The Importance of Reading Quran with Understanding

Islam is the most fast spreading religion and more and more non Muslims are "reverting" to Islam. However, at the same time, it is the least understood religion, ironically by those who are born Muslims. Those who revert to Islam from their religion of birth or even no religion at all being atheists, embrace Islam after thoroughly understanding the wisdom contained in the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And to me are better Muslims for at least they have read the Quran by understanding it thoroughly and shaping their lives as per the commandments of Allah contained therein.

However, those who are born Muslims, generally learn to read the Quran in Arabic language but not really understanding what they have recited, for Arabic language is not the mother tongue of most of the Muslims around the world outside the Arab lands. Even those who do manage to read the translation are not aware of the reference to the context for which a particular verse was revealed. In fact why Quran took 23 years to be revealed in complete was the mere reason that each verse was revealed to address a issue at hand or to reply the non believers who were more often than not try to humiliate the Prophet of Allah by asking questions of the bygone days to see whether Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was really a prophet or not. That is another thing that even after been replied with authenticity by the Prophet of Allah many remained defiant and not accepting the response.

With this in mind, we at Islam: My Ultimate Decision have taken upon ourselves to present detailed understanding of the meaning of each verse of the Quran as given by a number of Islamic scholars complete with the reference to the context under which a particular verse was revealed. You may refer to our reference page: 114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary / exegesis of all Sūrahs / chapters of the Quran.

We also share selected verses from Quran that carry some important messages and commandments of Allah at: Selected Verses from the Qur'an.

We hope our effort will help our readers, specially those who have not so far read the Quran by understanding it and we assure them that a keen interest in our posts will make them understand Quran better than before. For the ease of understanding, the long chapters have been broken down in many parts.

You may now watch an enlightening video below by Zakir Abdul Karim Naik, an Islamic televangelist and Islamic preacher, stressing on the need to understand the Quran by reading its translation if you are not an Arabic speaking. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation. He is also the founder of the Peace TV:

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the video above are that of the concerned scholar . We have shared these view as added information in better understanding of Islam. The reader may or may not agree with the view owing to their own perception. If any one differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors.  If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.

For more Scholarly views and videos, please read our reference page: Scholars' Viewpoint on Important Issues Related to Islam.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.

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Responsibilities of the Muslims towards the Holy Quran

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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Understanding the Holy Quran: Huroof Muqatta’at - Disjoined Letters

The Holy Qur'an is a Divine book which was revealed unto Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a time period of some 23 years. The language of this Holy Scripture is Arabic. But its grammar is far richer than the ordinary Arabic grammar and an ordinary Arabic speaking cannot fathom the true meaning and explanation of the text. It is only those scholars who have spent their lives trying to understand the true meaning of the Divine message. and it is not known whether man has been able to understand and interpret the Holy Qur'an fully even as of today.

While ordinarily, the messages and the commandments contained therein have generally been understood and explained, there are a number of Surahs of the Holy Qur'an which commence with or contain some disjoined letters called Huroof Muqatta’at, or the abbreviated letters. A number of conjectures have been made as to their meaning. Opinions are divided as to the exact meaning of each particular letter or a combination of letters, and it is unanimously agreed by scholars and exegesists of all times that that only Allah knows their exact meanings.

Their presence is not inconsistent with the character of the Our-an as a plain book." The book of nature is also a plain book, but how few can fully understand it? Every one can get out of the Our'an plain guidance for his life according to his capacity for spiritual understanding, As his capacity grows, so will his understanding grow. The whole Book is a Record for all time. It must necessarily contain meanings that only gradually unfold themselves to humanity. This is not a mystery of the same class as "mysteries" by which we are asked to believe against the dictates of reason. If we are asked to believe that one is three and three is one, we can give no intelligible meaning to the words. e asked to believe that certain initials have a meaning which will be understood in the fullness of time, we are asked to draw upon Faith, but we are not asked to do any violence to our reason.

