Commitment of Souls
Question:
In Quran, Allah says: "Remember when your Lord brought forth offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, Am I not your Lord? They replied, We bear witness that You are. This He did, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, We had no knowledge of that." But in this world we do not remember that oath so how that commitment is valid for human now and Allah knows that we do not remember it than why Allah says "Remember!".
Answer:
The verse that you are referring to is as follows:
وَ إِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَني آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَ أَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَ لَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قالُوا بَلى شَهِدْنا أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هذا غافِلين
“And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection Surely we were heedless of this” (7:172)
As you can see there is no mention of ‘remembering’ in the verse. Some writers translate 'و اذا' as 'And Remember', which is not an accurate translation. The phrase simply means 'And When'.
The verse is mentioning a fact. Yes we do not remember it. however the fact, based on the Qur’an, remains that we did it.
We do not know exactly in what way this question and answer took place. It is also possible that the verse is wholly or partially using a symbolic language. However what it implies is that appreciation of the Almighty as our one and only Lord is something that is inbuilt in us. Human being can never claim that appreciation of God as the Lord was something beyond his intellect. Yes, it is possible that a person under the influence of the environment surrounding him or a dominating mind set of his time may not find the existence of God to be a clear fact. However as evident from this verse and some other verses of the Qur’an (like 30:30) in the absence of mental barriers that can cloud the intellect of a person, appreciating the creator and the Lord is but obvious.
As a side note, not totally relevant but something that may help with thinking about the above:
You do not remember your mother giving you a birth, yet, you appreciate her as your mother.
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May 2013
In Quran, Allah says: "Remember when your Lord brought forth offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, Am I not your Lord? They replied, We bear witness that You are. This He did, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, We had no knowledge of that." But in this world we do not remember that oath so how that commitment is valid for human now and Allah knows that we do not remember it than why Allah says "Remember!".
Answer:
The verse that you are referring to is as follows:
وَ إِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَني آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَ أَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَ لَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قالُوا بَلى شَهِدْنا أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هذا غافِلين
“And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection Surely we were heedless of this” (7:172)
As you can see there is no mention of ‘remembering’ in the verse. Some writers translate 'و اذا' as 'And Remember', which is not an accurate translation. The phrase simply means 'And When'.
The verse is mentioning a fact. Yes we do not remember it. however the fact, based on the Qur’an, remains that we did it.
We do not know exactly in what way this question and answer took place. It is also possible that the verse is wholly or partially using a symbolic language. However what it implies is that appreciation of the Almighty as our one and only Lord is something that is inbuilt in us. Human being can never claim that appreciation of God as the Lord was something beyond his intellect. Yes, it is possible that a person under the influence of the environment surrounding him or a dominating mind set of his time may not find the existence of God to be a clear fact. However as evident from this verse and some other verses of the Qur’an (like 30:30) in the absence of mental barriers that can cloud the intellect of a person, appreciating the creator and the Lord is but obvious.
As a side note, not totally relevant but something that may help with thinking about the above:
You do not remember your mother giving you a birth, yet, you appreciate her as your mother.
-------------
May 2013
