Objectives & Sciences of the Quran

Objectives & Sciences of the Quran

Excerpted from At-Tasheel li-Uloom at-Tazeel by Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi –al-Gharanti

The main objective of the Quran is to invite people to worship Allah alone and believe in Islam. This objective entails two things to which all meanings of the Quran indicate. 

First: clarification of the worship that people are commanded to observe.

Second: Mentioning incentives motivating and guiding people to how they should worship Allah. 

Worship is divided into two categories: principles of the creed and practical rules. As for incentives, they include: arousing of interest and warning of punishment.

The sciences found in the Quran are seven: knowledge of Tawhid-ur-Rububiyyah (Oneness of Allah’s Lordship), knowledge related prophet-hood, the Hereafter, rules of Islamic Shariah, promising of reward, warning of punishment, and narratives.

As for knowledge of Tawhid-ur-Rububiyyah, it is about confirming the existence of Allah and deducing that He exists by reflecting on His creatures. 

Everything that is mentioned in the Quran regarding the invitation to reflect on the creatures, and pondering on the creation of the earth, the heavens, plants, winds, rain, the sun, the moon, the night, and the day, etc. All these things prove the existence of a Creator who created them, Allah. 

Moreover, knowing that Allah is the only Creator of this universe leads to the fact He is one in His names and attributes as well as attesting to the fact that He is free from any imperfection.

As for knowledge related to prophet-hood, it is about confirming that Allah sent all the prophets [peace be upon them] in general, and confirming that He sent Messenger Muhammad, [peace be upon him] in particular. It also includes confirming that Allah revealed the divine Scriptures to His prophets, confirming the existence of the angels, among whom were intermediaries between Allah and His prophets, and refuting the claims of those disbelieve in anything of these things. 

It also falls within this category what has been mentioned in the Quran about consoling Prophet Muhammad, and honoring and praising him and the other prophets. 

As for knowledge related to the Hereafter, it includes confirming that resurrection on the Day of Judgment will take place, establishing proofs of its occurrence, and refuting the claims of its deniers. It also includes mentioning things related to the Hereafter, such as Paradise, Hell, reckoning, the balance, books of deeds, the great horrors of the Day of Judgment, etc. 

As for rules of Islamic Shariah, they include commands and prohibitions. They are divided into five categories: obligatory, recommended, prohibited, disliked, and permissible. Some of these rules are related to the body, such as praying and fasting, some are related to wealth, such as giving the Zakat, and some are related to the heart, such as sincerity, fear of Allah, hoping for Allah’s forgiveness.

As for knowledge of reward, it includes things such as promising of attaining worldly success, such as victory and prominence and promising of attaining the reward of the Hereafter, which is mentioned more in the Quran, such as, mentioning Paradise and its bliss. 

As for warning of punishment to the disobedient, it includes things such warning of punishment in the worldly life and the Hereafter, which is mentioned more in the Quran, such as mentioning attributes of Hell and its torment and attributes of the Day of Judgment and its horrors.

Reflecting on the method of the Quran, one finds that promising of a reward is followed by warning of punishment to combine between arousing of interest and fear and to distinguish each one of them by means of mentioning the other, the saying goes: 

By means of antonyms, things become clear.

As for knowledge related to narratives, they mention stories of the former prophets and other people, such as the story of the People of the Cave, and the story of Dhul-Qarnayn. 

Someone may ask, ‘What is the wisdom behind repeating narratives about the prophets in the Quran?’

The answer to this question involves three points:

• A particular surah of the Quran may mention some of the news of the prophets that is not mentioned in other surahs. Thus, each narrative has extra information that is not mentioned in another surah.

• Some narratives of the prophets have been elaborately mentioned in some parts of the Quran. On the other hand, they have been briefly mentioned in other parts of the Quran to demonstrate the eloquent style of the Quran in both ways. 

• Narratives about the prophets have been mentioned in the Quran for various objectives. They are repeated in the Quran in accordance with the multiplicity of their objectives.

 Some of objectives of the narratives of the Quran:

• Confirming the prophet-hood of the former prophets of Allah by mentioning some of their miracles and mentioning how those disbelieved in them were destroyed.

• Confirming prophet-hood of Messenger Muhammad [peace be upon him], as he informed about these narratives though no one taught him them. Allah says, interpretation of meaning, [That is some of news of the unseen We reveal to you. You knew it not neither your people before this revelation. So be patient. Indeed, the good end is for the God-fearing.] [Surah Hud:49] 

• Confirming Allah’s Oneness. After mentioning the destruction of the disbelievers, Allah says in the Quran, [We wronged them not but they wronged themselves. Their gods they worshipped besides Allah availed them not at all when the command of your Lord came and they increased them not but destruction. [Surah Hud: 101]

• Learning lessons by reflecting on Allah’s Omnipotence and His severe punishment for the disbelievers.

• Consoling Messenger Muhammad in respect of his people’s rejection to believe in Islam by instructing him to imitate the former prophets. Allah says, interpretation of meaning, [Indeed, messengers before you were rejected and they were patient with the rejection and they were persecuted until Our victory came to them. None can change the words of Allah. Indeed, some of the news of the messengers has come to you.] [Surah the Cattle: 34] 

• Consoling Messenger Muhammad and promising him that he will be victorious just as the former prophets were victorious. 

• Warning the disbelievers of the punishment of Allah, just as the former disbelievers were punished.

• There are other wonders and lessons mentioned in the Quran. Moreover, it mentions how the prophets argued with their people and refuted their claims, etc. In sum, mentioning the stories of the prophets have many benefits. Therefore, they have been repeated in the Quran, just as the saying goes, for every situation, there is an appropriate speech.

Levels of People in Respect of the Prayer

Excerpt from the book ‘Al-Waabil as-Saayib min al-Kalim at-Tayyib’ ‘On the Invocation of God’By Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, mentions that there are five levels for people in respect of performing the prayer. They are as follows:

The First Level: 

A person, who is unjust to himself and negligent. He falls short in making ablution properly, performing the prayer at its specified times, and fulfilling its essential pillars.

The Second Level: 

A person, who performs the prayer at its specified times, fulfilling its apparent and essential pillars. He also makes ablution properly. However, he falls short in doing his best to resist his soul temptations. Thus, is engrossed in thinking about temptations and thoughts. 

The Third Level: 

A person, who observes the essential pillars of the prayer, and does his best to resist his soul temptations and thoughts. Thus, he is occupied with fighting his enemy, i.e. Satan, lest he should steal from his prayer. Such a person is praying and fighting.

The Fourth Level: 

A person, who performs the prayer, and fulfills its rights and essential pillars, striving to make his heart concentrate on observing its rights and essential pillars lest none of them should be lost. His whole attention focuses on performing the prayer perfectly while his heart is fully occupied with performing the prayer and worshipping Allah in his prayer. 

The Fifth Level: 

A person, who performs the prayer like the person in the fourth level. He also makes his heart fully directed towards his Lord, Allah, observing, loving, and exalting Him. He behaves as if he sees Allah with his own eyes while all temptations and distances have vanished between him and His Lord, Allah. The difference between the prayer of such a person and other people is superior and greater than what is between the heavens and the earth. He is fully occupied with his Lord in the prayer and his eye will be pleased with Him.

The first type will be punished, the second will be called to account, the third will be forgiven, the fourth will be rewarded, and the fifth will be brought close to His Lord because he is one of those the prayer is the delight of their eye. 

Whoever the prayer is the delight of his eye in the worldly life, his eye will be delighted by being close to His Lord in the Hereafter as well as it will be delighted in the worldly life. 

And whoever his eye is pleased with Allah, every eye that sees him will be pleased.

And whoever his eye is not pleased with Allah will suffer extreme grief in the worldly life. 

What Happens to Your Heart When It Loves Something?

Excerpted from the book 'Some Points of Benefit' ‘al-Fawai’d’ by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
 

What Happens to Your Heart When It Loves Something?  

The possibility of putting something inside a place depends on the emptiness of the place. This fact applies to tangible things as well as intangible things, such as beliefs and intentions.

When the heart is full of falsehood, believing and loving it, then it will have no room for believing and loving the truth. Similarly, when one’s tongue is occupied with unbeneficial talk, it will be unable to utter beneficial talk unless it stops uttering falsehood. Likewise, when one’s limbs are occupied with acts of disobedience, it will be impossible to make them do acts of obedience unless they stop doing the opposite. 

In the same way, when the heart is occupied with loving, desiring, longing for, and feeling cordiality with other than Allah, it will be impossible to make it occupied with loving, desiring, and longing for meeting Allah unless it stops being attached to other than Allah.

