Verses You Probably Did Not Know Existed In The Quran

Allah has created man and has made him accountable for his actions, intentions and the way he opts to follow. There are infitinite opinions and school of thoughts existant in this world, and with Iblees unleashed, this world is a perfect stage for a man to get misguided and confused. Yet Allah has gifted man with two things which are the key to success if used properly.

The first thing is the Aql or the power to reason. Allah has not sent "with" us any angel, prophet or guide, but only our Aql. It is because of this Aql we will be held accountable for.

Rasool (SAW) said that the Pen has been lifted from three: from the one who is sleeping until he wakes up, from the child until he reaches the age of puberty, and from one who is insane until he comes to his senses.
http://www.ilmfruits.com/category/islam/usool-ul-fiqh/page/2

As long as we are capable of using our Aql, we will be held accountable. It is another story whether we use our aql sincerely and to its fullest or not. Man can be born a Hindu, Christian, Jew, Shia, Sunni or an atheist; only the will of Allah can guide him by the means of his sincere use of aql / reasoning.

It is through this aql that man will reach the second thing, the Quran. When i say the Quran, then the Ahlulbayt (AS) are attached to it;

......  One day Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) stood up to deliver sermon at a watering place known as Khumm situated between Mecca and Medina. He praised Allah, extolled Him and delivered the sermon and. exhorted (us) and said: Now to our purpose. O people, I am a human being. I am about to receive a messenger (the angel of death) from my Lord and I, in response to Allah's call, (would bid good-bye to you), but I am leaving among you two weighty things: the one being the Book of Allah in which there is right guidance and light, so hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it. He exhorted (us) (to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and then said: The second are the members of my household I remind you (of your duties) to the members of my family........
Sahih Muslim Book 031, Number 5920

Quran is one of the two weighty things, the Ahlulbayt (AS) being the other. This means that whatever a muslim, an Ummati of Muhammad (SAW) does in his life, a major weightage of his doings should be relevant to the Quran, and the other weightage goes to his/our duty towards the Ahlulbayt (AS).

The book of Allah is with us today. Whatever a man ought to know, is written down, easy to understand, promised never to be altered.

Mashallah, we have hundreds of thousands of Hufaaz-e-Quran, the people who have memorized the Quran by heart, all over the world, in Shias and Sunnis. Memorizing the Quran is not bad, but because these memorizers hardly understand the Quran in their own language and are under the perception that memorizing is the ultimate key to paradise, they fail to communicate the meaning of the Quran. Because our power to reason relies on understanding a certain subject, specially in a language we can easily comprehend, these people, the religiously elite memorizers/hufaaz reach a dead end in pursue of guidance as long as they cannot match reasoning with the words of Allah. 

Mashallah, most of our kids complete the Quran and go through the "khatm-ul Quran" ceremony as early as 7 years old. Completing the recitation with/without translation of the Quran at a very early age is not bad, but these kids are under the perception that their Islamic obligation has been fulfilled and the only other time they take out the Quran is to provide their bride or groom a shade with. Because their power to reason did not sharpen at a very immature age, these too reach a dead end in pursue of guidance as long as they cannot match reasoning with the words of Allah. 

It is because of this that our nations have accepted cultural values as religious obligations, fatwas of "scholars" as the absolutely binding thing to do. It is also because of this that we hardly know the material present in the Quran, we know more ahadith and fatwas than Quranic Ayat and it is because of this that our actions are an absolute opposite of the orders of Allah and his Rasool (SAW) and when some one quotes to us an Ayat of the Quran, we do not trust him because the Ayat  sounds shockingly against the Islam the way we know it.

Personally, when i tried to read the Quran for the first time myself, i was shocked to see what i found, how easy Allah had made our lives, how complicated we made it ourselves. I have collected a few verses which I think most of us do not know exist in the Quran.

1. The Quran

This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who guard (against evil).
Quran [2:2]

Rule number 1: The Quran will not guide you and me, no matter how many times we memorize it, how many times we finish reading it. Until we cleanse our intentions and fight our nafs, we will struggle. Quran can and will only guide those who are pious! This is why all sects quote the Quran to justify their contradictory beleifs with one another and so forth.

