The Example of a Donkey....Those Who Don't Give Due Rights to Their Holy Book

The Example of a Donkey....Those Who Dont Give Due Rights to Their Holy Book

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 9:27am

The biggest change that the Qur'an can bring in our lives is that it can make us a giant of a personality.  But not unless we give the Qur'an its rights. How many students or reciters of Qur'an amongst us really ask our teachers about the rights of the Qur'an ? Let us study some of the very important rights of the Qur'an upon us.

It shoud be recited properly and regularly  Some people are very careless regarding their makhraj of  Arabic alphabets themselves. Makhraj in  English is understood as enunciation and not pronunciation..How you utter each word can at times make the big difference in the meaning too. I have seen Muslim youth working hard on their English accents and learning Urdu poetry for  impressing people in gatherings and making lucrative careers. They attend special courses and pay thousands of rupees to learn those accents, but when it comes to the Qur'an they say " Allah will reward us as per  our niyah (Intentions)...Just compare the two niyah!

 It should be Understood Properly : The Qur'an does not give permission to understand its teaching on your own.  Consider this:  The Prophet (pbuh)was unlettered, an Ummi, and many of his students, the companions, were scholars of Arabic language, yet they went to understand the meaning of the Quranic verses from the Prophet, rather than deriving their own meanings. After all the Qur'an is  a book  of Laws  and  Constitution. An excellent example is given by Ibn Kathir in the reference of  Surah al An'am ch 6 verse 82.. it is those who believe and confuse not their beliefs with zulm- they are in security, they are on right guidance... Some of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) went to him and  were worried because they felt that each one of them did some thing or wrong or zulm with others some times or somewhere.. So were they on guidance?.. the Prophet explained them with the other Qur'anic verse... Surah Luqman ch 31 verse 13.. Indeed Shirk is the  highest form of wrong doing (zulm)....That is the reason why Hadith is important in understanding the Qur'an. Those who reject the status of  hadith may note this.

  Abdullah ibn Masood r.a. was ever ready to travel hundreds of miles to know the context of even one verse..On the other hand today e have ibn Kathir online and other tafaseers too.. yet how many of  the internent users really study Ibn Kathir. In my book shop once  I had a young visitor who argued with me about the  price of ibn Kathir...I explained him the reasons but he was not ready to agree.. finally I asked him how much did he pay for his mobile and the amount came to be three times more than Ibn Kathir !!  'Wonderful!' I exclaimed . 

It should be Obeyed : It is not only that how many times you recite the complete Qur'an in Ramadhan but it is equally important that how much of the Qur'an you implement in your life.. Those to whom the Book is given, they recite it the way it has the right to be recited.. al-Bakarah 121... An important verse in Surah Jumuah notes...The example of those who were given the book (Torah) but failed ( in obeying), is that of a donkey which carries huge tomes (but understands not)..... Are we not donkeys ? No book in the world has so much detailed of explanations the way the Qur'an has.. Every century has seen scores of commentaries of Qur'an by noted scholars , yet when it comes to obeying the Qur'an most of us are like that donkey mentioned in Surah Jumuah, ch 62 verse 5. I  pray to Allah that  we dont turn into a community of donkeys. 

 It should be Spread  "Haza Balagul linnaas.." This is a message for the entire mankind... ends Surah Ibrahim with this note..it is the duty of every Muslim to spread the fragrance of Qur'an, not just by gifting free copies of the Qur'an Translations to Non Muslim friends ,but by showing them Qur'an in our dealings with people in our personal lives or professional lives..

 How many Rights of Qur'an have we given to  THE BOOK that is a mercy from Allah to us in this month of  Ramadhan?

 Author :Nisaar Nadiadwala is not a scholar but a promoter of Islamic way of Life and motivates through his talks and notes. He can  be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

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