ESSENCE OF ISLAM – Part 19 – Excellence of the Holy Qur’an

8 The Review of Religions – May 2007 No Verity Left out of the Holy Qur’an It is my faith that the Holy Qur’an is perfect in its teaching and that there is no verity that has been left out of it, as Allah, the Glorious, has said: …We have sent down to thee the Book to explain everything;… (Ch.16:V.90) and again: We have left out nothing in the Book. (Ch.6:V.39) But I also believe that it is not the function of every Maulawi to set forth from the Holy Qur’an all religious matters and to expound all its details according to the Divine design. This is the function especially of those who have been helped with Divine revelation by way of Prophethood or great saintliness. For those people who not being recipients of revelation are not competent to expound Qur’anic insights, the only straight way is that without attempting to interpret the Qur’an, they should unhesitatingly accept all the This series sets out, in the words of the Promised Messiah(as), Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a summary of his exposition of four outstanding topics: ISLAM; ALLAH, THE EXALTED; THE HOLY PROPHET(sa) and THE HOLY QUR’AN. The original compilation, in Urdu, from which these extracts have been translated into English, was collated with great care and diligence by Syed Daud Ahmad Sahib, Allah have mercy on him and reward him graciously for his great labour of love. Amin. The English rendering is by the late Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, may Allah be pleased with him, and is quoted from The Essence of Islam, Volume 1. All references throughout, unless otherwise specifically mentioned, are from the Holy Qur’an. ESSENCE OF ISLAM: Part 19 – Excellence of the Holy Qur’an 9The Review of Religions – May 2007 teachings which have been handed down by tradition. Those who are illumined with the light of saintly revelation are included among the purified. Regarding them it is the way of Allah that from time to time He discloses to them the hidden fine points of the Holy Qur’an and makes it clear to them that the Holy Prophet(saw) has not put forth any extra teaching on his own and that the true Ahadith only set forth the details of the principles and directives contained in the Holy Qur’an. By being vouchsafed this insight, the miracle of the Holy Qur’an is manifested to them and the truth of those verses becomes clear to them in which Allah, the Glorious, says that nothing has been left out from the Holy Qur’an. (AI-Haq Mubahatha Ludhiana, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 4, pp. 80- 81) The purport of this verse is that: He it is Who has raised among the Unlettered people a Messenger from among themselves who recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before, in manifest misguidance; (Ch.62:V.3) ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as). The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as). In 1891, he claimed, on the basis of Divine revelation, that he was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi whose advent had been foretold by Muhammad, the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and by the scriptures of other faiths. His claim constitutes the basis of the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. 10 The Review of Religions – May 2007 The Holy Qur’an has two great purposes for achieving which the Holy Prophet(saw) came. One is the wisdom of the Holy Qur’an, that is to say, its insights and fine points; and the second is the effect of the Holy Qur’an which purifies the souls. The safeguarding of the Qur’an does not mean only that its text should be preserved, for this function was performed in early ages by the Jews and Christians also in respect of their scriptures, so much so, that even the vowel points of the Torah had been calculated. By the safeguarding of the Holy Qur’an is meant both the safeguarding of the text and the safeguarding of the benefits and effects of the Qur’an, and that can only be done in accord with Divine practice, if from time to time deputies of the Holy Prophet(saw) should appear who should enjoy all the bounties of Messengership by way of reflection, and who should be bestowed all the blessings which are bestowed upon the Prophets. This is indicated in the verse: Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear. They will worship Me and they will not associate anything with Me. Then whoso is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious. (Ch.24:V.56) This verse is explanatory of the other verse: Verily We Ourself have sent down this Exhortation, and most surely We will be its Guardian. (Ch.15:V.10) and furnishes the reply to the question how will the Qur’an be safeguarded? God Almighty says that He will from time to time ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN 11The Review of Religions – May 2007 send successors of the Holy Prophet(saw). (Shahadat-ul-Qu’an, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 6, pp. 338-339) Holy Qur’an Possesses all True Signs of Divine Books