الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ ﴿2:3﴾ (2:3) who believe in the unseen *4 , establish the Salats *5 and expend (in Our way) out of what We have bestowed on them; *6 *4. This is the second prerequisite for deriving benefit from the Quran. Ghayb signifies the verities which are hidden from mans senses and which are beyond the scope of mans ordinary observation and experience, for example the existence and attributes of God, the angels. the process of revelation, Paradise, Hell and so on. Belief in the ghaib means having faith in such matters, based on an absolute confidence in the Messengers of God and despite the fact that it is impossible to experience them. According to this verse, Quranic guidance can prove helpful only to those prepared to affirm the truths of the suprasensory realm. People who make their belief in these questions conditional upon sensory perception of the object of belief, and who are not prepared even to consider the possibility of the existence of things that cannot be weighed or measured, cannot profit from this Book. *5. This is the third requirement. It is pointed out that those to whom belief means merely the pronouncement of a formula, who think that a mere verbal confession of faith is enough and that it makes no practical demands on them, can derive no guidance from the Quran. To benefit from the Quran it is essential that a mans decision to believe should be followed immediately by practical obedience to God. Prayer is the first and continuing sign of practical obedience. No more than a few hours can pass after a man has embraced Islam than the muadhin calls to Prayer and it becomes evident whether or not the profession of faith has been genuine. Moreover, the muadhin calls to Prayer five times every day and whenever a man fails to respond to his call it becomes clear that he has transgressed the bounds of practical obedience. An abandonment of Prayer amounts to an abandonment of obedience. Obviously, if a man is not prepared to follow the directives of his guide, it is immaterial whether or not true guidance is available to him. It should also be noted that the expression establishment of Prayer has a wider meaning than mere performance of Prayer. It means that the system of Prayer should be organized on a collective basis. If there is a person in a locality who prays individually but no arrangements are made for congregational Prayer, it cannot be claimed that Prayer is established in that locality. *6. This, the fourth prerequisite for a person to benefit from the Quran, demands that the person concerned should neither be niggardly nor a worshipper of money. On the contrary, he should be willing to pay the claims on his property of both God and man, and should not flinch from making financial sacrifices for the sake of his convictions. وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ وَبِالْآَخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ ﴿2:4﴾ (2:4) who believe in the Book We have sent down to you (i.e. the Quran) and in the Books sent down before you, *7 and firmly believe in the Hereafter. *8 *7. The fifth requirement is that one should believe in the Books revealed by God to His Prophets in the various ages and regions of the world, in the Book revealed to Muhammad (peace be on him) as well as in those revealed to the other Prophets who preceded him. The door of the Quran is closed to all those who do not consider it necessary for man to receive guidance from God. It is also closed to those who, even if they believe in the need for such guidance, do not consider it necessary to seek it through the channel of revelation and prophethood, but would rather weave their own set of ideas and concepts and regard them as equivalent to Divine Guidance. This door is also closed to those who believe in Divine books as such, but confine this belief to those books accepted by their forefathers, and spurn Divine Guidance revealed to anyone born beyond their own racial and national boundaries. The Quran excludes all such people and is prepared to open the source of its grace only to those who believe that mankind does require Divine Guidance, who acknowledge that this guidance does not come to people individually but reaches them through Prophets and Divine Books and who are not given to racial or national chauvinism but are devotees of Truth alone, and are therefore prepared to submit to Divine Guidance wherever it be found. *8. Belief in the After-life is the sixth and last requirement. The term al-Akhirah embraces a whole set of ideas: (i) that man is not an irresponsible being, but is answerable to God for all his conduct in this world; (ii) that the present order of the world is not timeless, but will come to an end at an appointed hour knon only to God; (iii) that when this world comes to an end God will bring into being another world in which He will resurrect, at one and the same moment, all the human beings ever born on earth. He will gather them together, examine their conduct and grant each one just reward for his actions; (iv) that those who are accounted good in Gods judgement will be sent to Heaven, and those judged by Him as evil-doers will be consigned to Hell; (v) that the real measure of success and failure is not ones prosperity in the present life, but ones success or failure according to Gods judgement in the Next. Those who do not accept this set of beliefs can derive no benefit from the Quran. For if a man is merely in a state of doubt and hesitation with regard to these matters - let alone disbelieving them - he cannot advance even one step forward along the path charted out by the Quran. أُولَئِكَ عَلَى هُدًى مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿2:5﴾ (2:5) Such people are on the right way from their Lord and such are truly successful.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 03:19:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015