Night and day, the seasons, and the earth's spin and tilt as among God's proofs open the issue, followed by essays on doubt about God and the Quran, how worship and the contact prayer bring certainty, and doubt as Satan's whispered arrow with a mathematical observation. A closing piece urges taking the Quran in its entirety as guide over human opinion. A contact prayer times app is announced.
The phrase, among His proofs, is repeated eleven times in the Quran (though the word "proof" is mentioned many, many times). God has shown us so many proofs: He says marriage is a proof:
Marriage: A Divine Institution
30:20-1 Among His proofs is that He created you from dust, then you became reproducing humans. Among His proofs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, in order to have tranquility and contentment with each other, and He placed in your hearts love and care towards your spouses. In this, there are sufficient proofs for people who think.
God tells us our differences are proofs: 30:22 Among His proofs are the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors. In these, there are signs for the knowledgeable.
Our sleeping and waking are proofs: Among His proofs is your sleeping during the night or the day, and your working in pursuit of His provisions. In this, there are sufficient proofs for people who can hear.
Things of this earth are among His proofs—the rain (41:39), the wind (30:46), the ships on the sea (42:32), the animals that roam the earth (42:29), the thunder and lightning (30:24), and the fact that the earth is awaiting God's call, standing at His disposal (30:25)
One of my favorite things from among His proofs is in 41:37:
Among His proofs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not prostrate before the sun, nor the moon; you shall fall prostrate before the GOD who created them, if you truly worship Him alone.
10:6 Surely, in the alternation of night and day, and what GOD created in the heavens and the earth, there are proofs for people who are righteous.
If we just look at the phenomenon of day and night, we can marvel at the greatness of God. God created the night and the day (21:33) from nothing. His system is that the earth is always half in darkness and half in light. When you fly internationally, you can often watch the flight map, showing where the night is overtaking the day or vice versa.
And you have to pay attention to be sure you get your prayers in on time! In winter, we in the northern hemisphere have less day and more night, while places like Australia are enjoying long days. Then as the earth rotates on its axis, it slowly shifts. The days of February begin to be noticeably longer and by May and June, we are having longer hotter days and places like Alaska and Sweden hardly see night at all.
It's a great gift. Think how dull life would be without the change of seasons.
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Among His Proofs: Night and Day
We measure time and activities by the longer days for planting and harvesting and the shorter colder days for indoor activities. We enjoy a summer swim, a winter sleigh ride, spring flowers and autumn leaf colors. All of this God has made possible for us, and He tells us it's among His proofs.
Under the subtitle—Infinite Blessings From God—He lets us know that this is the system He created. He could have created a different system, and that would be all we know.
25:45 Have you not seen how your Lord designed the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it fixed,
then we would have designed the sun accordingly. 25:46 But we designed it to move slowly. 25:47 He is the One who designed the night to be a cover, and for you to sleep and rest. And He made the day a resurrection.
The amazing shape of the planet earth— 79:30 He made the earth egg-shaped— and its position are the reasons we have night and day and seasons to enjoy. Not only is the earth not completely round, but it is also tilted on an axis. As it spins at a speed of some 1000 mph, it is also orbiting the sun at about 67000 mph. This produces our 24-hour day and our 365-day year. All part of God's amazing plan.
If the earth didn't spin, then half the earth would always be daytime with half always night. 28:71 Say, "What if GOD made the night perpetual, until the Day of Resurrection? Which god, other than GOD, can provide you with light? Do you not hear?"
28:72 Say, "What if GOD made the daylight perpetual, until the Day of Resurrection? Which god, other than GOD, can provide you with a night for your rest? Do you not see?" And God follows that in 28:73 by saying that it's mercy from Him that He created the night and the day.
What if the earth stopped spinning suddenly? The atmosphere would keep racing along and all the earth's surface would be swept clean of everything. No houses, no trees, no people, nothing. But God keeps it spinning and rotating. Although it's been observed that the cycle is getting slower with time.
