The term /falaq/ is based on /falq/ which originally means 'to split...

The term /falaq/ is based on /falq/ which originally means 'to split, to separate some from others, daybreak’; and since at the time of the appearance of daylight the black curtain of night breaks open, this word is used with the meaning of 'daybreak', as well as, /fajr/ which is used for the 'break of dawn’.

Some know the word with the meaning of 'the creation of all living creatures' which includes men, animals and plants, because they come forth from splitting seeds, eggs, and the like, which is the most surprising stage of their existence. In fact, when it comes forth, a great change happens in that being and it transfers from one world to another. Surah An'am, No. 6, verse 95 says: "It is Allah Who causeth the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout.

He causeth the living to issue from the dead, and He is the One to cause the dead to issue from the living. That is Allah; then how are ye deluded away from the truth?" Some have considered a broader meaning for /falaq / than what was said above. They think that its meaning covers any creation, in general, because it is by the creation of every being that the curtain of nothingness breaks and the light of existence appears.

Each of these three ideas is a surprising phenomenon which is an evidence for the greatness of Allah, its Creator. That Allah is qualified with this attribute conveys an intensely profound content and a wide ranging concept. Some Islamic narrations denote that /falaq/ is a well or a prison in Hell which appears clearly in the midst of it. This narration may refer to one example out of its examples, but, it is not to limit the vast meaning of /falaq/, of course.

The phrase in the second verse does not mean that the divine creation, by itself, has an evil because creation is the same as existence and existing is absolute goodness. The Qur'an says: "He Who has made everything which He has created Most good...” [^5] .

Evil appears where the creatures diverge from the laws of creation and separate from the appointed path; for example, the sting (of insects) or the keen teeth of animals are their weapons to defend themselves against their enemies, and the same is true for the weapon we use against our enemies. If this weapon be used appropriately it is 'good', but if it be used inappropriately and against friends it is 'evil’.