The Qur’an - the fountain of all Knowledge

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

www.imranhosein.org

The Qur’ān – the fountain of all Knowledge

The dominant characteristic of Maulānā’s religious thought was his insistence on recognition of the Qur’ān as the fountain of all knowledge. Indeed he held the view that Muslims rose to greatness through the Qur’ān, and hence it would only be through the Qur’ān that they could ever extricate themselves from the present sorry mess, and rise again to greatness. 

He spent his entire life studying the Qur’ān and teaching the Qur’ān in such wise that he could demonstrate that it was the fountain of all knowledge. When Maulānā wrote The Qur’anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society (QFSMS) he singled out one verse of the Qur’ān to be placed at the very beginning of each of the two volumes, and it was a verse which declared of the Qur’ān that it explained and clarified all things:  

“… in as much as We have bestowed from on high upon you, step by step, this divine scripture, to explain and to clarify all things, and to provide guidance and grace and glad tidings unto all who accept (the ‘ truth’ in this Qur’ān).” 

(Qur’ān, al-Nahl, 16:89) 

It was precisely because of his recognition of this unique status of the Qur’ān that he responded to secularism’s epistemological challenge to revealed knowledge by deriving from the Qur’ān the complete code of life – political, economic, social, religious and spiritual, etc. – for the establishment of a happy, stable and successful society. QFSMS was his multi-dimensional response from the Qur’ān to the challenge of modern secular godless western thought, and to the godless western model of society which had emerged from that thought.   

I recall, as vividly as yesterday’s rain, the very first lesson he taught me as a student at Aleemiyah. He taught that we must first use our rational faculty to respond to the claim of the Qur’ān that is the Word of the One God. Either the Qur’ān is divinely-revealed ‘truth’, or it is not! Once we accept the Qur’ān as the revealed Word of the One God, we must submit to divinely-revealed ‘truth’ totally, and without reservations of any kind.  Once it is recognized to be divinely-revealed truth, the human mind cannot sit in judgment over such ‘truth’. Whether we understand what is in the Qur’ān or we do not, whether we are comfortable with what is in the Qur’ān or we are not, faith requires that we first submit to all that is in the Qur’ān – understanding can come later. We cannot accept ‘part’ of the Qur’ān as ‘truth’, and reject, or reserve our acceptance, of another ‘part’.   

I learnt from Malcolm X something which could be added to this first lesson, namely, once we recognize ‘truth’ and accept it, – once we are convinced that it is ‘truth’, we must proclaim it as ‘truth’ without regard for consequences. That is the essential Sunnah (or way of conduct) of Nabī Muhammad (s).  Had he not proclaimed the ‘truth’, he would not have had to make Hijrah (i.e., to migrate) from his native Makkah to the city of Madīna that was located hundreds of miles away from Makkah.  

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

The Qur’an and the Rational Faculty

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

www.imranhosein.org

The Qur’ān and the Rational Faculty

Allah Most High went on to further declare, after having declared that He taught the Qur’ān, that He created mankind, and taught man al-Bayān. What this means is that He bestowed on him the rational faculty with a capacity and the technique with which to study, understand, explain, and then to teach what was acquired, to others: 

“He has created man and bestowed on him articulate thought and speech.”  

(Qur’ān, al-Rahman, 55:3-4) 

The implication of of juxtaposing the first two verses with the third and fourth in this passage of the Qur’ān, is that the primary function of the rational faculty is for the study of the revealed scriptures, of which the last is the Qur’ān, in order to understand those revealed scriptures and to then explain and teach them to others.  

One of the most marvelous examples of the application of the rational faculty to the study and the explanation of the Qur’ān, in so far as its guidance is to be applied in this modern age, can be found in Maulānā’s magnum opus, The Qur’anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society in two volumes (herein-after referred to as QFSMS – available in English and French from the online bookstore: www. imranhosein.com). While others used their rational faculty for the pursuit of other ends and goals, Maulānā used his rational faculty almost exclusively for the study and exposition of the Qur’ān. 

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

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

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

www.imranhosein.org

An Introduction to the

Religious Thought of Maulānā

Dr.Muhammad (s) Fazlur Rahmān Ansārī (r)

The most distinctive characteristic of the personality of Maulānā Ansārī was his life-long devotion to the Qur’ān. He spent his entire life studying the Qur’ān, and then explaining and teaching it to others.  

Nabī Muhammad (s) declared of those who spend their lives studying and teaching the Qur’ān, that they are a people with the highest status of all: 

“The best among you are those who have learnt the Qur’ān and teach it (to others)”  

[Sahīh Bukhārī]  

Maulānā’s devotion to the Qur’ān may have thus raised him to a status of the highest and the best of those who worshipped the One God.  

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

Maulānā was of the view that whenever Allah Most High made mention of one of His names/attributes while directing attention to a particular activity or matter, the implication was that those who pursued an effort in that matter would receive the blessings that are inherent in that particular divine attribute. Hence, when Allah Most High chose to make mention of his name of al-Rahmān, i.e., the Compassionate God, when He declared that He taught the blessed Qur’ān:    

 “The Most Compassionate (God) has taught the Qur’ān.” 

(Qur’ān, al-Rahman, 55:1-2) 

The implication for Maulānā, was that whoever studied the Qur’ān sufficiently to teach it to others, would continuously receive Rahmah (i.e., Compassion and Mercy) from Allah Most High.  

Those who devote their entire lives to the continuous recitation of the Qur’ān, and to studying it and teaching it to others, have another divine promise of great reward. That promise was conveyed in the very first revelation of the Qur’ān that was transmitted by the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet while he was in meditation in a cave high up on a mountain close to Makkah. 

Allah, Who is al-Akram (i.e., He Who is Most Noble and Generous), commanded that the Qur’ān be recited! He did so in the very first word of the very first revelation of the Qur’ān that was sent down to Nabī Muhammad (s) (repeated in both 1st and 3rd verses): 

“Recite (or read, and hence study) and your Lord-God is Noblest (Most Bountiful and Generous).” 

(Qur’ān, al-’Alaq, 96:3) 

The implication of the above is that those who continuously recite the Qur’ān, and who devote an effort to study it, and who, having understood even a small part of the Book then teach it to others, would be elevated to a noble status in this world and the next by He Who is Most Bounteous and Generous. 

Maulānā Ansārī was a scholar who lived for the Qur’ān, and died while still devoted to the mission of reaching the Qur’ān out to mankind, hence it is that so many years after his death he still commands such respect, and is held in such high esteem in the world.  

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

Rūm of the East and Rūm of the West

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

www.imranhosein.org

Rūm of the East and Rūm of the West

When the Qur’ān announced that Rūm was defeated in a land close by, but not withstanding this defeat, Rūm would soon be victorious (Qur’ān, al-Rūm, 30:2), it referred to a Byzantine Christian Empire which had its capital in Constantinople. Shortly after the revelation of the Qur’ān, however, Rūm broke into two parts. The first, or the original Rūm, remained based in Constantinople until Dajjāl’s Ottoman Empire conquered the city and deprived Rūm of its base. It exists to this day as Orthodox Christianity. The second part, which is today known as Western Christianity, went to the Italian city of Rome to establish a new Roman church called the Roman Catholic Church.  

If Muslims are to make an End-time alliance with Rūm, as prophesied above, with which Rūm should they ally themselves – the first or the second? A Muslim Christian alliance should obviously be with those Christians whom the Qur’ān has described in Sūrah al Māidah as “closest in love and affection to Muslims”, and not with those who would deceive them and wage war on them. A believing people who are recognized by Allah Most High as closest in love and affection for Muslims, will not deceive them and wage war on them.  Such will not qualify as love and affection, but rather, deceit and hatred. 

Hence, the Prophet (s) has prophesied that Muslims will make an alliance with the wrong Christians. That ominous prophecy is already fulfilled today, particularly in the Arab-Muslim world which has already made an alliance with the wrong Christians. The world of Arab States is led by governments who have been in alliance with the Judeo-Christian Zionist alliance. They give the appearance of recognizing Washington, rather than the Ka’aba, as their Qiblah. The exceptions have been Libya under Gen Qaddafi, Syria, Iraq, etc. And it is because those who are in alliance are hell-bent on ensuring total conformity of all Arabs with the alliance, that Arab States which are not a part of the alliance have been viciously attacked to force their submission. 

This book does not address the subject of whether or not a Hadīth has prophesied a Muslim End-time alliance with Orthodox Christians. 

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....

Qarnain The second of the two Qarns

METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN 

by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

www.imranhosein.org

Qarnain: The second of the two Qarns

When will the second of the two Qarns in Qarnain, i.e., the second of the two ages, occur? And what will the world witness in that second Qarn, or age? 

Our first response is that evidence of the emergence of the second of the two ages of Dhūl Qarnain must come from the region of the Black Sea with the emergence of a powerful State whose people worship the One God and who are powerful enough to punish oppressors and others who are wicked in conduct. The only people who reside in the region of the Black Sea, who follow a revealed scripture, and who possess power with which to punish the oppressors in such a way, are Orthodox Christians. The Qur’ān described them as Ahl al-Kitāb.  

It is not by accident that Allah Most High has specifically permitted Muslims (in the Qur’ān) to not only eat the food of Ahl al-Kitāb, but also to marry their women. This is Allah’s way of informing Muslims that He, Allah Most High, distinguishes between Ahl al-Kitāb and others with whom marriage is not permitted, and whose food may not be eaten.  

“This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the Ahl al-Kitāb (i.e., Christians and Jews) is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them.  (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the Ahl al-Kitāb, revealed before your time – when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).”  

