Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I am just a lay man so far Arabic is concern but I just want to place my thinking about understanding Quran before all of you. I think understanding the whole Quran is just not possible even for Arabic Scholars. If it was so easy to understand then there would not have been 72 sects(Firqas) in Islam. As you all will agree that everybody wants to go to heaven and everybody understand that they can go to heaven only by obeying Quran. Every group thinks that they have understood the Quran correctly but are doing things differently. Nobody would like to misguide themselves because it is going to effect them and nobody else. So if it was so easy to understand Quran these differences would have not arises at all. This has happed because people tried to understand Quran themselves, its like a blind man trying to understand the size and shape of an elephant, its like if you keep a gold ball and a fire ball and ask an infant to choose one of them which is useful for him he will move towards fire ball because it looks more brighter to him. Quran's sentences are called "Ayyat" means "Nishani". Allah Ta'la has not explained every thing in detail. For example if I give some money to my friend and we both go to a gathering of 5 lacs people and I ask my friend "give me that thing back to me" nobody in the gathering can understand what I am asking for but only me and my friend. If I am saying this in Arabic all the translators of the world can translate this sentence in all the languages of the world but no body can say what I am asking from my friend. The most important thing in Islam is Nemaz but Quran does not explain how to pray and that is why every sect in Islam is praying differently. There are several words in Quran like "Alif" "Laam" "Meem". The translators just write the same words in their language but no Arabic scholars can understand the meanings of these words. Do you think these words have no meaning? Do you think these words in Quran "Maz-allah" useless? NO nobody in Islam will agree that anything in Quran is useless. What is the use of these words in Quran which we cannot understand? There must be someone who can understand the Quran fully. If the Quran's meaning is explained and written on the paper by the person who understands Quran the paper the world has produced so far will fall short because it contains everything from Adam (and work of one lac twenty-four thousand messengers of Allah)till Quamat and after that. But whatever little we can understand is enough to lead us to the heaven. This is totally my thinking and if I have written anything wrong I seek Pardon from Allah-Tala.

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Answer:

Not easy to Understand the Qur’an

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The Glorious Quran are the very words of our Lord and Creator, Who in His Mercy, has sent us this book for our guidance. Not only did He send us this Quran for our guidance, but He also sent us His Last Messenger (saws) to live the life acceptable and pleasing to Allah, and to give us a practical example of how to live a complete Islamic life.

Whatever misconceptions we might hold in understanding the Quran, the Quran is and will always remain the words of Allah that He has revealed for our guidance. We assume that the Holy Quran is difficult to understand, but Allah says in the Quran that He has made it easy for us to understand!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 44 Surah Dukhan verse 58: We have made this Book easy in your own tongue so that they may ponder and take good counsel.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf verse 1-2: Alif. Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book that makes its object perfectly CLEAR. We have sent it down as a Quran in Arabic, so that you may UNDERSTAND it well.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 89: We have sent down to you this Book, which makes everything plain, and is a guidance, blessing and good news to those who have surrendered themselves entirely.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 19 Surah Maryam verse 97: O Mohamed, We have made this Quran easy, and sent it down in your tongue so that you should give good news to the pious and warn the stubborn people.

The best way to understand the Holy Quran is to determine, ‘How did the Messenger of Allah (saws) receive and obey the commandments of the Glorious Quran?’ Once we are able to determine that, then, Insha Allah, we will be on the guidance and way followed by the Messenger of Allah (saws) and his companions. If we try to determine other meanings of the aayahs of the Holy Quran which is in contradiction to what the Messenger of Allah (saws) understood from the aayah, then we are bound to go wrong.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 79-80: We have sent you (O Mohamed) as a Messenger to mankind, and Allah’s witness suffices for this. Whoever obeys the Messenger, in fact obeys Allah, and whoever turns away from him, he will be accountable for his deeds. Anyhow, we have not sent you (O Mohamed) to be a guardian over them.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 31-32: Prophet, tell the people, “If you sincerely love Allah, follow me. Then Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for He is All Forgiving, All Merciful.” Also say to them, “Obey Allah and His Messenger.” And if, in spite of this, they do not accept your invitation, warn them that Allah does not love those, who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger.

Whenever the aayahs of the Glorious Quran were revealed, the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to ask him what it meant, to increase their knowledge and understanding, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) would respond to their query. Even the non-believers in Makkah and the hypocrites in Medina would try to find faults and contradictions in the Holy Quran, and would sarcastically ask the Prophet (saws) regarding a particular aayah, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) would respond to their query.

Thus when the aayahs regarding the establishment of prayers were revealed, the Prophet (saws) declared the times and the exact way to pray, and the true believers will follow that Sunnah until the Day of Judgement, Insha Allah. Similarly, when the aayahs regarding zakaat, fasting, Hajj, etc. were revealed, the Messenger of Allah (saws) himself demonstrated how each commandment should be followed, and everything that the Prophet (saws) said and did are well documented in the books of ahaadith. Allah has blessed and honored the muslims with a light-giving Book; Allah has blessed and honored the muslims with His Last Messenger (saws); Thus Allah, The All Merciful, has not left the Ummah of Islam to wander around blindly, but has blessed us with His Book of guidance and a Noble Messenger (saws). Now if one refuses to read and understand the Book of Allah, and follow his whims and conjectures himself, or follow the self-made leaders and self-proclaimed holy men blindly, then he will have no one to blame except himself in the Court of Allah!

Yes, there are a few things in the Glorious Quran, which are beyond our comprehension, like the broken alphabets, Alif Laam Meem, Yaa Seen, Haa Meem, etc., Although we are unable to comprehend its exact meanings, nor did somebody ever ask the Prophet (saws) regarding them, we believe in these words because they are from Allah. But most of the Holy Quran is very clear in its guidance and commandments and any person who understands Arabic as a language can get enough guidance to lead a proper Islamic life.

Some of us try to find out a few aayahs which are beyond our comprehension, and say, “see, we just cannot understand the Quran!” These people then just leave the whole Quran because of these few aayahs they cannot understand, and live life according to their own whims and fancies, with their own sets of laws and customs! These people are indeed unjust to themselves, as well as to the guidance and mercy received from their Lord.

Allah uses the word ‘Ta’aweel’ in the Holy Quran in Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 7: It is Allah, Who sent down this Quran to you. (There are two kinds of verses in the Book.) In it are verses Basic or Fundamental (of established meanings which can be easily understood), and they are the essence or foundation of the Book. And the other verses are Allegorical or Ambiguous. Those in whose hearts is perversity will always go for the Allegorical or Ambiguous verses, seeking discord and trying to search for their hidden meanings. None, except Allah, knows their real meanings! In contrast to them, those who are firmly grounded in knowledge, say: “We believe in them all, because all of them are from our Lord.

O Allah, help us, guide us, and forgive us our sins. O Allah, open our hearts to the understanding of the Glorious Quran. O Allah, make the Quran a witness for us on the Day of Judgment, not a witness against us! O Allah, guide us to the Siraat al Mustaqeem. O Allah, forgive us our sins, and disgrace us not on the Day, when nothing but Your Mercy will be between us going to the eternal Gardens of Bliss, or the everlasting torture of the fire of Hell. You indeed are the Most Merciful, Oft Forgiving, Owner of the Glorious Throne. You indeed are the All Mighty, the All Powerful. Blessed and Glorified is Your Name.

May Allah guide you and us all to the Siraat al-Mustaqeem

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan