A Note For The Reader
A Note Of Caution Essential For The Readers Of The Holy Qur’an
Every sincere seeker of the Quranic truth, before he proceeds to read the Holy Book, should first know, remember and keep in view the declaration of the Holy Prophet:
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: إني تارك فيكم الثقلين كتاب الله وعترتي أهل بيتي فإنهما لن يفترقا حتى يردا علي الحوض.
‘Verily I leave amidst you the Two Weighty (important) things, the Book of God (the Qur’an) and my Itrat, Ahl Al-Bayt. If ye hold fast to these Two, never will ye get astray’, never will these Two be separated from each other, until they both return unto me at the Cistern (of’ Kawthar’)’1
Thus, after the Holy Prophet, the correct meaning or interpretation of the Qur’an can be had from the Ahl Al-Bayt and from none else.
About the nature of its contents, the Qur’an itself cautions its readers saying:
هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّنَا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ
“He (God) it is Who hath revealed the Book (Quran) to you, some of its verses are decisive’, they are the essence of the Book and others are ambiguous’, so as for those in whose hearts is perversity, they follow the part of it which is ambiguous, seeking to mislead, (people) and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation, but none knows its interpretation except God and those who are firmly established in knowledge” (3:7).
Besides the ambiguous verses called the ‘Mutashabihaat’ there are also the Alphabetical Symbols called the ‘Huroof al-Muqatta’aat’ with which some of the Surahs (i.e. the Chapters) of the Qur’an begin. The meaning of the ‘Mutashabihaat’ and the ‘Huroof al-Muqatta’aat’ is known to God and those entrusted by God, with the interpretation of this divinely coined code. The strict secrecy maintained through the ambiguity of certain verses and the symbolic code, is obviously purposeful, for Otherwise, any purposeless use of any ambiguity and the aimless employ of the isolated meaningless letters, does not at all become of the Authority, which is All-Knowing and All-Wise, and when the object of the revelation of the matter is nothing but guidance.
Besides the very act of securing the information as such a closely guarded secret, undoubtedly suggests that the knowledge so much secured, must be too high to be given out to an ordinary man, and too important to be entrusted to one and all of the members of the human race as a whole. It is a known fact that matters of extra ordinary import and of special value meant for any particular use, can only be entrusted to the chosen and the trusted ones.
Thus, the Qur’an has secured with the Ahl Al-Bayt who are endowed with the knowledge of the Holy Book, in its fullness so that the knowledge contained in it may be administered to the people according to the respective levels of their intellect and understanding. The famous Persian poet says:
“Ba Kharabaat nasheenan ze karaamaat malaaf
Har sukhan jai wa har nokta makaani daarad”
Utter not matters of higher knowledge to the vagabonds
Every word has a place, and every letter has a position.
Man left to himself since his birth, can never by himself know who is who and what is what in his very immediate environment. With this personal dependence and the individual incapacity, man naturally needs someone already educated to educate him.
Thus, the All-Merciful Lord sent His own inspired or educated ones i.e. His Apostles to educate mankind in every age, in the different parts of the earth, by preaching the Word of God to enable them to live a healthy life on earth. The apostles of God treated their people with full regard to the individual differences in the native endowments and the respective levels of intellect and understanding among their followers. The great mystic poet Rumi says:
“Bar sima al-raast har tan cheer neest
To’ma al-har morghaki anjeer neest?”
To hear the truth, every ear is not fit (as)
The food of every bird is not one and the same.
The phenomena of the individual differences in the native endowments, play its role in the people of every age, and the same is true with the followers of the Holy Prophet. Though some people moved very closely with the Holy Prophet, but what was given to one companion, was not given to the other. Though there were many companions, but of them all, only about Salman the Holy Prophet said: “As Salman minna Ahl Al-Bayt” i.e. Salman is of us, the Ahl Al-Bayt.
The Holy Prophet did not go away from the world leaving the Book of God containing the ambiguous passages and the alphabetical symbols for man in his search for the knowledge contained in it, to wander bewildered with the imaginary wishful conjectures and fanciful conflicting interpretations of the matter in it. The Holy Prophet under the command from the Lord:
يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ
“‘O!’ (Our) Prophet (Muhammad) convey thou that which hath been sent down unto thee, and if thou doeth it not thou hast not conveyed His (God’s) message (at all). Verily God will protect thee from the (mischief of) the people, verily God guideth not the disbeliever people’’ (5:67).
Declared Ali Ibn Abu Talib to be in his place, the Commander of the Faithful (Muslims) saying:
مَنْ كَنَّتْ مَوْلَاَهُ فَهَذَا عَلِيُّ مَوْلَاِهِ
“Man kunto Mawla, fa hadha Aliyun Mawla”
i.e., Of whomsoever I am the master, this Ali is his master.2
Besides this declaration about Ali, there are numerous other traditions of the Holy Prophet about the unique position of Ali next only to the Holy Prophet, and the one concerned with knowledge is:
أنا مدينة العلم و عليّ بابها
‘Ana Madinat ul-‘Ilm, wa Aliyun Babuha’
I am the City of knowledge, and Ali is its Gate.3
Thus, the position of Ali was openly made known by repeated declarations about his identity with the Holy Prophet so that those who sincerely desired knowledge from the Holy Prophet may have it from Ali.
In view of the importance of the Qur’an and the nature of the knowledge contained in it, the Holy Prophet had announced to the Muslims the aforesaid tradition saying that he has left the Qur’an and his Ahl Al-Bayt, who will not be separated from each other, and if the Muslims remain attached to these Two, they will never get astray.
