This
is the Book; there is no doubt in it, a guidance for those who fear Allah.
Those who believe in the unseen and keep up prayer and spend out of what We
have given them. And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and
that which was revealed before you and they are sure of what is yet to come.
(Al-Baqara, 2: 3-5).
Today
by the grace of Allah, I continue the same the sermon that I had started 3
Fridays ago on the subject of the Quran, by reciting the verses 3-5 of the
Surah Al-Baqara.
The
believers need to know when reading the Quran that there is not the least error,
or contradiction in it. On the contrary, each verse of the Quran strengthens
the other verse and do not create any doubt. But, there are also some people
who instead of having their doubts cleared concerning the Quran, their doubts increase.
Thus, these types of people need to know that they are not the category of
people mentioned in the beginning of the Chapter (Al-Baqara), i.e. they are not
the pious, God-fearing people as stipulated in the verse (Verse 3).
Those
people who do not have any doubt that the Quran contains no doubt, and that it
is sure guidance for them, those people are certainly the Muttaquun, i.e.
those who have the fear of Allah, and who are truly pious. So, when you invoke
Allah through supplications (and prayer), you also need to understand the
subjects of the Quran or ask Allah for help to enable you to understand it and Insha-Allah,
Allah shall give you the knowledge to well understand the contents of the Holy
Quran. It is then that the heart shall be cleansed of any kind of doubt. But
love for the Quran also demands that you seek this certainty directly from it
(i.e. the Quran itself).
And
the subjects (knowledge) of Allah are unlimited. A lot of times, for the people
who have such (positive) thoughts, Allah (swt) enable them to understand
certain points (from the Quran). And if they are Muttaquun, then there
shall be no problem for them to understand what Allah (swt) has made put in the
Quran. It becomes easy(for them). But if they are not Muttaquun, then
the same knowledge that they have received becomes a source of doubt, fitna,
and disputes for them.
I
know many homes wherein the people do not pray Namaz five times a day
and they do not encourage their children to perform Namaz also. There
are homes where the people do pray Namaz, but they do not do the Tilawat
Quran, and they do not make their children read the Quran also. It is very
unfortunate that they are not giving any importance to reading the Quran, and
thus their homes are deprived of the blessings of Allah.
A
Muslim has to perform his/ her five daily Namaz, and must do the Tilawat
Quran also. Without the Tilawat Quran, his/ her Namaz shall
be devoid of divine rewards. It shall be such a Namaz which is useless
before Allah (swt). So, those who have not yet begun the Tilawat Quran
(i.e. reading of the Holy Quran) must start it and then little by little his/
her knowledge shall increase.
To gain the meanings of the Holy Quran (i.e. its
verses), it is very important that you obtain some knowledge. To acquire a deep
knowledge of the divine, knowledge is important. That is why the Quran has said
that if you have to seek knowledge and ask someone (besides Allah), then ask
knowledgeable people (people endowed with knowledge). It has also been stated
in the Quran that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was to teach the people knowledge as
well as wisdom.
There is a Hadith - narrated by Hazrat Aisha (ra) - in which a
companion of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) asked her a question about the life (Sirat)
of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). In reply, Hazrat Aisha (ra) told him to read the
Holy Quran to know about the Sirat of the prophet of Allah (pbuh), and she
advised him to study the life of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) to understand the Holy
Quran. And through these words you shall get to know that Hazrat Muhammad
(pbuh) was a personification of the Holy Quran (he was a walking Quran).
So,
I am putting much emphasis on starting the reading of the Quran and studying it
from the beginning, for it is then that Allah (swt) to take care of the rest
(i.e. you do the first effort in this voyage and Allah shall give you His help
throughout the voyage). And those who begin this journey, then behold, it is
Allah (swt) who shall take their hand and bring them to the ending point of the
journey. The end of the journey/ voyage means the continual journey to the
point of death, striving in this path till death. Otherwise, this journey would have no end.
So
with these series of sermons on the importance of Quran reading and to
understand the Quran, Insha-Allah, I pray that the Tilawat Quran is
done every day in every home and with the help of Tilawat Quran, Insha-Allah,
every home shall be filled with Namazis (worshippers of Allah), where Taqwa
shall take over your hearts, and besides, one of the meanings of Taqwa
is humility. The more a person is Muttaqi, the more shall you find him
humble, and the more you shall find him ever submissive (prostrating, curbing)
before Allah (swt).
So
when such God-fearing, pious people (the Muttaqi/ Muttaquun) ask Allah questions,
then Allah shall certainly guide them. The love for the book of Allah is such a
thing that shall take into account the future generation. So, like I have told
you before, you could have grown up like a free bird (doing everything you like
without restrictions) or you could have grown up as per the expectations of
Allah, which means that you have either already spent your life for or against
the pleasure of Allah. But you shall be responsible if you do not make the
future generations have love for Allah, for the Quran and for the five daily Namaz/
Salat. You shall be responsible for all this before Allah (swt) and you
would not be able to say that you were not warned about the harsh consequences
(if you fail in this task).
You
must do your best so that they have love for all (i.e. for Allah, for the Quran
and Namaz). Otherwise, if you do not do the necessary efforts to
establish them on the Quran, then all the rest shall be useless, and remain
unrealisable. It is truly necessary that emphasis is laid on the Quran and emphasis
MUST be put also on Quran recitation. And also in countries where you people do
not have too much knowledge of Arabic, you need to read the translation (of the
Quran) too.
Like I told you before, Allah's introduction of the Holy Quran is
'The Book' (Al-Kitab). A book awaited by all religions. But when the
Book was revealed, see how many people have turned their backs to it and went
on their way!
Likewise, many Muslims are reading the Surah Al-Fatiha and Darood
Shariff every day in which they ask Allah (swt) to send the blessing He
bestowed upon Hazrat Ibrahim (as), to Hazrat Muhammad (saws). What is that
blessing? What is that divine favour which is being asked on a daily basis and
also from the recitation of the Surah Al-Fatiha, where we say, “O Allah,
guide us on the right path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your
favours, not the path of those whom have attracted Your wrath and have gone
astray.”
Ask
the following question: what are the favours which are being mentioned here
(i.e. in the Darood Ibrahim)?
Are these favours great cars, houses,
lands, electrical appliances, etc.? If yes, then the unbelievers also received
such favours. There are many among them who even have many more such favours
than the believers.
What favours Allah (swt) gave Hazrat Ibrahim (as)? These
favours were in the form of prophethood, whereby Allah gave him prophets from
among his progeny. Prophets of Allah came and the people rejected those
prophets, and they even persecuted those prophets. They have thus attracted the
wrath of Allah upon them and went astray.
So
now when you are reading the Surah Al-Fatiha, and Darood Shariff and
Allah (swt) sends to you His chosen servant, you turn on your back with all
arrogance and go away. Then, of what use was your Fatiha and Darood Shariff?
Indeed, it was in vain.
So,
I end the sermon here and pray to Allah (swt), may Allah enlighten me on this
subject further and make me ever a Muttaqi, with all humility and to sincerely
believe in Your Book (O Allah), as a true believer. Certainly when you shall
read the book of Allah, you shall believe in the Messenger of Allah, Insha-Allah.
---Friday Sermon of 17 November 2017(27
Safar 1439 AH) delivered by Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.