Do you know if Al-Qur'an is the answer, then what is the question?

From: http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/Qalam/qalam31.htm

Al-Qur'an is the purest of all books. It came from the most pure (ALLAH S.W.T.) transported by the pure and trustworthy of angels (Jibra'il) to the pure at heart (Rasulullah S.A.W.) for the purification of our souls (the Muslims).[Surah Al-Shu'ara verse 192-194]. There are limitless knowledge that can be gained from Al-Qur'an, however please ponder on these ten only:

1. Do you know that we promise to obey (acknowledge) ALLAH S.W.T.?
Yes, we did! In Surah Al-A'raf verse 172, ALLAH S.W.T. mentioned that before we were born, we did promise to obey and acknowledge that ALLAH S.W.T. is the one and only worthy of worship. However, we tend to forget. Dear brothers and sisters, please take this verse as a reminder (warning!) or to check our actions if we tend to forgo ALLAH S.W.T.'s command or not obeying ALLAH S.W.T. Do not give the same reason (excuse) as the non-believers would, by blaming their ancestors but not themselves (refer to verse:-173).

2. Do you know why ALLAH S.W.T. made us, humans?
Our main purpose on this earth is purely to serve ALLAH S.W.T. and obey ALLAH S.W.T. without any compromise. (Surah Al-Dhariyyat verse 56). Hence, everything we do must fall back on this concept or basis (...only to please ALLAH S.W.T.).

3. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is for the living not dead?
Nowadays, the norm is to recite Al-Qur'an on certain special occasions only - this is true especially in ASIA where Al-Qur'an is on the top of the agenda if there is a death occurring (funerals) or for thanksgiving. Yes, agreed there are hadith that encouraged the recital of Al-Qur'an especially Surah Yasin to "help" the soul on its journey but again the same Surah Yasin verse 70 mentioned that Al-Qur'an is for the living to take all its advice, warning, and lesson. It will be to late to practice Al-Qur'an when you are dead ... the time is now (when you are still breathing).

4. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is to be read and understand?
Most Muslims are still ignorant of our Islamic teaching and faith. We have ourselves to blame, we buy volumes of volumes of Al-Qur'an (some to the extend of collecting Al-Qur'an from all over the world) just to nicely display them on our bookshelves to collect dust. This is definitely not in line with why Al-Qur'an is first revealed to our beloved Rasulullah S.A.W. - the first revelation instructed our prophet to READ! (Surah Al-'Alaq verse 1). We need only one Al-Qur'an for this purpose. Then again, those few who read Al-Qur'an hardly understand what they read (though still better than not reading???). Often we are more worried about the "tajwid" and how beautiful one recite but in fact if a verse that described the punishment in hell, we, the listeners are still smiling, appreciating the voice of the reader rather than reflecting on the content. Surah Al-Nisa' verse 82 clearly provokes us to better understand Al-Qur'an. Reading is important so does understanding/practising it.

5. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is not that difficult?
Now, some will say that the Qur'anic language (Arabic) is most difficult thus rather on finding a way of learning (improving) it most chose to abandon Al Qur'an totally. Yes, ALLAH S.W.T. did mention in Surah Al-Qamar verse 17 (and ALLAH S.W.T. repeated this guarantee four times in the same Surah) that Al-Qur'an is easy to understand. It is all up to us - if we really put an effort our body, mind, and souls to this, insha'allah we can achieve it. Success does not come easy, you have to earn it. However, a word of caution that is not to interpret Al-Qur'an to our fancies (Al-Qur'an must be learnt from a learned person).

6. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is not just to protect you from the devil (syaitan laknatullah)?
Sometime we only make the effort to learn/memorise Al-Qur'an for all the wrong reasons or for a specific reasons! Some do it to ward off evils be it from humans or syaitan laknatullah, alike. Others do it for the "love portion" by reciting certain verses only while others will only open the Al-Qur'an when they are sick or in dire-straits. Definitely, Surah Al-Ikhlas, An-Nas, Al-Falaq and ayatul qursi are on our fingertips ... but are these the only Surah. I can understand if you are five years old but fifty-five? Agreed, Al-Qur'an will free us from the "grip" of syaitan but Al-Qur'an also teaches us how to behave, mould our children, conduct our business, the vast field of sciences - the list is endless - why make Al-Qur'an so limited and cheap! We should learn the whole chapters of Al-Qur'an and for all its purposes mentioned therein not when you are afraid to go to that dark place only!

7. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is a guidance and cure from ALLAH S.W.T.?
Al-Qur'an is to guide us on how to live on this earth and be successful too. In Surah Al-Fussilat verse 44 ALLAH S.W.T. mentioned about this but this privilege is offered (open) to only the believers and Surah Al-Baqarah verse 38. ALLAH S.W.T. will guide us just like ALLAH S.W.T. guided our fore-father NABI ADAM A.S. and those guided by ALLAH S.W.T. will have no fear. Al-Qur'an is also a cure especially for the "heart disease" ... Surah Al-Rad verse 28 so if you are stressed/burnt out, etc. just grab that Al-Qur'an!

8. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is to refute all fallacies and any false accusations?
How many a time, Al-Qur'an has proven wrong those false accusations directed (thrown) by the "believers" and non-believer alike. Allah S.W.T. guaranteed the authenticity of Al-Qur'an. Surah Al-Furqan verse 32, ALLAH S.W.T. mentioned that any argument they come up with ALLAH S.W.T. will provide us with the truth and better one. Anybody care to dispute? Na'uzubillah.

9. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is the key to success and goes hand in hand with the hadith?
Yes, be it in this world or life hereafter. We must heed the advice from ALLAH S.W.T. In order to achieve this we must practise what Al-Qur'an preaches and an important factor not to miss is that it must be read concurrently with the hadith. Just think about this, Al-Qur'an commands us to perform Salat but how to do it is mentioned only in hadith, so they must be partners. (refer to Surah Bani Isra'il verse 9, Al-Nisa' verse 105 and Al-Ahzab verse 21 and 40) where we must obey both ALLAH S.W.T. and Rasulullah S.A.W., insya'allah.

10. Do you know that Al-Qur'an is waiting?
Al-Qur'an has no legs or hands, it is sitting quietly waiting for you to reach for it. It is up to you to make the first move - if you do not Al-Qur'an will certainly not. I believe there is one Al-Qur'an with your name on it, hopefully insya'allah so grab it before it slips your hand again? In my community, there is a saying "tidak kenal maka tidak cinta" (Malay proverb) loosely translated, "how to fall in love when you do not make (the acquaintance with) effort to know the other party" - Al-Qur'an is waiting for your love!


Dear brothers and sisters, Al-Qur'an provides 1001 answers - it is up to the individuals to extract that limitless benefits from Al-Qur'an. The ummah before us, during Rasulullah S.A.W. was successful because they abided strictly by Al-Qur'an and hadith. They were well known as "the walking Al-Qur'an". Alhamdulillah, they memorised, preached, and practised Al-Qur'an - what about the ummah now? We have mobile phones, walkman, Discman, videocam ... BUT all seem to be pointing to wrong kinds of "walking" now.

DO YOU KNOW THAT IF AL-QUR'AN IS THE ANSWER THEN WHAT IS THE QUESTION?

The question is simple...just ask yourself then open/search Al-Qur'an for the answers. wallahu'alam.

Firdaus

21 February 1999.

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[Currently, he is a student of Islamic Studies in Singapore. He is also active with organisations working with the spiritual needs of handicap Muslims. As well, the writer is a member of a non profitable organisation which oversees the financial needs of Muslim students. He writes short articles in the the hope that this brief style will benefit his readers with useful knowledge and stimulate the Iman in an interesting manner.]