When the Qur'an spoke English

The earliest direct English translation of the holy book is a testament to its translator's resourcefulness

The first Muslim member of Congress assumed office in January 2007. For his swearing-in ceremony, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., chose to pledge on the Quran. The copy he used, specially loaned by the Library of Congress for the occasion, had once belonged to Thomas Jefferson. [Inset: The Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Photo by  Haraz N. Ghanbari /AP] 

Why did Jefferson own a copy of the Quran? The third president was interested in Islam for many reasons, as Denise A. Spellberg explains in her book “Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an.” He was able to read the holy book of Islam in the first place, however, only thanks to a recent translation, the first direct one from Arabic into English, a copy of which he purchased as a law student in 1765. That translation, by a young English lawyer named George Sale, would prove to have an outsize role in the Western study and understanding of the Quran. 

European interest in Islam

Long before Europeans governed Muslim colonies, interest in Islam and its cultures ran high in Europe. Part of the reason was political. Three Muslim empires dominated large parts of Asia: the Ottomans in Anatolia, the Mediterranean and Arabia; the Safavids in Persia; and the Mughals in India.

These Muslim dynasties were not just powerful but were also admired for their refined arts and culture — music, poetry, gardens, ceramics and textiles. Moreover, books in Arabic offered knowledge of many fields to those who learned the language. Not just the sciences and philosophy but even Arabic literature enticed European translators. Thus, in 1704 a Frenchman first translated the “1001 Nights,” whose tales soon became an enduring classic of European as well as of Arabic letters.

Above all else, the religion of Islam itself seemed an especially compelling field of inquiry to a variety of European scholars and thinkers. How had a handful of Muslims emerged from the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century to conquer so much of the known world? This was one of the great questions of world history, as both the French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire and the English historian Edward Gibbon agreed. In addition, philosophers and freethinking Christians deemed the central tenet of Islam, the unity of God, more rational than the mystery of the Christian Trinity. Thus, many different Europeans attributed singular importance to Islam and the language of its revelation, Arabic.

True Belief: Trials and Rewards

Abdullah ibn Mughaffal relates: 

A man said to the Holy Prophet (pbuh): “Messenger of Allah, I love you”. 

He said: “Watch what you are saying!” 

The man said: “Indeed, I love you”; and repeated it three times. 

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “If you do love me prepare for poverty, for poverty advances more rapidly towards one who loves me than does flood water towards its objective.” (Tirmidhi)

If there was such a love which existed in the times of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), it was love which was bonded a believer to another believer, only for the pleasure of Allah. And a greater love which existed is the love which a believer has for the prophet of Allah (pbuh) and a yet greater love is the love which the prophet had for the believers. Yet a greater love existed more than this love, and that is the love which the Holy Prophet (pbuh) had for Allah; but love, the true one is the one which Allah has for His prophet; after that love, then comes the love which Allah has for His creatures; especially His sincere servants. Therefore, it is such a great and beautiful love that the prophet loses himself in Allah, and Allah bestows upon him His favours and makes the hearts of the sincere people, and the seekers of truth to attach themselves to it (Allah, Allah’s love).

Divine Elects in the Garden of Islam

اِنَّ الدِّیۡنَ عِنۡدَ اللّٰہِ الۡاِسۡلَامُ ۟

‘Innad-Diina ‘indallaahil-Islaam.

Surely the (true) religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. (3: 20)

If Islam is the vehicle of life, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the representation of true life, in that which he is the perfect example of how a human, and especially a true servant of Allah must be for Allah in this temporal world despite living among the mixed existence of man, sometimes good, sometimes evil. 

Islam guides man towards perfecting himself for Allah, not the world and all that it contains. The world is temporary whereas the Creator of mankind exists for ever. Indeed, He has neither beginning nor end. He is there for all times, and His presence and appearance are beyond the conception of man. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) during his life on earth showed the correct way of life, by his own example. This is one of the fundamental duties of the seal of the prophets, that he provides such guidance which shall not only mark the people of his era, but humankind as a whole, and that till the Day of Judgement.

Allah says the Holy Qur'an:

“You are the best community that has been raised for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah.” (3: 111)

Further in the Quran, in (14: 25-28), Allah says: 

“Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, (making) a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches (high) in the sky? It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allah presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded. And the example of a bad word is like a bad tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, not having any stability. Allah keeps firm those who believe, with the firm word, in worldly life and in the Hereafter. And Allah sends astray the wrongdoers. And Allah does what He wills.”

