This year, I am enjoying the benefits of praying Tarawih (night
prayers of Ramadan) behind Mufti Ismail Menk and listening to his
powerful Tafseer (explanation of the Quran)afterwards. On the opening
night, Mufti Menkbrought up an issue which always amazes me,the unique
method in which the Qur'an begins. This made me reflect on the opening
pages of the Qur'an.
Surah Al-Fatiha and the first three pages of Surah Baqarah are an
amazing and unique method of starting a book. Perhaps, it is because
we recite Surah Fatiha everyday, multiple times, that manyof us do not
take these verses seriously. Yet, the reason this Surah is emphasized
so much is because it is the most important chapter of the Qur'an. It
is Faatihatul Kitaab (The opening chapter of the book), Sab'aMathaani
(the seven oft-repeated verses 15:87) and Ummul Kitaab (the essence of
the book 13:39). It is the Surah thatwhen recited, Allah repliesto
each verse. It is the most important du'a that we can make.
The first half of Surah Fatiha is a declaration of Tawheed (Oneness of
Allah) in all of its forms: tawheed of Rububiyyah (Lordship) "All
praise to Allah, the Rabb (Lord) of the universe," (1:1), tawheed of
Asma Wa Sifaat (names and attributes) "Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
Master of the Day of Judgement," (1:2-3) and tawheed of Ibaadah
(worship), "You alone weworship and you alone we ask for help." (1:4)
The second half of Surah Fatiha is the most important du'a a person
could ever make, "Guide us to the straight path!" (1:5) The Surah then
explains what is the staight path and what is not. The straight path
is that which was shown to us and followed by those whom Allah has
favoured,which Allah explains in another verse, "whoever obeys Allah
and His messenger, then they will be with those whom Allah has
favoured from the prophets, truthful, matyrs and righteous." (4:69)
This verse refutes the claim by some people that you can find your own
way towards Paradise without following the people of the past. True
salvation lies in following the Salaf As-Saliheen (The
righteouspredecessors) and their understanding and practice of the
Qur'an.
An old illuminated manuscript of the Quran
Allah then shows us two types of misguidance. Thefirst form of
misguidance is to earn Allah's wrath byknowingly rejecting the truth
and the other form is to go astray by choosing to remain ignorant. So
we need to realize that choosing to remain ignorant can not excuse us
for our sins and deviations, and if we knowingly reject the truth, we
will be cursed by Allah. The only option left is to seek the truth and
ask Allah to guide us to the straight path.
Answers in Surat Al-Baqarah
Amazingly, the very next Surah begins by answering this du'a for
guidance. "This is the book in which there is no doubt! It is a
guidance for those who are God-conscious." (2:2)Three things are
interesting about this verse. Firstly, show me one other book which
begins by declaring its own perfection. No human author would
darereaders from the beginning by making the claim that there is
nothing doubtful in his book, this immidiately makes skeptics look for
mistakes. The Qur'an, being the perfect word of Allah, begins with
this challenge, a unique and powerful starting point.
Allah then explains to us that this Qur'an is the answer to our du'a
(prayer) for guidance but the condition is that we approach this
Qur'an with Taqwa (God-consciousness). This is why not everyone
benefits from reciting the Qur'an. Allah warns us on the next page to
not be from those who only recite ritually or with an evil intention
as "it is the same whether you warnthem or not, they will never
believe." (2:6) This verse is aimed primarily to those who choose to
reject Islam, but like all verses we need to apply itto ourselves and
make sure we do not possess any of the qualities that Allah dislikes.
The first three pages of Surah Baqarah describe three types of people
in terms of belief and relationship with Allah. Allah goes into detail
describing those who have Taqwa and attain success, then briefly
mentions those who choose to disbelieve, and finally He mentions in
even more detail, the hypocrites. It is for us to study these verses
and put into the practice the qualities of the successful while being
careful to guard ourselves from possessing the qualities ofthe
disbelievers or hypocrites.
After all of this, Allah mentions the first commandment in the Qur'an,
the most important commandmentand the benefit of obeying it. Allah
says, "O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before
you sothat you may attain Taqwa." (2:21) The first and most important
commandment is to uphold Tawheed by worshipping Allah alone as it is
through this that we can attain Taqwa and through Taqwa that we can
attain guidance from the Qur'an.:->
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