What is that which Allah descended?

First and foremost Allah descended consciousness and the rational mind. The Quran forwards its readers to five main addresses. These are referred to as what Allah descended.

Nadir Kemal Yılmaz

17 Dec 2023 — 4 min read

Iron & water also descended on earth from outer space

The Quran uses the expression that which Allah descended and it commands humanity to rule with justice and with what Allah descended.

The traditional understanding kept the meaning limited to the Quran. So, the commandment becomes rule with the Quran. But why did the Quran not express it directly but expressed it with a more general way, stating that which Allah descended?

Let's give a list of what Allah descended:

1- Consciousness: This involves the mind, mental powers such as rationality and logic. Consciousness is so critical in Islam that responsibility of religion is only for conscious and mindful beings. For example, until a certain awareness age, children are not responsible. Moreover, individuals with mental obstacles are not responsible. In various verses, the Quran demands a functioning mind.

First and foremost, Allah descended the mind. This point is so important in literature of Islam that many scholars called the mind as the intrinsic prophet or implicit prophet. If the implicit prophet doesn't exist, one can not benefit from the explicit prophets (God's messengers as we know them).

Unfortunately, the crucial importance of consciousness and the rational functioning mind was undermined by the representatives of political religion. This is a violation of the Quran.

2- Science: Another one of the most important addresses that the Quran forwards its readers is science and knowledge. There are so many verses in the Quran to draw attention to science and learning. The concepts of science and knowledge are so important that the Quran states the meaning of allegorical verses can only be righteously known by Allah and the scholars who go deep in sciences.

It is Allah who descends the Book on you: Some of its verses are firm that they are the main / mother of the Book. Other verses are allegorical. There is this that those who have a deviation and defect in their hearts only look for the allegorical part of the Book in order to search for division / disorder and to prioritize its explanation. However, only Allah and those who go deep in science know the explanation of it. These say that "We believed it, all is from the presence of our Lord." No one other than the possessors of heart and mind can think as required.

Âl-i İmrân Chapter, 7. Verse

3- The Quran itself: In its most general meaning, the Quran itself means the Book. When Quran refers to the Book, it means the Main Book and the Quran. However, we should note that the Quran also states that this Quran is certainly present in the pages of the old, Abraham's and Moses' pages. So, the Quran itself states that its meaning is present in the original pages of the previous prophets, such as Abraham and Moses. One should not confuse these pages with the pages written by the representatives of political religion, the clergymen under the swords of Roman kings or any councils. We mean the original pages of previous prophets. We do not mean the modified pages which formed fabricated religions for kings by religious clergymen. This point means the meaning of Quran is essential and it is present in previous original pages. So, we must conclude that all prophets taught the same God's religion, the Cosmic Religion, Islam.

The Quran, as the current book in our hand is the only unchanged book.

Moreover, the Quran introduces us the three books and states that these books are filled with verses. The three books that the Quran commands us to read are:

1. The book of Cosmos
2. The book of Human
3. The Quran itself

We are commanded to read the verses / signs in all these three books.

4- Common values of humanity: These are the common values of civilization and are formed in history by creative powers of humanity as a whole. The Quran does not turn a blind eye to the creativity of humanity and commands to be creative, constructive, beneficial to all human beings, all living beings, even all existence. The usage of the creative power given to humanity is subject to the responsible use for all nature.

5- Customs & culture: Islam literature also suggests a certain degree of consideration for each society's customs & culture in resolution of our problems. Given that the elements of customs & culture do not contradict with the previous four items, they should be put to use to solve problems and satisfy needs. The universality of the Quran religion, Islam necessitates this. Because certainly, the lifestyle of a society that is living in a desert would be different from the lifestyle of a society that is living on ice. The key point here is that one must never equate culture and customs with God's religion. The Quran states that societies may have different cultures, customs and laws. However these are human constructs; while the Cosmic Religion can only be established by God. There are the the laws we can and should make: the social laws. There are laws we can not make or change: God's laws, the cosmic laws. As humanity we are given the power to make social laws. However, cosmic laws can only be made by God. We can make laws for social order, business, trade and so on but we can not make the gravitational law, for example.

So, let us summarize what Allah descended and the addresses that the Quran forwards us to:

1. Consciousness, rational mind

2. Science & knowledge