Lying is the Gift of Mawdudi’s Teaching of Pan Islam-ism: Late. Maulana Muhammad Manzoor Naumani in his book

Meri Rafaqat Ki Sargazasht – Maulana Madudoodi Kay Kay Sath Meray Shab O Roz [My Life with Maulana Mawdoodi] preface by Maulana Abul Hassan Ali Nadvi published in 1997 by Majlis-e-Nashariyat-e-Islam, Nazimabad, Karachi – Sindh Pakistan, while narrating as to why he quit Jamat-e-Islami, wrote, that in the name of Modus Operandi and Strategy [Tareeqa-e-Kaar and Hikmat-e-Amali] Maulana Mawdudi had compromised on many salient features of Islam like any other Secular Political Party. On this Maulana Naimani said Islam’s Basic Priniciples cannot be compromised for worldly benefit what to talk of Political Strategy and Maulana Mawududi’s wrong step would open the doors of Anarchy [Fitnah] in Pakistan. In this book it is written that the Pardah “Veil” which was often exploited by Islamists and Mawdudi alike wasn’t paid attention in Mawdudi’s household because a “Young Cook” used to come and go inside Mawdudi House Ladies Chamber without any restriction???

The series of assassinations in Former East Pakistan [now Bangladesh] was started from 1969 when a Shams Duaa-Haa, professor of Chemistry in Rajshahi University, was assassinated in daylight. Let me explain what the Al-Badar and Al-Shams were and are? Al-Badar was and is militant wing of Jamait Islami and a paramilitary force formed in Bangladesh in 1971 by General Yahya INC. Al-Badar forget that what the real Jihad is? And fight against the Muslims in Bangladesh, Bengalis use to call Al-Badar as “Butcher of Bangladesh.” The Al Badar was assigned a variety of combat and non-combat tasks including taking part in the operations, spying against Bengali Intellectuals, interrogation, working as the guides for Tikka Khan and Niazi, assassination, detecting and killing Bengali intellectuals. The force was composed of madrassah students-teachers, supporters of Muslim League and Jamait Islami. History tell us that killings which began on 25 March 1971 and sparked the Bangladesh Liberation War and also led to the deaths of at least 26,000 people as admitted by Pakistan on one hand (by the Hamoodur Rahman Commission) and 3,000,000 by Bangladesh on the other hand, (From 1972 to 1975 the first post-war prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, mentioned on several occasions that at least three million died). Doctor Fazl Rabbi was an eye specialist; he was kidnapped by Al-Badar. Next day his body was found from a drainage line. His both eyes were vanished and there were marks of switchblade. “What should we think about such peccadilloes?” Ex-militants of Al-Badar are settled in UK and other European countries and they are appointed as cleric of mosques there. And I want to remind the readers that too, “Jamait Islami’s former leader Maulana Modudi had rejected the theory of Pakistan but since 1947, when Pakistan came into being, it is claimed by the leaders of Jamait Islami that they are playing leading role of toady. For the reference: کیا روشنی سے ڈرتے ہو؟
وجاہت مسعود

وقتِ اشاعت: Sunday, 17 December, 2006, 00:48 GMT 05:48 PST

http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/miscellaneous/story/2006/12/061216_wajahat_dhaka_uk.shtml

With Book Reference “Dawat O Irshad of Mawdudi”:

Mawdudi, Jamat-e-Islami, Democracy, Jinnah and Pakistan???

The Jamat-i-Islami was also opposed to the idea of Pakistan which it described as Na Pakistan (not pure).

In none of the writings of the Jama’at is to be found the remotest reference in support of the demand for Pakistan. The pre-independence views of Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, the founder of the Jamat-i-Islami were quite definite:

“Among Indian Muslims today we find two kinds of nationalists: the Nationalists Muslims, namely those who in spite of their being Muslims believe in Indian Nationalism and worship it; and the Muslims Nationalist: namely those who are little concerned with Islam and its principles and aims, but are concerned with the individuality and the political and economic interests of that nation which has come to exist by the name of Muslim, and they are so concerned only because of their accidence of birth in that nation. From the Islamic viewpoint both these types of nationalists were equally misled, for Islam enjoins faith in truth only; it does not permit any kind of nation-worshipping at all. [Maulana Maududi, Nationalism and India, Pathankot, 1947, p-25]

Maulana Maududi was of the view that the form of government in the new Muslim state, if it ever came into existence, could only be secular. In a speech shortly before partition he said: “Why should we foolishly waste our time in expediting the so-called Muslim-nation state and fritter away our energies in setting it up, when we know that it will not only be useless for our purposes, but will rather prove an obstacle in our path.” [Reference: The Process of Islamic Revolution, 2nd edition, Lahore 1955, p-37]

Paradoxically, Maulana Maududi’s writings played an important role in convincing the Muslim intelligentsia that the concept of united nationalism was suicidal for the Muslims but his reaction to the Pakistan movement was complex and contradictory. When asked to cooperate with the Muslim League he replied: “Please do not think that I do not want to participate in this work because of any differences, my difficulty is that I do not see how I can participate because partial remedies do not appeal to my mind and I have never been interested in patch work.” [Reference: Syed Abul Ala Maududi, Tehrik-i-Adazi- e-Hind aur Mussalman] (Indian Freedom Movement and Muslims), pp 22-23

He had opposed the idea of united nationhood because he was convinced that the Muslims would be drawn away from Islam if they agreed to merge themselves in the Indian milieu. He was interested more in Islam than in Muslims: because Muslims were Muslims not because they belonged to a communal or a national entity but because they believed in Islam. The first priority, therefore, in his mind was that Muslim loyalty to Islam should be strengthened. This could be done only by a body of Muslims who did sincerely believe in Islam and did not pay only lip service to it. Hence he founded the Jamat-i-Islami (in August 1941). However, Maulana Maududi’s stand failed to take cognizance of the circumstances in which the Muslims were placed at that critical moment. [Reference: Ulema in Politics by Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi , p-368]

Listen to this Liberal Fraud Hasan Nisar praising Islami Jamiat Tulaba [The Terror Wing of Jamat-e-Islami Pakistan] Hassan Nisar | Views about Islami Jamiat Talba |http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtohDOo2Oe0&feature=related

Same Hassan Nisar literally smashed IJT Goons so which version is to be taken seriously the Version above or this one: Choraha – 24 April 2010
APRIL 24, 2010 in Choraha Watch Fresh episode of Choraha with Hasan Nisar. http://pkpolitics.com/2010/04/24/choraha-24-april-2010/
http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/f242/debate-choraha-24th-april-2010-a-182479/

Vandalism and Vandals of Jamat-e-Islami and IJT.
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/05/vandalism-and-vandals-of-jamat-e-islami.html

aamir mughal..by your face you resemble a jew or a christian but not a muslim..so is ur master…molvi wahiduddin khan who is sitting in lap of indian masters and giving fatwas against the ummah ..molvi did no good to this ummah…see it here

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?59990-The-Truth-Concerning-the-Beliefs-of-Wahiduddin-Khan/page2&s=4ea59a9b62665c3e747f888c49947383

a truth says:
Mar 9, 2011 at 8:24 pm

Why I embraced Islam

by Maryum Jameelah (formerly Margaret Marcus), an American Jew who convert to Islam in the late 1950′s.

