revealed to you, [O Muhammad ], that they mightreflect upon its verses
and that those of understanding would bereminded." [Quran: 38: 29]
Reflecting upon the Quran is one of the reasons behind its revelation;
it is the way to comprehend its rulingsand find out its objectives and
meanings.The Quran will not be properly understood, norwill its
objectives be trulyrealized except by pausing at each verse and giving
it its due rightof pondering to discover the meanings and wisdom
within it.
All perfect praise is due to Allaah, that we still seemany Muslims
reciting the Quran day and night, which is good, yet many of them
recite it without the due reflection or understanding. Thus people
miss the main reason for which the Quran was revealed, to apply its
rules, adher to its commands and refrainfrom its prohibitions.
In an attempt to practically apply the Words of Allaah (which mean):
"And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits thebelievers." [Quran:
51: 55] we designate this article to address some important ways by
whicha person may ponder the Nobel Quran and thus properly understand
it.
One such way is to be acquainted with the Arabic language and its
methods of expression. The Quran was revealed in Arabic, and can only
beunderstood according to the rules of this language, and all scholars
attach great importance to learning the Arabic language and encourage
their students to learn it. The one who does not know the rules of the
language could easily misunderstand the following saying of Allaah
(which means): "And ask the city in which we were and the caravan in
which we came" [Quran: 12: 82] and he will not be able todistinguish
between the sayings of Allaah (which mean): " It is You we worship and
You we ask for help " [Quran: 1: 5] and the saying: "We worship You,"
and so on.
It must be pointed out here is that not every onewho recites the Quran
is asked to be a grammarian; rather, all he needs to obtain is enough
knowledge and command on the language with which he can understand the
Book of Allaah and reflect upon it.
An important practice which can help a person reflect upon the Quran
is to study the biography ofthe Prophet . We must know that he was the
authentic interpreter of the Quran and that his manners were all
derivedfrom the Quran. We must also know that he was a practical Quran
walkingon earth, in the sense that he clarified to versesthat were
revealed in general terms and verses that may have sounded confusing.
Knowing all this makes a Muslim realize that in order to properly be
able to reflect upon the Quran, he must return to the biography of the
Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa salla, and the authentic Sunnah.
Knowing the historical context in which specific verses of the Quran
were revealed increases the reader's understanding, because many
verses were revealed pertainingto a certain incident.
Without knowing the reason for its revelation and what it came down to
address, one could read a verse but not really understand what
itintends. For example the following saying of Allaah (which means):
"So do not weaken and do not grieve,and you will be superior if you
are [true] believers. If a wound should touch you- there has already
touched the [opposing] people a wound similar to it" [Quran: 3:
139-140]. This saying was addressed to the companions, may Allah
pleased with them, during the battle of Uhudin which they suffered
causalities fighting the disbelieving enemies. They are being rallied
to fight harder by Allah's reminder that they had already inflicted
similar suffering upon these enemies during their previous battle of
Badr.
One other helpful factor in reflecting on and understanding the Book
of Allaah, is referring to the trustworthy books of interpretation of
the Quran, and reading what the scholars have said. Such books contain
manyof the interpretations of the Salaf whether the statements of the
companions or those who came after them . Some of these books of
Tafseer (i.e. interpretation) are by At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, Ibn
Katheer and others . Reading these sources helps the person reading
the Quran reflect upon the verses and better understand them.
Reciting the Quran attentively while thinking of what one is reading
is a matter that was stressed in the Quran, and it helps one reflect.
Allaah says (what means): "Say, `I only advise you of one [thing] -
that you stand forAllah, [seeking truth] in pairs and individually,
and then give thought`" [Quran: 34: 46]. This better helps the reader
understand the Quran.
Another important rule regarding reflecting upon the Quran is applying
it to reality. Thismeans (in short) that the Quran was not revealed
just for a certain period or a specific place;but is applicable during
all times and places. One canbest understand The Quran and feel it
alive, when it is applied to reality and to the issues of the Muslim
nation. For example, every era has itsown disbelievers and hypocrites
and every era has its own 'Pharaohs' and oppressors.
A serious mistake in this regard is applying verses to those for whom
it was not intended, like applying the verses about hypocrites to the
believers, or the verses about righteous people to the disbelievers,
as thisleads to clear and seriousmisguidance.
To conclude, we would like to remind the reader with the following
prophetic narration, of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said: "Any group
of people that assemble in one ofthe Houses of Allah to recite and
study the Quran, tranquility will descend upon them, mercy will engulf
them, angels will surround them and Allah will make mention of them to
those (the angels) in His proximity." [Muslim]. Note how the narration
connected reciting and studying, and made this a precondition for the
fourmagnificent virtues to be achieved.
Perhaps the reason for the current situation of Muslims is that we
read the Book of Allaah but donot reflect upon it, and thus our
application coincides with our degree of reflection which led us to
our current situation.
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