There are 29 letters in the Arabic alphabet (counting hamza and alif as two letters), and there are 29 Sürahs which have abbreviated letters prefixed to them. One of these Sūrahs (Surah Ash Shura, the 42nd surah) has two sets of abbreviated letters, but we need not count this Surah twice. If we take the half of the alphabet, omitting the fraction, we get 14, and this is the number of letters which actually occur in the Muqatta’at.

The 14 letters, which occur in various combinations, are:

• ا  Alif is 
• ل   Lam 
• م  Meem 
• ص  Sadh 
• ر  Ra 
• ك  Kahf 
• ط  Ta 
• س  Seen 
• ح  Ha 
• ق  Qaf 
• ن  Noon 
• ه   Ha 
• ع  ‘Ayn 
• ي  Ya 

These disjoined letters or the Huroof Muqatta’at appear in the Holy Quran mostly in the beginning as the opening verse or sometimes in between. The details of the surahs containing these Huroof Muqatta’at are given herein under:

Three surahs (Chapters) are pre-fixed with only one letter:

• Surah ص  Sadh (The Letter ص  “Sadh”) Chapter/Surah 38 with ص  Sadh
• Surah ق  Qaf (The Letter ق  “Qaf”) Chapter/Surah 50 with ق  Qaf
• Surah Al Qalam (The Pen) Chapter/Surah 68 with ن Noon

The combination of two letters occurs in 10 surahs (Three of them occur only once each):

• طه  Ta Haa, Chapter/Surah. 20 – Surah Taha (Ta happens to be Prophet Muhammad’s (s) Name)
• طس  Ta Seen, Chapter/Surah. 27 – Surah An Naml (The Ant)
• يس  Ya Seen, Chapter/Surah. 36–Surah Ya Seen (Ya Seen is also Prophet Muhammad’s (s) Name)

The combination of two letters ( حم   Ha Meem ) occurs in seven consecutive Surahs 40-46:

• Chapter/Surah. 40 Surah Ghafir (The Forgiver)
• Chapter/Surah. 41 Surah Fassilat (Explained in Detail)
• Chapter/Surah. 42 Surah Ash Shura (The Consultation)
• Chapter/Surah. 43 Surah Az Zukhruf (The Ornaments of Gold)
• Chapter/Surah. 44 Surah Ad Dukhan (The Smoke)
• Chapter/Surah. 45 Surah Al Jathiya (The Crouching)
• Chapter/Surah. 46 Surah Al Ahqaf (The Wind-Curved Sand hills)

There are three combinations of three letters, each occurring in 13 surahs. الم  Alif Lam Meem occurs In six of these surahs

• Chapter/Surah. 2 – Surah Al Baqara (The Cow)
• Chapter/Surah. 3 – Surah ‘Ali ‘Imran (Family of ‘Imran)
• Chapter/Surah. 29 – Surah al ‘Ankabut (The Spider)
• Chapter/Surah. 30 – Surah Ar Rum (The Romans), 
• Chapter/Surah. 31 – Surah Luqman (Luqman)
• Chapter/Surah. 32 – Surah As Sajda (The Prostration)

Of the 13 Surahs in which three combinations of three letters, الر  Alif Laam Ra occurs in Five consecutive Surahs 10 – 15:

• Chapter/Surah.  10 – Surah Yunus (Jonah), 
• Chapter/Surah.  11 – Surah Hud (Hud)
• Chapter/Surah.  12 – Surah Yusuf (Joseph)
• Chapter/Surah.  14 – Surah Ibrahim (Abraham)
• Chapter/Surah.  15 – Surah Al Hijr (The Rocky Tract)

Of the 13 Surahs in which three combinations of three letters, طسم  Ta Seen Meem,  occurs in two Surahs:

• Chapter/Surah. 26 – Surah Ash Shu’ara (The Poets)
• Chapter/Surah. 28 – Surah Al Qasas (The Stories)

Combination of four letters occurs twice:

• المص  Alif Lam Meem Sadh, Chapter/Surah.  7 – Surah al A’raf (The Heights)
• المر  Alif Lam Meem Ra, Chapter/Surah.  13 – Surah Ar Ra’d(The Thunder)

* Note the three preceding and two following Surahs have the triple letters الر  Alif Laam Ra

Combination of five letters, each of which occurs once only:

• كهيعص  Kahf Haa Ya Ayn Sadh, Chapter/Surah.  19 – Surah Maryam (Mary)
• حمعسق  Ha Meem Ayn Seen Qaf, Chapter/Surah.  42 – Surah Ash Shura (the Consultation)

Surah Al-Shura Chapter/Surah 42 has a double combination of abbreviated letters one set of two letters followed by one set of three letters.

• حم  Ha Meem – Chapter/Surah 42:1 – Surah Ash Shura (The Consultation)
• عسق  ‘Ayn Seen Qaf, Chapter/Surah  42:2 – Surah Ash Shura (The Consultation)

If we look very closely, we would find that the  combinations of disjoined letters that run in a series in consecutive Sürahs is noticeable. For example, حم occurs in seven consecutive Surahs from 42-47. The combination الر  occurs in six consecutive Surahs 10 to 15, but in one of them (Surah 12) it is modified to المر connecting it with the  الم series. The الم series covers 6 Sürahs. It begins with Surah 2 (Al Baqarah) Surah 3, which are practically the beginning of the Qur'an, and ends with the four consecutive Sürahs 29 to 33. 

The combination  طسم is prefixed to Surah 26 and 28, but the intervening Surah 27 has the combination طس, which may be considered a syncopated form, or the three-letter combination طسم may be considered an extended form of طس. Again the question arises: does the م in طسم ,  حم ,  الم  stand for the same signification, or does it mean a different thing in each case? We may generalize and say that there are three series of six, and one series of three, and the other occur singly. 

We should logically look for a common factor in the Surahs bearing the same initials, and this factor should be different for Surahs bearing other initials. In all cases where the disjoined letters occur, there is some mention of the Qur'an  or the Book. The Itqán makes an exception in the case of three Sürahs Ankabut (Surah 29), Rum (Surah 30) and Nun (Surah 43). But a close perusal will show that these surahs are no exception:

• In surah 29:27 there is a reference to the Book remaining in the family of Abraham, ans later there is a whole section, devoted to the Book, and the Qur'an (29:45-51).
• In surah 30:58, there is express mention of the Qur'an and the whole argument of the surah leads to the intimate relation between Allah's "Signs" in nature (30:20-27) and His revelation in the Qur'an. 
• In surah 68, the very first verse begins with the theme with the Pen as the instrument of writing, exhorts Al Mustafa to stand forth boldly yo problem of Message and ends (68:52) with the declaration that it is a Message for all worlds.

So far man has been unable to decipher these Huroof Muqatta’at - Disjoined Letters. May be someday when man attains a level of understanding that is far superior to that of now that the mystery of these letter may be solved.

Reference / External Source: The main reference for this post is the Appendix I of The Holy Qur'an, English translation of the meaning and commentary, published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and printed by King Fahd Holy Qur'an Printing Complex.

Other References: | 1 | 2 | 3 |

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Understanding Quran can Change Our Lives

I am a born Muslim, Alhamdolillah, and have been following my faith as best I can. But let me confide very candidly with my readers that beside reading the Holy Quran and its translation, I never ventured myself deep into the message and the commandments contained therein to under the philosophy and the context in which the divine revelations have been made to last of the prophets Muhammad (peace be upon him). Thus I think my faith remained incomplete till one day.. 

Yes one day in April earlier this year, I just pondered over how born Muslims differ from the reverted ones. So I started reading about the personal experiences on non Muslims opting to become Muslims despite a very negative image of Islam being presented in the world media. And one thing that clearly stood out was that they all really READ the Qur'an in the language they understood, interacted with practicing Muslims and after a thorough understanding of the religion, they embraced Islam.

This opened my eyes and I decided to start understanding Qur'an by reading exegeses by revered Muslim scholars and reading about meaning of Qur'an and what is expected of us by reading, understanding and practicing its substance. And as I read, I came to know how much I have missed by not really reading and understanding Qur'an.

