Life, and even humanity as a whole, in some ways have a curious resemblance to cellular structures - that is, there is a 'regenerative tendency' for one thing to get replaced by something that is better. At the smallest time-scale, when our cells, tissues, neurons, and various structures grow old or when they start to create problems for the body, they will naturally get replaced by other cells, tissues, etc. which are healthier and function better than what was replaced. At an intermediate scale, when we lose something from our lives, oftentimes Allah replaces that lost thing with something that is better. It can be a job, money, a person that we loved, a negative emotion that we are experiencing, or virtually anything - as Allah says: ‎يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ قُل لِّمَن فِىٓ أَيْدِيكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَسْرَىٰٓ إِن يَعْلَمِ ٱللَّهُ فِى قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْرًا يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْرًا مِّمَّآ أُخِذَ مِنكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ 'O Prophet! Tell the captives in your custody, 'If Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you. For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'' (8:70) At a much broader scale, similarly, entire nations, people, and large social entities can get replaced by others who are better than them in terms of their devotion to Allah, as Allah SWT says 'And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people. And they will not be like you' (47:38). And this is elaborated in the following verse where Allah says: ‎يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِۦ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِى ٱللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُۥٓ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ يُجَٰهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَآئِمٍ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ 'O you who believe! Whoever among you turns back from his religion, Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, stern toward disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. Such is the favor of Allah which He grants to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.' (5:54) For us, this is a reminder that is both a message of comfort and a message of warning. On one hand, it gives us a reason for hope in that it tells us that evil and oppressive social structures in this world (possibly even the corrupt elites within the Israeli government right now) can be replaced by others who are better than them. And Allah said that there were already many nations who were destroyed and replaced by others. On the other hand, these verses are a clear and direct warning for our own selves as well - to remain God-conscious and to never let go of it - because we are not necessarily exempt from this formidable rule, either. Yet as another hopeful reminder, through Allah SWT's Mercy, even our bad deeds can be replaced by good ones: ‎إِنَّ ٱلْحَسَنَٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّٰكِرِينَ '... Indeed, the good deeds remove the evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful.' (11:114) It's also interesting that the verb 'adhhaba' (أَذْهَبَ) which is used in the verse above to mean 'remove' the evil deeds is the same word that is used in other verses (4:133, 6:133, 14:19, and 35:16) where Allah says that He can 'remove' us and replace us with others who are better than us. Moving to a different angle, if we consider the revelations that were sent down since the beginning, likewise, the older revelations were replaced by the successive ones because they were lost, forgotten, or altered by man throughout the ages. And so Allah says about the Final Revelation: ‎وَأَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ 'We have revealed to you, (O Muhammad) the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a guardian over it.' (5:48) And Allah says in another verse: مَا نَنسَخْ مِنْ ءَايَةٍ أَوْ نُنسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِّنْهَآ أَوْ مِثْلِهَآ أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ 'We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one that is better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?' (2:106) And all of this, from the tiny cells in our bodies to our personal lives to entire nations and even to revelation itself, are evident signs of a wise design and that Allah SWT's Mercy operates at all levels within the cosmos.

·

5 Comments

to comment on this Reflection

MashaAllah.!

Related Reflections