The first message is the one that was clarified through legislation, and it is the message for the believers (mu'minun). The believers are not the same as Muslims. However, the difference between a believer (mu'min) and a Muslim is not one of kind but one of degree. Not every believer is a Muslim, but every Muslim is a believer.
Islam is both a beginning and an end. Just as time and space are spiral in nature, so too are ideas. The one ascending through the stages of thought moves along a spiral path, rising higher with each turn upon himself. When a full cycle is completed from the point of origin, the diligent worshiper finds himself elevated above it. The end of that cycle resembles the beginning, yet it is not identical to it. Similarly, on the path of Islam the diligent worshiper ascends on a spiral journey, drawing ever nearer to its center the higher he rises toward its summit. With each complete turn upon himself in a cycle, he advances through seven stages - first Islam, then Faith (eiman), followed by Excellence (Ihsan), next the knowledge of certainty, then the vision of certainty, thereafter the truth of certainty, and finally, at the end of the cycle, Islam.
The nation of the first resurrection - the nation of the first message - its name is "the believers," strictly speaking; yet the name "Muslims," which is usually applied to it, was taken from the first Islam, and not, in truth, from the last Islam.
While reading the verse "Indeed, the religion with Allah is Islam," you must understand that it refers to the last Islam - not, in truth, the first Islam. The earlier Islam carried no exemplary lesson; it was that Islam which kept people safe from the sword. In its midst were men whose hearts were riddled with hypocrisy, their very beings entwined with a hatred for the Prophet and his Companions - a hatred so deeply concealed that it remained hidden even as their outward forms did not betray it. This is because the Infallible (Prophet) said: "I have been commanded to fight the people until they bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish prayer, and pay zakat. If they do so, they will have secured their blood and wealth from me, except by its due right, and their reckoning is with Allah."
Islam emerged between the two cities, Mecca and Medina. It began in Mecca; when it was defeated there, it migrated to Medina, where it triumphed. It was never meant to prevail in Mecca - and indeed, it did not. As the verse states, "And these are the parables which We present to the people, but none will understand them except those of knowledge."
It was not Islam that triumphed; rather, it was Faith that triumphed. Indeed, the Qur'an is divided into two parts - Faith and Islam - in the sense that its revelation is split between Medinan and Meccan. Each of these - the Medinan and the Meccan - has its own distinct characteristics, which can be traced back to the fact that the Medinan represents the stage of Faith, while the Meccan represents the stage of Islam.
Everything in which the address appears using the phrase "O you who believe" is of Medinan origin - except that which comes under the command of Surat al-Ḥajj. Similarly, every passage that mentions the hypocrites is Medinan, and all that includes references to Jihad or explanations of its meaning is Medinan. This is in addition to a number of other rules.
As for the Meccan, one of its guidelines is that every surah in which a prostration is mentioned is considered Meccan, and every surah that begins with the disjointed letters is Meccan - except for Surat al-Baqarah and al-Imran, which are Medinan. Similarly, every passage in which the address appears with either "O people" or "O children of Adam" is considered Meccan, except for Surat al-Nissaa and al-Baqarah, which are Medinan. In these exceptions, their opening sections begin with the verse "O people, fear your Lord" and their closing sections with the verse "O people, worship your Lord."
The irregularities in these guidelines between the Meccan and Medinan arise solely from the intermingling of Faith and Islam - for, as we have mentioned, every believer is a Muslim in the initial stage and not in the final stage, and every Muslim is a believer, and this will never cease.
The difference between the Meccan and Medinan is not one of the place or time of revelation, but rather a difference in the level of the addressees. In the phrase "O you who believe," it is addressed to a specific community, whereas in the phrase "O people" the address is universal. If you consider His verse: "There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves, to whom is [given] ample provision; he worries for you; so, let the believers have mercy on you" (9:128) and His verse: "Indeed, Allah is kind and merciful to the people" (9:128), and you notice a difference, then know that it is the difference between the believer and the Muslim - and this distinction marks the level of both addresses.
Furthermore, the discourse regarding the hypocrites appears in Medina and not in Mecca, even though the period of revelation in Mecca spanned thirteen years and in Medina ten years, or fewer. This is because in Mecca there were no hypocrites; the people were either true believers or polytheists. The use of force was never a means of propagating the message; rather, verses emphasizing tolerance were the norm at that time. Consider the verse: "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided" (16:125) and its sister verses, which are numerous.
And when the migration to Medina was completed, the verses of leniency were abrogated, and the ruling of the time shifted to the verse of the sword and its equivalents: "Then when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush. But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakat, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (9:5). Fear entered the realm of the call, forcing some souls into caution; they concealed one thing and declared another. Thus, hypocrisy found its way among the people. The mention and explanation of Jihad is one of the hallmarks of Medinan verses and requires no further explanation.
As for the Meccan criteria - such as the mention of prostration - this is because prostration is closer in nature to Islam than to Faith. In the narration of the Infallible (the Prophet) it is stated: "The closest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating" and in the Qur'an we find, "So prostrate and draw near." Within that phrase lies a profound secret concerning the journey toward the stations of servitude.
Another one of its criteria is that some surahs begin with disjointed letters. This is a significant category that contains the secret of the entire Qur'an. However, discussing it in detail exceeds the scope of this context. We will suffice with what we have already stated regarding the distinction between the two messages of Islam. The number of letters used in these openings is fourteen - which is half of the Arabic alphabet. With these, twenty-nine surahs are inaugurated in fourteen different patterns, which are: the combinations such as Alif Lam Meem (ألم), Alif Lam Meem Sad (المص), Alif Lam Ra (الر), Alif Lam Meem Ra (المر), Kaf Ha Ya Ayn Sad (كهيعص), Ta Ha (طه), Ta Seen Meem (طسم), Ta Seen (طس), Ya Seen (يس), Sad (ص), Ha Meem (حم), Ha Meem Ayn Seen Qaf (حم عسق), Qaf (ق), and Nun (ن). And all these combinations were followed by what indicates that they are the Qur'an. One clear explanation of this is found in the verse from Surat al-Baqarah: "Alif Lam Meem, that is the Book there is no doubt in it, a guidance for those conscious of Allah." (2:2–3). That is if you pause at "in it", On the other hand if you pause at "no doubt," then you would have the verse read as: "Alif Lam Meem, that is the Book there is no doubt, in it is a guidance for those conscious of Allah."
In each case, the reference is made to "Alif Lam Meem." And the meaning of "Harf" is that it refers to the edge, the blade, or the boundary of anything. For example, "harf al-jabal" (the edge of the mountain) refers to its sharp, defined peak.
Over the ages, the disjointed letters underwent profound changes, passing through very primitive forms long before they assumed their present shapes. This is because the need for writing arose simultaneously with the need for language - a necessity that preceded the need for custom, which we mentioned earlier when we noted that the earliest society formed around a custom that regulated the whims of the individual and imposed the care of certain boundaries, necessities in themselves. The need for a means of communication and the transmission of ideas emerged out of the imperative of living together in a society.
All kinds of animals felt the necessity of gathering together, but only the human being was able to secure what he needed, due to his capacity for "imitation" of the sounds of objects and living beings, as well as the mimicking of movements. This was facilitated by the upright posture, the dexterity of the hands and head, and the refinement of the vocal cords.
The emergence of language, the development of writing, and their steady evolution from simple, rudimentary beginnings to the near perfection we see in our modern era can be attributed to the unique human faculty of "imitation," a trait that sets humans apart from all other animals. Indeed, it is this very faculty that God endowed upon humanity which lies behind education and the mastery of skills. In order to perfect imitation, one must first thoroughly comprehend, in a complete intellectual manner, the things to be imitated; next, there must be coordination between the instruments of imitation and the mind - whether these instruments are the hands, the head, the face, or the eyes. It is through this considerable effort to harmonize the movements involved in imitation that credit is due for the unification of the mind and the body - a unification that remains incomplete and continues to progress steadily.
Although the need for writing emerged simultaneously with the need for language, it did not arise with the same urgency or necessity. The reference to it has sufficed for a long period of time. Writing began with the depiction of things - drawing the image of an animal to express it, or perhaps sketching an entire event intended to be conveyed to someone who had not witnessed it. The act of drawing animals was closely tied to hunting rituals, which were deeply rooted in beliefs and worship. It seems the hunter believed that capturing the image of the animal within the confines of their cave symbolically ensured their success in the hunt. This belief stemmed from an assumed connection between the image and the spirit.
Then understanding evolved, and the artist began to render only a specific part of the animal to represent the whole - such as drawing only the bull’s head instead of its entirety. Evolution continued, simplifying the images of objects and living beings until the present alphabetic letters emerged, from the vast expanse of time after a slow, prolonged development.
The number of disjointed letters varies among different languages. In our language, however, it is twenty-eight letters - beginning with alif and ending with ghayin - and in this regard, it is the most complete of languages.
When necessity drove the development of language, it also spurred the emergence of calculation. Early arithmetic was rudimentary and primitive, its foundations supported by - and even evoked by - the use of the fingers of the hands and feet. This phenomenon inspires reflection and wonder. Indeed, numbers have long been counted on one’s fingers, which is one of the reasons why the number ten became the basis for counting. The numerals we know today did not appear until long after an extended evolution from the primitive representations of numbers.
