Nūr/Light

In The Name Of God

An-Nahl - Verse 89: "We have revealed to you the Book as an explanation of all things and a guide.."

How to get Nūr?

To answer this question one must recognize that there is a whole Sūrah in the Qur'ān titled as "Sūrah an-Nūr"

We as Muslims should first go to the Qur'ān to look for an answer and guidance, because the Qur'ān declares of itself that it can explain 'everything' and it is a 'guide'. And we know, nothing in the Qur'ān is by accident hence it is the Wisdom of Allāh that He chose to name this Sūrah as Sūrah of Nūr/Light.

In Sha Allah, I'm writing this as an answer to that question and my primary source will be the Qur'ān (Sūrah an-Nūr in particular) and I'll also use Hadīths to further elaborate the process of getting the Nūr of Allāh.

Please have patience and do read the whole, it shall be informative and interesting, In Sha Allah

What is Nūr?

Nūr can be simply referred to the Light of Allāh.

And Nūr is something which is present in the spiritual reality.

Why is Nūr important?

Nūr is necessary for guidance and to penetrate the reality of things (especially in these dark times). We know we live in a Dajjālic world where everything is a deception, the apparent is totally different from the reality, so without the Nūr we won't be able to dig out the Truth.

Nūr is important in this world and in the hereafter as well (the bridge of Sirāt is covered with darkness and people need the Nūr to cross it, those who don't have the Nūr in dunya will not have the Nūr in Ākhirah)

Nabī Muhammad ﷺ said : Ittakū firāsatal Mu'min, fa innahu yanziru bi Nūrillah

Fear the believer’s spiritual vision/intuition, for indeed he sees with the Nūr of Allāh.

Sunan al-Tirmidhī 3127

Well, we now come to the question, How to get that Nūr?

"The journey of getting the Nūr of Allāh begins with water and ends at water."

- Sheikh Imran Hosein (may Allāh preserve him)

I'll elaborate this in the later part of this article...

We proceed with the Qur'ān, in particular Sūrah Nūr

• Sūrah An Nūr starts with reminding us of Zina (fornication) and it warns the fornicator of a severe punishment.

Since zina is pointed out at the beginning of the Sūrah, we can derive from it that the primary and the major reason of losing one's Nūr is committing Zina. As Sheikh Imran has also stated that "If you commit zina then whatever Nūr you have inside of you will vanish and you'll be left with darkness." So, in order to be saved from losing one's Nūr, he/she should stay away from zina.

I also want to bring your attention to all the types of sins that Allāh has mentioned in this Sūrah and relate them to be the cause for losing one's Nūr, those sins include "lying, Fahhāsh/immorality, slandering, shirk, kufr, fisq (constantly sinning), nifaaq (hypocrisy), immodesty"

Allāh also commands the believers to lower their gaze & informs that lowering our gaze is purer for us. Allāh also mentions of Zakāh a couple of times in this Sūrah, so we can relate that holding the Zakāh (not giving the Zakāh which is due on a person) will also lead to darkness of the heart (no Nūr) and Allāh also mentions the "diseased hearts" in this Sūrah.

On the contrary, Allāh reminds us to be forgiving, repenting, fearful of Him and to pray and to remember Him often, we can relate these to be the means of obtaining the Nūr of Allāh.

As Allāh mentions in āyah 35 of the same Sūrah (One of the most beautiful verses in the Qur'ān), wherein He azzawajal gives an example of a lamp and relates it with Nūr, the lamp should have oil in order to be lit, so the heart (which is like a container/lamp) should have all those qualities (oil) in order to recieve the Light/Nūr from Allāh.

"The journey/process of getting the Nūr of Allāh starts with water and ends with water."

- SINH

Nabī Muhammad ﷺ linked wudū with Nūr : It was said, “O Messenger of Allah, how will you recognize those you have never seen from your nation?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Radiant streaks upon their limbs from the traces of wudū.” Sunan Ibn Mājah 284

The Prophet ﷺ said مِفْتَاحُ الصَّلَاةِ الْوُضُوءُ The key to Salāh is wudū

Sunan Tirmidhī 4

It is also narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said : "As Salātu Mi'rāj ul Mu'min (Salāh is the Mi'rāj [ascension to the heavens and Arsh] of a Mu'min)"

The source of this Hadīth is untraceable but can be supported by the Qur'ān and other authentic Ahadith as the Qur'ān says 'The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.' 20 : 5 and the Prophet ﷺ said that 'You are in the Presence of Allāh during the Salah' narrated by Bukhārī.

The Prophet ﷺ has also been reported to have said : As Salātu Nūru (Salāh is Nūr)

Muslim 223

& He said : “If one of you is in Salāh, let him not spit in front of himself, for Allāh is in front of him as he offers his Salāh.” Bukhārī 398, Muslim 547

So while we offer our Salāh we are in Allāh's presence (directly present in front of Allāh, The Most High).

Well, how can we explain this?

As we know Sūrah Fātiha means the chapter of opening, Fātiha basically means an "opener"

Obviously Allāh didn't name any Sūrah without any reason or wisdom! So Fātiha (an opener) for what?

Our answer is that, It's an opener to the Qur'ān, we say whenever a person wishes to recite the Qur'ān, they should first recite Sūrah Al Fātiha and then whatever they wish to recite from the Qur'ān (Al Hijr 15:87)

But we are also required to recite Sūrah Fātiha in each rak'ah and that it is one of the pillars of the Salāh said the Prophet ﷺ.

Bukhārī 714

Let's take a dive into this, Allāh says, Al-Baqarah 2:29

He is the One Who created everything in the earth for you. Then He turned towards the heaven, forming it into seven heavens. And He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things. (although the word sama doesn't translate as "heaven" but still, let us use it to understand the explanation)

Allāh informs that there are "seven heavens" and Sūrah Fātiha also consists of "seven āyahs" We drive from it that, since Sūrah Fātiha is an opener, all the seven āyahs of Sūrah Fātiha function as keys to the seven heavens (each āyah is a key to a heaven, first āyah is the key to the first heaven and last i.e., 7th āyah is the key to the 7th heaven), so each āyah takes you to another heaven, as Nabī Muhammad ﷺ said "Salāh is Ascension"

and what comes after the 7th heaven?

ARSH (The Throne of Allāh)

After you've recited the Fātiha (in your Salāh), you are now on the Arsh of Allāh and hence in front of Allāh, in His presence. (Bukhārī 398, Muslim 547)

I would also like to remind the reader that, The Arsh of Allāh is on "Water"

Qur'ān 11:7, "And His Throne had been upon water"

Tidbits : Water is a creation of Allāh that existed before the creation of the heavens and the earth, so water must play a very significant role in a one's life and Allāh also informs that He created every living thing from water.

Our conclusion is that, wudū is the key to Salāh and Salāh is the key to travel to the Arsh of Allāh and Wudū is linked with Nūr and Salāh is also Nūr, so if wudū and Salāh are not performed properly then we cannot get the Nūr.

Sūrah Nūr also commands us to "Obey The Messenger ﷺ"

• So, wudū is to be done as taught by the Prophet ﷺ (he only used about 1 litre of water to perform wudū, Bukārī) and the Prophet ﷺ warned us not to do isrāf of water while performing wudū (he also warned not to waste water outside of wudū, Musnad Ahmed)

• Salāh is to be done with Khush'ū and Khuz'ū only then you'll be able to ascend to the heavens & to the Arsh.

The Tap Water Wudu'

Majority of the Masajid around the world use taps for Wudu. If one is not careful while making Wudu through a tap then they might end up wasting around 3-5ltrs of water in the process, which in return corrupts their Wudu. It's sad to see that most of the Muslims no longer perform their Wudu in accordance with the Sunnah of Nabi Muhammad 'alaihissalām, they perform it in accordance with the Gog and Magog i.e., 'the excess use of water /wasting water'. Unfortunately even our Ulema perform their Wudu this way.

What we generally do is, we open the tap and while we are rinsing, we let the water continue to flow from the tap, while we wash our face and limbs the water continues to flow from the tap for no reason, while we do the Masah of our head, the tap is still open!

Will this kind of wudu which wastes so much water, a Wudu which is contrary to the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet, a valid Wudu?

Lo! we warn you.

"And We have sent down water from the sky in a measured amount and settled it in the earth. And indeed, We are Able to take it away." 23:18:

That's where we should be careful, wudū is linked with the Nūr, and if there's no proper wudū, then there's no Nūr.

"Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess." 6:141

Hence the summary of the process of getting the Nūr starts from being away from grievous sins as mentioned earlier and we should also remember these critical points that

No proper wudū means No Salāh

No Salāh means No Mi'rāj

No Mi'rāj means No Nūr

I hope now we understand the statement of Sheikh Imran when he said : The journey of getting the Nūr of Allāh begins with water (wudu) and ends at water (Arsh is on water).

I also want to remind our readers that 'Ibādāh alone will not help a person to get the Nūr of Allāh as reported in a Hadīth that "Allah revealed to an angel among the angels to destroy so-and-so city with all of its people. He [the angel] said: Therein is Your Servant. He never disobeyed You, not even for a blink of an eye. He [Allah] said: Turn it over on him and them, for his face never showed signs of displeasure for My Sake."

— Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, Vol. 7, pp. 336, Hadith 7661

The three levels of Faith one of which is Ihsān

Ihsān (critically important)

• Attaining perfection or excellence deployment of righteousness on Earth doing good things to people and benefit them advocating for the oppressed and the vulnerable and others... For instance, when we see injustice, oppression happening around us, we must try to stop it and stand against it. You should speak the Truth no matter the consequences, no matter if they put you in jail, no matter if they call you a terrorist, no matter if they put your name in the "no fly list", no matter if you loose your job or business, stand up for truth and Allāh will help you.

And Allāhu 'Ālam, Allāh knows best

May Allāh forgive me if I uttered something wrong, may He guide all of us to the correct understanding of Islām and the Qur'ān, may He put Nūr into our hearts.

Ameen Ya Rabbal Aalameen