The Light verse
in the Quran has intrigued many people and several interpretations of it exist
which are, themselves, felt to be obscure. Another interpretation is given here
without dogmatism. Allah knows best. There are, far greater depths of meaning,
I feel, than I have fathomed, but probably cannot be explained in other words.
Light is that by
which we see, obtain knowledge, and by which we are enabled to do anything. It
is itself invisible but illuminates other things. Its visible part belongs to a
much wider range of electro-magnetic forces which account for most processes on
which existence depends. Light consists of vibrations in space-time of various
colours, frequencies and amplitudes and this may account for all the rhythms by
which natural phenomena exist and are known, their interactions are determined,
and the resonance that creates awareness. Light is, therefore, used as a symbol
in the Quran and other scriptures, for knowledge, understanding, consciousness
and living more abundantly. It is that which gives insight, inspires, explains,
vitalizes, gives meaning, value and significance to that which would otherwise
be dead and drab. It connects heaven with earth, literally and symbolically.
According to a
Hadith, the first thing to be created was the Light of Muhammad. This derives
from the Light of Allah and refers to the Prophetic consciousness, the faculty
for awareness of the word of God or truth, which also informs all other
Prophets. It is the reason for creation according to a Hadith, which states
that Allah created the world so that He might be known. It is also the first
thing created by the Word or Command of God according to the Old Testament
(Genesis 1:3), where it is preceded only by the Spirit of God which refers to something
even more fundamental. However, light can refer to this and many other layers
of existence. In the New Testament the life in the Word of God is called the
light of men (John 1:4). This light also derives from the Prophetic light (John
1:9). The Quran calls Muhammad the Lamp (33:45-46) from which the light of
Allah shines.
"Allah
is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a
niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a
shining star. This lamp is kindled from a blessed Tree, an olive neither of the
East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth of itself though no
fire touched it. Light upon Light. Allah guides unto His light whom He will.
And Allah speaks to mankind in allegories, for Allah is knower of all things.
This lamp is found in houses which Allah has allowed to be exalted and that His
name shall be remembered therein. Therein do offer praise to Him at morn and
evening men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguiles from remembrance of
Allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day
when hearts and eyes will be overturned, that Allah may reward them with the
best of what they did, and increase reward for them of His bounty. Allah gives
blessings without stint." 24:35-38
This could be
interpreted as follows:-
There is a
Universal Consciousness. It contains all knowledge. The coming into
consciousness or into knowledge is the same as creation, because Allah created
all things with Truth (30:8 and 38:28) out of nothing. There is light upon
light, i.e. there are several levels of consciousness. The light itself shines
from a three layered enclosure - a niche containing a glass (something
transparent), containing a lamp. This can refer to the physical senses, the
mind and the soul respectively. Note that these are not the light, and may be
defective to various degrees so that they radiate or transmit the light
imperfectly. This would account for most human ideas, motives and activities.
But the lamp mentioned here is the Prophet (saw) whose mind is transparent
containing no obstructions to the light and casting no shadows (i.e. he has no
self and is in full surrender). In the rest of us the glass is dirty and the
light of the soul does not shine out or the lamp may have gone out. There is
rust on the mirror of the heart (83:14) and it cannot obtain or reflect Allah
when He comes between a man and his heart (8:24). The lamp of the Prophet
produces light from an oil so pure that it glows of itself, the Prophetic
stream which flows from the Tree of Life, a Tree which is not confined in space
(i.e. not of East and West). Usually lamps have to be lit by Fire. But not in
the case of the Prophet (saw).
Fire is a
transforming force as in cooking and manufacture, e.g. that seen by Moses as in
the verse below. But Fire also refers to suffering, endurance, great effort and
hell, indicating that these are also transforming or educational factors.
"Moses said to his family: Verily I have
seen a fire. I will bring you from there some tidings (information); or I will
bring you a flaming brand that you may warm yourselves." 27:7 and
28:29-30.
Here a
distinction is made between three kinds of truth - connected with hearing
(tidings), seeing and feeling. In this third case fire is actually used for a
beneficial purpose - to warm.
