V
Tableegh Wa Tabyeen
(Propagation of the Qur’anic message
and its exposition)
Besides the four duties
that
we owe to the Qur’an, i.e.,
believing it to be the Book of Allah (SWT), reading it,
understanding it,
and acting upon its teachings, another duty which rests upon every Muslim and which he must discharge
according to his strength and ability, is that
he
must communicate its teachings to others.
For “communicating the message of the Qur’an
to the
people,” the appropriate and comprehensive terms
is tableegh. Teaching the Qur’an to others is also a form of tableegh. Similarly, explaining the meanings of the Qur’an to the people is tableegh
at a higher plane.
In order to understand the importance of this duty that
we
owe to the Qur’an, let us consider the
purpose for which the
Holy Book was revealed. It has been stated by the Qur’an itself
in the following words:
This (Qur’an) is a message to the people, in order that they may be warned thereby…. (Ibrahim 14:52)
Again, it declares the basic objective of its being revealed to the Holy Prophet (SAW) in
ayah 19 of Surah Al-An‘am:
Say (O Muhammad!): “…and
this Qur’an has been
revealed to me that I may warn you therewith and whomsoever it may reach….” (Al-An‘am 6:19)
The Qur’an also
announces in clear-cut words
that
it was the foremost duty
of the Holy Prophet (SAW) to communicate the
message of the
Qur’an
to mankind
with
utmost faithfulness,
and that the slightest negligence in the fulfillment of this duty would be a serious dereliction
of his
prophetic mission. Hence
the peremptory command
in Surah Al-Ma’idah:
O Messenger! Proclaim that which has been sent down to you from your Lord. If you do not, then you have not conveyed his message…. (Al-Ma’idah 5:67)
In perfect obedience to this command, the Holy
Prophet (SAW), right from
the
moment he received the first revelation to the last minute of his earthly life, for full 23
years,
bore untold hardships and waged
a ceaseless struggle to fulfill
the momentous duty
entrusted to him. Although this long and heroic
struggle passed
through many phases
and
he
had
to play
different roles for the fulfillment of his mission,
still the Qur’an was, all along, the pivotal point of all his activities. He
was constantly occupied with reciting the Qur’an, explaining its
meanings and communicating
its
message to the people, thereby enlightening their minds and purifying their souls.
The Qur’an describes the basic methodology
of the Holy Prophet (SAW) by
means of four highly significant terms, which are: recitation of Divine ayaat, purification of souls, instructions regarding the
law, and inculcation of wisdom.
These terms appear at four
different places in
the
Qur’an:
…he (the Messenger) recites to them His ayaat (the Qur’anic verses), purifies them, and instructs them in kitab (the law) and wisdom…. (Aal Imran 3:164 &; Al-Jumu‘ah 62:2)
Obviously,
these
words indicate the
same
technique as we have
suggested in the foregoing pages while explaining the right method of bringing about the Islamic Revolution in our society. In short, pursuing this method with extraordinary
courage and perseverance for 23 years, the Holy
Prophet (SAW) acquitted himself admirably and communicated Allah’s Message to
mankind. He also sought the cooperation
of his devoted Companions (RAA) for the completion of his mission, exhorting them to:
Convey
from me to the people even if it be a single ayah.
(Narrated by Bukhari)
Having accomplished his mission, the Holy Prophet (SAW) transferred the responsibility of propagating the message of the
Qur’an in the future to his Ummah. Having
obtained more than once the
testimony
of the
people to
the effect
that he had, indeed, successfully
conveyed Allah’s Message to them, the
Prophet (SAW), in his historic address to a gathering of 125
thousand Companions (RAA) on the occasion
of the last pilgrimage, issued
the
abiding instructions:
Those who are present should convey (Allah’s Message) to
those who are not. (Narrated by Bukhari)
Thus the duty of spreading the message of the Qur’an to every nook and corner of the world was devolved on the shoulders
of the Ummah for all time to come, and the Ummah as
a whole shall be answerable to the Almighty with regard to this arduous
duty. As the Ummah consists of the individuals, every individual is responsible for the discharge of this duty: men
of learning according
to their knowledge and ability
and common people according to their means and
capability.
The words of the Holy Prophet (SAW) “Convey from me to the people though it be a single ayah”
prove
it
beyond any shadow of doubt that no individual is exempt from this duty. If a
person can only read the Arabic text of the Qur’an,
he should teach others to do so; one who has memorized the
whole
Qur’an
should help others in memorizing it; one who can translate the
text, should do so
for
others; and one who
can comprehend its meaning
should explain and interpret it to others. If a person understands the meaning of a single Surah
and explains the same
to
others, and if he knows only
a single ayah and teaches it to others, he will be discharging the duty of communicating
the Qur’an; but the collective duty
of the Ummah in this connection
will not be fulfilled unless the Qur’an, both
its
text and its message, is propagated everywhere, throughout the length
and breadth of the world.
Source:The Obligations Muslims owe to The Quran (Book by Dr. Israr Ahmad)
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