Islam 101

AsSalaam Alkuim,

Todays subject is Islam 101. The goal is to give a brief explanation (inshaAllah) of our book, The Quran:


What is the Quran?
The Quran is the sacred book of Islam and serves as one of the two primary sources
of Islamic teachings and law. Muslims believe the Quran to be the direct and infallible words
of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the Angel
Gabriel fourteen-hundred years ago.
The purpose of the Quran is to serve as a source of guidance and admonishment to all
of humanity. It contains in it signs, miracles, parables, and lessons, in addition to its
eloquence and beautiful style. The primary call of the Quran is belief in God, describing His
Names and Attributes and His rights over us as His dependent creatures. It calls us to
examine and ponder over the signs of God in the universe and over God’s innumerable
bounties towards us so that we give due thanks and appreciation. It relates the signs of the
Last Day, the events of the Day of Judgment, and the description of Paradise and Hell. It
confirms the Books which came before it: the Torah and Gospel. It narrates the lives of the
Prophets and Messengers and the stories of the earlier generations. It provides guidelines
and detailed teachings for a just society, proper human conduct, and an equitable economic
system benefiting the poor and misfortunate. It encourages everything righteous and
discourages everything evil and immoral. It teaches the basics of good manners, noble
morals, and how to deal with others in the best way. It gives glad tidings to those who
believe and do good in this life with ever-lasting reward in the next life, and warns those who
arrogantly disbelief and commit oppression and evil in this life with punishment and
humiliation in the next life. The Quran describes itself in the following verse:
This [Quran] is a Message for humanity, in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they
may know that He is but one God, and that those of understanding may take heed. (Ibrahim
14:52)
The Quran is regarded by Muslims and Arabs in general as the pinnacle of literary
excellence and the most eloquent Arabic prose in existence. The miracle of the Quran lies in
the fact that it is a literary genre unique unto itself. The Quran testifies to its inimitability in
the following verse:
Say: “If mankind and the jinn (i.e. genies/spirits) were together to produce the like of this Quran,
they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another. (Al-Isra 17:88)
For the Arabs at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), this literary type
of miracle would have the greatest impact. The Arabs had reached the peak of eloquence
through their poetry and prose and it was an art they mastered and took great pride in.
Following its revelation, the Quran became instant news among the Arabs. They had never
heard anything like the Quran before, nor did it resemble any of the known poetic styles and
rhythmic prose of Arabic literature.
Although the literary aspect of the Quran is the strongest and most apparent aspect
of its miracle, it is the most difficult aspect to discuss in non-Arabic terms. The Quran is in
“…clear Arabic” (Ash-Shu’ara 26:195), and in order to understand its miracle in this respect, a
thorough understanding of the Arabic language is essential. It would therefore be more
prudent to give some stories and quotations on the impact that the eloquence of the Quran
had on its listeners.
One story is that of al-Waleed ibn al-Mugheerah, known as the most eloquent and highly
esteemed poet of Makkah at the time of the Prophet. He once passed by the Prophet (peace
be upon him), and heard him reciting the Quran. This had a visible effect on him, and he
went away shaken and startled by what he had heard. The news of this incident spread
throughout Makkah. Aboo Jahl, a staunch opponent of Islam who was afraid that the people
of Makkah might be affected by this news and convert to Islam, rushed to al-Waleed, and
told him, “O my uncle! Say something (against Muhammad (peace be upon him)) so that the
people will know that you are against him and hate (his message).” Al-Waleed replied:
“And what can I say? For I swear by Allah, there is none amongst you who knows
poetry as well as I do, nor can any compete with me in composition or rhetoric – not
even in the poetry of jinns (i.e. genies/spirits). And yet, I swear by Allah,
Muhammad’s speech (meaning the Quran) does not bear any similarity to anything I
know, and I swear by Allah, the speech that he says is very sweet, and is adorned
with beauty and charm. Its first part is fruitful and its last part is abundant (meaning
it is full of deep meanings), and it conquers (all other speech), and remains
unconquered! It shatters and destroys all that has come before it (of poetry, because
of its eloquence)!”1
1 Biography of Prophet Muhammad, Ibn Hishaam p. 225
Another story is that of Ali bin Rabban at-Tabari [d.870 C.E], best known as the Persian
Physician who produced the first encyclopedia of Medicine titled Kitab Firdaws al-Hikma' –
‘The Book of the Paradise of Wisdom’. He was a Christian who converted to Islam late in
his life. He asserts that he has never in any language found stylistic perfection equaling that
of the Quran:
“When I was a Christian I used to say, as did an uncle of mine who was one of the
learned and eloquent men, that eloquence is not one of the signs of prophethood
because it is common to all the peoples; but when I discarded (blind) imitation and
(old) customs and gave up adhering to (mere) habit and training and reflected upon
the meanings of the Quran I came to know that what the followers of the Quran
claimed for it was true. The fact is that I have not found any book, be it by an Arab
or a Persian, an Indian or a Greek, right from the beginning of the world up to now,
which contains at the same time praises of God, belief in the prophets and
Messengers, exhortations to good, everlasting deeds, command to do good and
prohibition against doing evil, inspiration to the desire of paradise and to avoidance
of hell-fire as this Quran does. So when a person brings to us a book of such
qualities, which inspires such reverence and sweetness in the hearts and which has
achieved such an everlasting success and he is (at the same time) an illiterate person
who never learnt the art of writing or rhetoric, that book is without any doubt one of
the signs of his Prophethood.”2
God revealed the Quran in an Arabic that was so emotive and eloquent that the Arabs
could clearly see it was a miracle from their Creator. However, for the Arabs the challenge
was not in acknowledging the miraculous nature of the Quran; it was in accepting and
believing in the Quran’s message that the Arabs struggled with. The religion of the Arabs at
the time was paganism whereas the entire message of the Quran was strict monotheism,
calling for the Arabs to abandon their paganism and make their worship and devotion
directly and sincerely for God alone.
The Quran is the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He was given
this miracle as the ultimate proof for his Prophethood. God says in the Quran:
And they say, ‘Why are not miracles sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say: ‘The signs are only
with Allah, and I am only a plain warner.’ Is it not a sufficient (miracle) for them that We have
sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? Verily, therein is a mercy and a reminder for a
people who believe. (Al-‘Ankabut 29:50-51)
2 Abdul Aleem, I'jaz ul Qur'an, 1933, Islamic Culture, Volume VII, Hyderabad Deccan, pp. 222-223
The Prophet (peace be upon him) also alluded to the status of the miracle of the Quran
when he said:
“There has not been a single prophet except that Allah gave him miracles because of
which people believed in him. I have been given (as a miracle) the Inspiration (i.e.
The Quran) which Allah revealed to me. I hope, therefore, that I will have the largest
number of followers on the Day of Judgment.”
Every Prophet and Messenger was granted miracles by God as a clear sign of his
prophethood. Moses’ (peace be upon him) miracles included the staff, the shining hand, the
splitting of the Red Sea, and others. Jesus’ (peace be upon him) miracles included healing the
leper, curing the sick, raising the dead, and others. The impact of written words, however, is
much less than the impact of sight. While we may believe in the occurrence of these miracles
(as the Quran and the Biblical scriptures testify to their occurrence), the impact of these
miracles on us who merely read about them is significantly weaker in comparison to those
who witnessed these miracles firsthand. The beauty and power of the Quran is that it
removes the constraints of time and place upon the miracle – the Quran is a permanent
miracle for all generations after the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to see and
appreciate, no matter where they live, or what time frame they are born in.

I pray that this will help all of you further understand this beautiful deen (way of life).

AsSalaam Alkuim,
The Haqq Dawah Group