So while I read, I thought of sharing my experiences in the form of this blog. And today Alhamdolillah, I have posted summaries of 51 chapters of Qur'an as I read these with tafsir / exegeses. And believe me, the more I read more secrets started to unveil and I started to understand the Qur'an better than before. For example I never really knew the difference between the last two surahs of the Qur'an: Surah Al Falak and Surah An Nas. After reading the details and the context in which these were revealed, I came to knew that in both surahs proprioception is sought against the Evil. But while Surah Al Falak relates to the outer evil forces, like the magic by witches, Surah An Nas talks of inner evil. And thus by reading details and reference to the context of each surah, one is clear as to the why of their revelation. 

If you want to read and understand Qur'an and are not an Arabic speaking, all you need is to get a translated version of Qur'an which should also have short explanations on the sidelines to get a rough idea as to the why of the need of the revelation of a particular surah.

It is preferable to read the Qur'an from the end, that from the last of the surah and then going backwards.It is for two reasons:

• The size of the surahs in the beginning is very larges with diverse substance, and as one progress the size starts to shorten. That is the last surahs are the shortest and easier to understand.
• The second thing is that the most of the later surahs were the first to reveal in Makkah and are mostly relate to the stubbornness of the pagans of Makkah who refused to listen to the Prophet of Allah and mocked him for being a self proclaimed prophet. Due to this resistance, the concept of reward and punishment abounds in these surahs, specially of the Day of Resurrection, which was taken very lightly by the disbelievers and were thus cautioned to be ready for the day when they would be made answerable for their deeds.

Then there are sites in which one can find short stories about Prophets and people who refused to listen to the prophets and teased them, in many cases they were killed, like John the Baptist, called Prophet Yahya in the Qur'an. From these stories  one can learn many lessons and draw relevant conclusions for self improvement.

Once reading the Qur'an, one must look for the Dos and Don'ts. These may save from many wrong decisions in ones life as a true Muslim by knowing what if good or otherwise for a faithful.

While most of the later verses generally caution the non believers and give them tidings of the blazing fires of hell waiting for them in their lives in the hereafter, there are good tidings for the believers who remain steadfast amidst all difficulties for Allah never leaves His servants alone, for Quran will act as an intercessor on the Day of Judgment for them.

And one very important aspect of understanding Qur'an is know the context in which a certain verse or surah was revealed. And this is very important as reading anything out of context can entirely change the meaning and understanding of a particular verse / surah. So be watchful for the reference to the context. One of the oft misquoted verse of Qur'an is "kill them wherever you find them." In many sites of non Muslims, this verse has been quoted to show the 'barbaric face of Islam.' But when this is read in the correct perspective, its meanings change altogether.

• Since proclamation fo Islam in Makkah, the pagans of Makkah made the lives of Muslims miserable and were tortured whenever the nonbelievers found them weak and alone.
• This sometimes infuriated companions of the Prophet of Allah and even the Prophet himself, but Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) always advised for restraint.
• And ten bitter years went by. And when Muslims could no longer tolerate atrocities of people of Makkah, the immigrated to nearby countries and finally to Medina. The disbelievers followed them drew them to war. It was then these two verses (190-191) of Surah Baqarah (surah number 2) were revealed allowing Muslims to retaliate. But please read the complete verses and then know for yourself that Muslims were still asked not to transgress: "Fight in the way of God those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. God does not like transgressors. And kill them [pagan Arabs] wherever you find them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and persecution is worse than killing."
• I hope this reference makes the ambiguity clear which is wrongly quoted by non Muslims these days.

And if Qur'an is read like this, one would see wonders happening to one's life for after understanding the Qur'an one would know what Allah has really wanted from the man. And if we go by the Divine commandments, and follow the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), for his entire life was exactly spent as ordained by Allah, we shall prosper both mentally and spiritually.

Photo | 114 Chapter of the Holy Quran
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