Similarly, the tongue cannot be occupied with remembering Allah, and the limbs cannot be engaged in serving causes pleases Allah unless they stop remembering and serving other than Him. 

When the heart is occupied with thinking about the created beings and unbeneficial knowledge, then it will have no room for thinking about Allah and knowing His names, attributes, and rules.

The secret behind all these things is the fact that the heart listens in the same way the ear listens. If the heart listens to speech other than the speech of Allah, it will have no room for listening to or understanding the speech of Allah. Likewise, if the heart inclines to the love of other than Allah, it will have no room for loving Allah. Moreover, if the heart remembers other than Allah, it will have no room for remembering Allah, just like the tongue.

Therefore, Messenger Muhammad [peace be upon him] said, ‘It is better that the heart of a person is filled with pus than to be filled with poetry.’ [Sahih al-Bukhari] The narration refers to the fact that a person’s heart may be full of poetry. 

In the same way, the heart may be filled with doubts, suspicion, fantasies, and estimations that do not exist, as well as unbeneficial knowledge, jests, jokes, stories, and so on.

When the heart is filled with these things, and facts of the Quran and knowledge whereby it attains perfection and happiness try to enter it, they will find no room nor acceptance therein. Thus, they will pass by it and go to another place. It is like giving advice to a heart that is full of its opposite, it will find no way to enter it. It will not accept the advice, nor allow it to enter. However, the advice will pass by it without settling therein. 

Source Al-Fawai'd

By Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya

Some Points of Benefit 

The Strangest Thing

Excerpted from the book 'Some Points of Benefit' ‘al-Fawai'd’ by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

What is the Strangest Thing?

The strangest thing is that you know Him (Allah), and then you do not love Him.

You hear His invitation to follow His path, and then you delay to accept His invitation. 

You know the extent of profit you will get when you deal with Him, and then you deal with other than Him.

You know the extent of His anger, and then you dare to anger Him. 

You suffer the anguish of loneliness when you disobey Him, and then you do not seek to enjoy cordiality by obeying Him.

You suffer heartbreaking pain when you utter speech other than His speech and speak about other than Him, and then you do not long for delighting your heart by remembering and praying to Him. 

Your heart suffers torture when it is attached to other than Him, and then you do not flee to the delight of repenting to Him.

And the strangest thing is that you know that you extremely need Him, and then you avoid His path, and like what distances you from Him.

Source Al-Fawai'd

By Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya

What is the Quran?

What is the Quran? 

The Quran is the speech of Allah that He revealed to Messenger Muhammad [peace be upon him] and that its recitation is an act of worship.

Explanation of the Definition

The speech of Allah: This is to exclude the speech of human beings, the jinn, and the angels.

That Allah revealed to Messenger Muhammad: This is to exclude the Scriptures that Allah revealed to other prophets, such as the Torah to Moses and the Gospel to Jesus, [peace be upon them]. 

That its recitation is an act of worship: Reciting the Quran is an act of worship. The believers will be rewarded for reciting it. 

Allah says in the Quran that He revealed the Quran to Messenger Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, that its language is Arabic, and that it is clear.

Quran

Allah says, interpretation of meaning,

[Indeed, it is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds. The trustworthy Spirit has brought it down into your heart that you may be of the warners. He brought it down in a clear Arabic language.] [Surah ash-Shu’ra: 192-195]

In the previous ayat, Allah says that He revealed the Quran to Messenger Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. 

The angel Gabriel recited the Quran to Messenger Muhammad until he fully understood its meanings so that he might be one of Allah’s Messengers, who warns people of Allah’s punishment if they disobey Him.

 Allah revealed the Quran in clear Arabic language, containing what people need to know about their worldly and religious affairs. 

Revealing the Quran to Messenger Muhammad began in the night of the Decree, in the month of Ramadan. 

Allah says, interpretation of meaning, 

[Upholding the truth, We have revealed it, and containing the truth, it has been revealed. We have not sent you, but as a giver of good news and a warner. It is a clear Quran, which We have revealed so that you may deliberately recite it to men, and We have revealed it in stages.]
 [Surah al-Isra: 105-106]

Allah revealed the Quran to Messenger Muhammad to support, uphold, establish, and sanction the truth. Moreover, the Quran contains the truth in every matter, creed, worship, etc.

