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Perhaps it never occurred to us that we are in dispute with the Qur’an. Nay, we are at war with it! But because it is a clod war in the spiritual realm; it is unnoticeable by many.
Muslims are in three categories in their relationship with the Qur’an. Some make peace with the Qur’an by submissively abiding by its injunctions. Others abide by its injunctions only when it is in their favour. “And when they are called to [the words of] Allah and His Messenger to judge between them, at once a party of them turns aside [in refusal]. But if the right is theirs, they come to him (the Messenger) in prompt obedience” (Q24:48-49). The last category are those who profess Islam but have no relationship whatsoever with the Qur’an.
A Muslim who habitually tells lies, steals, loots, spreads corruption, commits acts of injustice, does or encourages exam mal-practices, discriminates unjustifiably; is like a philanthropist who cannot give out a dime—he cannot part with his money. This is ridiculous!
While those who make the first category, are of course, not at war with the Qur’an, the two last categories are indisputably in dispute with the Qur’an. Yet the Qur’an has many uses and benefits. I will discuss only two. It is rewarding and reformatory. Every Muslim is rewarded (in the spiritual sense) for reciting the Qur’an. The reward is calculable—it is ten rewards per a letter/alphabet.
The reward is progressive; the more you recite it the more you are rewarded. It is the practice among our pious predecessors to complete the Qur’an at regular intervals. Some complete it every three days; every week; every ten days; or every two weeks. The weakest among them complete it every month. They were never distracted from its recitation by the vicissitudes of life.
Here we are today! Only few can recite the Qur’an and they hardly do. Those who cannot recite it are in the majority (I mean absolute majority). Yet those who can recite it and those of us who are learning to recite it are often distracted—unfortunately not only by the vicissitudes of life, but also by our engrossment with our smart phones. We are literally betrothed to our smart phones and divorced from the Qur’an.
Our pious predecessors were wedded to the Qur’an and were responsible partners in the marriage contract. They fulfilled their part of the contract by reciting it day and night; obeying its instructions, showing unalloyed loyalty to it; propagating its message and teaching it to their immediate families and other Muslims. In fact, the Qur’an permeated their thoughts and reasoning. Thus, they were reformed by it.
The Qur’an—being reformatory—gives peace of mind and nurtures the soul with the consciousness of Allah. It prevents moral indiscipline and injustice which lead to corruption. And because the Muslims of the past were loyal to the Qur’an, they became great and founded a flourishing civilization the like of which is yet to be recorded in human history.
In the middle ages when Europe was wallowing in darkness, the Muslims witnessed the golden age where there were progress and development on all fronts of human virtuous endeavours: religion and science, philosophy and ethics, medicine and physiology. The driving force that propelled the Muslims to excel in virtually all fields of knowledge is the Qur’an. They wisely seized the opportunity which the Qur’an afforded them to widen their horizons and push back the frontiers of knowledge.
The verse: “We have neglected nothing in the Book” (Q6:38) stroke hard at the core of their hearts. It galvanized them into an insatiable search for knowledge which is the only sure trajectory to progress. They behold this verse and, hence, found themselves at the centre of world as major drivers.
In contrary, we neglected this verse and here is where we are. We are on the fringe of the southern circumference of the world socio-economic system—we are not in the core. In other words, we are hardly mentioned in any major world discoveries and scientific breakthrough.
We blindly take instructions because our thinking is bereft of the light of the Qur’an that guides to the right path—the path of progress and development. Our thinking is corrupted and overshadowed with crass longings for material things. Our thoughts have become so wired with strings of capitalistic individualism such that we deny the Qur’an any role in our affairs.
We aid and abet all forms of corruption especially in government; and in our schools. We claim to possess what we do not have; try to give out what we do not possess; award merits, grades, and give positions to those who do not deserve it. And the Prophet warned; “when the government is entrusted to the undeserving people, then wait for the Last Day” (Bukhari).
Our backwardness is consequent upon untying the nuptial knot—loyalty and obedience—that formerly held us to the Qur’an, we find ourselves in dispute with it. We are umbilically attached to our smart phones; our eyes are comfortably glued to them. This is not to say smart phones are bad (in and of themselves), it is rather to draw attention to the fact that we have prioritized them over the Qur’an such that our attentions are completely diverted from the Qur’an.
We spend most of our time on social media. If we are not on Facebook we are on twitter. WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, and other media sites have surreptitiously diverted our attention from the Qur’an. We have erected a tall wall between ourselves and the Qur’an so much that it plays no role in our lives anymore. The fact hat the Qur’an plays little or no role in our lives (as Muslims) explains why corruption, bad governance, kidnapping, banditry, man-slaughtering, injustice are rife in the society.
But if it is argued that the ills in the society (or Nigeria as the case may be) should not be blamed on the Muslims alone as there are non-Muslims who are as corrupt as the Muslims—or even more. Our response is: if the concept of justice as enunciated in the Qur’an is followed by the Muslims, nobody would have the temerity to spread corruption in a society with significant population of Muslims like Nigeria.
But because we are in dispute with the Qur’an by not obeying its injunctions, we find ourselves in this mess. Are you still in doubt that most Muslims are in dispute with the Qur’an? This is analogous to irresponsible children who habitually disobey their parents. Are they not in dispute with their parents? You are in dispute with the Qur’an when you flagrantly flout its injunctions.
What makes the Muslim community the best community is their incorruptibility and consciousness of Allah. So when they leave the Qur’an behind them, it is natural that they become the worst community. The onus of reforming the society through the guidance of the Qur’an is on every one of us. It is fardul a’in (individual responsibility).
This responsibility is excellently couched in the verse; “You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah” (Q3:110).
What if it is argued that many countries developed and progressed without the Qur’an? Our response is: they are not in dispute with what the Qur’an prescribes as glue that holds the society together. This shall be our focus in our next discussion (God willing). We ask Allah to guide us to make peace with the Qur’an.
Abdulkadir Salaudeen writes from Gashua.
salahuddeen@gmail.com
@salahuddeenAbd
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