Not easy to Understand the 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:
I am just a lay man so far Arabic
is concern but I just want to place my thinking about understanding Quran
before all of you. I think understanding the whole Quran is just not possible
even for Arabic Scholars. If it was so easy to understand then there would not
have been 72 sects(Firqas) in Islam. As you all will agree that everybody wants
to go to heaven and everybody understand that they can go to heaven only by
obeying Quran. Every group thinks that they have understood the Quran correctly
but are doing things differently. Nobody would like to misguide themselves because it is going to effect
them and nobody else. So if it was so easy to understand Quran these
differences would have not arises at all. This has happed because people tried
to understand Quran themselves, its like a blind man trying to understand the
size and shape of an elephant, its like if you keep a gold ball and a fire ball
and ask an infant to choose one of them which is useful for him he will move
towards fire ball because it looks more brighter to him. Quran's sentences are
called "Ayyat" means "Nishani". Allah Ta'la has not
explained every thing in detail. For example if I give some money to my friend
and we both go to a gathering of 5 lacs people and I ask my friend "give
me that thing back to me" nobody in the gathering can understand what I am
asking for but only me and my friend. If I am saying this in Arabic all the
translators of the world can translate this sentence in all the languages of
the world but no body can say what I am asking from my friend. The most
important thing in Islam is Nemaz but Quran does not explain how to pray and
that is why every sect in Islam is praying differently. There are several words
in Quran like "Alif" "Laam" "Meem". The
translators just write the same words in their language but no Arabic scholars
can understand the meanings of these words. Do you think these words have no
meaning? Do you think these words in Quran "Maz-allah" useless? NO
nobody in Islam will agree that anything in Quran is useless. What is the use
of these words in Quran which we cannot understand? There must be someone who
can understand the Quran fully. If the Quran's meaning is explained and written
on the paper by the person who understands Quran the paper the world has
produced so far will fall short because it contains everything from Adam (and
work of one lac twenty-four thousand messengers of Allah)till Quamat and after
that. But whatever little we can understand is enough to lead us to the heaven.
This is totally my thinking and if I have written anything wrong I seek Pardon
from Allah-Tala.
(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:
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.
The Glorious Quran are the very words of our Lord and Creator, Who in
His Mercy, has sent us this book for our guidance. Not only did He send us this Quran for our guidance, but He also
sent us His Last Messenger (saws) to live the life acceptable and pleasing to
Allah, and to give us a practical example of how to live a complete Islamic
life.
Whatever misconceptions we might hold in understanding the Quran, the
Quran is and will always remain the words of Allah that He has revealed for our
guidance. We assume that the Holy Quran is difficult to understand, but Allah
says in the Quran that He has made it easy for us to understand!
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 12 Surah Yusuf verse
1-2: Alif. Lam Ra. 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.
The best way to understand the Holy Quran is to determine, ‘How did the
Messenger of Allah (saws) receive and obey the commandments of the Glorious
Quran?’ Once we are able to determine
that, then, Insha Allah, we will be on the guidance and way followed by the
Messenger of Allah (saws) and his companions.
If we try to determine other meanings of the aayahs of the Holy Quran
which is in contradiction to what the Messenger of Allah (saws) understood from
the aayah, then we are bound to go wrong.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 79-80:
We have sent you (O Mohamed) as a Messenger to mankind, and Allah’s witness
suffices for this. Whoever obeys the
Messenger, in fact obeys Allah, and whoever turns away from him, he will be
accountable for his deeds. Anyhow, we
have not sent you (O Mohamed) to be a guardian over them.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 31-32: Prophet, tell the people, “If you sincerely love Allah, follow me. Then Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for He is All Forgiving, All Merciful.” Also say to them, “Obey Allah and His Messenger.” And if, in spite of this, they do not accept your invitation, warn them that Allah does not love those, who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger.
Whenever the aayahs of the Glorious Quran were revealed, the companions
of the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to ask him what it meant, to increase
their knowledge and understanding, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) would
respond to their query. Even the non-believers
in Makkah and the hypocrites in Medina would try to find faults and
contradictions in the Holy Quran, and would sarcastically ask the Prophet
(saws) regarding a particular aayah, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) would
respond to their query.
Thus when the aayahs regarding the establishment of prayers were revealed, the Prophet (saws) declared the times and the exact way to pray, and the true believers will follow that Sunnah until the Day of Judgement, Insha Allah. Similarly, when the aayahs regarding zakaat, fasting, Hajj, etc. were revealed, the Messenger of Allah (saws) himself demonstrated how each commandment should be followed, and everything that the Prophet (saws) said and did are well documented in the books of ahaadith. Allah has blessed and honored the muslims with a light-giving Book; Allah has blessed and honored the muslims with His Last Messenger (saws); Thus Allah, The All Merciful, has not left the Ummah of Islam to wander around blindly, but has blessed us with His Book of guidance and a Noble Messenger (saws). Now if one refuses to read and understand the Book of Allah, and follow his whims and conjectures himself, or follow the self-made leaders and self-proclaimed holy men blindly, then he will have no one to blame except himself in the Court of Allah!
Yes, there are a few things in the Glorious Quran, which are beyond our
comprehension, like the broken alphabets, Alif Laam Meem, Yaa Seen, Haa Meem,
etc., Although we are unable to comprehend its exact meanings, nor did somebody
ever ask the Prophet (saws) regarding them, we believe in these words because
they are from Allah. But most of the
Holy Quran is very clear in its guidance and commandments and any person who
understands Arabic as a language can get enough guidance to lead a proper
Islamic life.
Some of us try to find out a few aayahs which are beyond our
comprehension, and say, “see, we just cannot understand the Quran!” These people then just leave the whole
Quran because of these few aayahs they cannot understand, and live life
according to their own whims and fancies, with their own sets of laws and
customs! These people are indeed
unjust to themselves, as well as to the guidance and mercy received from their
Lord.
Allah uses the word ‘Ta’aweel’ in the Holy Quran in Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 7: It is Allah, Who sent down this Quran to you. (There are two kinds of verses in the Book.) In it are verses Basic or Fundamental (of established meanings which can be easily understood), and they are the essence or foundation of the Book. And the other verses are Allegorical or Ambiguous. Those in whose hearts is perversity will always go for the Allegorical or Ambiguous verses, seeking discord and trying to search for their hidden meanings. None, except Allah, knows their real meanings! In contrast to them, those who are firmly grounded in knowledge, say: “We believe in them all, because all of them are from our Lord.
O Allah, help us, guide us, and forgive us our sins. O Allah, open our hearts to the
understanding of the Glorious Quran. O
Allah, make the Quran a witness for us on the Day of Judgment, not a witness
against us! O Allah, guide us to the
Siraat al Mustaqeem. O Allah, forgive
us our sins, and disgrace us not on the Day, when nothing but Your Mercy will
be between us going to the eternal Gardens of Bliss, or the everlasting torture of the fire of Hell. You indeed are the Most Merciful, Oft
Forgiving, Owner of the Glorious Throne.
You indeed are the All Mighty, the All Powerful. Blessed and Glorified is Your Name.
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
