Way to The Quran
By
Khurram Murad
'Be thankful to
Me, and to your parents' (Luqman 31:14) At her knees I learnt to read
the Qur'an, upon her insistance that I must learn Arabic I was sent to the
school maulavi saheb who gave me the rudimentary knowledge upon which I could
build later; seeing her devotion to the Qur'an, reading it with
understanding, for hours and hours, kindled a spark in my heart which has
continued to illumine my way; and, finally, through her example and silent
but solid support I found my way to a life of struggle in the way of Allah. 'My Lord! Bestow Thy mercy upon
my parents, as they raised me up when I was little' (al-Isra' 17: 24)
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Table of Contents
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Weak in faith and obedience as I am, and unlearned, my
first duty must be to confess my utter inadequacy to write this book. For, says
Allah, subhanaha wa ta'ala, 'Had We sent down this Qur'an upon a
mountain, you would have seen it humbled and torn asunder by the fear of God .
' So how can any human being, let alone one so poor in knowledge and impure in
spirit, presume to point the way to the majesty and mercy, the beauty and
wisdom that is the Qur'an? What emboldened me however was the persistent
nudging of many friends who felt that what I had shared with them needed to be
shared by many more. But the real strength and courage came from Allah's
promise: 'Those who strive in Our cause for Our sake, surely We shall guide
them in Our ways.' And the Prophet's words, blessings and peace be on him
'Convey on my behalf even if it be one Ayah' and 'Best among you is the one who
learns the Qur'an and teaches it' seemed to make it almost a duty to be
coveted.
My aim in writing this book is very modest. This is not a
work of erudite scholarship. I am no learned mufassir, nor am I writing
for scholars. I am not presuming to teach and guide, for I have no pretensions
to that office. I am writing for those ordinary, inexpert and unlearned seekers
after the Qur'an, especially the young men and women, who are struggling hard
to fulfil their desire to understand, absorb and live the Qur'an, as I am doing
myself. I am writing for students about things which I am learning myself. In
this book, then, I write as one wayfarer to another, trying to share with him
whatever I have found and grasped as useful as I have stumbled, with all my
deficiencies, along the easy and rewarding road to and through the Qur'an. I am
sure that they, with their greater sincerity, devotion and competence, will
improve greatly upon what I have presented here.
This book is the product of a long and still-continuing
search. Its contents have been gathered over many years of reading. The
beginning of this book goes back more than three decades when I had just begun
my own struggle to live by the Qur'an, and when I was given the duty of
explaining how to study the Qur'an to a group of similarly committed young
students. Most of what I said then, I owed to a small number of sources:
Hamiduddin Farahi's Tafdsari Fardhi; Sayyid Mawdudi's Tafhimul Qur'an;
Amin Ahsan Islahi's Tadabburi Qur'an; al-Ghazali's lhya' 'Ulum al-Din;
Shah Waliullah's Hujjah-Allah al-Balighah and al-Fawz al-Kabir fi
Usul al-Tafsir, and Suyuti's al-Itqan fi 'Ulum al-Qur'an. For all
that this book contains, I continue to owe a debt of gratitude to them. And
whilst I would like to acknowledge this, I must also point out that none of
these authors are responsible for my own errors of understanding and
presentation. The first opportunity to put my thoughts in writing arose in 1977
when I wrote a short introduction to Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an
published by the Islamic Foundation 'The Way to the Qur'an'.
This book is born out of certain abiding convictions. And
whilst they are all explained in the book, it is useful to recall and summarize
some of them here:
First, our lives will remain meaningless and ruined unless they are guided
by the Qur'an, the word of God.
Second, the Qur'an, being the eternal guidance given by the Ever-living God,
is as relevant for us, today; as it was fourteen centuries ago, and will remain
so forever.
Third, we almost have a right, in some sense and measure, to receive its
blessings today as its first believers did; provided, of course, that we come
to it and move in it in a manner that may entitle us to share its rich harvest.
