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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-‘Alāmīn. As-salātu was-salāmu ‘ala ash-sharafi al-anbiyā’ wal-mursalīn. Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa ‘alā ‘ālīhi wa saḥbihī wa sallam. Taslīman kathīran kathirahum ‘abaduh. My brothers and sisters, we are talking about the importance of the Qur’ān al-Karīm, which Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā blessed us with and revealed to us.
We are talking about the importance of understanding the importance of the Qur’ān, of loving the Qur’ān. And loving the Qur’ān is not just some thought. To love the Qur’ān means to learn to read the Qur’ān correctly according to the rules of tajwīd, to memorize the Qur’ān, and to recite the Qur’ān as much as you can.
Somebody asked the servant of Ibn Abās, Abdullah bin Abās radiyallahu ‘anhu, he said, describe for us the daily routine, the life of your master. And the man said, he recites the Qur’ān until the time of Ṣalāh, then he prays and then he recites the Qur’ān until the time of the next Ṣalāh and so on. The whole day.
Now he was also a businessman, so he would do business also and so on. So in his business he would do whatever he had to do. But all the free time that he had, he didn’t waste that time in chit-chatting or doing something else. He would recite the Qur’ān.
The Kalam of Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā, we have to, I always remind myself, when you sit with the Qur’ān to recite,
first of all make it an unalienable rule in your life, that you will read at least one juz of Qur’ān every day. One sīparah every day. So that way the benefit is that every month you do one khatmah.
So in the whole year you do twelve, alhamdulillah. And then if Allāh gives us tawfīq, say in Ramadān, in the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, on these special days, we do more. Right? So whatever Allāh gives tawfīq, inshaAllāh we finish. But at least one juz, one sīparah every month, this should be our routine. Without exception. No matter where you are, whether you are travelling or you are not travelling, just read one juz every day. And then try to memorise as much as possible; the aim being, to memorize the entire Qur’ān. But try it. So to the extent possible, whatever Allāh makes it easy for us, inshaAllāh.
So this shows a connection with the Qur’ān. This shows a, as the Urdu language says, lagao.
The love from the heart is with the Qur’ān. So they claim to love the Qur’ān, but they don’t look at it for the whole year and say, what kind of love is this? So just claiming to have love for the Qur’ān but you don’t even look at the Qur’ān, then what is this love? So we must be very clear with that.
Now Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā sent this Qur’ān and our attitude towards the Qur’ān is as he mentioned in the Qur’ān itself. He said that there is, the Qur’ān al-Karīm is clear. In this there are some āyāt, muḥkamāt, āyāt of command, of order. And then he said, if there are āyāt, mutashābihāt, there are some āyāt which are not clear. Not clear, not in the sense of any negative aspect to it. Not clear as in, as human beings, we are unable to understand what exactly is the meaning of that. Now you might say, well, why did Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā reveal that at all? This is the will of Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā. He wanted to reveal it a bit. Then Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā mentions in the same āyah, therefore, what is our attitude towards these āyāt, muḥkamāt and mutashābihāt, both.
And Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā says in the same āyah, the attitude of the believer, the attitude of the mu’min is, that kullum min lillāh. We believe that everything is from Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā. Therefore, we believe in it. Take for example, the ḥurūf al-muqatta’āt. Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā said, began some surah, with ‘alif’, lām, mīm, meem. He began some surah with hā’, meem. In some surah, Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā began it with some other letters of the Quran. We call these ḥurūf al-muqatta’āt. Now, nobody knows the meaning of them. What is the meaning of ‘alif’, lām, mīm? Nobody knows the meaning of this. We don’t know. And it is not our job to try to guess the meaning or to,
you know, ascribe some meaning based on our understanding. No. ‘Alif’, lām, mīm means ‘alif’, lām, mīm, whatever Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā knows. Is it a word of Allāh? Yes, it is a word of Allāh.
So, when I am reciting ‘alif’, lām, mīm, I am reciting one āyah, literally. And Nabī said, ‘alif’, lām, mīm, I don’t say it is three, I don’t say it is one letter. It is three letters. And for the Qur’ān, for every letter, Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā gives ten hasanāt.
And one hasanah is equal to ten. So, when you say ‘alif’, lām, mīm, Nabī said, when the person says ‘alif’, lām, mīm, I don’t say he is saying, he is reciting one letter, he is reciting three letters, which means, when you simply say ‘alif’, lām, mīm, Allāh has given us thirty hasanāt. This is the very basic barakah of the Qur’ān al-Karīm. The Qur’ān al-Karīm did not come for the purpose of giving us some sawab or hasanah. These are barakah. This is the benefit. The purpose is to read it, to understand it, and to practice it, to live by it. This is the maqsad of the nuzūl of the Qur’ān. It is not reading by itself. It is not writing by itself. It is not reciting by itself. It is to read, to understand, and to practice in our lives. Make the Qur’ān al-Karīm a part of our lives.
Allāh says, Aqimu Ṣalāh. To read Aqimu Ṣalāh with the correct tajwīd, number one.
And then, to do what? Understand what does it mean? Allāh said, command. It is a command word. Allāh says, Aqimu Ṣalāh, establish Ṣalāh. Okay, so I understand this now. Then what? Then actually pray.
If somebody is simply saying, Aqimu Ṣalāh, he is not praying, then the actual maqsad is not fulfilled. You have read, you have read correctly also. Allāh said, Fa inna tathabun. Where are you going? So what must we do?
