A comman Muslim cannot understand the Holy Quran.
Mu'
meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As
Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy
and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
My brother, the Holy Quran is the truth...and no one has ever
said anything other than that. No book from any Imam, Dai, or whatever
will ever come close to the Quran. The books are only keys to understand
the greatest and message of the Quran. You think a common muslim can just
understand everything in the Quran just by reading a translation. Like I
mentioned, the gate of the city of knowledge, Maulana Ali ibn Abu Talib, spent
an entire night and day explaining just the meaning behind the letter ba in
bismillah and still did not finish what he wanted to say. No one say not
to read a translation, but do not sell the translation as the authorative and
actual...its far from it. Studying other books is how you get the full
background behind ayats and meaning of the Quran. The companions of the
Prophet did not need other books to refer to...the Prophet was in front of the
them...who would know better? Is the Prophet before you today to answer
you questions? Is the Imam? Doctors go to school for years just to
understand how the body work and cure for disease (and most of the time they
still don't know what wrong). You think the knowledge of Islam and the Quran
can be understood just by reading a translation? I know what the truth is...it
is Islam. It is the shahadat (La illaha illallah, Muhammadin Rasullah).
It is the Quran. It is the pledge to the Imam az'Zaman and his Dawat to
follow and uphold the tenets of Islam (Daim Islam). But I also know my
limitations in absorbing and understanding complex and esoteric knowledge which
is the deeper parts of Islam. You can learn and understand these types of
topics if you attend sabaqs (lessons) just like you attend classes to learn
mathematics you need to attend sabaqs to understand fully your faith.
(There may be
some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
A comman
Muslim cannot understand the Holy Quran.
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Alhamdolillah! All Praise is
due to Allah Alone! I absolutely agree
with you that the Holy Quran, the very words of our Lord and Creator, are
nothing but the absolute Truth. No
other book, no matter who has written it, or what it says, comes close to the
Quran. Allah-o-Akbar, that is the
Truth.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse
99: We have sent down to you Revelations that clearly expound the Truth, and
none but the disobedient reject them.
Your comment: The books are only keys to understand
the greatest and message of the Quran.
The truth of the matter is that one does not need to read, understand,
or study any book to understand the Holy Quran! The Holy Quran are the very words of Allah Subhanah, and no book
of man needs to be studied to understand the clear message and guidance of the
Holy Quran. This is a myth created by
the unscrupulous leaders and teachers, who want to push their own ideology
ahead of the Quran! All the other
Islamic books these leaders claim have to be read before one graduates to the
understanding of the Quran (which incidentally one rarely does in their
system), are themselves derived from the Quran!
The Bohra clergy insist that one studies the ‘Dai’im al Islam’ by Qadi
Noaman before anything else to derive Islamic education! They use this book to form their set of
beliefs and imaan, rather than the
clear teachings of the Holy Quran.
Your comment: You think a common muslim can just
understand everything in the Quran just by reading a translation.
A common person who has simple commonsense can easily
understand the clear and direct aayahs of the Holy Quran, without any difficulty. Brother, please do not under-estimate the
power of Allah Subhanah, when He says that this Book has been revealed for the
guidance of mankind! Allah has put no
such criteria for one to understand the Quran that he has to be extremely
intelligent, or he has to be graduate of so and so university, or he has to
learn so and so courses, or he has to belong to so and so family or race,
before one can understand the Quran.
The only criteria needed for one to understand the Holy Quran is
commonsense and a quest to be guided to the Truth. It is upto Allah to open the heart of the person to the guidance
of the Holy Quran.
Just look at the companions of the Prophet (saws) and
try to determine which school or university did they attend to have this
understanding of the Holy Quran! Some
of the best muslims ever to live on this planet earth, were nothing but common
people. Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Taalib
(r.a.) was a simple water drawer!
Hadrat Bilaal (r.a.) was a poor slave!
Hadrat Abu Dharr Ghaffari (r.a.) was a poor nomad from the tribe of
Ghafir! Hadrat Abdulla ibn Masood
(r.a.) was only a shepherd!
These were normal, simple people, who had no formal
schooling, but they were considered some of the best muslims who ever
lived!
Yes, even a common muslim can understand the basic and
straight-forward message of the Holy Quran, provided he fears Allah, and begs
Allah to guide him to the Truth.
Your comment: Like I mentioned, the gate of the city of knowledge,
Maulana Ali ibn Abu Talib, spent an entire night and day explaining just the
meaning behind the letter ba in bismillah and still did not finish what he
wanted to say.
Yes, brother, you have mentioned this in your earlier
comments. The fact of the matter is
that I have tried but have been unable to locate the source of this incident,
whereby Hadrat Ali (r.a.) spent an entire night and day explaining the meaning
of the letter ‘ba’ is Bismillah, and still could not finish his talk. I know you might have heard the story from
somebody, but I really would like you to give me the reference and the name of
the book where this is mentioned as an authentic narration of Maulana Ali
(r.a.).
There are many fabricated stories and narrations of
incidents, which never ever took place, but some unscrupulous people, to
further their own gains, spread these false stories about the noble companions,
and even about the Messenger of Allah (saws).
Thus it is imperitive that you give me the source where this incident
about Hadrat is documented in Islamic history.
If the incident is true, there has to be a good reason
why Hadrat Ali (r.a.) would spend a night and a day explaining the meaning of
the letter ‘ba’. And if the incident
never took place and the story was spread by some narrator, then the outcome is
very obvious….If a scholar and companion of the stature of Hadrat Ali (r.a.)
could not explain the significance of the letter ‘ba’ in one night and one
day, how is it possible for you and me
to understand the Quran … Thus it is best left to the so-called self-proclaimed
experts!!! And that is exactly what
has happened!!! Neither the experts
know the Quran, nor the common people … and without the ‘noor’ and guidance of
the Quran, one can be assured to just
keep roaming in deep darkness, and
darkness after darkness!
Your Comment: No one say not to read a translation, but
do not sell the translation as the authorative and actual...its far from it.
The Quran
was revealed in the Original form in the pure ‘fusha’ Arabic language, and
Insha Allah, will always exist in that language. No one ever claims that the translation is the actual Quran; and
those who say so, are absolutely misguided!
The translation is only so that we can derive the simple and straightforward
message of guidance from the Quran.
If no one says not to read the translation, then why
don’t the Bohris ever read one!!! You
show me a Bohri who has read a translation and understood the Quran, and I will
show you a good muslim! Brother, the
truth is that the Bohra leadership neither have a translation of their own, nor
have they endorsed an existing translation.
Allah is Great! One of the most
respected translation in the English language today is one from a Brother
called Abdulla Yusuf Ali. And Brother
Abdulla Yusuf Ali was a Bohri. He was
never commended by the Bohra clergy, nor was his effort appreciated. On the contrary, Brother Abdulla Yusuf Ali
was ostracised and he left the sect of Bohraism!
The fact is that if one reads the Quran with
understanding, even only once, and Allah opens his heart to the guidance of the
Noble Quran, he will become a good practising muslim. But who wants to listen and read to good caution today and when
he has already been falsely promised ‘shafa’a’ and intercession on the Day of
Judgement by his leaders! Why take the
trouble and do good deeds, when you are guaranteed a safe passage to Paradise,
if he obeys and follows and bows down to the self-proclaimed holy men! But, little does he realize that all the
promises made by these leaders are nothing but falsehood, and only the promises
made by Allah in the Holy Quran will come true on that Day! And who is there who can make a better
promise, and who is there who can fulfill his promises, except Allah Alone!
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa verse 122: The promise of Allah is true, and
who can be truer in his word than Allah?
Brother, please read these aayahs carefully and see
what Allah says about the Quran Himself:
Allah says
in Chapter 2, Surah Baqarah aayat 185: "Ramadan is the month in which the
Quran was sent down: this Book is a perfect guidance for mankind and consists
of CLEAR teachings which show the right way and are a Criterion of the Truth
and falsehood."
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 44 Surah Dukhan verse
58: We have made this Book easy in your own tongue so that they may ponder and
take good counsel.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 43 Surah Zukhruf verses
1-3: Haa Meem. By this lucid (clear or
open) Book. We have made it an Arabic
Quran, so that you may understand it.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anam verse 70:
And leave alone those who have taken their ‘deen’ as a sport and past time, and
have been deluded by the life of this world.
Nevertheless, you go on admonishing them by reciting the Quran to them,
lest any person should be seized because of his own deeds; and that too, at a
time, when there would be no protector, no helper and no intercessor to rescue
him from Allah; when no conceivable amount of ransom would be accepted from
him. This is because such people shall
be seized, in consequence of what they themselves had earned.
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Al Hijr verse 9: It is We (Allah), Who
has sent down this Quran, and We will assuredly guard it against corruption.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf verse
1-2: These are the verses of the Book that makes its object perfectly
clear. We have sent it down as a Quran
in Arabic, so that you may understand it well.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 89:
We have sent down to you this Book, which makes everything plain, and is a
guidance, blessing and good news to those who have surrendered themselves
entirely.
Allah says
in the Holy Quran Chapter 19 Surah Maryam verse 97: O Mohamed, We have made
this Quran easy, and sent it down in your tongue so that you should give good
news to the pious and warn the stubborn people.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha Mim As
Sajdaah verse 2-4: This is a Revelation from the All-Compassionate, the
All-Merciful Allah. A Book whose verses
are well-expounded, an Arabic Quran for the people who want to understand, and
a giver of good news and a warner.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verse 1-2:
All praise is for Allah Alone, Who has sent down this Book to His Servant
(Mohamed (saws), and assigned nothing crooked to it. This Book says everything directly, so that he may warn the
people of the severe chastisement of Allah and give good news to the believers,
who do righteous deeds, that they will have an excellent reward.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse
99: We have sent down to you Revelations that clearly expound the Truth, and none
but the disobedient reject them.
