What Does the Quran
Say About Itself?
We come to know from different statements of the Quran that this book has been sent for all nations of the world. A similar statement has been made regarding the Prophet in a number of places in the Quran. The following verse is one such example:
“We have sent you as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner for the whole of mankind, but most people have no knowledge.” (Saba’ 34:28)
The Quran is written in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed in Arabia. But as far as its message is concerned it is, in its nature, entirely global and universal. It addresses all the nations of the world rather than any one particular nation.
The basic message of the Quran is that God is One. And it is clear that this is not any temporary or local matter. This is such a fact as concerns all human beings. It has been made clear in the Quran that a man does not die and end forever but that after his death he will be brought to life again and made to stand before God for the final reckoning. This is also such a reality as concerns the whole of humanity. Similarly, it has been
“Recite what has been revealed to you of the book, and pray regularly. “
(Al-‘Ankabut 29:45)
enjoined in the Quran that we should adopt the path of justice in our dealings with others. This is also such a teaching as relates to all human beings. Moreover, it has been declared in the Quran that all human beings are the children of one and the same parents, i.e., Adam and Eve, and so all human beings are brothers and sisters to each other. If there is any difference, it is not on the basis of race but on degrees of piety. This is also such a teaching as relates to all human beings. Similarly, all the teachings of the Quran enjoy the position of universality. They provide guidance for all human beings from here to eternity.
Light and Darkness
It is a fact that what can be expected from light cannot be expected from darkness. Similarly, what can be had from shade cannot be had from the sun. The same is true of human beings. Among human beings, some are blind and some are sighted. The sighted recognizes his path immediately. But the blind will forever stray. He will never recognize his path.
What is meant by faith is realization. God’s desired faith is that which is achieved as a discovery. Potentially, every man has the ability to have this realization within him. But only those avail of this ability who have the courage to reach their destination by crossing the horizon of realization.
At the Time of Dispute
The answer to how the believers should live with each other is, in a word, that they should live in the way that brothers live with each other. A religious relationship is in no way superior to a blood relationship. If two believers choose to fight against each other, they should not keep adding fuel to the fire between them but should rather make peace between them as a matter of brotherly feeling.
Human Behaviour
There are two ways of leading one’s life. One of them is to be serious about reality. One who is sincere about this will necessarily become a responsible person. He will live in a state of concern, as he will fear that if he is deprived of God’s mercy, nothing will await him except eternal punishment. On the contrary, one who is not serious about reality will lead a life of thoughtlessness. He, being negligent of tomorrow’s end, will remain engrossed in today’s interests.
Those who tread the right path eventually develop an extremely cautious temperament. They come to abhor accusing others. They prefer remaining silent to voicing disapproval on the basis of mere allegations. Such a temperament is a sign of their having received their share of God’s mercy. The faith they declare with their tongues is actually resonating in their lives.
The Spirit of Fasting
Fasting was not prescribed only for the followers of last Prophet. Fasting is such a form of worship as has been prescribed in the religion of the earlier prophets also.
As it is amply clear from the Quranic verses that fasting has many benefits. The most important of them is that it instils piety, or the fear of God in a man. What is fear of God? It is the feeling that accompanies the belief that everything is the gift of God. When He wills, He will deprive man of His gifts. The fasting of Ramadan is an annual period of training calculated to produce this same feeling. In this month, a man on his own, temporarily abstains from eating and drinking. In this way, overwhelmed by hunger and thirst, he has the experience of how great problem he will have to face if God were to deprive him of food and drink permanently. This feeling engenders in him an inner divine state which has been described as piety in the Quran.
The next most important virtue fasting produces in a man is the spirit of thanksgiving. A man remains hungry and thirsty all day until evening comes. He remains in this state until the sun sets. Now he breaks his fast and he eats and drinks to his fill.
This custom of breaking the fast is as an experience that reminds a man of the reality of how great a blessing God has given to mankind in the form of food and water. And this experience of a blessing reminds a man of all the other blessings of God. He then filled with gratitude.
