 |
| Courtesy: Readquran |
For us to believe and understand something, we must have proper
knowledge of it. If you want to know about a scientific discovery, you will
have to read articles and books written on the subject matter in such a way
that you understand it. If you are a young mom, you may be familiar with the
Contented Baby series parenting books of Gina Ford since they explain in detail
how you should routine and make better choices of motherhood. When you buy a
sophisticated gadget for the first time, I am sure you will thoroughly go
through its manual to make sure that you handle it the way it is supposed to.
Likewise Muslim’s holy book - Quran is the ultimate source of the religion – Islam, containing the most authentic and accurate knowledge of the religion. Quran is a guidance for mankind containing the revealed criterions of good and bad (Al-Baqarah 2:185) from Almighty Allah. Muslims are required to believe, read, understand and act upon the teachings of the Quran. But what atop our list seems to be melodious recitation which shouldn’t precede over conceiving or understanding the book.
The last sermon of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) stressed on following the Quran and his example (Sunnah) so that we will not go astray. We were taught this in our secondary education which is also available in many hadith books. However, nationwide Quran reciting competitions aimed of increasing adherence to religion or melodious reciters are conducted among people who don’t have a clue of what they are reciting. It is very likely that such competitions where the winners are granted with huge prizes expose the reciters to the danger of show off and affectation which makes recitation useless in a religious point of view. I wonder if it is the right thing to engage people in such contests where a form of worship is the one we compete against each other. If it is the right thing, why don’t we have contests to choose the best prayer, or the most punctual prayer from each mosque or man of the Ramazan?
Many parents are seen to undergo a hard time in preparing their kids for such competitions, but not to make them understand the book or mold their life according to Quran which in my opinion is pure perversion. I am not going against those commands of Quran (Al-Kafh18:27, Al-Ankaboot 29:45) and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) where we are asked to recite Quran. But certainly it can’t be a guidance if we fail to comprehend the message of the book. It may be just dishonoring the book if we keep on reading Quran blindly when we have got the capacity to understand it which may finally take us to the extent where the punishment for ignoring the meaning and message of the Qur’an may exceed the reward for reciting its text.
So, let us not only make calculations and preparations to complete reciting the whole Quran once or twice during the month of Ramazan, but understand and ponder upon the message of it so that we may acquire the guidance mentioned in the Quran. We don’t have to be scholars to know this much.
Likewise Muslim’s holy book - Quran is the ultimate source of the religion – Islam, containing the most authentic and accurate knowledge of the religion. Quran is a guidance for mankind containing the revealed criterions of good and bad (Al-Baqarah 2:185) from Almighty Allah. Muslims are required to believe, read, understand and act upon the teachings of the Quran. But what atop our list seems to be melodious recitation which shouldn’t precede over conceiving or understanding the book.
The last sermon of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) stressed on following the Quran and his example (Sunnah) so that we will not go astray. We were taught this in our secondary education which is also available in many hadith books. However, nationwide Quran reciting competitions aimed of increasing adherence to religion or melodious reciters are conducted among people who don’t have a clue of what they are reciting. It is very likely that such competitions where the winners are granted with huge prizes expose the reciters to the danger of show off and affectation which makes recitation useless in a religious point of view. I wonder if it is the right thing to engage people in such contests where a form of worship is the one we compete against each other. If it is the right thing, why don’t we have contests to choose the best prayer, or the most punctual prayer from each mosque or man of the Ramazan?
Many parents are seen to undergo a hard time in preparing their kids for such competitions, but not to make them understand the book or mold their life according to Quran which in my opinion is pure perversion. I am not going against those commands of Quran (Al-Kafh18:27, Al-Ankaboot 29:45) and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) where we are asked to recite Quran. But certainly it can’t be a guidance if we fail to comprehend the message of the book. It may be just dishonoring the book if we keep on reading Quran blindly when we have got the capacity to understand it which may finally take us to the extent where the punishment for ignoring the meaning and message of the Qur’an may exceed the reward for reciting its text.
So, let us not only make calculations and preparations to complete reciting the whole Quran once or twice during the month of Ramazan, but understand and ponder upon the message of it so that we may acquire the guidance mentioned in the Quran. We don’t have to be scholars to know this much.