Relationship between the believer and the Qur'an
| Khatib : | Sadullah Khan |
| Khutbah No: | 22 |
| Khutbah Date: | 07/15/02 |
The Qur'an is a source of guidance for humanity. It is the last of Allah's revelation conveyed to us through His final Messenger, Muhammad (pbuh). Muslims consider the commands and wisdom found in the Qur'an to be a constant guide for us in our daily lives.
In order to truly benefit from the Qur'an we have to be able to relate to the Qur'an in a practical way, every day of our lives. Great scholars of Islam have advised us to keep our relationship with the Qur'an effective by maintaining the following five responsibilities :
- Belief and Honor - iemaan wa ta'zeem
We regard the Qur'an as the words of Allah and believe it to be the best book of guidance for those who want to live righteous lives. We respect its message and honor it above all other books. - Reading and Recitation - tilawah wa tarteel
Since the Qur'an was communicated to the Prophet through Gabriel orally and the Prophet in turn conveyed it to his companions orally we should learn to read the Qur'an properly and recite it correctly. There are great blessings (barakah) in reading the Qur'an in the correct manner. - Understanding and Reflecting - tafakkur wa tadabbur
Many Muslims learn to read the Qur'an but few strive to understand its meaning. Since the Qur'an is mainly a book of guidance, we have a responsibility to understand its message and reflect on what it says. - Implementing the Guidelines - hukm wa iqamah
One of the greatest duties we have is to live by the commands of Allah. The primary reason why Allah sent revelation was to guide human beings to be good and to be of benefit to the world, not to do wrong, nor to harm the world. - Conveying and Clarifying - tableegh wa tabyeen
Each Muslim has the responsibility of conveying the message of Islam to others. If we believe in the Qur'an, respect the Qur'an, read it how it is supposed to be read, recite it properly, understand its message and live by its commands then our behavior will reflect the Qur'an. The Prophet's wife, 'Aishah was asked to describe the Prophet's conduct and she said: "his character is the Qur'an." This means that the Prophet lived his life according to the message of the Qur'an. The best way to attract people to Islam is to live as good Muslims, to live like the Prophet, to live according to the Qur'an.
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE QUR'AN
We furnish here some opinions of important non-Muslim scholars about the Qur'an.
"The Qur'an admittedly occupies an important position among the great religious books of the world.
Though the youngest of the epoch making words belonging to this class of literature, it yields to hardly
any in the wonderful effect which it has produced on large masses of men. It has created an all but new
phase of human thought and a fresh type of character. It first transformed a number of heterogeneous
desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a nation of heroes, and then proceeded to create the vast
politico-religious organizations of Muhammadan world which Europe and the East have to reckon
today."
G. Margoliouth
Introduction to J.M. Rodwell's The Koran
"The best of Arab witness have never succeeded in producing anything equal to the merits in the Qur'an... To compose such revelations at will was beyond the power of the most expert literary artist." Encyclopedia Brittanica
"The miracle of Islam par excellence is the Qur'an.... How could this marvelous book be the work of Muhammad, an illiterate Arab... The Qur'an could not be the work of an uneducated man... Unless he had the help of the Almighty." Dr. Laura V. Vaglliari
"By a fortune absolutely unique in history, Muhammad is a threefold founder of a nation, of an empire, and of a religion. The Qur'an is a Book which is a poem, a code of laws, a book of common prayer, all in one and is reverenced by a large section of the human race as a miracle of purity and style, of wisdom and of truth. It is the one miracle claimed by Muhammad 'his standing miracle' as he called it, and a miracle indeed it is." Reverend Bosworth Smith
"On the whole we find in it a collection of wisdom which can be adopted by the most intelligent of men, the greatest of philosophers and the most skilful of politicians... But there is another proof of the Divinity of the Qur'an; it is the fact that it has been preserved through the ages since the time of its Revelation till the present day... Read and reread by the Muslim world this book does not rouse in the faithful any weariness; it rather, through repetition is more loved everyday. It gives rise to a profound feeling of awe and respect one who reads it or listen to it... It was therefore, neither by means of violence of arms, nor through the pressure of obtrusive missionaries, that caused the great and rapid diffusion of Islam, through the fact that this Book, presented by the Muslims to the vanquished with the liberty to accept it or to reject it, was the Book of God" Dr. L. Veccia