يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ {O mankind, fear your Lord}: This is a command to fear Allah (swt) and He gives evidence and proofs that He is the Creator:
الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ {Who created you from one soul}”: One soul is the soul of Adam (pbuh). Creation means to find from nothing, and gives provision from nothing. Verily, Allah (swt) created people and provided them with water, air, crops and everything we see. He (swt) says here:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ {O people, fear your Lord}: He (swt) did not say: O people, fear Allah. Because when He talks about divinity, He (swt) talks about obedience, but when He (swt) talks about lordship, He talks about giving, because Allah (swt) first of all created us from one soul. So, where can we find such equality in other than the Holy Qur’an! Allah (swt) created us all equal, old and young, white and black, rich and poor, weak and strong. They are all created from one soul. Allah said:
مَا أَشْهَدتُّهُمْ خَلْقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَا خَلْقَ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَمَا كُنتُ مُتَّخِذَ الْمُضِلِّينَ عَضُدًا
{I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth or to the creation of themselves, and I would not have taken the misguiders as assistants.} (Al-Kahf: 51)
When Allah (swt) has created Adam (PBUH), He did not show people the way of creating, but He (swt) showed them the opposite of creating, which is death. Allah (swt) mentions the creation of man, saying:
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ (12) ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ (13) ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ(14) ثُمَّ إِنَّكُمْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ لَمَيِّتُونَ (15) ثُمَّ إِنَّكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ تُبْعَثُونَ
{And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. (12) Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. (13) Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators. (14) Then indeed, after that you are to die. (15) Then indeed you, on the Day of Resurrection, will be resurrected.} (Al-Muminoon: 12-16)
These are the stages of the development of the fetus. The credibility of every letter in this noble verse has been scientifically proven. When talking about the creation of Adam, Allah (swt) says:
الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنسَانِ مِن طِينٍ (7) ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن مَّاء مَّهِينٍ
{Who perfected everything which He created and began the creation of man from clay. (7) Then He made his posterity out of the extract of a liquid disdained.} (As-Sajda: 7-8)
Then:
فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُواْ لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ
{And when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.”} (Al-Hijr: 29)
We did not see how Allah (swt) created Adam (pbuh), rather we do see the death of the children of Adam. At death, the first thing that comes out of him is the last thing that entered him, so the soul comes out first which is the last to enter body after creation.
After the soul comes out of body, the corpse becomes stiff, then decomposes and becomes mud, then water evaporates from it and becomes dust, so we see the truthfulness of the words of Allah (swt) in the way Adam (pbuh) was created.
الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ {Who created you from one soul}: All people were created from one soul, all people are embedded in the soul of Adam (pbuh). Then from his sons all the people came to existence. Therefore, since all people are from one soul, no one should be arrogant over anyone, the Prophet (saws) said:
“Allah has removed the pride of Jahiliyyah from you and boasting about lineage. (A person is either) a pious believer or a miserable sinner, and the people are the children of Adam, and Adam is from dirt.”[1]
What equality in humanity is greater than this mentioned in the Qur’an and in the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad(saws)?!
وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا {and created from it its mate}: its mate was created from it of the same kind, so do not think that honoring is for Adam only, but for his wife Eve as well.
وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاء{and dispersed from both of them many men and women}: They did not gather in one place, but rather the creation spread in the earth. “Many” here describes just the men, this is one of the miracles of the Holy Qur’an; throughout history, there are more women in societies than men.
وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ {And fear Allah}: The verse began with: {fear your Lord}.
There is a difference between fear your Lord and fear Allah:
By {fear your Lord} Allah (swt) reminds man of the blessings that He (swt) bestowed upon him, and the Lord is the giver and the benefactor, and “Allah” is the One whose worship is required. So after they know that it was He Who created them and bestowed upon them, He (swt) commanded them to fear Him {And fear Allah}, that is, to abide by His commands.
الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ{And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship).}: When a person asks another person for something, he says to him: “By Allah”, and “I ask you by the womb (kinship) that connects you and me”. After talking about the creation of Allah (swt), He (swt) mentions the wombs because of its value. The Prophet (saws) said:
“The wombs will have tongues in the Day of Resurrection, saying: O my Lord, join those who joined me and sever those who severed me’!”[2]
Therefore, when Allah (swt) speaks about His worship, He immediately followed it with kindness to parents:
وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا
{And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], “uff,” and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word.} (Al-Israa: 23)
قُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَلاَّ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا
{Say, “Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited to you. [He commands] that you not associate anything with Him, and to parents, good treatment.} (Al-An’aam: 151)
وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ (13) وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَى وَهْنٍ وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ
{And [mention, O Muhammad], when Luqman said to his son while he was instructing him, “O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allah. Indeed, association [with him] is great injustice.” (13) And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.} (Luqman: 13-14)
The womb (kinship) includes the father, the mother, the brothers and the relatives. Verily, the one who is not good for his relatives will not be good for the rest of the people. Islam wants these relations to be integrated for how preserving the society is achieved if the family is separated and the relations of the wombs (kinship) is cut? Certainly, the ties of kinship must be joined, for that Allah (swt) does not accept charity if you have a relative in need and you give someone else; you must first support those around you, if every rich person spent on the poor from his relatives, we would not find needy people in society, and Allah (swt) when speaking about Ramadan says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (183) أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ فَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُ وَأَن تَصُومُواْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
{O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -184) [Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] – then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] – a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess – it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.} (Al-Baqara: 183-184)
If you are unable to fast, feed the poor, feed the needy, and when Allah (swt) says:
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ
{Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense?} (Al-Maa’un: 1)
Who denies the Recompense? What is he doing? What are his characteristics? Allah (swt) says;
فَذَلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ (2) وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ
{For that is the one who drives away the orphan. (2) And does not encourage the feeding of the poor.} (Al-Maa’un: 2-3)
No sane person on the earth can say: Islam is a religion of terrorism, extremism, cruelty and violence. Rather, it is a religion of kindness and care.
[1] Sunan at-Tirmidhi: Chapter of virtues, Section of the virtues of Bilad ash-Sham and Yemen, Hadith No.3955.
[2] Shu’ab al-Iman: 56th Section , Hadith No. 7936.