Way To The Qur'an

[SAFAH]

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WAY TO THE QUR'AN

 

by Khurram Murad

 

The New world that Awaits You

 

As you come to the Qur'an, you come to a new world. No other

venture in your life can be so momentous and crucial,so blissful

and rewarding, as your journey to and through the Qur'an. It is

a journey that will take you through the endless joys and riches

of the words that your Creator and Lord has sent to you and all

mankind. Here you will find a world of untold treasures of

knowledge and wisdom to guide you on the pathways of life, to

mould your thoughts and actions.In it you will find deep

insights to enrichyou and steer you along the right course.From

it you will receive a radiant light to illumine the deeper

reaches of your soul.Here you will encounter profound emotions,a

warmth to melt your heart and bring tears running down your

cheeks. It is crucial for you because, as you travel through the

Qur'an,at every step you will summoned to choose,and to commit

to Allah.To read the Qur'an is nothing less than to live the

Qur'an willingly,sincerely,devotedly,and totally.The outcome of

your entire life depends on how you heed the call given by

Allah.The journey is therefore decisive for your existence,for

mankind,for the future of human civilization. A hundred new

worlds lie in its verses. Whole centuries are invlved in its

moments. Know ,then,that it is the Qur'an,and only the

Qur'an,whichcan lead you on and on to success and glory in this

world and in the world to come.

 

What is the Qur'an?

 

It is beyond man's power to comprehend,or to dscribe, the

greateness and importance of what the Qur'an holds for

him.Yet,to begin with, you must have some idea of what it is and

what it means to you ,and such that you are inspired to immerse

the whole of yourself in the Qur'an,in total commitment,complete

dedication and ceaseless pursuit,as it demands. The Qur'an is

Allah's greatst blessing or you .It is the fulfilment of His

promise to Adam and his descendants:'there shall come to you

guidance from Me, and whatsoever follows My Guidance no fear

shall e on them, neither shall they sorrow'(al Baqarah 2:38).It

is the only weapon your frail existence as you struggle against

the forces of evil and and temptation in this world.It is the

only means to overpower your fer and anxiety.It is the only

'light' (nur) ,as you grope in the drkness,with which to find

your way to success and salvation.It is the only healing(shifa)

for your inner sickness, as well as the social ills that may

surround you .It is the constant reminder(dhikr) of your true

nature and destiny, of your station,your duties,your rew It was

brought down by one who is powerful and trustworthy in the

heavens- the heart of the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace

be on him. to your Creator.It tells you of Him,of His

attributes, of how He rules o to you ,and how you should relate

to Him,to yourself ,to your fellow meny other existence.The

rewards that await you here are surely many,incrng manifold and

the hereafter,but what awaits you at the end of the road

promises allah in the Hadith qudsi,'the eye has seen not,nor the

ear heard,nor the heart of man ever conceived'.and, adds Abu

Hurayra'no human being can imagine what joys are being kept

hidden for them in d or all that they did'(Bukhari,Muslim)

 

Qur'an As Living Constitution

 

Can the Qur'an again, be living, relevant force, as powerful for

us now 1400 years away, as it was then? This is the most crucial

question that we must answer if we wish to shape our destiny

afresh under the guidance of the Qur'an.

 

There appear, however, to be some difficulties. Not least of

which has to do with the fact that Qur'an was revealed at a

certain point in time. Since then we have traveled a long way,

made gigantic leaps in technological know-how, and seen

considerable social changes take place in human society.

Moreover, most of the followers of the Qur'an today do not know

Arabic, and many who do have little idea of the 'living'

language of the Qur'an.

 

They cannot be expected to absorbs its idioms and metaphor, so

essential to exploring and absorbing the depths of the Qur'anic

meaning. Yet its guidance, by its own claim, has an eternal

relevance for all people, being the word of the Eternal God. For

the truth of its claim, it seems to me, it must be possible for

us to receive, experience, and understand the Qur'an as it's

first recipients did, at least in some measure and to some

degree. We seem to almost have a right to this possibility of

receiving God's guidance in its fullnes and with all its riches

and joys. In other words despite historical incidence of the

revelation in a particular language at that particular time and

place, we should be capable of receiving the Qur'an now (because

its message is eternal), capable of making its message as much a

real part of our lives as it was for the first believers and

with the same urgent and profound relevance for all our present

concerns and experiences.

 

But how do we do this? To put it very forthrightly, only by

entering the world of the Qur'an as if Allah were speaking to us

through it now and today, and by fullfilling the necessary

conditions for such an encounter. Firstly, then, we must realize

what Qur'an as the word of God is and means to us, and bring all

the reverence, love, longing and will to act that this

realization demands. Secondly, we must read it as it asks to be

read, as Allah's Messenger instructed us, as his Companions read

it. Thirdly, we must bring each word of the Qur'an to bear upon

our own realities and concerns by transcending the barriers of

time, culture and change.

 

For the first addressees, the Qur'an was a contemporary event.

Its language and style, its eloquence anda rationale, its idiom

and metaphor, its symbols and parables,its moments and events

were all rooted in their own setting. These people were both

witnesses to and in a sense, paticipants in the whole act of

revelation as it unfolded over a period of their own time. We do

not have the same privilege; yet, in some measures, the same

ought to be true for us. By understanding and obeying the Qur'an

in our own setting, we will find it, as far as possible, as much

a contemporary event for ourselves as it was then. For the

essense of man has not chnaged; it is immutable. Only man's

externalities- the forms, the modes, the technologies - have

changed. The pagans of Makka may be no more, nor the Jews of

Yathrib, nor the Christians of Najran, nor even the

'faithful'and the 'unfaithful' of the community of Madina; but

the same characters exist all around us. We are humans being

exactly as the first recipents were, even though may find it

extremely difficult to grapple with the deep implications of

this very simple truth. Once you realize the truths and follow

them, once you come to the Qur'an as first believers did, it may

reveal to you as it did to them, make partners of you as it did

of them. And only then, instead of being a mere revered book, a

sacred fossil, or a source of magic-like blessing, it will

change into a mighty force, impinging, stirring, moving and

guiding us deeper and higher achievements, just as it did

before.