INTRODUCTION

 

Bismillāhir Rahmānir Rahīm, As-salāmu ʿAlaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh. Peace be upon you brothers and sisters.

 

Welcome back to Muslim Converts! The Qur’an is not just a book. The Qur’an is a relationship, As a relationship, it exists in a relational web on multiple levels. These include its relation to Allah, Islam as a religion, the Prophet, his Ahl al-Bayt (as), as well as the Islamic community and humanity as a whole.

 

In this lesson, we will briefly go over what the meaning of these relationships are and how they exist holistically.

 

BODY OF TEXT

 

And it was not [possible] for this Qur'an to be produced by other than Allah, but [it is] a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of the [former] Scripture, about which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds. Or do they say [about the Prophet], "He

 

invented it?" Say, "Then bring forth a surah like it and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides Allah, if you should be truthful." (Chapter 10, verses 37-38 of the Holy Qur’an)

 

The Prophet Muhammad (s) once said:

 

“The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it"

 

He also said:

 

“Allah has His own people among mankind.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, who are they?” He said: “The people of the Qur’an, the people of Allah and those who are closest to Him'"

 

The Qur’an is the holy word of God. It is an expression of Allah’s will upon humankind in the form of a book. God's will is to guide people away from sins and spiritual diseases and towards salvation and spiritual healing.

 

The Qur’an says: This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah – (Chapter 2, verse 2 of the Holy Qur’an)

 

It also says:

 

Indeed, We sent down to you the Book for the people in truth. So whoever is guided - it is for [the benefit of] his soul; and whoever goes astray only goes astray to its detriment. And you are not a manager over them. (Chapter 39, verse 41 of the Holy Qur’an)

 

In this sense, the Qur’an is the foundation of all of Islam. The Qur’an sets the foundational beliefs of all Muslims, which includes tawhid, that is, belief in the absolute oneness of God, the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad (s) as well as the reality of the Day of Judgment.

 

Many times over, we’ve seen how the Prophet (s) is the explainer of Islam’s Holy Book. What we haven’t touched upon much, however, is how the Holy Qur’an is proof of the Messenger of Allah’s (s) truthfulness, that is, it is a proof of his claim that he was indeed a Prophet from God. Every Prophet of Allah that wishes to establish himself as genuine Prophet must produce miracles.

 

The Qur’an was and is still the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (s) for its sheer eloquence in Arabic was something which the Arabs of the time could not reproduce despite being having the top experts of Arabic eloquence in their communities.

 

One of the primary reasons for the existence of the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt was for them to expand and explain the Qur’an for us. Without the Ahl al-Bayt (as), the Qur’an remains incomplete, and similarly, without the Qur’an, the Ahl al-Bayt (as) cannot fullfill their mission.

 

Towards the end of his life, the Prophet (s) said:

 

"It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both, you will never go astray

 

after me. They are the Book of Allah and my Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)."

 

The Qur’an is not only a guidance for Muslims, but also for humankind. The Qur’an gives Muslims the general principles of how to lead an ethical and moral life, and it also shows them the basics of proper belief in God. It teaches them how to be kind, and how to avoid sin. But this is also relevant to humanity. Remember that the purpose of the Qur’an is to guide people towards salvation.

 

The Qur’an says:

 

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. (Chapter 2, verse 185 of the Holy Qur’an)

 

The Qur’an establishes the criterion or balance for what is truth and what is falsehood. It establishes the criterion for what is morally good and what is morally bad. For example, the Qur’an says that there is only One God. This is not a subject that is up for a person’s choice or taste, it is establishing a universal fact.

 

Similarly, when the Qur’an says that it is wrong to murder or commit adultery, it is not establishing a rule of Muslims only, but a general moral principal for all of humanity. According to the Qur’an, its core message is not supposed to be controversial. It is only controversial when people are ignorant and lack knowledge.

 

The Qur’an says:

 

Rather, they have denied that which they encompass not in knowledge and whose interpretation has not yet come to them. Thus did those before them deny. Then observe how was the end of the wrongdoers. (Chapter 10, verse 39 of the Holy Qur’an)

 

So here we can see the relational web between the Qur’an and the world. The Qur’an is the word of Allah (swt) and is meant to guide Muslims and humanity as a whole. It is also the proof which establishes the veracity of the Messenger of Allah’s (s) claim to prophethood. It is also one of the existential reasons for why the Ahl al-Bayt (as) were there in the first place, namely as explainers and fulfillers of the Qur’anic message.

 

Until Next Time, Thank you for watching. As-salāmu ʿAlaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh