Excerpts from the Holy Qur’an, an Eternal Guidance to Mankind

Preface

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of God the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

All praise is God’s the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be on the Best of His creation, the last of His prophets and apostles, the Chief of the foremost and the later ones, the Redeemer of the sinners, the Mercy unto the Worlds – Muhammad (p) and his progeny, the Clean, the Pure and the Infallible ones.

A humble effort is made to highlight the directives given by Allah (swt) in the Holy Qur’an in context of various subjects that touch the day-to-day lives of every Muslim and for that matter every human being.

It is out of my personal experience I realise that most of my Muslims brethrens go along their entire lives not actually knowing what our Scriptures contain, which I realise is so straight and clear in most of the important issues touching the normal lives of a believer. While most of us read the Arabic text, the essence and the message is never really conveyed to us due to the limitation of not being well versed with the Arabic language. One is then dependent on hearsay, presumptions and assumptions, beliefs and customs. I too have been guilty of it in the past and know of many more such people.

Nevertheless the fact remains that all who believed and believe in it, this Qur’an represents the ultimate manifestation of God’s Grace to man, the ultimate wisdom, and the ultimate beauty of expression: in short, the true Word of God. This compilation of mine is keeping people like me in mind, with limited time and education in Islam, and comprises of extracts of the Holy Qur’an along with its translations and commentaries by Mir Ahmed Ali and Muhammad Asad, and also from Al-Mizan by Allama Tabatabai among other books.

It is also directed towards my Non-Muslims friends, who have such wrong preconceived notions about Islam. It is more than probable that one of the main reasons for their negative attitudes and lack of appreciation of this ‘Untarnished Word of God’ is to be found in that aspect of the Qur’an which differentiates it fundamentally from all other sacred scriptures: its stress on reason as a valid way to faith as well as its insistence on the inseparability of the spiritual and the physical (and, therefore, also social) spheres of human existence: the inseparability of man’s daily actions and behaviour, however “mundane”, from his spiritual life and destiny.

This absence of any division of reality into “physical” and “spiritual” compartments makes it difficult for people brought up in the orbit of other religions, to appreciate the predominantly rational approach of the Qur’an to all religious questions. Consequently, its constant interweaving of spiritual teachings with practical legislation perplexes the Western reader who is suddenly confronted with the claim of the Qur’an to being a guidance not only towards the spiritual good of the hereafter but also towards the good life attainable in this world.

Another reason may be found in the fact that the Qur’an itself has never yet been presented in any Universal language in a manner that would make it truly comprehensive.

The attempt here is to at least highlight certain verses which are revealed in the form of directives and which touch the daily lives of every human being. This is definitely not exhaustive and am aware could not really ‘do justice’ to the Qur’an and the layers upon layers of its meaning, for,

“if all the sea were ink for my Sustainer’s words, the sea would indeed be exhausted before my Sustainer’s words are exhausted.” (Surah al-Kahf, 18:109)

Ayatullah Sayyid Abul Qasim al-Khui writes in his book ‘Al-Bayan fi Tafsiril Qur’an[^1]’:

"I was enamoured by Qur'an from the childhood, always keen to unravel its secrets and to discover its meaning. It behoves every true Muslim, and even non‑Muslim thinkers to ponder over the Qur'an, to unfold its hidden meaning and to benefit from its light. For it is a Book which has a message for human welfare and guides it to success and salvation. Qur'an is a reference for the linguist, a guide to the grammarian, an authority for the jurist, an example for the refined, a lost treasure for the wise. It even guides those who admonish and shows the goal in life. It is a source of social as well as political sciences, and upon it rest the sciences of Islam. It will reveal to you the fascinating secrets of Nature, and introduce you to the laws of crea­tion. Qur'an is the abiding miracle of this ever lasting religion, and a code of conduct based on the high and esteemed Shariah".

My personal thanks and gratitude to Brother Khalil Jaffer for his invaluable support, encouragement and efforts in making this project a reality. His guidance and knowledge has indeed played a pivotal role throughout my research. He has prepared a computer software programme to supplement this publication, which is available at the addresses given below.

My thanks and appreciation to Brother Moonawar Dhanani for the confidence he has placed in me and assuring me of his support in this publication.

The rewards of both my brethren remain with Allah (swt) alone.

Forbearance is sought for any errors and all are invited to offer suggestions - views - advices - comments on this publication and may be addressed to the undersigned. This would help us in our next publication the work of which has already started.

  1. Hasnain Suchedina

P.O. Box 3014, Deira , Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: 724741

  1. Moonawar Dhanani
    Crown Bureau De Change, Nairobi, Kenya.
    Tel: 252388

  2. World Islamic Network
    67/69 Hazrat Abbas (A.S.) Street, Dongri, Mumbai 400 009, India
    Tel: 3773648

[^1]: In English it’s available the translation of two important chapters of this book titled “The Collection and Preservation of the Holy Qur’an” published by Madrasa as-Seyed al-Khui, Stanmore, Middlesex, U.K. and available on line at: http://al-islam.org/tahrif_Qur’an /