“I am convinced about the veracity of my opinions, but I do consider it likely that they may turn out to be incorrect. Likewise, I am convinced about the incorrectness of the views different from mine, but I do concede the possibility that they may turn out to be correct.” — Imam Shafa’i
We Muslims, out of intense reverence of our Holy Book but at the cost of its basic and fundamental goal and target have been doing all sort of tricks and practices with our most important treasure, the Holy Quran. Merely the parroting or display of the Arabic text in any form is regarded as an act of piety. When I was growing up, an amulet (taa’weez) as a black arm band was fairly common. As time passed it got more sophisticated. Calligraphy and qiraat competitions are very popular. Instead of the amulet round the arm beautifully written Quranic text on expensive carpets adorns the wall of homes.Taking a cue from the masjid, quranic ayahs are painted on the walls of the main drawing room. Advanced technology introduces and facilitates new trends. Photographs of Quranic ayahs and duas with attractive designs are shared on the Facebook with the standard expressions of Alhamdo Lillah and Jazakallah Khair. Recently I received on FB a list of some statistical figures about the Quran with a request to spread it further to acquire some neki. An so on and so forth.
No harm in all this. I concede. But only after the primary and basic function of the Holy Text has been fulfilled. What is that? What is the principal and cardinal purpose of the Quran?
I have selected the index ayah as an answer to this very important question. Before I start my discussion, let me quote Amin Ahsan Islahi the renowned scholar and mufassir and the mentor of Javed Ahmed Ghamdi, the eminent and research scholar. He starts the tafseer of this ayah by the heading قرآن کا مقصد: i.e. “the objective of Quran” because this is what this ayah is about. He then explains the intention and the motivation of the Holy Text. اس کے اتارنے کا مقصد یہ ہے کہ جن کے اندر عقل ہے وہ اس کی آیات پرغور کریں اور ان سے یاددہانیحاصل کریں i.e. the purpose of revealing (Quran) is that those with brains may contemplate and reflect on its signs and may receive guidance and admonition.
The ayah starts with stating that the “Book” i.e. this Book, the Quran which we have revealed to you is full of blessings. Blessing because it is a useful guide to plan and reform one’s life. It is probably the greatest blessing from God so that “By meditation on it in an earnest spirit man may learn of himself, and his relation to nature around him and to God the Author of all.” The Book will “ help, resolve all genuine doubts that there may be in their minds, and learn the true lessons of spiritual life” Yousuf Ali. Nasr et al in their recent exegesis “The Study Quran” explain “That the Quran is a blessed Book is understood to mean that it contains good things and blessings pertaining to both religious and worldly affairs , for both ordinary believers and the spiritual elite”.
But merely parroting the text will not, cannot and has not achieved these objectives for the Ummah. The ayah therefore continues to describe how to achieve this goal. In a few words two of the most important directives for Muslims are narrated. Unfortunately we have abandoned them “officially” as early as the tenth century. The ayah says “le yaddab-baroo ayatehi” i.e. so that they may deliberate and contemplate on its signs and message. The second injunction is “le yatazakkara” i.e so that they will understand and learn a lesson and admonition from it. Who will receive this admonition? The ayah replies “ulool Albab” which is variously translated as “men of understanding” or “possessor of intellect” or “those endowed with insight”.
The term “ulool Albab” appears all along the Quran
[3] and they are even directly addressed in several places emphasising that
only these people can understand the true message of our Deen. Let me quote one such ayah
[1]
“He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding”.
