When are We to Understand?
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Creator: Muhammad Alshareef
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Format: text
Identifier: http://www.khutbah.com/en/ed_know/when_understand.php
Language: en
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Subject: knowledge
Title: When are We to Understand?
Created on: Tue Jan 29 11:02:05 -0500 2008
Updated on: Tue Jan 29 11:02:05 -0500 2008
Version: 1
Abstract: ... rate parts so that they can recite it when someone dies; this is a well known fact. Or, when they some wealthy person dies, they donate $100,000 of their inheritance (money that belongs to their children) to print a million copies of pocketsize Surah Yaa-Seen (not Surah Maa'idah or any other surah, just Surah Yaa-Seen) so that they can get the 'barakah' of people who read for 'barakah'. Nay, we've misunderstood the role of the Qur'an in our lives and the message is still waiting to be read. This is our topic for today: When are we to understand Allah's message? Do you know which language the Qur'an would have been revealed if the majority of speakers were taken into account? No, not English. It would have been a Mandarin Chinese Qur'an! But the Qur'anic language is not open to the whims of humans. Nay, Allah ta'ala chose a pure and blessed Arabic. It is we who must strive to understand it: A book whereof the verses are explained in detail - a Qur'an in Arabic for people who know (Fussilat 41/3). The Qur'an is truth in its purest form. Falsehood cannot touch it. Allah ta'ala says: Falsehood cannot approach it from in front, nor from behind. It is a revelation from One Wise and Praised (Fussilat 41/42). The Qur'an is the siraat al-mustaqeem, the straight path which we ask for every day in salah: Guide us to the straight path (Al-Fatihah 1/6). All we have to do is turn the very next page, and we'll discover the straight path. Allah ta'ala begins speaking about this book wherein there is no doubt, and then characterizes it: A guide [what we were asking for] for the God-Fearing (Al Baqarah 2/2). Ali radi Allahu anhu said, "As-siraat al-mustaqeem, the straight path, is the Qur'an!" The Qur'an is the rope of Allah that we are ordered to hold fast to: And hold firmly to the rope of Allah, and be not divided (A’le-Imran 3/103). Ibn Abbas said: "Hold firmly to the rope of Allah, for verily the rope of Allah is the Qur'an" (Ibn Katheer). The Qur'an is the best speech: Allah has sent down the best of statements, a book, its parts resembling each other in goodness and truth, oft-repeated (Az-Zumar 39/23). I want you to try and picture ancient Makkah right now. Picture what kind of things you would see. I picture the city getting darker as the sun sets; there are no streetlights. I see a small marketplace; Arabs selling dates, honey, meats, bread. I do not hear the sound of clocks ticking or distant cars; I hear pigeons squawking, donkeys whining, and Arabs chatting. I do not feel the softness of cotton and acrylic that I wear now; my skin is very harsh, deeply tanned. I recline on hard mud floors, and sleep under the moon. In that condition, a man is claiming that he is the Prophet of Allah. As-saadiq, al-ameen – the truthful one, the trustworthy Muhammad. Imagine yourself in this state; you've believed in him and you go to hear the guidance of the Qur'an, to hear the recitation from he whom the Qur'an was revealed to. I ask you dear brothers and sisters, how deeply would you listen to the message in such a state? What has happened to us that we do not want to hear Allah's message with such passion. During Ramadan, we have good brothers who lead the Salat-ul-Taraweeh. They recite the Qur'an and make the du'a and once in a while, tears overtake the words they recite. One of the brothers once came up to me with his eyes misty, and a sheet of paper and pen in his hands. He said, "Muhammad, I want you to translate for me everything the Imam is saying in his dua." Caught off guard, I shrugged and said, “You want me to translate the whole thing here in the hallway?" He replied, "Yes, because we're Muslim too. If it makes the Imam cry, it would make us cry too ... if we only knew what it meant!" As he spoke, tears overtook him. The words locked in my mind, "If only we knew what it meant." Allah ta'ala says in the Qur'an: And the Messenger has said, "O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur'an as a thing [abandoned]" (Al-Furqan 25/30). How is the Qur'an abandoned? 1. The Qur'an is abandoned in our lives when we do not believe i... [Full Article...]
