The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words…. (6:115)
The following are some thoughts on the topic of the Quran and how it relates to our lives and us. God willing, we, the Submitters, base much of our lives on the Quran, God’s word, and sometimes it’s a good idea to refresh our memory, revisit some areas we take for granted.
What does God have to say about the Quran? Why this book? How do we know it’s right? Is it just the beginning or is it all we need? Should we be reading it? One thing I’d like to note is that there’s a lot more to it than what’s presented in the following paragraphs. And different reasoning appeals to different people. This is intended in that sense more to just get us thinking.
The words of the Quran speak in 19:64, saying, “We come down in accordance with the commandments of your Lord. To Him belongs the past, present and the future. Your Lord never forgets.” God revealed this Quran over 14 centuries ago, in the days when people traveled the world on camel-back and way, way before we even knew of things like submarines, satellites or computers. Yet the words of the Quran are relevant for us even today, and will be so a hundred years from now. God makes that clear when he says that the past, the present and the future all belong to Him. So, while 43:13 “As you rest on top of them, you shall appreciate such a blessing from your Lord, and say, ‘Glory
be to the One who subdued this for us. We could not have controlled them by ourselves.’” might have been said by a person on horseback on the plains of Arabia, today we may say it as we ride in our cars. It’s just as appropriate now as it was then.
It’s also significant that God says “…Your Lord never forgets…” God did not forget to tell us anything that was relevant for our salvation. Some people, in their zeal, presumed that since the details of how to clip one’s nails or how to sleep are not mentioned, we must find them elsewhere, hence the adoption of hadith and sunnah, or “the way of the prophet.”
Yet we know that God’s sunnah and hadith are the best, and the only ones we should follow (45:6, 6:114). So whatever God has decreed for us to have, whatever is essential for our salvation, is here, in this book. And while God does not tell us how to cook chicken soup, He does tell us to mention His name before eating it. And that’s what’s important for our souls. If God wanted to, He could have spelt out every last detail. We learn from 18:109 that “If the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would run out, before the words of my Lord run out, even if we double the ink supply.” It’s not like He could not have given us more – more detail, more laws, more commandments.
God tells us that the Quran is complete, perfect, and fully detailed (6:19, 38, 114, 115; 50:45). Verse 6:38 says “…we did not leave anything out of this book…” And 6:115 “The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.” Therefore, if God wanted to tell us how to cut our nails or cook chicken soup, He certainly has the words to do so. We don’t need another source, human-made, to fill in those details.
And not only is the scripture fully detailed, it is infallible.
a mercy (10:57, 7:52). Also, unlike over 30 encyclopedic volumes of Hadith, God tells us that the Quran is “easy to learn” [54:17] We made the Quran easy to learn. Does any of you wish to learn? If a person sincerely seeks to learn, God opens up his/her heart and makes the Quran accessible to that person (56:77-9), while shielding it from the insincere (17:45-6).
Not only is the Quran accessible, but also we know that God is the Teacher (55:1-2). He teaches us what we need at the time we need it. This is why we read the Quran hundreds of times without getting bored. We can read a novel, for example, only once. But the Quran can be read an infinite number of times, and we derive new and valuable information from it every time.
Shakespeare is required study in most schools and it’s difficult, often incomprehensible, and frequently boring to read and try to understand his works. But how different it would be if Shakespeare himself appeared in the classroom and you could learn it directly from him, or if Einstein came and taught you physics. That’s exactly what God does. He gives us our understanding.
Satan will do his best to keep us from this Quran and the wisdom inherent therein. Hence the commandment in 16:98 to seek refuge in God from Satan the rejected — specifically mentioned with regard to reading the Quran.
Another indication of the importance of Quran is that God uses His own attributes to describe the Quran. He calls the Quran “`Azeem = Great”
(15:87), “Hakeem = Full of wisdom” (36:2), “Majid = Glorious” (50:1), and “Karim = Honorable” (56:77). This of course does not mean that one wraps it up in silk and places it on the highest shelf never to be read. God tells us quite specifically to do the opposite. We are told to read the Quran from cover to cover (73:4) and especially to recite it at dawn, as it “is witnessed” (17:78). Of course, any time we read the Quran is good, and God tells us in 10:61: You do not get into any situation, nor do you recite any Quran, nor do you do anything, without us being witnesses thereof as you do it. …
One of the big questions people have is with regard to the authenticity of any scripture or work. There are hundreds of books and sects out there; which one is right? How does one know that every word in here is from God and that no distortions have crept in? Well, simply because God Himself tells us so. The mathematical miracle of the Quran is divine proof that every word in it is from God.
Absolutely, we have revealed the reminder, and, absolutely, we will preserve it. [15:9]
A.L.R. These (letters) are proofs of this scripture; a profound Quran. [15:1]
Say, “If all the humans and all the jinns banded together in order to produce a Quran like this, they could never produce anything like it, no matter how much assistance they lent one another.” [17:88]
Those who have rejected the Quran’s proof when it came to them, have also rejected an Honorable book. No falsehood could enter it, in the past or in the future; a revelation from a Most Wise, Praiseworthy. [41:41-2]
And God tells us within the Quran exactly what the proof is. It remained hidden for 1400 years but it was always there, in Sura 74: The Hidden Secret.
Over it is nineteen. We appointed angels to be guardians of Hell, and we assigned their number (19) (1) to disturb the disbelievers, (2) to convince the Christians and Jews (that this is a divine scripture), (3) to strengthen the faith of the faithful, (4) to remove all traces of doubt from the hearts of Christians, Jews, as well as the believers, and (5) to expose those who harbor doubt in their hearts, and the disbelievers; they will say, “What did God mean by this allegory?” God thus
sends astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills. None knows the soldiers of your Lord except He. This is a reminder for the people. [74:30-31]
Upon reflection it’s easy to reaffirm that the Quran is the source of our guidance; that it’s from God and that we should study it carefully, recognizing and appreciating God’s teachings therein.
This Quran could not possibly be authored by other than God. It confirms all previous messages, and provides a fully detailed scripture. It is infallible, for it comes from the Lord of the universe. [10:37]
Faiz C.
Source: http://masjidtucson.org/publications/books/SP/2001/sep/page1.html