Towards Understanding Quran

[Maria]

TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING QURAN:

author: S.Abul A'la Maududi

CONTENTS:

01. unique book
02. divine guidance
03. central theme
04. background
05. makki suraha
06. madni surahs
07. style
08. order
09. compilations
10. difference of dialects
11. universality
12. complete code
13. suggestions for study

[Maria]

1. UNIQUE BOOK:

Before the reader begins the study of the Quran . He must bear in mind the fact that it is a unique book, quite different from the books one usually reads . Unlike conventional books the Quran does not contain info , ideas n arguments about specific themes arranged in a literary order. that is y a stranger to the Quran, on his first approach to it , is baffled when e does not find the enunciation of its theme or its division into chapters n sections or separate instructions for different aspects of life arranged in a serial order. On the contrary there is something with which he has not been familiar before and which does not conform to his conception of a book. he finds that it deals with creeds, give moral instructions , lays down laws , invites people to Islam, admonishes the disbelievers, draws lessons from historical events, administers warnings, gives good tidings, all blended together in a beautiful way. The same subject is repeated in different ways and one topic follows the other without any apparent connection. Sometimes a new topic crops up in the middle of another without any apparent reason. The speaker and the addressees, and the direction of the address changes without any notice. There is no sign of chapters and divisions anywhere. Historical events are presented but not as in history books. The problems of philosophy and metaphysics are treated in a manner different from that of the textbooks on the subjects. Man and the universe are mentioned in the language different from that of the natural sciences. Likewise it follows its own method of solving cultural , political, social and economic problems and deals with the principles and injunctions of law in a manner quite different from that of the sociologists , lawyers and jurists. Morality is taught in a way that has no parallel in the whole literature on the subject.

That is why the unwary reader is baffled and puzzled when he finds all these things contrary to his preconceived conception of a book. He begins to feel that the Quran is a book without any order or interconnection between its verses or continuity of its subjects, or that it deals with miscellaneous topics in an incoherent manner , or that it had been given the form of a continuous book though it was not a book in the commonly accepted sense of the word. As a result of this, its opponents raise strange objections against the Quran, and its modern followers adopt strange devices to ward off doubts and objections. They either escort to escapism or put forward strange interpretations to ease their minds. Sometimes they try to create artificial connections between the verses to explain away the apparent incoherencies, and, as a last resort, they even accept the theory that the Quran deals with miscellaneous topics without any order or coherence. Consequently, verses are isolated from their context and confusion is produced in the meanings.
This happens when the reader does not take into consideration the fact that the Quran is a unique book. It does not, like other books , enunciate at the very beginning of the subject it deals with and the object it intends to achieve. Its style and method of explaining things are also quite different from those of the other books one commonly reads and it doesn’t follow bookish order. Above all, it isn’t a book on “religion” in the sense this word is generally understood. That is why when the reader approaches the Quran with the common notions of a book, he is rather puzzled by its style and manner of presentation. He finds that at many places the background has not been mentioned and the circumstances under which a particular passage was revealed have not been stated. As a result of these things , the ordinary reader is unable to benefit fully from the most precious treasures contained in the Quran, though occasionally he may succeed in covering a few gems here and there. Only those people become victims of such doubts as are not acquainted with these distinctive features of the Quran. They seem to find miscellaneous topics scattered all over its pages and feel difficulties about its meanings. Nay, even those verses, which are absolutely clear, appear to them to be quite irrelevant in the context they occur. The reader may be saved from all these difficulties , if he is warned beforehand:
That the book he is going to study is the only book of its kind in the whole world .
That its literary style is quite different from all other books.
That its theme is unique.
That his preconceived notions of a book cant help him understand the Quran.
Nay these may even become hindrance. He should, therefore, first of all free his mind from preconceived notions and get acquainted with the distinctive feature of this book. Then and then alone he can understand it.
In order to understand Quran thoroughly, it is important to know the nature of this Book, its central idea and its aim and objectives. The reader should also be well acquainted with its style, the terms it uses and the methods it adopts to explain things. He should also keep in view the background and circumstances under which the passage was revealed.