Allah thus makes clear to you His communications that you may understand.
Quran [2:242]

He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. but none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding.
Quran [3:7]

Rule number 2: Quran's communication is clear and understandable. Most verses of the Quran are self explanatory, the bare minimum requirements for us to be a muslim and fullfill our duties as muslims. These are verses which need no human input and no back ground knowledge, you read them and you understand them. However, there are some verses whose meanings are not known and cannot be known by a lay man. Only those with knolwedge will know its meaning. Because we are not sure today who is not firmly rooted in knowledge, as a precautionary measure, I believe that such verses should not be pursued because they may be misleading and it is not required by you if you want to be a muslim as a bare minimum. If you want to excel your faith and beleif, then you will have to do alot of hard work and gain knowledge to find the firmly rooted in knowledge and only then understand those few allegorical verses and enjoy the bliss of knowledge.

Whoever then alters it after he has heard it, the sin of it then is only upon those who alter it; surely Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
Quran [2:181]

And there are among them illiterates who know not the Book but only lies, and they do but conjecture.
Quran [2:78]

Rule number 3: Some people will alter and manipulate the meaning of the verses. Similarly, there will be many illiterates, who do not know the facts and the quran but will only lie and give their conjecture (opinions and fatwas). We therefore have to stay away from such people as well and cannot trust every learned mullah, molvi, ayatullah, mufti. We have to make our own efforts to verify whatever we hear. See around yourself today, you will see 99% fatwas and only 1% quran (exaggerated but true figures).

2. Qurbani (sacrifice) at Eid ul Adha (Bakra Eid)

We were having a casual discussion at the lunch table in office. Do you know what was shocking? No one knew if doing the Qurbani (animal sacrifice) on 10 Zilhajj was a farz/sunnat/wajib.

According to the Hanafi scholars, Solat Eid is compulsory (wajib). To the Maliki and Shafi'e jurisprudence, it is a Sunnah Muakkadah and according to the Hambali scholars it is a Fardh.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Eid-Ul-Adha

If one is doing it, it is a good thing if done with the true spirits and sincere intents, but one must know what the Quran says:

And accomplish the pilgrimage and the visit for Allah, but if, you are prevented,
(send) whatever offering is easy to obtain, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its destination; but whoever among you is sick or has an ailment of the head, he (should effect) a compensation by fasting or alms or sacrificing, then when you are
secure, whoever profits by combining the visit with the pilgrimage (should take) what
offering is easy to obtain; but he who cannot find (any offering) should fast for three days
during the pilgrimage and for seven days when you return; these (make) ten (days)
complete; this is for him whose family is not present in the Sacred Mosque, and be
careful (of your duty) to Allah, and know that Allah is severe in requiting (evil).
Quran [2:196]

Those people who intended to go to Hajj in the current year, made their preperations to accomplish it, but for any reason (political, social, personal, weather, geographical) cannot make the trip, it is Farz for them and only them to perform the sacrifice.

3. We are accountable for everything we follow, believe and do, not our Mufti or Marajah.

Whoever goes aright, for his own soul does he go aright; and whoever goes astray, to its detriment only does he go astray: nor can the bearer of a burden bear the burden of another, nor do We chastise until We raise a messenger.
Quran [17:15]

And a burdened soul cannot bear the burden of another and if one weighed down by burden should cry for (another to carry) its burden, not aught of it shall be carried, even though he be near of kin. You warn only those who fear their Lord in secret and keep up prayer; and whoever purifies himself, he purifies himself only for (the good of) his own soul; and to Allah is the eventual coming.
Quran [35:18]

When those who were followed shall renounce those who followed (them), and
they see the chastisement and their ties are cut asunder. And those who followed shall say: Had there been for us a return, then we would renounce them as they have renounced us. Thus will Allah show them their deeds to be intense regret to them, and they shall not come forth from the fire
Quran [2:166-167]

If i follow blindly the opinions and words of the learned of today, men who are prone to sin, err, commit mistakes and men who may even wear the masks of a scholar, then i will be only responsible for my own misguidance based on the time, energy and resources i had.

