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Frequently
Asked Question about Qur'an
1. What is the
Qur’an ?
The Qur’an is an
Arabic word derived from the verb iqra’a which literally
means put letters as well as words together or read and
the Qur’an means the words which are read very
frequently and the Qur’an used practically for the words
of Allah whether the last message that is this Qur’an or
the previous messages which revealed to previous
messengers like Jesus Moses Ibrahim
(P.B.U.T)etc...However, people commonly use the word
Al-Qur’an to mean this Qur’an. This Qur’an is
therefore defined as words of Allah which was revealed to
Muhammed (PBUH), and the recitation of which constitutes
an integral part of the daily prayers.
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2. If the Qur’an
was used for the message revealed to Mohammed (PBUH) as
well as the previous messages, what characteristics would
then differentiate this Qur’an from the previous ones?
a. The fact that it is
the last of the heavenly books, it is more comprehensive
than the previous Qur’ans and includes what was revealed
in them.
b. Like the previous
Ones, this Qur’an was descended in the Holy month of
Rammadan. The difference is that the previous Qur’ans
were all revealed in one night to the concerned
Messengers, whereas this Qur’an was revealed to bait
Alaza, in first heavens, in one night and then in sections
or portions over a period of twenty years to our Prophet
Mohammed (P.B.U.H). Here the Angel Jubraeel (P.B.U.H) used
to come to the Prophet in order to reveal the concerned
section of the Qur’an, at different intervals with no
regularity. That is he used to appear at night time or
during the day, while the Prophet was with his companions
or at home, during travels or in the cities, and so on.
The Angel also used to appear to the Prophet (P.B.U.H),
revealing a specific section of the Quern which used to
coincide with, or follow, a specific incident, solving a
particular dispute (with the Jews for example), giving
instructions, .. etc. So it is apparent the high status
that the Prophet Mohammed has had and continues to have to
this day and the day of Judgment.
c. The Qur’an is
preserved in the hearts of millions of Muslims worldwide.
It has a mystical power in that people throughout their
lives have read it many times without getting fed-up with
it. Also people are constantly discovering miracles in it,
thus scientists are always conducting research on the
Qur’anic information and structure.
d. The wording and the
meanings of this Qur’an are challenging for human being
as well as the Jinn (demon).
e. The Qur’an is the
best words that have ever revealed and narrates the best
stories of the prevailing nations, It contains a large
number of matters on which the Israelites and the
Christians have differed on.
f. ALLAH (SWT)
Himself promised to preserve this Qur’an, such promise
was not made for the other holy books or to the previous
prophets.
g. When you start
reciting this Qur’an you should say Aotho billahi min
alshaitan al-rajeem (Seek refuge with ALLAH from Saitan
the cursed one), and if you read certain verses you should
prostrate.
h. When this Qur’an
first revealed the demon were prevented from getting the
heavens news.
I. This Qur’an is
revealed in Arabic language and as such it is the only
true and authenticwords of Allah. It is challenging, both
in structure and meaning. Translations of the Qur’an
cannot be considered as a substitute to the Qur’an in
its authentic Arabic language, this is a direct result of
its authenticity and preservation. A clear example of the
other holy books that were translated and being read in
different languages; such books over the years have lost
their originality and authenticity. In effect the
translations do not carry the same holiness as the
original Arabic words. Consequently, it is not necessary
to have wadu’a before you can hold or touch the English
translation of the meaning of the Qur’an provided that
such translation has no Arabic original verses.
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3. Some people say
that this Qur’an is written by Mohammed. What should be
the most appropriate answer for such claims?