The tidal effects of the moon are making days longer. According to atomic clocks, the modern day is about 1.7 milliseconds longer than it was a century ago. It doesn't seem that we need to worry at this point.
All we need to do is appreciate this blessing from God, this gift of night and day. How beautiful it is to have the sun set with the clouds showing brilliant colors as gradually the light fades and darkness comes. When we turn a switch in a dark room, it's immediately bathed with bright light, and when you turn it off, it goes immediately dark. It's so much nicer to enjoy the measured change as day merges into night.
31:29 Do you not realize that GOD merges the night into the day and merges the day into the night, and that He has committed the sun and the moon in your service, each running in its orbit for a specific life span, and that GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do?
35:13 He merges the night into the day, and merges the day into the night. He has committed the sun and the moon to run for a predetermined period of time.
Such is GOD your Lord; to Him belongs all kingship. Any idols you set up beside Him do not possess as much as a seed's shell.
39:5 He created the heavens and the earth truthfully. He rolls the night over the day, and rolls the day over the night. He committed the sun and the moon, each running for a finite period. Absolutely, He is the Almighty, the Forgiving.
10:67 He is the One who rendered the night for your rest, and rendered the day lighted. These are proofs for people who can hear.
12:105 So many proofs in the heavens and the earth are given to them, but they pass by them, heedlessly!
Every time we come across the verses that remind us of God's proofs, we need to appreciate them. Truly everything in this world is "among His proofs." Let us never be heedless.
Lydia
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Doubt
Humans have many doubts. One of the common doubts Is about God's existence.
Agnostics are not sure if there is a God and atheists deny the existence of God.
14:10 Their messengers said, "Do you have doubts about GOD; the Initiator of the heavens and the earth? He invites you only to forgive your sins, and to give you another chance to redeem yourselves."
We need to consider how we can deal with people's doubts.
8:49 The hypocrites and those who harbored doubt in their hearts said, "These people are deceived by their religion." However, if one puts his trust in GOD, then GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.
Often my argument with atheists is that everyone has a god. For the majority it is their ego that blocks them from believing in God. The Quran reminds us we can just trust that God guides those who deserve the guidance, and we cannot guide anyone.
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Doubt
28:56 You cannot guide the ones you love. GOD is the only One who guides in accordance with His will, and in accordance with His knowledge of those who deserve the guidance.
Another common doubt people have is about revelations being from God. Sometimes you hear parents tell their children to do something "because I told you so." God could have said that to us. He could have said just to trust Him blindly. Instead, He sends us messengers with proof who do not ask for any wage. He shows us signs all around us. And He sends scripture. And even more than that, He has given us irrefutable proof that the Quran is divine.
The Quran's Mathematical Code
11:17 As for those who are given solid proof from their Lord, reported by a witness from Him, and before it, the book of Moses has set a precedent and a mercy, they will surely believe. As for those who disbelieve among the various groups, Hell is awaiting them. Do not harbor any doubt; this is the truth from your Lord, but most people disbelieve.
The opposite of doubt is certainty:
Certainty about the hereafter
2:4 And they believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you, and with regard to the Hereafter, they are absolutely certain. 2:5 These are guided by their Lord; these are the winners.
Certainty about God's laws
5:50 Is it the law of the days of ignorance that they seek to uphold? Whose law is better than GOD's for those who have attained certainty?
Certainty about meeting your Lord
13:2 GOD is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see, then assumed all authority. He committed the sun and the moon, each running (in its orbit)
for a predetermined period. He controls all things, and explains the revelations, that you may attain certainty about meeting your Lord.
But how does this certainty come? it's not like one day you wake up and you are enlightened. The practices help us know God. 15:98-9 You shall sing the praises of your Lord, and be with the prostrators. And worship your Lord, in order to attain certainty.
6:162 Say, "My Contact Prayers (Salat), my worship practices, my life and my death, are all devoted absolutely to GOD alone, the Lord of the universe.
24:56 You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and obey the messenger, that you may attain mercy.
