Discover the Qur'an - A Reality Check
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
Come let us discover the Qur'an together. In our next Qur'an program!
And here is why.
This much we know: We exist.
We also know something else: So does the world in which we live - it also exists.
In addition, we also know this: We function. And so does the world.
This is reality - no matter how we understand it. No matter what we take it to mean.
Thus, the reality is that we exist and the world exists. We function and the world functions. Our reality is embedded in the reality of the world in which we live.
Here is something important we should know about reality: Reality is of two kinds - whether it is the reality about us or the reality about the world in general.
That means:
- There are some things, some aspects or parts of reality, we can see - and touch, and hear, and smell, and taste. They are open and available to our senses.
- And there are some things, some aspects or parts of reality, we cannot - we cannot see, touch, hear, smell or taste them.
The first is visible reality - the reality that is open to our senses. And the second is invisible reality - the reality that lies beyond the reach and purview of our senses.
The Qur'an calls the first Sha-haadah - 'Aalam Ash-Shahadah. And the second it calls Ghaib - 'Allam Al-Ghaib.
For most of us, Sha-haadah is not difficult to figure out. But Ghaib can be quite tricky. Because in most cases no one - no one - can really figure out where it reaches or ends.
We all understand that we cannot see behind closed doors or at very long distances. Those with impaired vision cannot see even close.
Astronomers understand that there are galaxies - billions upon billions of them - out there in the universe that we cannot see.
Therefore, most smart people would never deny that there are things in existence that are beyond the immediate reach of our senses. Most of what we can legitimately claim is that we do not know them.
Most smart people will also readily concede that God exists. He is the ultimate Ghaib - the invisible and the unseen.
Qur'an calls him Allah, but says no matter by what name you refer to him, it is to him that all beautiful names belong.
Therefore, for most people the problem is not whether or not God exists. It is what kind of God he is and what do we know about him.
But that is not the real problem. The real problem is how do we know what we say or think we know about God?
Most people would say: "Oh that is what I think!" Some people would say "Oh that is how I feel."
That is great. But what difference does it make to reality or to God, the ultimate reality, what you think or feel? This is a serious, life-and-death, human predicament.
The Qur'an comes to our rescue. It offers a practical solution.
The Qur'an says think logically. And think incrementally. Approach this problem like you would approach most problems in life.
First of all, decide if the universe had a creator what would he be like? He would be most powerful and most capable, would he not? Well, you have taken the first step to knowing God - and to meeting him.
That is right, to meeting him. For, that is where you are headed - to meet with your maker and master. Did you know you have an appointment with him - and the hour is approaching fast?
He, you would say next, is the creator of everything and all of us. So, he is the true owner and master of everything, right? Right! If that is the case, then we must all listen to him and obey him. We must all do the bidding of the owner.
It is that simple! But how?
Next question is how do we know what he wants? This is tough. Qur'an says God sends messengers into this world to teach human beings what they do not know and cannot see.
God's messengers and prophets are the finest people in the world. Honest, good, sincere, capable people. And they taught good things. And they were given the power to perform miracles.
Moses and Jesus were such people. May Allah bless them!
Then came Muhammad, may Allah bless him. He was God's last messenger to humanity - to all people, for all times to come. No one was better, nobler, kinder or more capable than him.
His teachings had a great impact on the world. He made the world a better place for all people. And like so many other prophets before him, he performed miracles.
His biggest miracle was the Qur'an. It is a miracle that lives. It is a miracle that is with us to this day - in the form and shape in which he left it 1400 years ago, which is a miracle in itself.
Qur'an is a book. It has 114 chapters called Surahs. And over 6000 passages - sentences and phrases called Aayats.
The word Aayat means a sign or a miracle. Thus, not only is the whole Qur'an a miracle, so is every individual passage or Aayat of the Qur'an. That is why, following the Bible, it is not quite right to refer to parts of the Qur'an as "verses."
The sentences and phrases of the Qur'an must always be referred to as Aayats - divine signs that point to the fact that this Qur'an is a divine book in human hands.
Muhammad, may Allah bless him, claimed the archangel Gabriel brought it to him. The Qur'an itself - not its followers but the Qur'an itself - claims repeatedly that it is a book directly from God. To the best of my knowledge, no other book makes such a claim.
Here are some facts about the Qur'an. Thereafter, it is up to each individual to decide what he or she wants to think about the Qur'an.
First of all, the Qur'an is in the most perfect Arabic language. And that language - the Arabic of the Qur'an - is the standard of excellence to this day, even after the passage of 1400 years.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no other book like that in the world. And there is no other language like that.
The Qur'an contains the finest teachings about human life. It also contains some of the most important truths and facts known to us, including scientific statements like Allah created every living thing from water and the heaven and earth were fused together and Allah broke them apart.
And then the Qur'an contains an extensive review of the Bible.
How could an uneducated man like Muhammad, may Allah bless him, have written a book like that? It is impossible. Only God Almighty, the maker and master of the world, could have sent those revelations - and he did.
And then the very fact that the Qur'an is perhaps the only book of ancient faith - or of life in general - to survive all these centuries physically intact - in its own original form and language, exactly as Muhammad, may Allah bless him, left it - speaks volumes in support of its claim that it is a divinely revealed book. And that it is a book specially preserved and protected by God.
The Qur'an today presides over a living faith, and an entire culture and way of life, lived and practiced by more than a billion people around the world - including millions in Europe, the United States, Canada and South America.
To this day the Qur'an is memorized by millions of people from cover to cover to cover - all 6000-plus Aayats of it. That alone is one of the greatest living miracles of all time.
There probably is no other book quite like that in the world - a book that is memorized by millions upon millions of people verbatim from cover to cover. As to why this fact - if true - does not figure in the Guinness book of world records is a matter the Muslims must look into.
Over the past 1400 years, the world has changed in line with the teachings of the Qur'an. That is perhaps one of the biggest living and ongoing miracles of the Qur'an - and of any time period since the advent of the Qur'an into this world.
It is this Qur'an - this most amazing and miraculous book of our time and of all times - that we try to learn to read, study and understand in our Qur'an programs. And we try to do so as simply and as directly as we can, without too many interpolations, discourses and commentaries by intermediaries.
In our Qur'an programs, it is just you and the Qur'an - the book that God sent to you, through his last messenger Muhammad, may Allah bless him, so that you can use its teachings to put your own personal life in order. And then help those you love - and all others - to do the same.
No, you do not need to be a scholar to understand the Qur'an.
No, you do not need to know Arabic to know what the Qur'an is saying.
No, you do not need to be a Muslim to explore the Qur'an and see if it is really the kind of divine guidance, light and power to which you want to entrust your life - both in this world and in the next world.
All you need to have is a healthy sense of curiosity, and an appropriate attitude of respect, about God and his word. Not to say some sort of a serious concern about the nature and outcome of your life, both here in this world as well as in the next world. For, those are the issues and concerns that the Qur'an came into this world to address.
So, that is what our Qur'an programs are all about. They are an attempt to help us all connect more directly, closely and personally with the Qur'an - with God's own word on earth.
Come, then, and let us study the Qur'an together - in our forthcoming Qur'an Program.
May God Almighty - the one to whom all beautiful names belong, no matter by what name you call him - hear the cry of your soul!
And may he - blessed be his glorious name - open your heart and mind to the light, power, blessing and guidance that the pages of the Qur'an contain.
And thereafter may you become the source of guidance, help, blessings, kindness, mercy and compassion to those you love - and to those around you.
Come, let us together discover this living miracle that beautiful God has placed in our feeble hands - this amazing cure to all that ails our hearts and jars our lives.
This most amazing and miraculous Al-Qur'an!
See you in the next Qur'an Program.
END
© 2005 Syed Husain Pasha
Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.
