The example of Allah’s light

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.” Surah An-Nur, ayah 35

 

This ayah is just one of those ayahs in the Quran that describes an example. In many places of the Quran Allah will describe something for us to imagine and teach us a lesson through it. So what are we learning from this ayah?

Before telling us the example, Allah says that He is the light of the heavens and the earth. So before we go to the example, we must know the importance of light. Because Allah is describing Himself, Subhaanahu wata’aala as light. So why is light important? For a number of reasons. One is that we won’t be able to see the world around us, without light. No matter how beautiful the world around us is, we won’t be able to see it. Its important for us to note how we are able to see. For us to be able to see, there should be two lights. The light of the eyes and the light on the outside. If you have light of the eyes, meaning you have functioning eyes, and light in your surrounding you will be able to see. If any of those 2 lights are missing, you won’t be able to see. If you have functioning eyes but there is no light around you, you are as good as blind. And if you have light in your surroundings but your eyes are not functioning, then also you wouldn’t be able to see.

 

Now that was about physical light. The light that we can experience with our senses. But then there is a spiritual light, inside of our chests. That is none other than the “rooh” (the soul) that Allah put inside of us when we were in the wombs of our mothers. And for this “rooh” to be able to ‘see’ the reality around it clearly, it needs a spiritual light from an outside source. Just like our eyes need a light from an outside source for it to be able to see. So what is the spiritual light from an outside source that will make our “rooh” be clear of the reality around it? I will tell you about that by the end of the example that Allah describes In Sha Allah.

 

This example basically describes a niche within which is a lamp. A niche is like an indent in the wall in which the lamp is kept so that its light will reflect to the entire house or a room (if you have a hard time imagining, search images of lamp inside a niche before continuing). The ayah further describes that this lamp is inside a glass. And the lamp is so bright that even the glass that is covering it looks like a shining bright star. Then the ayah describes the oil with which the lamp is lit. It mentions that the oil comes from an olive tree. And lets us know that that oil comes from a tree that is neither east nor west. This means that this tree gets a lot of sunlight throughout the day. And trees that get sunlight like that produce the most refined kind of oil. Its so refined that Allah describes that it would almost glow even if fire hasn’t touched it.

 

So what does all of this mean? Let’s walk our way back and think of the niche. If you saw a picture of a niche you would know that it actually has the shape of our rib cage inside of our chests. And inside that niche Allah put a lamp. That is the example for our heart inside the rib cage. And inside that heart, Allah put a fuel, that is so refined and perfect and could not have come from anywhere except being in the light of Allah, in the company of Allah for a very long time, just like the tree that was exposed to the light of the sun throughout the day. And this fuel is the example for the rooh that Allah put inside of our hearts. Our roohs were in the company of Allah since the creation of our father Adam (AS) until Allah decided for each of us that our roohs will be put inside the wombs of our mothers. And this is why this fuel is so pure that it wants to glow even if the fire has not touched it. The very next words of the ayah describe the fuel catching it’s light. Noorun ‘alaa noor. Light upon light. What light did the fuel get lit up with? What is that spiritual light from an outside source? That is none other than the Word of Allah, the Quran itself. Because the other name of Quran in the Quran itself is “Noor”.

 

So when our rooh comes into contact with the Quran, it just gets lit up! It’s able to see reality for what it is. It’s able to differentiate right from wrong clearly. Its so bright that it just spreads its light and its goodness to the people around it. That’s what we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be a source of light, in these dark times. Now the question is, why aren’t people benefitting from us if we have light inside of us? There can be 2 reasons. One is that you haven’t been lit up yet because you haven’t come across the brilliant light from the outside (the Quran). Or it could be the glass around the lamp is getting dirty. As the days pass by the glass will have black dots and it needs to be cleaned. What do we know about sins from Rasool (SAW)? Whenever we sin, a dark spot appears on our heart. And it can only be cleaned by doing a good deed and making tawba. Our glasses need to be cleaned at least 5 times a day. With the 5 prayers and more times with other good deeds.

 

Crazy what we can learn from a lamp isn’t it? But that’s how the Word of Allah is. He is the All Knowing. He does not need an example. But He swt describes examples just so that we think. And so that we can remember.

 

May Allah make us of those who get lit up by the Light sent down by our Master. Ameen!