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THE NOBLE QURAN<br />
<br />
The Qur'an is the word of the Ever-living God; it has been<br />
sent down to guide man for all times to come. No book can<br />
be like it. As you come to the Qur'an, Allah speaks to you.<br />
To read the Qur'an is to hear Him, even to converse with<br />
Him, and to walk in His ways. It is the encounter of life with<br />
the Life-giver. 'God - there is no god but He, the Ever-living,<br />
the Self-subsisting (by whom all subsist). He has sent down<br />
upon you the Book with the Truth ... as a guidance unto<br />
mankind ...' (Al 'Imran 3: 2-3).<br />
<br />
For those who heard it for the first time from the lips of<br />
the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, the Qur'an was<br />
a living reality. They had absolutely no doubt that, through<br />
him, Allah was speaking to them. Their hearts and minds<br />
were therefore seized by it. Their eyes overflowed with tears<br />
and their bodies shivered. They found each word of it deeply<br />
relevant to their concerns and experiences, and integrated<br />
it fully into their lives. They were completely transformed<br />
by it both as individuals and as a corporate body - into a<br />
totally new, alive and life-giving entity. Those who grazed<br />
sheep, herded camels and traded petty merchandise became<br />
the leaders of mankind.<br />
<br />
Today we have the same Qur'an with us. Millions of copies of<br />
it are in circulation. Day and night, it is ceaselessly recited. In<br />
homes, in mosques, and from pulpits. Voluminous exegetical<br />
works exist expounding its meaning. Words pour out<br />
incessantly to explain its teachings and to exhort us to live<br />
by it. Yet eyes remain dry, hearts remain unmoved, minds<br />
remain untouched, lives remain unchanged. Ignominy and<br />
degradation appear to have become the lot of the followers<br />
of the Qur'an. Why? Because we no longer read the Qur'an<br />
as a living reality. It is a sacred book, but it tells us something<br />
of the past only, concerning Muslims and Kafirs, Jews and<br />
Christians, the faithful and the hypocrites, who 'once upon a<br />
time used to be'.<br />
<br />
Can the Qur'an, again, be a living, relevant force, as<br />
powerful for us now, 1400 years away, as it was then? This is<br />
the most crucial question that we must answer if we wish to<br />
shape our destiny afresh under the guidance of the Qur'an.
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