An Introduction to Methodology for Study of the Qur'an

 METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

www.imranhosein.org

Introduction

“And when the Qur’ān is recited unto them, why do they do not  fall down in prostration?” 

(Qur’ān, al-Inshiqāq, 84:21)

The Qur’ān declares that it is the revealed Word of the One True God, and Prophet Muhammad (a) identified the Qur’ān as the miracle which had come to the world through him. Is that claim of the Qur’ān true, or is it false?  

Anyone can read the Qur’ān, but someone who has not as yet responded to the above question must first do so before he or she can embark on a study of the Qur’ān. Those who have not as yet taken a decision to either accept, or to reject the claim of the Qur’ān that it is the revealed Word of the God of Nabī Ibrāhīm (Abraham) (a), may read with benefit the chapter on Credentials of the Qur’ān, located in Chapter One of this book.  

The fate which awaits those who reject this claim of the Qur’ān, is the same as that which awaits all those who rejected the Taurāt (i.e., Torah) that was revealed to Nabī Mūsa (Moses) (a) the Zabūr (i.e., Psalms) that were revealed to Nabī Dāūd (David) (a), or the Injīl (i.e.,Gospel) that was revealed to Nabī ‘Īsa (Jesus) (a) for these Books also, were the revealed Word of the One True God. 

This book is written to guide those who have accepted the Qur’ān as the revealed Word of the One True God, and who now want to respond to His repeated plea, in Sūrah al-Qamar for example, to study the Qur’ān. This plea is repeated no less than four times in that Sūrah: 

“We have indeed made this Qur’ān easy to study and to understand: who, then, is willing to study it,  learn from it and be admonished by it?” 

(Qur’ān, al-Qamar, 54:17, 22, 32, 40) 

It should be clearly understood that those who believe that the Qur’ān is the Word of the One God, and yet fail to recite and to study the Qur’ān, will certainly pay a price one day for that neglect of Allah’s Holy Book. They can begin paying that price as soon as they die and are buried in their graves, and the angels then appear to question them in the grave. Before the questioning can begin in the grave, they will have to answer some preliminary questions through which they will be identified. Such would be the questions:

Who is your God? 

Which Nabī (i.e., Prophet) did you follow? etc. 

If a Muslim were to answer that he followed Nabī Muhammad (s), then it would imply that his Book is the Qur’ān, and it is by that Book that he would be judged. What will that hapless Muslim do in the grave, who lived his life without ever learning to recite the Qur’ān in Arabic, if the angel hands him a copy of the Qur’ān and asks him to recite the Book? What will be his fate if he asks for an English or a French Qur’ān? What will be his fate if he recites the Qur’ān, but his recitation is so poor, making so many mistakes in recitation, that it becomes an embarrassment for him? The Qur’ān has warned of the fate that awaits those who are ungrateful to the Lord-God in so rejecting (through neglect) the Truth which has come from Him: 

“And if you could but see [how it will be] when He causes those who are bent on denying the truth (and this includes ingratitude) to die: the angels will strike their faces: and their backs, and [will say]: "Taste suffering through fire”.  

(Qur’ān, al-Anfāl, 8:50) 

The very first lesson that a student must learn when studying the Qur’ān, regardless of whether he is Muslim, Christian, Jew, or other, is that nothing happens in this book by accident or by chance. Rather, every single word, every sentence, including the literary form in which a sentence is constructed, is specifically placed in the Book by divine design and for a purpose. Even an omission in the text, such as the absence of the phrase “with the name of Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful” at the beginning of Sūrah al-Taubah, is vitally important to be studied, and so too a statement which is understood, while not actually stated in the text, such as (see brackets): 

“… and for those who can fast (only with difficulty) there is a ransom that they can feed the poor in place of fasting”. 

(Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:184)  

It is therefore not possible to make a credible study of the Qur’ān unless the student can access the Arabic text of the Book. One can read a translation (in another language) of the Qur’ān, but one can never study the Qur’ān through a translation.  

The so-called civilized oppressors who control power in the modern world, and who used that power to shamelessly conquer and colonize most of the world of Islam at the point of a naked blood-stained sword, brought about such changes in the educational system of their colonized subjects as eventually robbed nearly all non-Arab Muslims of the Arabic language.  Even when many Arabs migrated to Europe from North Africa, the same thing happened. There are legions of contemporary Arabs who were born in France, Belgium, Germany or elsewhere in Western Europe, or who arrived in Europe as children, and who in consequence of the educational system, today cannot read or recite the Qur’ān in Arabic, even though they are Arabs. 

This book on methodology for the study of the Qur’ān is written to assist such Muslims in particular. It is written in a manner designed to ensure that they will give priority attention to learning sufficient Arabic as to be able to read and understand the Qur’ān in its Arabic text. When they recover the Arabic language of which they were robbed, and they then study the Qur’ān, this miraculous Book can become the means through which they can eventually deliver an eloquent response to the oppressor who is waging ever-increasing war on Islam on behalf of Dajjāl’s Imposter State of Israel.  

Secondly, Allah Most High has declared that He sent Nabī Muhammad (s) as the teacher who would not only transmit, but also teach the Qur’ān: 

“Even as We have sent unto you a Messenger from among you, who recites to you Our revelations and purifies you, and (only then he) teaches you the Scripture (i.e., the Qur’ān) and wisdom, and teaches you that which you knew not.”  

(Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:151) 

The student who would study the Qur’ān must, therefore, study what the Prophet taught concerning the Qur’ān. He described Sūrah Yāsīn, for example, as the heart of the Qur’ān, and he desired that every Muslim should memorize that Sūrah: 

Anas bin Malik narrates that the Prophet said: Everything has  a heart, and the heart of the Qur’ān is Yāsīn.  

(Sunan Tirmīdhī) 

It is important to note that the verse informs us that the Prophet had to first purify (i.e.,Tazkiyah) the believers before he could teach them the Qur’ān. Unless a heart is turned to Allah Most High with sincerity, it is not possible for such a person to truly study the Qur’ān. That is because the Qur’ān is more than just a book. When the Prophet was asked: What is your miracle – while being reminded that other Prophets brought miracles with them, he replied that his miracle was the Qur’ān. It is faith in the One God which purifies the heart most of all, and so those whose hearts are turned to other than the One God, and who give their supreme loyalty to other than the One God, can never succeed in studying His miraculous Qur’ān. There are many today who rule over Muslims, like those who control power in Pakistan, who worship at the altar of a US visa or a Saudi Riyal, rather than worship the One God. What is true of the Muslim world is also becoming increasingly true of the Orthodox Christian world (other than Russia).  

None have done greater work amongst Muslims in respect of Tazkiyah i.e., purification of hearts, than the authentic Sufi Masters of old. How can an enemy of Islam ever study the Qur’ān when his heart is filled with darkness? How can he ever extricate himself from darkness when the function of the Qur’ān is to take mankind out of darkness into light? 

 “It is He who bestows from on high clear messages unto [this] His servant, to lead you out of the deep darkness into the light: for, behold, Allah is most compassionate towards you, a dispenser of grace.” 

(Qur’ān, al-Hadīd, 57:9) 

So long as the divinely-appointed teacher of the Qur’ān was alive, it was obligatory on mankind to accept whatever he taught concerning the Qur’ān. When he is no longer with us in this world, how do we access that knowledge which he taught? What is the nature of the relationship between the Qur’ān and the Hadīth literature? This book attempts to offer an answer to this important question. 

The Qur’ān itself has demanded, time and again, that the book be studied by all people. The book declares that it was sent down to people who think, – and thinking is the very essence of study: 

“Thus clearly do We spell out these verses (of this Qur’ān) unto people who think!” 

(Qur’ān, Yūnus, 10:24)  

Those who adamantly refuse to study the Qur’ān provoke Allah’s anger to such an extent that he asks whether they have locks on their hearts: 

“Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur’ān? – or are there locks upon their hearts?” 

(Qur’ān, Muhammad, 47:24) 

Those who do think, would eventually realize that the material world is now in a state of decay, and this is as a direct result of the damage being continuously inflicted on it by the modern so-called civilized west. What is true of the material world is also true of the human world in which untold millions now live as refugees because of unjust wars waged directly by the west, or waged indirectly through their Turkish, Saudi or Pakistani proxies, or are refugees from western economic and monetary oppression. 

The Qur’ān has reserved the greatest punishment of all for those who commit Fasād on earth. Fasād is that which not only corrupts, but also threatens to destroy. It does not require much thinking for readers to realize that the world is now afflicted with universal Fasād. There is Fasād in endless unjust wars, the secular political system, the secular economy, the monetary system, the feminist revolution and the male-female relationship, in agriculture, transport, communication, water consumption, etc. Since the Qur’ān has declared that it explains all things, proper methodology requires that we learn the method through which we can search in the Qur’ān for that which explains the universal Fasād. If we do not do so, we would betray the Qur’ān, and we would one day have to pay the price for that betrayal.  

The greatest fear that the oppressors have is the fear that the oppressed will one day recover their freedom to think, and when they do so, to recognize who are the oppressors and who are the oppressed in today’s world. Those who would think however, will find that the oppressors use television as the greatest weapon with which to corrupt and disable the mind’s capacity to think, and to thus render people deaf, dumb and blind. This book advises those who would study the Qur’ān to turn away from watching television, from reading the mainstream newspapers and listening to mainstream radio, which are all used to brainwash the mind and destroy the capacity for critical thinking. 

Those who liberate their minds, and recover the art of critical thinking, are enjoined by Allah Most High to use the Qur’ān as the vital instrument with which to wage a mighty Jihād against those who, for example, wage war on Islam, but who falsely and hypocritically designate it as war on terror: 

 “Hence do not defer to (the likes and dislikes of) those who reject (this book as truth),  but rather wage a mighty struggle against them, by means of this (book).” 

(Qur’ān, al-Furqān, 25:52) 

The Qur’ān recognizes that while the general reader would think over its verses and study them, that there are those who, having studied the Qur’ān while pondering and reflecting over it, would be admonished in the sense of taking the book to heart: 

“[All this have We expounded in this] blessed divine writ which We have revealed unto you, [O Muhammad,] so that men may think/ponder/reflect over its messages, and that those who are endowed with understanding/insight may take them to heart.”  

(Qur’ān, Sad, 38:29) 

It is therefore clear that those who establish a casual relationship with the Qur’ān, while picking-up the book now and then (usually after dinner) to take a look at a passage here or there, would be in manifest disobedience of Allah Most High, and such a people can never either truly understand the Qur’ān, or take it to heart.

If the Qur’ān is to be studied by those who think, rather than to be casually read here and there, and now and then, how should the book be studied? Is there a method for the study of the Qur’ān? Is there a methodology, or the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods that can be applied to this field of study? 

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

Ansari Memorial Series

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

Ansari Memorial Series

The Ansari Memorial Series of books is published in loving memory of Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari (1914-1974) who was a Sufi Shaikh of the Qaderiyyah Sufi Order, a philosopher, an outstanding Islamic scholar of the modern age, a roving missionary of Islam, and my teacher and spiritual mentor of blessed memory. My love for him, and my continuously increasing admiration for both his Islamic scholarship as well as his philosophical thought, more than 40 years after his death, is such that I cherish the very dust on which he walked. 

I began writing the books of the Ansari Memorial Series in 1994 while I was still resident in New York, and functioning as Director of Islamic Studies for the Joint Committee of Muslim Organizations of Greater New York. I started the Series of books in Maulana’s honour because I wanted to offer a gift to my teacher on the 25th anniversary of his death. The first six books of the Series were launched in the Masjid of the Muslim Centre of New York in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York, in 1997, and in the years which have since passed, many more books were added to the Series. A complete list of books in the Series can be found at the end of this book.

The latest book in the Series, entitled From Jesus the True Messiah to Dajjal the False Messiah – A Journey in Islamic Eschatology, promises to be the most difficult and challenging of all. The subject is both difficult and challenging because, among other things, it takes a scholar directly inside the Zionists’ hornet’s nest, and as a consequence there are few scholars who are prepared to risk writing or speaking on this subject. But let us recall that the blessed Prophet (s) said:  “One learned (scholar) is harder on Satan than a thousand worshipers”.   (Sunan Ibn Majah)

Hence scholarly books and lectures on Dajjal whose Fitnah (evil) is described by Prophet Muhammad (s) as greater than that of Satan, will surely be a means through which our readers would be able to identify true scholars of Islam. I pray that my humble pioneering book on Dajjal might pass the test of scholarship, and if it does do so, Insha’ Allah, that it might encourage the learned scholars of Islam of the modern age to also address this important subject.

I recognize the subject of Dajjal to be the ultimate test of Islamic scholarship, and that implies that it constitutes the ultimate test of methodology for study of the Qur’an and for assessment of Hadith. I am convinced that only an authentic Sufi scholar can write credibly on the subject of Dajjal because only he has the proper methodology for the study of the Qur’an and the assessment of Ahadith, the Sufi epistemology of spiritual insight with which to interpret religious symbolism, as well as the tangible vibrating spiritual bond with Nabi Muhammad (s), which are all indispensable for penetrating the subject; and this is why I have to devote attention to the religious thought of Maulana Ansari, the authentic Sufi Shaikh. I could never have written my book on Dajjal without the benefit of his religious thought. The methodology of the scholars of ‘Islamic Modernism’, of the Salafi, Shia, Deobandi, Brelvi or of a Tabligh Jamaat, for example, will not allow a scholar whose primary identification is with those sects, to successfully penetrate the subject of Dajjal. I invite them, gently so, to prove me wrong.

I met Maulana Ansari for the first time in 1960 in my native Caribbean island of Trinidad when I was just 18 years of age. I had done some studies in science, and I was quite surprised to learn that a Maulana (an Islamic religious scholar of a very high rank) would be visiting Trinidad from Pakistan, and that he would lecture at my Montrose Village Masjid on the subject of ‘Islam and Science’. (The Masjid was subsequently named after him as Masjid al-Ansari.) My response to the news was quite skeptical, since at that young age I knew of no possible link between Islam and science.

On the night of the lecture he astonished me with his scientific scholarship, as well as with knowledge of Islam of which I was hitherto quite ignorant. I was surprised to learn that the Qur’an had, time and again, appealed to ‘observation’ and to ‘inductive reasoning’, and hence to what is today called ‘scientific enquiry’, as the method through which one should seek to penetrate and understand the reality of the material universe. I was also surprised to learn that knowledge which had come to the world these last few hundred years from some of the discoveries of modern science, such as in embryology, had already been present in the Qur’an.

I was even more surprised when Maulana lectured at Woodford Square in the capital city of Port of Spain, on ‘Islam and Western Civilization’ before an audience which filled the large Square to capacity, and with the Oxford University–trained Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Eric E. Williams, sitting on the platform beside him. Dr. Williams had himself already dealt a severe blow to Western Civilization in his PhD thesis at Oxford entitled ‘Capitalism and Slavery'. The learned Prime Minister was clearly impressed by Maulana's scholarship as he dissected the godless pagan foundations of a barbaric and oppressive civilization that had arrogantly and deceptively presented itself as the best that the world had ever experienced, and would ever experience.  Maulana's dynamic Islamic scholarship, and the spiritual impact of his magnetic Sufi personality, changed my life. He inspired me to such an extent that I, also, wanted to become a scholar of Islam. By November 1963, and at the age of twenty-one, I became a student of Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, which was the most famous institution of higher Islamic learning in the world. But I could not find in Al Azhar University the dazzling Islamic scholarship to which I was exposed three years earlier in Maulana Ansari. The scholars of Al Azhar appeared to me to have been stuck in time, and could not compare with Maulana in their scholarly understanding of the reality of the strange and challenging modern age, nor in their capacity to offer an Islamic response for example, to challenges posed by the modern scientific and technological revolution, the feminist revolution, etc.

I left Egypt and travelled to Pakistan in August 1964 to become Maulana’s student at the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies in Karachi, and that was the best decision that I have ever taken in life. (The Institute still exists to this day at the Islamic Center in Block B of the Karachi suburb of North Nazimabad.) I remained his student until I graduated from the Institute seven years later in 1971 at the age of twenty nine with the degree of Al-Ijazah al-’Aliyah, and returned to Trinidad. I never met him again in life, since he died three years later in 1974 in Pakistan at the age of 60.  There are many things about Maulana that I would love to write and to record for history, but by far the most important of all aspects of his rich and multifaceted life was his religious thought, and that is what I have attempted to explain in my brief essay on the subject. It was crucially important for me to do so, not only because his exceptional scholarship offers some assistance for modern Islamic scholarship to extricate itself from its present sorry and miserable plight (one cannot find a single prominent Islamic scholar today who dares to declare the present paper-money monetary system to be bogus, fraudulent and Haram), but also because his scholarship has played such an important role in guiding and assisting me in writing my pioneering book on Dajjal the false Messiah, which is the latest book in the Ansari Memorial Series.  

Let me also explain that my essay does not provide a comprehensive description of Maulana's religious thought. However it does provide a sufficiently adequate description of his thought for the purpose of introducing him to the gentle readers who are advised to also study his master-piece on the Qur'an entitled The Qur'anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society (in 2 vols.). Our essay on his religious thought can be found at Appendix 1 of this book.

Ansari Memorial Series Books

1. The Prohibition of Ribā in the Qur’ān and Sunnah; 1997
2. The Importance of the Prohibition of Ribā in Islam; 1997
3. One Jamaat One Ameer: The Organization of a Muslim Community in the Age of Fitan; 1997
4. The Religion of Abraham and the State of Israel – A View from the Qur’ān; 1997. 
5. The Strategic Importance of Isrā and Mirāj; 1997
6. The Strategic Importance of Dreams and Visions in Islam; 1997. Second edition 2014
7. The Caliphate The Hejaz and The Saudi-Wahhabi Nation-State; 1997. Second edition 2013
8. Fasting and Power; 1997. Second edition 2011
9. The Qur’anic Method of Curing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction; 2000
10. George Bernard Shaw and the Islamic Scholar; 2000
11. A Muslim Response to the 9/11 Attack on America; 2002
12. Jerusalem in the Qur’ān; 2002, Second edition 2002
13. Sūrah al-Kahf Text Translation and Commentary; 2007
14. Sūrah al-Kahf and the Modern Age; 2007
15. Signs of the Last Day in the Modern World; 2007
16. The Gold Dinār and Silver Dirham – Islam and the Future of Money; 2007
17. The Islamic Travelogue; 2009  
18. An Islamic View of Gog and Magog in the Modern World; 2009, Second edition 2011
19. Explaining Israel’s Mysterious Imperial Agenda; 2011
20. Iqbal and Pakistan’s Moment of Truth; 2011
21. Madīna Returns to Center-State in Ākhir al-Zamān; 2012
22. In Search of Khidr’s footprints in Ākhir al-Zamān; 2014
23. From Jesus the True Messiah to Dajjāl the False Messiah; 2016
24. Methodology for Study of the Qur’ān; 2016

Aleemiyah Memorial Series

Islam and Buddhism in the Modern Age; 1972
World Federation of Islamic Missions
The Qur’anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society in 2 Vols. By Maulānā Dr. Muhammad (s) Fazlur Rahmān Ansārī. First published 1973. Malaysian Edition 2011

[The above books can all be ordered from the On-line Bookstore: www. imranhosein.com]. 

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

Methodology for Study of the Qur'an

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 
by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein
www.imranhosein.org

ANSARI MEMORIAL SERIES

AN INTRODUCTION TO 

METHODOLOGY FOR 

STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

IMRAN N. HOSEIN

imranhosein.org

IMRAN N. HOSEIN PUBLICATIONS

© Copyright reserved by the publisher 

1437 (Hijri); 2016 (Gregory XIII)

ISBN 978-976-95837-1-9

Published by

IMRAN N. HOSEIN PUBLICATIONS

3 Calcite Crescent, Union Hall Gardens

San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

Website: www.imranhosein.com

Email: inhosein@hotmail.com

Bookstore: www.imranhosein.com

Distributed by

INH DISTRIBUTORS

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Printed in

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dedication

If you have not been reciting the Qur'an

(in Arabic) regularly from cover-to-cover, 

and if, after having read this book,

you now make a sincere effort to do so, 

then this book is dedicated to you. 

A journey that is constantly repeated

“A man enquired: “O Allah's Messenger! which action

is most liked by Allah? He replied: ‘(the action of) him

who finishes a journey and then embarks on a journey”. 

Darimi has added to this Hadith in his Sunan, the

following: “It was asked as to what was the meaning of

finishing a journey and undertaking another? (To

this) he replied: ‘A possessor of the Qur'an recites it

from its beginning to its end, and when he finishes, he

returns to the beginning (to finish it again),” 

(Sunan, Tirmidhi) 

Contents

Preface ......................................................................................... xiii

Ansari Memorial Series ............................................................. xvii

Introduction ................................................................................... 1

Chapter One  

The Credentials of the Qur’an as the Word of the One God ..... 15

Absolute authenticity of the Qur’an......................................... 17

One uniform unchanging text of the Qur’an ........................... 21

Eternal literary excellence of text of Qur’an with no 

revision ever necessary .............................................................. 22

Undiminished literary attraction of the Qur’an ........................ 24

The challenge to those who doubt the status of the Qur’an 

as the Word of the One God which was revealed to an Arab

who could neither read nor write ............................................. 25 

Those who reject the Qur’an ................................................... 33 

The believing Christian, the believing Jew, and the Qur’an ..... 35

Chapter Two 

Preparation for study through continuous daily recitation

of the Qur'an ................................................................................ 55 

When should the Qur’an be recited? ........................................ 64

Chapter Three 

Preparation for study  through promptly acting in accordance

with what is understood in the Qur'an ....................................... 67 

Chapter Four

Do not ignore – by-pass – or disrespect the Qur'an in the

pursuit of knowledge ................................................................... 73 

Do not disrespect the Qur’an! .................................................. 74

Do not by-pass the Qur’an! ..................................................... 75 

Chapter Five

Do not study any verse of the Qur'an (or any Hadith)

in isolation ................................................................................... 87 

Wrong methodology lead to error concerning money .............. 91

Wrong methodology lead to error concerning the age at 

which marriage is permissible ................................................... 93

Chapter Six 

The verses of the Qur'an are like the stars in the sky ................. 99

Locating the system of meaning of a subject being studied 

in the Qur’an ......................................................................... 104

Harmony in the stars and in the Qur’an ................................ 105 

Chapter Seven 

System of meaning in the Qur'an on the subject of 

consumption of intoxicants and curing addiction to alcohol . 109 

Chapter Eight

System of meaning in the Qur'an in the matter of Muslim

relations with the Christian, the Jew, the Torah, Psalms

and Gospel .................................................................................. 131 

What is the status of Christians and Jews when judged

by the Qur’an? ....................................................................... 143 

The Qur’an responds to the claim of Jews and Christians to

possess a monopoly on Truth and Faith ................................. 156 

Chapter Nine

Ayat Mutashabihat (Verses To Be Interpreted) ....................... 161 

Ayat Mutashabihat: The Muqatta’at ...................................... 168

Ayah Mutashabiha: Pharaoh’s body ....................................... 172

Ayah Mutashabiha: The Dream of Nabi Ibrahim, 

i.e., Abraham (a) ......................................................... 179

Ayah Mutashabiha: Pax Qarnain (i.e., the world-order 

of Dhul Qarnain) .................................................................. 187

Pax Qarnain – the journey to the West .................................. 197

Pax Qarnain – the journey to the East ................................... 199

Pax Qarnain – the enigmatic third journey ............................ 201

Qarnain: The second of the two Qarns .................................. 207

Rum of the East and Rum of the West .................................. 215 

Appendix 1 

An Introduction to the Religious Thought of

Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari (r)  ....... 217 

The Qur’an and Rahmah (i.e., kindness, mercy, compassion) 218

The Qur’an and the Rational Faculty .................................... 220

The Qur’an - the fountain of all Knowledge .......................... 222

Methodology ......................................................................... 225

The Qur’an validates the Hadith ........................................... 226

Naskh – cancellation or abrogation of divine revelation ......... 233

What Allah causes to be forgotten! ......................................... 238

Gog and Magog ..................................................................... 240

The Imperative of Islamic Spirituality .................................... 247 

A Spiritual Bond with Nabi Muhammad (s) ...... 257

Rejection of Sectarianism ....................................................... 261 

A rare moment in time is gone – a golden opportunity

is perhaps lost! ....................................................................... 264 

Index ........................................................................................... 267

Ansari Memorial Series ............................................................. 289 

Preface

Methodology for the Study of Dajjal the False Messiah was meant to be included as a chapter of my book on Dajjal.  However I realized that it was too long to function as a chapter, and hence I had to remove the material that was specific to Dajjal,  and then publish it as a separate book altogether: An Introduction to Methodology for Study of the Qur’an. I have no regrets in doing so since it was my desire that this be my last effort at teaching basic methodology for the study of the Qur’an. I have done no more than offer that methodology. Those who wish to do so, can search for books which teach the subject comprehensively.  The ‘Introduction’ to the religious thought of the distinguished Islamic scholar, Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari (1914-1974) contains important information and analysis on methodology which complement the text of this book. Readers are advised to carefully read that ‘Introduction’ to his religious thought in order to enhance their understanding of the subject of this book. It is located in Appendix 1 of the book. Indeed most of what is explained in the text itself on methodology has come from him, and it is he who should have written this book. I wish I had an introductory book such as this to study when I was his student and I was just beginning my study of Tafsir al-Qur’an. Had he written it, I have no doubt that it would have spurred me on to a faster and more productive effort of study of the Holy Qur’an.  

Allah Most High declared that He sent down the Qur'an in the Arabic language in order that it might provoke a people to think (Qur’an, Yusuf, 12:2), and hence to study the Book with the rational faculty. Most translators of the Qur’an admit that it cannot be translated to another language. (See Muhammad Asad’s essay entitled: Can the Qur'an be translated? Published by the Centre Islamique, Geneva. 1964). Rather, the most that can be achieved in a translation is an approximate rendering of the meaning of the miraculous Arabic text. For this reason we always quote in this book, the actual Arabic text of the Qur'an which has been preserved unaltered for close to fifteen hundred years, and having done so, we then offer an explanatory translation with our explanatory comments (always carefully enclosed in brackets). We have done so in order to facilitate the proper study of the Qur'an. References for quotations from the Qur'an are always provided below the translation of the Arabic text as follows:  first the name of the Surah, then the number of the Surah, followed by the verse number; e.g.,(Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:21; Qur’an, Yusuf, 12:2; etc.). We sometimes quote only a relevant part of the text of a long verse of the Qur'an since, to do otherwise would unduly increase the size of the book.  Readers can access the entire text of such verses if they log on to the website: www. islamicity. org/quransearch   

Finally, I wrote most of this book in the month of Rabi alThani 1437, while on a brief visit to the city of Geneva in Switzerland, in order to participate in a seminar on ‘Preparing for Nuclear War’. I gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance provided by Mushtaq's Food Machinery of UK which made my travel to Geneva, as well as my stay in Geneva, possible. I also gratefully acknowledge Kamal Ahmad Musa's beautiful work in the cover design of this book. He is from the Holy Land (Palestine). Finally I also acknowledge the kind assistance of my dear student from Singapore, Hasbullah Bin Hithayathulah Shafi'iy, who assisted me in many different ways, including locating several Ahadith.  May Allah bless them all for their kind assistance. Amin! 

Imran N. Hosein 

Geneva

Rabi al-Thani 1437; February 2016

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

The Ruling on Magic in Islam

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

All Praise is due to Allaah (ta'ala), the Forgiver of Sins, the Acceptor of Repentance; may He send salutations and exalt the mention of the seal of all Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam), his family and all his companions. 

Due to the increase in the number of magicians and fortunetellers lately, those who claim the ability to cure people by the use of magic and fortunetelling, and due to their spread in some of the Muslim countries and the way they take advantage of some simple-minded, ignorant people, it became necessary for me to clarify the great danger of these people on Muslims and Islaam, for it entails becoming attached to other than Allaah (ta'ala) and disobeying His commands and the command of the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam). 

It is permissible to seek treatment of any sickness, and a Muslim may go to a physician for diagnosis for any type of disease and use the required Islamically lawful treatment prescribed for that. This is a means which does not contradict reliance on Allaah (ta'ala), and Allaah (ta'ala) is The One Who created sicknesses as well as their cures. He granted the knowledge of these cures to whomever He willed, and He did not place cures in anything which He prohibited. Therefore, it is not permissible for a sick person to seek the help of fortunetellers who claim the knowledge of Unseen. It is also prohibited to believe anything they tell him, for they only conjecture or use the Jinn to help them in their fortunetelling and magic. These people are disbelievers and misguided if they claim this knowledge of the Unseen. 

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:
"Whoever goes to a magician or a fortuneteller and believes in what he tells him disbelieves in what has been revealed to Muhammad." 

(Ahmad) 

The Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) also said 

"Whoever goes to a soothsayer or a fortuneteller and consults him, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days." 

(Muslim) 

'Imraan Ibn Husayn narrated that the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: 

"He is not one of us who believes in evil omens or talismans, who goes to a fortuneteller, or goes to a sorcerer. Whoever goes to a fortuneteller and believes in what he says has disbelieved in what has been revealed upon Muhammad (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam}. " 

(Al-Bazzaar) 

These narrations warn against going to fortunetellers, soothsayers or magicians, asking them or believing what they say. One should not be deceived by fact that some of what they say is true, nor should they be deceived when they see the large number of people who seek their help. These masses are ignorant and should not be an example to imitate. The Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) forbade going to them or believing their words due to the great evil resulting from these people, and because they are liars. 

