The Holy Quran is the most revered and sacred Divine scripture of the Muslims around the globe. No Muslim house is without it and there is no Muslim heart which doesn't have it. While many around the world have memorized it in complete, a tradition that is carried forward unbroken right the days of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), each Muslim has some part of it memorized - that makes every Muslim heart to be blessed with whole or part of the Holy Qur'an always residing within him.
And how blessed are all Muslims for having words that came straight from Allah, in His language, not only preserved in their heart, but almost everyone recite it for the love of Allah and His prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), because it was through him that the words and commandments of Allah reached the ordinary.
Unlike all other earlier holy scriptures which were literally "written" by religious men an d scholars, the Holy Qur'an was "compiled" from those who remembered it by heart, specially some who had memorized it right from the person of the Prophet of Allah, and written verses on camel and goat skins as there were no papers then. The third caliph of Islam, Caliph Othman has had the distinct honour to have the Qur'an compiled as we see it today and it has since then been preserved and not a dot extra has been added since.
Since the Holy Qur'an is so sacred and important in lives of Muslims, the Muslims certainly have some responsibility towards it to help carry forward its message and get spiritually cleansed by it. To my mind a Muslim has following responsibilities towards the word of Allah, the Holy Qur'an:
- Faith: Each Muslim should have an unswerving faith and belief that the Holy Qur'an is the word of Allah which has remained unpolluted despite passage of a period of more than fourteen centuries since it was revealed over a period of 23 years from Allah direct to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the most revered angels Jibraeel (Gabriel). It is only with this kind of unshakable belief that a Muslim can revere it, respect it and act upon it, because no one can then deny accepting what is contained therein for it is direct from the Master of the entire Universe, none other than Allah Himself.
- Regular Reciting: Having had an unswerving faith in its absoluteness, correctness and its being a Divine Book, it should be the duty of each Muslim to recite a part of it every day for it would be soul satisfying and spiritually cleansing one's heart and soul for if Allah's words are read, one can be rest assured of being spiritually blessed and cleansed of all worries and feel lighter and happy. Allah will surely bless the person who remembers reading His words. An endeavour must be made to learn Arabic and recite the Qur'an in the pure Divine language. Although reading translations for those who cannot read Arabic is OK, but an effort must be made to learn Arabic and see how Allah conversed with His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The best time to recite the Holy Qur'an is right after the pre-dawn prayer (the Fajr salah) when one has time and rather quietness which makes reciting more meaningful and understandable. While reciting, care should be taken to recite the Quran with a nice voice and tajwid (proper pronunciation). The Prophet of Allah has been quoted as saying: “Adorn and beautify the Quran with your voice.” However, do not recite the Quran like a song, contrary to tajwid. Reciting it by changing the words and distorting the meaning is least liked by Allah. The Prophet of Allah has also been quoted in saying: “Increase reading the Quran in your houses. If the Quran is not read in a house, the goodness of that house decreases and the evil of it increases."
- Understanding:While one must recite the Qur'an every day, without understanding its meaning or the message and commandments of Allah, one shouldn't be doing justice to the spirit behind its recitation. In fact understanding the Qur'an by understanding the reference to the context in which each verse was sent down, one cannot grasp the true meaning of the Qur'an. And if one does understands it, his living will automatically be steered towards a living as desired by Allah. Therefore, every source and resource should be explored to read plain translation first and then going deeper by reading the tafseer / exegesis written by some of the best scholars from around the world.
- Memorizing Part or Whole: Blessed are those who have memorized the whole of Qur'an by heart for a hear which is filled with the Divine words is the most blessed and lucky. While it takes a man's heart to embark upon memorizing the whole of the Holy Qur'an, one must start memorizing it bit by bit. The best way to learn the Qur'an is start from the end for the chapters / surahs in the end are are smaller and easier to understand and memorize. However, care must be taken that one must not forget what he has memorized once. Those who have memorized part or whole of it have the added advantage of keep reciting the Quran in their hearts without being dependent or in need of the hard copy. Now most of the smartphones have applications available of the Holy Qur'an from which one read or even listen to the recitation using headphones.
- Forwarding the knowledge of Qur'an to others: The last and most important responsibility of ever Muslim is to forward what knowledge one has obtained through reading to other Muslims who cannot read or write. This is the spirit through which the Qur'an which was memorized by the companions of Allah spread throughout the world. However, care must be taken that whatever is being forwarded is authentic and not polluted, for there are many sources which create misunderstanding of the verses and created dissection and division among the Muslims. Likewise, reading the Quran, making others read the Quran and to teach people how to read the Quran are all virtuous (rewarding) deeds.
We at Islam: My Ultimate Decision, have embarked upon the mission of spreading the word of Allah through providing exegesis of each chapter / surah of the Holy Qur'an, and Alhamdolillah, we have so far completed the exegesis of almost two third of the Holy Qur'an. The exegesis and translation that we present is through authentic sources, a reference to which is given at the end of each post, so that one may check for oneself about the authenticity of our sources.
For our part, the exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran are basically based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. However, sometimes videos of prominent scholars like Nouman Ali Khan are also shared in addition to the written text to substantiate the exegesis written decades ago to conform to the modern day research and techniques.
So try your best as a Muslim to fulfill your obligations and responsibilities towards the Holy Qur'an - rest assured your reward by Allah will be unimaginable. In sha Allah !!
Photo | References: | Compilation of the Holy Quran | 1 | 2 |
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