Their knowledge...

Their knowledge, though the most complete and perfect of all human beings, is still incomplete when compared to the knowledge of God. These names have been taken from the following verse of the Qur'an: For every term there is a book prescribed; Allah erases out whatever He pleases and writes (whatever He pleases); and with Him is the mother of the book.(13:39) This 'mother of the book' is called "lawh mahfuz" in the following verse: Nay, it is the glorious Qur'an, in the guarded tablet.

(85:22) As the knowledge of the angels, prophets and Imams is constantly being replenished, perfected and completed, it is called 'the tablet of erasure and writing ‑ l awh mahw wa ithbat. . [^4] More will be said about lawh mahw wa ithbat in the following section. B. The Theory of Bada' 1. Bada' in the Qur'an It appears from many stories in the Qur'an that sometimes Allah, in His mercy and wisdom, reveals only a part of His future plan to the angels or the prophets concerned.

They are informed of His plan to a Pertain stage, and the knowledge of the later stage is not revealed to them. Before explaining the theory further, let me give you some examples from the Qur'an. a) The People of Yunus First of all comes the episode of the people of Prophet Yunus. Allah refers to that episode‑ in this verse: And why, there was not a town which believed and its faith profited it except the people of Yunus.

When they believed We removed from them the torment of ignominy in the life of this world and provided them (with comfort to enjoy it) for a fixed while. (10:98) The fact is that the tribe of Prophet Yunus had rejected him; and only two persons had believed in him; one of them a pious person but without knowledge, the other one a righteous man with knowledge.

When Prophet Yunus prayed to Allah to send punishment and affliction upon his people because of their disbelief, Allah promised him that on a certain day affliction would visit them. Prophet Yunus with his pious companion left his people and went away. But the learned man remained with the people and tried to put the fear of God in their hearts.

He told them that there still was time to repent from their kufr, to believe in God and His prophet, Yunus, and then to pray to God to avert that affliction.