The Quran was created by Allah ,our Creator and Sustainer. It was then revealed to our beloved Prophet Mohammad (SAW) for the entire human race. The target readers of this book are human beings of different mental levels. This fact itself is the greatest miracle of Quran. Any other book of human creation has a specific target reader. For example a science textbook for a primary class student will be written in such a way that primary students easily understand it. In the same way a book on anatomy for a student of medicine will be meaningful for a medical student. Each book is written at a different level. On the contrary Allah has created Quran: as “ A Book for All”. It would be wrong to say that , “It contains something for everybody ,” rather “It contains everything for everybody.” I will try to show this in the course of this book. The Quran was revealed to the Arabs primarily. In order that they understand it well, Allah revealed it in Arabic, their mother tongue. I personally feel that only reciting the Quran (except in the obligatory salat) is futile. We may be gaining some sawab or enjoying the poetic and rhythmic form of the language. The real juice of the text is in its meaning. The basic requirement of the reader of Quran is that its contents be understood. It is our basic duty to study it and understand it. Ignorance of Arabic language should not be a barrier for us. Quran is a book that has been studied and researched the most. There are many beautiful translations available in English and other languages. We should earnestly try to read these translations. Everybody and anybody can “read” the Quran. By “read” is implied that we read it in a language we are comfortable in. It is because the main aim should be to understand the meaning.
Let us look at some Quranic verse related to what we have said so far:
C 54 , V 17 ( Easy Quran) : We have indeed made the Quran easy to be understood and remembered.
C 2 ,V 121 ( Study Quran) : Those to whom we have given the book , study it as it should be studied . They are the ones that after studying it believe in it. Those who reject faith in it , are losers themselves.
C 47 , V 24 ( Understand Quran) : Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Quran or is that there are locks upon their hearts?
C 19, V 97 ( Easy in your language) : We have made the Quran easy in your language , so that you may give good news to the righteous and warn the people who argue (to create mischief).
The contents of this book are divided into three main parts:
1. In "some basic verses" I have collected some verses which I think come under the category of “The basic and fundamental” verses of Quran. These verses form the foundation of the book and are very important to our faith. There meaning is easy to understand. They are for everybody to follow.
2. In "some special verses " I have collected some verses in which a specific group of people are addressed and they have been instructed to do certain things. We will see this as we go through the chapter.
3. In "some advanced verses" we will try to tackle some Quranic verse which are not easy to understand. There meaning is symbolic. However there is a word of caution here. In Islamic history there have been instances when people have argued over the meaning of these verses. The point to keep in mind here is that , the meaning of these verses is not important to our basic beliefs. It is better that we leave the arguments and detailed explanations to our Scholars and experts on the Noble Quran and Arabic language. I have just collected them here to introduce the first time reader to the fact that Quran has verses on which we can spend years to understand. May Allah open the gates of knowledge for us. May He grant us “tawfeeq” to read and understand the Quran. I hope my humble effort lights the fire in your hearts. Then you yourselves can understand this miraculous book better than I have.
