Apr 24 2005
Posted under Books
“Qur’an!” Is The Answer!
A Book that Honors Mary and Jesus, Allah Bless Them! – As No Other Book Does!
Pray tell me Muslims!
How did we manage to abandon a book that honors the virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, may Allah bless them both, as perhaps no other book in this world – not even the Bible – does?
This book even has a chapter called Maryam or Mary, may Allah bless her – chapter 19 – which the Bible does not.
Wadh-kur Filkitaabi Maryam (19:16).
And what a touching, beautiful and heartwarming story does it tell, in that chapter, of Mary, Allah bless her, and of her encounter with the angel!
And of the miraculous birth of her blessed son Jesus, Alaihis Salam – Allah bless him!
A book that teaches the world to respect and love Jesus, the fatherless son of Mary, may Allah bless them both, as perhaps no other book does.
A book that venerates Noah, celebrates Abraham and marvels at the wondrous adventures and miracles of Moses, David, Joseph and Solomon, may Allah bless them all, as no other book does.
A book that exalts, vindicates and applauds the biblical prophets, may Allah bless them all, as perhaps no other book does.
A book that confirms and validates the true teachings of all the earlier prophets and messengers of God in all cultures, times and places.
A book that invites Jews and Christians to come and talk matters of common interest over with the Muslims.
And encourages them to find a common denominator of faith and practice with the Muslims.
Ta’alau Ilaa Kalimatin Sawaa-in Baynanaa
wa Baynakum (3:64).
A book that admonishes people to cooperate with one another on the basis of virtue and goodness, but not for purposes of evil and aggression (5:2).
A book that teaches human unity and equality as no other book in the world does (4:1; 49:13).
A book that propounds the message of human dignity so strikingly and resoundingly.
A book that makes service to humanity tantamount to the worship of God Almighty.
A book that declares the various forms and species of animal life on earth similar to human groups, nations and peoples (6:38).
A book whose core message is truth.
Al-Haqq.
A book in which God himself refers to himself as truth.
Al-Haqq.
A book that teaches peace and blessings and their wherewithal as perhaps no other book of its kind does.
As-Salaam.
A book in which one of God’s chosen names is peace.
As-Salaam.
A book that asks people to walk softly (25:63) and talk sweetly (16:125; 17:53).
A book that tells its followers to shun falsehood (25:72).
To honor their word.
And to fulfill their commitments and contracts (2:177; 3:17; 9:119; 17:34; 23:8; 33:35; 70:32).
A book that teaches tolerance and forgiveness as no other book does (2:109; 5:13; 15:85; 24:22; 43: 89).
Fasfahis-Safhal Jameel (15:85).
Fasfah ‘Anhum wa Qul Salaam (43:89).
A book that extols the virtues of peacemaking as no other book does (8:61; 4:90; 2:208).
Because that is the higher road to take, the nobler path to pursue (42:43.64:14).
Was-Sulhu Khair (4:128).
A book that teaches people to deal with dignity with the riffraff (25:72) and graciously with troublemakers (7:199; 25:63; 28:55).
A book that makes good manners and kind and respectful treatment of others a part of a person’s devotion to God.
A book that applauds the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, for his wonderful character, good manners and kindness to others (68:4; 9:128).
Wa Innaka La-‘Alaa Khuluqin ‘Azeem (68:4).
A book that tells men – and also women, in the same breath – not to mock others and not to use derogatory names and labels for each other (49:11).
A book that asks us not to indulge in backbiting; not to spy on one another; and not to view each other with suspicion and doubt (49:12).
A book that asks people to always say that which is better, nicer, more wholesome and more conducive to better relations among people (17:53).
A book that asks the Prophet, Sallallahu ‘Alaihi wa Sallam, to take the high road even in arguments and disputations with others (16:125).
A book that admonishes Muslims not to discuss or argue things with Jews and Christians except in the nicest and the most wonderful possible manner (29:46).
A book that declares murder to be tantamount to genocide and humanicide – killing of all of humanity (5:32).
A book that forbids coercion (2:256; 10:99), abhors confrontation and bids hardened adversaries to respectfully agree to disagree (42:15; 109:1-6).
A book that tells the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, to give the non-believers their space and not to pester them and asks him not to react in anger and frustration to their repeated rejection of his message (42:15; 42:48; 43:89).
A book that even asks the believers to forgive their non-believing tormentors and move on with their own lives (45:14).
A book that warns its followers against stealing the wealth of orphans and other innocents and admonishes human beings against all other kinds of social, moral, political, economic and military excess, aggression, mischief-making and wrongdoing (2:188; 4:2; 4:10; 83:1-3; 6:152; 7:85; 17:35; 11:84,85; 4:30; 58:9; 2:190; 5:87).
A Book that Liberates and Uplifts Women – And All of Humanity
Pray tell me Muslims!
Just how did we manage to turn our back on a book that liberates, uplifts and empowers women, as perhaps no other book of its kind in the world does?
A book that, 1400 years ago, turned the status of women from chattel and property to property owners.
A book that, 1400 years ago, put women on par with men (2:22; 33:35).
A book that even has a chapter called The Women – chapter 4 – which no other book of its kind or time perhaps does.
A book that exalts all of humanity, as perhaps no other book of its kind in the world does.
A book that, 1400 years ago, ushered in a new era of universal human liberty and empowerment in the world by making it a requirement for all human beings to read – like no other book of its kind or time did.
Iqra’! (96:1) said that book: Read!
That most wondrous, thunderous, compact, categorical, sweeping and powerful of all commands and imperatives known to humanity in any age or place or culture – Read!
A book that, 1400 years ago, created in the world a new culture of human equality, brotherhood and sisterhood based on reading, writing, the book and the pen (96:4).
A new culture whose foundation is education, knowledge, understanding, truth and enlightenment.
A book that for 1400 years has thundered against female infanticide as an abomination (81:8) – something that no other book of its kind or time did.
A book that articulates and details human rights as no other book of its kind in the world does (4:36; 9:60).
A book that mandates justice and fairness for all and forbids injustice, oppression, excessive force, brutality and aggression, as no other book in the world does (4:135; 5:8; 16:126).
A book that, 1400 years ago, gave the world the amazing and the most revolutionary concept of “The People” (2:21) – as no other book in the world did.
An-Naas – The People!
Not peasants; not villains; not riffraff; not serfs; not “men”; not “mankind”; but “The People.”
A concept that was global, class-neutral, race-indifferent, supra-national and gender-inclusive 1200 years before the American Constitution and the French Revolution caught up with parts of it - and 1400 years before any of the rest of the world woke up to it.
Who but God Almighty could have produced a miracle like that?
If this book – the Qur’an – had given the world – and humanity – nothing but that one single word, and that one single notion, the world – and humanity – will still be in its debt forever.
The Qur’an then goes on to repeat and drive home that magnificent concept, “The People,” more than 200 times in its 6000-plus Aayaat or passages.
What kind of a miracle is that?
An-Naas.
What a concept!
And what a book!
Al-Kitaab!
A book that freed “The People” from the clutches of the clergy and the royalty and the nobility and made them equal among themselves and to everyone else.
A book that in a single swoop of divine grace wiped out divisive and destructive distinctions and domination-and-subordination structures based on racial, tribal and territorial divisions (49:13).
A book that made charity and “spending” an integral part of the faith and the comprehensive divine way of life it came to establish on earth (2:3; 2:43; 2:83; 2:262; 22:41; 24:37; 27:3; 57:10; 2:267).
A book that calls us to a culture of success and tells us about people blessed with success.
Wa Ulaa-i-ka Humul Muflihoon (3:104).
Great success!
Wa Dhaalika Huwal Fawzul ‘Azeem (9:111).
Clear success!
Dhaalika Huwal Fauzul Mubeen (45:30).
Huge success!
Dhaalikal Fauzul Kabeer (85:11).
And tells us also about the unfortunate people who have chosen a fate of failure, self-destruction and damnation for themselves and for those close to them (22:11; 18:103; 6:14; 4:119).
What a book it is!
An embodiment of divine grace, mercy and blessing on earth, in a form that human beings can physically reach out to, touch, handle, read, understand and practice.
How did we, then, manage to abandon such a book?
Pray tell me, Muslims, just how did we Muslims manage to bring about this feat, and this colossal and global tragedy?