Day 12
Knowledge to Action
When you practice your علم, you turn it into عمل, leading to لمع (illumination)—knowledge to practice to illumination.
Our quest is to transform our accumulated knowledge into daily practice, creating a harmonious blend of learning and application, as beautifully encapsulated in the essence of Surah Al-Fatiha.
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Welcome to day 12 of Be Quranic, where we take short passages from the Quran daily, extract practical lessons, and apply them to our daily lives to be more Quranic.
InshaAllah, today we continue our study of Surah Al-Fatiha and will complete the seventh ayah, the last ayah of this Surah. Yesterday we stopped at "Siratal Ladhina An'amta Alayhim." Today, we continue, with Allah in His infinite mercy telling us precisely where we need to go and how to get there.
He tells us we're heading through the straight path. How do we go to the straight path? Follow the footsteps of those people that Allah is pleased with. So today, Allah is saying, "But do not follow those people that Allah is angry at or has shown His anger towards."
The beauty of this Surah is that it tells us where to go, how to get there, what to do, and what not to do—a complete package of guidance. "Magdoubi Alayhim," commonly translated as people that Allah is angry at, and "Waladhaalleen," those who are lost or misguided, raise the question: who are these people?
There is an athar from Ibn Abbas that said this refers to the Jews and the Christians. However, when Muslims read this, it might seem as if staying a Muslim ensures being on the straight path. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. If Allah wanted to say Jews or Christians, He would have specifically named them. Instead, He used مغضوب عليهم والضّاليين.
What we understand from Jews and Christians is that there are certain characteristics inherent within the Jewish population in Medina around the Prophet (مغضوب عليهم) and certain traits among the Christians (الضاليين) that the Prophet interacted with. It's not just because they were Jews or Christians; it's certain traits we are supposed to avoid.
Let's look at the Jews and how they are addressed in the Quran. Known as أهل الكتاب and الأحبار, they had so much scholarship that they were called the people of the ink. The problem with the Jews is that they know the truth, know what is right and wrong, and choose not to practice it. These are the people that Allah is angry at. The Christians, on the other hand, are clueless about what is right and wrong. Without the sharia, they don't have halal and haram, yet they try to attain Allah's pleasure through their own inventions like monastic practices and the trinity, making them الضاليين.
This concept of علم (knowledge) and عمل (practice) is beautifully represented in Surah Al-Fatiha. Some ayahs talk about knowledge, some about practice. The entire surah embodies this balance of knowledge and action: مغضوب عليهم are people who have knowledge but no action; الضاليين are those who have action without knowledge. أنعمت عليهم are those who combine both.
Today's quest is to translate the knowledge learned in the past 11 days into practice. Review the lessons, create a to-do list, and check off each day as you apply this knowledge. For success, we need both knowledge (العلم) and practice (العمل). Notice the beauty of the Arabic language: علم and عمل
have the same letters in a different arrangement. When you practice your علم, you turn it into عمل, leading to لمع (illumination)—knowledge to practice to illumination.