It is therefore of utmost importance to identify who these individuals, the “ulool Albab” are if we really desire to comprehend our Deen. Simply put, these are persons who use their God given knowledge and capability to think and ponder over the Book and so are successful to find the real moral and ideal of our religion and then act thereupon and also convey to others around them. For a scholarly definition let me quote from the splendid tafseer “the Study Quran”:
“Intellect translates albāb, which has the primary meaning of “pith” or “kernel,” denoting the pure inner essence of something, and the secondary meaning of pure intellect or heart, insofar as these represent the purest spiritual essence of the human soul. Such people may also be said, more literally, to possess knowledge of the inner essence of things, which must be discerned with the intellect rather than reason or the senses. Ibn ʿAjībah glosses uli’l-albāb here as “possessors of pure hearts,” who “avoid the wicked, even if they are many, and who betake themselves to the good, even if they are few.” In this sense, “intellect” is very different from “reason” or “rationality,” in that intellect represents a faculty for the attainment of unitive knowledge directly connected to God through which one acquires knowledge of essential realities, whereas reason is the human faculty of discernment that arrives at knowledge through a logical, analytical, and dialectical process that is dualistic in its approach”. I must admit I am a little confused by this discourse.
The Quran itself defines who these “ulool Albab” are in these two successive ayahs
[4]
“Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages for all who are endowed with insight; Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth…….”
In the first ayah Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo declares that these “ulool Albab” recognise the messages in the signs of their Lord Creator around them and then proceeds in the next ayah define them “as those who”
First, are intense in their devotion and meditation and
Second, are keen to probe and explore universe and the secrets of God Almighty and decipher the Laws of Nature. Right in the seventh century “ulool Albab” are credited with acquiring the knowledge of astronomy, geology and by inference science and technology in general. I see a hint at space science in such ayahs of the Quran; do you? Thus the “ulool Albab” are simultaneously devoted worshipers and pious scholars.
There is another angle to this debate about thinking and reflection on the Text. The Quran reminds us of the role of heart in this context
[5]
“In this, behold, there is indeed a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake……….”
and in another ayah[6]
“Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur’an? – or are there locks upon their hearts?”
According to Quranic science, the heart is supposed to be the seat of intellect (not in anatomical sense). Hence it is only through the presence of the heart (ḥuḍūr al-qalb), that one can contemplate and reflect. It is generally recognised that the Heart, apart from being the perpetual pumping station crucial for maintaining life has additionally certain but nebulous function. It is commonly said and felt that the Heart can see what the mind cannot think. “In Arabic, to say that one ‘has a heart’ is to say that one’s heart is alive and awake, which also implies the ability to understand. Whosoever has a heart can thus mean, ‘Whoever has a heart that is aware, because if one’s heart is not aware, it is as if he has no heart’”, the Study Quran.
Please note that the first part of the last ayah that I have quoted above very forcefully accentuates the issue we are debating: reflection on Quran. The Holy Text throws an open challenge to the people “a-fa-laa yatadabbarun al-Qruan” i.e. “Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur’an?” This phrase has been additionally translated as “ Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an?; Will they then not meditate on the Qur’an?; Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Qur’an?; Is it that they do not think about the Quran?
The Quran takes this matter of reflecting on itself very seriously and therefore repeats the topic on several occasions. To quote two such:
[7]
“Will they not, then, try to understand this Qur’an? Had it issued from any but God, they would surely have found in it many an inner contradiction!”
“Do they not ponder over the Word (of God), or has anything (new) come to them that did not come to their fathers of old?”