The third quality which fasting infuses into a man is the spirit of prayer. The month of Ramadan is the month of spiritual training for the one keeping the fast. In this month a man, by bearing the trials of hunger and thirst, subdues the material aspect of his existence and develops its non-material aspect. The frequency of prayer awakens in him the feeling of total devotion to God. By reciting and listening to the Quran, he comes to understand its meanings. And the consciousness of God’s greatness is awakened in him. Thus he comes to fear, thank and glorify God.
In this way, fasting enables a man to pray to God with sincerity. His prayer becomes one full of feeling; his prayer becomes that of a questing man; his prayer becomes the invocation of a man who has come very close to God.
Importance of Praying to God
“Recite what has been revealed to you of the book, and pray regularly. Surely prayer restrains one from indecency and evil and remembrance of God is greater. God has knowledge of all your actions.” (Al-‘Ankabut 29:45)
In this verse the sentence ‘Surely prayer restrains one from indecency and evil’ is the recognition of prayer rather than simply the result of prayer. The second sign of true prayer is that with it remembrance of God should become uppermost in the suppliant’s feelings. And the remembrance of God is undoubtedly the greatest of all the virtues.
Prayer does not just have an external form but also an internal spirit. Whenever the spirit of prayer enters into the life of the worshipper. Certain cardinal virtues manifest themselves in him. The repetition of ‘Allah is great’ in prayer makes him feel small and insignificant. The recitation of the Quran in prayer awakens the consciousness of God in him. Bowing down and self-prostration in prayer engender in him the feeling of humility. Observing prayer behind an Imam teaches him the lesson of sociability. To say ‘Peace and the blessings of God be upon you’ at the end of prayer arouses in him the sentiment that the feeling of peace and blessings should well up in his heart for all the people of the world.
Quran: A Cure for the Heart
The Quran is the cure for any sickness of the heart. This means that when a true seeker recites the Quran, he will continually find answers to the questions he has in his heart during his recitation. He will also come to know the cure for the sickness of his heart. For example, a man may have all the material comforts, but he may not have mental peace; he lives in depression and despair. When such a person begins to recite the Quran and reaches this verse “those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of God – surely in the remembrance of God hearts can find comfort;” he is startled and then he begins to reflect on this and even come to discover such a reality as was quite unknown to him before. This reality is that these material things are not any source of comfort: only the remembrance of God can bring comfort. There is, no doubt, a cure for human hearts in the Quran. But this cure is only for those who seek guidance for themselves from the Quran; that is to say, those who read the Quran with an open mind and are ready to accept the message of the Quran unconditionally. In this world only those can achieve a desired thing who are truly its seekers.
The Status of Women in Islam
In Islam, a woman enjoys the same status as that of a man: in the words of the Quran, “You are members, one of another.” There is no difference between man and woman as regards status, rights and blessings, either in this world or in the hereafter. Both are equal participants, so far as the carrying out of the functions of daily living is concerned.
Women have played an important role in dawah work since the dawn of Islam. The wife of the Prophet, Khadijah, used to listen to him and encourage him in the pursuit of his noble cause.
Speaking the Truth
There are two types of utterances—the straightforward and the devious. The straightforward utterance is that which exactly conforms to the facts; which is based on factual analysis and which is presented with the support of solid arguments. As opposed to this, the devious utterance is that which is not reality-oriented, which is based on guesses and conjectures and simply amounts to expressing an opinion: it is not factual reporting. The first mentioned is the utterance of the believer (mu’min), while the second is that of the hypocrite.
Believing Women
“Surely, for men and women who have surrendered [to God]— believing men and believing women, obedient men and obedient women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, charitable men and charitable women, fasting men and fasting women, men and women who guard their chastity, men and women who are ever mindful of God—God is ready with forgiveness and an immense reward.” (Al-Ahzab 33:35)
This verse shows what Almighty God wishes a man or woman to be like. The ten virtues He would like them to possess are as follows: Islam (submission to God), Faith in God, obedience, truthfulness, patience, sincerity, charity, fasting, chastity and remembrance of God.
Just as these qualities are required of men, so also are they required of women. Although their manifestation
In Islam, a woman enjoys the same status
as that of a man.
may in some respects be different, as far as the qualities themselves are concerned, they are the same for both.
The Position of Women
The honorable position accorded by Islam to woman is symbolically demonstrated by the performance of the rite of sa‘i, an important part of the pilgrimage to Makkah, made at least once in a lifetime as a religious duty by all believers who can afford the journey. The rite of sa‘i is performed by running back and forth seven times between Safa and Marwah, two hillocks near the Kabah. This running, enjoined upon every pilgrim, be he rich or poor, literate or illiterate, king or commoner, is a re-enactment of the desperate quest of Hajar (Hagar), Abraham’s wife, for water to quench the thirst of her crying infant when they arrived at God’s behest in this dry, desert country, four thousand years ago, long before there was any such city as Makkah.
No Salvation on the Basis of
Belonging to a Group
“The believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds—will be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Al-Baqarah 2:62)
The success of the hereafter has in no way a relation with any group. It all depends on one’s actions rather than on relations with a group. The following verse of the Quran clarifies this fact.
The Book: There is No Doubt in It
This Quranic statement is an eternal challenge. It declares a certain future for the Quran: no individual or group will be able to cast any doubt upon it. This book will remain preserved from all types of doubt and suspicion to the last stage of human history.
This is a unique book which has no comparable example in any other religious books. One thousand four hundred years have passed since its revelation but, till now, no one has been able to find any trace of doubt. This is the same Arabic Book which the Prophet presented as a divine book in Arabia. Today, the whole Quran is in its original form and in the same language as it was revealed 1400 years ago. The Quran has constantly maintained its unassailable position, unaffected by doubt or suspicion of any kind. There are many references in the Quran which are related to human sciences, and astonishingly, the scientific developments of the later times have not proved any of the statements of the Quran to be open to question. Each statement of the Quran has been borne out as to its veracity.
The Quran tells us to be kind and respectful to our
parents, but of the two, the mother has been given
greater priority.
God’s Help
The Prophet Muhammad was born an orphan. Then God provided him with the best of guardians. He went eagerly in search of the Truth. Then God opened the door of Truth for him. He was apparently without wealth. Then God made him prosperous through his wife, Khadijah. These are historical examples which show how Almighty God helps His subjects.
Man should help the weak so that he may be entitled to God’s grace. His words should be full of the expression of God’s grace, so that God may confer His blessings upon him.
Righteousness
Human beings differ from each other in many ways, notably in terms of race and place of origin—some are black, some are white, some are from the rain forests, some are from the tundra. But all these differences are for the purpose of identification—not for the making of distinctions.
Human beings, in view of their origin, are all one. Among them, if at all there is any basis for distinction, it is as to who is fearful of God and who is not. Even this is known only to God and not to any human being.
Islamic Spirituality
According to Islam, spirituality is not synonymous with being lost in some mysterious world, nor is it such a search as begins from one’s own self and ends in one’s own self. On the contrary, Islamic spirituality is man’s achieving the living realization of the reality of God; his finding a conscious anchorage in the eternal world of realities. The journey of Islamic spirituality passes along known ways and not through unknown valleys.
This intellectual discovery changes man’s whole life. Now, he becomes a new human being, a human being who builds a meaningful life both in this world and in the hereafter.
Those Who Find Guidance
The truth is actually introduced to a man by means of words. But words can be explained and interpreted in so many different ways, that only that person can take guidance from it who is sincere to the last extent in this matter. This is why it is described in the Quran that God’s book is true but it becomes a means of guidance only for those who are eager to take guidance from it with open-mindedness.
Modesty
With regard to ladies, satr defines which parts of her body a woman must cover and which parts she may keep uncovered, either in or outside her house, and before whom, when and under what conditions.
The literal meaning of ‘O! You Believers! Turn all together towards God,’ is that in carrying out the instructions of the Islamic law, the most important virtues are the receptivity and sincerity of people’s hearts. The male and female Companions of the Prophet Muhammad maintained the highest standard in this respect.
What Does the Quran Say About Earlier Scriptures?
The difference between the Quran and other divine scriptures is that the earlier scriptures tell us about a book to be sent down and a Prophet as well after them, while the Quran very clearly declares that it is the final divine book, that Muhammad is the final messenger of God and that no prophet will come after him.
Motherhood
The Quran tells us to be kind and respectful to our parents, but of the two, the mother has been given greater priority, as she is the one God chose to be the key to new life. She carries the baby in her womb in a way that nobody carries anyone else, feeds the baby from her heart, protects it, patiently suffers the pains of labour, until she knows that the baby is ready to open its eyes and look upon this world. Her love is unconditional. Considering this a debt that can never be repaid, we must always strive to make our parents happy by our respect, obedience, love and care.
According to a hadith a man once asked the Prophet, “To whom should I be kind?” The Prophet replied, “Your mother.” He asked, “Then to whom?” The Prophet said, “Your mother.” He asked, “Then to whom?” The Prophet replied, “Your mother.” It was only when he asked the fourth time, “Then to whom?” that the Prophet replied, “Your father.” This shows that as far as receiving kindness from children is concerned, the mother has a far greater right than the father.
Being Magnanimous
‘A’ishah’s father, Abu Bakr, had been giving financial help to Mistah ibn Uthatha, a poor migrant from Makkah, who was a distant relative of his. But when the latter actively spread slander against ‘A’ishah, Abu Bakr was naturally hurt by this and vowed that he would never again help Mistah in any way.
“Let not those who are possessed of means and plenty among you resolve to withhold their bounty from their kindred and the needy and those who have migrated from their homes in the cause of God. Let them forgive and overlook. Do you not wish God to forgive you? God is forgiving and merciful.” (Al-Nur 24:22)
Therefore, the aforementioned Quranic verses were revealed ordering that those who could should not stop giving monetary help to those in need on account of personal grudges. They were asked whether they did not want to be pardoned by God and told that if they expected God’s forgiveness, they too should adopt a forgiving attitude towards others. On hearing this verse, Abu Bakr said: ‘Yes ! By God! We want You to forgive us, O! Lord of ours!’ and he started helping Mistah once again.
A Good Woman
A good woman is one who, conducting herself according to God’s plan, accepts the role of man as leader. Similarly, a good man is one who, discharging his role, does not forget that God is always watching him. The divine court of judgement does not differentiate between man and woman. The gender-based difference is meant only to ensure the effective management of worldly life and bears no relation to the requital and rewards of the Hereafter.
Repentance
Repentance does not mean simply uttering certain words like, ‘I repent’ or ‘tawbah’. It should not be mere lip service. It means the intense realization of one’s wrongdoing. If a sinner sincerely repents the error of his ways, he experiences an agonizing condition at par with self-punishment. God will surely pardon one who thus repents due to His intense fear. However, He does not accept the repentance of those who daringly and insensitively and knowingly continue to disobey and transgress, paying no heed to any warning and saying ‘I repent’ only when death is staring them in the face. Nor does the repentance of those who admit their sins only after witnessing the horrors of the Hereafter have any meaning for the Almighty.
Kindness to Parents
After God, a man’s parents have the first claim upon his loyalty. But, if the parents’ desire clashes with God’s will, then preference has to be given to God’s will and the parents’ wishes have to be accorded the second place. However, it is necessary even then to continue to serve the parents as usual.
Striking this balance between two different requirements is the highest example of wisdom of Islam, and the secret of all successes is hidden in this wisdom.
The Presence of God
There are two classes of paradise. The Paradise with two gardens mentioned in these verses is that of the first category. In this Paradise, royal fare will be provided. Such bounties will be available to those who were so overwhelmed by thoughts of God that in the present world itself they made themselves stand, as if in the august presence of God. They related to God on the level of ihsan, that is, experiencing the presence of God in this world itself.