[Ummati]

Subhan Allah. This was amazing.

Next chapter, pls

[Maria]

2. DIVINE GUIDANCE:


First of all , the reader should understand the real nature of the Quran. Whether one believes it to b a revealed book or not, one will hav to consider , as a starting point, the claim that is put forward by itself and its bearer, Muhammad (PBUH), that this is the divine guidance.

The lord of the universe , its creator, master and sovereign created man and bestowed upon him the faculties of learning, speaking, understanding and discerning rights from wrong and good from evil. He granted him freedom of choice, freedom of will, freedom of action and gave him authority to acquire and make use of the things around him. In short, He granted him a kind of autonomy and appointed him as His vivegerent on the earth and instructed him to live in accordance with his guidance.

At the time, when the lord of the universe appointed man as His vicegerent on the earth, He warned him very clearly and precisely, leaving no doubt in his mind as to the kind of relations he should have with Him , as if to say “ I am your master n Sovereign and that of the whole Universe ; therefore you should worship Me and none else. You are neither independent in My kingdom nor the subject of anyone else, to whom you might owe obedience and worship. You are being sent to the earth with certain powers for a fixed term of time for your test. After that you will have to return to Me. Then I ‘ll judge the deeds u did in this world and decide whether you have come out successful or failed in the test. Therefore the right course for you is to accept Me voluntarily as Sovereign and worship Me alone and in the world according to the guidance I shall send you and live on the earth with the conviction and understanding that it is merely the place of your trial. Your real object in earthly life should be to come out successful in the final judgement . Therefore any other course different from the opposed to the divine guidance , will be wrong. If u adopt the first course ( and u have full liberty and freedom to adopt it) , you ‘ll achieve peace and tranquility in this world and win the home of eternal bliss and joy (paradise) in the next world, to which u shall have to return. And if you follow any other course ( and you are quite free to do this also, if you so choose) you shall incur My disfavor in this world and eternal sorrow and affliction in the hereafter, where you shall be thrown into the abyss of hell."

[Maria]

After such a warning , the owner of the universe sent Adam and Eve (ALLAH’s peace be upon them) the first human beings to the earth and gave them the guidance according to which their descendants were to live in this world. Thus the first two human beings were not created in ignorance and darkness but were given very clear and bright Light and the Law they were to follow. This was Islam (submission to Allah). Before they left this world, they themselves practiced and taught the same way to their children and their children’s children and exhorted them to live as Muslims (obedient servants of Allah ) . but in the succeeding centuries by and by, people swerved from the straight way of life (Islam) and adopted different crooked ways. They not only lost their guidance owing to their negligence but also tampered with it because of their wickedness. They attributed to others the qualities and powers of Allah and associated others to rank with Him as gods and ascribed His rights to others. They invented different kinds of religions (ways of life) by mixing up all sorts of superstitions, wrong theories and false philosophies with the Guidance that was given by Allah. They discarded the right, just and moral principles taught by Allah or corrupted them and made such laws of life as suited their prejudices and lusts, and filled Allah’s earth with chaos and iniquity.

Though this was a sad state of affairs, Allah did not will to force these corrupt people to follow the Right Way because this would have been against the limited freedom of action which had been granted to man Him ; nor did He will to destroy them forthwith as soon as rebellion broke out against Him, because this would not have been in keeping with the rules of life laid down for trial in this world. Instead of this, Allah took upon Himself , from the very beginning of man’s life on the earth, to send His guidance to him during his term of life leaving him free to follow or not to follow it. Accordingly He made arrangements for the Guidance of mankind and appointed His messengers from among the people themselves and bestowed upon them the knowledge of truth and the right way of light. They were charged with the mission to invite people to the right way from which they had strayed. The messengers themselves believed in Allah and acted in accordance with the guidance they received from Him. They were raised from different nation in different countries and thousand of them were sent during thousands of years. They all had one and the same religion which was based on the unity of God and accountability in the Hereafter. They all taught the same way of life that was taught to the first man at the very start of his life in this world. They all followed the same Guidance , that is , those fundamental and eternal principles of morality and culture which were prescribed for the first man from the very first day of his life. They all had the one and the same mission , that is , to invite all human beings to the same Guidance, and to organize them into one community. All those people who accepted their invitation became one community, which was duty bound to follow the Divine Guidance and to do it best and utmost to establish it and to guard against any transgression.

During their respective terms, these messengers fulfilled their mission admirably well. But it is a pity that the majority of the people was not inclined to accept their invitation and even those who joined their community gradually became corrupt. So much so that some of these communities totally lost the Guidance and others tampered with the Commandments of Allah and mixed them up with false things.

Then the Lord of the universe sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) as His last messenger to fulfill the same mission for which Messengers had been sent before him. He extended his invitation to all human beings, including the corrupt followers of the previous Messengers and asked them to follow the Right Way. He organized all those who accepted the Divine Guidance into one community, which in its turn , was required to reestablish its collective ways of life based on the guidance and to exert its utmost to reform the world , which had gone astray. The Quran which was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the book which contains the Invitation and the Divine Guidance.

[Ummati]

Masha Allah the author writes in such a logical way, he leaves you in no doubt It just makes soo much sense!

I especially like this part:

"Though this was a sad state of affairs,

- Allah did not will to force these corrupt people to follow the Right Way because this would have been against the limited freedom of action which had been granted to man;
- nor did He will to destroy them forthwith as soon as rebellion broke out against Him, because this would not have been in keeping with the rules of life laid down for trial in this world.

Instead of this, Allah took upon Himself, from the very beginning of man’s life on the earth, to send His guidance to him during his term of life leaving him free to follow or not to follow it. "

May Allah grant us guidance, and may He keep us steadfast in following the Straight Path. Ameen!

[Maria]

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[Islam For All]

BACKGROUND:

One cannot understand fully many of the topics discussed in Quran unless one is acquainted with the background of their revelation. One should know the social , historical , or other antecedents which help explain any particular topic. For , the Quran was not revealed as a complete book at one time ; nor did Allah hand over a written copy of it to Muhammad (P.B.U.H) at the very beginning of his (PBUH) mission and command him (PBUH) to publish it and invite people to adopt a particular way of lifestyle.

Moreover, it is not a literary work of the common conventional type that develops its central theme in a logical order; nor does it conform to the style of such a work. The Quran adopts its own style to suit the guidance of Islamic Movement that was started by Allah‘s messenger (PBUH) under His direct command.

Accordingly, Allah revealed the Quran piecemeal to meet the requirements of its Movement in its different stages.

[Islam For All]

5. MAKKI SURAHS:

When the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was commanded to start his mission at Makkah , Allah sent down such instructions as the Messenger (PBUH) needed for his (PBUH) own training for the great work that was entrusted to him. The Quran imparted also the basic knowledge of the reality and gave brief answer to the common misunderstanding that misled people to adopt wrong ways of life and invited them to accept the basic principles of morality and adopt the right attitude that alone leads to success and welfare of humanity.

These early messages consisted of short and concise sentences and were couched in a very fluent and effective language to suit the taste of the people to whom they were first addressed. Their excellent literary style was so appealing that it touched their very hearts. They were so charming that attracted the attention of their hearers, who began to repeat them because of their beauty and elegance. Though universal truths were enunciated in these messages, they were given a local color and were supported by arguments, examples and illustrations from the environment with which its first addresses were quite familiar. In order to impress the addresses effectively, these early addresses were confined to their own history, their traditions, their monuments, their beliefs, their morality and their evil ways.

