Different Perspectives from Which a New Convert Should Read Quran
Although most of the new Muslims who accept Islam are familiar with the
great depth of knowledge and meanings Quran carries, however, accepting
Islam is not the ends to which Quran is the means. Rather, Quran is an
endless means of understanding and awareness that initially brings a
person to the Truth and then takes him or her further into the layers of
the Truth.
After accepting Islam, the need to understanding and
knowing more about Quran becomes imperative for a Muslim. The more a new
convert learns and understands Quran, the more he or she gets knowledge
about Islam and the way a Muslim is to live life and perceive things
that happen in this life.
In addition to learning Quran in Arabic
language, a new Muslim has to pursue Quran as a book of endless wisdom
as well. A new convert should try to ponder over the meaning of the
different verses of Quran and see the message they convey other than
what they explicitly mean. The best way of going about is viewing Quran
from different perspectives.
how a muslim convert should read Quran
The lines below discuss the different perspectives from which Quran
could be viewed so that a Muslim convert could learn and understand
Quran better.
A Book Of Science:
Quran is not a religious
dogma, rather it carries knowledge that expands to something as
contemporary as science. In Quran, Allah Almighty has explained
scientific facts 1400 years ago when there was no existence of science
as per say. Quran speaks of different phenomenon of this world and how
the existence of this world can be viewed in relation to the greater
universe. For instance, Quran speaks of the development of life in an
embryo, which at that time no one knew. Science in this century got to
know about the development of embryo regarding which Quran had spoken
centuries ago. In Quran Allah says:
“And certainly did We create
man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a
firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We
made the clot into a lump (of flesh), and We made (from) the lump,
bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into
another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.” (23:12-14)
In addition to the creation of man, Quran also speaks about the
creation of this universe as well. Quran told people fourteen centuries
ago that all this universe was once one and then this smoke of
everything burst into different components with a single bang. Science
only recently has given the big bang theory as per which all of the
universe was one matter, then an explosion took place and it got tore
into bits and pieces and these pieces at present are what we see in the
universe. As mentioned in Quran:
“Have not those who disbelieved
known that the heavens and the earth were one connected entity, then We
separated them?….” (21:30)
Therefore, a new Muslim must pursue
learning of Quran as a scientific book and try finding out the ayahs of
scientific knowledge that help understand this life and universe in a
better way.
An Eloquent Prose:
There is no denying the
fact that reading or recitation of Quran brings religious reward and the
aforementioned lines have established the fact that it is a book that
contains scientific knowledge as well. The other perspective from which a
new Muslim must try to learn and understand Quran is from its literary
merits. A new convert should understand the prose style of Quran and how
it is different from rest of the literary compositions in general and
other religious scriptures in particular. Quran is written in decorated
prose, the likes of which is not present in this world. Pertaining to
its uniqueness in this regard, Quran puts an open challenge to the rest
of the world to produce something like it. As is mentioned in Quran:
“And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed (the Quran) to Our
worshiper (Muhammad), then produce a chapter like it, and call your
witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides God if you are truthful. And
if you do not do it, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire whose
fuel is men and stones, prepared for disbelievers.” (2:23-24)
A
Muslim must realize the literary merits of Quran. He or she must know
the way the words are selected, the way the verses of Quran are formed
and the way the whole Surah creates an effect on mind and soul to give
an elevating experience. A new convert must realize that till present
all the disbelievers have not been able to produce a single Surah like
Quran, so it ultimately and undeniably is the truth and a proof enough
for its Divine origins.
A Forecaster:
It is a part of
Islamic belief that the knowledge of the unknown or the knowledge of
future rests with Allah Almighty only, therefore, it is quite natural
that Quran – His word should contain mentions and forecasts of the
future. This forecasting nature of Quran was established even during the
time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) when He was in His hometown while the
fight between Romans and Persians was taking place in their region and
Allah revealed the ayahs that told about the victory of Romans over the
Persian initially, however, to forecast that after 9 years the Persians
will gain victory again on Romans. This forecasting proved true to the
very fact. As Allah said in Quran:
“The Romans have been defeated
in the nearest land (to the Arabian Peninsula), and they, after their
defeat, will be victorious within bedd’ (three to nine) years…” (30:2-4)
Similarly, Quran has made predictions about the world to come some of
which have come true in our present times whereas there are other
predictions that still remain to be explored. Therefore, a new convert
should try learning and understanding Islam and find out the ayahs and
Surahs that contain predictions about the world to come and see how many
of them have come true and how many of them are yet to come true.
In short, there is no denying the fact that Quran contains the dogmatic
details according to which a Muslim has to live his life, therefore, a
new convert should read it from this perspective. However, reading and
understanding Quran only from this perspective will only be limiting its
knowledge and a new convert should try reading and understanding Quran
from as many perspectives as possible to get a better understanding of
religion as a whole.
by Mix not truth with
