I
Iman Wa
Ta‘zeem
(Belief
in the Divine origin of the Qur'an
and an attitude of reverence towards it)
The Qur’anic term for belief in a spiritual
reality is Iman
(faith) which has two phases: Iqrar bil-lisan (verbal profession) and
tasdiq bil-qalb (heart-felt conviction). A verbal profession
of a
belief in the spiritual realities upheld by Islam
is the condition of a person’s admittance into the fold of this
religion,
but true faith will emerge only
when that belief deepens into a strong inward
conviction.
Now what is meant by having
faith in the Qur’an? It means that one should, in the first instance, verbally profess that
the
Qur’an is the Word of Allah (SWT) that was revealed by Him through His chosen angel Jibra’eel (AS), to the last of His messengers, Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Having
made this profession, a person will be accepted
as a
member of the Muslim community, although he may not have yet attained true faith. It is only
when he comes to cherish this belief with a deep, inward conviction that the light of true faith will illumine his heart.
Then
he will find his heart to be full of reverence
for the
Holy
Book. As his faith becomes stronger and stronger, his mind will come more and more under the spell of the Qur’an, and his
feeling
of reverence for it will become deeper and deeper.
Thus faith and reverence go together. We learn from the study of the Qur’an that the first individual to believe in this Revealed Book
was none other than
the Prophet
(SAW)
himself
who was
followed by his Companions (RAA).
The Messenger believed in what was revealed to him from
his Lord, as well as the believers…. (Al-Baqarah 2:285)
Their belief was a
deep inward
conviction that
the
Qur'an was kalam Allah (the Word
of God). This conviction developed in them a reverential attitude towards the Qur'an and created in their hearts an unbounded love and devotion
for it.
It was for this reason that the Holy Prophet (SAW) used to wait anxiously for
the Revelation
to come, that
he would get impatient if it was temporarily suspended, and when it was
resumed he would try to memorize it with utmost avidity and eagerness,
so much so that
Allah (SWT), out of
love and affection for his Messenger (SAW), forbade him to be impatient in
this regard with the following instructions:
…do not be in haste for the Qur’an…. (Taha 20:114)
And do not move your tongue quickly (in trying to memorize
the
Revelation) to make haste therewith. (Al-Qiyamah 75:16)
Once at an early
stage, the continuity in the process of
Qur’anic revelation was
interrupted
for an unusually long period.
It
is reported that this interruption
caused the Holy
Prophet (SAW) so
much anguish and distress that he would often think of throwing himself down from
a mountain. So deep
was
his devotion for the Qur’an that he would
spend the greater
part of the night in
prayer
and
recitation. He
would
stand reciting
the Qur'an for
long
hours until
his feet would get swollen. His Companions (RAA) were also equally enamored of
the
Holy Book and would recite it for long
hours at night. Many of them had made it a point to
go through
the
whole Qur’an
once a week. The Holy Prophet (SAW), though himself the recipient of the Qur’anic Revelation, often asked his Companions (RAA)
to
recite the Qur’an to him and would be moved to tears by
the intensity of feelings roused
in his heart.
Obviously, the reason why the Companions of the Holy
Prophet (SAW) came to
entertain such
a
deep love
and reverence for the
Qur’an
in their hearts,
and regarded it with
so much
reverence, was
that
their belief
in the
Qur’an being a Revelation from the Almighty had reached the highest stage of
conviction — a stage at which a reality
is accepted as an Absolute Truth. Now let us examine the condition
of our faith in the Qur’an. We do profess that the
Qur’an
is
a Divine revelation and,
indeed, we should be thankful to the Almighty that He has included us among those who hold this belief about
His Book,
but most of us are not inwardly convinced of its being
the
Word of Allah (SWT), a Revelation from the Creator of the heavens
and the earth. This is the real cause of our estrangement from, and indifference to the Qur’an. Even a casual introspection
and self-examination will prove that our hearts are devoid of the
true belief in the Qur’an and, instead of harboring true faith, they have become the dwellings of doubts and misgivings. My fellow Muslims might resent this plain speaking on my
part; nevertheless, it is a fact that we Muslims woefully lack a staunch
faith in the Divine origin of the Qur’an. The
state
of doubt and uncertainty in which we find ourselves today has
been described in the Qur’an in
the
following words:
…truly, those who have inherited the Book after them are in suspicious (disquieting) doubt concerning it. (Al-Shura 42:14)
This lack of faith is the reason why we neither find any reverence for the Qur’an in our hearts, nor
feel inclined to
study it, nor evince any interest in pondering over its meaning, nor
ever
think of seeking its guidance in conducting our lives. As
long as we do not make up this dreadful deficiency,
no useful purpose will be served
by any amount of religious instruction.
The first and foremost duty of every Muslim, therefore, is to check his belief in the Qur’an to see whether his belief in the Qur’an being a sacred and heavenly
book is a mere dogma which has nothing to do with his practical life, or whether he is really convinced of its being
a Word of Allah
(SWT) which has been vouchsafed to mankind to seek guidance from it and make it a practical code of life. If we hold this conviction, we may have reason to be satisfied and be thankful to Allah (SWT), but if not — which unfortunately is the case with a vast majority — we
should
first of all
make
up
this
deficiency in our faith,
because the fulfillment of our other
obligations to
the Qur’an is
dependent upon this very conviction.
It may be asked as to how can this deficiency be made
up. Obviously, the easiest and the most effective way to acquire
and augment faith is to move in the society
of godly persons
whose hearts are illumined by the light of
true faith. The Companions of the Holy
Prophet (SAW) owed their unique
faith
to the inspiring influence of their Master (SAW), who himself was an embodiment of faith and certitude.
After the death of the
Holy Prophet (SAW), one can never dream of attaining the same degree of faith as the
Companions (RAA)
had attained
on account of his physical presence among
them, still the method of improving
and perfecting faith in the company
of the pious will be followed with immense advantage even today; so, we need to
turn to the pious among us for continually refreshing our faith. So
far as the pious are concerned, they, in their turn, will find the greatest source of the light of faith in the Holy Qur’an itself.
They
will also make a careful study of the biographies of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and his Companions (RAA) so that they may be able to enjoy an intellectual and spiritual companionship of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) and his Companions (RAA).
As regards the faith in the Qur’an and its growth, we have to depend upon one source only and that is the Holy Qur’an
itself.
As we shall later on discuss this point in some detail, Iman (or faith), in reality, is not something
that
can be planted in us from outside. It is an embodiment of fundamental truths that continually flash through our inner being
and are caught and
reflected by
our heart. We can say that the human
heart is a wonderful mirror that automatically catches and reflects the light of those universal truths that constitute Iman. What happens is that sometimes the surface of this mirror gets blurred under
the effect of wrong environment and education and fails to catch and reflect the inner light of Iman. To polish this mirror so that
it may clearly reflect man’s inner
light, Allah (SWT),
out of His benevolence to mankind, has revealed His Word, urging us to discern the light inside ourselves and reminding us of the truths
which
are
the intuitive apprehensions of our primordial nature.
An insight and reminder
(of
the truths ingrained in human
nature) for every servant who turns to Allah in repentance.
(Qaf
50:8)
If the Holy Book
is studied and its meanings
are pondered over in a genuine quest for truth, all the veils of darkness are
lifted, one after another,
and our inner self is illumined by the light of faith.
After the heart’s mirror has once
been rendered capable of clearly reflecting
the
light of faith, we shall still have to revert to the Qur’an whenever we find
that
its shining surface is becoming dull and hazy under
the effect of worldly
temptations. The following tradition, narrated on the
authority of Abdullah Ibn Umar (RAA) refers to the polishing effect of the Qur’an on the mirror of the heart:
The
Holy
Prophet (SAW) once remarked: “Surely, these hearts
get
rusted as iron gets rusted in water.” He was asked how the
heart’s rust could be rubbed off. He replied: “By frequent
remembrance of death and the recitation of the Qur’an.”
(Narrated by Bayhaqi)
The crux of the matter is that if our belief in the Divine origin of the Qur’an remains a mere dogma, it will not bring about
any change in our present conditions and in our
attitude of cold indifference towards the Qur’an. If we wish to do justice to
the
Qur’an and fulfill the demands it makes from
us,
we should first of all have the
deep inner conviction
that
the Qur’an is, indeed, the last and final Message of Allah (SWT) delivered to
the
last of His messengers for the
guidance
of mankind.
As
soon as we come
to have this conviction,
our attitude towards
the Qur’an will undergo a radical change. As soon as we realize that
it is a Revelation from our
Lord, our Creator, that Most Exalted Being Whose slightest apprehension transcends the bounds
of our imagination,2 our thinking will be completely revolutionized.
We shall then feel that the Qur’an is the greatest blessing
for
us under the sun. Its recitation will sustain and nourish our souls,
and contemplation over its meanings will chasten our
hearts and enlighten our minds. From that point onwards, we shall never
feel
satiated with its study; and even after dedicating
the best powers of our mind and intellect to its service,
and having devoted our whole life to meditation
over
its meanings,
we
shall feel that we
have not been able to do justice to
the Glorious
Qur’an,
the
greatest of the heavenly books.
Note-2: According to Abu Bakr Siddique (RAA), “the clearest apprehension of Allah
(SWT) possible to man lies in admitting one’s total inability to apprehend Him.” Sayyidena Ali (RAA) is said to have made the
following addition to these words, as if to complete the couplet: “and
to make an inquisitive probe into His being can lead to polytheism.”