This early stage of the Movement lasted for four years or so with the result that a few good people accepted the message and formed the nucleus of the future Muslim Community. But the large majority of the Quraish began to oppose it because, in their ignorance, they thought that it hit hard at their vested interests and lusts and the old traditions of their forefathers. The message of the Quran, however, went on spreading beyond the boundaries of Makkah and reached other clans.

Then the Movement entered its second stage which continued for nine years or so and a fierce struggle began with the old order. Not only the Quraish but also the majority of its upholders also rose up to kill this Movement employing all sorts of weapons or at least to suppress it. They made false propaganda and leveled accusations and raised frivolous objections against it. They spread suspicions and doubts in order to alienate the common people from it. They hindered strangers from listening to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and inflicted all sorts of cruelties on those who accepted Islam. They boycotted the Muslims socially and economically in order to intimidate and coerce them. Their persecution became so unbearable that some of them had to leave their homes twice for Abyssinia and at last all of them had to migrate to Al Madina. But in spite of persecution and hindrances, the Movement went on spreading. Their was hardly a family or a house hold left in Makkah from which one person or the other had not accepted Islam.

[Islam For All]

Naturally this produced bitterness in the hearts of the opponents of Islam. The persecution became all the more bitter when they saw that their own brothers, nephews, sons, daughters, sisters etc, had accepted Islam ,become its faithful and strong supporters and were ready to defend it even with their lives.

The Movement also got impetus from the fact that it was drawing into its fold the best from among their people who became the embodiments of virtue after accepting Islam. The world, therefore, could not help feeling the moral superiority of the Movement that was thoroughly transforming the characters of its followers.

All through this long and bitter struggle, Allah continued to reveal, according to the requirements of the occasion, inspiring addresses which highly influenced the thoughts and conduct of the hearers. On the one hand these addresses instructed the Muslims in their primary duties, infused into them the points of loyalty and devotion to bind them together as members of the Muslim Community and taught the ways of piety, high morality and purity of character and trained them to be true missionaries of Islam. On the other hand these messages consoled, comforted and encouraged Muslims with the promises of success in this world and the eternal bliss in the hereafter. They urged them also to exert their utmost in the way of Allah with fortitude, endurance and courage. The Muslims were so imbued with the spirit of sacrifice for this noble cause that they were ready to bear every kind of affliction and fight against the bitterest opposition. At the same time, these addresses administrated warnings to those people who were opposing the Movement and those who were indifferent to it. Examples were cited from the history of the neighbouring people as proofs thereof. Their attention was drawn to the ruins of the habitations of which they used to pass during their journeys; these were held out as object lessons. They were asked to observe the phenomena of nature, they saw day and night on the earth and in the heavens as the proof of the Unity of God and the inevitable Hereafter.

The early addresses exposed the blasphemy of the idolaters and their association of the partners with Allah and their worship of the old traditions so vividly to convince all fair minded persons of their error. They refuted their misconceptions that they were independent of God and not accountable to Him in the Hereafter with such clear reasoning as to leave no doubt in their hearts and minds. Every doubt was dispelled and every objection answered and every intricacy and complication,. In which they were entangled and in which they were involving others, was unfolded and unraveled. In short these addresses proved clearly and conclusively that the old ways were based on ignorance and were utterly void of sense. Side by side with this, the disbelievers were admonished for their immorality, their wrong ways of life and customs of ignorance and their opposition to the Truth and their persecution of the Believers. These elderly addresses also put forward those basic principles of culture and morality which have always been universally accepted and which have always formed the basis of the enlightened Divine civilization.

Several changes took place during the Makki stage of the Movement. It spread wider and wider, day by day and the opposition to it became stronger and stronger in the same proportion. By and by it came into contact with the people of different creeds and different ways of life and this gave rise to new problems. The discourses, therefore, began to deal with various new topics as well. This explains the difference of their style from those of the earlier ones.

This is the background of the surahs which were revealed during the thirteen years of Makki life.