First, read it correctly. Fa inna tathabun,
tathabun, dha.
And then what?
Just read it, read it, read it.
Allāh said, Fa bhi ‘ayyi ‘alā’ ‘alaykum ‘a tuqaddhiban.
We read it, we understand the meaning of it. Then,
think about this.
Allāh is saying, Fa inna tathabun, where are you going? So what shall we do?
Send a location to Allāh.
Allāh is saying, reflect on this. Where is life going? Why? Because Allāh will send an address. He will send an address.
Think about your own life. Where am I going? What is my life?
My whole life is going in disobedience of Allāh. My whole life is going in ghaflah. My whole life is going, I’m running around like I’m, you know, in some madcap or something. Worried about this. Right? What is the meaning, aina tathabun?
The Kalam of Allāh. What is the meaning of Kalam? Kalam is speech, conversation. This is Allāh speaking to you.
So very, very important for us to reflect on the Qur’ān. That’s why Allāh said, afala yatadabburūna al-Qur’āna ‘am ‘alā qulūbin akhafalahum. Allāh said, don’t they reflect on the Qur’ān?
Yatadabburūna al-Qur’ān. Tadabbur ‘alā al-Qur’ān.
Don’t they reflect on the Qur’ān? Or, ‘am ‘alā qulūbin akhafalahum. Or is it that their hearts are sealed? Their hearts are sealed. Do they have akhafal? Akhafal is plural of khafal. Khafal toh bachan, samajite nahi pa. Urdu mein we say same word, lock.
Mukhafal, yaani jispe khafal pada hua hai.
Allāh is saying, are their hearts locked? It’s a rhetorical question. Allāh is not asking you to explain to you. Allāh knows. Allāh is saying, what is this? How is it that you are reading the Qur’ān and it has not changed your life? How is it you are reading the Qur’ān but it has done nothing to your life? Because we are reading it like. Alhamdulillah, we are reading it. I am not saying, I am not against it. If somebody reads the Qur’ān even without understanding, they will get sawab. This is, we are not denying th
is.
We are saying, what is the purpose of it? The purpose of it is to benefit from it. That is the Qur’an.
So, if the Qur’an, if I am reading the Qur’an and it is not changing my life, then there is something very serious. So, this is something that we need to think about.
So, I ask Allah to help us to truly understand the Qur’an. And part of understanding is to leave alone that which Allah has not explained,
not speculate. Speculation is the biggest source of misguidance and it is not a road to shaitan. For example, in Surah Al-Isra, Allah said, بَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْرُّوحِ قُلِ الْرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ
قُلِ الْرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ وَمَا أُوتِيْتُمْ مِنْ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا Allah said, they ask you about the Ruh. Tell them the Ruh is مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ is one of those, it’s an Amr of Allah. It’s one of those things,
the knowledge of which is only with Allah.
And of knowledge, you, meaning, mankind, have been given only a little.
You know, think about this ayat, Allah is saying, they asked him then, they asked the Prophet about the Ruh. He said, explain to us, what is Ruh?
And what is Allah’s response to that? And Allah is saying, قُلِ الْرُّوحِ they are asking,
بَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْرُّوحِ they are asking you about the Ruh.
And what is the answer Allah is saying? قُلْ الْرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ
So, what did you understand?
Do you know what is Ruh?
You asked Allah, He told you. Now, do you know? You still don’t know. It’s an Amr from Allah, means what?
So, what it means is, Allah is saying, you ask me, I will tell you what you need to know.
This is from the glory and majesty of Allah . Just because you ask, it doesn’t mean Allah is going to explain everything to you. Allah will tell you what you need to know. It is not necessary for you to know the actual nature of the soul. What exactly it is. You might have curiosity, but it’s not necessary for you to know that. So, don’t speculate in that. Think about the fact that this is an Amr from my Ruh. This is something that Allah knows and it comes from Allah . And when Allah decides, to remove it, the whole body, everything,
remains as it is, but it is dead. When that happens, before that happens, that same body has a name, that same person has, you respect the person, they have a haram,
you treat that person with great honour,
and the same person when that soul is removed, you dig a hole in the ground, you put them into it, and you throw mud on their face.
You don’t say, I am burying my father, how can I put soil into the cover, he is my father, can I throw, when he was alive, did I throw sand on his face, how can I do it now?
What has changed? The Ruh has gone. That’s it. Same father.
Nothing else has changed.
I don’t know how many of you have given hold of this. Ghusl. I have done, Alhamdulillah, many times. When you are doing the ghusl for the person, it’s like the person is sleeping.
There’s no difference.
Same person, if you had looked at him in his bedroom, on his bed, he would look the same.
Ruh has gone.
So the lesson for us is that don’t speculate in the Quran. Don’t do any free thinking in the Quran.
Stay with the Quran and stay, ask Allah to help us and to guide us and reflect on the Quran with the complete and total understanding that the purpose of the Quran is for us to reflect on it and to practice it in our lives. To live by the Quran Al-Karim. Not to argue about it and to speculate and to, to live by the Quran. We ask Allah to make us among those who live by the Quran. We ask Allah to illuminate our lives with the Noor of the Quran. We ask Allah to make the Quran our intercessor when we meet Him Jalla Jalaluhu. Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatika Allah wa barakatuh.