These three forms of knowledge are mentioned
in several other places also :-
"Then He fashioned him (man) and breathed
into him of His own Spirit; and appointed for you hearing, and sight and hearts.
Small thanks give ye." 32:9
"O man, follow not that whereof thou hast
no knowledge. Lo! The hearing, and the sight and the hearts - of each of these
it will be asked (to give an account)." 17:36
It is the Divine
Spirit put into man (32:9) which gives him his faculties. These could be
defined as consciousness, conscience and will, and we are exhorted to use them.
The three forms
of knowledge are known as ;- Ilm-ul-Yaqin. ( Quran 102:5 ), Ain-ul-Yaqin . (
Quran 102:7 ) and Haqq-ul-Yaqin ( Quran 69:51 ) - They are like hearing about,
say China,
seeing it and being a Chinese.
But human
faculties have been contaminated through attachment to worldly things - greed,
lust, egotism etc. Our lamps need to be lit and our glass needs to be cleaned.
The dirt on the glass can be burnt away. Indeed, those who Allah wills are
attracted like moths to the light.
We could
distinguish between 7 levels of reality if we add the Houses (bodies in which
the Niches, Glass and Lamp is found), the Oil, the Fire and the Tree. Note that
the Light does not belong to this system but pervades it or lies hidden in it.
It is quite independent.
"Muhammad is not the father of any man
among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and
Allah is aware of all things. O you who believe! Remember Allah with much
remembrance. And glorify Him early and late. He it is who blesses you, and His
angels (bless you) that He may bring you forth from darkness into Light; and He
is merciful to the believers. Their salutation on the day when they shall meet
Him will be: Peace. And He has prepared for them a goodly recompense. O
Prophet! Lo! We have sent thee as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a
Warner, and as a summoner unto Allah by His permission and a LAMP that giveth
Light." 33:40-46
"Then those who believe in him (Muhammad),
and honour him, and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,
they are the Successful. 7:157
Here the method
is defined by which true success may be obtained.
It is also possible
to take the Tree as the Prophet and then the Lamp would be a Righteous person
or Saint or a Teacher or Imam or Sheikh who is also transparent (i.e. has no
ego or obstructing self) and receives the oil from the Prophet which he lights
to illuminate his pupils or followers. Some people like to confine the meaning
of this to Ali and his descendants. But there is no mention of them here. The
meaning is quite general and this may, of course, include descendants of Ali,
but only righteous ones.
God speaks in
allegories, not merely in this parable, but in general, and guides whom He will
by means of it. That is, by giving them the wisdom to interpret the allegories.
The lamp is in
houses (persons, homes, mosques or communities) where the worship of God takes
place.
"So believe in Allah and His Messenger and
the Light which We have revealed. And Allah is aware of what you do." 64:8
This verse
requires us to believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Light revealed by
Allah. This gives us three, not very different from the Trinity of the
Christian doctrine, except that the Prophet is not regarded as a god. A person
becomes a Prophet because of the Light. The Light is the Word or Spirit of God
and is not a separate god either. This trinity refers not to God but to
religion which requires all three - God, The Messenger through whom He speaks,
and the Spirit which informs the Messenger as well as the people about God (see
10:101 below). The original intention behind the Trinity doctrine could have
been just this.
"O people of the Scripture! Now has Our
Messenger come unto you, expounding unto you much of that which you used to
hide in the Scripture, and forgiving much. Now has come unto you Light from
Allah and a plain scripture whereby Allah guides him who seeks His good
pleasure unto paths of peace. He brings them out of darkness unto light by His
decree, and guides them unto a straight path." 5:15-16
"Say: Is the blind man equal to the seer,
or is the darkness equal to light? Or assign they unto Allah partners who
created the like of His creation so that this (and the Creation of Allah)
seemed alike to them? Say: Allah is the creator of all things, and He is the
One, the Almighty." 13:16.
As blindness and
sight are not equal so light and darkness are not equal, nor are the creations
of man (ideas, values, desires, fantasies, opinions, objects) equal to the
creations of God. Those who exchange Allah's guidance for errors are likened to
those from whom the light has been withdrawn and they are deaf, dumb and blind.
(2:17-18).
Believers are
brought out of darkness into light by Allah, but disbelievers are brought from
light into darkness by their false deities (their idols, opinions, desires,
ideologies, systems, institutions, heroes, egos - in short everything to which
they form attachments and to which they sub-ordinate themselves and is less
than Allah). It is, therefore, obvious that there cannot be any compulsion in
religion. Compulsion cannot create sight or cure blindness.
"There is no compulsion in religion. The
right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejects false
deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never
break. Allah is Hearer, Knower. Allah is the Protecting Friend of those who
believe. He brings them out of darkness into light. As for those who
disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into
darkness. Such are rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein."
2:256-257
Disbelievers try
to put out the light of Allah, but Allah will perfect it in spite of them.
(9:32, 61:8).
Coming into
darkness can be called spiritual death. The body is then like a grave for the
soul (35:22). Therefore, the reception of the light causes regeneration of the
dormant spirit within man, i.e. spiritual resurrection takes place.
(2:28,73,260, 6:36, 3:49, 27:80, 30:50-52 etc.).
"Is he who was dead and We have raised him
unto life, and set for him a light wherein he walks among men as him whose
similitude is in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge? Thus is their conduct
made fair seeming for the disbelievers." 6:123
The light
carries information or knowledge and it is this which causes the growth of the
soul.(see also 91:7-10) There are levels of Heaven or Hell according to the
condition of the soul.
"There are degrees of (of grace and
reprobation) with Allah, and Allah is seer of what you do. Allah verily has
shown grace to the believers by sending unto them a Messenger of their own who
recites unto them His revelations, and causes them to GROW, and teaches them
the Scripture and Wisdom, although before they were in flagrant error."
3:163-164 See also 2:129,151)
The implication
is that there are degrees to which a person is enlightened. (i.e. light on
light.) We may add that since we see the world differently according to our
level of consciousness, then there are also corresponding levels of reality.
This may refer to the 7 heavens and the 7 paths (23:17) and to :-
"Ye shall journey from level to
level." 84:19
Verse 3:164
above and several other verses (e.g. 4:113, 5:110, 62:2 etc.) distinguish
between the Scripture and Wisdom. There is also a distinction between the
Discrimination (or Criterion), Light and the Message or Book.
"And verily We gave Moses and Aaron the
Criterion and a Light and a Reminder for those who keep from evil." 21:48
Thus Light
refers to this inner Wisdom. According to a Hadith, the Prophet (saw) gave out
a higher teaching to his closest companions, those who had the capacity to
understand it. This was not made generally available. The same is said about
Jesus and Moses (Quran 3:48 and Matthew 13:11, Acts 7:22). This is usually
known as Esoteric Knowledge. An account of how Moses attempted to learn this
higher Wisdom from one who had been given "Knowledge from the Presence of
God" can be found in Quran 18:61-83.
"He gives Wisdom unto whom He will, and he
unto whom wisdom is given, he truly has received an abundant good. But none
remember except men of understanding." 2:269
Proof from Allah
comes to mankind through the Light, the Quran:-
"O
mankind! Now has proof from your Lord come unto you, and We have sent down unto
you clear light. As for those who believe in Allah, and hold fast unto Him,
them He will cause to enter into His Mercy and Grace, and will guide them unto
Him by a Straight Path." 4:175-176
The Torah and
Gospels also contain Light. (5:44-46, 6:92).
"And say: Truth has come and falsehood has
vanished away. Lo! Falsehood is ever bound to vanish. And We reveal of the
Quran that which is a healing and a mercy for believers though it increases
evil-doers in naught save ruin." 17:81-82
It should be
noted that falsehood is regarded as the absence of truth just as darkness is
the absence of light. It is not something positive. Evil doers may be regarded
as people in error. It is a kind of disease resulting from ignorance.
Ignorance, here refers not so much to absence of knowledge of external things,
though this is included and is a consequence, as to inner or self-knowledge, of
one's own nature and real needs. Therefore, truth is a Healing and the Revealed
Scripture is a Mercy from God. It is likely that other physical, moral and
mental diseases or malfunctions are connected with this ignorance and spiritual
disease. The word "sin" refers to errors or mistakes, actions,
motives or thoughts that are inappropriate or inconsistent with a system.
The Light is
obtained by undertaking the religious discipline, by obedience to Allah:-
"O ye who believe: obey Allah and the
messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you (gives you life), and
know that Allah comes between the man and his own heart, and He it is unto Whom
you will be gathered." 8:24
One can not, of
course, follow the religious discipline unless one first knows what it is and
then also accepts it. But it is also necessary to realise that the Quran or
religion cannot be understood except through the light or guidance of God:-
"It is not for any soul to believe save by
permission of Allah. He has set uncleanness upon those who have no sense."
10:101 See also 2:2-10, 6:126,
9:124-125, 13:27, 17:82, 29:48-50, 81:27-29
Light enters
into hearts which have expanded and not those which have hardened.(39:22)
On the Day of
Resurrection the earth itself will shine with the light of Allah (39:69), the
righteous will be seen with their light shining forth before them, and will not
be afraid of the dreaded day because of the light (76:11). Others will want to
borrow this light. (57:12-13). The implication is that there will be times of
trouble because of the spiritual degeneration of man or great frightening
upheavals on the Day of Judgment, but the serenity of those who are enlightened
will be obvious even to the unbelievers who have nothing to relieve their
anxiety and suffering. The believers will pray for the continued perfection of
their light (66:8)
Those who have
faith in Allah and follow the prophet they will walk in the light:-
"O you who believe! Be mindful of your
duty to Allah and put faith in His messenger. He will give you twofold of His
mercy and will appoint for you a Light wherein ye shall walk and will forgive
you. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. That the People of the Scripture may know
that they control naught of the bounty of Allah, but that the bounty is in
Allah's hand to give to whom He will. And Allah is of infinite bounty."
(57:28-29).
I would add, by
analogy, that this last applies also to any sect that might believe they have
the monopoly on Allah's Light.
There is a chain
of Light which we can represent thus:-
Allah
<-> Prophet <-> Muslim.
The teacher or
Imam could possibly be added here, but he would represent the Prophet and is
himself one of the congregation. From another point of view, Islam is direct
surrender to Allah and this would not admit any mediator at all. The Prophet
may then be regarded as the string or knot which binds the Muslim to Allah.
This is implicit in the fact that Prophets in Islam are regarded not as gods
but as human beings. They are, therefore, examples of what human beings can
achieve i.e. receive the Light like the Prophet. This would, of course, be
impossible, if the Prophet was a god or superhuman. This is why, in the more
superstitious past when people took their Prophets as a god, it was also
necessary to add the doctrine that salvation can be obtained by faith without
works, thereby abolishing the very purpose of religion. However, it may have
been necessary in the less thought-oriented past to deify the Prophet in order
to give emphasis, importance and authority to the message (the light). But
human beings, unfortunately, tend to mistake the means for the end and the
vessel for the contents, the lamp for the light.
The individual
himself is the Lamp. In so far, however, as Allah reveals himself through the
Prophet who not only brings the scripture but also has the Wisdom to interpret
it in his life, the Sunna of the Prophet also provides Light. The lamp of the
individual is lit from it. Such an individual or community then sheds its light
into the rest of the world and illuminates it.
"And hold fast, all of you together, to
the chain of Allah, and do not separate. And remember Allah's favour unto you;
how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye
became as brothers by His Grace; and how ye were upon the brink of an abyss of
fire, and He did save you from it. Thus Allah makes clear His revelations unto
you that haply ye may be guided, and there may spring from you a nation who
invite to goodness and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they
who are successful." 3:103-104
The question is:
where in the world do we find such a community.
Weep,
therefore, dear reader, weep for what could have been and what is lost in the
darkness! Or get up and find it!