The Qur’an occupies an
important position among the great religious books of the
world. However it is the most preserved one, not just in
hardback copies and audio and video tapes but also in the
hearts of millions of Muslims all over the world. It is,
therefore, natural that allegations would be that the
author of this book is Mohammed (P.B.U.H) in order to
reduce its religious status and value. Such claims are
strongly denied by every Muslim due to not just faith, but
the logical explanations against such claims. From the
scientific point of view, no person in the sixth century
AD (that is, fourteen hundred years ago) can utter such
precise scientific evidence. For instance, the precise
description of evolution of the embryo inside the uterus;
the description is so accurate that it was only recently
with the development of advanced scopes and image
processings that such phenomenon was verified by human
beings. Also from the literature point of view, the
Qur’an contained a literature merit that the whole
region of the Arab peninsula with its high calibre poets
could not even produce a single chapter (surah) of the
same calibre. There are numerous other logical
explanations that would take us very long time to list,
such explanations prove that it is not just unlikely for a
human being to produce such a book but it is impossible
even with the aid of the most powerful computers nowadays,
a person would need to be a doctor, a ,chemist, zoologist,
botanist, astronomist, poet, geneticist, mathematician,
philosopher, historian, and so on, and still can not
produce a single equivalent chapter (Surah). If you pick
any book for a particular author you see the prevailing
style throughout the book, in the Qur’an there is not
just one prevailing standard throughout.
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4. The Qur’an was
revealed over a period of twenty years, could you tell us
exactly how many verses (ayats) does the Qur’an contain,
also can you give an example of the length of a typical
revelation at one time to the Prophet (P.B.U.H) for the
purpose of illustration.
There are six thousand
and eighty six verses (Ayats) grouped in one hundred and
fourteen surah. The shortest Surah is of three Ayats like
surat-ul-Kauthur, the longest one is surat-ul - Baqarah
with 286 Ayats. An Ayat can consist of only one word like
(Mud'ha'm'mata'n), it can even be only two letters like
(t’h’). On the other hand, some Ayats can be quite
long like Ayat-ul-Kursey, the longest Ayat in the Qur’an
is that which deals with loan legislations in
surat-ul-Baqara which is more than a full page. Some of
the Surats were revealed on one occasion like Al-Ikhlas.
Another example here is Surat Al-Anaam which was revealed
in one go, this Surah consists of more than one Juzu (30
pages), it is in fact the fifth longest Surah in the
Qur’an. Sometimes part of a verse was revealed on one
occasion and the other part would follow on another.
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5. The Qur’an is
the most read single book in the world, it has been
recited for the past fourteen hundred years and the
indication is that people will continue not just to recite
this book but also memorize It for the coming years until
the day of Judgment. Could you tell us why people recite
the Qur’an and also why do they go to the extent of even
memorizing It?
The Qur’an is the last
Book of ALLAH, hence the words contained within It are
those uttered by ALLAH. By actually reciting the Qur’an,
we are indeed performing ‘Ibada’(an act of worship).
With every letter in our recitation we get a reward and
ALLAH multiplies such rewards as HE Pleases us. Secondly,
we as Muslims believe that on the day of Judgment, those
who enter Paradise will be told to climb up the ranks in
Paradise as they recite, thus the Muslims thrive to
memorise the Qur’an. The Qur’an contains blessings and
reassurance for every situation in our lives, for example
in times of fear, difficulty, pain, anxiety, we recite
this book for tranquillity from the ALMIGHTY ALLAH. The
house in which Qur’an is read frequently can be viewed
from the heavens as a shining star.
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6. People have
different memorising capabilities, what advice can you
give them to help in this task.?
1. Sincerity and good
intention are the most important steps when memorising the
Qur’an. At the time, one of the companions of the
Prophet(P.B.U.P)complained about his difficulties in
memorising the Qur’an. The prophet (P.B.U.P)said: “you
have been building up your Iman and Iman is given before
the Qur’an”. Obviously, Iman means belief in the heart
and practice according to the Islamic rules. So that, the
purification of one’s intention and correcting one’s
desire according to the Islamic rule is obligatory. in
other word sincerity is the first and the most important
rule of memorising the Qur’an.