It needs only common sense for anyone to know that if a mere book had been sufficient for the guidance of mankind, the Almighty God Who created the heavens and the earth, could have sent down a book from heaven and there would never have been any necessity of anyone coming with it as an apostle of God, to suffer that which every one of the holy men suffered in this world. Moses came with the ‘Tora’ (the Pentateuch - The Scripture given to him) to explain its contents and suffered horrible persecution. To explain the teachings of Moses and for further guidance towards their practical value, there came another apostle of God called Jesus to be ridiculed and tortured by the people who disbelieved both in the Commandments as well as in the Apostle Jesus himself.
Similarly, had the Qur’an alone been sufficient for the guidance of the human race and if it had been revealed for any independent use without any guide towards its secrets, it would never have contained the alphabetical symbols which evidently and undoubtedly are secret codes, and it would have comprised only of plain verses without the ambiguous ‘Mutashabihaat’ the knowledge of which has been announced to be with the ‘Rasikhoona fi ‘l-‘Ilm’ those deeply established in knowledge, with even the names of the hinted custodians of the knowledge to remain concealed. The secrecy about the names of those who possessed the secured knowledge, also suggests the importance of the contents.
If the identity of the trusted ones had been let known openly to one and all, there was either the risk against their holy lives, or it may be a test for man to seek after them aided with their identification given in the Holy Book. And if the mere recitation of the Qur’an had by itself been sufficient for the guidance of mankind, i.e., if the Book of God by itself had been sufficient as was imagined by someone who said ‘Hasbuna Kitab Allah’, the Holy Prophet, having concluded his ministry or mission, would have quietly departed from this world or would have at the most declared that he was leaving behind him only the Book of God. But his saying that he leaves the Holy Book with his Ahl Al-Bayt establishes the fact that the Holy Book by itself would never be understood fully.
Now it is left to the sincerity of the seekers of the knowledge of the Qur’an to have it only from the agency or the source authorised by God and the Holy Prophet viz., the Ahl Al-Bayt and never from any other self-assumed authority.
Every one of the educated worlds, knows it well that there are imitators in every field and the imitators in the religious field are more dangerous for they ruin the interest of man both in this life and the life hereafter as well. Since the imitators in the religious field are very difficult to be made out by ordinary men, the great mystic poet Rumi cautions man saying:
‘Aiy basa iblees Adam Tal’at ast
Pas bahar dasti nashaayad daad dast’
Often times Satan appears in human form; Thus, (one should not give his) hand
in every hand that seems to be human.
The common man among the Muslims is generally misled by the term ‘Sahabi ar-Rasul’ (the Companion of the Holy Prophet). It must be known that all ‘Sahabas’ (companions) were not equal in their faith in God and the faithfulness to the Holy Prophet. Abu Jehl is also called a ‘Sahabi ar-Rasul’ and the Muslim world knows what kind of man he was, and Salman al-Farsi was also a ‘Sahabis’. Can these two be ever compared as equals, by anyone with common sense, among us? Besides there can never be any comparison between the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt, the purified ones by God Himself, and the companions, all of whom were once sinners before embracing Islam, some of them were hidden enemies and some opportunists who deserted the Holy Prophet and left the Muslim ranks and took to their heels in the most trying and crucial phases of the battles for the faith. Hence let not the title ‘Sahabi’ mislead anyone, to mean that whatever, he says to be necessarily true or correct.
Thus, let us not worry ourselves with others, but be content with the guidance, the Holy Prophet has blessed us with and be concerned with the source of the Ahl Al-Bayt, to have the blessings of the knowledge of the Qur’an for the Holy Prophet has definitely said that by remaining attached to these Two. never, never will we get astray.
There is another important point which every sincere seeker of the Qur’anic knowledge, needs to know and remember, that mere knowledge of the syntax and the etymology of the Arabic language does not qualify or warrant anyone to be also the authentic source of the correct interpretation of all the contents of the Qur’an. Besides the open announcement by God Himself that the Book revealed by Him contains the ambiguous ‘Mutashabihaat’ the knowledge of which is with Him and those deeply established by Him in knowledge, there is another caution issued by God Himself:
إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ
“Most surely, it is an Honoured Qur’an” (56:77).
فِي كِتَابٍ مَكْنُونٍ
“In the Book that is Hidden” (56:78).
لَا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ
“Touch it not save the purified ones” (56:79).
Let us ask the Qur’an itself as to who the purified ones are, so that we may confidently resort to them for the correct knowledge of the Final Word of God, for God has promised to guide those who strive in His way:
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا
“And those who strife in Us, We certainly show them Our ways” (29:69).
The Qur’an directs us to the following verse:
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
“Verily, Verily, willeth God to keep away from you every uncleanliness, ‘O’ Ahl Al-Bayt! and to purify you, a thorough purifying” (33:33).
Thus, the announcement of the Holy Prophet saying that he has left the Qur’an with the Ahl Al-Bayt fully agrees with the above declaration of the Lord.
In the light of the above guidance from the Qur’an and the traditions of the Holy Prophet, it is undoubtedly established that none, but the Ahl Al-Bayt can teach mankind the correct meaning of the Qur’an as willed by God and desired by the Holy Prophet, and only that which the Ahl Al-Bayt would say about the Qur’an will be correct and everything other than that, will be fanciful conjectures motivated with some selfish end or other.
Having declared the truth about the correct source of the knowledge of the Qur’an one can only quote the following verse of the Holy Book to every seeker of the Qur’anic knowledge:
إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا
“Verily We have shown him (man) the (right) way; Let him be grateful (and accept it) or let him be ungrateful (and reject it)” (76:3).
