Displaying items by tag: Recitation of Quran

There is a prevalent culture among Muslims where they only view the Qur'an as a way of gaining reward for reciting out loud the Arabic words correctly. Such people think that they hold the Qur'an in high esteem, but this only keeps them away from studying the Qur'an as they should. Parents teach their children how to pronounce the Arabic words and send their children to evening schools to learn to recite the Qur'an correctly. Such people do not deny the importance of the Qur'an, but their idea of the role of the Qur'an is extremely mistaken and shallow. It is merely to either gain reward for each letter recited or to validate Salah by reciting some short chapters. Members of this majority group may even enjoy listening to recitations of the Qur'an, not because of the message in the verses, but to appreciate the melody, or for relaxation purposes! What Islam is, is merely everything else they hear outside of the Qur'an. Such people consider themselves highly religious, while they hold such an ignorant approach to the Qur'an. They recite the Qur'an frequently, but the recitation does not have any bearing on them. Then, they take all their religious guidance from outside the Qur'an - they think those practices amount to fulfilling their duty to the Qur'an. Many of such ignorant people's ideas and practices are even against what the Qur'an has to say, while they are not aware of it - or are aware of it but deliberately ignore thinking about it, laying excuses such as 'I am not knowledgeable enough' or 'I am a laymen, more knowledgeable people have said this, who are you and me to question?' Purple flowerThe real purpose of the Qur'an is to give guidance to the individual human being who has been created to worship Allah. The Qur'an's guidance is in its meanings, not in the pronunciations of its Arabic letters. The guidance of the Qur'an is a mercy, cure and light for the true believers as it reveals many unknown secrets such as Allah's power, reasons to happening of events around us, and the true nature of Allah's religion. The Qur'an has been necessarily made easy to understand. But this majority have been bereft from this blessing, all while they are deceived into thinking they are following religion perfectly as they are fulfilling their own idea of what the purpose of the Qur'an is. "We have sent down to you a Book containing your message. Do you not understand?" (Qur’an 21:10) Thinking one is fulfilling their obligations toward the Qur'an by simply carrying out rituals such as prayer and fasting, without making the effort to find out what the Qur'an actually says about religion is a great deception. This is because the Qur'an is a Book to reflect upon, to learn from and to gain the necessary insight and wisdom it gives to be a real believer, this is a duty upon anyone who wants to be a Muslim. One cannot possibly be a true Muslim without having necessary knowledge and understanding of the Qur'an. If one only learns about the Qur’an from books written about the Qur’an, written by people, and does not feel the necessity to learn from the Qur’an directly himself, he is only deceiving himself. Allah mentions this ignorant approach in the words, “Or do you have another book which you study?” (Qur’an 68:39). Worship based on make-believing that Qur'an is being followed in the flow of the majority and under blind trust of leaders without a personal attachment to the Qur'an and knowledge of the Qur'an, holds little or no value in Allah's sight. Koran beadsLet us ask ourselves: how much do we know about the Qur'an? Not superficial knowledge like the number of chapters or verses, or which city a chapter was revealed in, but the message in its verses and their many intricacies and secrets. How much wisdom have you gained from the Qur'an? Have you read the entire Qur'an even once in your own language? How many times a day do you refer to the verses of the Qur'an as you lead your day to day life? Are you sure whether any of your outlooks are from the Qur'an, or is your religion muddled? “The words of your Lord are complete in its truth and justice. Nothing can change His Words – He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. If you obeyed most of those on earth, they would lead you away from the path of Allah. They follow nothing but speculation – they are merely guessing.” (Qur’an 6:115-116) "This too, is a blessed Book which We have sent down – follow it, and be conscious of your Lord, so that you may receive mercy – lest you say, ‘Books were sent to two communities before us: we were not aware of what they studied’, or ‘if only the Book had been sent down to us, we would have been better guided than them.’ Now your Lord has brought you clear evidence, guidance, and mercy. Who could be more wrong than someone who rejects Allah’s Revelations and turns away from them? We shall repay those who turn away with a painful punishment." (Qur’an 6:155-157) It is clear that being heedless of the Qur'an will lead to losses in this life and the Hereafter as Allah will call all people into account their level of adherence to the Qur'an. “Surely, the One who decreed the Qur’an to you will summon you to a predetermined appointment. Say: 'My Lord is fully aware of who it is that brings the guidance, and who has gone astray.' " (Qur’an 28:85) As stated in the verse, all people are responsible for adhering to the way of life decreed by Allah in the Qur'an. Without direct knowledge of the verses, practising alleged claims about the Qur'an and following the majority, may not have any value in the sight of Allah. Many people who do not have any Quranic insight or wisdom spread claims about the Qur'an's verses which are a far cry from the verses' true meanings. They usually get away with it as their audience have also been conditioned to simply follow 'sayings' about the Qur'an, rather than the Qur'an. It is only when one opens his eyes and begins to comprehend the verses of Allah, can he begin to follow the Book of Allah and hope to become a true Muslim. "...Indeed there has come to you from Allah a Light and a Clear Book. With it Allah guides whoever follows His good pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from the darkness into the light by His permission: He guides them onto a straight path" (Qur'an 5:15-16) That is why all Muslims must consider their position in religion in relation to the Qur'an. Reciting the Qur'an without a sincere effort to understand the verses directly will not enlighten the human soul. Ask those who Know - Where is it in the Qur'an?