Due to the association of symbols, signs, and the transmission of expression - which links language and counting - the alphabet letters were employed in place of numbers from ancient times, as is familiar with the Roman numerals, a practice that had been preceded by the Greeks. This usage later spread to the Arabic language, where the first nine letters were designated to represent the nine single numbers; the tenth letter up to the eighteenth indicated the decimals; and from the nineteenth to the twenty-eighth represented the hundreds. In this system, the numeral corresponding to the end of the alphabet became "a thousand." This is what leads us to say that the Arabic language is the most complete, owing to the spiritual significance of the numeral "a thousand" as illustrated in the verse: "And if a day were like a thousand years as you count..." (22:47) or when it is stated, "Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind]. And what can make you know what is a blessed night? The blessed night is better than a thousand months..." (97:1–3) - which signifies a thousand years. And when it is said, "From Allah, the Possessor of the Ascents. The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years..." (70:4)
The entire Qur'an is structured hierarchically. It has a base and a peak, and it varies between the base and the peak in meanings that become subtler as they ascend toward the peak. It is a variation between good and better. At the peak of the Qur'an are the alphabetic letters with which some surahs begin, and these letters, in themselves, also have a pyramidal shape, varying between a base and a peak. The letters are divided into three levels: the numerical letters, the vocal letters, and the intellectual letters. The numerical letters refer to the familiar twenty-eight characters from which overt speech is formed. The vocal letters, however, are innumerable - they include both those sounds we can hear and others that are not perceptible to the senses, and they constitute the thoughts that arise in the conscious mind. As for the intellectual letters, they are the dominion of everything - they are the Words of Allah about which He, the Exalted, said, "Say, 'If the sea were ink for the Words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the Words of my Lord were exhausted, even if we brought the like of it as a supplement.'" (18:109)
From these intellectual letters arise the deepest thoughts concealed within the subconscious mind and the eternal, primordial reality - with religion marked on its margins. Furthermore, corresponding to the numerical letters, vocal letters, and intellectual letters is the indication found in the verse "And if you speak aloud, then He knows the secret and what is even more hidden" (10:61). Here, the overt speech aligns with the numerical letters, while the secret corresponds to the vocal letters. The intellectual letters, in turn, correspond to the "secret of secrets," which is expressed by the term "and what is even more hidden." Among these intellectual letters are those that cannot be heard except through the seventh sense.
These three levels are also indicated by His saying, the Exalted: "And the sounds have been humbled for the Most Merciful, so you hear only whispers" (57:1). This verse speaks to both the outward and the inward - that is, the speech of the tongue and of the innermost thought. As for the secret of the secret, it is found in His saying, the Exalted: "And [all] faces will be humbled before the Ever-Living, the Sustainer, and he will have failed who carries injustice" (20:111).
Here, injustice refers to hidden polytheism, which is the repression that has caused the human personality to split into a conscious mind and a subconscious mind, existing in a state of conflict and opposition.
We have already discussed repression earlier in this book, explaining that it is the result of fear. We stated that absolute individual freedom requires freedom from fear. For complete liberation from fear, society must be organized in such a way that an individual is assured security regarding his livelihood, is protected from an oppressive ruler, and is shielded from the rigidity and stubbornness of public opinion. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide the individual with a comprehensive understanding of his relationship with the environment and the true nature of the environment in which his ancestors lived - and in which he still lives - so that he may free himself from the psychological complexities that have accumulated in his subconscious and have been inherited submissively from the oppressive forces of ancient times.
We have already discussed the Qur'an’s inverse approach to teaching humans alongside its direct method as exemplified in the noble verse: "We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient that your Lord is a witness to all things?" (41:53). We stated that this means, in conduct, the diligent worshiper strives to forsake wrongful actions. At that stage, he may permit his "self" to commit slips of the tongue as a form of gradual adjustment, provided that he has already achieved steadfast effort at that level; he then moves on to giving up wrongful speech. Similarly, if he allows his self some leeway at that stage for transgressions of thoughts in the conscious mind - by permitting evil thoughts to wander - this, too, is a gradual approach for the self. Then, if his striving remains steadfast at this stage as well, he moves on to prohibiting the turbulence of conscious thoughts, and so on until he reaches the purification of subconscious thoughts. The heart is perfected, and in its clarity, it beholds the Almighty Allah. From that point on, the expelling method in teaching begins. The diligent worshiper then finds himself at peace with his self, with his Lord, and with all living beings and things. This is Islam at its pinnacle, as Allah, the Exalted, commanded the believers when He said, "O you who have believed, enter into submission completely and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy." (2:208). Here, "submission" refers to peace, and it signifies Islam at its highest level.