{"id":140553,"date":"2020-05-20T23:02:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T23:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=140553"},"modified":"2020-05-20T23:02:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T23:02:59","slug":"main-themes-of-surah-al-shuara-the-poets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=140553","title":{"rendered":"Main Themes of Surah al-Shuara (the Poets)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Spahic Omer <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surah<\/em> al-Shuara <\/em>is the 26th<\/sup> surah<\/em> in the Quran. It has 227 verses (ayat<\/em>) which are divided into eleven sections. It was revealed in the middle Makkah period, about six to seven years before the migration (hijrah<\/em>) to Madinah. It was revealed when the contact of the light of Islam and Prophet Muhammads prophet-hood with the milieu of polytheist and pagan Makkah was testing the Makkans in their most arrogant mood (Yusuf Ali, 1990). The surah<\/em> is so called after the keyword \u0153al-shuara<\/em>\u009d (the poets) in verse 224.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The salient recurring theme of the surah<\/em> is\nthat the conflict between the truth (haqq<\/em>) and falsehood (batil<\/em>)\non earth is perennial. It is tantamount to a law of the terrestrial existence.\nIt assumes different forms and spares no segment of human life. At the\nforefront of such segments stand political leadership and authority, economy\nand trade, religion, creed and morality, social structure, entertainment, art\nand architecture. Some examples of the conflicts have been given wherein some\nof the most prominent prophets featured, such as prophets Musa (Moses), Ibrahim\n(Abraham), Nuh (Noah), Hud (Eber or Heber), Salih (Shelakh), Lut (Lot) and\nShuayb (Jethro). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of each prophet represents an aspect of the persistent and ubiquitous conflict between good and evil, and between the truth and unbelief and their respective protagonists. The stories and their embedded lessons make up a mosaic of profound cultural and civilisational disorders and how they are to be effectively dealt with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They further illustrate the authentic meaning and significance of life, culture and civilisation, in addition to the types and magnitude of the challenges and obstacles that lie ahead of every bona fide human development and society as well as civilisation-building processes. The surah<\/em>, thus, is a microcosm of the whole spectacle of life with all of its ups and downs, and its message a microcosm of the cosmic truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is always in the end victorious<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another lesson to be deduced from the content of\nthe surah<\/em> is that all conflicts of falsehood and its people with the\ntruth and its own people are vain. In each case, it is the truth and its ardent\nfollowers that eventually emerge victorious and prevail, while falsehood and\nunbelief with their own adherents are brought low and made perish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is yet another principle of life that falsehood\nand unbelief cannot permanently vanquish the truth. They may have their day and\nscore some initial victories, but the ultimate triumph will always belong to\nthe truth and its camp. The truth may lose some battles, but will win the wars.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, there is no book, or any other\nepistemological or religious source, that promotes positive thinking and\nattitude, and inspires as well as motivates, better than the Quran. It\nreiterates that nonbelievers, polytheists, oppressors, corruptors and all types\nof villains will not succeed because they pit themselves against Almighty God.\nWhereas the believers and doers of good, the God-fearing and the righteous will\nin the end succeed because they have aligned themselves with the natural and\nprimordial order of things and have God on their side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is the standard and rule; falsehood and\nunbelief are anomalies and aberrations. The Quran proclaims: \u0153And say: “The truth has (now) arrived, and falsehood perished:\nfor falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish” (al-Isra, 81).  Also: \u0153Say: “The truth has arrived, and falsehood neither creates\nanything new, nor restores anything (or, falsehood shall vanish and shall not\ncome back)” (Saba, 49).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, according to Surah al-Shuara<\/em>, Pharaoh\nvehemently rejected the teachings of Musa. However, in the end, Pharaohs\nmagicians, who had been brought forth to support the case of Pharaoh and make\nhim triumph over Musa, bowed to the truth, while Pharaoh and his army were\ndrowned (verses 10-68). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor did Ibrahims disobedient people gain anything\nby their resisting the truth he preached (verses 69-103). Nuhs people also\nperished by their rejection of their prophets message (verses 105-122).\nMoreover, both Hud (verses 123-140) and Salih (verses 141-159) warned their\nrespective peoples against their widespread mischief and against reliance on\ntheir material strength — including the built environment — for perpetrating\nand propagating the former. In the end, in both cases, the evil ones were destroyed.  Lut (verses 160-175) likewise had to put up\nwith his peoples horrendous delinquencies, and Shuayb (verses 176-191) with\ncorruption, disobedience and fraudulent dealings. Their teachings were\nintensely repudiated, but the wrongdoers were eventually annihilated (Yusuf Ali,\n1990). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy endings are most fulfilling <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing more fulfilling and looked-forward-to than happy endings, irrespective of the amount of time and efforts needed for their realisation. That is exactly what people live for. A happy ending is the neutraliser and annihilator of all earlier problems, sadness and desolation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, an unhappy ending is the neutraliser and annihilator of all earlier comforts, delights and pleasures. When a happy ending arrives, it is as though there was nothing else before. By the same token, when an unhappy ending comes, it is as though there was nothing else before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, the Prophet (pbuh) advised Muslims to\nremember frequently \u0153the destroyer of pleasures, i.e., death\u009d and to act and\nprepare themselves accordingly (Sunan Ibn Majah).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message thus communicated to the rejecters of\nProphet Muhammad (pbuh) and the final revealed message: the Quran, is that,\nconsistent with the established laws of life and history, the truth will again\nemerge victorious. The rejecters and disobedient ones will not succeed in\nsuppressing it and extinguishing its light. Their end, especially in the\nHereafter, will be as distressing and chastening as that of their earlier\ncounterparts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is so because the Quran is the Creators\nrevealed Word and Guidance to humankind: \u0153Verily this is a revelation from the Lord (and Sustainer) of the\nworlds. With it came down the Spirit of faith and truth (trustworthy Jibril or\nGabriel), upon your heart that you (O Muhammad) may be (one) of the warners\u009d\n(al-Shuara, 192-194).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Maududi, the mentality\nof the disbeliever has been the same throughout the ages. Their arguments and\nobjections, and their excuses and subterfuges for not believing have been\nsimilar and ultimately the fates that they met have also been the same. Likewise,\nthe prophets in every age presented the same teachings, their personal\ncharacter and their reasoning and arguments against their opponents were the\nsame, and they were all similarly blessed with mercy by Almighty God. Both\nthese patterns of behaviour and conduct are found in history, and the\ndisbelievers could themselves see as to which respective patterns they and\nProphet Muhammad (pbuh) belonged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Quran then in most emphatic\nterms rejects the prospect of it being a form of poetry (verses 224-227). In\nterms of its contents, the qualities and virtues of its personnel — including\nthe Prophet (pbuh) himself — and the generated impact on individuals and\nsociety, in no way can the truth enshrined in the Quran be equated with vain\npoetry. Nor is the Quran brought down by devils (verses 210-212). It is a\nserious divine message with serious eternal consequences. The Quran is the\nmain cause of the Prophets and believers success. Its opponents failure, on\nthe other hand, is due to their rejection of the Quran and adoption of other\ninadequate ideological alternatives instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs (ayat<\/em>) permeate all\ncreation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surah<\/em> also\nhighlights that for the monotheistic truth, which is so repeatedly and\nobstinately rejected by numerous nations, innumerable signs (ayat<\/em>) have\nbeen presented. They have been sent down or created, and every aspect of\ncreation, including human life and history, has been imbued with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signs attest to the presence,\ngreatness and benevolence of the Creator and Lord of the universe. They are\neasily accessible and obtainable. They just need to be sincerely and\ndispassionately read, understood and acted upon, so that man could fulfil his\nhonourable vicegerency (khilafah<\/em>) mission on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, mans inherent impulses and\nweaknesses — which he refuses to tackle and overcome \u201c and his proneness to\nheedlessness and self-deception often get the better of him. It plunges and\nsustains him in the abyss of spiritual blindness and illiteracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the surah<\/em> speaks about\nthe signs (ayat<\/em>) of the Quran (verse 2), the signs in the natural world\n(verse 8), the exceptionally great signs that God, if He wants, can send down\nfrom the heaven (verse 4), the signs given to Prophet Musa (verse 15), the\nsigns in the stories of all the seven prophets mentioned above (verses 67, 103,\n121, 139, 158, 174 and 190), and the signs in the lives and conducts of the\nlearned scholars of the Children of Israel who had known that the Quran is\ntrue and so, embraced Islam (verse 197). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Shuara<\/em>, it goes without saying, is the surah<\/em> of signs (ayat<\/em>). It contains fourteen references to signs: twelve as the singular (ayah<\/em>) and two as the plural (ayat<\/em>) noun. Its main themes and repetitive references to signs are meant to serve as antidotes for certain peoples adamant denial of the obvious and compelling truth.***<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Spahic Omer Surah al-Shuara is the 26th surah in the Quran. It has 227 verses (ayat) which are divided into eleven sections. It was… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":140580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,63],"tags":[],"nelio_content":{"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"followers":[111,12,134,5],"suggestedReferences":[],"efiUrl":"","efiAlt":"","highlights":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/115992190-the-quran-the-holy-book-of-muslims.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140553"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140578,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140553\/revisions\/140578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/140580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}