Ok, so first things first. I know it’s all over the internet, but still, this is a spoiler post for the Disappearance of the Universe. If you haven’t read the book, stop reading this and go read that all the way to the end then come back. The Disappearance of the Universe is a good book all the way to its surprise ending.
Also have you ever noticed that whenever you give anyone advice they never listen? It is a funny mystery how life works . . .
Now back to business. I can’t say this is the most IMPORTANT post I’ll post (no order of difficulty in miracles after all) but I will say I’m exceptionally excited to be writing about this topic. The disciples of Christ, known in Christianity as the Apostles, are in Arabic and in the Quran Al Hawariyyun. These were men who dedicated their lives to following his teachings and studying them. These Apostles within their life times with Christ continued to preach his message as they were able to understand and perceive it at that level and I believe they all got killed doing so including Saint Thomas, Gary’s past life incarnation.
So why is this so exciting? Because I wanted to study one of the few verses in the Quran that mentions the Apostles of Christ and what the Quran says about them. This is relevant to a Muslim for the End of Times, because there is a hidden message only we can see that’s right in front of our eyes. I personally think it’s a message for our modern times that can’t be fully deciphered without our end of times eyes (eyes ready to study the Course) and Gary’s books to clarify. Here is the relevant verse about Al Hawariyyun:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا أَنصَارَ اللَّهِ كَمَا قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ لِلْحَوَارِيِّينَ مَنْ أَنصَارِي إِلَى اللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ نَحْنُ أَنصَارُ اللَّهِ ۖ فَآمَنَت طَّائِفَةٌ مِّن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَكَفَرَت طَّائِفَةٌ ۖ فَأَيَّدْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَىٰ عَدُوِّهِمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا ظَاهِرِينَ ﴿١٤﴾
Oh you who believed, be supporters of God as Jesus the son of Mary said to his Apostles who are my supporters of God? The Apostles answered, “We are your supporters of God,” and a faction of the Children of Israel believed while a faction disbelieved. And We supported those who believed against their enemy and they became Apparent/ Evident. (The Qur’an, 61:14)
So it’s the very last word in this verse that’s relevant here, pronounced “Thahereen”. In explanations and commentary of this verse and translations they often translate this word as ‘dominant’ or ‘victorious’. Honestly I am not sure why. The word itself has a Name from the 99 that is also from the same root word Tha-Ha-Ra. The Divine name is Al-Thahir. The Apparent One. This name is translated as: The Manifest, and the Evident. So this word has the same root to the word at the end of this ayah.
Let’s revisit the ayah once again. There is a faction of the Children of Israel that followed Jesus and doing so has made them Apparent / Evident / Manifest. So first of all God supported Al Hawariyyeen against their one enemy, a singular form of enemy. Not multiple human form prosecutors who collectively killed each of them in Christ’s time but rather one singular enemy that seemed to be a consistent enemy for all of them. Anyone else see that all of them had one singular enemy? and perhaps that enemy (the ego) they overcame aligning themselves with Christ’s teaching is familiar to all of us in our human condition unfortunately?
Second of all once God aided them against their one singular enemy God then gave them one of his Eternal Divine Attributes. He made them Apparent/Evident/Manifest for all to see and witness.
I was reading The Sufi Book of Life (a book on the 99 names of God) and on page 207 it comments on the name Al Thahir :
When Zahir enters your path, just show up with what you have already cultivated and like the old Hebrew prophets, tell the One Being, “Here I am”. Then let the Divine radiance shine through you.
Isn’t that a great description of what Gary has done with his books and his life? Can we ask for anything more apparent, clear, and evident from him? How can we not follow him after realizing God has blessed Christ’s apostles with making their work manifest, apparent, and evident in the world? What more can we ask for than complete and utter gratitude for understanding an ayah better now then when it was given 1400 years ago and for deciphering its code 1400 later, in the form of The Disappearance of the Universe . . .
The magic of the Quran is that it’s a living text and if we can look non-dualistically into it it is always whispering to us today in our present context and it has done that for Muslims since it’s revelation to the Prophet 1400 years ago. For us as Muslims for ACIM, Muslims for the End of Times, the explanations of this Ayah are outdated to what we know. We got our own “precious” whisper. God did indeed fulfill his promise and make his apostle in the form of Gary Renard Manifest and his work in the world Manifest. And again I find myself in eternal gratitude for his work and I’ll assume you are reading this because you feel the same. Isn’t it wonderful to have the power and the backing of God supporting your work in the world once you align with Him and then blessing you with an Eternal attribute that makes you and your work also explicitly Apparent in the world. Through the Disappearance we find out we have been reading and listening to a direct disciple of Christ . . . what more apparent sign then knowing his identity can we ask for? and doesn’t this imply we are to follow him?