When Allah Himself says that the Quran is easy, the
Quran consists of clear teachings, the Quran makes its objects perfectly clear,
the Quran is a book for us to understand, the Quran makes everything plain, the
Quran is a book for people who want to understand, the Quran is a book wherein
He has assigned nothing crooked in it, the Quran states everything directly and
the Quran clearly expounds the Truth; who dares claim that the Quran is a book
not supposed to be understood by common people like us! Who dares claim that the Quran is supposed
to be understood only by a special family and its members! Who dares claim that the Quran will mis-guide
if we try to understand it! Who dares
claim that the Quran is impossible to understand! Who dares claim that each aayah of the Quran has ten meanings
each! Who dares to claim that his word
is more superior to Allah’s? Whose
words are we going to take? Some
self-proclaimed holy men’s or the word of our Lord and Creator, Allah Subhanah?
And please carefully note the Anger and Wrath of Allah
on the people who try to conceal the clear guidance of the Quran from the
people, so that they may earn some worldly gain and power in return:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Al-Baqarah verse
174: Indeed those, who conceal the commands that Allah has sent down in His
Book and barter them away for paltry worldly gains, fill their bellies with
fire. Allah will not speak to them
on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He regard them as pure and there is a
painful torment for them!
And notice what Allah has to say about all these people whom we revere and bow down in prostration to, believing in their promises of ‘shafa’a’ or intercession on the Day of Judgement!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anam verse
94: (And Allah will say), “So, you have
come before Us all alone, as We created you at first. Now, you have left behind all that We gave you in the world. Now We do not see with you those
‘shufa’a’(intercessors), who, you believed, had a share in moulding your
destinies! All the relations between
you and them have been cut off, and all those, in whom you trusted, have left
you in the lurch.”
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 48: And guard yourselves
against the Day when no one shall avail anyone else; nor shall ‘shafa’a’ (intercession) be accepted from anyone; nor
shall anyone be acquitted for any amount of ransom; nor shall the guilty ones
be helped from any quarter.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 18:
These people worship beside Allah those which can neither harm nor benefit
them, and say, “These are our ‘shofa’a’ (intercessors) with Allah!” O Mohammed, tell them, “Do you wish to
inform Allah of that thing which He knows to be neither in the heavens nor in
the earth?” He is absolutely free from,
and exalted above the shirk that they commit.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 40 Surah Mumin verse 18:
O Prophet, warn them of the Day that has approached near, when the hearts will
leap up to the throats and the people will be standing mute, grief-stricken;
and the wrong-doers will neither have any kindly friend nor any ‘shafaa’
(intercessor) who may be listened to.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 40 Surah Mumin verse
47-48: Then imagine the time when these people will be disputing with one
another in Hell. The weak ones will say
to the haughty ones, “We were your followers!
Now, can you save us from some part of our punishment in Hell?” The haughty ones will say, “We are all in
the same state here, and Allah has already passed judgment between His
servants.”
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha Meem Sajdah
verse 47-48: Then on the Day when Allah will call out to the people asking,
“Where are those associates of Mine?”
They will say, “We have submitted:
there is none of us to bear witness to that.” At that time, all those deities whom they used to invoke before
this, shall be lost to them, and they will realize that they have no refuge.
My beloved brother, I assure you, that these aayahs of
the Holy Quran are no joke and no play; these are the very words of the Lord of
the Worlds!! Please, please read them carefully,
and we encourage you to take these words to your leaders, your bhaisahebs, your
aamils, and your scholars, and ask them if the aayahs and their translations
are correct or not! Ask them if the
aayahs are indeed from the Holy Quran or not?
Ask them if the aayahs are in any way misquoted or mistranslated? Ask them if these aayahs could possibly mean
anything else? Ask them today, before
its too late; and the angel of death comes knocking at your door! Then when the Truth the Quran promises will
come to pass, the deniers of the Quran will have no one to blame, except
themselves, and will have nothing in front of them except anguish and
despair!
Glorified and Exalted is Allah, above everything that
they associate with Him. May Allah
guide you and us all to read and understand the clear guidance of the Holy
Quran, so that we can do deeds that can save us from the terrible and ever
lasting fire of Hell. May Allah guide
you and us all to the Straight Path of Islam.
May Allah guide you and us to read and understand the simple and plain
words of the Glorious Quran. May Allah
increase our knowledge from the Holy Quran.
May Allah guide us to the Siraat al Mustaqeem.
May Allah guide you and us all to the Siraat al-Mustaqeem
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in Islam,
Burhan