Friday Sermon: The Spiritual Miracle of the First Revelation of the Holy Quran (Iqra)
by Imam Arif Rahman
9 June 2017 (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-e-Islam Lahore, Trinidad & Tobago)
اِقۡرَاۡ بِاسۡمِ رَبِّکَ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَ ۚ﴿۱﴾ خَلَقَ الۡاِنۡسَانَ مِنۡ عَلَقٍ ۚ﴿۲﴾ اِقۡرَاۡ وَ رَبُّکَ الۡاَکۡرَمُ ۙ﴿۳﴾ الَّذِیۡ عَلَّمَ بِالۡقَلَمِ ۙ﴿۴﴾ عَلَّمَ الۡاِنۡسَانَ مَا لَمۡ یَعۡلَمۡ ؕ﴿۵﴾
“Read in the name of your Nurturer Who created. He created the human being from a clot. Read and your Nurturer is most Generous, Who teaches by the pen. He teaches the human being whatever he or she knows not” (The Holy Quran, 96:1–5).
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I also bear witness that Muhammad is the last and final Messenger of Allah after whom no Prophet old or new will come.
I begin in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
As-salaamu alaikum
Peace be unto you
The greatest change human civilization ever experienced began with the words:
اِقۡرَاۡ بِاسۡمِ رَبِّکَ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَ ۚ﴿۱﴾
“Iqra bismi Rab-bikal-lazee Khalaq”
“Read in the name of your Nurturer Who created. [The Holy Quran, 96:1]
Muhammad, peace be upon him, thought a lot about the challenge of changing his society and the world from the extreme immorality and corruption that was widespread. He was guided by Allah to initiate change with this message Iqra — Read. But he could not read!
This first revelation shook Muhammad so much that he began to physically shake. He described his experience to his wife Khadijah who immediately accepted Muhammad’s newly found power to change human character. She admitted that Allah will never desert him as Muhammad was always one to unite families, help the helpless, be hospitable, assist those deprived of rights with time and wealth, speak the truth and make people feel relieved when in his company. Even her uncle who was a Christian convert recognized that Muhammad was empowered with the Holy Spirit.
Although Allah has the power to touch the heart of the sinner to turn him or her away from his or her wicked ways we do not leave it to God to turn sinners away from their wickedness nor can we change the sinner from his or her wicked ways by ourselves. The Quran requires us to let God empower us to achieve His will to change people from evil ways to good. We need God to empower us as the Quran says:
اِنَّ اللّٰہَ لَا یُغَیِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتّٰی یُغَیِّرُوۡا مَا بِاَنۡفُسِہِمۡ ؕ وَ اِذَاۤ اَرَادَ اللّٰہُ بِقَوۡمٍ سُوۡٓءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَہٗ ۚ وَ مَا لَہُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِہٖ مِنۡ وَّالٍ ﴿۱۱﴾
“Indeed Allah changes not the condition of a people, until they change their own condition. And when Allah intends evil to a people, there is no one to prevent it, and besides Him they have no protector.” (The Holy Quran, 13:11)
To change people from evil to good, and to ensure that they believe in God and in goodness, gentleness to them is required. The Quran in 10:99 warns:
اَفَاَنۡتَ تُکۡرِہُ النَّاسَ حَتّٰی یَکُوۡنُوۡا مُؤۡمِنِیۡنَ ﴿۹۹﴾
“Will you use force on people till they become believers?” [The Holy Quran, 10:99]
On the other hand the Quran confirms that:
فَبِمَا رَحۡمَۃٍ مِّنَ اللّٰہِ لِنۡتَ لَہُمۡ ۚ
“It is through Allah’s mercy that you are gentle to them” (The Holy Quran, 3:159).
A major obstacle to getting God to empower us to reform the wicked ways of people is their atheism or disbelief in the existence of God. Atheism as an outright rejection of the existence of God and is a reaction to the wrong concept of God and His attributes that is presented to a person. Any belief and concept of God must not be an insult to one’s intelligence. Other faith systems presented God in such a way that atheism was never a topic to be considered. Throughout the history of atheism no sacred Book, until the coming of the Quran, had tried to refute atheism. Sacred Books other than the Quran gave no reasons to prove God’s existence. In the defective histories of religion the impression is given that other Prophets as presented to us battled with the concept of God. Some described God but could not explain God and could only tell us what He would or could do if we do right or wrong. Other legends merely identified certain personalities as God and expected us to understand God by worshipping them. Muhammad, like all other Prophets, presented the nature of God as a Being of Attributes that we can develop to empower ourselves.