Allah revealed the Quran containing proofs of His Oneness, laws, and legislation, regulating people’s life, commandments to implement justice and practice virtue ethics, and prohibitions of injustice and vice ethics.

Qurʾān

 In sum, the Quran contains all man needs to know to attain happiness in this world and the Hereafter. Moreover, Allah revealed the Quran and took upon Himself to protect it from distortion, alteration, increase, and decrease. 

Allah sent Messenger Muhammad as a giver of good news to the good-doers and a warner to the evil doers. Allah has not sent Messenger Muhammad to force people to believe in Islam. 

The Quran is distinctively clear.  It precisely states commands, prohibitions, rules, and laws. Allah has revealed it in stages so that Messenger Muhammad might deliberately recite it to men. 

Qur'an: The Word of God

Reciting the Quran deliberately facilitates understanding and implementing its rules as well as its memorization. 

Allah revealed the Quran to Messenger Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years in accordance with His wisdom, and events that took place then. It was revealed in such a manner to facilitate its understanding and memorization for the Muslims.  If they were asked to implement the entire rules and teachings of the Quran at once, it would be difficult for them. 

Quran

Introduction to Tafsir of Surah Ibrahim

The main theme of surah Ibrahim is demonstrating that the duty of the messengers of Allah is to bring people out of the darknesses of disbelief in Allah into the light of belief in the Oneness of Allah, Exalted be He.    Moreover, it strongly threatens the disbelievers with severe punishment for their disbelief in the Oneness of Allah. 

The beginning of surah Ibrahim refers to the role of the Quran, some aspects denoting the ability of Allah, and the evil end of the disbelievers.  

Alif, Lam, Ra. This is a Book, which We have revealed to you that you might bring people out of darknesses into the light, by the permission of their Lord, leading them to the path of the All-Mighty, the Praiseworthy. [Quran Surah Ibrahim 14: 1]
Allah is the One to whom belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. Woe to the disbelievers, for them, there will be severe torment. [Quran Surah Ibrahim:2] 
We did not send any messenger but he spoke the language of his people so that he would clarify for them. Then Allah lets go astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. [Quran Surah Ibrahim 14: 4] 

Then the surah mentions some of the story of Moses with his people, news of some former messengers of Allah, and some conversations that took place between the messengers of Allah and their people.

Indeed, We sent Moses with Our proofs, saying, ‘Bring your people out of darknesses into the light and remind them of the Days of Allah.’ Surely in that are proofs for every patient, thankful one. [Quran Surah Ibrahim: 5]

The surah then presents an example representing the deeds of the disbelievers and narrates what Satan will say to them on the Day of Judgment. 

The deeds of those who disbelieve in their Lord are like ashes that the wind forcefully blows on a stormy day. They will be unable to avail of anything that they gained. That is the extreme deviation. [Quran Surah Ibrahim: 18]

Satan will say when the matter will have been decided, ‘Indeed, Allah promised you a truthful promise and I too promised you and I broke my promise. I have no authority over you, but that I called you, and you obeyed me. So do not blame me but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I deny your worship of me besides Allah in the past. Indeed, for the wrongdoers, there will be severe torment. [Quran Surah Ibrahim:22]

After that, the surah mentions some proofs denoting the Oneness and ability of Allah. 

It is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth. He caused water to descend from the sky thereby producing fruits for your sustenance. He subjugated for you the ships, sailing through the sea by His command and He subjugated for you the rivers. [Quran Surah Ibrahim 14:32]

  

The surah mentions some supplications that Ibrahim invoked Allah, Exalted be He. 

Mention when Ibrahim said, ‘O my Lord! Make this city secure and make me and my sons avoid worshipping the idols.’ [Quran Surah Ibrahim 14: 35] 

Finally, the surah is concluded with mentioning the punishment that Allah has prepared for the disbelievers in the Hereafter. 

Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a day when the eyes will stare in horror. [Quran Surah Ibrhaim:42] 

 In sum, surah Ibrahim discusses the following points:

• Reminding people of the blessings of Allah and commanding them to thank Allah for His blessings.

• Consoling Messenger Muhammad [peace be upon him] for the abuse that he suffered from the disbelievers by informing him that the former prophets also suffered from the abuse of their people, and telling him that Allah has prepared immense reward for the believers in the Hereafter.

• The surah invites people to believe in the Oneness of Allah and warns of disbelief in the Oneness of Allah by using different methods.