The Quran is a message from our Lord Creator. HE is trying to speak to us, teach us warn us. Even though as a general rule it appears a matter of common sense that Quran as all other scriptures are revealed so that people will contemplate and act in accordance with them. However millions of Muslims are very careless and slipshod about this extremely crucial issue, even though the words of God Almighty are urging and challenging us to reflect on it. Our general behaviour, unfortunately and perhaps shamelessly is exactly the opposite. Understanding the Quran is relegated as secondary; “yes OK but”. Instead the Arabic words and letters of the Text are treated as sacrosanct; these have become the main focus of attention. “Reciting a single letter of the Text — a letter, not a word! — gives ten units of piety” is a commonly quoted hadith. Our main stress is on parroting the text as a mantra, memorising it without understanding it (I was really shocked when I was told that the Hafiz does not have to make any sense of what he is reciting; unbelievable), or dressing up and displaying the text for barakah and decoration. Hence the practices like the proud ceremonies of Ameen for our children, pride that our child can recite the whole Surah Rahman — a good feat though — not knowing at all what is being uttered, quranic dua’ in Arabic without knowing what we are asking from HIM, Qirat competitions, calligraphy on expensive carpets proudly displayed on the walls for barakah left unnoticed and unread most of the time, the very popular taraweeh prayers where the best is the fastest; meaning apart even the words are not explicit to most of the followers in prayers. As we have explained, this is a clear defiance of the obvious and unmistakable dictates of the Holy Quran; done of course with the best of intentions . I was prompted for these reasons to state in the Prelude to my series An Ayah of the Quran for Thirty Days; “It should sound unbelievable but factually appears to be true: Many of our prevalent, widespread and important concepts and opinions about religious matters do not have a basis in the Quran and sometimes even appear to be in obvious conflict with the teachings of the Quran”. A beautiful statement from Nasr, Seyyed Hossein et al in The Study Quran is worth quoting “ Although recitation of the Quran is enjoined in several passages, it is also noted that one must contemplate, understand, and implement the Quran’s teachings to the best of one’s ability”.
As we have just seen, many of our dealings with and around the Quran are in open disregard of the Quranic teachings. They are not supported by the deeds and words of the Holy Prophet either. As most of us are very fond of and have great faith in riwaayah’ and hadith, there is strong criticism in this literature as well of this sort of treatment of our Holy Text.
The second exalted Caliph Sayyidna Umer bin Khattab is reported have taken three years to memorise the Surah Al Baqarah. It took him so long because of his practice. After he had memorised a few ayahs, he would not go to the next lot till he had reflected and completely understood and implemented the ayahs that he had memorised.
Ibn Masʿūd is reported to have said of the Companions, “The Prophet used to recite for them ten verses, and they would not move on to the next ten until they had learned everything about [the first ten]. Thus he taught them the Quran and the deeds based upon it together.”
Commenting on meditating the Quran to obtain knowledge from it, the fourth Shiite Imam, ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, is reported to have said, “The verses of the Quran are stores of treasure. So whenever you open one of them, you must see what lies inside.
In a similar situation, Ibn Masʿūd is reported to have said, “When you intend to acquire knowledge, study the Quran in depth, for in it lies the knowledge of those of old and those of later times.”
The point I have tried to make, successfully I hope is that most of our common and popular practices with the Quran are not supported by the Quran or our Holy Prophet. Quran is very explicit about its purpose and mission: read it, understand it, digest it, then practice it and finally propagate and disseminate it. Period. Nothing else is mentioned in the Quran or advised by the Holy Prophet. To gain your confidence a few more ayahs in the Quran about the Quran:
“Alif. Lam. Ra. A DIVINE WRIT [is this a revelation] which We have bestowed upon thee from on high in order that thou might bring forth all mankind, by their Sustainer’s leave, out of the depths of darkness into the light: onto the way that leads to the Almighty, the One to whom all praise is due”[9]
Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo is dictating to HIS messenger that the reason for this revelation, the Quran is that he may guide mankind in the right path.
“And this, too, is a divine writ which We have bestowed from on high, a blessed one: follow it, then, and be conscious of God, so that you might be graced with His mercy”[10]
Please note, the direct command is to follow and practice the Quran, which is possible only after understanding and reflecting on the Text.
“And this is a Book which We have sent down, bringing blessings, and confirming (the revelations) which came before it: that thou mayest warn the mother of cities and all around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in this (Book), and they are constant in guarding their prayers.”[11]
Once again, the Holy Prophet is told straight away the purpose of this Book is that you and after you, your Ummah may teach and exhort the people of Madinah and its surroundings. As per the general style of the Holy Text, the words are referring to the local situation at that time. The general implication is obviously to address the whole mankind.
……..and Allah knows best.
May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding–“fahm”–of our Deen, Aameen.
