Wise According To Quran

"Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.

Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire." (Surah Al-Imran:191-192)

To determine the meaning of the expression , we look into the word 'albab' which is the plural of lubb. Lexically, it means the essence. Since the essence of everything is its sum-total and the key to its nature and uses, therefore human wisdom has been called lubb, for wisdom is the essence of human nature. thus, 'albab' means 'the people of wisdom'

Now the problem before us is how to identify the people of wisdom because the whole world claims to be wise. Not even a moron would be ready to admit being devoid of wisdom, reason or sense. Therefore, the Holy Quran has told us about some signs which are, in fact, the most sound criterion of wisdom. The first such sign is Faith in Allah. Think of the knowledge which comes from the senses such as hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting and communication, something also found in non-rational animals. Now, it is the job of wisdom or reason to arrive through signs, circumstantial evidence and proofs, at a particular conclusion which is beyond sense-perception and through which it may become possible to grasp the final link of the chain of causes.

Keeping this rule in view, just think about this universe around us. It should not be too difficult to realize that this wonderfully organized system - comprising the heavens and the earth and containing the whole creation in between them which is further streamlined by the most deft management of everything, big or small, existing therein - certainly points out to a special Being that has to be the highest and the foremost in terms of Knowledge, Wisdom, Power and Authority. A Being who originated and fashioned all these components with the wisest of consideration and under Whose intention and will this whole system keeps operating. That Being, as obvious, can only be that of the most-exalted Allah. How well some spiritual master has put it in a few words:

Every blade of grass spouting from the earth
Says: He is One; there are no partners in Him.

That human intentions and plans keep failing everywhere all the time is a matter of common experience. These cannot be called the prime movers and operators of this universal system. Therefore, the outcome of the deliberation into the creation of the heavens and the earth and into what has been created in them is, as wisdom dictates, living to know, obey and remember Allah. Anyone unmindful of it does not deserve to be classed as wise:

"That is, the wise are those who remember Allah - standing and sitting and (lying) on their sides" (191)

In other words it means that they are engaged in the remembrance of Allah under all conditions and at all times.

From here we find out that the thing which our modern world takes as the criterion of reason and good sense is simply a deception. Catering to greed, some people take accumulation of money as their ideal of intelligence. There are others who love human intelligence with scientific inventions and electronic applications and for them, these are the power. But real good sense lies in the message brought by the Prophets and Messengers of Allah Almighty, for they, proceeding through knowledge and wisdom and advancing from the low to the high in the chain of causation, skipped the intermediary stages. Granted that human beings moved from raw materials to machines and science gave them access to power through utilization of energy generated in many ways. But higher intelligence demands that human beings take that real giant step farther ahead so that they can discover that the main agent of human accomplishment is
certainly not the water or clay or iron or copper or some other material, not even the machines that generate power. This function was accomplished by none else but the One who created the fire, the water and the air through which human beings were enabled to control technology and energy:

Spreading the scent of musk is the function of Your tresses
But those who love you have, out of expediency, ascribed the credit to the to the Chinese deer!

It is not difficult to deduce from what has been said here that those who get to know Allah and remember Him at all times and under all conditions are the only people who deserve to be called 'the wise'. It is for this reason that the Holy Quran has defined the 'People of Wisdom' as '...those who remember Allah standing and sitting, and (lying) on their sides.'

It is on this basis that Muslim jurists have answered the case of a deceased person who, before his death, made a will that his property be given to the wise. As to who will be given this property, they have ruled that those who will deserve this are abstaining scholars who do not seek unnecessary material resources and are averse to the blind pursuit of the worldly, for they are the wise ones in the real sense. (al-Durr al Mukhtar, Kitabul-Wasiyyah)

Also worth attention at this point is the fact that the Shariah of Islam has not enjoined abundance in any other mode of worship except Zikr. But about Zikr, the command is: (Remember Allah remembering abundantly). The reason is that all modes of worship, other than Zikr, have some conditions and rules without observing which those acts of worship are not considered to have been duly performed. This is contrary to Zikr which can be performed at all times and under all conditions whether standing, sitting, lying, with or without wuzu. Perhaps this verse is indicative of this element of wisdom.

(Marif'ul Quran)