2. Correcting your
pronunciation, this does not occur except by listening to
a good recitor or learning under-supervision of a
competent hafidh. Certainly new technology is helpful such
as audio tape, video tape and CD ROM.
3. Setting a daily limit
for memorising, a number of verses for example a page or
two.
4. To repeat what you
have memorised melodiously and for many times.
5. Not to move to a new
portion (a new limit of verses) of the Qur’an until you
have perfected the previous limit, that is, by frequent
rehearsals of what has been memorised.
6. When completing one
Surah,, don’t move to another till you have memorised
the current one precisely.
7. Always use the same
print copy of the Qur’an because one uses the sight in
the memorising just as using the hearing.The script, the
form of the verses and their places in the Mushaf (hard
copy of the Qur’an) leave an imprint in the mind when
they are recited and looked at frequently. Conversely, if
you change your print copy of the Mushaf to another print
which differs in shape and the places of the verses you
will find more difficulties in memorising.
8. It is important to
recite the Qur’an to others in order to correct and test
your memorising.
9. Constantly returning
to what has been memorised is very important to maintain
the stability of the memorisation.
10. Take advantage of
the golden years of memorisation between ages of 5y and 23
years, certainly, memorising in youth is like engraving on
stone and memorising when old is like engraving on water,
the younger you are the more likely to memorise and the
less likely to forget.
11. Understanding
Qur’anic verses by reading the “tafseer” is also
helpful in memorising the Qur’an.
12. Mastering the
resembling parts of the Qur’an by making relation
between the words and letters can be helpful in this
matter.
13. Using the Qur’an
in our daily speeches makes it more easy to memorise and
remember.
14. Running competitions
in memorising and recitation can be helpful in encouraging
the people to participate and the youth to memorise.
15. Reciting ten verses
from surat Al-Baqura every night can be helpful, these are
first 4 verses, Alkursi verse and two verses after it
(Number 255, 256, 257) and the last 3 verses of the same
surah.
16. “dua’a”.
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7. The Muslims follow
in their lives the Qur’an and the Sunnah which has been
revealed to us as “Hadeath”. The latter is the saying
and doings of the Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H). However, we
hear of what is termed as “Hadith Qudsi”. Could you
tell us what is the link between such kind of Hadeeth and
the revealed Qur’an?
Qur’an was revealed to
the Prophet through the Angel Jubraeel (P.B.U.H). The
Arabs were challenged to come up with something like it,
or even a small portion of it. We read the Qur’an in
special rhythmic methods we call “Tarteel”, in our
daily prayers we recite the Qur’an in every Rukaa.
Finally the content of the Qur’an is certain and
authentic, that is we believe that every part of this book
is true and there is not one section that is more true
than another.
Hadeeth or Sunnah on the
other hand is a record of what was said or done by the
Prophet (P.B.U.H). The Sunnah is the character of the
Prophet, what did he do in particular situations, how he
performed his prayers, and so on. Among the Hadeeth, there
is Hadeeth Qudsi, this is what the Prophet reported that
has been said by the ALMIGHTY ALLAH, it is, however, not
Qur’an. Unlike the Qur’an, the Hadeeth Qudsi can have
various levels of authenticity (strong, week, or fair). We
cannot recite the Hadeeth instead of the Qur’an in our
daily prayers, nor do we recite it in rhythmic tones.
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8. Islam is the
largest growing religion in the world, a great proportion
of such converts are non-Arabic speaking. However, such
people are still expected to perform their daily Salah
(prayers). Can they say the appropriate Qur’anic verses
in English or any other languages other than Arabic while
performing their Salah.?
Most of the Muslim
authorities say that Salah has to be in the Arabic
language. However, few authorities may allow the saying in
a language other than Arabic in the case when the person
is unable to learn. It is advisable, however, that such
people who are unable to learn the Qur’an can say
“thiker” instead, that is remembrance of Allah, such
as Alhamdulillah subhanallah Allahu Akbur....
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9. During the years
of the new message, the Prophet (P.B.U.H) spent the first
period in Mekkah and the rest in Meddinah. There were a
certain number of Surahs described as Makki, others were
called Meddani. What is the distinction if any between
these two types of Surahs?
Simply, what ever was
revealed before the Prophet’s migration from Mekkah was
called Makki, the rest were all called Meddani with
reference to the city of Maddinah. However the style of
the Makki Surah had coincided with the onset of the new
religion, thus it contained mainly aspects of faith
building for the new Muslims which included Tawheed or
Oneness and unity of ALLAH, affirming the new Message, and
affirming the aspects of the Resurrection and the Day of
Judgment. Also in them one can see the general guidelines
of legislative concepts and moral excellence. The Maddeni,
on the other hand, concentrated mainly on further and
detailed elaboration of the legislative matters, it gave a
clear guideline to aspects of faith like fasting, paying
of Zakat, forbidding intoxicants, prescribing Jihad, ..
etc. These Surahs also concentrated on exposing of the
hypocritical behavior as well as challenging the people of
the Book on aspects of faith when they were invited to
embrace Islam.
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10. Learning the
Qur’an is part of the Islamic faith, at what stage in
our lives ought we to start learning this book of ALLAH?
One must take advantage
of the early years or more appropriately the golden years
in one’s life to harness the strong capability of the
brain in memorising. These years are between the age of 5
up to 23. Imam Al-Seeuty had reported in Al-Jame’a
Al-Sageer that the Prophet (P.B.U.H) had said: (Memorising
in youth is like engraving on stone whereas memorising
when old is like engraving on water). Therefore, the
younger you are the easier it is to memorise and less
likely to forget, and the older you are the more difficult
it would be to memorise and more likely to forget.
However, this does not mean that if you pass the age of 23
years you should give up, this is absolutely not the case.
A large number of new converts embrace Islam well above
this age, they start not just memorising but even learning
to read and write a new language. At this relatively late
stage in their lives, they develop an excellent command of
this new language and also memorise a great deal of the
Qur’an. One must also remember that most of the Sahaba
embraced Islam in time later years of their lives, still
they managed to memorise if not all of the Qur’an but
certainly a large proportion of it. A good example here is
the Sahabi Salman Al-Farisi who at an age older than that
of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) himself embraced Islam.
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11. You stated that
it is crucial that we teach the Qur’an to our children,
what advice can you give parents and even the educational
establishments with this aspect?
Praise be to ALLAH,
there are a large number of mosques and Qur’anic schools
available in Glasgow and other major cities. These are
doing a great job in teaching the Qur’an and as a result
young children are memorising great portions if not all of
the Qur’an. It is crucial that a child is enrolled in
such a place for this purpose. However, some parents say
that they would rather teach their children at home,
unfortunately this does not always work due to other
commitments on the part of the parents and also to
discipline as far as the children are concerned. Having
said that, parents must take an active role in their
children’s Qur’anic education, this can be achieved by
constantly praising the children on their excellent
achievements, and also in taking a positive and active
role in it. Always ask them to recite what they have
learnt, reward them and encourage them constantly, a
child’s proudest moment is the moment when his or her
parents are praising them for their good achievements. It
is also helpful to have audio tapes playing Qur’anic
tapes in the background when your children are at home,
especially the parts that they have already memorised,
this will engrave it more in their memory. Additionally
children like to compete, so encourage your children to
compete in their Qur’anic knowledge and memorisation, in
the past two years there were two such competitions held
on a large scale in the Central Mosque in Glasgow. Every
young competitor received a prize and all the competitors
received a certificate to commemorate the occasion. This
is a golden opportunity for parents to actively
participate in such occasions by making it a special day
for the whole family. Make sure you praise your children
on their accomplishments, by hanging their certificates in
a well viewed place in your house and inform your visitors
in the presence of your child about their achievement and
how proud you are of them. Finally, if you live in an area
where it is not possible to enroll your child in the
mosque due to various difficulties, then you must teach
your children at home, (it is important to make regular
times of it) preferably daily, say one hour each day,
start with the small surahs of the last Juzu (30th part in
Qur’an) and progress onward to the bigger ones,
INSHA’ALLAH it will be made easy for you.
