Quranic Terminology: Bad

Published in September 18, 2019

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Firstly: about the bad land and the good one:

 The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "As for the good land, it yields its produce by the leave of its Lord. But as for the bad, it produces nothing but hardship and misery. Thus We explain the revelations in various ways for people who are thankful." (7:58).

1- The term (land) in 7:58 is not merely a geographical location; rather, it refers to the dominant culture in a given place, whether it is a good or a bad culture, which results from the dominant religion practiced by people in a given country. The good land includes religious tolerance, pluralism, and absolute religious freedom; the bad one involves the dominance of clergymen who assume to monopolize the religious truth, and thus declare others as 'infidels', and persecute those who forsake their religion or question it.

2- The good land, in light of the above point, is exemplified by the West countries, especially the countries of the north of Europe. Few people know the names of the presidents of Switzerland and Austria or the king of the Netherlands; by the way, there are no prisons in the Netherlands; its former prisons were more luxurious than some hotels. The king of the Netherlands cannot be fir for ruling the KSA or Egypt. The reason: because of the difference in culture. Likewise, the Saudi king cannot be fit for ruling Sweden; Al-Sisi of Egypt cannot be the president of Finland.

3- The north of Europe is a good land which yields good produce, which includes people, because people are also the produce/plants of the land. The Lord God says the following about Mary in the Quran: "Her Lord accepted her with a gracious reception, and brought her a beautiful upbringing, and entrusted her to the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah entered upon her in the sanctuary, he found her with provision. He said, “O Mary, where did you get this from?” She said, “It is from God; God provides to whom He wills without limits.”" (3:37); this is about human beings in general: "And God germinated you from the earth like plants." (71:17).

4- Within the bad land exemplified by the countries of the Muhammadans, we see how the Shiite, Sufi, and Sunnite clergymen dominate everything; clergymen ally themselves to enthroned tyrants, and whether both parties struggle or cooperate, both spread corruption on earth. Of course, this corruption begins in their corrupt, sick hearts; it results in further corruption in the climate, environment, and behavior of people. The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "Corruption has appeared on land and sea, because of what people’s hands have earned, in order to make them taste some of what they have done, so that they might return." (30:41). Of course, corrupt people in the countries of the Muhammadans wrong one another, commit injustices against one another, and torture/torment one another inside police-stations, prisons, and governmental offices. Petty thieves cover up their crimes of theft by burning the places from which they stole. Big thieves/criminals among the affluent/wealthy deep-state men and enthroned tyrants cover up their crimes of theft by stifling and silencing the opposition figures. Of course, corruption resulting from lack of a moralistic level and ethics causes pollution of the environment and threatens the climate. Within the countries of the Muhammadans, there is hardly any difference between piles of trash in the streets of major cities and the trashy misbehavior: sexual harassment, bawdiness, authoritarianism. Of course, this is covered by a suffocating thick layer of religiosity, overt and hypocritical quasi-religious practices, and dominance of clergymen. Hence, the features of bad land and bad/corrupt produce are found in the water, in the air, in words and deeds, in the media, in politics, and in harmful mosques.

5- We repeat: the Lord God says the following in the Quran: "As for the good land, it yields its produce by the leave of its Lord. But as for the bad, it produces nothing but hardship and misery. Thus We explain the revelations in various ways for people who are thankful." (7:58).

Secondly: about the abundance/increase of the bad:

1- The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "Say: “The bad and the good are not equal, even though the abundance of the bad may impress you. So be conscious of God, O you who possess intelligence, that you may succeed.”" (5:100). The bad, corrupt people, in terms of both behavior and religion, brag of, and take pride in, the fact that they form the majority in any given society; they find comfort or relief in believing in the myth of unanimity. Yet, there is never unanimity in their terrestrial religion of Satan; there are ever-increasing and insurmountable differences, discrepancies and disputes (see our article, in English, found on this link:  http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/show_article.php?main_id=13954). Some people are deceived by the abundance of the bad; some people fear their minds when they come up with new ideas of religious reform which go against what is deemed 'normal' or 'familiar' as traditions of the forefathers/ancestors. They discard such new ideas at once; they forget that Middle-Ages authors are mere mortal human beings who cannot judge the Quranic Truth which is the Celestial, Divine Religion. They forget that the bad (i.e., hadiths) and the good (i.e., the Quran) are not equal, even though the abundance of the bad may impress most people. Only reasonable, pious, God-fearing people adhere to the Quran and reject lies/narratives/falsehoods known as hadiths.    

2- We repeat: the Lord God says the following in the Quran: "Say: “The bad and the good are not equal, even though the abundance of the bad may impress you. So be conscious of God, O you who possess intelligence, that you may succeed.”" (5:100).

Thirdly: the bad money and the good ones:

1- The bad money is ill-gotten one; the Lord God does not accept good deeds or acts of charity spent on from ill-gotten money; He accepts them only when they are spent on from good, legal, well-earned money: "O you who believe! Give of the good things you have earned, and from what We have produced for you from the earth. And do not pick the bad things to give away, when you yourselves would not accept it except with eyes closed. And know that God is Sufficient and Praiseworthy." (2:267).

