Mohammad Rafoqie
Junior Member
By Mohammad Rafique Etesame
Almighty Allah Says in the Holy Qur’an,”Alif. Lam. Mim. This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt, guidance unto those who ward off (evil):
Who believe in the unseen, and establish worship, and spend of that We have bestowed upon them. And who believe in that which is revealed unto thee (Mohammad) and that which was revealed before thee, and are certain of Hereafter. These depend on guidance from their Lord, these are the successful.”(Aal-Baqarah: 5)
Some holy words that placed at the very beginning of some Surahs like” Alif-Lam-meem”, Ha-Meem, Yaseen etc. Are called “Huroof-e-Muqattiat” (Letters of small forms of verses). Religious scholars say these words argue that the Holy Qur’an is the marvelous words of God. The Holy Qur’an challenged the Arabs and also the people of all over the world that,”And if ye are in doubt concerning that which We reveal into Our slave (Mohammad), then produce a surah the like thereof, and call your witnesses beside Allah if ye are truthful. And if ye do it not- and ye can never do it- then guard yourselves against the fire prepared for disbelievers, whose fuel is of men and stones”. (Al-baqarah: 24) But after passing more then fourteen hundred years, no one can meet this challenge yet.
In the time of ignorance (before the apostleship of the holy Prophet (PBUH)), there was a place of meeting of the poets in some village of Mecca, where the poets gathered and shared their poetry. The holy Prophet (PBUH) announced himself as the messenger of Allah, but that news was rare yet. One companion of the holy Prophet (PBUH) entered that house of meeting and wrote surah “Al kausar” on its wall. When the time of meeting began, a poet entered the house and read that surah. He did not know about the apostleship of the holy Prophet (PBUH). After reading it, he became extremely surprised and thought who was its poet? Then all the poets entered and read that surah but did not take any decision about it. At last, they wrote under that surah ” these words are not of any human being”.
The question is: how can we understand the real meanings of the holy Qur’an? So the religious scholars say that what is understood by its translation obviously, that is the real. (Al- fauzol-kabeer fe usoole-Tafseer) For example, the holy Qur’an mentions about Paradise, Hell, the Day of Judgment, Pul- Sirat (the bridge over which the righteous will pass into Paradise), the whoors (virgins of Paradise), the Golden Palaces and the pure wine etc. These are really exist. The holy Qur’an reveals,”Lo! Those who disbelieve among the people of the Scripture and the idolaters, will abide in fire of hell. They are the worst of created beings.
(And) lo! Those who believe and do good works are the best of created beings. Their reward is with their Lord: Gardens of Eden underneath which rivers flow, wherein they dwell forever. Allah hath pleasure in them and they have pleasure in Him. This is (in store) for him who fearth his Lord.” (Al-Bayyenah:8)
These verses are the clear proof of the existence of Paradise, Hell and the best reward for the faithful believers and the bad reward for disbelievers. It also reveals that the Day of Judgment will be established for accountability.
But there are some people, who see Islamic teachings by the secular point of view and want to modernize it,
Deny all that and say one should act upon the “sprit” of the holy Qur’an and not on its words. They say that what is mentioned in the holy Qur’an about the torment of the grave, the Day of Judgment, the Hell, whoors (virgins) of Paradise, golden Palaces, and pure wine etc., are mentioned only as metaphorically and not as real. They also say that what is mentioned in the holy Qur’an about the offering slat for five times daily, does not mean in its real meanings as the Muslim Ummah offer, but is mentioned only to please the Muslims so that they remain constant in worship of God.
So, the right way to understand the holy Qur’an is: to study and act upon the authentic interpretation and “Tafseer” (commenting) of the holy Qur’an of “Ahl-e-Sunnat wal-Jama’at”, it means the translators and the commentators from the right-guided companions (R.A.) and their followers who acted upon the sunnah of the holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). For example, Tafseer Ibn-e-Abbas (R.A.), Tafseer Ibn-e-katheer, Tafseer Jalalain etc. In addition to, there are a large number of interpretations of the holy Qur’an in Islamic countries according to the “Ahl-e-Sunnat wal-Jama’at”. (please see http://www.altafsir.com/ and http://www.maarifulquran.net/)
In these interpretations , Islamic teachings and its dogmas are mentioned according to the sayings and “Uswa-e-Hasana (good example ) of the holy Prophet (PBUH). May Almighty Allah give us power to act upon the real teachings of Islam. Ameen.