The Quran convinces us about the existence of God by telling us:
اَلَمۡ تَرَ اَنَّ اللّٰہَ یُزۡجِیۡ سَحَابًا ثُمَّ یُؤَلِّفُ بَیۡنَہٗ ثُمَّ یَجۡعَلُہٗ رُکَامًا فَتَرَی الۡوَدۡقَ یَخۡرُجُ مِنۡ خِلٰلِہٖ ۚ
“Don’t you see that Allah drives along the cloud, heaps it together, and then piles it atop each other, so that you see heavy rainfall coming forth from its innermost area?” (The Holy Quran, 24:43).
The Quran also adds:
وَ اَنۡزَلۡنَا مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً طَہُوۡرًا ﴿ۙ۴۸﴾ لِّنُحۡیَِۧ بِہٖ بَلۡدَۃً مَّیۡتًا وَّ نُسۡقِیَہٗ مِمَّا خَلَقۡنَاۤ اَنۡعَامًا وَّ اَنَاسِیَّ کَثِیۡرًا ﴿۴۹﴾
“We send down pure water from the clouds by means of which We give life to a dead land, and We provide it as drinking water for whatever We have created among much of animals and humans.” (The Holy Quran, 25:48, 49)
The verses of the Quran make us wonder how inanimate objects such as the rain and the earth complement each other if it were not for a Divine Mind to intend that it will be so. In most cases only the appropriate amount of water is delivered so that seeds and gravel is not washed away unlike other times when floods do more destruction than benefit.
To let God empower us to turn ourselves and others away from evil then, we must evolve that Divine element in us which is hidden within our human passions and morals, physical as well as spiritual. We bring harmony to our urges and passions and we train and balance them by bringing them to use in moderation. The laws of evolution also apply to the evolution of the Divine qualities within the human personality. Islam is therefore a system by means of which the human soul can fully developed itself and the human being can be bathed with attributes of God which then develop within the human self. Islam guides us to using God’s laws given to us to make us acquire His attributes.
By obeying the laws of God we develop our own qualities which resemble the attributes of Allah. Human beings are saddled with burdens and challenges and often a person feels unable to resolve issues and doesn’t know in which direction to turn. The Quran assures us that if you don’t know which direction to turn — turn to Allah.
فَاَیۡنَمَا تُوَلُّوۡا فَثَمَّ وَجۡہُ اللّٰہِ ؕ
“Wherever you are you will find Allah’s face” (The Holy Quran, 2:115);
For
وَ ہُوَ مَعَکُمۡ اَیۡنَ مَا کُنۡتُمۡ ؕ
“He is with you wherever you are” (The Holy Quran, 57:4).
God tells us in the Quran that
یُرِیۡدُ اللّٰہُ اَنۡ یُّخَفِّفَ عَنۡکُمۡ ۚ وَ خُلِقَ الۡاِنۡسَانُ ضَعِیۡفًا ﴿۲۸﴾
“Allah desires to lighten our burdens as the human being is created weak” (The Holy Quran, 4:28).
These are the times when we need God to give us counseling and guidance.
This guidance makes us realize the power we have within ourselves to overcome our challenges. God informs us in the Quran (100:6) that sometimes a person is ‘kunood’ which means he or she feels unproductive or inactive. But Allah also tells us that when a person has strong urges or addictions he or she will go to great lengths to attain one’s purpose, even if that purpose is wrong. As an example, a drug dealer will discover ingenious way to market his or her illegal product or a thief will brave bad weather and much security to acquire his or her loot. For
وَ اِنَّہٗ لِحُبِّ الۡخَیۡرِ لَشَدِیۡدٌ ؕ﴿۸﴾
“the love of what a person considers good he is diligent”
says the Quran in 100:8. An addict will go to great lengths and inconveniences to obtain the drug which satisfies the urge. And for worldly gains a person will work overtime, or give one’s life or put out great effort and time in training for a medal which is merely a piece of metal or for a certificate of paper, for an award, a title, or a paltry reward of money, etc.
Whenever we want to do good deeds and we feel we lack the power or resources, we must turn to God. The power we get from God when we work with Him gives us help and victory over all obstacles (see, The Holy Quran, 61:13). Muhammad’s experiences in the cave of Hira shows him, like Abraham, searching for God in the heavens and the earth (see, The Holy Quran, 6:75–79). Allah could not be found even in the human heart (see, The Holy Quran, 6:110; 14:43). It was with the slogan Iqra then that Islam began. This slogan began a change first in the Prophet Muhammad and his near and dear ones and then gradually as his followers grew, the slogan empowered them to face extreme challenges. Like Bilal who when the hot boulder was placed on his chest urging him to give up Islam, he utter another slogan,
“Ahadun, Ahadun”
“One God, One God”.
