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The Holy Qur'an is also the strongest argument of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (SAWA)
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
To every Prophet, Allah gave
some miracles, but gone are the
Prophets and their miracles. As
for Holy Prophet Mohammad
(SAWA), since he is the Last and
Greatest Messenger with the
universal message of Islam, God
gave him a timeless miracle, and
that miracle is the Holy Qur’an.
It has often been argued that
the Qur'an is not only the first
book, and the highest linguistic
achievement, of the Arabic
language, but that it is also
the strongest argument of Holy
Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) against
those who doubt his divine
mission.
The Holy Qur’an is indeed a
miracle in many aspects, some of
which are its exclusive
eloquence of the Qur’an, its
inimitable quality, the amazing
divulging of scientific facts by
the Qur’an many of which modern
sciences is only beginning to
discover, the accuracy of the
historical records in the
Qur’an, it’s astounding
predictions, and it’s challenge
which none have been able to
meet over the past fourteen
centuries. In ayah 27 of Surah
Houd, God Almighty says:
“This Qur’an is not such as can
be produced by other than Allah,
on the contrary it is a
confirmation of (revelations)
that were sent before it, and a
full explanation of the book,
wherein there is not doubt from
the Lord of the worlds.”
Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), to
whom Prophet Mohammad (SAWA)
information every minute detail
of the holy Qur’an, says in this
regard: It is a light whose
radiance shall not be
extinguished; It is a lamp whose
flame shall not die; It is an
ocean whose depth cannot be
fathomed; It is a path which
shall not lead astray; It is a
blaze whose brilliance shall not
be darkened; It is a criterion
whose evidence shall not be
suppressed; It is a cure with
which there is no fear of
ailments; It is a power whose
supporters cannot be defeated;
It is the source of faith and
its prosperity; it is the
fountain-head of knowledge and
its vastness; and God has made
it the quencher of the thirst of
scholars.
This brilliant oration reviews
many important points which call
for careful reflection. For
instance, by saying that the
Qur’an is ‘a lamp whose flame
shall not die, Imam Ali (AS)
means, as he does in many other
statements in this oration, that
the Qur’an is a book whose
significance shall not be
exhausted. It will remain fresh
and new until the Day of
Resurrection. An ayah may have
been sent down regarding a
specific occasion or community,
yet its relevance is not limited
to that occasion, person, or
community; rather, its
signification and applicability
are general. Imam Ali (AS)
further says: “The Qur’an lives
and will not die; the ayahs live
and will not die. If an ayah
were to die with the death of
the persons concerning whom it
came down, then the Qur’an would
have definitely died. Rather,
such a verse would continue to
apply to those who are alive as
it did to those who died.”
The holy Qur’an is thus
essential for those scholars who
are interested in the study of
man and society, since this book
has been effectively
instrumental not only in molding
the destinies of Islamic
societies, but also in shaping
the destiny of the human race as
a whole.
A brief glance over history
would be enough to provide
sufficient proof of the claim
that there has been no such book
that has ever influenced human
societies to the magnitude of
the Qur'an. It is for the same
reason that the Qur'an
automatically steps into the
precincts of sociological
discussions, and becomes the
elemental constituent of the
subjects of research in this
discipline. This means that any
deep study and profound research
in the field of world history of
the last fourteen hundred years,
is impossible without the
knowledge of the Qur'an.
Orient list Smith writes in his
book Mohammad and Islam: “The
teachings of the Qur’an, which
mentions knowledge and the pen
in its opening verses, brought
about a tremendous
transformation. Islam proclaimed
study to be a religious duty,
and made the blank ink of the
scribe and the scholar to be
superior to the red blood of the
martyr. Thanks to the teachings
of the Qur’an and its emphasis
on the cultivation of knowledge,
countless scholars made their
appearance and wrote innumerable
books. Different scientific
disciplines were derived from
the Qur’an and spread across the
world by Muslim thinkers. The
world was illumined with the
light of the Qur’an and culture
of Islam”.
Thus in view of these undeniable
facts, the study and knowledge
of the holy Qur'an is essential
not only for Scholars and
Philosophers, but for everyone:
an ordinary person, a student, a
worker, a trader, a learned
person as well as for all
faithful believers. The study of
the Qur'an is essential for
every committed Muslim, since it
is the main source and
foundation of the religious
thought and faith. Whatsoever
gives meaning, essence and
sanctity to his existence lies
in the Holy Qur'an.
In short, the Qur'an has been
sent by God for all ages and for
all human beings. It is so
composed that in spite of
changes in knowledge, outlook
and approach through various
times and ages, it surpasses all
learning and knowledge in all
ages. While it encompasses
mysteries and abstruse
intricacies for the reader of
every age, at the same time it
presents a great feast of
meanings and ideas that can
satiate the needs of every one
and every time in accordance
with the capacity of that
particular age.
Therefore, the Qur’an is for
all: the learned as well as the
ordinary reader. To make this
concept clear, we can compare
the holy Qur’an to an ocean. The
less earned, like children,
collect pebbles and shells from
its shores. The Scholars and
thinkers, like pearl divers,
bring out from it the highest
philosophy, wisdom and rules of
perfect way of living.
The Holy Qur’an invites mankind
to ponder and recognize the
Creator
Japanese Islamologist Toshihiko
Izutsu in his book titled "God
and Mankind" has attempted to
understand the lofty message of
the holy Qur’an. He says, the
holy Qur’an presents the concept
of God as the source and centre
of all phenomena, with all
knowledge and power belong to
Him.
The Qur’an then invites mankind,
the best of God’s creation, to
ponder and recognize the
Creator, Whose Majesty is all
evident in the universe. The
teachings of the Qur’an are
aimed at arousing mankind to the
purpose of life and the eventual
destination. This image can be
clearly seen in Surah Tin. Ayahs
4 to 8 of this Surah remind
mankind that path towards
salvation lies in faith coupled
with good deeds and abstention
from evil.
In the ayahs of the holy Qur’an,
psychological and spiritual
characteristics of mankind have
been taken into consideration.
Here we cite some ayahs which
refer to the negative
characteristics of mankind. Ayah
34 of Surah Ibrahim says:
"Indeed man is most unfair and
ungrateful!"
Ayah 11 of Surah al-Isra’ reads:
"Man prays for ill as [avidly
as] he prays for good, and man
is overhasty."
Elsewhere in the same Surah,
ayah 67 we read:
"And man is very ungrateful."
In 83 of Surah al-Isra’, we
discover:
"When We bless man, he is
disregardful and turns aside;
but when an ill befalls him, he
is despondent."
Ayahs 6 and 7 of Surah al-Alaq
say:
"Indeed man becomes rebellious"
"When he considers himself
without need"
Several ayahs of the holy Qur’an
also refer to the positive
characteristics of human beings.
For instance he called the
Caliph of God on earth. Other
ayahs introduce the virtuous
persons who traverse the path of
perfection to achieve higher
human degrees. The Qur’an
instills in the human being the
perception to understand the
true meaning of the beauty of
piety, and ugliness of evil. In
other words, some people lie
because they do not understand
the beauty of honesty. So such
characteristics should be
properly controlled. The goal of
the holy Qur’an is to guide
mankind towards real prosperity
in life and salvation in
afterlife.
For instance, in ayah 8 of Surah
Maidah, the holy Quran calls on
human being to deal with others
even with enemies in a just and
fair manner, because oppression
is not a positive
characteristic. In order to
promote the moral of friendship
and affection in human being,
the holy Qur’an calls on mankind
to first show respect to parents
and then to relatives in order
to promote the spirit of
affection and brotherhood in the
society. The mercy, affection,
kindness, and forgiveness of God
Almighty are infinite.
