S. Yusuf, 111d: Guidance! But How?
لَقَدْ كَانَ فِى قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ ۗ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَىٰ وَلَٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ
In their stories, there is truly a lesson for people of reason. This message cannot be a fabrication, rather a confirmation of previous revelation, a detailed explanation of all things, a guide, and a mercy for people of faith. Surah Yusuf, Ayah 111.
1. All the descriptions of the Qur'an are in the "NASB" form. This is because they are the "KHABR" of the verb "KAANA".
2. The description of something is usually done by adjectives. However, Allah is describing the speech using ideas. Instead of saying "Confirmer, Explainer", Allah uses ideas and says "Confirmation, Explanation".
3. Ideas are infinite. Allah uses ideas to emphasize the infinity of the Qur'an. Like the Qur'an is not just a confirmer, it is confirmation itself. You have never experienced a confirmation until you experience the Qur'an.
4. Similarly, the Qur'an explains in such a deep and beautiful way that it is the explanation itself. Allah offers guidance that is different from any other, so the Qur'an is guidance.
5. The Qur'an does not eliminate(replace) other types of knowledge, it provides guidance that illuminates(brightens) other types of knowledge.
6. Knowledge can be used for us or against us. The Qur'an shows us how to use knowledge in the best way possible. Also, knowledge can be useful and useless, the Qur'an guides us towards learning useful knowledge.
7. The goal/intention of learning the Qur'an is not to gain a title, it is to guide yourself.
8. Learning the Qur'an is beneficial but it will help you as long as your intention is that you want guidance. Keep your intention pure.
9. It is very easy to lose your intention. It is very easy to get lost in all those details and forget to look at the big picture.
10. Pronunciation and Explanation of the Ayahs are all very important but the question we need to ask ourselves when we learn the Qur'an is "What guidance can I get from this Ayah?"
11. Pronunciation and Explanation of the Ayahs should be the tools you use to get guidance from the Qur'an, not the purpose of learning the Qur'an.
12. Don't go to the Qur'an to prove your point to someone. The Qur'an is not a reference book. You should go to the Qur'an to let it steer you, not so that you can steer the Qur'an.
13. There are different groups of Islam and each group thinks that they are right and other groups are wrong.
14. So, if we graduate from some group, then we start defending our group and use the Qur'an as a reference book. Your loyalty is not to your group or even to yourself, it is only to Allah. If you defend what your group says even if you know that it is wrong, then you undermine the Qur'an without even realizing it.
15. Don't take this the wrong way and say that you know everything and these old teachers don't know anything. Put your work in, spend as many years as they have spent on the Qur'an, and then comment on the scholars.
16. So, the first condition for contemplating on(pondering on) the Qur'an according to the Scholar Amin Ahsan Islahi is to have a pure intention which is to seek guidance.
17. The second condition is that we have to accept that the Qur'an is endlessly rich, endlessly meaningful, and infinitely superior.
18. If we accept that, it means that we have to put our time and effort into the Qur'an with the belief that the endless treasure in the Qur'an is meant specifically for you.
19. The Qur'an is very hard to obtain and after you obtain it, it is very easily lost.
20. Understand and believe that the Qur'an is specially made for you, it has all the answers to the things in your life.
21. Aqeedah(beliefs) and Fiqh(laws) are important but they are not the only things that we need from the Qur'an. If we do that, then the Qur'an just becomes for blessings and tajweed(pronunciation) which is not the true purpose of the Qur'an.
22. Sadly, we value things that help us in our worldly life but forget about the thing that ultimately helps us.
23. The third condition is to understand that if you don't understand something in the Qur'an then turn back to Allah and humble yourself before Him.
24. Shaitan will come and tell you that this is impossible and that you can't learn anything from the Ayah. But you have to turn to Allah and ask Him to open His doors to you.
25. The fourth condition is to resolve that you will change yourself. The Qur'an is here for guidance and by changing your behavior or your speech, you will obtain guidance.
26. The Qur'an becomes your true mirror, it shows you where you are and where you have to be and the wide gap between those two places.
27. The journey to close the gap will not be an easy one. You will have to sacrifice many things and many loved ones along the way. That is what the Qur'an demands from you.
28. When the Qur'an demands change from you, you will be one of three kinds of people.
29. Group 1 are the ones who go all the way and you sacrifice every single thing for Allah. Those are the people who get the true taste of guidance.
30. Group 2 are the people who say that they really want to change but it is too much for them, that they are not capable of doing it. Those people lie against themselves and more seriously, they negate Allah because Allah says "Allah doesn't burden a person except that they can bear it."
31. Group 3 are the individuals who are the worst of the worst. They understand that the Qur'an wants them to change but they don't want to change. So, instead of changing themselves, they change the Qur'an.
32. Changing the Qur'an is extremely difficult since it is very clear, so they knowingly ignore large parts of the Qur'an and literally pick and choose the Ayahs that benefit them.
34. Along the way, we will lose many people but we also gain people, that is Allah's promise. We are following the religion of Ibrahim(AS), it is about time that we start living like it.
Comments
Post a Comment