DISCOVERY
OF THE QURAN
(This is a translation from the Urdu transcript of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s talk on August 4, 2013)
This is the first of a two-part series. The next part will be published in the next issue.
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. May Almighty God’s blessings be upon His noble Prophet.
My Lord! open up my heart, and make my task easy for me. Loosen the knot in my tongue, so that they may understand my speech.
Today is August 4, 2013. It is also the 25th day of Ramadan, 1434. It means the month of Ramadan is nearing its end. It is commonly said that the month of Ramadan is a month of blessings, a month of virtue. However, these words are often uttered in a mysterious sense. Mysteriously, one attains some blessings and virtues. We must realize that a person cannot accept a religion if it is not understandable to his intellect. Thus, a religion that offers blessings in a mysterious sense cannot be acceptable for a person. Religion for human beings should be one that appeals to their intellect and is rationally understandable.
I have thought about this extensively, and I believe the correct perspective is, as stated in the Quran, that the month of Ramadan (2: 185) is the month of the Quran. In other words, it is the month for discovering the Quran. Therefore, today’s topic is “Discovery of the Quran.”
The mere recitation of the Quran and reading its translation is not sufficient. It is necessary for you to repeatedly discover the Quran. If you do not repeatedly discover it, the Quran will not become a life- changing book for you.
In a Hadith (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi), it is mentioned that the wonders of the Quran will never cease. These wonders are not in the pages of the Quran; they have to be discovered through contemplation. They will be discovered as the events unfold in the world.
The wonders of the Quran never ceasing indicate that until the Day of Judgement, the reader will continue to discover new applications of the Quran. If this does not happen, if new perspectives are not discovered repeatedly, then stagnation will set in within you. Islam will no longer remain a living religion for you.
In the Quran, it is stated in the chapter Al-Rahman (55: 29), “Every day He manifests Himself in a new state.” This statement is not in reference to God but to the believer. It is not that God is evolving Himself. God is perfect from the very beginning. There is no evolutionary process for God. So, this formula, “Every day He manifests Himself in a new state”, is in reference to the believer. If you are a true believer, then every day you will discover new glories of God. This way, your connection with God will grow, your faith will grow. Your Islam will remain creative Islam.
Thus, the Quran was revealed for contemplation. God desires that you think about the Quran, contemplate it. Rediscovering the Quran repeatedly is a task that should continue throughout the believer’s life. However, its minimum course is Ramadan. There should be at least one month in the year where you contemplate the Quran and rediscover it. Ideally, you should think and contemplate the Quran throughout the year and continue discovering it.
How does this discovery happen? Previously, I have stated that the method of discovery is that you should have a prepared mind. Your reading, your thinking, your faith should develop in you a prepared mind. Such a person, when they experience something or hear something, their mind gets triggered. This triggering is the essential thing. When your mind gets triggered, only then will there be discovery. The more prepared your mind is, the more it will get triggered.
For example, it is stated in the Quran (The Family of Imran 3:190-191), “There are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day for people of understanding, who remember God while standing, sitting and [lying] on their sides, and who ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying, ‘Lord, You have not created all this without purpose. Glory be to You!”
What is this triggering? It means you thought about the earth and the heavens, you pondered over God’s creations, and gradually your mind got triggered. You read, “Our Lord, You have not created all this without purpose.” It means, through the contemplation of the universe, your mind was triggered, and you discovered the glory of God. This triggering is the key concept for faith and of Islam.
In a Hadith, it is mentioned about the Prophet Muhammad: “He used to remember God all the time.” (Sunan Ibn Majah) In today’s language, it would be said that every event would trigger the Prophet’s thinking. Every occasion would trigger his mind, and he would discover new things. In this way, the Prophet would continuously receive sustenance from God, and his faith would continuously increase. This is what every believer must do.
I recall an incident of mine, probably from 1942, a long time ago, during the time of World War II. I went to Gorakhpur; there was a prominent Muslim officer with a spacious bungalow. I was there to meet him. Outside his bungalow, a Hafiz was reciting the Quran. When I met the Muslim officer, I asked who this person was and what he was doing. It was the month of Ramadan. The Muslim officer said, “We cannot read the Quran ourselves, we do not have the time, so we asked the Hafiz to read it for us, at least to complete one recitation during Ramadan. We will give him some money.” This is how people think. They believe the mere recitation of the Quran is enough to receive its blessings. The officer himself did not read the Quran for contemplation. He just asked the Hafiz to come and recite it.
A few days ago, I met an educated man. During the conversation, he said, “Alhamdulillah, I never miss my Taraweeh.” Taraweeh is the night prayers offered during Ramadan. He thinks that the meaning of Taraweeh is standing in Taraweeh and listening to the recitation. There is no contemplation on the Quran in it. Completing the Quran in Taraweeh or asking the Hafiz to complete it or completing it yourself by reciting, this is not contemplation. From this, you cannot achieve the discovery of the Quran. Without discovery, you cannot achieve thrilling realization.
Yesterday, I understood a new meaning of a verse from the Quran. My mind continually thinks about the Quran. I keep contemplating the verses of the Quran throughout the year, day and night.
There is a verse in the Quran (41: 20-21), “When they come close to it, their ears, eyes and skins will testify against them for their misdeeds. And they will ask their skins, ‘Why did you bear witness against us?’ and their skins will reply, ‘God, who gives speech to all things, has given speech to us [as well].”
Every person or thing will speak in a language that everyone understands. Innumerable people will be gathered in the field on the Day of Judgement. In the present world, they spoke different languages, hundreds of different languages. What language will they speak there on the Day Judgement so that everyone can understand?
Then I understood that linguistics experts have also hinted that the true language is the language of nature. Every person’s mind already harbours a language. It has been there since God said, (2: 31), “And He taught Adam all the names.”
There is a language of nature in the human mind, and that is the universal language. The languages we speak now, whether Arabic, Hindi, English, are translations of this natural language.
On the Day of Judgement, this natural language will unfold. The language that God has preserved in the mind will be revealed. Every person will speak in the language of nature. This will be a remarkable and thrilling experience, with no language barriers among people. It will be a wonderful world without language barriers.
I have experienced this several times, being in a place where I could not understand the other person’s language. Once, I went to Moscow. My guide left to visit his mother, I was in the hotel, and everyone spoke Russian, I could not understand their language, and they could not understand mine. It was a complete language gap.
Similarly, I went to Blanca, the people there spoke French, I could not understand their language, and they could not understand mine. There was a total lack of communication. It felt strange, creating a sense of alienation. It felt like loneliness. I thought, on the Day of Judgement, when there will be no language gap, everyone will speak the same natural language, what a unique and thrilling experience that will be. This way, I keep discovering new things from the Quran every day.
Thus, my connection with the Quran remains a creative connection, always present without a break.
