Ramadan - A Month to Rediscover the Qur’an  

Transcript of the Friday Sermon delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on May 25, 2018

Alhamdulillah! As of today, we have completed the first ten days of the blessed month of Ramadan. Let us not forget that this is a special time to strive to do good works to our fullest potential. Let us try to get close to Allah (SWT) by engaging ourselves in acts of worship, by making duas, and by reciting the Qur'an. Ramadan is not only the month of fasting. It is the month of compassion. It is the month of piety. It is the month of patience, and forgiveness. It is the month of thankfulness to Allah (SWT). It is also the month of spending in charitable causes to attain the pleasure of Allah (SWT). Above all, it is the month of the Qur’an. My khutba today is on the topic: ‘Ramadan – A Month to Rediscover the Qur’an’. 

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآَنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ

“It was in the month of Ramadan that the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for mankind.” (Al-Baqarah, 2:185).

Ramadan is the month to rediscover the Qur’an, which is the ultimate guidance to humanity.

هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ

“Guidance for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the criterion.” (al-Baqarah, 2:185)

إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَىٰ

“Allah’s guidance is the only guidance.” (al-An’am, 6:71).

This guidance distinguishes between right and wrong, between good and evil, and between truth and falsehood. There is nothing that is left out in the Qur’an in terms of guidance. Allah (SWT) says,

مَّا فَرَّطْنَا فِي الْكِتَابِ مِن شَيْءٍ

“We have left out nothing in the Book” (al-An’am 6:38).

This guidance can only be received by reading the Qur’an, by understanding it, and by acting upon it. There could be no better time to read the Qur’an and reflect upon it than the blessed month of Ramadan. It should be well understood that the Qur’an is the verbatim word of Allah (SWT), and that this last and final revelation for mankind is protected by none other than Allah (SWT) Himself Who tells us,

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

“It is We Who have sent down the Reminder and it is We Who will preserve it” (al-Hijr, 15:9).

My dear brothers and sisters! The Book of Allah is a conclusive and decisive statement and not something to be disregarded. 

إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ () وَمَا هُوَ بِالْهَزْلِ

“This is truly a decisive statement; it is not something to be taken lightly” (al-Tariq, 86:13-14).

The Qur’an which is meant to be constantly read and acted upon has unfortunately been transformed into a piece of ornament to decorate our homes and offices with. It is sad but true that by and large, Muslims have abandoned the Qur’an. Had it not been so, the Muslim Ummah would not be in the crisis, in which it finds itself today. In order to rectify our condition, we must understand our responsibilities toward the Qur’an and try our best in fulfilling them. The Qur’an demands of every Muslim five obligations. A Muslim is required (1) to believe in the Qur’an, (2) to read it (3) to understand it, (4) to act upon its teachings, and (5) to convey its message to others.

Our first obligation is to have faith in the divine origin of the Qur’an. Faith or Iman has two phases: (1) verbal profession (iqrar bil-lisan) and (2) heart-felt conviction (tasdeeq bil-qalb). To believe in the Qur’an means to verbally profess that the Qur’an is the Word of Allah (SWT), as revealed by Him through  Angel Jibril (AS) to the last of His Messengers—Prophet Muhammad (SAW). But verbal attestation is not enough. We also need to develop a conviction that the Qur’an is truly from Allah (SWT) and that it has been sent as the ultimate source of guidance for all of humanity. Only then our hearts and minds would come under the guiding light of the Qur’an. The conviction of the companions of the Prophet (SAW) that the Qur’an is the Word of Allah created in them a love and devotion for it. They accepted it as absolute truth.

Since our faith is weak, we do not turn to the Qur’an for guidance. We need to check ourselves to see if our belief in the Qur’an is a mere dogma that has nothing to do with practical life or we truly believe in the Qur’an as the ultimate source of guidance for all of humanity. If the Qur’an is studied and its meanings pondered upon in a quest for truth, all the veils of darkness shall be lifted from one’s heart and the soul will be illuminated by the light of true faith. Faith is not something that can be planted in us from the outside. It is a conscious realization of fundamental truths that already exist deep inside our souls. To be able to do justice to the other four obligations we have to the Qur’an, we really need to fulfill the first obligation first. 

The second obligation is to read the Qur’an.  To be able to recite the Qur’an properly, we should learn the basic rules of Tajweed. We should also try to beautify our voice during recitation. We should begin our recitation by seeking Allah’s refuge from the accursed Satan by saying “Audhu billahi min ash-shaytanir rajim”. We should also recite with Tarteel, i.e., with slow, measured rhythmic tone, and finally, we should memorize as much of the Qur’an as we can.  To be able to fulfill this obligation, we need to establish a daily recitation schedule and recite as much as we can on a daily basis. Just as our bodies are in constant need of food for sustenance, our spirits are also in perpetual need of proper nourishment. Just as the food for our bodies is derived from the earth, the nourishment for our spirits is obtained from the Word of Allah—the Qur’an.

The third obligation of the Qur’an is to understand it.  If we read it without understanding, how can we put it into practice?  For those of us who have not yet learned Arabic, we should start by reading translations and exegeses (tafsirs) in the languages we know best. We should however strive to learn Arabic because translations will never do justice to the Qur’an.  Once we have a basic knowledge of Arabic, we can proceed to the first stage of understanding which is tazakkur. Tazakkur in the Qur’an means to understand its meaning as provided on the surface, and this is not difficult. In this sense the Qur’an is an easy book to follow. Allah tells us four times in Surat al-Qamar,

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآَنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ

“And We made the Qur’an easy to learn. Do any of you wish to learn?” (al-Qamar, 54:17).

The fourth obligation we owe to the Qur’an is to follow its teachings; not partially but fully. This is crucial. We can’t pick and choose and only follow the commands that are easy or appealing to our nafs. Allah warns the people who do this:

أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

“Do you believe in one part of the Book and reject the other? What repayment will there be for any of you who do that except disgrace in this world and a severe punishment on the Day of Resurrection. Allah is never unaware of what you do.” (al-Baqarah, 2:85)

We need to be determined to follow everything in the Qur’an and modify our character accordingly. Otherwise, if we read from the Qur’an but do not follow its guidance, then we will be inflicting harm upon ourselves. We need to be very careful. We don’t want the wrath of Allah upon us! The Qur’an contains news of the unseen to help us understand the fate of those nations and people who did not abide by the divine teachings. We learn about the divine punishment that fell on the nations of Nuh, Salih, Hud, Shu’ayb, Lut (Alaihimussalam), and nations of other prophets and messengers. These nations were utterly destroyed because they did not take heed to the teachings of their prophets and to their scriptures. The Muslim ummah today is witnessing the consequences of not adhering to the Qur’an.  

We need to strive to follow the teachings of the Qur’an. That will cause our character to be transformed. Our best example is that of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) about whom the mother of the believers, A’isha (RA) said,

كَانَ خُلُقُهُ الْقُرْآنَ

 “His character was the Qur'an.” 

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters! The commands of the Qur’an can be divided into two categories – individual and collective. At the individual level, it is imperative for every Muslim to mold his or her life according to the teachings of the Qur’an. The Prophet (SAW) said, “None of you can become a true believer until his desires become subordinate to what I have brought (i.e., the Qur’an).” The best way to benefit from studying the Qur’an is to change our lifestyles and mend our ways in accordance with its teachings. At the collective level of the community, we do not have a society that is fully governed by the principles of our noble Deen.  So what should we do? We should strive to create such a society—a society based on a system of social justice as mentioned in the Qur’an.  

The fifth and final obligation that we owe to the Qur’an is to convey its message to others. This task was first assigned to our Prophet Muhammad (SAW). This is mentioned many times in the Qur’an. One example is verse 67 of Surat al-Ma’idah, where Allah says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ

“O Messenger, deliver whatever has been sent down to you by your Lord. If you do not do so, you will not have conveyed His message.” (al-Ma’idah, 5:67)

After the demise of the Prophet (SAW), this responsibility of conveying the message falls upon the shoulders of his Ummah. In his farewell sermon, the Prophet (SAW) said,

لِيُبَلِّغْ شَاهِدُكُمْ غَائِبَكُمْ

“Let those of you who are present convey it to those of you who are absent.” In a hadith, he is also reported to have said,  

بَلِّغُوا عَنِّي وَلَوْ آيَةً

"Convey from me even though it be a single verse (ayah).”

Let me conclude by summarizing what I said. We need to first understand and accept these five obligations that we have toward the Qur’an. We need to firmly believe that the Qur’an is the Book of Allah and the source of guidance for all of humanity.  We need to read it regularly with proper etiquette.  We need to understand what we read. We need to follow its teachings and then finally we need to convey the message to others.

بَارَكَ الله لِيْ وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْكَرِيْمِ، وَنَفَعَنِيْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِمَا فِيْهِ مِنَ الْآيَاتِ وَالذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيْمِ

May Allah have mercy upon us by means of the Qur’an; and may He make it a source of light, guidance, and mercy for us. May He remind us from the Qur’an that which we have been made to forget, and teach us from it regarding which we are ignorant. May He bless us with its recitation, and may He make it a proof for us and not against us on the Day of Judgment. Allahumma Ameen.

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