Beauty of the Holy Quran

BEAUTY OF THE HOLY QURAN (F. M. Quraishy) The Holy Quran is the very Word of God, revealed through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), as was foretold by Moses in Deut. 18: 18 and by Jesus in the gospel of St. John 16: 13. Of all the Divine scriptures only the Holy Quran comprises the eternal and everlasting teachings for the good of mankind till the end of time. God has therefore promised to protect it from interpolations. The promise about the preservation of the Holy Quran (15:10) has been so remarkably fulfilled that this miracle alone is more than sufficient to establish its Divine origin. It should not be forgotten that the verse containing the promise was revealed at Mecca when the Prophet and his companions were in such a weak state that it was not at all difficult for the enemy to crush the new Faith. It constituted a challenge to his all powerful opponents that it could do its worst but they would not succeed because God the Almighty was its Guardian. History bears eloquent testimony to the fact that the Quran is today as it was more than fourteen hundred years ago. Sir William Muir, a hostile critic of Islam, admits this fact in his ‘Introduction to the Life of Muhammad’. He writes: ” … To compare their pure text with the various readings of our scriptures, is to compare things between which there is no analogy ” The great German Orientalist, Professor Noldeke writes: “The efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Quran have failed.” (Enc. Brit.). The Holy Founder of Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him) loved the Holy Quran so much that he wrote in a couplet: “My heart yearns every moment to kiss Thy Book and to perform a circuit around the Holy Quran, for it is my Kaaba.” Inviting people to the Holy Quran, Hazrat Ahmad says: “We are a witness and testify before the whole world that we have found in the Holy Quran the reality that leads to God. We have heard the voice of God and have witnessed the signs of the mighty BEAUTY OF THE HOLY QURAN arm of Him, Who has revealed the Ouran. We believe that He is the True God and is the Master of all the worlds. Our heart is filled with this certainty as the ocean is filled with water. We, therefore, call everyone to this faith and to this light on the basis of our insight. We have found the true light that dispels all darkness and which renders the heart cold to all that is beside God. This is the only way by following which a person emerges from the grip of passion and the darkness of the ego as a snake comes out of its skin.” (Kitabul Bariyyah). 47 Replying to those who think that their scripture are the oldest and therefore the best, Hazrat Ahmad Mirza Ghulam writes: “The Book that would have been revealed at the beginning of creation could not, according to reason, be a perfect Book. It would be like a teacher who teaches children the alphabets. It is obvious that for such elementary instruction, no great ability is needed. When human experience increased and man fell into many errors, detailed instruction became necessary especially when the darkness of error became widespread and human souls became involved in diverse type of intellectual and practical misguidance. At that time a superior and perfect teaching was needed and that came in the Holy Ouran. In the beginning instruction of a high grade was not needed, for human souls were simple and no darkness or misguidance had settled on them. Superior teaching was needed in the book which appeared at the time of extreme misguidance and came for the reform of the people whose false doctrines had become confirmed and whose evil conduct had become a habit.” (Chashma Marifat). Again he says: “The Holy Ouran is a miracle the like of which never was and never will be. The door of its graces and blessings is always open, and it is bright and manifest in every age as it was in the time of the Holy Prophet (peace be on him). It should also be borne in mind that the speech of everyone corresponds to his high resolve. The higher the resolve and determination and the purpose of the speaker, the same will be the case with his speech. Divine revelation also follows the same rule. The higher the resolve of the person to whom Divine revelation is vouchsafed, the higher will be the character of the revelation. As the circle of the resolve and capacity and determination of the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) was very wide, the revelation that came to him had the same high rank. No one else will ever attain the same degree of resolve and courage inasmuch as his message was not for any limited time or for any particular people, as was the case with the Prophets before him. It was said to him: 48 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS ‘Proclaim, 0 Prophet: I am the Messenger of Allah to you all’ (7:159); and again: ‘We have not sent you but as a mercy for all the worlds.’ (21:108). Who can match him, the circle of whose advent and messenger-ship was so wide.” (Malfoozar). Elsewhere he says: “The Holy Quran is a Book which has proclaimed its own matchlessness and has claimed its own greatness, its wisdom, its truth, the beauty of its composition and its spiritual lights. It is not true that the Muslims have themselves put forward these excellences on behalf ofthe Quran. It sets out its own merits and excellences and puts forward its matchlessness and peerlessness as a challenge to the whole of creation and calls out loudly: Is there any contestant? Its verities and fine points are not confined to two or three which would leave room for doubt on the part of an ignorant person, but are like the surging ocean and are visible in every direction like the stars of heaven. There is no truth outside of it. There is no wisdom that is not comprised in it. There is no light that is not obtainable through following it. These things are not without proof and are not mere words. It is an established and clearly proved verity which has been shining through 1,300 years. We have set out this verity in great detail in this book and have expounded the fine points of the Quran at such length as to constitute a surging ocean for the satisfaction of a seeker after truth.” (Brahim-Ahmadiyya). Advising his followers to strictly adhere to the Quranic teachings he says: “Be alert all the time and do not take a single step contrary to Divine teaching and the guidance of the Quran. I tell you truly t~at anyone who evades the least one of the 700 commandments of the Quran shuts upon himself the door of salvation. The ways of true and perfect salvation have been opened by the Quran and all the rest is its reflection. Therefore, study the Quran with care and hold it very dear with a love that you have not for anything else. As God has said to me: ‘All types of good are contained in the Quran.’ This is wholly true. Those people are to be pitied who prefer anything else to it. The fountain-head of all your prosperity and salvation is the Holy Quran. There is no religious need of yours which is not filled by the Quran. On the Day of Judgment the Quran will confirm or deny your faith. There is no other book under heaven beside the Quran which can furnish you with salvation. God has been very Beneficent towards you that He has bestowed a Book like the Quran upon you . . . . value this favour that has been bestowed upon you; it is a very dear favour, it is great wealth.” (Kashti Nooh). What is Islam? Islam literally means Peace, surrender of one’s Will; and to be in amity and concord. The significance of the name Islam is the attainment of a life of perfect peace and eternal happiness through complete surrender to the Will of God. The Ouran – the Holy Book of the Muslims – interprets it to be the religion whose teachings are in consonance with human nature. Islam, as the Ouran has stated (5:4), is the completion of the religion inaugurated by God in the beginning of the world, on His sending the Ouran through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him). As a child is taught his alphabet, so God taught the religion to the world gradually and little by little, by sending His prophets at different times and to different peoples. When the world reached that stage of understanding when it was ready for the final lesson, He sent the last and complete Book through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him). This Book not only corrects the errors which had found their way into various religions, but preaches the truths which have not been preached before, on account of special circumstances of the society or the early stage of its development. At the same time it gathers together in itself the truths which were contained in any Divine revelation granted to any people for the guidance of men (The Ouran 98:4). Lastly, it meets all the spiritual and moral requirements of an ever advancing humanity. This is Islam which is wrongly called Muhammadanism. According to Islam, the object of man’s life is its complete unfoldment. Islam does not support the idea that man is born in sin. It teaches that everyone has within him the seed of perfect development and it rests solely with a person himself to make or mar his fortune. We created man in the best make says the Holy Ouran (95:5). The cardinal doctrine of Islam is the Unity of Godhead. There is none worthy of worship but the one and only God, and Muhammad is His Prophet. He is free from all defects, Holy and Transcendent. He is All Good, All Mercy and All Power. He has no partner. He neither begets nor is He begotten, because these are the traits of frail and weak humanity. Furthermore, Islam helps us to establish a permanent relationship with God and to realise Him during our earthly life as our Helper in all our affairs and undertakings. This unity of God is the first and foremost pillar of Islam and . every other belief hangs upon it. Islam requires belief in all the prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucious and Zoroaster. We regard them all (and many more not mentioned here) as heavenly teachers born to reform and regenerate man and lead him to God. Adherents of some other religions may consider it an act of piety to use disrespectful words and heap abuse on the prophets of other religions, but if a Muslim were to show the slightest disrespect towards the founder of any faith, he does so at the cost of his own faith. He has to utter the respectful benediction Alaihis-Salam (peace be on him) after mentioning the name of every prophet. Thus Islam establishes peace between all religions. The REVIEW of RELIGIONS The Review of Religions is the oldest magazine of its kind published in the English language in the Indo-Pakistan SUb-Continent. Its first issue was published in 1902 and it has been continuously published since. It bears the distinction that it was initiated under the direction of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah himself. During more than eighty-five years the message of Islam has been cor)Veyed through this magazine to hundreds of readers and many fortunate persons have recognised the truth of Islam and accepted it through studying it. The articles published in it deal not only with the doctrines and teachings of Islam but also set forth a comparative appreciation of the teachings of other faiths. One of its outstanding features is the refutations of the criticism of Islamic teachings by orientalists and non-muslim scholars. It also presents solutions in the light of Islamic teachings of the problems with which the Islamic world is from time to time confronted. A study of this magazine is indispensable for the appreciation of the doctrines of the Ahmadiyya Movement and the teachings of its holy Founder. Printed by The Eastern Press Ltd, London and Reading Published by The Review of Religions, The London Mosque, 16 Gressenhall Road, London, SW185QL