This Ramadan, What Is Your Answer? [Quote - 690]

If Ramadan, as the Qur'an says, is the month in which the Qur'an was sent down, and it is, a question each and every one of us must ask is this:

This Ramadan, 1437-2016, how many homes and hearts are we ready, willing, able and prepared to take the Qur'an to?

While the Qur'an is not something anyone should dare to play games with, the question is still relevant and meaningful:

What is our game plan for the Qur'an for this month of Ramadan?

And that means giving straight and honest answers to some of the following questions:

This blessed month of Ramadan:

  1. How much Qur'an will we read?
  2. How much Qur'an will we try to understand?
  3. How much Qur'an will we try to teach?
  4. How many people -- men, women and children -- will we invite to the Qur'an?

So, ladies and gentlemen of Islam, what is your answer?

END

Placing a Translation-Only Copy of the Qur'an in the Hands of Every Non-Muslim Everywhere:
What Excuse Do Muslims Have for Not Doing It? [Quote - 586]

Qur'an is of course in Arabic. And now there are also translations in many languages. Thank God for that: Alhamdulillah!

But what I have trouble figuring out is this: What is the excuse Muslims have for not placing a Translation-Only Copy of the Qur'an in the hands of every non-Muslim everywhere? And by that I mean, for example, Tamil in South India; Mandarin in China; Russian in, where else, Russia; Spanish everywhere; and, of course, English in every part of the world?

Muslims do so many things, and Muslims spend $billions on so many projects. So what is the excuse Muslims have for not doing this: for placing a Translation-Only Copy of the Qur'an in the hands of every non-Muslim in every part, region and country of the world?

Or maybe Muslims do all these things -- on the quiet maybe -- and I just don't know about it!

Or maybe the Muslims do it in a nice, relaxed, leisurely sort of way and I am just being a bit impatient -- rushing it as it were.

END

Make Islam Number One in Your Life [Quote - 452]

To those who say or think they are Working for Allah, here is a simple advice, especially in this blessed month of Ramadan: Make Islam – and the Qur'an and your Working for Allah – the most important priority in your life. 

And build all other aspects of your life around this central concern.

If you do that, Allah’s mercy will envelop you from every side and Allah will grant you success in this world as well in the next world.

On the other hand, if you treat Islam – and the Qur'an and working for Allah – as a peripheral or secondary issue, Allah will also push you aside to the margins – of Time and Space and Life.

To the ends of Al-'Aalameen, as the Qur’an calls it.

That way, you will end up being an “Also Ran” in the race for life and success. This will be the exact opposite of why you pushed Islam – and the Qur’an and Working for Allah – to a secondary role in your life.

END

Dr. Pasha Calls for Grand Global Khatm-a-Day for Ramadan 1434

Dr. Pasha has issued a call to Muslims around the world – in every single Mohalla and every single Community, in every part of the world – to get organized from now on to be able to do a Grand Global Khatm-a-Day for next Ramadan, 1434, Inshallah, on a world-wide basis.

And here, he says, is how Muslim communities everywhere, in all parts of the world, should be able to do it: [...]

Some Reasons Why Non-Muslims Must Read the Qur’an [Quote - 441]

The word Qur’an in Arabic means “Reading.” Or, maybe, even something to be read.

Qur’an is the name given to the book that claims that it is from God Almighty. It is the name that this book Qur’an gives to itself, which it has done starting out 1400 years ago on this earth.

Before that, the Qur’an was, and remains forever, the immortal and immutable word and speech of God from eternity to eternity.

And the Qur’an does so, calls itself Qur’an I mean, on at least 50 separate occasions – actually 67 times by my quick count – which to me is a most extraordinary thing.

If you wish to call this fact a miracle, live in your hands, you will be absolutely right in doing that.

You should not hesitate to call this aspect of the Qur’an a miracle, all by itself. For, I am not aware of any other book of this kind in existence that sets about giving itself a specific name of its own choosing.

I mean any name.

And now consider this specific name Al Qur’an – “The Reading.” What exactly does that mean?

And, beyond that, what possible relevance or relationship could there be between a barren desert like Arabia; at a time like the beginning of the Seventh Century; and a book that proceeds to anoint itself, in a very self-conscious and deliberate manner, and a very persistent one at that, “The Reading” or the Qur’an?

And, furthermore, that book happens to come out of the mouth of an illiterate man, born and raised among an illiterate people?

That means this confluence of events is as unlikely as anything that can ever happen in this world: an illiterate man; among an illiterate people; in an illiterate place; during generally illiterate times; and in the midst of an illiterate culture!

Mix all of these improbable happenings together and out comes a book that calls itself The Qur’an or “The Reading”?

What are the chances of that happening in a normal world? What are the odds?

What is the likelihood or probability, as anyone would say?

Anyone looking at this phenomenon dispassionately would shake their head and say: Anything but that.

That is, anything but “Qur’an”!

That means it simply does not make sense that a book of this kind should ever be called “Qur’an.”

And that it should be called that so many times, over and over, right in the body of text itself.

And that it should be the book itself – and not any of its admirers or scribes or publishers or followers or preachers – that should be giving that book this extraordinary name.

But, as I said before, the Qur’an does so over and over and over. It calls itself Qur’an no less than 67 times or so.

So, is this reason enough for a non-Muslim to pick up a copy of the Qur’an and read it?

In my view it is.

Unless, of course, that non-Muslim can vouch for the fact that, in his or her knowledge, this fact is a common phenomenon.

That is, that non-Muslim happens to know for a fact any number of similar books that actually refer to themselves with an improbable title of this kind. And then go on to reinforce that fact over and over dozens of times in the body and course of their own texts.

Then maybe that non-Muslim can claim this thing to be a common occurrence and dismiss the Qur’an as nothing but commonplace. But such is not likely to be the case.

As the Qur’an vouches in its own words: Fa-in lam taf’aloo, wa lan taf’aloo.

Paraphrase:

“And you shall never be able to do it.”

END

(Dr. Pasha)

A Pyramid of Priorities in Life [Quote - 427]

The way I see it, as people, we tend to build a strong and solid slab of worldly life for ourselves and our families on which we rest the foundations of our present and future life on earth.

1. The Bottom Slab.

This bottom or primary slab of earthly life generally consists of a good education, career, business, marriage, children and family life and social contacts.

We forget that the essentials and wherewithal of life on earth are guaranteed for all by Allah, before we are even born.

Allah said so most clearly and definitively in the Qur'an:

Wa lakum fil ardwi mustaqwarrun wa mataa-un ilaa heen.

But we go through our entire life on earth as if we never really heard Allah say that to us.

As if we never knew the Qur'an contained that passage. And as if we never read it in the Qur’an.

And as if we did not really believe or trust Allah’s word.

As a result, we spend all our time, talent, energy and resources building and consolidating that primary bottom slab of earthly life beneath us and our families and friends.

2. The Middle Slab.

Then the more blessed ones among us, or those whom Allah intends to test, are shown the path to the Qur’an.

And those, out of this selected group, those who are truly blessed, are then enabled to receive and handle and read the Qur’an and benefit from the Qur’an the way they should.

Says the Qur’an:

Yatloonahu haqqwa tilaawatihi.

Paraphrase:

These are the ones who have been given the book and they give the reading and recitation of that book its due.

They are Ahlul Qur’an – the People of the Qur’an.

Or, if you will, they are part of the rubric of the true People of the Book.

Now, these blessed people try and do everything in their power to rise to the demands of that privilege that has been conferred upon them by being led to the Qur’an.

The Qur’an becomes their sole occupation in life. The Qur’an becomes the most overpowering passion of their existence on earth.

In fact, these blessed and privileged people harness every bit of time, talent, energy and resources they have been blessed with by God in the service of the Qur’an.

They now devote their lives to meeting the demands of their lofty and crushing position in life of being the Ahlul Qur’an.

For, they now carry on their fragile human shoulders the same Qur’an that would have reduced a mountain to a mound of dust if God had chosen to place that mighty Qur’an upon it.

They now constantly live in the exhilaration as well as excruciation of having been taken to a place where they read and recite the Qur’an the way it should be read and recited – with all the implications and requirements of being able to do so on earth as mortal human beings.

3. The Summit Slab

And then above all else rests that solitary rock of the back-breaking responsibility of having to take the Qur’an to every one of God’s creatures everywhere.

And these blessed people – the people of the second slab, the people I referred to earlier as Ahlul Qur’an – then devote their entire lives, every scintilla of their time, energy, wealth and all other resources, to taking the Qur’an to every home and heart in every nook and cranny of the world that needs it.

And which one does not?

And in trying to build a life on earth for all of God’s creation based on the models and principles provided by God in the Qur’an.

That goal and that responsibility thereafter dominate and drive their lives on earth till they depart this world to meet their lord in Jannat.

There, they will be greeted by angels with the exhilarating message of Salaamun Alaikum Tibtum.

And the Qur’an will be waiting to receive them and escort them personally to the presence of God.

END

Why Can't Muslims, Plain and Simple, Just Teach the World the Qur'an? [Quote - 397]

Just now, I finished looking at the report of a "Seminar" some Muslims did somewhere. It was a "Seminar" on the Qur'an -- with 250 people attending.

My thoughts were: Why can't Muslims leave their fancy seminars and such on the Qur'an alone for say the next 100 years?

And just concentrate, instead, on teaching everyone everywhere to read and understand the Qur'an.

How wonderful it will be if Muslims did just that one simple thing for the rest of their life!

And how beneficial it will be for them and for the rest of the world. 

(Dr. Firdaus)

Qualifications for Doing Tafsir of Qur’an [Quote - 393]

Muslim or not, everyone is required to read and understand the Qur’an. But who should or should not explain the Qur’an to other people – do a Tafsir of the Qur’an, as it were – that is not open to everyone.

The only people who should embark on that most arduous and potentially treacherous journey are those who possess at least the following qualifications:

  1. Unimpeachable sincerity of purpose – Iman and Ikhlas.
  2. Deep and strong fear of Allah – Taqwa.
  3. Strong command of Arabic language.
  4. Strong grasp of Hadith literature.
  5. Sound knowledge of Tafsir literature.

The first two qualifications – Iman/Ikhlas and Taqwa – are open to anyone.

The last three – Arabic Language; Tafsir Literature; and Hadith Literature – are almost an exclusive prerogative of those who have been blessed with that kind of training, background and expertise.

All others simply must quote their sources as they do their talking and explaining – such as this or that book of Tafsir or Hadith or their own teachers and Shaikhs – whenever they undertake to offer Tafsir of any part of the Qur’an.

My own view is that no one should be told not to think their own thoughts; or to ask their own questions; or to express their own views, with regard anything in the Qur’an – an Aayat or something – even though the Salaf (our early leaders in the field such as Sahabah and later experts and great scholars of yore) had serious reservations on that score.

So, all would-be Tafsir-Doers in any part of the world, not the least in an enterprising place like the Caribbean, should think long and hard about what they do, and tread only gingerly and very, very thoughtfully on the path of doing Tafsir of the Qur’an.

(Dr. Pasha)

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