It is very rare for man to voluntarily reflect on his nature vis a vis the natures of other creatures around him that are jointly called environment. Perhaps creating a reminder to that effect is one of the reasons why the divine revelation of the Qur’an to mankind, through Prophet Muhammad (SAW), started in the sacred month called Ramadan in 610 CE.
If man had imbibed the culture of reflecting on the purpose of his existence on earth from time to time, he would have probably discovered that his life is a pilgrimage from the unknown to the unknown.
At least, no man knows whence he emanated and whither he is bound. But the undeniable reality is that man lives in one womb or the other from his birth to his death and there is no escaping any stage except by accident. Each stage of those wombs has a specific identity that confirms the immortality of man as well as the ephemerality of life. The natural seed embodied in man’s male gender called spam is mysteriously encapsulated in an invisible pearl kept in the unconscious custody of man. That pearl is a womb.
And when the seed in it is consciously planted in a fertile soil of a female gender it automatically finds its temporary abode in an incubator that is also a womb.
In each of these wombs, man is given a name that is neither peculiar nor permanent. While inside a male gender, he is called spam. When he is transferred into a female womb he is renamed foetus. And as soon as he is born into the world he becomes a baby. Yet, the pilgrimage goes on.
When the baby grows up to the stage of running around he is called a kid. And between the ages of ten and twenty he becomes a teenager or an adolescent.
As soon as he attains adulthood and marries a spouse he becomes a husband while his spouse becomes a wife.
When the couple begins to bear children the spouses take new names. The one becomes a father while the other becomes a mother. And their parents are called inlaws. Yet, the cycle of life does not end there. When their own children begin to breed children, they become grand pa or grand ma. Then, the next stage is transition from the living to the demised which will finally lead him to lying lifelessly in the final womb that called the grave.
The essence of Tafsir in this case is to be adequately tutored on how to cape with the situation of every womb. And the best time for such tutorial is the month of Ramadan.
The Qur’an was revealed in coded language while Tafsir serves as its decoder. And the impact of both on man is constant reflection that can crave the indulgence of Allah through an act of piety. Ramadan Karim and ‘Eid Mubarak in advance!
NB: Please, keep date with The Point Newspaper weekly as this column becomes ‘THE RENAISSANCE’ after Ramadan and you will not regret doing so.