Isn't it ironic that we do not have the time to look up the verses and ahadtih and the context in which they are quoted in the sermons in mosques, yet we have alot of time to waste? And if we feel we are not capable enough of understanding the Islamic literature, then remember that the message of Islam was for mankind, not for the molvis. Also remember the three rules of the Quran mentioned earlier.

The conclusion is, if your scholar misguides you, then only you are responsible for your own blindness. The punishment is not for being blind. The punishment will be for choosing to be blind.

4. Punishment of the grave is a reality

There are many ahadith and prayers which ask for refuge from the punishment of the grave. However, one verse of the Quran shows a different picture:

They shall say: O woe to us! who has raised us up from our sleeping-place? This
is what the Beneficent Allah promised and the messengers told the truth.
Quran [36:52]

The mention of sleeping places emphasizes that the dead will not be concious of their death nor the time that has passed and that is why when they are raised, they will be confused. Just like a normal person who sleeps in the night, when he wakes up, he has lost count of time and it only seems to be as if a few moments have passed. However, in a sleeping place, the essence of punishment of grave does not exist for if the punishment was there, the dead would not wake from their sleeping places but from a place full of turmoil.

I began to have doubts in the ahadith of punishment in the grave until i came across the following verse:

The fire; they shall be brought before it (every) morning and evening and on the day when the hour shall come to pass: Make Firon's people enter the severest chastisement.
Quran [40:46]

Followers of Firaun shall suffer inside their graves and their punishment has already started.

How to balance the verse of the sleeping place then? I leave it upto historians, scholars or jurists; If the grave punishment is not an every day affair for all (except a few exceptions like people of the Pharoah), then either grave punishment is not for all disbelievers, or it is for a limited time before the dead is put to a long sleep until Qayamah where he will be raised again. The conclusion is that punishment in the grave is a fact and we should all pray for forgiveness to escape the fear.

5. Ayesha bint Abu Bakr and Hafsah bint Umer, the wives of Prophet (SAW) and Ummahat ul Momineen are warned by Allah either to repent or be replaced by "better women"

I believe this by far is the biggest shock the Quran provides to sectarian minded people. Even when i myself came across this, i could not believe it was in the Quran. A few years back a friend asked me about the differences shias and sunnis had over Aisha. After telling him about the battle of Jamal against Imam Ali (AS) and the instances where she used to plot against Prophet (SAW), i quoted him a verse which warned Aisha either to repent or be replaced by "better women". To this, my friend called me a liar and swore over the Quran itself that he had read the whole Quran and nothing like that ever existed.

And when the prophet secretly communicated a piece of information to one of his
wives (Ayesha)-- but when she informed (others) of it, and Allah made him to know it, he
made known part of it and avoided part; so when he (Muhammad) informed her (Ayesha)
of it, she said: Who informed you of this? He said: The Knowing, the one Aware,
informed me. If you both (Ayesha and Hafsa) turn to Allah, then indeed your hearts are already inclined (to this); and if you back up each other against him, then surely Allah it is Who is his Guardian, and Jibreel and -the believers that do good, and the angels after that are the aiders. Maybe, his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your place wives better than you, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, adorers, fasters, widows and virgins.
Quran [66:3-5]

6. The end of the mischief-makers is purely destruction.

And to Madyan (We sent) their brother Shuaib, so he said: O my people! serve Allah and fear the latter day and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief. But they rejected him, so a severe earthquake overtook them, and they became motionless bodies in their abode.
Quran [29:36-37]

Earthquakes are not random events. Allah has destroyed previous nations through floods, volcanoes, storms, earthquakes and diseases. Allah is destroying the people and the nations today with similar punishments, irrespective of religion and sect.

Maybe the reason is that Muslims and non muslims alike, are acting corruptly in the land and making mischief.

When i saw Muslims killing other muslims in suicide attacks, committing adultery of the hand, body and eyes, cheating in exams in schools, stealing from others, oppressing the poor, back biting, disobeying the elders, abusing one another, dressing improperly and creating confusion through extremism etc, I never thought that the Quran was so clear in telling us our very end (God forbid) 1400 years earlier. This verse is a shocker.