The majority of the people assume that if one understands the Arabic language, it means he is capable of understanding the Qur'an. They are also quick to dismiss anyone who has a point to make about the Quran's verses, if they are not an Arab or do not speak Arabic. A consistent feature of these sorts of people is that they themselves know little about the Qur'an because they never attempt to research the Qur'an directly. This is because of an intentionally induced inferiority complex of not knowing Arabic which gives them the excuses they need to stay distant from the Qur'an, as well as due to some other vain excuses. They never attempt to understand the verses of the Qur'an themselves. All of their views on the Qur'an are formed entirely by following other people and texts written by those whose trust they assume. They have only read the Qur'an's verses in text books in the context created by their trusted writers, or otherwise read the Arabic verses in ritualistic recitation, or in prayer without understanding them. Sometimes, he feels he has done enough by reading the translation of the few verses he recites frequently in prayer. As stated above, their excuse is that the Qur’an is not in their language and only an Arab or an Arabic speaker can understand the verses. The truth is however far from their mistaken beliefs. A believer can understand the Qur'an and live by it even while possessing little or no Arabic knowledge. Surah Al-FatihaHistory is witness to many people who are proficient in the Arabic language, yet made very twisted and perverted interpretations of the Qur'an, all while they are accepted to be well skilled by the majority. The majority being the group we have identified above. These interpreters of the Qur'an consider themselves Muslims, yet made countless erroneous interpretations - even while knowing Arabic. This begs the question, does knowing Arabic mean one can understand the Qur’an? The disbelievers of Makkah were expert in the language of the Qur'an, but they did not understand many of the concepts and similitudes of the Qur'an. They thus rejected it as being words of a madman. What one needs to comprehend is that understanding the Qur'an means to understand correctly what is being told in the verses, the concepts, lessons, signs, admonitions metaphors and imagery. All of these aspects of the Qur'an hold true regardless of the language used. When one does not understand the Qur'an, that is, makes erroneous interpretations, he is incapable of understanding these lessons, admonitions and true purposes of the verses. One may even be in possession of great Arabic skills, yet be incapable of understanding the verses due to his or her lack of comprehension of what is being told in the verses. We can compare this with the following scenario. Imagine you are explaining a concept to someone in perfect English. The person you are explaining to can also understand English perfectly. However, due to a lack of comprehension on their part, that person fails to understand what you are explaining to them despite your perfect explanations in English and their ability to understand the language. Likewise, the same can be said about the Qur'an. Even an expert Arabic speaker may well be incapable of understanding and interpreting the verses correctly as a direct result of that missing comprehension. This comprehension is given by Allah to whoever He pleases. A verse identifies this: "...But the disbelievers say, 'what does Allah mean by such a similitude?' Through it, Allah misguides many and He also guides many. But He misguides only the rebels." (Qur'an 2:26) The comprehension we have mentioned is actually a gift from Allah to His sincere believers only. A believer who does not know Arabic may be endowed with this ability to understand the Qur'an. When the verses of the Qur'an are explained to him by another true believer in his language, he grasps them correctly, even though he does not know Arabic. And it is probable that a person fluent in Arabic could not understand the same verses correctly even in his own language. Skill in the Arabic language did not afford him the true interpretations of Allah’s verses, and so he remained bereft of Allah’s guidance. Another person who is a more sincere believer could understand the verses, even though he did not speak the language of the Qur'an. Allah explains this 'veiling of perception' in a verse: Quran close-up"When you recite the Qur'an, we place an invisible barrier between you and those who do not believe in the life to come. We have put covers on their hearts that prevents them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears." (Qur'an 17:45-46) That is why a true believer can live by the Qur'an without knowing Arabic. It is true that a non-Arabic speaking believer will need to overcome the obstacle of language, but with his sincerity and motivation, he overcomes them without difficulty. Today, there are many translations of the Qur'an available in almost any language. It is possible to draw a fairly accurate understanding of the Qur'an by studying different translations. In conclusion, people who speak Arabic do not automatically posses the comprehension to understand the meanings of the Verses of the Qur’an. The comprehension is given by Allah to whom He wills regardless of ones language. All people who consider themselves Muslim must not hide behind excuses from gaining a first-hand understanding of the Book revealed by Allah, which is a guide, mercy and cure for them if they only make the effort to understand it themselves. Allah has held everyone responsible for adhering to the Qur'an, regardless of their spoken languages.