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12. It is a common
misconception that Islam as a religion is associated only
with the Arabs or the Arabic speaking nations. However we
know, for example, that the largest Muslim countries in
the world are in fact non Arabic speaking nations.
Therefore such people rely on translations and explanation
of the Qur’an. What are the rules and regulations that
must be followed in delivering such translations?
Translating any document
can be achieved in one of three ways. First is the Literal
Translation, this means word for word, sentence for
sentence and phrase for phrase. This type of translation
cannot be achieved if one wants to maintain the
originality of the document and keeping the meaning
intact. As a result this type of translation is not
allowed as far as the Qur’an is concerned. Second is the
Meaning Translation, the Qur’an’s language is very
eloquent, it has essential meanings as well as secondary
ones. What is meant by essential meanings, are those that
can be literally transferred or translated to any other
language. However, this type of Qur’anic information may
consist of more than one meaning, thus the literal
translation may not be accurate of the meaning itself. The
secondary meanings, on the other hand, is the type of
words structure that gave the Qur’an it’s challenging
characteristics to all creatures. Thus the deduction here
is that the secondary translation is not just disallowed
but in fact impossible, consequently this makes the
Meaning Translation not practical. Third is the
Explanatory Translation (translation of the Tafseer): in
this translation, the translator or the Mufasir translates
what he understands from the explanation (tafseer) of the
Qur’an to the other languages. This stresses the point
that the translation is based on the understanding of the
particular authority be it Islamic Institutes or certain
Alim or Ulama. This is why we see a different number of
Tafseers with slightly different opinions based on the
particular authority which reflects the ability of
understanding of those in charge. Obviously, the
translation of the Qur’an is not the Qur’an, and with
translation the challenging character of wording structure
of the Qur’an will be lost . Therefore one can see the
importance in learning the language of the Qur’an, that
is the Arabic language.
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13. The Qur’an, as
the words of ALLAH, contains as well the legislation of
the Muslims, their ways of life and their conduct. It has
been revealed in the richest textual format and in
occasions that vary from one to another. The Muslims rely
on the Tafseer of this book to understand the concepts
contained within. Can you elaborate on this and how many
different tafseers are available and also how do they rank
to each other?
As far as the number of
Tafseers available, there are certainly many. Some of the
Tafseers concentrate on the Scientific phenomenon, other
would concentrate on the linguistic features, ... etc.
Some of the Tafseers are very large and contained in a
number of volumes (up to 30), other four or six volumes,
some Tafseers are contained in only one volume. The
Tafseer of Ibn Abbas (kinned as the interpreter of the
Qur’an) is one of the most famous, others like Ibn
Katheer is the most recommanded, and among the relatively
recent ones is Tafheem Al-Quraan and also In the Shade of
the Qur’an.
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14. We have
established that the Qur’an is, in fact, the words of
ALLAH, therefore, the status that such a book has, is well
above any other book. Reading the Qur’an is most
definitely done in such a way that distinguishes it from
other books, we call such method of reading
“Reciting”. Could you tell us about this?
The way we read the
Qur’an is certainly different from the way we read any
other book. What distinguishes the Qur’an from other
books is that every word in it had been descended from the
ALMIGHTY ALLAH. Thus reading the Qur’an is done in an
eloquent way to reflect its excellence. This is called
“Tarteel” or “Tajweed” which means the art of
reciting in accordance with the established rules of
pronunciation and intonation. Therefore it is advisable
that every Muslim should learn these rules.
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