The narrations also indicate the disbelief of fortunetellers and magicians because they claim the knowledge of the Unseen, and this is a clear act of disbelief. These people cannot achieve their objectives without the help of the Jinn whom they worship besides Allaah (ta'ala), and the one who believes them in their claim of knowing the Unseen is exactly like them, and the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) disowns him. A Muslim should not submit to what they claim to be his treatment, such as the humming sounds they make and the words they use which are like riddles, and other things they do; anyone who accepts what they do is in fact aiding them in their falsehood and disbelief. 

It is also prohibited for any Muslim to go to them inquiring about the one whom his son or relative should marry, or whether or not they will be a happy couple, because such things are the Unseen which only Allaah (ta'ala) knows. Magic is a prohibited act of disbelief, as Allaah (ta'ala) says regarding the two angels what means, 

"But neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, We are for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us). And from these (angels) people learn that by which they cause separation between man and his wife, but they could not thus harm anyone except by Allaah's Leave. And they learn that which harms them and profits them not. And indeed they knew that the buyers of it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter. And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their ownselves, if they but knew." 

(Al- Baqarah: 102) 

This verse proves that magic is an act of disbelief, and that magicians separate a man from his wife. It also proves that magic has no real effect and that Allaah (ta'ala) is the only One Who causes harm and can benefit people. Unfortunately, the harm of magicians, who inherited this knowledge from the polytheists, has increased and they were able to trick the weak-minded people. 

The verse also proves that those who learn magic actually learn that which harms them and does not benefit them, and that they will have no share (in reward) with Allaah (ta'ala) on the Day of Resurrection. This is indeed a terrifying warning which indicates the great loss in this life and the Hereafter, and that these people sold themselves for the cheapest price. That is why Allaah (ta'ala) dispraised them, saying what means, "And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their ownselves, if they but knew." (Al- Baqarah:102) 

Allaah (ta'ala) legislated for His slaves things by which they can protect themselves against magic before it happens. He also clarified how they can treat themselves, out of His Mercy and Kindness, and as a way of completing His Bounties. The following are some of these ways of protection against magic before it happens, as well as the cure for magic after it afflicts people using Islamicaly lawful ways. 

Protecting Oneself with Qur'aan and The Prophetic Supplication

One of the most important ways to prevent magic before happening is protecting oneself with Qur'aan and the prophetic supplication, like reciting the verse of the throne {Aayat ul- Kursi} where Allaah (ta'ala) says what means, 

"Allaah! Laa ilaaha ilia Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), Al-Hayyul-Qayyum (the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists). Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never encompass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great" 

(Al-Baqarah:255)

This verse should be recited after each obligatory prayer after the regular recommended supplications, and also at bedtime. This verse is the greatest verse in the entire Qur'aan. 

Also, reciting 

"Say: He is Allaah, (the) One. Allaah [As-Samad] — the Self Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (He neither eats nor drinks)]. He begets not, nor was He begotten, And not for Him any[one] equivalent." 

(Al-Ikhlaas:l-4) 

"Say: I seek refuge with (Allaah), the Lord of the daybreak. From the evil of what He has created. And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness (or the moon as it sets or goes away). And from the evil of those who practice witchcraft when they blow in the knots, And from the evil (of) an envier when he envies." 

(Al-Falaq:l-5) 

and

"Say: I seek refuge with (Allaah) the Lord of mankind. The King of mankind — The Ilaah (God) of mankind. From the evil of the whisperer (devil who whispers evil in the hearts of men) who withdraws (from his whispering in one's heart after one remembers Allaah (ta'ala)). Who whispers in the breasts of mankind. Of jinn and men, " 

(An- Naas:l-6) 

once after each obligatory prayer, but thrice after the dawn and sunset prayer. 

Moreover, one should recite the last two verses of Al-Baqarah, where Allaah (ta'ala) says what means,

"The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) 'We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers' — and they say, 'We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all). Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. 'Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawlaa (Patron, Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving people'." 

(Al-Baqarah: 285-286) 

The Prophet (H)said, 

"He who recites the Aayat ul-Kursi (the verse of the throne) at night will continue to be guarded by Allaah (ta'ala), and Satan will not come close to him." 

He (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) also said, 

"It is sufficient (as a protection from all evil) for a person to recite the last two verses of chapter Al-Baqarah at night."

Also, exerting extra efforts in taking refuge in the perfect words of Allaah (ta'ala) from the evil He has created during daytime or night time, or when he arrives into a new place (during travel) whether by land, air or sea, as the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, 

"He who arrives into a place (to rest during traveling) and says, 'A'oodhu bi Kalimaat-illaah-it-Taamaat min sharri maa khalaq (I take refuge in the perfect words of Allaah (ta'ala) from the evil that He has created),' will not be harmed until he departs that place."

The Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) encouraged us to say three times in the early part of the day (before sunrise) and in the evening,
"Bismillaah-illadhi laa yaduru ma'ismihi shayun fil-ardi wa laa fis- samawaati wa huwas-Samee'-ul-'Aleem (By the name of Allaah with whose name nothing is harmed on earth nor in the heavens, and He is The All-Hearing All-Knowing)." and said that these words will protect him from all evil. 

Supplications and Qur'aan are the best way to prevent the evil of magic and other evils, provided that one regularly adheres to saying them with sincerity and truly relies on Allaah (ta'ala) and depends on Him. They are also a great weapon to remove magic spells after they happen, in addition to humbling oneself to Allaah (ta'ala) asking Him to remove the evil and harm from you. 

There are authentic supplications said by the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) to cure from magic and sickness in general, such as the one he used with his companion,
"Allahaahurmma Rabb-an-Naas. Adh-hib il-ba's washfi antash-Shaafi, laa shifaa'a ilia shifaa'uk, shifaa'an laa yughaadiru saqaman 
(O Allaah (ta'ala)! The Lord of all people, take away the harm; cure (from the sickness) You are the Only One Who can bring cure, there is no cure but Your cure, a cure which does not leave out any sickness; by the name of Allaah (ta'ala) I seek to treat you)." One should say this three times. 

Also, the supplication with which Jibreel used to treat the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam), "Bismillahi arqeeka min kulli shay' in yu'dheek, wa min sharri kulli nafsin aw 'aynin haasidin Allahu yashfeek, bismillahi arqeek 
(By the name of Allaah (ta'ala) I seek to treat you from all that harms you, from the evil of every soul or envious eye Allaah (ta'ala) cures you; in the name of Allaah (ta'ala) I seek to treat you)." One should say this three times. 

The form, the cures for magic after it happens, which is also a beneficial cure for a man who feels that he cannot touch his wife in a sexual relation, is that one takes seven green Sidr (lote-tree) leaves, crushes them with a stone, places them in a plate, puts water on them, and recites on the plate the following:

1 . Aayat-ul-Kursi ': Al-Baqarah:255 

2. Surah Al-Ikhlaas: 1-4 

3. Al-Falaq: 1-5 

4. An-Naas:l-6 

. . .in addition to the verses of magic, 

1 . "And We revealed to Musaa (Moses) (saying): Throw your stick, and behold! It swallowed up straight away all the falsehood which they showed. Thus truth was confirmed, and all that they did was made of no effect So they were defeated there and returned disgraced." 

(Al-A'raaf: 117-1 19) 

2. "And Fir'aun (Pharaoh) said: 'Bring me every well-versed sorcerer.' And when the sorcerers came, Musaa (Moses) said to them: 'Cast down what you want to cast!' Then when they had cast down, Musaa (Moses) said: 'What you have brought is sorcery; Allaah will surely make it of no effect. Verily, Allaah does not set right the work of Al-Mufsidoon (the evildoers and corrupters). And Allaah will establish and make apparent the truth by His Words, however much the Mujrimoon (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists and sinners) may hate.' " 

(Yunus: 79-82) 

3. "They said: 'O Musaa (Moses)! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw.' [Musaa] said: 'Nay, throw you (first)!' Then behold! their ropes and their sticks, by their magic, appeared to him as though they moved fast. So Musaa conceived fear in himself. We (Allaah (ta'ala)) said: Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand. And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician's trick, and the magician will never be successful, to whatever amount (of skill) he may attain." 

(Taa Haa: 65-69) 

After reciting this on the water, he should drink from it three times and bathe with the rest. By doing so, Allaah (ta'ala) willing, all harm will disappear, and there is no harm in repeating this two or more times until he is cured. 

One of the best ways to treat magic spells is to know the place where the material used in the spell is hidden, whether in a mountain, the sea or elsewhere, because once this is known, it can be removed and spoiled, and by this the effect of the magic spill will disappear. 

These were some of the ways to protect and treat oneself against magic. 

Some magicians defuse the effect of magic by offering sacrifices to Jinn and slaughtering using their names, and this act is prohibited because it is from the work of Satan, and it is a major great act of Shirk (associating with Allaah (ta'ala)), so one must beware of this. It is also prohibited to ask a magician, soothsayer or a fortuneteller to cure you or do what they command you to do, because they are disbelievers, liars and sinners who claim to know the Unseen, and they confuse people. The Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) warned against going to them, asking them, or believing what they say, as we mentioned in the beginning. 

Once the Prophet (sallalahu ta'ala ‘alaihi wa sallam) was asked about An-Nushrah (which is seeking the aid of magicians to get rid of a magic spill by the use of another magic spill), so he replied,
"It is an act from Satan. " (Ahmad & Abu Daawood) 
On the other hand, it is permitted for someone to cure people from magic spells by the use of Qur'aan and authentic supplication from the Sunnah, as many scholars said, such as Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allaah (ta'ala) have mercy upon him, and others. 

Source: The Ruling on Magic

Angels Harut & Marut - City of Babylon - Origin of Magic