Modi and Mani have agreed to review the Qur’an with Radi to give him a better understanding of Islam’s supreme document. They have been trying to pull him away from his radical friends as a favor to his fiancée, Zaina. They are at Modi’s house. Since Radi knew he would be touching and reading the Qur’an, he did his required ablutions before he left his house. Mani and Modi are in the midst of theirs when Radi enters.
Radi (Radical): Good morning, you two rascals.
Mani (Mainstream): Looks who is talking about rascals. Hand me that towel, Radi.
Modi (Moderate): I am glad you were able to come over. If you are finished your ablutions, why not take out al-Kitab and get it ready for us. You know where I keep it. We will be finished shortly.
Radi: OK, Modi. Good idea. Yes, I know where it is.
Modi: We were looking at Sura 10, if I am not mistaken.
Radi: Yes. I could not understand ayat 10:15.
“AND [thus it is:] whenever our messages
are conveyed unto them in all their clarity, those who do not believe that they
are destined to meet us, [are wont to] say, ‘Bring us a discourse other than
this, or alter this one'.
“SAY, [O Prophet]: 'It is not conceivable
that I alter it of my own volition; I only follow what is revealed to me.
Behold, I would dread, were I [thus] to rebel against my Sustainer, the
suffering [which would befall me] on that awesome Day of
Judgment'.”
Modi: Allah is saying that people who do not believe in life after death have their own views of right and wrong and want Muhammad to alter the ayats to conform to their view, believing that Muhammad himself was the author.
Radi: Those fools did not believe that each ayat was a revelation from Allah?
Mani: Truly, Radi. You must remember that most of these people were still one step away from Bedouin nomads, who sometimes carried their gods with them to protect them from others.
Radi: The polytheists had to protect the gods?
Mani: Oh, yes. It is not unknown for another family or tribe to kidnap a “god” if some lucky family ran into some really good fortune after sacrificing something to that god.
Modi: It is also not unknown for a disgruntled believer, disappointed by not receiving a requested favor, to field-kick his “god” right out of the Kaaba. (Mani and Modi laugh ; Radi is confused)
Mani: Lighten up, Radi. They were only wooden idols. Today they would be plastic, made in China.
Modi: And be recalled for lead in the paint. (Mani and Modi again laugh)
Radi: Getting back to Sura 10, ayat 15 is another that I fail to understand.
“Say: ‘Had God willed it [otherwise] I would not
have conveyed this [divine writ] unto you, nor would He have brought it to your
knowledge. Indeed, a whole lifetime have I dwelt among you ere this [revelation
came unto me]: will you not, then use your reason?’ ”
Modi: What Allah said to Muhammad is to tell the cynics that they know that he is not known for telling lies, so why should he attribute a great, inimitable piece of writing (the Qur’an) to Allah, when he could take the credit himself, had he written it? In addition, Allah reminded Muhammad that the people knew that he had never authored a single poem or other philosophic work and indeed was illiterate. How could he possibly have written such a magnificent work.
Radi: Oh, I get it. Some people thought that Muhammad wrote the Qur’an himself, so they wanted him to go back and make some changes in it to make their lives more comfortable by having the Qur’an agree with their way of thinking.
Mani: Yes, that is a big part of it.
Radi: Right. So, Allah lets Muhammad know that he could always remind those people that (a)he does not lie, so why should he give all the credit to another if the credit belongs to him? It made no sense. And (b) everyone knows anyway that he never wrote anything because he couldn't read or write. How can an illiterate person ever have completed something perfect, such as the Qur’an? That is preposterous!
Modi: Now you have it.
Radi: What did I not have before?
Modi: You must know the language of the Qur’an. By knowing the language--and I am not just referring to Classical Arabic or the number of Aramaic words in the Qur’an--you must understand the way the Qur’an expresses itself, as if it were made for older people to understand and for us to recognize the words but be unable to decipher the meaning because we are too young or something.
Radi: And how am I supposed to learn the language of the Qur’an?
Mani: There is the hard way or the easy way. The hard way is to keep reading until things start making sense. The easy way is to enroll in a Qur’anic school.
Modi: Of course that has its problems also, Radi. The Qur’anic school costs too much and normally requires that you be a hafiz, a reciter. You must recite the entire Qur’an from memory without error.
Radi: I can recite most of the Qur’an--I just don’t understand all of it. I don’t know about the money. But I have one more ayat that mystifies me. I do not understand “sustenance” in ayat 10:59:
“Say: ‘Have you ever considered all the means
of sustenance which God has bestowed on you from on high--and which you thereby
divide into things forbidden and things lawful?’ "
Modi: I can understand the confusion here. Allah is talking about the Qur’an and its complete guidance toward the good life and spiritual fulfillment here and happiness hereafter. But He is a little disconcerted that man has made some of God’s blessings forbidden when they should not be. Man should be free to enjoy God’s gifts and accept His guidance towards a better life here as well as for the life to come. In other words, Radi, look at this life as well as the next and do not reject God’s blessings just because they appear only to help in this life.
Radi: I will have to go over that a few more times. That rejects much of what my friends and their imams have said.
Modi: No doubt, Radi. You cannot dismiss this life as unimportant simply because there will be the next. Allah did not make us to sit in gloom and not appreciate His great works.
Mani: That was a nice touch, Modi.
Modi: Thank you, Mani. We have only a few more ayats to go. Radi, are there any others that give you problems in this sura?
Radi: No, Radi. Thank you. I will close everything up for you. I hope I can spend some uninterrupted time at home with mine. Thank you for what you are doing for me.
Modi: We are doing it for ourselves as well, Radi. We desperately need you to understand reality. Even this sura should tell you that you must really know the Qur’an; you cannot depend on the conjecture of others. Even to hear “Allahu akbar” from every corner of the world is in reality “a consummation devoutly to be wished” and not a goal of a crusade in reverse. Before that, men must reach for perfection. To achieve those goals, we must first aspire to perfection individually. I hate it whenever our radicals treat that as a command to kill everyone to achieve that.
Mani: I agree. Let’s work on perfection first. Time for lunch and I am buying.
Radi: Perfect. (laughter)
HJS
No comments:
Post a Comment