AS-SIRAAT AL-MUSTAQEEM

Contents

Understanding the Qurâ€™anâ€™s Message to Humanity

<ol> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#1">Embarking on a spiritual path</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#2">The Qur’an Reflects on Social Change</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#3">Accountability</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#4">The Qur’an as Guidance</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#5">Evidence that the Qur’an is God’s Word</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#6">The Qur’an as a Healing Cure</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#7">The Audience of the Qur’an</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#8">Rejecters of Faith </a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#9">The Reader</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#10">Six Essential Ingredients of Belief</a></li> <li><a href="content_detail.php?id=2#11">Chapters and Verses in the Qur’an – Organised by number, name in Arabic, name in English and a brief description of what each chapter is about and the message it conveys to the reader</a></li> </ol> The Qur’an’s message concentrates around the teaching of Allah (swt’s) (God) unity as One (Tawheed). That God is the Creator of all beings, the Sustainer of each living thing and that He has power over all things. The Qur’an teaches that all creations on earth and in the universe submit to the Will of God. So, the sun, the moon, the plants and the trees and the animals bow down in praise of God for sustaining them with his mercy and compassion (24:41). Human beings play a very unique role and God chose humans for His creations as His representatives on earth. Humans are superior in thought, articulation and free will that allow them to work for the betterment of humanity. In order to guide humanity, God sent Prophets throughout history and to every community on earth who taught mankind the ways of spiritual, moral and ethical excellence (16:36). Muslims show their reverence for these Prophets by saying, ‘peace be upon him’, after mentioning anyone of them by name. God also sent down His revealed books, such as the Psalms and the Torah, to teach humans the difference between right and wrong and the application of Divine laws on earth. The message of God’s Oneness and the belief system it entails remained the same with each Prophet but the Laws of God changed for each community and time period, ending in the Qur’an’s revelation and Prophet-hood of Muhammad (PBUH). The Prophet (PBUH) who preached this message and their subsequent followers are all known in the Qur’an as Muslims – those who submit willingly to God’s Will (22:78). The Qur’an does not preach a new message or even introduce a new religion. The concept of Islam and the submission to the Will of God has existed from day one and was taught to the Prophet Adam as the first man on earth. The message was introduced in different time periods to each community on earth, depending on the conditions of those people and relevance of their time. This means that the Qur’an provides guidance for all of humanity. <a id="1" name="1"></a>Embarking on a Spiritual Path The first task in respect of this is to submit to God’s Will, which creates peace and harmony within an individual that then spreads to society. When a human being submits to God, people are free from servitude to other people and to their own lower desires (9:31). Through service to the Divine, people can reach heights of spiritual and moral success. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="2" name="2"></a>The Qur’an reflects on social change The Qur’an places emphasis on utilising Divine revelation establishing justice in all its forms, and struggling against injustice in all its forms. The centre of its teaching is the concept of (Jihad) which means to struggle in the path of God, both inwardly and outwardly for good against evil. The Qur’an concentrates on warning against the mistreatment of the poor, orphans, widows, and all those who are oppressed in society (5:8). Almost every story of past Prophets centres on establishing justice and fighting against evil. These social teachings make it impossible for Muslims to separate their religious lives from their social responsibilities (6:162-164). The Qur’an teaches that such a distinction is wrong and it preaches that not only individuals but also social institutions should serve God as a means of producing an equitable society.<a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#"> ↑ top</a> <a id="3" name="3"></a>Accountability The Qur’an clearly points out the concept of accountability of good and bad deeds and that every person must understand that every single individual will be asked on the Day of Judgment and rewarded accordingly (17:13-14). The Qur’an preaches that God is the most just and those who are punished on that Day will only be punished because of their own bad deeds. Those who will be granted paradise will be granted this prize based on their faith in God and good deeds. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="4" name="4"></a>The Qur’an as Guidance Reading the Qur’an, it introduces itself to the reader as a Book of Guidance (2:2) for those who are conscious of their Creator. The Qur’an is therefore not a book written by any man or a book of history or science or even of philosophical arguments. It may have an element of each in it but it is intended to be a complete guide to human life towards the “straight path” (1:5) of worship and service to God alone. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="5" name="5"></a>Evidence that the Qur’an is God’s Word The Qur’an does not expect people to blindly follow the Qur’an’s message without using the faculty of thinking and reasoning. In fact, the Qur’an heavily criticises those who simply do things as they saw their forefathers doing the same (2:170). The Qur’an acts as a kind of evidence (4:174) for God’s message. In almost every chapter, the Qur’an goes into deep discussions about the wonders of God’s creation, asking the reader to reflect on the universe, the plants, the animals and mountains of the earth, and upon creation of humanity (2:164). All of this is a means of affirming God’s true existence, His favours on mankind and due submission to His Divine Laws and message alone. The Qur’an as evidence also has a historical implication regarding people who doubted Muhammad (PBHU) claim to be Prophet. The Jews and Christians asked Muhammad (PBUH) to bring some miracles as proof of the Divine inspiration he claimed to have received from God. After all, if Muhammad (PBUH) was a Prophet then, he should be able to perform miracles like prophet Moses, or instantly cures the sick like Jesus. The Qur’an responds to this challenge by exhibiting the highest form of literary Arabic ever to appear in the history of the language. More importantly, the nations before Prophet’s time required and demanded miracles to be performed. However, the greatest, miracle the Prophet had was the fact that people understood his message and listened to him, therefore, the Prophet was not required to perform miracles that the previous Prophets had been asked to perform. Today, after 1400 years on; people are actually reading and reflecting on this message and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. This is evidently a miracle in itself. The Majestic words of the Qur’an changed the face of the Arabic language, outclassing all the famous poetry that was at its height before the Qur’an’s revelation. The Qur’an serves as a standard by which all other Arabic is judged. The Qur’an’s language proves especially remarkable since it was transmitted through the Prophet Muhammad (PBHU), who was illiterate and was not known for his recital of poetry. (The sayings of prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which are known as Hadith are full of wisdom but do not come close to the Majestic literary standards of the Qur’an which comes directly from God.) <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="6" name="6"></a>The Qur’an as a Healing Cure The Qur’an itself is a healing cure for the hearts of human beings (17:82). Our bodies come from earth (this world) and therefore, the cure lies in this world for any physical sickness and of course, cured by the will of God; our souls on the other hand come from God and therefore, the cure lies in the remembrance of God and reciting the Qur’an. The Qur’an’s quality is that it illuminates a spiritual path for the hearts purification through the remembrance of God. The revelation attempts to soften hearts that have become hardened and in order to reclaim and preserve the humanity of people. The Qur’an seeks to elevate the spiritual human heart to a level that is in love with the Divine and therefore submits the soul into a constant state of gratitude to God during the best and worst of times (2:152). The teachings of healing guide the perception of mind and heart into a state of contentment that allows God’s light to enter the soul so that person’s every word and action are in tune with deep awareness of Divine presence. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="7" name="7"></a>The Audience of the Qur’an The Qur’an’s audience is universal and does not discriminate between gender, culture or religious however, the main groups are as follows: 1. Humankind – these mainly address all of mankind; Children of Adam 2. Believers – addresses the true believers; 3. People of the Book - the Qur’an gives a lot of attention to Jews and Christians as recipients of earlier revelations. When the Qur’an addresses both religious communities, it uses the term “People of the Book”. The Qur’an uses stories of the respected Prophets that all three faiths share to remind People of the Book about the universal message of submission to God alone. 4. The Hypocrites – the Qur’an refers to hypocrites – the Qur’an refers to hypocrisy as the most detestable act and condemns it. The Qur’an warns about what awaits hypocrites in the hereafter and calls such people to change their ways from hypocrisy into true belief. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="8" name="8"></a>5. The Rejectors of faith - These are normally those who reject the Qur’an message with some sort of philosophical arguments and warnings of disbelief. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="9" name="9"></a>6. Readers - These are general readers. The general reader will literally find himself or herself having a conversation with the scriptures as thought – provoking questions come up, one after the other. In one chapter alone the Qur’an asks 31 times, “and which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny”, (55) after recounting the blessings that come from God for mankind. <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a> <a id="10" name="10"></a>Six Essential Elements of Belief Islam has six essential elements of belief that altogether are known as Iman (belief orfaith):- <ol> <li>The first is the faith and belief in one God, complete monotheism and without any doubt or exception;</li> <li>The second element of faith is belief in angels who perform various functions based on God’s instructions. Through these angels, God revealed His books or revelations to various prophets throughout time. Muslims must believe in God’s revelations and respect without distinction of any prophet who preach the unity of God as one;</li> <li>belief in these Books;</li> <li>Belief in these Prophets;</li> <li>Muslims must believe in accountability of their actions, both good and bad and the subsequent rewards and punishments for those deeds. This then eventually leads in the belief of the Day of Judgment about which there can be no doubt as the Qur’an clearly points out;</li> <li>The last element of faith is to believe in the Divine decree of God (Qadar or destiny) by which God’s presence is understood as timeless. This belief also teaches God’s perfect knowledge and complete Power and Will over all things; <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a></li> </ol> <a id="11" name="11"></a>The Qur’an has three major organisational elements, phrases, sentences or verses known as Ayat, chapters which are known as Surahs and parts known as Juz. Ayats – are of various lengths and they can be as short as one letter or as long as several dozen words, which make up the verses. Surahs – is a body of word that form one chapter or part distinguishable from the next Surah. In total the Qur’an has 114 Surahs and it contains 6,240 Ayats. Each Surah begins with the words “in the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” except for chapter 9. For example, the Surah 2 is named Al-Baqarah, or “The Cow”. This chapter describes how the Children of Israel took the ‘Golden Calf’ for worship when Prophet Moses left them for 40 nights; however, this story only makes up a short part of the Surahs 286 Ayat. Juz – means “part” or a “portion”. This was introduced to make the reading of the Qur’an easier over a period of one month; especially in Ramadan and therefore there are 30 parts. References: - Abdullah Yusuf, ‘The Holy Qur’an’ (2000) - Abdullah Yusuf Ali, ‘Modern English Translation of the Holy Qur’an: meanings and commentary – original work (1998) <a class="float_right" href="content_detail.php?id=2#">↑ top</a>

Thursday 13 Mar 2025