I trace the beginning of my interest in Islam when as a child of ten , while attending a reformed Jewish “Sunday School” , I became fascinated with the historical relationship between the Jews an the Arabs. From my Jewish textbooks, I learned that Abraham was the father of the Arabs as well as the Jews. I read how centuries later when in medieval Europe, Christian persecution made their lives intolerable, the Jews were welcomed in Muslim Spain and that it was the magnanimity if this same Arabic-Islamic civilization which stimulated Hebrew culture to reach its highest peak of achievement. Totally unaware of the true nature of Zionism, I naively thought that Jews were returning to Palestine to strengthen their close ties of kinship in religion and culture with their Semitic cousins. Together I believed that the Jews and Arabs would cooperate to attain another Golden Age of culture in the Middle East.

Despite my fascination with the study of Jewish history, I was extremely unhappy at the “Sunday School”. At this time I identified strongly with the Jewish people in Europe, then suffering a horrible fate under the Nazis and I was shocked that none of my class-fellows nor their parents took their religion seriously. During the services at the synagogue, the children used to read comic strips hidden in their prayer books and laugh to scorn at the rituals. The children were so noisy and disorderly that the teachers couldn’t discipline them and found it very difficult to conduct the classes. At home the atmosphere for religious observance was scarcely more congenial. My elder sister detested the “Sunday School” so much that my mother literally had to drag her out of bed in the mornings and she never went without the struggle of tears and hot words. Finally my parents were exhausted and let her quit. On the Jewish holy days instead of attending Synagogues and fasting on Yum Kipper, my sister and I were taken out of school to picnics and gay parties in fine restaurants. When my sister and I were convinced our parents how miserable we were both at the Sunday School they joined agnostic, humanist organization known as the Ethical Cultural Movement.

The Ethical Culture Movement was founded late in the 19th century by Felix Adler. While studying for the rabbinate, Felix Adler grew convinced that devotion to ethical values as relative and man-made, regarding and supernaturalism or theology as irrelevant, constituted the only religion fit for the modern world. I attended the Ethical Culture “Sunday School” each week from the age of eleven until I graduated at fifteen. Here I grew into complete accord with the ideas of the movement ad regarded all traditional, organized religions with scorn.

Throughout my adolescence I remained under the influence of humanistic philosophy until, after I began to mature intellectually and atheism no longer satisfied me, I began a renewed search for my identity. For a time I joined a bahai group in New York called the “The caravan of East and West” under the leadership of a Persian by the name of Mirza Ahmed Sohrab (D.1958) who told me that he had been the secretary of Abdul Baha, one of the founders of the Bahai. Initially I was attracted to the Bahai because of its Islamic origin and its preaching about the oneness of the mankind, but when I discovered how miserably they had failed to implement this ideal, I left them a year later bitterly disillusioned. When I was eighteen years old, I became a member of the local branch of the religious Zionist youth movement known as the Mizrachi Hatzair, but when I found out what the real nature of Zionism was, which made hostility between Jews and Arabs irreconcilable, I left several months later in disgust. When I was twenty and a student in New York University , one of my elective courses was “Judaism in Islam”. My professor, Rabbi Abraham Issac Katsh, the head of the Department of Hebrew Studies there, he spared no efforts to convince his students — all Jews many of whom aspired to become Rabbis– that Islam was derived from Judaism. Our textbook, written by him * took each verse from the Quran , painstakingly tracing it to its alleged Jewish source. Although his real aim was to prove to his students the superiority of Judaism over Islam, he convinced me diametrically the opposite. I was repelled by the sub-ordination of the Hereafter, so vividly ported in the Holy Quran, to the alleged divine right of the Jews to Palestine. The Jewish God in the Old Testament and in the Jewish prayer book appeared to me distorted and degraded into some kind of real estate agent ! The fusion of Parochial nationalism with religion, I thought had spiritually impoverished Judaism beyond redemption. The rigid exclusiveness of Judaism I felt had a great deal of connection with the persecutions the Jews have suffered throughout their history. I reflected that perhaps these tragedies wouldn’t have happened if the Jews had competed vigorously with other faiths for converts. I soon discovered that Zionism was merely a combination of the racist, tribalistic Judaism with modern secular nationalism. Zionism was further discredited in my eyes when I learnt that few if any of the leaders of the Zionism were observant Jews and that perhaps nowhere is orthodox, traditional Judaism regarded with such intense contempt as in Israel. When I found nearly all important Jewish leaders in America uncritical supporters of Zionism who felt not the slightest twinge of conscience because of the terrible injustice inflicted on the Palestinian Arabs, I could no longer consider myself a Jew at heart.

One morning in November 1954, Professor Katsh during his lecture, argued with irrefutable logic that the monotheism taught my Moses (PBUH) and the Divine laws related to him at Sinai were indispensable as the basis for all higher ethical values. If morals were purely man-made as the Ethical Culture and other agnostic and atheistic philosophies taught then they could be changed at will according to mere whim, convenience or circumstance. The result would be utter chaos leading to individual and collective ruin. Belief in the Hereafter as the Rabbis in the Talmud taught, argued Prof. Katsh. was not mere wishful thinking but a moral necessity. Only those he said who firmly believed that each of us will be summoned by God on judgment Day to render a complete account of our life and rewarded or punished accordingly, will possess the self-discipline to sacrifice transitory pleasures and endure hardships and sacrifice to attain lasting good. While Prof. Katsh was lecturing thus, I was comparing in my mind what I had read in the Old Testament and the Talmud with what was taught in the Quran and Hadith and finding Judaism so defective, I was converted to Islam.

Although I wanted to become a Muslim as far back as in 1954, my family managed to argue me out of it. I was warned that Islam would complicate my life because it is not like Judaism and Christianity, part of the American scene. I was told that Islam would alienate me from my family and isolate me from the community. At that time my faith wasn’t sufficiently strong to withstand these pressures. Partly as the result of my inner turmoil, I became so ill that I had to discontinue college long before it was any time for me to graduate so that I never earned any diploma. For the next two years I remained at home under private medical care, steadily growing worse. in desperation from 1957-1959, my parents confined me both to private and public hospitals where I vowed that if I ever recovered sufficiently to be discharged I would embrace Islam.

After I was allowed to return home, I investigated all the opportunities to meet Muslims in New York City and it was my good fortune to make the acquaintance of some of the finest men and women anyone could ever hope to meet. I also began to write articles for Muslim magazines and carry on an extensive correspondence with Muslim leaders all over the world. I corresponded with the late Sheikh Abrahimi, the leader of the ulema in Algeria, Dr, Muhammad El-Bahay of Al-Azhar, Dr. Mahmud F Hoballah , then the director of the Islamic center in Washington D.C., Dr. Hameedullah of Paris, Dr. Said Ramadan, the director of the Islamic center of Geneva, and Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maudoodi.

Even before I formally embraced Islam, I found the integrity of the faith in the contemporary world greatly threatened by the so-called modernist movement which aimed at adulterating its teachings with man-made philosophies and reforms. I was convinced that had these modernizers had their way , nothing of the original would be left ! As a child I had witnessed with my own eyes in my own family how the liberals had mutilated what had once been a Divinely revealed faith. Having been born a Jew and reared in a Jewish family ,I had seen how futile was the attempt to reconcile religion with atheistic environment. “Reformed Judaism” not only failed to check the cultural assimilation of the Jews I knew but actively encouraged the process. As a result they had become Jews by label only. None had any religion worthy of the name. Throughout my childhood, the intellectual dishonesty, hypocrisy and superficiality of “reformed” Judaism was a vivid experience. Even at that early age I knew that such a watered down, half-hearted compromise could never hope to retain the loyalty of its members, much less their children. How dismayed I was when I found among the Muslims, the same threat! How shocked I was when I found certain scholars and some political leaders within the Muslim community guilty of the identical sins for which the God in our Holy Quran has vehemently denounced the Jews! Convinced that God wouldn’t spare us from calamity and doom us to the same fate the Jews have suffered unless we sincerely repented and changed our ways, I vowed that I would devote all my literary struggle to combating this menace from within before it was too late.

Thus in his first letter to me of January 1961, Maulana Maudoodi wrote:

“While I was scanning your essays. I felt as if I were reading my very own ideas. I hope your feeling will be the same when you have the opportunity to learn Urdu and study my books. And that despite the fact there has been no previous acquaintance between you and me, this mutual sympathy and unanimity in thought has resulted directly from the fact that both of us have derived our inspiration from one and the same source– Islam ”

MARYUM JAMEELAH’s BOOKS:

1. ISLAM VERSUS THE WEST
2. ISLAM AND MODERNISM
3. ISLAM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
4. ISLAM VERSUS AHL AL KITAB PAST AND PRESENT
5. AHMAD KHALIL
6. ISLAM AND ORIENTALISM
7. WESTERN CIVILIZATION CONDEMNED BY ITSELF
8. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MAULANA MAUDOODI AND MARYUM JAMEELAH
9. ISLAM AND WESTERN SOCIETY
10. A MANIFESTO OF THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT
11. IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION UNIVERSAL
12 WHO IS MAUDOODI ?
13 WHY I EMBRACED ISLAM
14 ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WOMAN TODAY
15 ISLAM AND SOCIAL HABITS
16 ISLAMIC CULTURE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
17 THREE GREAT ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD OF THE RECENT PAST
18 SHAIKH HASAN AL BANNA AND IKHWAN AL MUSLIMUN
19 A GREAT ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN TURKEY
20 TWO MUJAHIDIN OF THE RECENT PAST AND THEIR STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM AGAINST FOREIGN RULE
21 THE GENERATION GAP ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
22 WESTERNIZATION VERSUS MUSLIMS
23 WESTERNIZATION AND HUMAN WELFARE
24 MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND THE DEHUMANIZATION OF MAN
25 ISLAM AND MODERN MAN
a truth says:
Mar 9, 2011 at 8:42 pm

Gunahgar Mahid
…Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maudoodi……a great writer of islam…in favr of truth….to eradicate falsehood….he has a lotz of writings….specially wid tafhimul quran….a great one ….wid a huge collection of islamic articls n speech….but do u feel among all his writngs….nyone of ths inspired u specially…..or could creat an exceptional feelngs in ur mind….???
……i personally like……”islami renesa andolon”
which u like most????
over a year ago · Report

Ahmad Abdullah Saeed
Aslam-o-ALikum
Sorry i cant get this “islami renesa andolon”.
First i read deniyat and i like it most, then i read shadtai haq so i like it most. with more reading i like every book. Nowadays i am reading khutbat , this book cover basics of Islam.
Every line of his books are logical and relevent to Quran and Ahdith. Problem is to follow that. May Allah give us power to follow Quran and Ahadith.
Allah Hafiz
over a year ago · Report

Post deleted
over a year agoMuhammad Ali Rifai
i think his second best book after tafheem-ul-Quran is “Khilafat-o-Malukiyat” becaz it was a very brave step taken by him at this topic.
over a year ago · Report

Umer Sultan
Don’t understand Bengali brother Mahid.

I liked “Towards Understand Islam”
Then I liked Ahya-e-Islam Set

Then I liked Let us Be Muslims “Khutbat”
and then I loved his Tafseer,
and then I concluded his each book is better than the other one.
over a year ago · Report

Muqeet Soomro
My Favorite book are

Tafeem -ul-quran

الجھاد فی الاسلام ( Aljahad fil Islam)

and

TANQEEHAAT
over a year ago · Report

Krieger Piloto
مولانا کی تمام کتب نہ صرف اردو ادب کا سرمایہ ہیں بلکہ اسلامی انقلاب کی جانب دلوں کو گرمانے کےلیے عظیم جدوجہد ہیں۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔چنانچہ اگر یہ پوچہا جاے کہ مولانا کی کون سی کتاب میں پسند کرتا ہوں تو اس خوبصورت پہولوں کہ باغیچہ میں سے کوی ایک پہول یا کلی کو توڑنے کو بجاے میں پورے باغ کا انتخاب کروں گا
over a year ago · Report

Post deleted
over a year agoTalha Ahmed
Tafheem, Parda, Tanqeehat, Al Jihad fil Islam
over a year ago · Report

Arshad Alam
” deeniyaat” is a book that touches and galvanizes the dormant hearts. hundred of ppl converted into islam by going over this remarkable book authored by Moulana Moududi.
secondly i like ” who is moududi” written by Maryam Jamilah (formerly known as Margaret Marcus) Maryam Jamilah was a prolific author who wrote about her view in almost every prominent American magazine during the 1950’s. She was also actively corresponded with many Muslim scholars all around the world and the most famous dialogue was between her and Abu al-A’la al-Maududi which took place between 1960 until 1962. During the spring season of 1962, Abu al-A’la al-Maududi invited Mayram Jamilah to migrate to Pakistan and al-Maududi accepted her like a member of his own family. Maryam Jamilah accepted the invitation. She migrated to Pakistan and married Muhammad Yusof Khan, one of the prominent Jamaat Islami figures. They were granted 4 children
over a year ago · Report

Musab Abdali
towards understanding islam. sorry i live in america so im not sure of the name in urdu
over a year ago · Report

Talha Umair
dinyat,tanqehat
i hav not read others comletely
bt his every book seems to b better than previous
a truth says:
Mar 9, 2011 at 8:49 pm

Scholars

Scholars are the part of society that shape the society at the most. There teachings are the corner stone of World Stability and Peace. And Muslim Scholars have undoubtedly played their role utter- mostly. These scholars have helped bring different religious communities together for the purpose of Peace And harmony. They have even openly challenged any one who can prove that there is any book that Emphasises the message of Peace And Harmony more then Quran. Many have tried to challenge but have failed in open debates that have taken place. Below is the list of available Biographies ,with your support and contributions we will continue to increase database and improve the biographies standard on regular basis .

List
Imam Syed Abu al Ala Maududi

Doctor Genius: Zakir Naik

Hamza Yusuf

Sheikh Yusuf Estes

Ex Pop Sensation: Yusuf Islam

Abdur Raheem Green

Ahmed Deedat

ABU HAMID AL-GHAZALI

ABU AL-HASAN AL-MAWARDI

Aminah Assilmi

Harun Yahya (Turkish scholar, persecuted,tortured for his Islamic ideology)

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

JALAL AL-DIN RUMI

Zaid Shakir

Bilal Philips

Ibn al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

SHEIKH NASIRUDDIN ALBANI

SHEIKH MUHAMMAD IBN SALEH AL-UTHAYMEEN

SHEIKH SALEH IBN FAWZAN AL-FAWZAN
a truth says:
Mar 9, 2011 at 8:56 pm

Maulana Syed Abu’l Ala Maudoodi

Maulana Maududi’s philosophy, literary productivity and tireless activism contributed immensely to the development of Islamic political and social movements around the world.Maulana Maududi’s ideas profoundly influenced Sayyid Qutb of Egypt’s Jamiat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (“Muslim Brotherhood) another leading Muslim philosopher of the 20th century. Together, Maududi and Qutb are considered the founding fathers of the global Islamic revival movement.

Maulana Maududi, born on Rajab 3, 1321 AH (Sep 25, 1903 AD) in Aurangabad city of Hyderabad (now Maharashtra) state, India. He was a sayyid, a purported descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. Among his ancestors were many other spiritual leaders, including a prominent cleric of the Chishti Sufi Order, Khawajah Qutb al-Din Maudud. Maulana Maududi’s forefathers moved to South Asia from Chisht, near Herat in Afghanistan, near the end of the 15th century AD. Maulana Maududi’s father, Ahmad Hasan, born in 1855 AD, was a lawyer. Maulana Maududi was the youngest of his three sons.

Maulana Maududi was home-schooled before attending Madrasah Furqaniyah, a famous high school in Hyderabad which is, despite being named “Madrassah”, not an Islamic seminary. He attended college at Darul Uloom in Hyderabad but withdrew his father became terminally ill. He knew enough Arabic, Persian, English, and his native tongue Urdu to continue his studies independently.In 1918, at the age of 15, he began working as a journalist for a leading Urdu newspaper to support himself, and in 1920, he was appointed editor of Taj, , published in Jabalpore city in what is now Madhya Pradesh state, India. By 1921, Maulana Maududi moved to Delhi to work as editor for the Muslim newspaper (1921-1923), and later for al-Jam’iyat (1925-1928), publications by the Jam’iyat-i ‘Ulama-i Hind, a political organization of Muslim scholars mainly associated with Deoband. Under Maulana Maududi’s editorial leadership, al-Jam’iyat became the leading newspaper for South Asian Muslims.
a truth says:
Mar 9, 2011 at 9:12 pm

Islam: An Historical Purpose
By Syed Abu al ala Moudoodi

Islam began when man’s career on earth began—more precisely at the time of man’s creation and his descent. Allah created Adam and Eve and enjoined them to worship Him and live a life of obedience to the Divine Will.

Allah is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and of human beings. Man must turn to Him for sustenance and guidance. The very word Islam means obedience to God. In this respect, Islam is man’s natural religion—the only natural course is for man to look towards Him for guidance.

The day Adam and Eve were sent down to live on earth, Allah told them that they were His servants and He was their Master and Creator. He told them and mankind that the best course was for them to follow His guidance, to obey His orders and to refrain from what He had forbidden. God said to them that He would be pleased if they obeyed Him and in turn He would reward them. If, however, they did not heed His commands, He would be displeased and would punish them. This was the simple beginning of Islam.

Adam and Eve invited their children to follow the Islamic way of life. They and their children and their later generations followed the teachings of Islam as propounded by Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) for quite a long period of time. It was only later on that certain people began disobeying Allah. Some of them began worshipping other gods of their own making, some of them regarded themselves as gods, while a few others even declared their freedom to do as they pleased–defying God’s orders. This is how kufr (disbelief) came into being. Its essence lies in refusal to worship God–pursuing the path of defiance to the Creator.

When kufr (disbelief) began to increase and multiply it affected the life of society in a number of ways. Exploitation, oppression, viciousness and immorality emerged in different forms. Life became intolerable. Allah then appointed some righteous people to preach the Message of Truth among the wrongdoers, invite them to the Right Path and convert them to God-fearing people–worshipping and obeying God Alone. In short, they were asked to perform a mission–to make people righteous and true Muslims. These noble people entrusted with this great mission were called Prophets or Messengers of Allah. Allah sent these Prophets to different nations and countries. All of them were honest, truthful, and people of noble character. All of them preached the same religion–Islam. To mention a few names–Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. All of them were the Prophets of God and thousands of them were, over the centuries, sent into the world to guide mankind.

In the history of the last few thousand years, one can see the recurrent arrival of Prophets whenever kufr(disbelief) increased and assumed menacing proportions. The prophets tried to stop the tide of disbelief and invited people towards Islam. Some people adopted the Islamic way of life, but others rejected it. The people who followed the Prophets became Muslims and, after learning higher ethical and moral disciplines from them, began to preach and spread nobility and goodness. Having forgotten the teachings of Islam, later generations of Muslims themselves gradually sank into disbelief. Whenever such a situation arose, God sent a Prophet or Messenger to revive Islam. This continual arrival of Messengers of God continued for thousands of years. In the course of those long years, Islam was revived by those Prophets, who restated the Message forgotten by their people. At long last God sent the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who revived Islam in such an outstanding fashion that it still exists today and will continue to exist (God willing), till eternity.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born in 571 C.E. in the now famous city of Arabia called Makkah. Islam had no following in Arabia at that time nor did it have any following anywhere else in the world. Although the traces of teachings of the earlier Prophets could be found among a few pious people who tried to worship one and only one God and live a life of obedience to Him, the true religion of God was lost in a maze of paganism and pantheism. The pure worship of God, unadulterated by shirk (worship of false gods), was nowhere to be found. Moral values had lost their grip and people were indulging in all sorts of lax behavior and wickedness. Such was the situation in Arabia as also in the whole world at the close of the sixth century when God decided to send the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as His last Messenger. He spent forty years of his life as a patient observer in the city of Makkah. Everyone respected him for his noble qualities of head and heart. But they were not aware that this man was destined to become the world’s greatest leader.

During the early years of his life, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) felt very much grieved to see the gross immorality of the world of his time. There was exploitation of man by man. There was injustice and tyranny. He was grieved and anxious, but was somewhat silent as he, too, was unable to devise a remedy for the ailing humanity of the day. At long last, God chose him as His Messenger. When he attained the age of forty, God entrusted him with the Mission of spreading Islam, the true religion of God, the religion of peace and justice, by means of the Revelations which we now know as the Quran.

Having been appointed as the Messenger of God, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) started to communicate God’s Message to his people in Makkah. He began by inviting them to worship none but God–their sole Creator and Master. People in general opposed him and tried to prevent him from spreading Islam. He, however, continued his work with unflinching determination and dedication. As a result, many honest people gathered round him. They became his staunch supporters. The teachings of the Messenger of God spread slowly but surely outside his native Makkah to Arabia at large. Those who had a reputation for honesty and moral excellence began to accept the Faith, while opposition to them came from many ignorant people and vicious quarters. This continued for thirteen years. There was a gradual breaking of new ground. Islam was gaining a following all over Arabia. This is one side of the story. On the other hand, the defenders of the old order, people with vested interests and steeped in ignorant customs were hardening their opposition to Islam. Whenever new converts to Islam were presented, they were abused, humiliated, beaten, tortured, expelled and even put to death. Nevertheless, they remained firm and steadfast. At last the Makkah elders devised a plot to assassinate the Messenger of God in order to nip the Islamic movement in the bud. When affairs reached that pitiful state, God ordered His Messenger to leave Makkah and migrate to Madinah.

