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Our Relationship with the Qur’aan
By Naseeb Khan
The Prophet Muhammad (SA) when he delivered his last sermon mentioned many things. This sermon is very important as it was the last words of the last Prophet of Allah. It was our Rasool (SA) trying to impress upon us all the essential things that he wanted us to focus on. In this sermon one of the most important points he made was that he was leaving two things with us and if we were to hold fast to them we would never go astray. These two things were of course the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. Imagine the power of this statement. We have been given two lights that were there to constantly keep us on the straight path. All we have to do is to make the effort to become attached and close to these two gifts. Yet today, we find that the two most neglected things in the Muslim community are the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. What a tragedy!
Several copies of the Qur’aan sit on the shelves of the Muslims' homes and it is only touched when there is a “Qur’aan Shareef” or in Ramadan. It is treated as if it is some ancient book that is important to own but has little use to us in real life. The situation with the Sunnah is even worse. This is not even practiced except for a few ritual etiquettes such as eating, bathroom, sleeping etc. The average Muslim hardly knows much about the life of the Prophet Muhammad (SA) and knows even less about the rules and regulations based on his Sunnah. I would like to focus on the Qur’aan.
When you think about it, it is truly amazing that we have the Qur’aan with us. It is truly an amazing miracle. This Qur’aan is from Allah, the Creator of the Universe and all of it is Allah speaking directly to us. Allah uses the medium of the Arabic Language to convey to us, all the information and guidance we will ever need to be successful on this planet. The revelations contained in this book are not bound by time or space. They are truly eternal. Any thinking person who reads the Qur’aan can easily see that this is not the work of any human. It transcends the knowledge of humans. It was a book that was speaking of refrigeration, space travel, embryology and so many subjects that were not even known at the time of the Prophet (SA).
The Qur’aan is not shy in claiming it is from Allah. In fact it makes the claim in a very strong manner because it wants to make sure that humanity is left without any doubt. It says “and if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant then produce a Sura (chapter) like thereunto; And call your witnesses or helpers besides Allah, if you are indeed truthful” (2:23)
Look at the language here. If you feel this is from a human being and not from
Allah, then there is a very simple way to prove your point. Reproduce something similar to it. There have been thousands of attempts in the last fifteen hundred years by humans to reproduce the Qur’aan and they have all come up short. This is our impeccable Qur’aan. It is a treasure from Allah given to us to help us to find our way to Jannah. It is a blueprint to teach us how to become that special person that truly transcends this physical body. This is the Qur’aan that we hold in our hands today and this is the Qur’aan that we are reluctant to pick up.
Part of our problem stems from a culture that we inherited. Many of us learnt to recite the Qur’aan in a madrassah environment. We spent a lot of time learning to recite it. Depending on our teachers, some of us ended up reciting it incorrectly using Urdu accents and pronunciations. Some of us learnt it correctly but stop short of learning the rules of tajweed. Still others learnt to recite it with tajweed but did not feel the need to try to learn the language of the Qur’aan and thus be able to understand it. Thus in our community we have a variety of levels when it comes to the Qur’aan. The other aspect is that until recently, the old translations of the Qur’aan into English were done using old English with the “thy” and “thee” etc. This took away from the dynamism of the Qur’aan and caused it to be looked at like some ancient book similar to Shakespeare’s plays. This language alienated the Muslims from the book as very few felt any inclination to read it. This alienation was even more pronounced among the youths who really found it difficult to relate with the language of the book.
How different it was for the Sahabahs who used the book to provide them with life solutions to their problems. The Qur’aan for them was a daily manual to be consulted and used as much as possible in almost every affair. They were deeply attached to it. They would recite it and then ponder on its meaning. They would then cry like babies as the verses became clear to them. When the Prophet Muhammad (SA) said to them that he is leaving two things with them, I could just imagine the sense of comfort they must have felt at hearing this. He was implying to them that he would be leaving them forever shortly but that they should not worry as he will leave them with some special gifts that will compensate for his absence. All they had to do was to use them well.
Quite often many of us are so frustrated with the situation facing Muslims. We wonder how it is that we are supposed to be the “khairu Ummah” (best nation) and yet we are found so lacking. How is it that we always seem to be in so much confusion and constantly fighting each other? Why are we so disunited as an Ummah? The answers to these and all the other questions can be found to be linked directly to our attachment to the Qur’aan. We have become detached from our Qur’aans. We have not heeded the advice of the Prophet Muhammad (SA). We have not given the Qur’aan the opportunity to produce for us the special personalities like it did in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (SA). We have treated the book like any other book and really do not know much about what it contains.
If we were to delve into this ocean of wisdom called the Qur’aan, we would find amazing things. We would find stories like the conflict with Musa (SA) and the Pharaoh. The story of Prophet Yusuf (SA) and Prophet Sulaiman (SA) are also there. We will also experience the trial of Maryam and the amazing birth of Jesus\ Isa (SA). We will also be able to get insight into the past societies such as the people of ‘Aad and Thumud; the people of Yathrib and Madyan and the people of Tubba’ and those of Lut.
Those who take the time will also encounter many miracles cited such as bringing dead birds to life, the companions of the cave, the rescue of Prophet Yunus (SA) and the man who Allah caused to die for a hundred years and then brought back to life.
The Qur’aan will also introduce you to so many wonders that come out of the earth. It will tell you about dates, pomegranates, grapes and figs. It will discuss animals such as the cow, the donkey, the horse, the camel, the bird, the fish, the lion, the elephant, the gnat, the bee, the locust, the spider, the snake, the fly, the crow and the quail. The Qur’aan will introduce you to gold and silver and also coral and ruby and pearl. It will let you know about heaven and hell and so much more.
Yet despite all of these things, the main purpose of the Qur’aan is really to provide guidance to humanity as they live their lives in this planet. Allah says in the Qur’aan
“ verily this Qur’aan guides to that which is upright and gives glad tidings to the believers who do deeds of righteousness, that they will have a magnificent reward” (17:9) This is why it came. It came to teach us how to be upright.
The Qur’aan is the only book on the face of this earth that you can read and have the assurance in your heart that every word and sentence in it is absolutely true. It is not an opinion of another human being or committee. It is from Allah who knows everything. Thus when we read the Qur’aan and we see something which is contrary to what science or any other type of knowledge propounds, we know that the Qur’aan is right and the science is wrong. This is why the Qur’aan is guidance.
The question we must ask ourselves is what type of relationship do we have with the Qur’aan. Do we read it everyday? Allah gives us ten blessings for every letter of every verse that we recite. What an incentive for us to recite it. The Prophet (SA) said that the best of us are those who learn the Qur’aan and then teaches it to others. Imagine this!
Do you treat this special miracle with the kind of distinction it deserves? Are we familiar with the information contained in the Qur’aan? Why not? What is more important than this? Allah the One who is the Creator of all knowledge is teaching us in this book.
On the “Day of Judgment”, the hadith tells us that the Qur’aan will give evidence either for us or against us.
I want to remind all of us that the Qur’aan is so special that it only gives you what you have the capacity to receive. As we evolve in our spiritual and intellectual life, the Qur’aan will then give us more. Many a time we will read a verse and get one understanding from it and then we read the same verse a couple of years later and get a different and deeper understanding. I urge all of you to heed the advice of our Prophet Muhammad who wanted to impart vital advice in his last sermon. Seek to become familiar with the Qur’aan and use its amazing guidance in everything we do. We will find that our lives will become transformed and we will be able to really live life to its fullest.
Let the greatest living miracle on the face of this earth make you become a miracle too!
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