7. Waging a war against Allah and his Prophet

Every sin without true repentance has its due punishments, in this world, the grave and the next world. Allah and his messenger do not wage a war against you if you adulter, kill, rob, steal. However, asking for usury/riba/interest is waging a war against the creator and his beloved prophet (SAW) themselves.

O you who believe! Be careful of (your duty to) Allah and relinquish what remains (due) from usury, if you are believers. But if you do (it) not, then be apprised of war from Allah and His Messenger; and if you repent, then you shall have your capital; neither shall you make (the debtor) suffer loss, nor shall you be made to suffer loss.
Quran [2:278-279]

The gravity of this is beyond our understanding.

8. The concept of Mannat/Nayyaz or Conditional Worship

I always believed that it was not wrong to give nayyaz in the name of Allah, in the form of food or charity if some of my prayer was accepted or granted. However, i could not find anything related to it for a long time in the Quran itself until a friend pointed out to me something, which appealed to my reason.

And there are those of them who made a covenant with Allah: If He give us out of
His grace, we will certainly give alms and we will certainly be of the good. But when He gave them out of His grace, they became niggardly of it and they turned back and they withdrew.
Quran [9:75-76]

9. Procedure to Divorce

Unfortunately, Islam is divided into 2 major sects today, and countless different sub-sects, which do not like being called sub-sects. Although Allah has stopped Muslims from dividing their religion into sects, the truth is that sectarian Islam is a fact today and all we can do is to tolerate each other and bridge the gap through understanding each other's point of views.

As long as each sect of Islam claims and tries to follow Rasool (SAW) and the Quran (through their own sense-making interpretations), I guess it is fine. You pray the salat the Shia way or the Sunni way, shouldn't matter if your intentions are sincere and you are praying it the prescribed way sincerely believing it is the how Rasool (SAW) did it. After all the procedure is not in the Quarn and ahadith and historical references can be challenged. As long as something is not given in detail in the Quran and the "sect" has their own historical references and Ahadith in support of a practice etc, it maybe acceptable.

But following something blindly, on the basis of hadith and history and fatwas of the "scholar", something which is against the clear orders of the Quran is simply shocking and criminal.

In an urdu magazine, a woman had asked the scholar if her husband divorced her three times at the same time in state of anger, is the divorce valid, to which the scholar replied in affirmative. Similarly, scholars have been validating 3 divorces in 1 go even if given through an email or an sms.

Divorce is one of the few practices of Islam described in detail in Quran, yet people are following an innovation and becoming one of the criminals:

O Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them at their `Iddah and count their `Iddah. And have Taqwa of Allah, your Lord. And turn them not out of their homes nor shall they leave, except in case they are guilty of Fahishah Mubayyinah. And those are the set limits of Allah. And whosoever transgresses the set limits of Allah, then indeed he has wronged himself. You know not, it may be that Allah will afterward bring some new thing to pass. Then when they are about to attain their term appointed, either take them back in a good manner or part with them in a good manner. And take as witness two just persons from among you. And establish the testimony for Allah. That will be an admonition given to him who believes in Allah and the Last Day. And whosoever has Taqwa of Allah, He will make a way for him to get out.
Quran [65:1-2]

10. Fabricating words of Allah

Muhammad (SAW) is the superior most and the beloved creation of Allah, who has the honor to be physically as close to Allah possible (during Miraj), which would even burn angels like the mighty Jibrail (AS).

Allah has elevated the status of the prophet (SAW), granted him exclusive bounties and has tied our obedience to him (SAW) as the only way to success. As a matter of fact, Rasool (SAW) is the Elite prophet, faith in whom and promise to assist whom earned other prophets their prophethood.

When i came accross the following verse, i never expected Allah to use such harsh words with the Prophet (SAW) himself.

And if he (Muhammad) had fabricated against Us some of the sayings, We would certainly have seized him by the right hand, Then We would certainly have cut off his aorta. And not one of you could have withheld Us from him. And most surely it is a reminder for those who guard (against evil).
Quran [69:44-48]

The fact is that Muhammad (SAW) is the representative of Allah and his dear most creation, who Allah has taken as a Habib (friend). The fact also remains that Allah however is the creator of Muhammad (SAW) as well and holds absolute authority over the Prophet.

