Understanding the Uniqueness of the Qur'an

 

Approaches to the Understanding

of the Qur'an

Now that the necessity of understanding the Qur'an has been confirmed,
let us see what are the ways of understanding this book. Generally for
the purpose of a profound understanding of any book it is necessary to
study it in three ways: 

1. Authentication:

At this stage, we want to know to what extent the relationship of a book
with its author is authentic. Suppose we want to study the Diwan-Hafiz,
or the Ruba'iyyat of 'Umar Khayyam. At first, we have to see whether the
work which is attributed to Hafiz, wholly belongs to him, or whether a
part of it is Hafiz's work and the rest is an apocryphal annexation to
it. Similarly in the case of 'Umar Khayyam, and others too, we must judiciously
scrutinize their works. It is here that the matter of examination of manuscripts
--and for that matter the oldest of them-- becomes relevant. Thus we see
that none of these books can dispense with such a treatment. The Diwan-e-Hafiz
printed by the late Qazvini, which has been based on some of the most authentic
manuscripts of Hafiz's work, varies greatly from the ordinary editions
of Hafiz. printed in Iran and Bombay, which are usually found in homes.
The editions of Hafiz's works published during the last thirty or forty
years contain as much as twice the amount of Hafiz's original works. In
view of certain modern manuscript experts of repute, they are fake; although
we occasionally come across in them some verses which match the sublime
heights of Hafiz's poetry. Likewise when we study the quatrains attributed
to 'Umar Khayyam, we shall find nearly two hundred quatrains of the same
poetical standard with only minor differences usually possible even among
the authentic verses of a single poet. However, if we look back at the
history of Khayyam's times, we shall notice that the number of quatrains
attributed to him may perhaps be less than twenty. The authenticity of
the rest of them is either doubtful, or may with certainty be said to belong
to other poets. 

It means that the first step towards the research study of any book
is to see to what extent the book in our hands is authentic, whether all
the things recorded on its pages are genuine, or if only a part of it is
authentic. Moreover, what criteria and standards should be employed in
order to judge the authenticity and genuineness of authorship? By what
logic can the authenticity of any book be totally rejected or affirmed? 

The Qur'an is absolutely exempt from all such criteria that may be applicable
to all worldly books. It is regarded as the exclusively singular book since
the ancient times. No book of ancient days has remained above doubt to
such extent despite a long lapse of several hundred years. No one can ever
say about it that such and such a surah has a questionable authenticity
or such and such a verse that is present in such and such a manuscript
is missing from another manuscript. The Qur'an stands above the notions
of manuscript reading. There is no place for the slightest doubt that all
of the verses that exist in the Qur'an are those conveyed to Muhammad ibn
'Abd Allah (S) who communicated them as the miraculous Word of God. Nobody
can ever claim that another version of the Qur'an existed anywhere, or
still exists. There has not been any Orientalist either who would begin
the study of the Qur'an by saying, "let us trace from the earliest of the
manuscripts of the Qur'an to see what was included in it and what was not."
The Qur'an is absolutely free from this kind of investigation necessary
in case of such books as the Bible, the Torah, or the Avesta, or the Shahnameh
of Ferdowsi, or the Gulistan of Sa'di and every other ancient or not so
ancient work. 

Only for the study of the Qur'an no such questions arise, and the Qur'an
is far above the usual norms of authenticity and the craft of manuscript
reading. Moreover, besides the fact that the Qur'an is one of the heavenly
scriptures and has been regarded by its followers as the most basic and
authentic proof of the Prophet's (S) claim to prophethood, and as the greatest
of his miracles, the Qur'an, unlike the Torah, was not revealed at one
time and was not subject to later difficulties in distinguishing the true
manuscript. The verses of the Qur'an were revealed gradually during a span
of twenty-three years. From the very first day, the eager Muslims memorized
its verses, preserved and recorded them. Those were the days when the Muslim
society was quite a simple society. No other book existed besides the Qur'an,
and the Muslims were inevitably inclined to memorize its verses. Their
clear, unmarked minds and their powerful memory, their general ignorance
about reading and writing, all these factors assisted them in acquiring
and retaining their information regarding the Qur'an. This is the reason
why the message of the Qur'an, which was so congenial to their sensibilities
and their natural propensities, got effectively imprinted on their hearts
like inscription on stone. Since they believed it to be the Word of God,
it was sacred to them also. They couldn't permit themselves that a single
word or even a letter of it be altered or replaced in its text. They tried
to acquire the nearness to God by reciting its verses. It should be noted
here that from the very early days the Prophet (S) had engaged a group
of scribes for the purpose of writing down the Qur'an, who were known as
the "Scribes of the Revelation." This should be regarded as one of the
merits in favour of the Qur'an from which all other ancient books are excluded.
The absence of any alteration and change in the Word of God was on account
of this process of writing and recording from the very beginning. 

The other reason responsible for the popularity of the Qur'an among
the people was its extraordinary, supernatural literary and artistic dimension
depicted in its rhetoric and eloquence. It was this strong literary attraction
towards the Qur'an, which had an appeal for the people, that prompted them
to immediately memorize its verses. But unlike other literary works like
the Diwan-e-Hafiz and poems of Rumi, which are exposed to meddling by admirers
who think they are improving on the original, nobody could ever give himself
the permission of meddling with the sacred text; for the Qur'an immediately
declared in one of its verses: 

Had he [the Prophet (S)] invented against Us any sayings,
We would have seized him by the right hand, then We would surely have cut
his life vein. (69:44-46) 

There are several other verses in the Qur'an that forbid forgery in relation
to the Word of God. The gravity of this sin as stressed by the Qur'an had
profound impression upon minds and served as a severe discouragement in
this regard. In this way, before any type of alterations could have taken
place in its verses, they were repeated often, thus reaching a stage that
it was impossible to increase, diminish or alter even a single word in
this heavenly book. Accordingly, there is neither any need of any discussion
about the Qur'an from the point of view of authenticity, nor does any scholar
of the Qur'an throughout the world see any necessity of such a discussion.
However, I think, it is necessary to remind the readers about the fact
that, because of the rapid expansion of the Islamic domain and distance
of the major part of the population living far away from Medina, which
was the center of huffaz (those who memorized) of the Qur'an and
the Companions of the Prophet, there arose the danger of occurrence of
advertent or wilful gradual alteration in the Qur'anic text. But the prompt
dexterity and timely awareness on the part of early Muslims averted this
danger. Within the first five decades, they utilized the services of the
Sahabah (the Companions of the Prophet) and those of the huffaz
of the Qur'an for the purpose of averting the chances of conscious or inadvertent
alterations in the text of the Qur'an. They distributed approved copies
of the Qur'an from Medina to the surrounding regions. They thus checked
any chances of wrongdoing, especially on the part of the Jews, who are
well-known champions in this field. 

From learning Quran online Blog 

To all Muslim we should listen to Quran  and try to  learn Quran online  with translation  to understand the holy scripture and it is must for us to read Quran online, and availing the knowledge through learning Arabic Quran this is the main deauty that we have to promote and learn holy quran so that the true words of Allah should be spread we should  try  to learn quran tafseer the translation as well so we could explain and understand that what ever te quran tutor teaches more articles can be found under learning Quran online Blog a recourse full collection of hadith bukhari shrif and a read  Quran online or you can listen holy Quran recitation for top quran reciters and you can find Quran for kids and quran teaching staff online to learn quran from where ever you want to learn the teaching of Koran and they provide tajweed quran lessons and Quran memorization classes well plz link to it and share it to promote the teachings of islam

End from free Download quran blog