IV
Hukm Wa Iqamat
(Molding the personal
life of the individual and the collective life of the community according to
the teaching of the Qur’an)
We
have already considered three of the duties we owe to the Qur’an and now we
proceed to consider the fourth. It is that
we should act
upon its teachings.
Obviously, we are required to believe in the Qur’an, study
it, and ponder over its meanings in order that we may act upon its teachings in
our actual life. The Qur’an is not a book of magical formulas or mantras which
are chanted to ward off evil. It is not a mere instrument for the attaining of
blessings. Its ayaat are not to be recited only for the sake of getting a
reward from Allah (SWT) or for reducing the agony of death. Nor is it a subject
of investigation and research in the sense that it should provide a good exercise
to our intellectual and imaginative faculties so that we
could indulge in
all sorts of
abstruse thinking and useless hair-splitting in the
interpretation of its meanings.
The Qur’an, as we all know, is huda
lil-naas, guidance for mankind. The purpose for which this Book has been
revealed will be realized only if people act upon its teachings and make it a
guide for them in every sphere of their life. The Holy Prophet (SAW) has made
it crystal clear that no useful purpose will be served by reading the Qur’an
and pondering over its meaning if we do not try to mold our lives according to
its injunctions. If we disregard its injunctions, the reading of the Qur’an,
instead of doing us any good, will undermine our faith. In this context, the Holy
Book speaks in unequivocal terms:
…and whosoever does not judge by what
Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers.
(Al-Ma’idah 5:44)
We have further clarification of, and emphasis over this
point in the following traditions of the Holy Prophet (SAW):
None of you can become a believer
until all his desires are subordinated to what I have brought (i.e., the
Revealed Guidance).
(Narrated in Sharah Al-Sunnah)
One who deems lawful what the Qur’an
declares unlawful is not a believer in the Qur’an (i.e., in reality, he does
not hold it to be a Divine Revelation.)
(Narrated by Tirmidhi)
The
case of a
person who is
still exploring and wandering in quest of truth, and has yet
to decide after a careful study of the Qur’an whether it is the absolute truth
or not, is different. However, the person who believes the Qur’an to be the
Book of Allah (SWT) cannot benefit himself from it at all, unless he studies it
with a firm resolve that, however heavy the odds and however great the
sacrifices, he would abide by its injunctions and modify his character
according to its teachings.
As we have already stated while explaining the literal meaning of the term tilawat, the Qur’an yields its perfect guidance only to those who abandon themselves to it and pore over it long and assiduously. Self-abandonment combined with a prolonged concentration born of a deep cultivated self-discipline generates that state of submissiveness and self-effacement which has been referred to in the above-quoted tradition viz: “None of you can become a believer until all his desires are subordinated to what I have brought.”
As we have already stated while explaining the literal meaning of the term tilawat, the Qur’an yields its perfect guidance only to those who abandon themselves to it and pore over it long and assiduously. Self-abandonment combined with a prolonged concentration born of a deep cultivated self-discipline generates that state of submissiveness and self-effacement which has been referred to in the above-quoted tradition viz: “None of you can become a believer until all his desires are subordinated to what I have brought.”
A person who desires to get full
guidance from the Qur’an has, first of all, to put himself into this state of
mind and afterwards as his contact with the Qur’an becomes closer and closer he
will continue to get greater and greater enlightenment from it. The Holy Qur’an
affirms:
While as for those who accept
guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their piety.
(Muhammad 47:17)
It means that if a person actually
makes a start, moving under the guidance of the Qur’an, he will soon find
himself marching steadily along the straight path and he will go on gradually
rising to the higher and higher planes of spiritual development. On the other
hand, if a person has not made up his mind to transform himself in accordance
with the Qur’anic teachings; the time he spends on reciting the Holy Book will
be just wasted. Recitation of the Qur’an, instead of doing him any spiritual
good, may actually prove to be curse on him. Imam Ghazali (RA)
has quoted some
mystic as saying that “Some readers of the Qur’an do not get anything
from it except the imprecation which it pronounces upon them. When he recites
'Allah’s curse is on the liars' while he himself is a liar, he becomes the
target of this
curse.” Similarly, when
a reader reads:
So, if they do not desist (from
devouring interest), give them an
ultimatum of a
war on behalf
of Allah and
His Messenger….
(Al-Baqarah 2:279)
and if he
himself violates this
injunction of Almighty Allah (SWT), he becomes the
addressee of this ultimatum. In the same way, when those persons who give short
measure or short weight and those who indulge in backbiting and carping, read “Woe to those who give less in measure and
weight” (Al-Mutaffifin 83:1) and “Woe
to every slanderer
and backbiter” (Al-Humazah 104:1), then they themselves
become the addressees of these dreadful warnings. Reasoning on this line, we
can easily understand what a man will
gain from the
recitation of the Qur’an, if his actions are not in
accordance with its teachings.
As for those who study the Qur’an for
investigation and research, for reflection
over its meanings
and for writing or compiling books on it, if they do
not put the injunctions of the Qur’an into practice, we can say that they are
the worst sinners. Their study and research is like indulging in a fascinating
intellectual exercise which is tantamount to mere toying with the Holy Book, or
even making fun of it. Consequently, instead of guiding them to the right path,
it causes them to deviate and go astray:
…by it He causes many to stray, and
many He leads to the right path….
(Al-Baqarah 2:26)
These so-called scholars of the
Qur’an disseminate all sorts of mischievous interpretations and become
instrumental in misleading and misguiding the people in different ways. Their
whole thinking on the
Holy Book is motivated by a vicious attempt to run after the abstruse
and the recondite. The Qur’an has aptly described their motives in doing so in
the following words:
…So they follow the part thereof that
is figurative, seeking discord and searching for its hidden meanings...
(Aal Imran 3:7)
The Companions (RAA) understood the
supreme importance of incorporating teachings of the Qur’an into their lives.
That is the reason why those, who had a special aptitude for reflecting
over the Holy
Book and would
spend years together pondering
over its a Surah, made such long pauses in their study. It was not so much for
the assimilation of the fruit of their research or the consolidation of their
theoretical knowledge as for developing a capacity for acting upon the Qur’anic
teachings. They would not go ahead until they were satisfied that they were
able to put into practice what they had learned from the Qur’an.
Perhaps the reader will be a little surprised to know that by learning a Surah by heart, the Companions (RAA) did not mean only preserving it in memory but also comprehending its meanings clearly and molding their character in the light of the guidance they received from it. Positively, what the Companions (RAA) actually meant by hifz al-Qur’an (memorizing the whole Qur’an) was that its words should be preserved in a person’s memory, its knowledge should be treasured up in his mind, and its teachings should be reflected in his conduct so that his whole personality was imbued with the spirit of the Qur’an and the deepest recesses of his being were illumined by its light.
Perhaps the reader will be a little surprised to know that by learning a Surah by heart, the Companions (RAA) did not mean only preserving it in memory but also comprehending its meanings clearly and molding their character in the light of the guidance they received from it. Positively, what the Companions (RAA) actually meant by hifz al-Qur’an (memorizing the whole Qur’an) was that its words should be preserved in a person’s memory, its knowledge should be treasured up in his mind, and its teachings should be reflected in his conduct so that his whole personality was imbued with the spirit of the Qur’an and the deepest recesses of his being were illumined by its light.
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