on This Earth

Ramadhan in the Hijri Year (the Islamic calendar) of 1446 started today on 1st March 2025. As part of my routine during Ramadhan, I usually do a study of one of the chapters in the Qur’an. This year, with the blog, I intend to do a reflection of natural phenomena found in the Qur’an. To frame it within the context of the key principles of:

• being still/silent
• observe
• reflect
• practice

this series will focus on the third key principle and give ideas on the fourth. If you would like to know more about the key principles, please click this link. If you want to see an example of how the key principles are applied, please click this link.

Fire

Let us focus our attention on a natural element that I have not written about: the fire. Outside of candle flames and cooking, fire is an element I don’t have much experience with. Below is a video I took of my first successful attempt to light the furnace. It felt so peaceful sitting in the dark, lit only by the flames from the fire. The quiet only broken by the crackling of the fire and my breathing.

Transformational Power

As I sat there, almost two years now, I marvelled at this specific creation of God. There was beauty in the flickering flames as it consumed the logs. The heat it generated warmed me as it was cold in early April in Glen Affric. Warmth and light – the fire did not just burn the logs, it transformed them into heat and light. I was well aware of what devastation and destruction fire can cause. The wild fires of Australia came to mind at the time. But God never create anything without purpose, in fact I posit, a positive purpose. That the final outcome is always good.

Often times, we only notice the death and destruction caused by fire. But nature is about balance. There are many plant species that depend on fire to disperse their seeds and grow. Last year, I was planting with Trees for Life at Corrimony, Beauly on RSPB land. There was a large wild fire the year before there and evidence of it was everywhere. However, there was also evidence of regeneration and recovery. What fire does is that it clears out the dead organic material and recycle the nutrients back into the soil. The cleared land allows for new healthy growth of plants which then attracts small animals. When the population of small prey animals are large enough, the predators will return and the cycle continues. In a sense, fire aids in the process of transformation – from death to life. Endings and beginnings – renewals.

Looking at the state of the world today, we see the destruction caused by both natural fires and fires of war. These destruction can really drag us down into deep depression. But as with all fires, I truly believe these will bring about transformation and renewals. Even if that transformation is only within ourselves. Let the fires burn through the decay within us and let truth and hope grow out of the clearance. The people of Gaza showed us these past 18 months the way to keep the hope alive.

I am not saying that we should not stop the fires where we can. It is incumbent upon us to stop them as best we can. However, if we are unsuccessful, know that nature is resilient and the end state will be positive.

Fire as an example quantum physics in the Qur’an

At one point in time in my life, I was obsessed with quantum physics. And a story of fire in the Qur’an captured my attention then. In Surah Al-Anbiya: 69, God said

قُلۡنَا يَـٰنَارُ كُونِى بَرۡدً۬ا وَسَلَـٰمًا عَلَىٰٓ إِبۡرَٲهِيمَ (٦٩)

We said “O Fire! Be thou cool, and (a means of)) safety for Abraham!” (69)

This is the story where Prophet Abraham a.s. broke all the idols of his people, leaving only the biggest one. When his people confronted him, he pointed to the only idol left as the culprit. While they knew that the idols had no power, they were unwilling to admit to the truth of his message. Instead, they threw him into the fire. That was when God commanded the fire to be cool.

In simple terms, particles exists in multiple state at the same time. For the fire to be cool to Prophet Abraham and hot to all else is a reflection of the multiple quantum states the fire was in. When I read it, it blew my mind. It was no less a miracle that there is a scientific explanation. Instead, it affirmed to me that the laws of physics are part of God’s natural laws and subservient to Him.

I often imagine what it would be like to be Prophet Abraham, experiencing the coolness of the fire. Something so rare even though theoretically there is always a possibility that it will happen. And yet those who witnessed the event were not moved by the experience. Would I, if I was there, be like them?

An implication of quantum physics is that the state of a particle is dependent on the interaction with the observer. Given the world is made of such particles, I wonder if we are shaping our own realities through our interactions. That the outcome of an event is dependent on our interaction and perception of it.

A Merciful Reminder

Fire’s counterpart in the unseen world, that is hellfire, has dominated the imagination of human being through out the ages. All religions have a concept of hell in some shape or form. In the Qur’an, there are numerous verses of fire in the unseen world. In fact the word ‘fire’ is mentioned 127 times in the Qur’an. One of the surahs that describe about hell is Surah Ar-Rahman (The Most Gracious).

 

يُرۡسَلُ عَلَيۡكُمَا شُوَاظٌ۬ مِّن نَّارٍ۬ وَنُحَاسٌ۬ فَلَا تَنتَصِرَانِ (٣٥) 

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٣٦) 

فَإِذَا ٱنشَقَّتِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ فَكَانَتۡ وَرۡدَةً۬ كَٱلدِّهَانِ (٣٧) 

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٣٨) 

فَيَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ لَّا يُسۡـٴَـلُ عَن ذَنۢبِهِۦۤ إِنسٌ۬ وَلَا جَآنٌّ۬ (٣٩) 

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّڪُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٤٠)

On you will be sent (O ye evil ones twain!) a flame of fire (to burn) and a smoke (to choke): no defence will ye have: (35) 

Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (36) 

When the sky is rent asunder, and it becomes red like ointment: (37) 

Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (38) 

On that Day no question will be asked of man or Jinn as to his sin. (39) 

Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (40) 

(For) the sinners will be known by their Marks: and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet. (41) 

Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (42) 

This is the Hell which the Sinners deny. (43) 

In its midst and in the midst of boiling hot water will they wander round! (44) 

Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (45)

This is a very graphic scene about the Day of Judgement and Hell painted by Al-Rahman.  Questions I was pondering over are:

1.  Why did God describe such a horrible picture and still describe Himself as Al-Rahman?

2.  Why would God create Hell in the first place if He is so merciful?

Let’s tackle the second question first as Muslim adults often threaten children with Hell. So in my childhood, I was confused. I knew God to be loving and merciful. But then there was Hell. Today, there are many such people with the same experience out there, I am sure.  I think I had the wrong concept of mercy/love at the time.  I thought that a God that love would/could not punish.  But that would violate another important aspect of God, that of justice.  Let’s look at the dynamics of a parent and a child as an example.  No one can ever say that a mother never loves her child. She would literally give up her life for her child.  But when the child misbehaves, does she not punish to administer discipline?  All for the benefit of the child. If the child has no discipline, he will be spoilt.  

Thus on this Earth too, do we find that God teaches us discipline through various tests and hardships as part of His role as the ultimate Teacher. But there will always be those who refuse to learn and continue to violate the laws of God.  When a criminal breaks the law, we expect justice to be served. But quite often, criminals escape justice here on earth and quite often the wrong people get punished.  In order to maintain balance and establish justice when we failed to do so, the Day of Judgement is established.  Did we and the Jinns think we were going to escape God’s attention, justice and accounting?  

Unfortunately for the criminals (those who wronged themselves and others), there is no escape from God’s balance and justice.  The Hour comes when the sky is rent asunder.  In that Hour, even before the accounting starts, we already know what each of us has sent forth.  And that is why God said there will be no questions to be asked of our sins – guilt will be evident on our faces.

Hell is a reality because as much as God’s mercy, God’s justice has to be established to maintain the balance.  Who else can stand up for those whose voices cannot be heard and whose very souls would otherwise go unacknowledged.  Without justice, mercy has no meaning.

In these verses, God describes two types of Hell. One whereby the criminals will be seized by their forelock and feet and by implication thrown into it. The other is the burning water.  As Islahi¹ described the scene:

These verses depict their extreme helplessness:

when the fire of Hell burns them, they will run in search of water but the

water too will be boiling at its ultimate degree. Their life will be spent

going to and fro between these two.

That comes back to the first question of why did God describe such graphic scenes and call it a favour?  Precisely because of its shock factor, most of us will recoil and step back to ponder whether we really want to continue in our denials and persist in our wrongdoings.  It helps deter those of us who are willing to accept its message from going down the path to destruction. 

Nature is reinforcing that lesson for us through the destruction caused by fire. The horrible images of Shaban Al-Dalou burnt alive due to Israel’s bombs brings home the message. Hellfire is worst and it is meant for those who turns away from God.

May we be amongst those who stop in their tracks and turn back towards God.

1. Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i-Quran. ↩︎