2- There are Quranic commands about the prohibition of earning bad, ill-gotten money: "And give orphans their properties, and do not substitute the bad for the good. And do not consume their properties by combining them with yours, for that would be a serious sin." (4:2); "And do not consume one another’s wealth by unjust means, nor offer it as bribes to the officials in order to consume part of other people’s wealth illicitly, while you know." (2:188).

Fourthly: the bad food items and the good ones:

 This is not about the taste of food items or personal preferences (likes and dislikes) regarding food; rather, good food items are the legal, licit, permissible ones as per the Lord God's command; in Quranic terms, they are food items upon which the Lord God's Holy Name is mentioned, as we infer from this verse: "And why should you not eat of that over which the Name of God is pronounced, when He has detailed for you what is prohibited for you..." (6:119). The bad food items are the ones prohibited in the Quran regardless of their being tasty or not. Thus, good food items are allowed by the Lord God, and bad ones are those prohibited by Him: "Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet of the Gentiles, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel in their possession. He directs them to righteousness, and deters them from evil, and allows for them all good things, and prohibits for them bad things..." (7:157); "O you who believe! Do not prohibit the good things God has permitted for you, and do not commit aggression. God does not love the aggressors. And eat of the lawful and good things God has provided for you; and fear God within piety, in Whom you are believers." (5:87-88).

Fifthly: the good and the bad in words:

 In bad land of the countries of the Muhammadans, the bad words spread and dominate in mosques, other houses of worship, educational institutions, media, etc., and we find propaganda in bad, corrupt media distract people with red herrings which consist of bad words (rumors, scandals, etc.) which are like bubbles which vanish quickly and are replaced with new bubbles all the time. Sadly, media black-out is imposed on good words; of course, good words are attacked, criticized, and undermined. Yet, good words settle in the depths and spread slowly but steadily, as we infer from these verses: "Do you not see how God presents a parable? A good word is like a good tree - its root is firm, and its branches are in the sky. It yields its fruits every season by the will of its Lord. God presents the parables to the people, so that they may reflect. And the parable of a bad word is that of a bad tree - it is uprooted from the ground; it has no stability. God gives firmness to those who believe, with the firm word, in this life, and in the Hereafter. And God leads the unjust ones astray. God does whatever He wills." (14:24-27).

Sixthly: about the bad deeds and the good ones:

1- The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "The bad are for the bad and the good are for the good. Those are acquitted of what they say. There is forgiveness for them, and a generous provision." (24:26). The deeds are meant here and NOT spouses. This is about the bad deed or abomination of the people of Lot: "And Lot - We gave him judgment and knowledge, and We delivered him from the town that practiced the abominations. They were wicked and perverted people." (21:74).

2- Some people misunderstand 24:26 and makes it about marriage or spouses; the true meaning is bad and good deeds/words of people; the phrase (Those are acquitted of what they say) in 24:26 means that people might utter bad words and perform bad deeds but they may repent sincerely and the Lord God will forgive/pardon them on the Last Day. Discord, dispute, and disagreement as reasons of divorce do not have to be linked to bad/good characters within divorce sharia laws in the Quran. In this transient world, bad wives may still remain with good husbands as was the cases of Lot and Noah (see 66:10) and a good wife may still remain with a bad husband; e.g., the wife of Moses' Pharaoh (see 66:11). Even Muhammad had troubles with two of his wives; see 66:1-5 and 33:28-34. Some pious people may have their own disputes/grudges against others; this ends when they enter into Paradise – as only those who die as pious people will enter into Paradise: "And We will remove all ill-feelings from their hearts - brothers and sisters, on couches facing one another." (15:47); "We will remove whatever rancor is in their hearts. Rivers will flow beneath them. And they will say, “Praise be to God, who has guided us to this. Had God not guided us, we would never be guided. The messengers of our Lord did come with the truth.” And it will be proclaimed to them, “This is the Garden you are made to inherit, on account of what you used to do.”" (7:43).

Lastly: the Lord Allah is the One Who knows the bad and the good:

 Satan and his devils make most human beings deem the Truth as a falsehood and falsehoods as truths. The Truth is defined by the Lord God in the Quran; He is the One Who knows the bad persons and the good ones; the Quran is the Criterion employed by the pious people to differentiate between them: "God will not leave the believers as you are, without distinguishing the bad from the good. Nor will God inform you of the future, but God elects from among His messengers whom He wills. So believe in God and His messengers. If you believe and practice piety, you will have a splendid reward." (3:179). On the Last Day, the bad souls will be piled up like trash to be thrown into Hell wherein they will dwell forever: "That God may distinguish the bad from the good, and heap the bad on top of one another, and pile them together, and throw them in Hell. These are the losers." (8:37). As always, the Lord God says nothing but the Absolute Truth.