If the aorta of the messenger would have been cut off if he invented lies and fabrications against Allah (god forbid), can we even imagine the end result of normal human beings like you and me, who lie in the name of Allah and his Prophet (SAW), attribute false ayats to Quran and fake ahadith to the Prophet (SAW) in knowledge or ignorance, who forward every email and text messages to everyone in their lists without verification of the news?

O you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done.
Quran [49:6]

11. Signs of Qayamat

Our scholars and elders tell us every story and every incident and nostradamus predictions about events which shall occur before the end of times or Qayamat. Besides the mention of the coming of Imam Mahdi (AS) and the dajjal (which have related ahadith in both Shias and Sunnis), the foretold signs of Qayamat also include the attack on World trade center, USA having a black president, many plane crashes, maybe Pakistan winning the football world cup and what not.

Allah has set up some signs before the day of Qayamah:

They do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord
should come, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come. On the day when some
of the signs of your Lord shall come, its faith shall not profit a soul which did not believe before, or earn good through its faith. Say: Wait; we too are waiting.
Quran [6:158]

The Quran has explicitly mentioned two event which will mark the very nearness to Qayamat. Unfortunately, no Aalim tells about these two signs because no one knows for sure what they literally mean (be warned, tafseers can be misleading at times, specially for these verses, are contradictory).

Nay, they (disbelievers) are in doubt, they sport. Therefore keep waiting for the day when the heaven shall bring an evident smoke, That shall overtake men; this is a painful punishment. Our Lord! remove from us the punishment; surely we are believers. How shall they be reminded, and there came to them an Messenger making clear (the truth), Yet they turned their backs on him and said: One taught (by others), a madman.  Surely We will remove the punishment a little, (but) you will surely return (to evil). On the day when We will seize (them) with the most violent seizing; surely We will inflict retribution.
Quran [44:9-16]

Smoke from the heaven! It maybe in a form of asteroid strike or in a way we might never have imagined. But if you live to see that day (May Allah protect us all), then know what the Quran has already said about it. Worry only if you were one of the doubters.

The second sign (rise of the beast):

And when the word shall come to pass against them, We shall bring forth for them a creature from the earth  that shall wound them, because people did not believe in Our communications.
Quran [27:82]

It is not a shock that these verses (and others like them) exist in the Quran, it is a shock that we never came accross them because we never had time to study the Quran in its totality. We are given free will and the option to chose the right path. How do we even know what the right path is if we are not aware of what the Criterion, the Quran, says. Is our faith merely a weak fabric of opinions, guess works and stories we have heard?

(Allah has) Taught man what he knew not. Nay! man is most surely inordinate, Because he sees himself free from want.
Quran [96:5-7]

The beneficient Allah taught us what we knew not. He sent 124,000 prophets to teach us what we did not know, we took 50 years to forget everything. Yes, fifty years, because within fifty years of the rolex replica uk of Rasool (SAW), the enitre first three generations of his (SAW) progeny were wiped off of the face of the earth, martyred with spears, arrows, swords and poison.

Today, 1400 years later, we are still wandering in our inordinacy, waiting for the event to happen which had happened to previous nations, yet the solution lies in our cupboards in the form of a Book, and the cure lies in our hearts, sincerity.

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The Précis

Has it happen to you that when you read the Quran with a sincere repentant heart, you came accross verses which were against the very Islam itself, as you know it?

The fact is, that we are well versed in cultures, traditions, gossips and many other things but what is in between the covers of the Quran, we rely on men who have brought notority to Islam and its teachings. It is time we open the Quran ourselves and read it to fullfill our satisfaction of knowledge ourselves.

I have collected some verses of the Quran which I believe are either over looked for some reason, or are never told to the children and students of the Book. I am sure some of these verses,  if not all,  might shock some of you, if not all. And I hope this will increase your interest in the Quran so that you atleast read it yourself with an open heart and mind. It will mean that the next time some one quotes a verse from the Quran, it will not shock you and next time when some one tries to manipulate the book, you will not be fooled.