The memoir class - Dr. Shabbir Ahmed

1196 Pages·2011·5.32 MB·English

by  Peter Wilson

THE QUR’AN AS IT EXPLAINS ITSELF
QXP
(Fourth Edition)
Shabbir Ahmed, M.D., Florida
Editor: Iftikhar Ahmad, Ph.D, North Carolina
Chief Adviser: Arif Shamim, Karachi
Project Director (Online): Raquib Hassan, Australia
Contents
Contents ii
Acknowledgement vii
Preface ix
The First Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
The Second Dilemma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Now The Third Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
The Bewilderment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
A Project Done In Full Public View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction xv
Glossary - Some Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
Prophets named in the Qur’an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxii
1 Al-Fatihah - The Opening 1
2 Al-Baqarah - The Cow 5
3 Aal-e-´Imran - The Family Of Imran 87
4 An-Nisaa - The Women 129
5 Al Maaedah - The Heavenly System Of Sustenance 171
6 Al-An´aam - The Cattle 203
7 Al-A´raaf - The Heights Of Discernment 237
8 Al-Anfal - The Spoils Of War 277
9 At-Taubah - The Repentance 293
10 Yunus - Jonah 323
11 Hud - Hud 345
12 Yusuf - Joseph 367
13 Ar-Ra´d - The Thunder 389
14 Ibraheem - Abraham 399
15 Al-Hijr - The Valley Of Rocks 411
16 An-Nahl - The Bee 423
17 Al-Asra - The Night Journey 447
18 Al-Kahf - The Cave 467
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19 Maryam - Mary 487
20 Ta-Ha - The Ideal Prophet 501
21 Al-Anbiya - The Prophets 521
22 Al-Hajj - The Annual Convention (Pilgrimage) 539
23 Al-Mu´minoon - The Believers 555
24 An-Noor - The Light 571
25 Al-Furqan - The Criterion 587
26 Ash-Shu´ara - The Poets 599
27 An-Naml - The Valley Of An-Naml 623
28 Al-Qasas - The Narration 639
29 Al-´Ankaboot - The Spider 657
30 Ar-Room - The Romans 671
31 Luqman - Locomon 683
32 As-Sajdah - Adoration 691
33 Al-Ahzab - The Confederates 697
34 Saba - Sheba 713
35 Al-Faatir - The Originator 725
36 Ya-Seen - O Human Being! 735
37 As-Saffaat - Soldiers In Ranks 747
38 Saad - Full Of Truth 765
39 Az-Zumar - The Communities 777
40 Al-Mu´min - The Believer 793
41 Fussilat - A Book Clearly Spelled Out 809
42 Ash-Shura - Mutual Consultation 821
43 Az-Zukhruf - Ornaments Of Gold 833
44 Ad-Dukhaan - The Smoke 847
45 Al-Jaathia - Kneeling Down 855
46 Al-Ahqaaf - The Sand-Dunes 863
47 Muhammad - Muhammad 871
48 Al-Fath - Victory 879
49 Al-Hujurat - The Private Apartments 887
50 Qaaf - Qaaf 893
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51 Az-Zaariyat - Those Who Spread The Divine Word 899
52 At-Toor - Mount Sinai 907
53 An-Najm - The Star 913
54 Al-Qamar - The Full Moon 921
55 Ar-Rahman - The Beneficent 927
56 Al-Waaqi´ah - The Inevitable Episode 937
57 Al-Hadeed - Iron 947
58 Al-Mujadilah - The Pleading 955
59 AL-Hashr - The Gathering 961
60 Al-Mumtahinah - The Lady Under Oath 967
61 As-Saff - The Rank 971
62 Al-Jumu´ah - The Congregation 975
63 Al-Munaafiqoon - The Hypocrites 979
64 At-Taghaabun - The Ultimate Loss And Gain 983
65 At-Talaq - Divorce 987
66 At-Tahreem - Prohibition 991
67 Al-Mulk - The Supreme Kingdom 995
68 Al-Qalam - The Pen 1001
69 Al-Haaqqah - The Inevitable Reality 1007
70 Al-Ma´aarij - The Stairways Of Ascent 1013
71 Nooh - Noah 1019
72 Al-Jinn - The Unseen Beings 1023
73 Al-Muzammil - The Great Caravan Leader 1029
74 Al-Muddaththir - Founder Of The Benevolent Order 1033
75 Al-Qiyamah - The Resurrection 1041
76 Ad-Dahr - The Time 1047
77 Al-Mursalaat - The Messages Sent Forth 1053
78 An-Naba - The News 1059
79 An-Nazi´aat - Those Who Dive 1065
80 ´Abasa - Someone Frowned 1071
81 At-Takweer - The Folding Up 1077
82 Al-Infitaar - The Shattering 1081
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83 At-Tatfeef - Dealing In Fraud 1085
84 Al-Inshiqaaq - The Sundering 1091
85 Al-Burooj - The Great Constellations 1095
86 At-Taariq - The Brightest Star 1099
87 Al-A´la - The Most High 1103
88 Al-Ghaashiyah - The Great Covering 1107
89 Al-Fajr - The Daybreak 1111
90 Al-Balad - The Town 1115
91 Ash-Shams - The Sun 1119
92 Al-Lail - The Night 1121
93 Ad-Duha - The Daylight 1125
94 Ash-Sharh - The Expansion 1127
95 At-Teen - The Fig 1129
96 Al-´Alaq - The Zygote 1131
97 Al-Qadr - The Majesty 1135
98 Al-Bayyinah - The Clear Evidence 1137
99 Az-Zilzal - The Quake 1139
100Al-´Aadiyat - The Gallopers 1141
101Al-Qaari´ah - The Catastrophe 1143
102At-Takaathur - The Relentless Greed 1145
103Al-´Asr - Time That Flies 1147
104Al-Humazah - The Slanderer 1149
105Al-Feel - The Elephant 1151
106Quraish - The Tribe Of Quraish 1153
107Al-Maa´oon - The Spring Of Sustenance 1155
108Al-Kauthar - The Abundant Good 1157
109Al-Kaafiroon - Those Who Deny The Truth 1159
110An-Nasr - The Help 1161
111Al-Lahab - The Flame 1163
112Al-Ikhlas - The Pure Monotheism 1165
113Al-Falaq - The Rising Dawn 1167
114An-Naas - Mankind 1169
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Self-actualization and Human Destiny 1171
Paradise And Hellfire 1173
Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1173
Hellfire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1173
vi
Acknowledgement
Respected readers, Peace and blessings to you!
Respectedreaders,Peaceandblessingstoyou! ImustexpressmysinceregratitudetoArifShamim
of Karachi. God has gifted him with a most exceptional command over ”Tasreef-il-Ayaat”, that is,
connectingwithduereferencevariousQur’anicversesonrelatedsubjects, andthusshowingtheGlorious
Book in its Big Picture. He is a gentleman with profound knowledge of the Arabic linguistics, Islamic
theology and history. He has reviewed the entire script, and given me some extremely useful input.
Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad of North Carolina is a highly educated and very widely read gentleman. He
is an accomplished writer and editor of many books. He is an outstanding Islamic and scientific scholar
in his own right. His expertise in many areas of science has contributed significantly to the modern
exposition of many Qur’anic verses and concepts.
I will remain profoundly grateful to my honorable brother in Islam, Hossein Kowsari of California,
for carefully reviewing QXPiii. He had verykindly edited the entiredocument and given numerous ideas
and precious suggestions. His ideas and suggestions have been so valuable and convincing that most of
them have been incorporated into the QXPiv text almost in their entirety, after due reflection. Without
these brothers’ precious advice, editing and input, we would have missed much of the quality of this
rendition. May God reward them in both lives!
Finally, I must take the responsibility. All that is good and correct in QXPiv (The Qur’an As It
ExplainsItself,fourthedition)derivesfromthegraceofGod. Anyerrorsorfaultsbelongtothislife-long
student, and for that, he sincerely seeks the protection of forgiveness from his Sustainer. We will remain
open to comments and suggestions for the next edition.
Sincerely,
Shabbir Ahmed, M.D.
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Preface
The author of the Qur’an is none but Almighty God. Before the reader is an English rendition of the
Glorious Book by Shabbir Ahmed (1947 to ?) an ordinary servant of God.
The work, although close to translation, is more of an understanding from within the Qur’an itself.
This Divine Writ calls itself An-Noor (the Light) and light needs no extrinsic sources to show itself.
Therefore, I have based my presentation on two principles:
1. Focusing on the language in which the Qur’an was revealed.
2. Making use of Tasreef, that is, how the Qur’an repeats its messages from very diverse vantage
points.
A diligent study of the Book using Tasreef helps us look at the Qur’an in its Big Picture, and this
method gives us a phenomenal advantage toward its understanding.
I have rendered the terms and linguistics of the Qur’an using the Quraish (Quresh) dialect of
Makkah since it is the Arabic dialect in which the Qur’an was revealed to the exalted Muhammad bin
Abdullah, the Final Prophet, Messenger and Apostle of God. [570-632 CE]
19:97 And only to this end We have made this (Qur’an) easy to understand in your own
tongue (O Prophet). That you might convey thereby glad news to the righteous and
warn people given to futile disputation.
Being a young member of the Saudi royal medical staff, I had the good fortune of learning the
Quraishdialectinthe1970sundertheauspicesofKingFaisalbinAbdulAzizandKingKhalidbinAbdul
Aziz of Saudi Arabia. I was blessed with the opportunity to learn Islamic theology in the University of
Madinah after having learnt the subject under the guidance of the celebrated names of Qari Baqaullah
and ‘Maulana’ Ehtishamul Haq Thanwi in Karachi during my college days in the 1960s. In addition,
the opportunity to socialize with the Bedouins was certainly a great advantage since even today they
frequentlyspeaktheQuraishdialect. Learningthedialect,bynomeans,amountstoabsorbingtheSaudi
theology.
Some of the well-known western scholars who learned Arabic by socializing with the Bedouins:
• Inthe1810s-TheSwissMuslimtraveler-explorer,JohannLudwigBurckhardt(SheikhIbrahimbin
Abdullah 1784-1817).
• 1850s - The British Muslim Sir Richard F. Burton (1821-1890), adventurer-explorer-soldier-writer,
famous for the first ever English translation of “The Arabian Nights”.
• 1860s - The German non-Muslim scholar-traveler-explorer, Heinrich von Maltzan (1826-1874). Un-
fortunately,uponhisreturnfromArabia, muchfurorwasraisedbyhisfellowmenandthedejected
von Maltzan went to Italy and committed suicide by throwing himself from the Tower of Pisa!
• 1920s - The Austrian Muslim Leopold Weiss (Muhammad Asad 1900-1992), traveler-explorer,
journalist-author, exponent of the Qur’an.
• 1960s - The French, not widely announced, Muslim surgeon-scholar-author, Maurice Bucaille.
(1920-?)
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The first ever commentaries of the Qur’an were written in the third and fourth centuries after the
exalted Messenger during the Abbasid Dynasty when Zoroastrian influence held sway in Islamic politics,
society and even in the Arabic literature. The commentators of the Qur’an, historians, Muhadditheen
(the Hadith/Tradition collectors) and Fuqaha (‘Islamic’ Jurists) overwhelmingly originated from among
the non-Arab Persians.
ThelateAllamaAhmadAminAl-MasrisumsuptheresultingchaosinhisexcellentworkFajrilIslam:
“Verycertainly,thereaderwillagreewithmethatthePersianliteraturegaveanentirelyalien
complexion to the Arabic linguistics.”
Many celebrated thinkers and authors in the Islamic world strongly agree with the Egyptian scholar
on this score. We need not go into details since the point will become sufficiently clear soon, when we
cite some examples.
How was mankind robbed of God’s Final revelation? He Himself extols this revelation, “And this
grace of your Lord is better than all the treasures that they may amass.” [10:57-58,16:53, 16:71, 43:32]
By robbing I mean giving alien, erroneous and misleading meanings and concepts to the original
matchless, powerful and glorious Qur’anic terms. Here is how it happened:
The First Dilemma
WhilethelanguageoftheQur’anremaineduntouched,itswordsandtermsweremadetolosethesplendor
they so beautifully conveyed in the original, revealed Arabic. So much so, that the Qur’anic terms were
dressed up with the erroneous philosophies prevalent in the once Zoroastrian culture of Persia, and they
became widely accepted even among the Arabs!
This staggering tragedy explains why, how and where, even the Arabic speaking people lose their
touch with the Qur’an! The Book describes this staggering tragedy very clearly,
25:30 And the Messenger will say, “O My Lord! These are my people, the ones who had
disabled this Qur’an making it of no account.” [They had immobilized it like villagers
whobindacowbytyingherfrontfoottoherhorn. Mahjoor=Acowthusimmobilized]
This ill treatment of the Divine message and the subsequent filling of the void with conjecture is THE
cause of the Muslim downfall on a Global scale.
Any nation that holds on to this Divine Writ in letter and spirit can build a Paradise on earth. The
early Islamic history is a great testimonial to this claim, but we will explore this point a little further.
How, then, do the others continue to make progress? Naturally, a very important question arises
here. In the last several centuries, the West and many other non-Muslim countries have been making
spellbinding advances in education, science and technology and in their governmental systems without
the Qur’an! The short answer is that they have been using well their faculties of reason and intellectual
inquiry.
Another very significant factor has been quietly playing its role in this regard. The Qur’an has been,
perceptiblyandimperceptibly, makingaUniversalimpactonhumancivilizationduringthelastfourteen
centuries. The celebrated French surgeon, thinker and historian, Robert Briffault (1876-1978) has very
convincingly elaborated this fact in his remarkable work, “The Making of Humanity.”
ButMuslims, afterdisablingtheDivinerevelation,havealsoallowedtheirintellecttoparalyze. They
have fallen easy prey to the utterly senseless dogmas fabricated centuries after the exalted Prophet and
his noble companions.
However, the rule stands for all that the Last revelation of God economizes human effort (Sir Allama
Iqbal). Itcangivethememinencetheyhaveneverimaginedbefore,scientificandmoralachievementsside
by side, in a short span of time without having to go through the prolonged ordeal of learning through
trial and error. And thus, they can adopt a progressive system of life that embraces all that is good,
promoting the well-being of humanity, while avoiding all that is evil and harmful. Furthermore, this
Revealed System of Life is fully sustainable and durable.
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