Fourth, every Muslim has a duty to devote himself to reading, understanding
and memorizing the Qur'an.
Fifth, one must abandon oneself totally, in thought and deed, to whatever
the Qur'an has to offer. Any pride, arrogance, sense of self-sufficiency,
reservation, or ingenuity that can mistakenly be read into it, is fatal to its
understanding and would shut the door to its blessings.
Sixth, the path of the Qur'an is the path of self-surrender, of practising
what it tells you, even if one learns only one Ayah. One Ayah learnt and acted
upon is better than a thousand which are explained beautifully but which do not
impart any beauty to the reader's life. Obedience, after all, is the real key
to understanding.
There are seven chapters. Each deals with a different
aspect of the journey. The first, dwells on what the journey means to our
lives; the second, on what provisions must be gathered inside our hearts and
minds before setting out; the third, on what postures and actions of heart,
mind, and body are necessary for the full involvement of the inner self; the
fourth, on what rules should be followed in reading; the fifth, on why and how
to understand; the sixth, on how to undertake collective study; and the
seventh, on the essential need of offering our lives to the fulfilment of the
Quranic mission. What the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, said about
some specific parts of the Qur'an is gathered in one appendix. Another suggests
certain syllabuses for personal and collective study, which many may find
useful. Some study aids are also included.
This is not a book which should be put away after one
hurried reading, unless one does not like what it says, or one does not find it
useful. Those who need such a book and find it useful will, I hope, find it
necessary to take plenty of time over each part, and to read it again and
again. To them I would like to say: make it serve as your companion all along.
Some things you will have to study carefully, some you
will have to store in your memory, some you will need to refer to frequently.
But only what you practise will be of value to you. What this book does is to
demarcate the road and erect the necessary signposts which point the way, give
guidance, caution, warn, or prohibit, as the need may be. Still you will have
to equip yourself with a vehicle, put fuel in it, come on the road, and drive.
Nothing in the book can substitute for your inner longing, will and
determination, and persistent effort.
A special word about the warnings and cautions spread
throughout the book, about accepting and using what has been said here. They
are important. Always keep them in mind, whether you are trying to understand
the Qur'an on your own, or using the syllabuses, or acting upon any other
thing.
I have placed great emphasis on the urgent need for
personal endeavours by each Muslim to try to understand the Qur'an. To me this
is the most fundamental demand of the Qur'an. I am, however, aware of the
pitfalls on this road, and these I have tried to note. In this respect, I would
like you always to keep before you the words attributed to Sayyidina Abu Bakr:
'Which earth will bear me and which sky will protect me if I say anything by my
personal opinion in interpreting the Qur'an. ' This has always had a great
sobering and steadying effect on me: you, too, should profit by it.
We are living in a time when the need to centre our lives
on the Qur'an is most urgent and compelling. Without this we Muslims will never
rediscover our selves, never give meaning to our existence, never find dignity
in this world. More importantly, we will never please our Creator and Lord.
Without the Qur'an, mankind, too, will continue to slide towards the abyss of
total extinction.
There is today a rapidly growing realization of this
urgency among Muslims. The desire to understand the Qur'an and live by it has
become widespread. The tide of Islamic resurgence is both a product of and a
stimulant to this awareness and desire.
During these crucial days, if this humble effort succeeds
in kindling in some hearts the desire to set out on the journey of the Qur'an,
a life journey, and if it serves as their companion, my labours will be amply
rewarded. Though it will benefit me only if Allah pardons all my errors of
intention and understanding and blesses this endeavour of the heart with His
acceptance. To those who benefit from this book, my plea is: do not forget me
in your prayers.
Leicester
Khurram Murad 15 Sha'ban 1405 6 May 1985
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
There are seven states of consciousness which you must
try to develop by remembering certain things, absorbing them and by
frequently reminding yourself of them.
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In
Allah's Presence
Second: Say to yourself: I am in Allah's presence; He is seeing
me.
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