We too can change our society from bad to good when we start with the slogan Iqra when we develop the Divine attributes within ourselves. Life is not about what is happening around us. Life is how we deal with what is happening around us. We require courage to face all our fears and to successfully overcome them. We develop courage by strengthening our faith in Allah. The Quran in 14:24, 25 tells us that our faith is like a tree so we can read the lessons in nature.
اَلَمۡ تَرَ کَیۡفَ ضَرَبَ اللّٰہُ مَثَلًا کَلِمَۃً طَیِّبَۃً کَشَجَرَۃٍ طَیِّبَۃٍ اَصۡلُہَا ثَابِتٌ وَّ فَرۡعُہَا فِی السَّمَآءِ ﴿ۙ۲۴﴾ تُؤۡتِیۡۤ اُکُلَہَا کُلَّ حِیۡنٍۭ بِاِذۡنِ رَبِّہَا ؕ
“Don’t you see how Allah sets forth a parable of kalimah tayyibah (a good word) as a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are high, yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Nurturer?” [The Holy Quran, 14:24, 25]
A tree teaches us many lessons in its different stages of its development. A giant tree was once a little seed planted deep in the ground. This little seed struggled underground, in the dark, for nutrients to sustain its growth. Then it pushed its shoots through the soil seeking water and sunlight to progress into a plant and then a small tree. With time, it weathered the elements of intense rain, hot, cold, wind and other external challenges as it continued its growth upward to the heavens. With roots planted firmly in the ground, it spread its branches high overcoming all limitations on its journey to become a giant tree. Change is an essential component in the life of this tree for it to grow strong and bear fruit. In a like manner, change is an essential component of our personal and social growth and development to move from a lower level of life to a higher plane of existence. Flexibility and adjustment to the different challenges presented by change is also important. Just as the tree was once a seed struggling in the depths of the earth, so too we are sometimes at a low point in our lives before we begin progressing upwards toward prosperity and success. We sometimes have to go down before we can go up. The Quran confirms in 14:27 that like the tree whose roots are strengthened the further it goes down in the earth,
یُثَبِّتُ اللّٰہُ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا بِالۡقَوۡلِ الثَّابِتِ فِی الۡحَیٰوۃِ الدُّنۡیَا وَ فِی الۡاٰخِرَۃِ ۚ
“Allah grants courage and strength to those who believe by means of decisive actions at a low level in life and even later on.” [The Holy Quran, 14:27]
Iqra gives empowerment to us by bringing into our lives and efforts Allah’s protection and assistance:
مَنۡ ذَا الَّذِیۡ یَعۡصِمُکُمۡ مِّنَ اللّٰہِ اِنۡ اَرَادَ بِکُمۡ سُوۡٓءًا اَوۡ اَرَادَ بِکُمۡ رَحۡمَۃً ؕ وَ لَا یَجِدُوۡنَ لَہُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ وَلِیًّا وَّ لَا نَصِیۡرًا ﴿۱۷﴾
“Who is it that can protect you from Allah, if He intends harm for you or He intends to show you mercy? And they will not find for themselves a guardian or a helper besides Allah.” (The Holy Quran, 33:17)
It took twenty-three years from the time this slogan of Iqra was given to the time of the success of Islam as the religion of Truth that overpowered all other religions of falsehood (see, The Holy Quran, 17:81; 21:18). There was the time when all human beings were in loss except those who believed and did good. These enjoined truth by being patient (see, The Holy Quran, Chapter 103:3).
As-salaamu alaikum
Peace be unto you
بَارَکَ اللّٰهُ لَنَا وَلَکُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْعَظِیْم، وَنَفَعَنَا وَاِیَّاکُمْ بِالْآیَاتِ وَالذِّکْرِ الْحَکِیْم۔ اِنَّہٗ تَعَالیٰ جَوَادٌ کَرِیْمٌ مَلِکٌ بَرَّ رَوُوفُ رَّحَیْمٌ۔
Baarakal-laahu lanaa wa lakum fil Qur’aa nil ‘azeem
Wa nafa ‘anaa, wa eeyaakum, bil aayaati wa zikril hakeem
In-nahoo ta ‘aalaa Jawaadun Kareemum, Malikum, Bar-rur-Ra’oofur-Raheem.