No Guidance But Through the Quran
Never in the
long course of Muslim history has there been an age in which they have been
farther from the Quran than in this age. Nor has there come upon the callers to
truth a time in which the burden was heavier and the covenant more binding than
it is now. There is no escape from this trust, no release from this covenant,
except through calling people back to the Quran. It is no wonder—while we feel
the weight of this responsibility—that our voices rise in invitation to it. The
true wonder, beyond all wonder, would be that we fall silent or fall short.
Among the
wisest means of drawing the Ummah back to the Quran is to describe the Quran
itself, to awaken longing for it, and to stir hearts toward approaching it,
reflecting upon it, and understanding it.
The Quran as It Describes Itself
Sound judgment
and practical wisdom require that the Muslim Ummah be guided to recognize what
good it has squandered and what guidance it has lost through neglecting the Quran.
It will only realize this—deep within the recesses of its conscience—by hearing
the Quran described, its rank proclaimed, its majesty exalted, and attention
drawn to the vast knowledge it contains in few words; by bringing near the
lofty aims it enfolds in accessible expressions; and by explaining its
scattered truths through comprehensive statements. Such an approach is more
likely to return wayward souls to it, to bring them back into its sanctuary, to
seek shade beneath its shelter, and to hold fast to its rope.
Yet I wonder:
what discourse can truly undertake such a task? The description of the Quran
and the methods of stirring desire for it are found in their most perfect form
nowhere but within the Quran itself. Were the eloquent speakers of every nation
and every generation to gather together to describe it with even a fraction of
how it describes itself—were their hearts united as one heart and their tongues
as one tongue—they would fall short, overcome by their own limitation before
reaching the intended goal.
Many have
described it—those who studied its miraculous nature and secrets, those who
spoke of its stories and narratives, those who examined its parables and
lessons, and those who delved into the subtle harmony between its verses and
chapters. Yet what they produced resembled their human limitation, not its
divine perfection. Even its staunchest enemies described it—despite bitterness
like wormwood and desert herbs—with words of reluctant fairness. Neither the
eloquence of the former nor the faith and knowledge of the latter reached the
fullness of what they sought to express.
Between Human Praise and Divine Speech
Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah
once said of it: “Indeed, it has a sweetness; upon it is a radiant beauty; its
lowest part is abundant, and its highest part is fruitful.” In these words he
expressed his inner sensation and the Quran’s effect upon his soul. Because
feeling was bound to experience, his description took on a poetic tone—as you
see—like justice wrested from an unjust soul, and an admission torn from a
wavering heart.
We count among
the Quran’s rhetorical miracles the precision—pervasive in all its verses—in
defining meanings, portraying realities, placing words in their perfect ranks,
varying styles, and pairing attributes until they seem as one: the Powerful,
the Trustworthy; the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy; the Preserver, the
All-Knowing; the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Let those who would describe it
concede their limits, and let the Quran describe itself with that wondrous
precision and magnificent imagery. Let the callers to truth make their path to
people’s hearts through these splendid descriptions drawn from its
comprehensive verses; for this is more effective in moving and being moved, and
more stirring than any arrangement, embellishment, or ornamentation of speech.
Where does all
that humanity has said in its praise stand beside the words of Allah: “O humanity! Indeed, there has come to you a warning from
your Lord, a cure for what is in the hearts, a guide, and a mercy for the
believers.” (Yunus 10:57)
How
comprehensive this verse is in gathering the foundations of reform brought by
the Quran—ordered in mention as they are ordered in existence!
And where does
it stand beside His saying: “There certainly has
come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book. Through which Allah guides
those who seek His pleasure to the ways of peace, brings them out of darkness
and into light.” (Al-Ma’idah
5:15–16)
Indeed, nowhere
near.
From Ignorance to Illumination
The Arab nation
before Islam—like all nations—dwelt in profound ignorance. Intellectually it
stood at the lowest level; socially it was in the most degraded state. It
possessed no means of revival except an eloquent tongue and an uncomplicated
natural disposition. But what use is a fertile tongue when it issues from a
barren mind?
Then Allah
brought them the Quran, containing all that the Arab mind longed for of pure
beliefs and sound truths, and all that the Arab tongue aspired to of horizons
and fields of expression. By it—and through the very language in which it was
revealed—the Arabs rose, and they raised other nations with them in a revival
that shook the spiritual and intellectual world, sweeping away its illusions
and establishing its truths. It shook the material world as well, removing its
tyranny, evils, and corruption, and grounding it upon just legislation and
compassionate dealings. Then it harmonized spirit and matter through the
balanced moderation evident in the beliefs, ethics, and laws of Islam. Thus it
achieved the great universal miracle: realizing the human dream of such
harmony—a dream that all earthly systems failed to fulfill, and which previous
heavenly teachings did not bring to completion, by divine wisdom and decree.
A Civilization Built on Knowledge
Islam then
spread across the earth, sending forth armies of morals before armies of men.
It extended its shade over lands fertile in soil and over nations fertile in
thought, planting its teachings in receptive minds and pouring into them its
spirit: that the ultimate aim of existence is sovereignty in truth and
sovereignty through truth; that neither can be attained except through
knowledge and action; and that the flourishing of the earth depends upon the
flourishing of minds and souls. Upon this foundation it built that civilization
which none deny except one who obstinately disputes the sun at its brightest
hour.
Read Also:
-
Obligation of Thinking in The Quran
-
Shaping the Soul Through the Quran
-
Intellect and Critical Thinking in the Quran
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Source: Ash-Shihab Magazine, Part Four, Volume
Fourteen, June–July 1938.
