We believe that a true and comprehensive
understanding of Islam would not be possible without careful recognition of the
Prophetic Tradition and the Prophet's Household. And Allah is the Source of Strength.
Misusing Quran
This
paper is a submission by Kaneez Fatima.
You can contact her through her email address
[kaneezefatima@hotmail.com]
Satan is an open enemy to man. But when Allah creates fire, he also creates water to extinguish it. Allah sent 124000 messengers to mankind to remind them of the realities of life, to provide them the light under which to walk and to lead them aright. All the messengers came down with the word of Allah. However, all the messengers were humans and they had to depart, so did they, leaving their message behind.
Sometimes this message remained alive only as the verbal teachings of the messenger and sometimes this message was left behind in the form of books and scrolls.
As Muslims, we are told about 3 divine books namely 'The Gospel' (Injil; revealed upon Prophet Issa/ Jesus), 'The Torah' (Tawrah; revealed upon Prophet Moosa/ Moses) and 'The Pslams' (Zaboor; revealed upon Prophet Dawd/ David). Apart from these books, the Muslims also believe in the scrolls given to Prophet Moosa (as) and Prophet Ibrahim (as).
Though all the former scriptures came for a particular time and nation, all of them did have the word of Allah. They also had the truth, the haqq. However, Satan managed to get those scriptures corrupted and adulterated till the real message in them got completely blurred.
The final scripture, namely Quran, was sent upon the final Prophet, Mohammad (SAW). It came as a manual of life for all mankind. It came as guidance for people who existed and the people who were to come till the end of times. For this reason, the responsibility for protecting it was taken up by Allah himself. The Almighty can never falter in keeping up His promises that�s why, Quran is present in its original form even today, after 1400 years of its revelation.
The final book could not be adulterated by Satan and his consorts, but they had their plans.
We, the Muslims, very confidently criticize people from other religions on the basis of the defilement of their scriptures. We declare them misguided in no time because we know the guidance given to them in the form of books is no more with them in its original shape. But then, Muslims themselves don�t seem to be that guided too. Whereas, the guidance given to them, in the form of their book, is still present in its original form. Ever wondered, why?
After the Prophet's departure, propagandas erupted in diverse shapes as to how is the book supposed to be used and how is the message in Quran supposed to be interpreted. Some people, inspired by devil, initiated these propagandas and dominated them to such an extent that their ideas eventually prevailed.
The book that was intended to help people lead their lives in a way that would gain them Allah's pleasure began to serve purposes that it never meant to serve.
Some people started to raise it on spear heads in battle fields against Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS), the rightly guided caliph of the time, to cause panic and create division in his army.
Some people started interpreting it and their interpretations became the standard, to such an extent that anyone thinking to read Quran himself without the help of these interpretations started to be reprimanded right away. The theory became; there have passed in history, men, who were neither Prophets nor Imams but the intellect and piety they possessed was and is still unmatchable. An ordinary man cannot understand Quran the way they did, thus any ordinary man should not even attempt understanding it.
The people who researched on Quran in the early period of Islam and interpreted it were all fallible humans, who depended upon the resources available to them for understanding the book. They did not receive any divine instructions/ revelations. They did not have a gifted piety that Prophets and Imams had. If they being normal people like us can comprehend the book flawlessly, so cant a normal person with same capabilities comprehend it the same way?
If they reached the level of piety that enabled them to comprehend it, why can't a normal person reach it? If a normal person can, why does he have to follow them blindly then?
Do they not then reflect on the Quran? Nay, on the
hearts there are locks.
Quran [47:24]
Why do we not reflect on the Quran rather than relfecting on some one else's interpretation?
The meaning of being a Muslim changed with the passage of time. The notion of the puritans i.e. the time that we have in this world is to be passed by doing things that appear exclusively Islamic (Islam emphasizes general goodness as much as it emphasizes the obligations, but the puritan thinking exhorts only namaz and quran and hajj etc because these are exclusively Islamic, no other religions perform these acts) became accepted widely.
The term "islamic/ religious education" was invented, which included everything related to the recitation of Quran and the interpretation of Quran, often under the accepted guidelines of the non-Prophet, non-Imam geniuses. Any education that ran outside these premises came to be known as secular.
Quran has scores of verses about the Creation. Allah tells its followers to meditate upon the quran and the creation and to explore and research. It's not the research on ahadith only, as the majority takes it. It�s the research on everything that Allah has made. Then why does the majority of Muslims think that acquiring worldly education is a step away from Allah? It is this thinking that has hindered Muslim progress and has made Muslims copiers only, because they have stopped racing their heads in trying to explore and unleash the hidden realities of the world, unleash the scientific facts and invent things.
Another merit of Quran that is, the recitation of words only, without understanding the meanings, received tremendous acceptability. There are millions of people (Huffaz and non-huffaz) who finish its blank recitation more than thrice every year. Not to mention, the endless rounds of recitation on a funeral, that are done in the hope of getting the dead eternal salvation.
No one denies the merit of recitation of Quran, but it should never have surpassed the value of comprehending it, which it unfortunately did. What is Quran expected to do when it's read at a person's funeral, who never bothered to implement it in his life? What do we expect from it when we place its verses in the graves?
Not only this, but The Book began to be used as a body guard too. Making a bride pass under it, placing some ayahs of Quran in the grave, placing it at an elevated place right at the entrance of a house, are all examples of Quran made to serve as a body guard.
What is Quran expected to do when a bride is made to pass under it? The Quran would not protect any couple from any evil until instead of treating as a mere canopy, they don�t decide to follow it.
And certainly We have brought them a Book which We have made
clear with knowledge, a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe.
Quran [7:52]
We believe fire will burn us if we tried to touch it. We believe in it so strongly that no matter whoever tells us to put ourselves in to fire, we won't do it. On the other hand, we very proudly claim that we believe in the Quran and we believe in the fact that it is utterly true. Yet, when we are told to do something against it, we do it fearlessly. That proves that our claims to believe in it are very superficial.
That proves that we do not believe in its ability to guide us, the way we believe in the fire's capacity to burn us. For if we did, we would not have taken the words of mortal humans above the words of Allah and changed the way of divorce or wudu etc.
Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, you would certainly have seen it falling down, splitting asunder because of the fear of Allah, and We set forth these parables to men that they may reflect.Quran [59:21]
The glorious book has the strength to burn down a mountain, then how is it that muslims read it everyday and yet the very same people are seen doing everything that the book forbids them to do. How is it that it is stored in several hearts and yet those same hearts openly follow falsehood.
Isn�t that because it was never supposed to be read in a foreign language only. Its words were never supposed to be mugged up to be shown off whenever needed. It was never supposed to be owned by a bunch of ordinary people, so much so, that they became its teachers. It was never supposed to be used as a reward giving formula only. It was supposed to be understood and implemented, understood under the beam of instructions of the Prophet (SAW) and the Chosen Ones (AS).
Shallow claims of belief in Quran and shallower claims of following it are going to render us end up empty-handed. It is time we understand what "believe" in the book of Allah means. It is time we return to the Quran, as the Guidance and the manual of life that Mohammad (SAW) brought, before a time comes when He (SAW) complains to Allah that His (SAW) nation forsook the real guidance in exchange for the intellect of fallible men!
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