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Key
Aspects of the Holy Quran Quran has been
revealed for the guidance of mankind and invites the people of wisdom to
read into its pages to enhance human knowledge about the universe and
Creator, and to create environments where man could live in peace and
harmony with the fellow human beings and with the Nature. Quran is a part of
the Knowledge - which is limitless, and therefore it encapsules the stages
of human development. It also contains the solutions of issues and
problems which mankind faces and specifies a complete Islamic system ie
the system which facilitates living in peace - where there is no
oppression, insecurity, fear and inequality. Quran commands authority and
leadership and thus declares that if anyone has any doubts about the truth
of the Book which has been revealed to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), then they
should try to make even one passage which could match the Book, and poses
the challenge that despite the knowledge and resources that man has , he
will not be able to do so (re: Al-Baqra 2:23-24). This challenge
has not been met to-date. I think perhaps it
would help to outline a few basic but key aspects of the Quran: Literary aspect:
The
language, the poetic element and the continuity of the Quran can only be
fully appreciated by those who have the knowledge and command of Arabic
language, though people of RAemanS who have no or little knowledge of the
language get a wealth of satisfaction by reciting Quran or listening to
its recitation. Translation of Quran in other languages can not reproduce
the true meanings or the appropriate sense, therefore those who know no or
little Arabic and would really like to understand Quran, should learn the
language first. Perhaps it would be interesting to point out that enemies
of Islam attack Quran mostly by using its translation or analysing its
passages which are taken out of context. Al-Zikir: Where
the reader can easily extract the lessons from what he reads. In this
respect the Quran is very easy to understand for those who have some
language skills. Allah says that the Quran was made easy in order to
benefit and guide human (re: Murryam 19:97; Qamar 17:54; Dukhan 44:58).
Al-Taddabur: Where
the reader has to think through, analyse the concepts and deduce
conclusions. It is this aspect of Quran which is most difficult since it
goes right into the philosophy, knowledge and higher level of
understanding. To highlight this point let me give a few examples.
Abdulllah ibni Omar (son of Omar ibni Khattab) was a sahabi (companion of
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w) and therefore was in the era in which the Quran
was revealed, he was a thinker and researcher who had a total command of
the Arabic language, and yet it took him approximately 8 years to
interpret and document one surah ie Al-Baqra (this work was done well
after the Prophet). Imam
Razi was a philosopher and researcher, had a command of Islamic thoughts
and interpreted Quran in 36 volumes. But when it came to interpret and
explain Aya 2 and 3 of Al-Huded (57) which says that He is the first and
He is the last and that He is most overt and most covert, Imam Razi wrote
R this is very deep, very difficult. It is impossible to explain in words.
I hope the serious
readers, believers or otherwise, would find this article helpful and would
be able to appreciate that the Quran represents social, economic and
political code for improving the quality of life. If people, Muslim or
non-Muslim, do not practice the code, it is they who are the losers and
not the Islam or the Quran. Note : Husain Akhtar, the writer of this
article, can be contacted on 100543.1407@compuserve.com |