Wednesday, 1 August 2012

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Tuesday, 31 July 2012

Understanding The Quran: Pre-requisites


The Quran seeks to awaken in human the consciousness of his/her intimate relation to the universe. Its main emphasis is on reason and knowledge. Its purpose is to help to build up a free, self-reliant and rational personality, vivified with the sense of Allah's working in the universe according to His immutable, unalterable laws. Now the question is: "How to understand the Quran?"

For this purpose, some pre-requisites are suggested. Study them very carefully, minutely, and meticulously before manifesting any emotional reactions.

Pre-requisite No. IFor understanding the Quran, it is not enough to have mastered its language, the Arabic language. A man may be proficient in the Arabic language and yet the meaning of the Quran may elude him.

Pre-requisite No. 2 He/She should approach this Divine Book with a receptive mind, free from preconceived ideas and notions, prejudice and bias.

Pre-requisite No. 3 He/She should be serious about human life and universe in which we live, and should have an intense consciousness of participation in a purposeful cosmic process.

Pre-requisite No. 4 He/She should be anxious to guard against pitfalls in the way of life and to steer clear of the obsacles which hinders his/her progress

These are, according to the Quran, the essentials pre-requisites for understanding the Quran. Those who do not approach the Quran in this way, it remains a sealed book to them. In the stories of the Anbiya -the Messengers recounted in the Quran -we are told how those who were not perceptive and alive were only bewildered when they listened to their i.e., the anbiya's passionate exhortations. Some of them frankly confessed that they found their words unintelligible:
O Shu'aib ! We understand not much what you say (11: 91)

Our first task, in the light of the above mentioned pre-requisites, is to understand the real meaning of the Quran with the help of all the intellectual faculties we possess. It can only be then that we can proceed to assess the values of its teaching.
 

Thursday, 26 July 2012

Prayers in The Holy Quran for Muslims – Part 1

The Quran provides us with many specific prayers that we may use for ourselves. The Quran contains the Contact Prayers in Sura 1, as well as other various prayers of supplication and commemoration. A list of Quranic prayers is provided here. God advises us in Sura 2, Verse 186:
“When My servants ask you about Me, I am always near. I answer their prayers when they pray to Me…”
In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
The very first prayer we encounter in the Qur’an is the Contact Prayers. These are the specific words used by Muslims five times a day for Salat. Sura 1 (The Key), Verses 1-7:
“Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe. “Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment”.
You alone we worship; you alone we ask for help. Guide us in the right path; the path of those whom You blessed; not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers.”
Prayers in Quran for Muslims
Other Prayers in the Holy Quran are;
  • [2:128] “Our Lord, make us submitters to You, and from our descendants let there be a community of submitters to You. Teach us the rites of our religion, and redeem us. You are the Redeemer, Most Merciful.”
  • [2:201] “Our Lord, grant us righteousness in this world, and righteousness in the Hereafter, and spare us the retribution of Hell.”
  • [2:250] “Our Lord, grant us steadfastness, strengthen our foothold, and support us against the disbelieving people.”
  • [2:286] “Our Lord, do not condemn us if we forget or make mistakes. Our Lord, and protect us from blaspheming against You, like those before us have done. Our Lord, protect us from sinning until it becomes too late for us to repent. Pardon us and forgive us. You are our Lord and Master. Grant us victory over the disbelieving people.”
  • [3:8] “Our Lord, let not our hearts waver, now that You have guided us. Shower us with Your mercy; You are the Grantor.”
  • [3:16] “Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us our sins, and spare us the agony of the hellfire.”
  • [3:26-27] “Our god: possessor of all sovereignty. You grant sovereignty to whomever You choose, You remove sovereignty from whomever You choose. You grant dignity to whomever You choose, and commit to humiliation whomever You choose. In Your hand are all provisions. You are Omnipotent. You merge the night into the day, and merge the day into the night. You produce the living from the dead, and produce the dead from the living, and You provide for whomever You choose, without limits.”
  • [3:147] “Our Lord, forgive us our sins, and our transgressions, strengthen our foothold, and grant us victory over the disbelievers.”
  • [3:191-192] “Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain. Be You glorified. Save us from the retribution of Hell. Our Lord, whomever You commit to Hell are the ones You have forsaken. Such transgressors have no helpers.”