The certain and perfect and easy means whereby without any trouble, labour, obstruction, doubt, suspicion, error, or omission, true principles together with the arguments in support thereof, might be discovered with complete certainty, is the Holy Qur’an. There is no other book or other means through which this great object might be achieved. (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol.1, p.77) Now, O friends! I will describe to you the distinctive sign which sane reason has appointed for the recognition of a revealed Book is to be found only in the Holy Book of God Almighty, which is the Holy Qur’an. In this age all those qualities which should be found as a distinctive sign of God’s Book are absent in other books. It is possible that they might have possessed those qualities in an earlier age, but they do not possess them now, and though, for the reason that we have set out, we regard them as revealed, yet even if they are revealed, in their present condition they are not of any use. They are like a citadel which is empty and in ruins, and bereft of all wealth and military strength. (Chashma-e-Ma’rifat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 23, p. 402) If an opponent of Islam should object that to hold the Holy Qur’an as being better and superior to all revealed Books would mean that other revealed Books are of an inferior quality, while they are the word of the same One God, and there cannot be superiority and inferiority between them, the answer would be that from the point of view of revelation all Books are doubtlessly equal, but some are superior to others on account of the quantum of their contents and the perfection of matters relating to the faith contained therein. From this point of view, the Holy Qur’an is superior to all Books ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN 12 The Review of Religions – May 2007 inasmuch as other Books do not contain as much of these matters as are necessary for perfecting the religion, as, for instance, questions relating to the Unity of God, and the negation of all types of shirk, and remedies for spiritual ills, and arguments for the rejection of false religions, and the proof of true doctrines, that are set out forcefully in the Holy Qur’an. (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 1, p. 74, footnote 2) Unity of God in the Holy Qur’an vs. the Torah The claim of the Christian missionaries that the Qur’an does not set forth anything new on the Unity of God and on Divine commandments which is not contained in the Torah, is altogether false. An ignorant person reading the Torah might fall into the error that it sets forth the Unity of God, and directions with regard to worship, and the rights of mankind, and that there is nothing new which has been set out in the Qur’an, but only a person who has not pondered the Word of God would fall into this error. There is a great part of matters Divine that finds no mention in the Torah; for instance, it does not mention the finer stages of the Unity of God. The Qur’an discloses that the Unity of God does not mean merely that we should not worship idols, or human beings, or animals, or the elements, or heavenly bodies or satans, but that the Unity of God has three stages. The first stage of the Unity of God is for the common people who desire to be delivered from the wrath of God Almighty. The second stage is for those who desire to be closer to God than the common people. The third stage is for those special ones who desire to achieve closeness to perfection. The first stage is that no one should be worshipped except God, and that one should refrain from the worship of everything ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN 13The Review of Religions – May 2007 that is limited and created, whether it is on the earth or in heaven. The second stage of the Unity of God is that in one’s own affairs and in the affairs of others, God Almighty should be regarded as the true force and that means should not be so emphasised as to become associates of God. For instance, to say that had it not been for X one would have suffered a certain loss, or that if it had not been for Y, one would have been ruined, would amount to shirk, if by such pronounce- ments it is meant that X and Y truly possess some power. The third stage of the Unity of God is to exclude the desires of one’s ego from one’s love of God Almighty and to devote oneself entirely to His Greatness. Such Unity of God is not to be found in the Torah. Also there is no mention of salvation or hell in the Torah, except some slight indications here and there. In the same way, there is no detailed mention in the Torah of the perfect attributes of God Almighty. Had the Torah contained any Surah like the one in the Holy Qur’an: Say, ‘He is Allah, the One; Allah the Independent and Besought of all. He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto him.’ (Ch.112:Vs.2-5) then perhaps the Christians might have refrained from the worship of a creature. Also the Torah has not set forth the degrees of rights but the Qur’an has set forth this teaching also in perfection. For instance, it says: Verily, Allah requires you to abide by justice, and to treat with grace, and give like the giving of kin to kin; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and transgression. (Ch.16:V.91) Allah enjoins equity, benevo- lence and graciousness between kindred. ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN 14 The Review of Religions – May 2007 This means that our sympathy with mankind should be prompted by natural eagerness and not by any motive of seeking acknowledgement, as for instance, a mother has sympathy for her child. The Torah also fails to establish the existence of God and His Unity and His perfect attributes on the basis of reason, but the Holy Qur’an has established all these doctrines and the need of revelation and Prophethood with arguments based on reason, and, by stating everything in a philosophic way, has made it easy for seekers after truth to appreciate it. These arguments are put forth in such an excellent manner in the Holy Qur’an that it is not within anyone’s power, for instance, to put forth any argument on the existence of God which is not contained in the Qur’an. A strong argument in support of the need of the Holy Qur’an is that all the previous Books beginning with the Torah and ending with the Gospel are addressed to a particular people, namely, the children of Israel and state in clear words that the directions contained in them are not for the general benefit, and are limited to the children of Israel. But the Holy Qur’an aims at the reform of the whole world and is not addressed to any particular people but states plainly that it has been revealed for the benefit of the whole of mankind and that the reform of everyone is its purpose. (Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 13, pp. 83-85) The Holy Qur’an Vs. the Gospels (Urdu Poem) O Christians! Come this way; See the light of the True God, and find the true path. Can you show us in the Gospels The numberless qualities present in the Qur’an? Remember! There is the Creator above you, Do not just go about misleading His creation. How long will you continue to love falsehood, ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN 15The Review of Religions – May 2007 Do try truthfulness for a change. People! Have some fear of God, Have some modesty before Him. The pleasures and delights of this life are not forever; Dears! This is not a place to live in forever. No one has ever stayed here forever. Nor is this an eternal world …. My dear people, listen! Without the Qur’an, Man can never find the True God. Those who have no knowledge of this Light, Cannot behold the Beloved. The influence of the Furqan is indeed marvellous: It turns one into a lover of the Beloved God …. Hear from me of the beauty of the charming beloved; Hear from me the charm of its beautiful countenance. If you do not have eyes, at least you have ears; If not, it might as well serve as a trial for you. (Ba rah in -e -Ahmad iyya , Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol.1, pp.298-300) The Qur’an is filled with deep wisdom. In all its teachings and in its instructions with regard to true virtue it goes beyond the Bible. The lamp for beholding the true and unchangeable God is in the hand of the Qur’an. Had the Qur’an not come, God knows how many creatures might have been worshipped in the world. So all praise is due to God that the Unity of God which had disappeared from the world, has been re-established by the Qur’an. (Tohfah Qaisariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 12, p.282) The Holy Qur’an brings out the full accord between Science and Religion The Holy Qur’an is a Book so ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN 16 The Review of Religions – May 2007 full of wisdom that it has brought out the accord between the principles of spiritual medicine, that is to say, the principles of religion which are truly spiritual medicine, and physical medicine, and this accord is so fine that it opens the doors of hundreds of insights and verities. It is only that person who can interpret the Holy Qur’an truly and perfectly, who ponders the principles laid down by the Holy Qur’an in the light of the system of physical medicine. On one occasion I was shown in a vision some books of expert physicians which contained a discussion of the principles of physical medicine, among which was included the book of the expert Physician, Qarshi, and it was indicated to me that these Books contained a commentary on the Holy Qur’an. This shows that there is a deep relationship between the science of bodies and the science of religion and that they confirm each other. When I looked at the Holy Qur’an, keeping in mind the books that dealt with physical medicine, I discovered that the Holy Qur’an sets out in an excellent manner the principles of physical medicine. (Chashma-e-Ma’rifat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 23, pp. 102-103) ESSENCE OF ISLAM – EXCELLENCE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN