Noor (Islam)

Noor (Arabic: النور‎) may refer to the "Light of God". The word "noor" is Arabic for "heatless light", and has been passed on to many other languages. It is often used in the Quran, notably in a verse that states has been the subject of much discussion. Many classical commentators on the Quran considered that this should be taken metaphorically, as in the sense that God illuminates the world with understanding, rather than literally. The first and foremost to representatively stand to the concept of Noor Muhammad (the essence of Muhammad) being the quintessence of everything was Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani, who described this idea in his book Sirr ul Asrar. This concept was then preached by his disciples. One of Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani's disciples was the Andalusian scholar Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, who categorized nūr into different levels of understanding from the most profound to the most mundane. Shias believe nūr, in the sense of inner esoteric understanding, is inherited through the Imams, who in turn communicate it to the people.

Quran

The word noor comes from the same root as the Hebrew aor, the primal light described in the Book of Genesis that was created at the beginning. In Aramaic the term noor means fire. In Aramaic it became associated with igniting candles, shifting the term to the meaning of fire, while noor became light. The word noor, or its derivatives, occurs forty-nine times in the Quran. It is used in reference to God, Muhammad, the Quran, the Book, the Torah, the moon and the faithful men and women. Al-nur is often used in combination with zulumat (darkness) in terms that describe movement from darkness into light, and from ignorance into faith. The word nūr is also used in eight basic referential meanings:

1. The religion of Islam

2. Faith

3. God's commandments and moral laws in the Torah and the Gospels

4. The light of day

5. The guiding light that God will give to the faithful on the Day of Resurrection

6. The commandments and injunctions of the Quran

7. Justice

8. The light of the moon

The mystical Surah 24 of the Quran contains the Ayat an-Nur, the Verse of Light (Q24:35), which reads, "God is the light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp (the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star) kindled from a Blessed Tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West whose oil well nigh would shine, even if no fire touched it; light upon light; (God guides to His light whom he will.)" The phrase "light upon light" (nurun 'ala nur) in this surah is often used among Muslims to denote the infinite beauty, guidance and light of God.

Classical commentaries

Most classical commentators other than Sufis took the statement "God is the light of the heavens and the earth" as a metaphor, and considered that God should not be literally equated with the natural phenomenon of light. Al-Tabari (839–923) in his Jami al-bayan says that the best interpretation is to substitute "guide" for "light", as "God is the guide of the heavens and the earth". Other interpretations make God the source of illumination rather than the light itself, as "God lights the heavens and the earth.The Persian scholar Al-Zamakhshari (c. 1074 –1144) says that the phrase "God is the light" is like saying "Zayd is generous and munificent". This does not mean that Zayd is the properties of generosity and munificence, but that he has these properties. Al-Zamakhshari rejected the possibility of attributes separate from God, such as power or knowledge or light, which would be contrary to the unity of God.He interpreted "God is the light of the heavens and the earth" as meaning,

He is the possessor of the light of the heavens and the owner of the light of the heavens. The light of the heavens and the earth is the truth (al-ḥaqq), which can be compared to light in its manifestation and clarification, just as he says, "God is the friend of those who believe; He brings them forth from the shadows to the light (2:257), i.e., from the false to the true (al-ḥaqq).

Al-Ghazali (c. 1058–1111) wrote a treatise on how different types of light should be defined, and how the phrase "God is the light of the heavens and the earth" should be interpreted. In his view, "light" can have three different meanings. The first is the ordinary usage, "an expression of what can be seen in itself and through which other things can be seen, like the sun". In Arabic the word "light" may also refer to the eye, through which perception takes place, and this may be a more appropriate interpretation. The "eye" of the intellect is an even more perfect organ of perception, and "light" may refer to this organ. In this sense "light" may refer to Muhammad, and to a lesser extent to the other prophets and religious scholars. A third interpretation is that "light" is the first light (al-nūr al-awwal) and the real light (al-nūr al-ḥaqq) since it is the only light that does not take its luminosity from some other source. God is light, the only light, the universal light, and he is hidden from mortals because he is pure light, although he is omnipresent. Using the term "light" for any other purpose is metaphor.

Another passage of the Quran states "The earth will shine with the light of its Lord" (Q39:69). Mainstream exegetes take this statement literally. Exegetes of the rationalist Mu'tazila school of theology of the 8th–10th centuries interpreted the word nūr in this passage in the sense of "the truth, the Quran and the proof" rather than the commonplace meaning of "light".Shia exegetes take it to mean "the land of the soul will shine with the Lord's light of justice and truth during the time of Imam al-Mahdi." Sufi exegetes take nūr in this case to mean "justice", or take the statement to mean "God will create a special light to shine on the Earth".