The Obligations Muslims Owe To The Qur'an by Dr. lsrar Ahmad

Besides the four duties that we owe to the Qur'an, i.e, believing it to be the Book of Allah (SWT), reading it, understanding it, and acting upon its teachings, another duty which rests upm every Muslim and which he must discharge according to his strength and ability, is that he must communicate its teachings to others.

For "communicating the message of the Qur'an to the people," the appropriate and comprehensive terms is tableegh. Teaching the Qur'an to others is also a form of tableegh. Similarly, explaining the meanings of the Qur'an to the people is tableegh at a higher plane.

In order to understand the importance of this duty that we owe to the Qur'an, let us consider the purpose for which the Holy Book was revealed. It has been stated by the Qur'an 'itself in the following words:

This (Qur'an) is a message to the people, in order that they may be warned thereby .... (Ibrahim 1452)

Again, it declares the basic objective of its.being revealed to the Holy Prophet (SAW) in ayah 19 of Surah Al-An'am:

Say (0 Muhammad!): "...and this Qur'an has been revealed to me that I may warn you therewith and whomsoever it may reach.. . ." (Al-An'am 6:19)

The Qur'an also announces in clear-cut words that it was the foremost duty of the Holy Prophet (SAW) to communicate the message of the Qur'an to mankind with utmost faithfulness, and that the slightest negligence in the fulfillment of this duty would be! a serious dereliction of his prophetic mission.

Hence the peremptory command in Surah Al-Ma'idah:

0 Messenger! Proclaim that which has been sent down to you from your Lord. If you do not, then you have not conveyed His message ... . (Al-Ma'idah 5:67)

In perfect obedience to this command, the Holy Prophet (SAW), right from the moment he received the first revelation to the last minute 6f his earthly life, for full 23

years, bore untold hardships and waged a ceaseless struggle to fulfill the momentous duty entrusted to him. Although this long and heroic struggle passed through many phases and he had to play different roles for the fulfillment of his mission, still the Qur'an was, all along, the pivotal point of all his activities. He was constantly occupied with reciting the Qur'an, explaining its meanings and communicating its message to the people, thereby enlightening their minds and purifying their souls. The Qur'an describes the basic methodology of the Holy Prophet (SAW) by means of four highly significant terms, which are: recitation of Divine ayaat, purification of souls, instructions regarding the law, and inculcation of wisdom. These terms appear at four different places in the Qur'an:

... he (the Messenger) recites to them His ayaat, purifies them, and instructs them in law and wisdom .... (Aal lmran 3:164 & Al-Jumu'ah 62:2)

Obviously, these words indicate the same technique as we have suggested in the foregoing pages while explaining the right method of bringing about the Islamic Revolution in our society. In short, pursuing this method with extraordinary courage and perseverance for 23 years, the Holy Prophet (SAW) acquitted himself admirably and communicated Allah's Message to mankind. He also sought the cooperation of his devoted Companions (RAA) for the completion of his mission, exhorting them to:

Convey from me to the people even if it be a single ayah. (Narrated by Bukhari)

Having accomplished his mission, the Holy Prophet (SAW) transferred the responsibility of propagating the message of the Qur'an in the future to his Ummah. Having obtained more than once the testimony of the people to the effect that he had, indeed, successfully conveyed Allah's Message to them, the Prophet (SAW), in his historic address to a gathering of 125 thousand Companions (RAA) on the occasion of the last pilgrimage, issued the abiding instructions:

Those who are present should convey (Allah's Message) to those who are not. (Narrated by Bukhari)

Thus the duty of spreading the message of the Qur'an to every nook and corner of the world was devolved on the shoulders of the Ummah for all time to come, and the Ummah as a whole shall be answerable to the Almighty (SWT) with regard to this arduous duty. As the Ummah consists of the individuals, every individual is responsible for the discharge of this duty: men of learning according to their knowledge and ability and common people according to their means and capability.

The words of the Holy Prophet (SAW) "Convey from me to the people though it be a single ayah" prove it beyond any shadow of doubt that no individual is exempt from this duty. If a person can only read the Arabic text of the Qur'an, he should teach others to do so; one who has memorized the whole Qur'an should help others in memorizing it; one who can translate the text, should do so' for others; and one who can comprehend its meaning should explain and interpret it to others. If a person understands the meaning of a single Surah and explains the same to others, and if he knows only a single ayah and teaches it to others, he will be discharging the duty of communicating the Qur'an; but the collective duty of the Ummah in this connection will not be fulfilled unless the Qur'an, both its text and its message, is propagated everywhere, throughout the length and breadth of the world.

Unfortunately, under the present conditions, this universal proclamation of Allah's Message, which is expected of the Muslim Ummah, seems to be a far cry or an unattainable ideal, because things have come to such a pass that the Ummah to whom this great and honorific duty was assigned has itself grown ignorant of the Qur'an. Today, the Muslim Ummah itself needs to be instructed in the Book of Allah (SW) which it has practically forsaken. Hence what is urgently required under the present situation is that a movement for learning and teaching the Qur'an should be launched among the Muslims themselves so that they may develop a fresh attitude of devotion to, and interest in the study of the Qur'an. May Allah (SWT) grant us the strength to carry out this task. Ameen! As it has been pointed out in the beginning of this discussion, a higher form of tableegh (communication) is tabyeen (exposition). The message of the Qur'an is not only to be communicated but its meanings are also to be explained and interpreted to the people. In Qur'anic terminology, this has been called tabyeen. Hence tableegh and tabypen appear together in the title of this section. It will be seen that the exposition gf the Qur'an demands that one who undertakes this task should talk to his audience at their own level so that the truths of the Qur'an are brought home to them and, secondly, explain to them the implications and arguments of different ayaat and Surahs.

It will be noted that the Qur'an calls itself Bayan (a plain statement).

This is a plain statement to mankind, a guidance and instruction to those who are God-conscious.

(Aal lmran 3:138)

The Qur'an frequently characterizes itself as mubeen (clear), and its ayaat as bayyinat and mubayyinat (clear signs or manifestations). It also points out that to explain and interpret the Divine Scriptures is the responsibility of the prophets and their followers to whom these are vouchsafed.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is addressed on this point in the following words:

... and We sent down unto you (0 Muhammad!) the Reminder, that you may explain clearly to mankind what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought. (Al-Nahl 16:44)

It has, been stated about the Jews and Christians that they were bound by a covenant to explain the Book of Allah (SWT)

to mankind:

And (remember) when Allah took a covenant from the People of the Book to make it (i.e., the Revelation) known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it.. . . (Aal lmran 3:187)

When they did not fulfill this covenant and, on the contrary, tried to conceal the truth, they were accursed:

Verily, those who conceal the clear signs We have sent down, and the guidance after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, on them shall be Allah's Curse and the curse of those entitled to curse. (Al-Baqarah 2: 1 59)

It may be noted that tabyeen has different forms. Its simplest form consists in expressing the plain meanings of the Qur'an in an easy, straightforward manner in the common language of the people. Naturally, the medium to be used for explaining the Qur'an to the people has to be their own language And We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his own people, in order to make things clear to them .... (Ibrahim 14:4)

Tabyeen in its highest form is rather a job with a challenge. One who resolves upon fulfilling his duty of explaining the Qur'an in this sense of the term will not merely translate its text, but he will try to unfold the knowledge and wisdom contained in this great Book and bring out the implied meanings and subtle significance of its ayaat and Surahs. He will explain the mode of inference and deduction adopted by the Qur'an and repudiate effectively, with the help of Qur'anic arguments, the false notions and misleading views prevalent among the people. He will endeavor to establish the truth of the Qur'an and its teachings, reasoning convincingly at the highest plane of thought .accessible to the people in a particular age according to its intellectual advancement.

Regarding the question as to how can we discharge our responsibility of explaining the Qur'an and bringing its message home to the people, we can say that for tabyeen in its simplest form we should publish translations and commentaries of the Holy Book in all the important languages of the world and circulate them widely. So far as our obligation for tabyeen in its highest form is concerned, it cannot be properly and adequately discharged, as we have already suggested, unless we set up all over the Muslim world a network of such universities and academies as may concentrate on Qur'anic study and research, assigning it the central place in the scheme of their disciplines. Through standard institutions of this type we shall be able to explain the teachings of the Qur'an to the people of the modern world.