Having learned that the Prophet was planning to migrate from Makkah, its leaders expedited their plans to murder him on his journey outward. However, their disgraceful conspiracy could not succeed. The Prophet arrived at Madinah safe and sound. This is the most famous migration (hijrah) in the history of Islam. The Muslim calendar begins from that day, the years being numbered “After Hijrah” (A.H.).

Madinah, a city some 450 kilometers from Makkah, was growing as a centre for Islam. A number of people had already been converted to the new faith. Islamic teachings were winning new supporters every day. Leaders of the two major tribes of Madinah had accepted Islam and were ready to sacrifice their lives and property for the cause of Islam. At this point, the Prophet started planning to move to Madinah.

As soon as the Prophet settled in Madinah, the new Muslims started to flock into the city from the four corners of Arabia. This further strengthened the new centre. Islam was no longer a persecuted religion; it was able to obtain a firm foothold and was provided with the historic opportunity to establish an Islamic State and society. This constitutes the most important development of the post-Hijrah period. The leaders of Makkah, the defenders of the old order, did not miss the significance of this change. They realised that a new model was being set up, which would be a challenge to the way they were running their society. This caused great anxiety amongst them. They decided to crush this rising force while it was still in its infancy. For they believed that it would be easy to crush the Muslims while they were few and far between and lacked a centralized power. Now things were changing. Muslims were concentrating at one place and organizing a new society with its own government. The prospects of annihilating such a state, once it was firmly entrenched, looked remote to them. The unbelievers feared that if the Muslims were allowed to gain momentum they would become a great power. Consequently they hurried to band themselves together with a view to eradicating the embryonic Islamic government at Madinah. The Makkah leaders lost no time in issuing a clarion call to their kith and kin and to all supporters of the old order in neighboring towns and all over Arabia to rally round them to form a force which could crush the Muslims. They formed a band of cavalry which invaded Madinah and its environs time and again with all their military might. They, however, could not defeat the Prophet and his loyal supporters. In spite of all efforts on the part of the unbelievers, Islam continued to spread in Arabia. The good, honest folk continued to forsake kufr (disbelief) and come into the fold of Islam.

Eventually, Islam gained a crowning success when the Prophet entered victoriously into Makkah–once the stronghold of kufr. This all happened within eight years of the establishment of the Islamic State of Madinah. No sooner had Makkah submitted to the Islamic forces than the remaining hostile groups of unbelievers of Arabia began to surrender. Within the next year, the whole of Arabia accepted Islam and the Muslims established a powerful government over an area consisting of some twelve hundred thousand square miles.

Arabia had the most singular government of the time, based as it was on the principle of the sovereignty of God and the vicegerency (Khilafah) of man. The law of the land was Islamic. The administration of the state lay in the hands of the honest and pious people. The country had no trace of violence, oppression, injustice or immorality. Peace, justice, truth and honesty reigned supreme everywhere. Many of the people of the country had come to possess the highest moral attributes because they were honest in worshipping God and obeying Him.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) changed the character of Arabian life in a short period of only twenty-three years. He instilled in the people a spirit that helped to serve the cause of Islam. They set out with the great mission of spreading Islam throughout the whole world. The Prophet passed away at the age of sixty-three, after completing the greatest mission of all time.

The Companions of the Prophet took up the mission of the Prophet after his death. They traveled to distant lands to spread the Islamic teachings. They succeeded wherever they went. Obstacles that stood in their way in spreading Islam were all surmounted. Islam became so strong in such a short while that no one dared try to stop its growth. The Muslims were spread out from India to Spain. They changed the face of the globe. The entire population of the countries they visited were so much impressed by their good example and noble behavior that they began to enter quickly into the fold of Islam. Wherever the Muslims went, they took their highest moral attributes with them–so much so that immorality and injustice dissolved in their presence. They transformed Godless people into God-conscious people and gave them the Light of Knowledge and strength of character. They changed their way of life so that virtue and goodness could prevail. The entire social climate was reformed and remoulded. The hands of the oppressors were held and a reign of justice and fair play established. This was the greatest achievement in the history of mankind.

The Companions of the Prophet rendered yet another great service to mankind. This consisted in memorising the Quran and preserving it in its original form as it was revealed to the Prophet. They wrote down the Quran word for word and did not miss even a mark in its Arabic orthography. Today, we are most fortunate in having the Quran exactly as it was revealed to the Prophet, written and read in the same language and in the same diction as it was written and read in the time of the Prophet–about 1,400 years ago.

Another important aspect of their work was to preserve and communicate to posterity the most detailed account of the Prophet’s life, speeches, instructions, commands, morals and behaviour. These accounts by the Prophet’s Companions are grouped together under the all-embracing title of the Sunnah of Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet). This is the greatest record ever preserved about the life and activities of a man and is a great blessing to every generation. For even after a lapse of 1,400 years after the Prophet’s death, people can still see and hear his teachings as the Companions of the Prophet saw and heard them during his lifetime. Now anybody can approach hadith literature and find out the Islamic point of view on any subject. He can learn how to become obedient to God and what type of man is liked by God.

The Quran and the Hadith are things of greatest importance to a Muslim. With their preservation and security (God has promised to secure and preserve them), Islam is protected for all time to come. In the days before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam was forgotten again and again after being revived, owing to lack of the necessary care regarding the preservation and security of the earlier Revealed Books and the details of the lives of their Prophets. This was the reason why, after every Prophet, generations following forgot the real teachings and drifted towards a life devoid of good morals and norms of behaviour. But Islam, as revived by the Prophet Muhammad, is bound to last for ever because the Book of God and the traditions of the Prophet are both secure and preserved in their original purity.

The Islamic way of life can be revived and reconstructed again and again with the help of the Quran and the traditions if ever, God forbid, the freshness of its true spirit wanes. The world no longer requires any new Prophet to revive Islam to its pristine glory. It is enough to have among us the learned people who know the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet and who are able to apply their teachings to their own lives and stimulate others to adopt and apply them in their lives as well. This is how the stream of Islam will continue to flow, refreshing the eternal thirst of mankind.
a truth says:
Mar 9, 2011 at 9:14 pm

Introduction to the study of Quran
By Syed Abulala Moudoodi (RA)

We are accustomed to reading books which present information, ideas and arguments systematically and coherently. So, when we embark on the study of the Qur’an, we expect that this book too will revolve around a definite subject, that the subject matter of the book will be clearly defined at the beginning and will then be neatly divided into sections and chapters, after which discussion will proceed in a logical sequence. We likewise expect a separate and systematic arrangement of instruction and guidance for each of the various aspects of human life.

Unique Book

Before the reader begins the study of the Qur’an, he must bear in mind the fact that it is a unique Book, quite different from the books one usually reads. Unlike conventional books, the Qur’an does not contain information, ideas and arguments about specific themes arranged in a literary order. That is why a stranger to the Qur’an, on his first approach to it, is baffled when he does not find the enunciation of its theme or its division into chapters and sections or separate treatment of different topics and separate instructions for different aspects of life arranged in a serial order. On the contrary, there is something with which he has not been familiar before and which does not conform to his conception of a book. He finds that it deals with creeds, gives moral instructions, lays down laws, invites people to Islam, admonishes the unbelievers, draws lessons from historical events, administers warnings gives good tidings, all blended together in a beautiful manner. The same subject is repeated in different ways and one topic follows the other without any apparent connection. Sometimes a new topic crops up in the middle of another without any apparent reason. The speaker and the addressees, and the direction of the address change without any notice. There is no sign of chapters and divisions anywhere. Historical events are presented but not as in history books. The problems of philosophy and metaphysics are treated in a manner different from that of the text books on the subjects. Man and the universe are mentioned in a language different from that of the natural sciences. Likewise it follows its own method of solving cultural, political, social and economic problems and deals with the principles and injuctions of law in a manner quite different from that of the sociologists, lawyers and jurists. Morality is taught in a way that has no parallel in the whole literature on the subject.

That is why the unwary reader is baffled and puzzled when he finds all these things contrary to his preconceived conception of a book. He begins to feel that the Qur’an is a book without any order or interconnection between its verses or continuity of its subject, or that it deals with miscellaneaous topics in an incoherent manner, or that it had been given the form of a continuous book though it was not a book in the commonly accepted sense of the word. As a result of this, its opponents raise strange objections against the Qur’an, and its modern followers adopt strange devices to ward off doubts and objections. They either resort to escapism or put forward strange interpretations to ease their minds. Sometimes they try to create artificial connections between the verses to explain away the apparent incoherencies, and, as a last resort, they even accept the theory that the Qur’an deals with miscellaneous topics without any order or coherence. Consequently, verses are isolated from their context and confusion is produced in its meanings.

This happens when the reader does not take into consideration the fact that the Qur’an is a unique book. It does not, like other books, enunciate at the very beginning the subject it deals with and the object it intends to achieve. Its style and method of explaining things are also quite different from those of other books one commonly reads and it does not follow any bookish order. Above all, it is not a book on ‘religion’ in the sense this word is generally understood. That is why when a reader approaches the Qur’an with the common notions of a book, he is rather puzzled by its style and manner of presentation. He finds that in many places the background has not been mentioned and the circumstances under which a particular passage was revealed have not been stated. As a result of these things, the ordinary reader is unable to benefit fully from the most precious treasures contained in the Qur’an, though occasionally he may succeed in discovering a few gems here and there. Only those people become victims of such doubts as are not acquainted with these distinctive features of the Qur’an. They seem to find miscellaneous topics scattered all over its pages and have difficulties with meanings. Nay, even those verses, which are absolutely clear, appear to them to be quite irrelevant in the contexts which they occur. The reader may be saved from all these difficulties, if he is warned beforehand that The Book he is going to study is the only book of its kind in the whole world: that its literary style is quite different from that of all other books and that its theme is unique so his pre-conceived notions of a book cannot help him understand the Qur’an. Nay, these may even become a hindrance. Therefore he should first of all free his mind from preconceived notions and get acquainted with the distinctive features of this Book. Only then and then alone can he understand it.

In order to understand the Qur’an thoroughly, it is essential to know the nature of this Book, its central idea and its aim and object. The reader should also be well acquainted with its style, the terms it uses and the method it adopts to explain things. He should also keep in view the background and circumstances under which a certain passage was revealed.

Divine Guidance

First of all, the reader should understand the real nature of the Qur’an. Whether one believes it to be a revealed book or not, one will have to consider, as a starting point, the claim that is put forward by itself and its bearer, Muhammad (peace be upon him), that this is the Divine Guidance.

Allah, the Lord of the universe, its Creator, Master and Sovereign, created man and bestowed upon him the faculties of learning, speaking, understanding and discerning right from wrong and good from evil. He granted him freedom of choice, freedom of will, freedom of action and gave him authority to acquire and make use of the things around him. In short, He granted him a kind of autonomy and appointed him as His vicegerent on the earth and instructed him to live in accordance with His Guidance.

At the time, when the Lord of the universe appointed man as His vicegerent, He warned him very clearly and precisely, leaving no doubt in his mind as to the kind of relations he should have with Him, as if to say, “I am your Master and Sovereign and that of the whole universe; therefore you should worship Me and none else. You are neither independent in My Kingdom nor the subject of anyone else, to whom you might owe obedience or worship. You are being sent to the earth with certain powers for a fixed term of time for your test. After that you will have to return to Me. Then I will judge the deeds you did in the world and decide whether you have been successful or failed the test. Therefore the right course for you is to accept Me voluntarily as Sovereign and worship Me alone and act in the world according to the Guidance I shall send you, and live on the earth with the conviction and understanding that it is merely the place of your trial. Your real object in earthly life should be to come out successful in the final judgement. Therefore any other course different from and opposed to the Divine Guidance, will be wrong. If you adopt the first course, (and you have full liberty and freedom to adopt it), you will achieve peace and tranquillity in this world and win the home of eternal bliss and joy (Paradise) in the next world, to which you shall have to return. And if you follow any other course (and you are quite free to do this too, if you so choose), you shall incur My disfavour in this world and eternal sorrow and affliction in the Hereafter, where you shall be thrown into the abyss of Hell”. After such a warning, the Owner of the universe sent Adam and Eve (peace be upon them) the first human beings, to the earth and gave them the guidance according to which they and their descendants were to live in this world. Thus the first two human beings were not created in ignorance and darkness but were given very clear and bright Light and the Law they were to follow. This was Islam, (submission to Allah). Before they left this world, they themselves practised and taught the same way to their children and children’s children and exhorted them to live as Muslims (obedient servants of Allah). But in the succeeding centuries, by and by, people swerved from this straight way of life (Islam) and adopted different crooked ways. They not only lost the Guidance because of their negligence but also tampered with it because of their wickedness. They attributed to others the qualities and powers of Allah and associated others to rank with Him as gods and ascribed His rights to others. They invented different kinds of religions (ways of life) by mixing up all sorts of superstitions, wrong theories and false philosophies with the Guidance that was given by Allah. They discarded the right, just and moral principles taught by Allah or corrupted them and made such laws of life as suited their own prejudices and lusts, and filled Allah’s Earth with chaos and iniquity.

Though this was a sad state of affairs, Allah did not want to force these corrupt people to follow the Right Way because this would have been against the limited freedom of action which had been granted to man by Him; nor did He will to destroy them forthwith as soon as rebellion broke out against Him, because this would not have been in keeping with the rules of life laid down for trial in this world. Instead of this, Allah took upon Himself, from the very beginning of man’s life on the earth, to send His Guidance to him during his term of life, leaving him free to follow or not to follow it. Accordingly, He made arrangements for the Guidance of mankind and appointed His Messengers from among the people themselves and bestowed upon them the knowledge of the Truth and the Right Way of Life. They were charged with the mission to invite people to the Right Way from which they had swerved. The Messengers themselves believed in Allah and acted in accordance with the Guidance they received from Him. They were raised from different nations in different countries and thousands of them were sent during thousands .of years. They all had one and the same religion which was based on the Unity of Allah (Tawhid) and accountability in the Hereafter (Akherah). They all taught the same way of life that was taught to the first man at the very start of his life in this world. They all followed the same Guidance, that is, those fundamental and eternal principles of morality and culture which were prescribed for the First man from the very first day of his life. They all had the one and the same mission, that is, to invite all human beings to the same Guidance, and to organise them into one community (Ummah). All those people who accepted their invitation became one community, which was in duty bound to follow the Divine Guidance and to do its best and utmost to establish it and to guard against any transgressions.

During their respective terms, these Messengers fulfilled their mission admirably well. But it is a pity that the majority of the people were not inclined to accept their invitation and even those who joined their community gradually became corrupt. So much so that some of these communities totally lost that Guidance and others tampered with the Commandments of Allah and mixed them up with false things.

Then the Lord of the universe sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) as His last Messenger to fulfil the same mission for which Messengers had been sent before him. He extended his invitation to all human beings, including the corrupt followers of the previous Messengers and asked them to follow the Right Way. He organised all those who accepted the Divine Guidance into one community, which in its turn, was required to re-establish its collective way of life based on the Guidance and to exert its utmost to reform the world, which had gone astray. The Qur’an which was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Book which contains that Invitation and that Divine Guidance.

Central Theme

Now that we have come to know the nature of the Qur’an, it has become easier to determine the subject it deals with, its central theme and its aim and object.

The SUBJECT it deals with is MAN: it discusses those aspects of his life that lead either to his real success or failure.

The CENTRAL THEME that runs throughout the Qur’an is the exposition of the Reality and the invitation to the Right Way based on it. It declares that Reality is the same that was revealed by Allah Himself to Adam at the time of his appointment as viceregent, and to all the Messengers after him, and the Right Way is the same that was taught by all the Messengers. It also points out that all theories contradictory to this Reality, invented by people about Allah, the universe, man and his relations with Allah and the rest of His creation, are all wrong and that all the ways of life based on them are erroneous and lead to ruinous consequences.

The AIM and OBJECT of the revelations is to invite man to that Right Way and to present clearly the Guidance which he has lost because of his negligence or has perverted by his wickedness.

If the reader keeps these three basic things in mind, he will find that in this Book there is no incongruity in the style, no gap in the continuity of the subject and no lack of interconnection between its various topics. As a matter of fact, this Book is not irrelevant anywhere with regard to is Subject, its Central Theme and its Aim. From its very beginning to its end, the different topics it deals with are so intimately connected with its Central Theme that they may be likened to the beautiful gems of the same necklace, despite their different colours and sizes. The Qur’an keeps the same object in view, whether it is relating the story of the creation of the earth or of the Heavens or of man or is referring to the manifestations in the universe or stating events from human history. As the aim of the Qur’an is to guide man and not to teach nature study or history or philosophy or any other science or art, it does not concern itself with these latter subjects. The only thing with which it is concerned is to expound the Reality, to remove misunderstandings and misconceptions about it, to impress the Truth upon the minds, to warn them of the consequences of wrong attitudes and to invite humanity to the Right Way. The same is true of the criticism of the creeds, of the moral systems, of the deeds of men and communities and of its disussions of the problems of metaphysics etc. That is why it states or discusses or cites a thing only to the extent relevant to its aims and objects and leaves out unnecessary and irrelevant details and turns over and over again to its Central Theme and to its invitation round which every other topic revolves. When the Qur’an is studied in this light, no doubt is left that the whole of it is a closely reasoned argument and there is continuity of subject throughout the Book.

Background

One cannot understand fully many of the topics discussed in the Qur’an unless one is acquainted with the background of their revelation. One should know the social, historical or other antecedents or conditions which help explain any particular topic. For, the Qur’an was not revealed as a complete book at one and the same time; nor did Allah hand over a written copy of it to Muhammad (peace be upon him) at the very beginning of his mission and command him to publish it and invite people to adopt a particular way of life. Moreover, it is not a literary work of the common conventional type that develops its central theme in a logical order; nor does it conform to the style of such a work. The Qur’an adopts its own style to suit the guidance of the Islamic Movement that was started by Allah’s Messenger under His direct command. Accordingly, Allah revealed the Qur’an piece-meal to meet the requirements of the Movement in its different stages.

Makki Surahs (Chapters)

When the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) was commanded to start his mission at Makkah, [Mecca] Allah sent down such instructions as the Messenger needed for his own training for the great work that was entrusted to him. The Qur’an imparted also the basic knowledge of the Reality and gave brief answer to the common misunderstandings that misled people to adopt wrong ways of life and invited them to accept the basic principles of morality and adopt the right attitude that alone leads to the success and welfare of humanity.

These early messages consisted of short and concise sentences and were couched in a very fluent and effective language to suit the taste of the people to whom they were first addressed. Their excellent literary style was so appealing that it touched their very hearts. They were so charming that they attracted the attention of the hearers, who began to repeat them because of their beauty and elegance. Though universal truths were enunciated in these messages, they were given a local colour and were supported by arguments, examples and illustrations from the environment with which its first addressees were quite familiar. In order to impress the addressees effectively, these early addresses were confined to their own history, their traditions, their monuments, their beliefs, their morality and their evil ways.

This early stage of the Movement lasted for four years or so with the result that a few good people accepted its message and formed the nucleus of the future Muslim Community. But the large majority of the Quraish(1) began to oppose it because, in their ignorance, they thought that it hit hard at their vested interests and lusts and the old traditions of their forefathers. The message of the Qur’an, however, went on spreading beyond the boundaries of Makkah and reached other clans.

Then the Movement entered its second stage which continued for nine years or so and a fierce struggle began with the old order. Not only the Quraish but also the majority of its upholders also rose up to kill this Movement employing all sorts of weapons or at least to suppress it. They made false propaganda and levelled accusations and raised frivolous objections against it. They spread suspicions and doubts in order to alienate the common people from it. They hindered strangers from listening to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and inflicted all sorts of cruelties on those who accepted Islam. They boycotted the Muslims socially and economically in order to intimidate and coerce them. Their persecution became so unbearable that some of them had to leave their homes twice for Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), and at last all of them had to migrate to Al-Madinah [Medina]. But in spite of persecution and hindrances, the Movement continued to spread. There was hardly a family or a household left in Makkah from which one person or the other had not accepted Islam. Naturally this produced bitterness in the hearts of the opponents of Islam. The persecution became all the more bitter when they saw that their own brothers, nephews, sons, daughters, sisters etc., had accepted Islam and became its faithful and strong supporters and were ready to de- fend it even with their lives.

The Movement also got impetus from the fact that it was drawing into its fold the best from among their people who became the embodiments of virtue after accepting Islam. The world, therefore, could not help feeling the moral superiority of the Movement that was so thoroughly transforming the characters of its followers. All through this long and bitter struggle, Allah continued to reveal, according to the requirements of the occasion, inspiring addresses which highly influenced the thoughts and conduct of its hearers. On the one hand, these addresses instructed the Muslims in their primary duties, infused into them the spirit of loyalty and devotion to bind them together as members of the Muslims Community and taught the ways of piety, high morality and purity of character and trained them to be true missionaries of Islam. On the other hand, these messages consoled, comforted and encouraged the Muslims with promises of success in this world and of eternal bliss in the Hereafter. They urged them also to exert their utmost in the way of Allah with fortitude, endurance and courage. The Muslims were so imbued with the spirit of sacrifice for this noble cause that they were ready to bear every kind of affliction and fight against the bitterest opposition. At the same time, these addresses administered warnings to those people who were opposing the Movement and those who were indifferent to it . Examples were cited from the history of the neighbouring peoples as proofs thereof. Their attention was also drawn to the ruins of the habitations by which they used to pass during their journeys: these were held out as object lessons. They were asked to observe the phenomena of Nature they saw day and night on the earth and in the heavens as a proof of the Unity of Allah and of the inevitable Hereafter.

The early addresses exposed the blasphemy of the idolaters and their association of partners with Allah and their worship of the old traditions so vividly as to convince all fair-minded persons of their error. They refuted their misconception that they were independent of Allah and not accountable to Him in the Hereafter with such clear reasoning as to leave no doubt in their hearts and minds. Every doubt was dispelled and every objection answered and every intricacy and complication, in which they were entangled and in which they were involving others, was unfolded and unravelled. In short, these addresses proved clearly and conclusively that the old ways were based on ignorance and were utterly void of sense. Side by side with this, the disbelievers were admonished for their immorality, their wrong ways of life and customs of ignorance and their opposition to the Truth and their persecution of the believers. These early addresses also put forward those basic principles of culture and morality which have always been universally accepted and which have always formed the basis of the enlightened Divine civilization. Several changes took place during the Makki stage of the Movement. It spread wider and wider, day by day, and the opposition to it became stronger and stronger in the same proportion. By and by, it came into contact with the people of different creeds and different ways of life and this gave rise to new problems. The discourses, therefore, began to deal with various new topics as well. This explains the difference of their style from those of the earlier ones. This is the background of the surahs which were revealed during the thirteen years of Makki life.

Madani Surahs

After facing opposition for thirteen years in Makkah, the Islamic Movement found a new centre in AI-Madinah where it became possible to collect all its followers from the various parts of Arabia and to unify and strengthen them. Accordingly, the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and the majority of the Muslims migrated to AI-Madinah.

Then the Movement entered its third stage under totally changed conditions. Now that the Muslim Community had succeeded in founding a regular state, an armed encounter ensued with the exponents of the old order of ignorance. Besides this, the Jews and the Christians came into conflict with it, even though they also professed to be the followers of Prophets. It had also to deal with different kinds of hypocrites who had somehow or other entered its fold. But in spite of all those obstacles, the Movement succeeded in subduing the whole of Arabia after a hard struggle of ten years and was in a position to extend its universal message of reform to the outer world.

As time passed, several changes took place in this stage also, and every changed condition had its own special problems, so Allah revealed to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) the kind of discourses required for any particular occasion. That is why some of these were couched in the fiery rhetoric of a warner and the others in the form of the royal edicts of the law-giver. Some adopted the method of a teacher, trainer and reformer and taught the principles and the methods of organising a community, of building up a state and of constructiong a good civilisation for the conduct of different affairs of life. Others gave instructions for dealing with the hypocrites or the unbelievers, who had come under the protection of the Islamic State. Then in some of these discourses, the Muslims were taught the kind of relations they should have with the people of the Book and with the belligerent powers and with their own allies. In others they were taught, trained and organised to carry out their obligations as vicegerents of the Lord of the universe. Some gave instructions for their guidance, and warned them of their weaknesses and exhorted them to sacrifice their lives and properties in the way of Allah. Others taught the moral lessons they needed in defeat and victory, adversity and prosperity, war and peace. In short, these trained them to carry on the missionary work for the propagations of Islam as the successors of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) Then some discourses invited to Islam the people of the Book, the hypocrites, the unbelievers and the blasphemers, or relinked them for their hard-heartedness or warned them of the doom in store for them or admonished them for neglecting lessons from the stories and events of the past, so as to leave no excuse for their sticking to the wrong ways of life.

This is the background of the surahs that were revealed during the ten years at Al-Madinah. It is obvious that their style had to be different from that of the Makki Surahs.

Style

It must have become clear from the above that the revelation of the Qur’an began simultaneously with the beginning of the Islamic Movement and continued for twenty-three years. The different portions of the Qur’an were revealed according to the requirements of the various phases of the Movement. It is thus obvious that a book like this cannot have the kind of uniformity of style which is followed in formal books on religion and the like. It should also be kept in mind that the various portions of the Qur’an, both long and short, were not meant to be published in the form of pamphlets at the time of their revelation but were to be delivered as addresses and promulgated as such. Hence they could not be in the style of a written work. Moreover, these addresses were necessarily of a different nature from that of the lectures of a professor; therefore their style would naturally be different from them also. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) was entrusted with a special mission and had to appeal both to the emotions and to the intellect; he had to deal with people of different mentalities and cope with different situations and various kinds of experiences during the course of his mission. Such a person has to do all that is required for extending a message and for leading a movement. He has to impress the different aspects of his message on people’s minds in order to change the established world of ideas, and to appeal to the feelings and emotions in order to counteract the forces of his opponents. He has also to train and reform his followers and to imbue them with spirit and courage, and to refute the arguments of opponents and to expose their moral weaknesses and so on. That is why the style of the discourses that Allah sent down to His Messenger hpd to be what suited the requirements of a Movement. It is, therefore, wrong to seek the style of a formal book or that of college lectures in the discourses of the Qur’an. That also explains why the same things are repeated over and over again in the Qur’an. A mission and a movement naturally demand that only those things should be presented which are required at a particular stage and that nothing should be said about the requirements of the next stage. That is why the same things are repeated over and over again as long as the movement remains in the same stage, no matter whether it remains there for months or for years. Of course, these things have been differently worded and styled to avoid monotony, and couched in a beautiful and dignified language to make them effective and impressive. Moreover, it repeats at suitable places its basic creed and principles in order to keep the Movement strong at every stage. That is why those surahs which were revealed at a particular stage of the Movement generally deal with the same topics, though, of course, in different words and in various forms. Moreover, all the surahs of the Qur’an contain references to the basic creed, i.e., the Unity of Allah, His attributes, the Hereafter and accountability, punishment and reward, Prophethood, belief in the Book etc. They all teach piety, fortitude, endurance, faith and trust in Allah and the like, just because these virtues could not be neglected at any stage of the Movement. If any of these bases had been weakened at any stage even in the least, the Islamic Movement could not have made any progress in its true spirit.

Order

A little thinking in the light of the difference between the Makki and the Madani surahs will also answer the question why the surahs of the Qur’an were not arranged in the sequence in which they were revealed. This question is also important because it has been used by the enemies of Islam to create misunderstandings about the Qur’an and make ridiculous conjectures about the present arrangement of the surahs. They are of the opinion that “Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) followers published it, without any discernable order as to chronology or otherwise: merely, trying as would seem, to put the longest chapters first . . .”

Such conjectures as this are based on ignorance of the wisdom underlying the order of the Qur’an. Though it was to be the Book for all times, it had to be revealed piece-meal in twenty-three years according to the needs and requirements of the different stages through which the Islamic Movement was passing. It is obvious that the sequence of the revelations that suited the gradual evolution of the Movement could not in any way be suitable after the completion of the Qur’an. Then another order, suited to the changed conditions, was needed. In the early stages of the movement the Qur’an addressed those people who were totally ignorant of Islam and, therefore, naturally it had first of all to teach them the basic articles of Faith. But after its completion the Qur’an was primarily concerned with those who had accepted Islam and f

Don, appreciate the effortless cool you delivered to our lives. Go with God and strut down the Soul Train Line with all the angels.