A Month of
Blissful Unawareness
By Khalid A.
London UK
The holy month of Ramadan has
passed. We offered the Traveeh prayers and listened
to the 30 paras of the Holy Qur’an.
I am of the older generation. In the sub-continent,
we were led to believe that mere listening or
reciting of the Qur’an, without understanding
it, was sufficient to become good Muslims. Having
traveled and lived in four continents, I feel
very strongly about the lost opportunity of understanding
the Qur’an, and I am trying to make up for
the long lost years. I would like to make the
following observations:
1. The Qur’an was never meant to be read
without being understood. It was revealed in Arabic
– the language of the Arabs. If Allah wished
early Muslims to be enchanted and enthralled with
the rhymes and rhythm only, He would have revealed
it in an alien language.
2. The Book is full of admonitions and commandments.
It is not enough to be able to enjoy its recitation.
We are required to follow it as a guide for earthly
life, in preparation for the hereafter.
3. We in the sub-continent are very lucky to have
the same script and numerous common words with
Arabic. It is fairly easy for us to start understanding
Qur’anic verses. I have seen Europeans and
others struggling to cope with the Arabic script
and pronunciations and yet they do it with total
determination. They are baffled beyond belief
when they discover that we memorize and recite
verses without knowing what they mean. No wonder
we have wandering thoughts and cannot concentrate
on our Salaat because we do not know what we are
saying. Even our Du'aa is literally meaningless
as we do not know what we are asking.
4. The clerics have tried to keep the monopoly
of Qur’anic knowledge to themselves, lest
the common man starts asking too many questions.
This is similar to the priest craft in the medieval
ages. Then, the Bible was in Latin, so the common
man was overly dependent upon priests. When Joan
of Arc was tried by the Church and sentenced to
death, all the proceedings were conducted in Latin.
She did not understand a word of them.
5. I concede that some people do try to read 'line
by line' translation of the Qur’an. But
one must learn Arabic to be able to read and recite
it in a meaningful manner. One cannot have the
facility of translation during Traveeh and other
prayers. Only with the knowledge of the Arabic
language, can one appreciate the awesome and majestic
thunder in some verses and stirring melodious
glory in others.
God has bestowed upon us the magnificent and glorious
gift of the Qur’an. But we refuse to 'unwrap'
the gift. One is reminded of the Persian proverb:
"Zubaan-e yaar-e mun turki wa mun turki
namee danum"
Have we not become what the Qur’an calls
'Summun, bukmun, umyun' (Deaf, dumb and
blind)?
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