The Sunday Mail
Umari Stambuli Holy Qur’aan Speaks
THE wisdom of the Holy Qur’aan is of a unique kind and Muslims the world over believe that it is God’s greatest gift humanity.
Briefly, the purpose of this Divine Revelation is to guard all the previous Revelations and restore the eternal truth of God Almighty, to guide humanity to the Straight Path and awaken the human conscience and enlighten the human mind.
The Holy Qur’aan is the Word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the angel, Gabriel, and it is beyond human imagination to produce anything like it.
Among Muhammad’s (pbuh) contemporaries were men acclaimed as the greatest masters of the Arabic language and who had the most compelling motives to produce a rival text.
But they could not produce anything like the Holy Qur’aan in content or style.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had no formal schooling and he made no secret of it. It is his greatest credit that he was an unlettered man rising from among illiterate people to teach the whole of mankind the true message of God.
This is the first fact about the Holy Qur’aan being the Word of God.
The second fact about this unique book is the unquestionable authenticity of its contents and order, a quality which no other book of any kind has ever or is likely to enjoy. The authenticity of the Holy Qur’aan leaves no doubt as to the purity, originality, and integrity of its text.
Serious scholars – Muslims and non-Muslims alike – have concluded beyond doubt that the Holy Qur’aan we use today is the very same one that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) received, taught, lived by, and bequeathed to humanity over 14 centuries ago.
The Holy Qur’aan is full of unparalleled wisdom with regard to its source, its characteristics and its dimensions.
The wisdom of the Holy Qur’aan derives from the wisdom of the Author who could not have been any other than God Almighty Himself.
The realistic approach of the Holy Qur’aan, the practical solutions it offers to human problems, and the noble objectives it sets for man mark the Qur’aanic wisdom as being of special nature, with special characteristics.
One of the major characteristics of the Qur’aanic wisdom is that it is not the static or dry type. It is a kind of dynamic wisdom that provokes the mind and quickens the heart. In this wisdom there is stirring dynamism and there is a moving force attested by historical evidence as well as by the Holy Qur’aan itself.
When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) first launched the Call of God, his only power was the Holy Qur’aan and his only wisdom was the Qur’aanic wisdom.
The penetrating dynamism of the Holy Qur’aan is tremendous and irresistible.
Another significant characteristic of the Holy Qur’aan is its practicability: it doesn’t indulge in wishful thinking; nor do its teachings demand the impossible or float on rosy streams of unattainable ideals.
The Holy Qur’aan accepts man for what he is and exhorts him to become what he can be.
The practicability of the Qur’aanic teachings is established by the examples of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Muslims throughout the ages.
The distinctive approach of the Holy Qur’aan is that its instructions are aimed at the general welfare of man and are based on possibilities within reach.
A third characteristic is harmony between the Divine and the human, the spiritual and the material, the individual and the collective, and so on.
The Holy Qur’aan pays due attention to all facts of life and the needs of man. It deals with them in such a way as to help man realise the noble objectives of his being.
The Qur’aanic wisdom functions in three principal dimension: inwardly, outwardly, and upwardly.
Inwardly, it penetrates into the innermost recesses of the heart and reaches the farthest depths of the mind. It is aimed at the healthy cultivation of the individual from within. This inward penetration is different from and far deeper than that of any other legal or ethical system, because the Holy Qur’aan speaks in God’s name and refers all matters to Him.
The outward function of the Holy Qur’aan embraces all walks of life and covers the principles of the entire field of human affairs from individual personal matters to the widest concerns of international relations. The Holy Qur’aan teaches areas unknown to any secular system of law or code of ethics and inaccessible to any popular doctrine of religion.
What is remarkable about the Holy Qur’aan in this respect is that it deals with human transactions in such a way as to give them a Divine flavour and a moral touch. It makes the presence of God felt in every transaction and acknowledges Him as the first source of guidance and the ultimate goal of all transactions.
It is man’s spiritual guide, his system of law, his code of ethics, and, above all, his way of life.
In its upward function, the Holy Qur’aan focuses on the One Supreme God. Everything that was, or that is, or that will be, must be channelled into and seen through this focus – the active presence of God in the universe.
Man is merely a trustee in the vast domain of God, and the sole purpose of his being created is to serve/worship God. This is no pretext for seclusion or passive retirement from life. It is an open invitation to man to be the true embodiment on earth of the excellent qualities of God.
When the Holy Qur’aan in its upward attention focuses on God, it opens before man new horizons of thought, guides him to unparalleled standards of high morality, and acquaints him with the eternal source of peace and goodness.
Realising God alone as the ultimate goal of man is a revolution against the popular trends in human thought and religious doctrines, a revolution whose objective is to free the mind from doubt, liberate the soul from sin and emancipate the conscience from subjugation.
In all its dimensions the Qur’aanic wisdom is conclusive. It neither condemns nor tortures the flesh nor does it neglect the soul.
It does not humanise God nor does it deify man. Everything is carefully placed where it belongs in the total scheme of creation.
There is a proportionate relationship between deeds and rewards, between means and ends. The Qur’aanic wisdom is not neutral.
It is demanding and its demands are joyfully welcomed by all those blessed with appreciation and understanding.
The wisdom of the Holy Qur’aan calls for truth in thought and piety in action, for unity in purpose and goodwill in intent.
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact:
Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars
Publications Department
PO Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare
Tel: 04-614078/614004, Fax: 04-614003
e-mail: [email protected]