(Qur’ān, al-Māidah, 5:5) 

[This permission to partake of the food of the Ahl al-Kitāb excludes,  of course,  forbidden categories of meat such as pork. If a Christian is today found eating pork, then instead of condemning him, the Muslim should gently, patiently and respectfully try to guide him to his own Christian faith and law while warning him that when Jesus returns, he will not eat pork!] 

Hence the second Dhūl Qarnain will have to be an Orthodox Christian State that is located in the region of the Black Sea with military power adequate to contain and neutralize Gog and Magog’s NATO. 

There are woefully misguided Muslims who claim that when the Ottoman Islamic Empire conquered Constantinople, that Empire became Rūm. They go on to argue that the present-day  secular Republic of Turkey which is comfortably sleeping in the same bed with Western Christianity in NATO, is a littoral State of the Black Sea and should be recognized as the second Qarn in Qarnain.  

Turkey cannot qualify for a number of reasons: 

Turkey is a member of NATO in direct disobedience of Allah’s command in the Qur’ān: Oh you who have faith (in Allah), do not take such Jews and such Christians as your friends and allies who, themselves, are friends and allies of each other! (Qur’ān, al-Māidah, 5:51).  Dhūl Qarnain does not defy Allah!  

Turkey, the NATO member-State, is also a friend and ally of the greatest oppressor, history has ever known i.e., the Judeo-Christian Zionist alliance which controls power in Britain, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Dhūl Qarnain has zero tolerance for oppression! 

Those who rule over Turkey at this time are also a people who identify with, and are proud of the Ottoman so-called Islamic Empire which oppressed the Orthodox Christians in that region of the world for 600 years, and who, in transferring the seat of the Khilāfah, i.e., Islamic Caliphate, from the Arab world to Constantinople, were complicit in the eventual destruction of the Islamic Khilāfah. Dhūl Qarnain does not act in such a treacherous way!  

The Turkish government and Armed Forces are complicit in a criminal adventure in their sinful participation in the overthrow of the Libyan Government, in consequence of which Libya is now a NATO puppet State, and in their sinful role in actively supporting a bogus ISIS as part of their strategy to recover the Ottoman Empire. This is the conduct of an oppressor! 

Our view is that Orthodox Christian Russia has miraculously survived the attack of the Jewish Bolshevik Revolution and the godless Marxist Communism and a ruthless atheist Soviet Union through which Russian Jews sought to destroy the religious foundations of Russian society. Russia is now returning to its Christian roots and it its spiritual heart, and every sensible and intelligent Muslim should welcome such a wonderful and momentous event in the historical process. Regretfully, not all Muslims are sensible and intelligent! 

Secondly, Russia has re-emerged from that long Soviet nightmare as a formidable military power which commands respect. Russia has also demonstrated that it is not prepared to submit to those who seek to rule the world through Pax Americana and through NATO. 

Hence Russia is manifesting a profile of resistance to the oppressor. There are those who are unaware of facts, and rush to condemn Russia for having brutally crushed the last Chechen so-called Jihād. Had they done some research they would have discovered the sinister role of the CIA in actively funding and supporting that Saudi Wahhabi Jihād through a supply of state-of-the-art weapons as well as financing and covert training of those Yankee Mujāhidīn. The Zionists sought to destabilize Russia in that last Chechen CIA-sponsored so called Jihād. Had it succeeded, Russia would not have been able to resist that Judeo-Christian Zionist world-order, and would have had to submit to it the way Greece has today submitted.  

Thirdly, it must have been by Divine plan that Russia was successful in not only thwarting the evil Zionist plan which would have robbed her of a warm water port in Crimea, but in also recovering Russian sovereignty of Crimea in what must be recognized as the greatest failure that world Zionism has ever experienced.  

Fourthly, had Russia not intervened militarily in Syria, that country would have already become another NATO-controlled Libya. Indeed, Syria’s Orthodox Christians would also have already been slaughtered by the evil ones who are waging a bogus Jihād in Syria on behalf of the Zionist pay-master. Had such a slaughter of Syrian Orthodox Christians taken place, it would have destroyed any possibility of a Muslim-Orthodox Christian End-time alliance to resist Zionist oppression.  

If we are correct in our analysis of all the data which has so far emerged, that they point to the emergence of the second of the two ages in Qarnain in the region of the Black Sea, and that the power that would emerge will contain Gog and Magog as they were contained the first time, then our conclusion is that only Orthodox Christian Russia qualifies for that historic role. The world can therefore be about to witness an unprecedented military drama in which Russia will check-mate NATO and then proceed, in collaboration with a Muslim army, to liberate Constantinople. And Allah Knows best! 

We must now apply our methodology to assess the validity of a well-known Hadīth with a prophecy concerning Muslim End-time relations with their Christian allies (in Rūm) in which we are told that the Muslim-Christian alliance will be victorious against an enemy. However, the Christians will eventually turn against Muslims and wage war on them because a Christian would claim the victory for the Cross which a Muslim would dispute, while claiming the victory for Allah. 

  

Source: Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein

to be continued .....