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Some Secrets of the Qur'an: God Bestows Understanding on Those Who Fear Him

Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. God Answers Everyone's Prayers
  3. God Increases His Blessings on Those Who are Grateful
  4. Secrets of Submission to One's Fate and Putting One's Trust in God
  5. There is Good in Every Event
  6. There is Surely Ease with Every Difficulty
  7. God Obscures the Comprehension of Disbelievers
  8. God Bestows Understanding on Those Who Fear Him
  9. Those Who Do Good Meet Goodness
  10. There is Light in Believers' Faces, but Disgrace in Those of Disbelievers
  11. The Secret that God Erases Bad Actions
  12. Divine Purposes in Spending in God's Way
  13. The Effect of Good Actions and Good Words
  14. God Certainly Helps Those Who Help His Religion
  15. Quarrelling Causes Loss of Strength
  16. Only in the Remembrance of God Do Hearts Find Satisfaction
  17. The Cunning of Satan is Weak
  18. Obeying the Majority Misleads Man from the Right Path
  19. Secrets in the Expansion and Diminishing of Blessings
  20. Obedience to the Messenger is Obedience to God
  21. A Small Group of Believers Can Overcome a Vast Majority of Disbelievers
  22. God Makes His Religion Supreme When One Worships Him Alone
  23. The Life of the World is in Fact Very Brief
  24. God Casts Dread into the Hearts of Disbelievers
  25. Wisdom and Decisive Speaking are Blessings from God
  26. Man Will Also Account for His Thoughts and Intentions
  27. It is God Who Places Love in People's Hearts
  28. The Deaths of Disbelievers and Believers Will Not be the Same
  29. Prayer Keeps Man Away from Evil
  30. Those Who are Killed in the Way of God are Not Dead
  31. God is the Giver of Honour
  32. Secrets of Finding the Straight Path
  33. Man's Inner Self Commands Evil Acts
  34. Secrets of Abundance and the Wealth Given to People
  35. The Secret of Why God Does Not Immediately Punish the Disbelievers
  36. Conclusion

Another secret revealed in the Qur'an is that God gives those who fear Him the ability to judge and discriminate between right and wrong. It is referred to as "wisdom". God relates this secret in Surat al-Anfal as follows:

You who believe! If you have fear of God, He will give you a criterion (by which to judge between right and wrong) and erase your bad actions from you and forgive you. God's favour is indeed immense.

Surat al-Anfal: 29

As explained in the previous chapter, God obscures the wisdom and comprehension of disbelievers. These people, no matter how intelligent they may be, cannot grasp even the most obvious concepts pertaining to religion. Wisdom is an attribute peculiar to believers. The majority of people take it for granted that intelligence and wisdom mean very much the same thing. However, intelligence is the mental capacity that everyone possesses. For example, being an atomic scientist or a mathematical genius indicates intelligence. Wisdom, on the other hand, is the consequence of the fear a person has for God and the adherence to the conscience, and is by no means related to intelligence. A person may be very intelligent, yet he remains unwise if he has no fear of God.

Therefore, wisdom is a blessing God bestows on believers. Those deprived of such understanding is not even aware of their situation. For instance, those who assume they are the source of power and possessions, become arrogant. This is simply an indication of lack of wisdom. Because if there is wisdom, there is the realisation that nothing is as powerful as the Will of God. This awareness would ultimately lead one to conduct oneself with humility. This person, however, does not think that, if God wills, all his property can be reduced to insignificance in a few seconds, or that he can face death, leaving everything behind in the world and stand by the fire to receive reckoning. All these are more certain and real than what one possesses in this world. Only believers, who fear God, have this understanding, and do not drift toward the deceitful nature of the life of this world. They spend their lives knowing the real essence of things. God bestows understanding on the believers through their faith. As they feel closer to God, their comprehension deepens and they become more cognisant of the secrets in God's creation.