Surah Ar-Ra’d, Verse 17: [“He sent down water from the heavens, so the canals flowed according to their capacity, and the flood carried bulging scum. And a similar scum comes up from what they melt in the fire to obtain ornaments or other objects. This is how Allah depicts the truth and the untruth. As for the scum, it goes to be thrown away, while that which benefits people remains on the earth. This is how Allah brings out the parables.”] In this beautiful verse, the Qur’an compares truth to falsehood and the ongoing struggle that continues between truth and falsehood, in which, falsehood seems to prevail, and from this, people get the impression that falsehood is dominant. Let the Qur’an explain to us this phenomenon. “Truth is like the water that Allah (SWT) descends from the sky.” This water accumulates wherever there is a valley. Some valleys are large and immense, others are very small; every valley carries water according to its capacity. As this water is flowing through the valley and accumulating, there are some unwanted dirt or scum that get washed into the water and they start flowing along with the water. The word here, “Zabad”, is the unwanted particles; it could be foam, things like hay or grass or twigs that the water collects, it could be rubbish from nearby areas – all of this could be included in this word. This is the unwanted material. Then, another example, aside from water, is used. There are certain elements – metals – that we use to create jewelry, different types of wares or household goods, tools, instruments and so on and so forth. How do we process those metals? We heat them in fire to purify them. This also accumulates unwanted waste; for example, the sediment that gathers on metal. This is the scum that accumulates; however, once it is burned, that unwanted material starts moving to one side. Whether it is the unwanted substance covering the surface of the water momentarily, or the unwanted substance that is covering metal, once it is heated, it starts separating and isolating itself; similarly, once the water in that valley starts flowing, it eventually is going to cast aside the unwanted material.
This is the example of truth and falsehood. Water comes from the sky, a pure force; it itself is pure, but unwanted things get mixed, and sometimes, they are in such a great quantity that they cover the entire surface of the water. This happens with metal, in which there are unwanted materials or elements that get mixed into the ore and need to be separated. In any case, the unwanted and useless material will be separated. The scum might look significant and substantial in quantity, or it may look as though it covers the entire surface of the water, and it may give the impression that the entire valley may be filled with rubbish, garbage and unwanted material – but the fact is, it is only a matter of time before the water casts it aside. In the case of that pure water, it is going to cast it aside as scum and dregs. In the case of metal, it is going to be burned and the impurities will be separated. That which is beneficial for people (of course, water is not beneficial to only humans – the animals and earth itself will benefit from it) stays in the world. The pure water stays, and the unwanted scum is cast aside. The metals that people need to create useful items are stayed and the impure material is separated. The truth is always beneficial for mankind and will always stay. It might get covered sometimes, but we should not get discouraged, and we should know that strength, power and benefit exists only in truth, and there is no strength, power or benefit in falsehood. As that water flows through the valley, eventually the falsehood will be separated from the truth, and we need to make sure we align ourselves with the beneficial material and not the unwanted material, because the unwanted material will be separated. In this beautiful way, Allah (SWT) gives us examples. May Allah (AWJ) enable us to recognize the truth when it is in front of us and be able to identify falsehood in front of us so that we may know what side to take, and we know what to engage ourselves with and know what not to be bothered by, even if it seems like it is everywhere.