The doors of repentance are
always wide open for the
penitents. The ayahs of the
Qur’an emphasize on this
characteristic of God in order
to instill in man this
egalitarian spirit towards
fellow humans, whose faults
ought to be overlooked. In this
regard, some exegetes point at
Surah Hujurat which contains a
series of valuable moral and
social messages, and called it
the Surah of Ethics.
For instance Ayahs 11 and 12 of
Surah Hujurat read:
"O you who believe! let not
(one) people laugh at (another)
people perchance they may be
better than they, nor let women
(laugh) at (other) women,
perchance they may be better
than they; and do not find fault
with your own people nor call
one another by nicknames; evil
is a bad name after faith, and
whoever does not turn, these it
is that are the unjust."
O you who believe! Avoid most of
suspicion, for surely suspicion
in some cases is a sin, and do
not spy nor let some of you
backbite others.
These ayahs address both men and
women and the message is to
refrain from ridiculing others.
The false sense of pride,
egotism and self-superiority are
the factors behind tension,
clashes, wars and bloodshed
throughout history. If the
message of the holy Qur’an is
correctly implemented the
society will be free of evil.
In the Qur’anic logic, it is not
good to suspect others and be
curious about the private life
or disclosure of the
deficiencies of others. Islam
strives to establish real
security in the society and such
security is materialized only in
a society whose members are
adorned with faith and ethics.
Generally the holy Qur’an by
expressing moral values presents
lofty concepts in the form to
inculcate in us the sense of
spiritual beauty. Once human
beings experience the good sense
of self-sacrifice, resistance,
peace, patience and generosity,
they automatically step towards
virtues and happiness. This is
indeed among the eternal
miracles of the holy Qur’an.
The Holy Qur'an introduces
itself as the manifest light
The Qur'an introduces itself as
the guidance for the worlds and
as the manifest light. According
to the Qur'an, Allah has laid
down solution of every human
problem in the Qur'an itself in
very clear manner.
For instance, in ayah 89 of
Surah Nahl, the Almighty Creator
says: “We have revealed the Book
to you explaining clearly
everything."
The Holy Qur'an is the book
which by sound reasoning bestows
insight upon man. It shows the
right path by giving the
accounts of the Prophets and the
nations of the past. As we
explained in our early episodes
of this series, it motivates us
through parables, exhortations
and admonitions.
In ayah 49 of Surah Houd, God
says: “Such are some of the
stories of the unseen, which We
have revealed unto you; before
this neither you nor your people
knew them. So persevere
patiently, for the end is for
those who are righteous.”
Among the functions of the
Qur'an is to deliver people from
darkness and guide them towards
light, as God says in ayah 1 of
Surah Ibrrahim: “A Book We have
sent down to you so that you may
bring forth mankind from the
darkness into the light......”.
What is the meaning of darkness
mentioned in the ayah that we
recited? Without doubt the
darkness of ignorance is one of
the vices from which the Qur'an
emancipates humanity and leads
it towards the light of
knowledge and wisdom. However,
if merely ignorance were
regarded as darkness, then the
philosophers could have
accomplished this job. But there
exist other evils more dangerous
than the vice of ignorance, and
to subdue them is beyond the
power of sheer knowledge. Among
them are the vices of worship of
material benefits, egoism,
enslavement to desires, and
greed, which are considered to
be personal and moral vices.
Social vices like oppression and
discrimination manifest the
spiritual darkness of a society.
In Arabic, the word zulm, which
means injustice and oppression,
is derived from the same root as
zulmah, which means darkness,
and which shows that injustice
is a form of social and
spiritual darkness. To struggle
against such forms of darkness
is the responsibility and
mission of the Qur'an. The
exegetes of the Qur'an emphasize
the point that whenever the
Qur'an mentions darkness, it
always uses it in the plural
form although it always uses
light in its singular form. This
means that the word ‘darkness’
includes all sorts of darkness,
all of the evil ways that lead
towards darkness, and that
‘light’ signifies one single
right path --the path of
righteousness, whereas the ways
of deviation and perversion are
many. In ayah 255 of Surah
al-Baqarah, the Qur'an says:
“God is the Protector of the
believers; He brings them forth
from the darkness into the
light. And the unbelievers
--their protectors are taghut
(devils), that bring them forth
from the light into the darkness
...”
