Khurram Murad - Way to the Quran

Weak in faith and obedience as I am, and unlearned, my first duty must be to confess my utter inadequacy to write this book. For, says Allah, subnah wa tal Had We sent down this Qurn upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and torn asunder by the fear of God. So how can any human being, let alone one so poor in knowledge and impure in spirit, presume to point the way to the majesty and mercy, the beauty and wisdom that is the Qurn? What emboldened me, however, was the persistent nudging of many friends who felt that what I had shared with them needed to be shared by many more. But the real strength and courage came from Allahs promise: Those who strive in Our cause for Our sake, surely We shall guide them in Our ways. And the Prophets words, blessings and peace be on him Convey on my behalf even if it be one Ayah and Best among you is the one who learns the Qurn and teaches it seemed to make it almost a duty to be coveted.

My aim in writing this book is very modest. This is not a work of erudite scholarship. I am no learned mufassir, nor am I writing for scholars. I am not presuming to teach and guide, for I have no pretensions to that office. I am writing for those ordinary, inexpert and unlearned seekers after the Qurn, especially the young men and women, who are struggling hard to fulfil their desire to understand, absorb and live the Qurn, as I am doing myself. I am writing for students about things which I am learning myself. In this book, then, I write as one wayfarer to another, trying to share with him whatever I have found and grasped as useful as I have stumbled, with all my deficiencies, along the easy and rewarding road to and through the Qurn. I am sure that they, with their greater sincerity, devotion and competence, will improve greatly upon what I have presented here.

This book is the product of a long and still-continuing search. Its contents have been gathered over many years of reading. The beginning of this book goes back more than three decades when I had just begun my own struggle to live by the Qurn, and when I was given the duty of explaining how to study the Qurn to a group of similarly committed young students. Most of what I said then, I owed to a small number of sources: Hamduddn Farhs Tafsri Farh; Sayyid Mawdds Tafhmul Qurn; Amn Asan Isls Tadabburi Qurn; al-Ghazls Iy Ulm al-Dn; Shh Walullhs ujjah-Allh al-Blighah and al-Fawz al-Kabr f Ul al-Tafsr, and Suys al-Iqn f Ulm al-Qurn. For all that this book contains, I continue to owe a debt of gratitude to them. And whilst I would like to acknowledge this, I must also point out that none of these authors are responsible for my own errors of understanding and presentation. The first opportunity to put my thoughts in writing arose in 1977 when I wrote a short introduction to Yusuf Alis translation of the Qurn published by the Islamic Foundation The Way to the Qurn.

This book is born out of certain abiding convictions. And whilst they are all explained in the book, it is useful to recall and summarize some of them here:

First, our lives will remain meaningless and ruined unless they are guided by the Qurn, the word of God.

Second, the Qurn, being the eternal guidance given by the Everliving God, is as relevant for us, today, as it was fourteen centuries ago, and will remain so forever.

Third, we almost have a right, in some sense and measure, to receive its blessings today as its first believers did; provided, of preface course, that we come to it and move in it in a manner that may entitle us to share its rich harvest.

Fourth, every Muslim has a duty to devote himself to reading, understanding and memorizing the Qurn.

Fifth, one must abandon oneself totally, in thought and deed, to whatever the Qurn has to offer. Any pride, arrogance, sense of self-sufficiency, reservation, or ingenuity that can mistakenly be read into it, is fatal to its understanding and would shut the door to its blessings.

Sixth, the path of the Qurn is the path of self-surrender, of practising what it tells you, even if one learns only one Ayah. One Ayah learnt and acted upon is better than a thousand which are explained beautifully but which do not impart any beauty to the readers life. Obedience, after all, is the real key to understanding.

There are seven chapters. Each deals with a different aspect of the journey. The first, dwells on what the journey means to our lives; the second, on what provisions must be gathered inside our hearts and minds before setting out; the third, on what postures and actions of heart, mind, and body are necessary for the full involvement of the inner self; the fourth, on what rules should be followed in reading; the fifth, on why and how to understand; the sixth, on how to undertake collective study; and the seventh, on the essential need of offering our lives to the fulfilment of the Qurnic mission. What the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, said about some specific parts of the Qurn is gathered in one appendix. Another suggests certain syllabuses for personal and collective study, which many may find useful. Some study aids are also included.