A few weeks ago I was at a youth meeting at the mosque and the person who was meant to give a talk was unable to attend. Thus, literally at the last minute, I was asked to say a few words on defending the honour of the Holy Qur’an. With about 5 minutes of preparation, here is what I had to say:
In the name of Allah, most Gracious, ever Merciful.
It was not too long ago that an unknown pastor of a small Church in the US gained worldwide fame overnight after organising Qur’an burning day. It makes little sense to judge a people by the amount of freedom they have as that is usually out of their control. But instead it is more logical to base the judgements on how people use that freedom once reigns are cut. The actions of Pastor Jones were an example of abusing of that freedom by disturbing the peace of society and intentionally causing hurt to many people. Freedom and responsibility are directly proportional to one another and as one increases then so does the other. Freedom and responsibility is a topic of its own and I shall delve into it no more.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Holy Qur’an:
Verily, we have sent down this Exhortation, and most surely we will be its Guardian [15:9]
Previous verses contain the mocking demands of the disbelievers that if the Qur’an is really a divine book sent down by God, then it should have descended under the protection of angels. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala emphatically answers their ridicule that He Himself will protect it from any corruption and or change. When the Qur’an was being revealed, it was committed to writing as soon as possible. At the same time, it was committed to memory by countless individuals and this practice has increased to such an extent that today there are many hundreds of thousands of Muslims who have memorised it from beginning to end and are able to recite it when so ever required. The recitation of the Holy Qur’an during the Salah was made an obligation and thus helped in the memorisation of the sacred verses.
There are many miracles of the Qur’an. One being the sea of knowledge and wisdom it contains. The immeasurable depth is full of riches, solid facts heavy in philosophy. In an age where there are some people or groups of people who wish to spread the fire of hatred, and cause division among communities by spreading adultered truths about others. There are many ways of combating this, but as believers, the first and foremost should be that we try to extinguish these fires with the tears of our prayers. If fires are to be lit, then they shouldn’t be those of anger; burning flags, and tyres and embassies. For these fires are temporary and last no longer than a few minutes. What good is that when the fires of the mischief makers continues to burn? Instead we should light the fire of the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in our hearts, and the love of His prophets, and the love of truth, and the love of justice. True love can move mountains. I’d like to finish this short talk by telling you the story of someone I recently met, who converted to Islam. He told me that for most of his life he didn’t really care much for religion and believed it to be the root cause of many of the problems of the world. God he believed was a figment of man’s own creation. Karl Marx’s famous quote "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" summed up his attitudes to religion. I asked him then, what was it that changed your mind? “My neighbour. I hurled abuse at him in my drunken state, and he would give me the greetings of peace. I would keep his family awake at night and he would be awake praying for me.” This went on for a few years and something caused him to ask his neighbour why he put up with the problems and didn’t just phone the police. “I believe in Allah and the last day,” the neighbour replied. “The rights of the neighbour are given such importance in Islam that I didn’t want to barter my faith for a little peace.” The man was so impressed, he began to study about Islam and today Islam has become his opium. The conviction of his faith is astounding masha’Allah.
There’s a simple message to this story. Practice what you preach. The Qur’an says:
“O children of Adam! We have indeed sent down to you raiment to cover your shame, and to be an elegant dress; but the raiment of righteousness — that is the best. That is one of the Signs of Allah, that they may remember.” [7:26].
Let us cover ourselves in the teachings of the Qur’an for that is the best we can do. Just like the neighbour, if we too wear the perfume of the Qur’an, then it will not go unnoticed. After all, we don’t have to shout if we’re wearing an expensive perfume. Its scent travels far and wide, and people themselves will ask you about it.
Posts