Thus the Qur'an determines its
goal to be the breaking of the
chains of ignorance,
misguidance, moral and social
corruption and destruction, or
in other words, to dissipate all
sorts of ‘darkness’ and to guide
humanity in the direction of
‘justice, goodness and light’.
No pen is capable of describing
the excellence and magnificence
of the Glorious Qur'an. This
statement is absolutely correct,
because while describing the
Holy Qur'an, Prophet Mohammad
(SAWA) to whom God had revealed
this most perfect heavenly
scripture, has said: “The
superiority of the Speech of God
over other speeches is like the
superiority of God over His
creatures.” In view of the words
of the Prophet, let us ponder
and reflect upon what he himself
as the the teacher of the Quran,
has said about the excellence of
the Holy Qur'an. Here we present
you some of the hadith regarding
the Qur'an: "When mischief come
to confuse you like the segments
of darkened night, then hold
fast to the Qur'an;
"It is the intercessor whose
intercession shall be granted
(by God);"
"Whoever keeps it before him, it
will lead him to the Garden; and
whoever keeps it behind, it will
drive him to the Fire;"
"There are in it the lamps of
guidance and the beacon of
wisdom, and guide to knowledge
for him who knows the
attributes."
Before departing from the world,
as per the command of God
Almighty, Prophet Mohammad
(SAWA) in his famous statement
called Hadith Thaqalayn said: “I
am leaving behind among you two
precious things; as long as you
hold fast to them you will never
go astray after me: The Book of
Allah and my progeny, the Ahl
al-Bayt; and these two shall
never separate from each other
until they reach me (at) the
fountain of (Kowsar in
paradise)”.
This hadith is a clear
indication that without the Ahl
al-Bayt many of the wonders of
the holy Qur'an cannot be
understood properly nor can one
expect the complete and the most
perfect form of guidance towards
Allah and eternal bliss. The
Prophet's divinely-appointed
vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS), who
is often called the Qur'an an-Nateq
or the "Speaking Qur'an", has
said:
"In it is the information about
those who were before you and
what will come after you, and it
will be the judge among you."
"Whoever seeks guidance in
anything other than it, God will
leave him astray."
"It is the firm rope of God."
"With it, hearts will never
deviate, nor will the tongues
utter confusion."
"Whoever utters it speaks the
truth, whoever rules by it is
just; whoever abides by it will
receive his just reward; and
whoever calls for it shall be
guided to the straight path.
Follow it.”
The Oaths in the Holy Qur'an
The oaths in the holy Qur'an are
generally for two purposes.
First, the oaths pertain to the
importance of the subject which
the oath is made to. Second,
they pertain to the importance
of the affairs, themselves,
since oaths are always made to
great matters. In this way, the
oaths taken by God Almighty make
us contemplate on the wonders of
creation.
In other words, these oaths
arouse consciousness and proper
cognizance of the goals of life.
For instance, when a person says
'I swear by my life that what I
say is true,' he/she actually
creates a kind of relationship
between his statements and his
life and means to say that in
the same manner as my life is
valuable; my words are worthy as
well. Whoever swears by God for
assuming the responsibility of
doing something, he/she vows to
certainly do it for the sake of
God's glory.
According to exegetes of the
holy Qur'an, God Almighty by
taking oaths directs our
attention towards the earth, the
sky and whatever between them,
in order to stimulate our minds
and encourage us to firm our
faith as well as embark upon
exploring the different branches
of science and knowledge. For
instance, when God says: "By the
Sun and its brightness", it is a
reference to the fact that the
sun plays a most important role
in our life and in the life of
all living creatures on the
earth, because it is not only a
source of heat and energy (the
essential factors necessary for
life), but it is also the origin
of some other life-giving
factors such as; winds,
rainfall, plants, rivers and
waterfalls. In addition the
mineral sources; oil, coal, and
the like, all depend on the
sunlight so that if this
world-illuminating-lamp ceased
one day, darkness, silence and
death would dominate
everywhere.
To be more specific, the Sun is
the creation of God, and its
orderly course is among the
blessings of the Almighty
Creator for the human beings,
the best of creation. God
Almighty then takes an oath on
the brightness by using the word
"zuha", which means 'those hours
of the morning which follow
shortly after sunrise', and,
depict the full brightness of
the sun after the end of night.
It is emphasis on the glory of
sunlight that dominates the
land. In the same surah, God
says: "By the night when it
enshrouds it." Here the
reference is to the important of
the Night, with all its
blessings and effects, which, on
the one hand, moderates the heat
of the sun and, on the other,
brings quietude to living things
– all of which are completely
necessary for life. Night
provides human beings and the
majority of living creatures,
with rest. If the darkness of
night did not exist and the sun
were to shine continuously,
there would be no tranquility,
because the piercing heat of the
sun would destroy everything.
Another of God's oath reads: "By
the Earth and He Who spread it."
These words are indeed
thought-provoking, since the
Earth is the cradle of life for
human beings and all living
creatures, with all its wonders,
such as mountains, seas,
valleys, forests, springs,
rivers, mines, and other
precious sources. All these are
firm indication of Divine Signs,
each of which, if studied
intelligently, is an evidence of
God's might and wisdom. More
important than the Earth is the
Creator of the Earth Who spreads
it out, since at the beginning
the earth was totally submerged
under water. Then gradually the
water subsided into the low
lands causing high points of
land to appear and spread which
is called "dahw-ul-ardh".
Continuous heavy rains washed
the high lands and, thereby,
filled the valleys, so, little
by little, dry level lands
appeared, becoming suitable for
human beings to live and farm on
it. Some commentators believe
that there is also a slight
hint, in this sense, to the
movement of the Earth, because
one of the meanings of "tahw" is
'repel' and it may point to the
'driving' of the Earth around
the sun or around itself or both
of them. God then takes another
important oath by saying: "And
by the soul and He who perfected
it," It is a reference to the
pivotal position of mankind in
the world of creation, since the
human race is the best of
creation; the best on the earth
and in the heavens.
The human soul is one of the
greatest mysteries of the
universe. Its importance is so
much so that Allah swears by it
and by its Maker, both. Here the
reference is also to the
proportion of man's soul and his
spiritual faculties including
external and internal senses
such as comprehension, memory,
apprehension, imagination,
faculty of origination, love,
will, and the like, all of which
can be studied in psychology.
In the next ayah, after focusing
on the shaping and perfecting of
the soul, God says: "Then
inspired it to understand what
is wrong and (what is) right for
it,"
It means that God taught mankind
to discriminate between right
and wrong. This is the most
precious gift of all granted
exclusively to the human race.
Thus, an entity created from
clay and into which God has
breathed spirit, is made to
understand what is sin, impiety,
and wrong doing and what is
piety and right conduct. It is
to make man learn that his
success, prosperity, salvation,
and position, where he can be in
a rank higher than the angels,
depends on himself, on his
keeping his soul pure as Allah
has made it. On the other hand,
his failure, his decline to the
lowest degree even lower than
beasts, and his perdition
depends on himself, and his
polluting of his soul by
choosing evil.
Sometimes in the holy Qur'an,
the oaths taken by God are at
counter intellectual deviation,
paganism and superstitions. For
instance, in order to refute the
allegations that the Almighty
has a son and that the angels
are His daughters, God swears by
His Own Glory to dispel the
thoughts of human attributes in
Him, and warns the accusers that
they will be questioned on the
day of resurrection for their
blasphemy. These oaths are
indeed a firm proof of the
eternally miracle nature of the
holy Qur'an. |
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