As intellectual beings we aim to progress towards wisdom. Being wise does not end with acquiring knowledge and experience. We have a responsibility to ensure that the information we have gained is accurate or at least we are convinced it is so. Facts, if accurate, would be represented with the precise and appropriate terms. Often we use terms to describe things around us, but we never explore the accuracy of this term. This is an attempt to rectify, what I believe, one of such misrepresented term. Al-Quran (The Quran) is the revelation from Allah to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It means 'The Recitation' and is believed by Muslims to be the divine guidance and direction for mankind. Islamic history has it that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gibraele (Gabriel) over a period of 23 years. As to my knowledge, Gibraele 'transferred' the the Quran to Muhammad in verses over this period. In any case, the verses were revealed and spread in oral form. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not receive a Holy Book from Allah, through angel Gibraele. Therefore it is only correct to say that the Quran is a recitation received by the Prophet Muhammad, the last Messenger of Allah. The term 'Holy Book' came into usage because of education. It is one of chosen label to describe the Quran to the world of different religions, cultures and languages. I appreciate the efforts to spread the knowledge of Islam around and I am in no way discouraging it, but my proposition is to educate them using the right terms. The Quranic verses recited by the Prophet (peace be upon him) were scribed by his followers during his lifetime. Let me highlight that at the time of Prophet Muhammad's death, the Quran was not in book form. It was only after sometime that these recorded recitations were compiled into one volume of book. Thus, I would like to reiterate my point; what Prophet received from Allah was NOT A HOLY BOOK. The compilation led the world to believe that the Quran is a Holy Book. 'Holy' means sacred. The book, my friends, is not sacred. The Quran (the recitations), the word from Allah, is divine. The Quran is not to be worshipped but respected and followed. So, it does not sound right to call it 'The Holy Book' of Islam. Like I have explained, it is not. We have Quran in electronic versions now; CD-ROMS and websites. Do we then call these 'The Holy CD' or 'The Holy Website'? You may think that 'book' is not the intended meaning. By saying 'book' we mean scriptures or something. Any meaning of book (manuscript, scripture etc) will also not justify the terming because the Quran is none of this. I believe my above paragraph have proven this point and reiterated them enough. I can hear you say, 'It's just a term so that people understand what this source of information is'. That is basically my argument my friends. If you want to make people understand Quran, do so in the 'rightful' manner. Tell them that the Quran is recitations from Allah (God) to the mankind. If they do not understand, define 'recitation' for them. The Quran is NOT the 'Holy Book' of Islam. I believe this is the true information and you have a responsibility to verify what I have said and correct yourself.
It is NOT the ‘Holy Book’
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5 comments:
Assalam alaikum ,
At times in life we think alot , all around us , sometimes very important issues that better ourselves and sometimes just about things out of the randomn and other times a little more than we actually might need , the 6th sense , just like the other 5 has its limits. how u cant smell with your eyes or breathe with ur ears , the 6th sense also blocks itself sometimes , at that time it shut just be shut down , i think even the very intelligent einstein followed this theory.
Intention is a prominent base of Islam. What we do is funded on what we want to do.
The neeyath to call the "recitation" the holy quran is intended towards referring to the revelations as Holy or words from the Divine Creator, our Lord Allah.
techinically speaking , "Quran" means "what is read most or best". the word "Iqra" refers to "read" ,"recite" and "proclaim" . The beauty of the Quran is all three meanings work here.
Allah asks us to read the scriptures.
Allah Himself calls the Quran the Quran in the Quran.
In cds and tapes , they are not holy tapes rather they are media with the holy quran recorded into them.
As the surahs were revealed , the propet(sal) recorded them onto bones and pieces of wood, animal skin , and into the minds of Sahabas.
After they martyrdom of several sahabas , Abubakr(ral)combined under the order already instructed by the prophet(sal), so as not to lose the orignality of Allah's words like the ones before them lost it.
This book which holds the scriptures of the unmatched words of Allah, this book that cannot be touched without cleanliness (e.g.Fatwa-women can read from screens and tapes but not touch the Quran itself,during their menstrual times,the same for men without wudhu)
this book that holds the key to life and eternal hereafter , what can we call it but Holy and Sacred.
The translations might not have the perfect meaning but in Arabic the language it was revealed in it holds the exact meaning and so we consider it Holy.
that is why we say translation of the Holy quran and not holy quran itself when translated in other languages. its not "a holy book" but "The Holy Book" , that alone is a statement of emphasis.
In my opinion sister , lets not make Islam harder or easier than it is.
There are several controversies , some small some big, among the smaller ones theres one that we should not call the masjid a mosque because of another meaning. We know what we mean when we say mosque and so does some1 else -the house of worship to Allah).
The more we dig into the unnecessary the more difficult its going to be. Lets not lose sight of the major parts in view of miniscule ones.
May Allah guide us on the right path and make it easy to follow.
Raz
I do agree with you.. :)
And Allah(swt) knoes the best.
who is nuchu?
Wa alaikkumusalam
Thank you all for your comments. Appreciate it and I am glad to have provoked some thoughts.
I do not deny what you say of course, but then again for the reasons I had stated, the term does not sound proper to me. We have been given the capacity to think, so we could ponder on how the term came about and that may give some answers. Sometimes brother, small things such this matters because these small things over time could change certain facts.
Thanks for your comment once again. It was sincere and helpful.
Who is Nuchu? :)
Thanks for visiting
It's me Nusrath :).. Don't ask who is Nusrath ah.. Hope you remember me.. :P .. Take care and post worthful informations more.. Hehe..
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