Introduction to Tafsir of Surah Yusuf

Introduction to Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf

Introduction to Tafsir 

The Reward of the Believers in the Hereafter

English Translation and Tafsir of Surah of al-Kahf Ayah 107-110

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds – the Gardens of Paradise will be their dwelling.

They will abide therein forever, not desiring to move thereof. 

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for writing the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like thereof as replenishment.’  

Say, ‘I am only a man like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is One God. Whoever hopes to meet his Lord should do righteous deeds and must not worship anyone besides His Lord.’ [Surah al-Kahf: 107-110]

After mentioning the severe punishment of the disbelievers, the ayat refer to the reward awaiting the believers.

Tafsir

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds – the Gardens of Paradise will be their dwelling. [107]

The reward of those who believe in the Oneness of Allah, His messengers, the Scriptures He revealed to His messengers, and do righteous deeds will be the Gardens of Paradise. They will dwell forever in al-Firdows, i.e. the highest part of Paradise. 

Messenger Muhammad said, ‘In Paradise, there are a hundred levels; the distance between every two levels is like the distance between the heavens and the earth. Al-Firdows is the highest level of Paradise. The four rivers of Paradise flow therefrom and the Throne of Allah is over it. Thus, if you pray to Allah, ask Him to grant you al-Firdows.’ 

They will abide therein forever, not desiring to move thereof. [108]

The believers will abide in Paradise forever. They will not think about moving to another place. The believers’ love to stay forever in Paradise indicates that they dearly love it. It may be thought that a person permanently living in a particular place becomes bored and wants to leave it, which is a natural human characteristic. However, though the believers will remain for good in Paradise, they will never think about moving to another place. 

Just as the surah began by praising Allah, Exalted is He, it is concluded with praising Him, referring to the comprehensiveness of His knowledge, and His perfect ability, and that He alone deserves to be worshipped.

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for writing the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like thereof as replenishment.’ [109]

O Messenger! Say to the people, ‘If the sea were ink for writing the words of Allah, the sea, though it is vast and abundant, would be used up before the words of Allah were exhausted.’ 

(…even if We brought the like thereof as a replenishment.)

Here the sentence indicates an emphasis on what has been mentioned regarding the comprehensiveness of the knowledge of Allah, Exalted is He.

The ayah describes the comprehensiveness of the knowledge of Allah eloquently in a manner that makes it comprehensible to the human intellect by making an analogy between intangible and tangible things. The sea with its vastness is tangible and a finite thing whereas the comprehensive knowledge of Allah is intangible and infinite. 

All created things are finite and limited whereas the speech of Allah, which is one of His characteristics and His characteristics are not created things, is infinite and limitless. 

Finally, the surah is concluded with this command to Messenger Muhammad.

Say, ‘I am only a man like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is One God. Whoever hopes to meet his Lord should do righteous deeds and must not worship anyone besides His Lord.’ [110]

O Messenger! Say to the people, after you have demonstrated the limitlessness of the knowledge of Allah, ‘I am just a human being like you. Allah has chosen me to be His messenger. He has sent me to convey the message of His Oneness and command you to worship none but Him. Thus, you must worship Allah alone and obey Him.’

The ayah confirms the human nature of Messenger Muhammad, and at the same time, it confirms that he is a messenger to whom Allah revealed His revelation.

(Whoever hopes to meet his Lord should do righteous deeds and must not worship anyone besides His Lord.)

O People! Whoever, hopes to meet His Creator, Allah, on the Day of Judgment and attain His reward and pleasure, must worship Allah alone and he should do righteous deeds.

Learned Lessons from Surah Al-Kahf Ayah 107-110

• The reward of the believers, who believe in Allah and His messengers, and do righteous deeds, will be dwelling in al-Firdows, which is the highest part of Paradise. They will abide therein forever.

• No one can count the number of the words of Allah, which indicates the comprehensive knowledge of Allah, Exalted is He.

• Messenger Muhammad is a human being. Allah chose him to be His messenger and prophet and revealed to him His revelation.

• He, who wishes to meet Allah, Exalted is He, on the Day of Judgment and be rewarded by Him, must believe in the Oneness of Allah, and His messengers, obey Allah, and does righteous deeds.

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf Ayah: 54-59

Tafsir of Surah an-Nahl Ayah 79