98:5 All that was asked of them was to worship GOD, devoting the religion absolutely to Him alone, observe the contact prayers (Salat), and give the obligatory charity (Zakat). Such is the perfect religion.
Through these practices, through our increased understanding, God grants us certainty. May God help us to worship Him alone and attain certainty and graduate to becoming believers from submitters, God willing.
49:15 Mu'mens (believers) are those who believe in GOD and His messenger, then attain the status of having no doubt whatsoever, and strive with their money and their lives in the cause of GOD. These are the truthful ones.
Noorjahan
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Contact Prayers (Salat) times calculator app
4:103... the Contact Prayers (Salat) are decreed for the believers at specific times.
By God's grace, we have a Contact Prayers (Salat) time calculator app available.
Please visit:
https://www.masjidtucson.org/salat/app/
Doubt: Satan's Arrow
Have you ever doubted a decision you made, a word you said, or even yourself?
Doubt is an arrow Satan shoots into the people's hearts and minds to make them doubt their beliefs. Once it penetrates the heart, it spreads its poison. I believe Satan promised God he would do this in: 7:16 I will skulk for them on Your straight path.
How does Satan do this? How can he hurt the heart of a believer? He targets the hearts and minds with evil whispers.
114:4 "From the evils of sneaky whisperers. 114:5 "Who whisper into the chests of the people.
These whispers are poisonous, because they carry evil in them. Therefore, they are like weapons that Satan shoots into our hearts and minds, and we must beware of them. God Almighty gives us mathematically coded phrases to be protected from Satan: 23:97 Say, "My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the whispers of the devils.
23:98 "And I seek refuge in You, my Lord, lest they come near me."
Not only are the whispers evil, but they are sneaky, meaning they fold into your thoughts as if they were your own, but they are not your own. Satan is most cunning in that he tries to mimic our own thought patterns against us. He presents his blasphemies the same way our own thoughts appear to us, sneakily and gently, like a whisper. However, his whispers lead down the path of disbelief, disobedience, and ultimately hell.
In fact, it is such a serious matter, that God includes a commandment not to be with doubters, similar to the way He gives us commandments to avoid disbelief and unappreciativeness.
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Doubt: Satan's Arrow
3:156 O you who believe, do not be like those who disbelieved
10:95 Nor shall you join those who rejected GOD's revelations, lest you be with the losers.
God warns us against disbelief, unappreciation, AND doubt!
Mathematically, I found Satan's promise of leading us astray is connected to causing us to doubt our own beliefs:
لهم
+ ابليس
+ ريب +
تفكيرهم +
قلبهم +
لاقعدن
(their hearts) + (their thinking) + doubt + Satan + (I will skulk for them) = 1577 = 19x83
The righteous way of thinking is the jewel of who we are; it is central to who we are as souls. Therefore, Satan will do his utmost to separate you from who you are, i.e., your thinking, your beliefs, and your heart. Therefore, we need to be vigilant in protecting our righteous beliefs by seeking refuge in God, e.g., 23:97-98, and reminding ourselves:
this is what I am commanded to believe (6:161-3), this is how I, myself see the world, and this is my relationship with God. No one else has any place in the middle, certainly not Satan's sneaky whispers. This is first and foremost, of course, a reminder for me! May GOD continue to guide us in the right path.
Abeer
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Quran is our Guide
A common spiritual misstep is to embrace human opinions and limited perspective when deciding which parts of God's Word are relevant in today's world, rather than accepting the Quran in its entirety—clear, fully detailed, and free from ambiguity—as our "Soul Guide." By doing this, we elevate the words of mere mortals—be they scholars, online influencers, or the many voices within our faith communities—to an authority that belongs to God alone. Thus we forget that God has no partners.
The solution is not to conform to the world, but to conform our hearts to God's Word. Submission means allowing the Quran to shape our understanding, desires, and actions—so that we can live faithfully in the world without being of the world.
This begins by changing the questions we ask:
Not: "How can I interpret this verse to fit my paradigm?"
But: "In this verse, what does God require of me as one who submits to Him alone?"
About this work
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International Community of Submitters
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International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson