Payaam-e-Maghrib =
Payaam-e-Mashriq = Payaam-e-Qur'an?
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?)
For, if both the East and the West belong to Allah, how can there be one law for the East and another for the West, right? And if Allah's law and message for and from the East is "Fear Allah, follow the Prophets and love and serve Allah's creation!" how can that law and message be any different for and from the West?
What other explanation do you have for Rasul after Rasul of Allah (May Almighty Allah bless them all!) coming and telling their respective people - their respective "Qawms," as Allah calls them in the Qur'an - in their respective times and lands "Ittaqullaha wa Atee'ooni"?
Because that is what the Qur'an tells us they did - tell their Qawms: "Fear Allah and follow me!"
Please take, if you will, some time and study the 26th Surah of the Qur'an - Ash-shu'araa' - to get a good sense of the overall message and method of the prophets of God, Allah bless them, in the service of humanity in different times and places.
And if all that is embodied in the Qur'an, how can this overall law and message - whether from the East or the West, from Mashriq or from Maghrib - be anything other than Payaam-e-Qur'an or the Message of the Qur'an?
And what utility or validity does any message or law have that is not from the Qur'an or that is opposed to the Qur'an? For, the Qur'an is from the Master of the Universe for the use and benefit of all of his slaves throughout his plantation earth and throughout the universe, whereas all other laws and messages are from and for the benefit and advantage of different segments of the human population, often at the expense and to the detriment of others.
This is an important clue for people to keep in mind when they are trying to decide what is from God Almighty and what is not.
From Above or From Below:
Wahy vs. Science
Human life on earth is largely an artifact of knowledge - or its converse, ignorance. That means you do things in this world for two reasons: (a) for what you know; and (b) for what you don't know. As a result, every single conscious and deliberate human act is a function of the complex interaction of your knowledge and your ignorance.
"Iqra'!" "Read!" - Allah's first command to humanity - more than illustrates the absolute importance of knowledge in human affairs and provides a powerful clue on how to go about obtaining it. The Qur'an also shows how knowledge (Ilm) was going to be the basic requirement - the deciding factor - for human beings to qualify as Allah's representatives - Khaleefahs - on earth. The Qur'an is so clear on some of these issues that it does not require a lengthy explanation.
When the angels expressed reservations about Adam, Alaihis Salaam, Allah did not ask Adam, Alaihis Salaam, to demonstrate what a great Sajdah he could make. Allah simply taught Adam, Alaihis Salaam, everything that there was to know, and challenged the angels to show they could match his level of knowledge.
But where would this knowledge come from? We are not talking about esoteric, mysterious mumbo-jumbo made up by some people considered to be "holy" that most people cannot figure out, but real knowledge that can be easily learned and taught by all, and that really helps human beings to live a better life on earth. Such knowledge can only come from above or from below.
From above, it comes from God Almighty in the form of direct divine revelation to the prophets (Allah bless them) called Wahy. From below, it comes from whatever we can figure out by ourselves right here on earth using the tools and skills of observation and analysis Allah has placed in us. It comes from science!
For, science often is knowledge with a component of error attached to it. Wahy is knowledge with the component of error removed from it - Laa Raiba Feeh, as the Qur'an puts it. That means science done right - to a point where all error is siphoned off - is Islam in its pure and original form. And Islam properly understood is science at its best and without any elements of human folly associated with it.
What a perfect meshing and matching of the divine with the human; of what is directly from heaven with what is best on earth; of what God himself chose to teach directly in his books and through his prophets with what he allowed human beings to figure out for themselves using the instruments and abilities he gave them!
But the key to the acquiring of knowledge, whether it is from above or from below, is education. Hence the importance of education in Islam and hence the command Iqra': Read! in the Qur'an to everyone - at a time when the world had made reading forbidden for everyone except a privileged handful.
And hence the declaration by Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam: "I am only a teacher!"
And, of course, Allah does what he does in his own special way.
From Ummiy to Ummiy:
A Model for World Education
Allah first picks a spot on earth where reading and writing were rare. Then he picks a man who himself could not read or write. Allah then charges that man in that place to go teach the entire world.
And that man, Allah bless him, terrified at first at the enormity of the charge that had been so suddenly placed upon him, nevertheless, ends up teaching the world all that it needed to know to live a most wonderful life right here on earth as well as after death in the next world.
Yu'allihumul kitaaba wal hikmah is how the Qur'an puts it.
