born and how Allah had prepared him to become a Prophet through his life journey.

I am still reading it and one of the chapter that is very interesting for me is the period of silence.

Second Revelation about Al Qalam (pen) which begins with “Nuun”.

Nuun, by the pen and by that which they write, You (Muhammad) are not, by the grace of your Lord, possessed. Verily yours is an unfailing reward. And surely you have sublime morals. You will soon see, and they will see, which of you is afflicted by madness. (68:1-6)

Nuun, a mysterious word that no commentator-nor even the Prophet himself-is able to say exactly what they mean. God confirms the necessity of knowledge conveyed to human beings, opens the verses with a mysterious letter, Nuun, expressing the limits of human knowledge. The dignity of humankind, conferred by knowledge, cannot be devoid of humility of reason aware of its own limits and thereby recognizing the necessity of faith. Accepting, and accepting not to understand, the mysterious presence of the letter Nuun requires faith; understanding and accepting the unmysterious statements of the verses that follow require the use of a reason that is active but necessarily-and indeed naturally-humbled

A doubt....

The situation was to get even worse, for during the following months Revelation stopped. This period of silence (al-fatra) which lasted between six months and two and a half years, depending on the tradition cited, caused the Prophet great doubt and suffering. He thought that he was no longer worthy of receiving Revelation, that he had been forsaken, or that he had merely been bewitched. Aishah reports how intensely he suffered. But during that period, angel Gabriel often showed up in front of Muhammad convinced him that he truly the messenger of God. He was actually undergoing the same experience as Abraham. This trial of silence was an initiation shaping the Messenger‘s spiritual quest.

“By the morning light! By the night when it is still! Your Lord [Rabb, Educator] has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased. And verily the Hereafter will be better for you than the present. And soon will your Lord give you that with which you will be well pleased.” (93:1-5)

This was a good news, and Revelation was not to stop again for over twenty years.

Second period of doubt was when he was asked about the three questions addressed by the Qureysh who asked the rabbis in Yathrib about how to test the new prophet.

First, question involved the knowledge of a story about a group of young men’s exile from their people; the second was about a great traveller who had reached the confines of the universe; the third was a direct request to define ar-ruh (the soul). The Prophet replied the question from the Qureysh almost instantly: “I shall answer your question tomorrow!” But the next day, angel Gabriel did not appear. There was no revelation. Nor did the angel come the day after, or during the next fourteen days. The Qureysh gloated, certain they had at last managed to prove duplicity of the so-called Prophet, who could not answer the rabbis’ questions. As for Muhammad, he was sad, and as the days went by, he was increasingly afraid of having been forsaken: without doubting God, he again underwent the experience of self-doubt amplified by his opponents’ sneers. Two weeks later, he received a Revelation and an explanation:

Never say of anything, “I shall do that tomorrow, except If God so wills,” and remember your Lord [Rabb, “Educator”] when you forget, and say: “I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer than this to the right course” (18:23-24)

InshaaLlah, “if God so wills” expressing the awareness of limits, the feeling of humility of one who acts while knowing that beyond what he or she can do or say, God alone has the power to make things happen.

Whatever adversity one faces, one’s strength and freedom of earth consist in remaining constantly aware of one’s dependence on the creator. The delay was paradoxically to strengthen the believer conviction and to baffle the Prophet’s interlocutors. This event also proved that Muhammad was not the author of the Book and he did actually depend on his Rabb will.

Ar ruh is explained in 17:85 while the young men in exile (Ashabul Kahfi) and the traveller is explained in 18:60-82. This event also begins the recommendation to recite surah Al Kahf every Friday, reminding our dependence to God.

When I first read this story, I shed tears. How dependent we are to the Source, and how we have been too proud to ourselves that sometimes we think surely we can solve things as soon as we want it to end. And how often we face a period of silence. It is a period when we demand for guidance but sometimes we do not get the answer right away. Often the answer is uncovered after we go through several events and connecting the dots. If the prophet went through this challenge sometimes, who are we to demand the fast and clear answer?

There are always ‘on-hold’ moments, period of silences, in-between situations. A space which are created to make a room for the Al Wujud, as mentioned in the verse 2:186

“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way”

After pursuing knowledge for years, as we grow older, there will come series of events that make us to abide, accepting without asking why, accepting our limit to the unknown, embracing humility.

This morning, the topic become solid. I sat in a routine meeting, and the priest highlighted that to pursue the right way, we are armed with four level of guidance: 1) instinct; 2) five senses; 3) intelligence; 4) religion. The latter is the highest level which can legitimate or justify the things that has been observed by the intelligence. In that point, human intelligence blank spots exist, exhibit brutally about our limits. 

Patience, dear. Patience.

I don't know where this notes lead to, I just keep it as my reminder for my big-head.