Obama on Freedom of Religion

President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, a decades-old Washington tradition, on February 06, 2014. "To harm anyone in the name of faith is to diminish our own relationship with God", says the President.

As instances of persecution and other violation of basic freedoms scar the lives of millions of people in different parts of the world, the President reminds that to respect human rights, particularly religious freedom, leaders everywhere must do more. Among the cases of egregious violation of religious freedoms, the President remembers the plight of, among others, the Ahmadi Muslims of Pakistan.

Read the Extracts from the Speech:

So each time we gather, it’s a chance to set aside the rush of our daily lives; to pause with humility before an Almighty God; to seek His grace; and, mindful of our own imperfections, to remember the admonition from the Book of Romans, which is especially fitting for those of us in Washington: “Do not claim to be wiser than you are.”

So here we put aside labels of party and ideology, and recall what we are first: all children of a loving God; brothers and sisters called to make His work our own. But in this work, as Lincoln said, our concern should not be whether God is on our side, but whether we are on God’s side…

Meaning of “Khatamun-Nabiyyin"

The term “Khatamun-Nabiyyin” which when literally translated means ‘Seal of the prophets’ is grammatically a compound phrase. It is a matter of common knowledge that when two words join together to make a phrase, they do not necessarily give their literal meaning. For example, ‘Ibn’ means ‘son’ and ‘Sabil’ means way; but when these words is joint together to make ‘Ibn-Sabil’ it does not reflect an absolutely literal meaning. We thus don’t consider it to mean: ‘Son of the path’, it only means a traveller. 

Such titles was also a practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) whereby he used to name his companions according to sometimes memorable events or simply because of the situation in which he found them. For example, he named his cousin, son-in-law and his fourth successor Ali (ra), Abu Turab, which literally means: Father of the soil/sand, which of course Hazrat Ali (ra) was not literally one, but the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) gave him the name as an adjective or attribute and not as a literal meaning. So the real sense of a phrase is determined by grammar, its usage in language and the context in which it is used.

It is an established and unchangeable rule of Arabic grammar and language that when the word ‘Khatam’ is used in the praise of a person and its combining word is a ‘group of talented people’, it never means that the person called ‘Khatam’ is the last or final to appear in respect of time. It always means that in the opinion of the user, the person concerned is the perfect and supreme in that ‘group of talented people’ and that he has achieved the last and final grade in that particular excellence. The Islamic literature is full of such instances and not a single example can be cited against this rule.  

Remembering the "Seal of Prophets"

A seal sets a distinction from all other things. Now a Seal among humans and prophets bring about the exquisite perfection of such a being without whom, the example of leader and follower would be in vain. A true leader is the one who not only guides his people in the right path, but also set examples for them to follow; such examples which are priceless if only these peoples put those actions into motion. The followership emotion derived from such leadership is simply amazing and beyond definition.

If the Quran is a Book sent to mankind; not only Muslims, then Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is also not only a prophet for the Muslims alone. As a Bringer of good news and a Warner he came like his brethrens from among the prophets of the past, including his ancestor and patriarch Abraham (uhbp) to preach the words of God Almighty so that humankind may reform and connect with their Maker. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) came as a light to shed to pieces the darkness of unfaith and immorality.

Prophet Muhammad: The Perfect Role Model

Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is the only human and divine prophet to have reached the degree of perfect excellence, such excellence which is agreeable to human nature and the Creator Himself. With the revelation of the Holy Quran upon his humble self, Allah told him to say to the people: 

“If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you, forgive you your sins.” (3: 32).

The declaration of the Holy Quran is clear. It is set with such a condition which is agreeable to the ways of Allah, which is: Obey Allah and Obey the Prophet. Guidelines to obeying Allah are found in obeying the prophet and manifest the exquisite nature of being a good listener of the divine revelations and putting those instructions into practice.

There is abundant historical evidence to prove that those who have reformed their lives, by deciding to mould their lives according to the Holy Prophet’s model emerged from the abyss of ignorance and barbarism and poverty to be the teachers of arts and sciences and morals and social good, and it is them who became the masters of the world. They did not only attain the utmost temporal progress, but also set such an example of religious and spiritual life of piety and righteousness and purity and chastity that Allah (twa) Himself proclaimed in the Holy Quran:

 “Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Allah.” (98: 9)

The fact is that the more the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is taken into consideration and acted upon, the more the door of divine salvation opens to let manifest the love of Allah for such a devoted servant of Allah and true follower of the Seal of all prophets.