Divine Methodology for Monthly Recitation of the Qur'an
CHAPTER ONE
The Word ‘Qur’an’ means a ‘Recitation’
The Torah is the ‘name’ of the revealed scripture that was sent down to Moses, i.e., Nabi Musa pbuh; similarly the Zabur is the name given to the revealed scripture that was sent down to David, i.e., Nabi Daud pbuh, and the name Injil, or Gospel, was given to the revealed scripture sent down to Jesus, i.e., Nabi ‘Isa pbuh. These revealed scriptures all have ‘names’, but the very last revealed scripture which was sent down to Nabi Muhammad pbuh, was simply named as Qur’an—which means a ‘recitation’.
In addition, the first word to be revealed in the Qur’an was the Divine command: iqra “Recite”.
Since the Qur’an was sent to people who ‘think’, all of mankind have a duty to ‘think’ in order to understand this unusual choice of a name. Why was this scripture simply called ‘a recitation’? Why was the command: ‘recite’, the first word revealed in it?
Our answer to the above question is that there is a Divine wisdom at work in the choice of the name which establishes an imperative that this unique last Divine scripture to mankind is meant, first of all, to be recited.
Our further view is that since we have a primary duty to recite the Qur’an, the implication is that we cannot truly study the Qur’an unless we are continuously reciting it. Recitation comes first! Study comes after!
There are certain preliminaries for reciting the Qur’an which are well-known and need not be mentioned except briefly. For example, we must seek protection with Allah Most High from Satan the accursed before reciting the Qur’an (al-Nahl, 16:98); the Qur’an must be recited with Tartil, i.e., melodiously (al-Muzammil, 73:4); we must listen attentively when others are reciting the Qur’an (al-‘Araf, 7:204). But, more importantly, we must always remain conscious of the fact that Allah Most High has sent down in the Qur’an that which can heal, and which can thus both protect our health, as well as restore our health when we fall prey to the great dangers to physical, moral and spiritual health that will pervade the world in the End-time. Allah Most High has declared that “none, save the clean and pure, can even touch the Qur’an” (indicating that knowledge in the Qur’an cannot be penetrated except by a heart that is faithful to Truth); thus the Shifa or healing, which the continuous recitation of the Qur’an delivers to the heart, restores to the heart that state of purity which makes it possible for the Qur’an to be studied.
The Orientalist scholars of western universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Temple, Yale, Harvard, Colombia, the Sorbonne, etc., who are adorned with PhDs in Islamic Studies, and who are guides and directors of doctoral dissertations on Islam, but who would scornfully reject a command to recite the Qur’an with faith and with purity in the heart, are now exposed as scholars whose scholarship in the Qur’an is so shallow that they cannot even touch the knowledge located in the Qur’an. This is the implication of Allah’s declaration that only those whose hearts are clean and pure (with faith) can truly study the Qur'an:
Qur’an, al-Waqi’ah, 56:79
None can even touch (the knowledge in) this Qur’an save those whose hearts are pure and clean.
In order for someone to qualify to study the Qur'an, his heart must not only have faith in the Qur’an as the Word of the One God, but it must also be faithful to ‘Truth’. This writer hastens to declare, as emphatically as he can, that Truth has zero tolerance for ‘oppression’. Those who cannot recognize, or who find it inconvenient to recognize, that USA has been oppressing the Venezuelan government and people ever since Hugo Chavez broke the chains of US enslavement of the poor Venezuelan masses, are a deaf dumb and blind people with a status akin to ‘sheep’ and ‘cattle’! Those, on the other hand, who support the ‘oppressor’ are themselves oppressors! Such people have hearts that are devoid of faith, and hence devoid of Truth!
This book is written to remind our readers that the very first thing required for someone to be faithful to the Qur’an, is to constantly recite it. There is an unbreakable bond between continuous ‘recitation’ and ‘study’ of the Qur’an. This is the clear implication of the following verses in which ‘explanation’ of the Qur’an follows ‘recitation’:
Qur’an, al-Qiyamah, 75:17-19
Behold, it is for Us to gather it and to cause it to be recited [as it ought to be recited]. Thus, when We recite it, you must follow that way of recitation; and then, behold, it will be for Us to explain it.
We now ask the question: if this book is to be recited, —is there a special way for it to be recited, or are we free to recite it howsoever we choose?
to be continued . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment