Why The Holy Quran is the most read but least understood book in the world!
The world has over a billion Muslims who are healthy mix of those based faith and ideology and those who are born in to Muslim families. Islam is widely accepted to be the fastest growing religion in the world. Scores of Christians and Jews are entering the fold of Islam in the thousands and Islam has also seen a fair share of reverts from non monotheistic faiths. The increase in population of Muslims is reinforced by the high birth rates that are prevalent in the Southern and East Asian countries where the majority of Muslims call home.
Now if each of these Muslims carried with them at least one Quran, that will amount up to over a billion copies of the Quranic text scattered all over the four corners of the world. The Holy Quran is the main source of guidance for Humanity (but patronized by the Muslims) which is believed to be the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Arabic through the arch angel Jibreel (Gabriel) over a period of 23 years.
It is only prudent to say that not all Muslims are Arab and not all Arabs are Muslims. In fact, the countries having the biggest Muslim population is polarized in the Asian regions with Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc having a major stake in these numbers. It is a common misconception that Arabs make up the highest percentage of Muslims based on ethnicity. This being said, Muslims in Asia are nurtured in the skills of reading the Arabic text which was by the way is not their mother tongue in order to obtain the blessings of reading the Quran. However, Very little investment is being made into making them understand the very words that they utter. This automatically qualifies the Quran to be the book that is read the most in any given day but which is least understood.
How can a whole nation which founds its teachings and ethics based on the Quran not comprehend the very light that shows them the way? Does this qualify us Muslims to portray ourselves as examples for the rest of the world to follow? This is indeed a disturbing fact and the effect of this is apparent in every direction we see.
The misconceptions that the others have concluded on a Muslims character are a direct result of the Muslims indiscipline and negligence. Muslims rose to the heights of diplomacy, education, medicine and algebra not because they were exceptional geniuses. The practice of the time was for youngsters to study Quran and comprehend its teachings along with the Sunnah (actions and practices) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) under the care and guidance of a scholar. This process will continue until the pupil reaches his teens after which he is free to understand the wonders and mysteries of the world based on the Quranic Ideology obtained.
The sciences mentioned in the Quran are far superior to those of its counterpart’s then and now. The thirst for knowledge that the Muslim scientists of old generated were based on the snippets of sciences that the Quran holds for the knowledgeable persons to exploit. Muslims pursued these sciences to the next step with the same enthusiasm that a child shows in reaching for a second ice cream which tantalized his taste buds.
Where do the Muslims today stand? We have neither adapted the true teachings of Islam in its correct sense in our lives nor have we pursued the sciences in the Quran like our forefathers did. The reason is obvious-We are far away from the Quran and its teachings. Correctly understanding the Quran is the first step to solving this problem.
Click here to gain access to a website which will allow you to understand the meaning of the Quran whilst reading the Arabic text. Having done this, I assure you that constant usage of this internet tool will make you understand the Arabic text of the Quran on your own with no help from its many translations.
The world moves so fast and we move with it. This click will take you to a web portal which gives the impression of reading your very own Quran with customized Arabic script.
If you are Non Muslim and wish to know more about the Quran, click here to transport yourself to a page which will assist you in understanding better. There is one piece of advice I wish to share with my Non-Muslim friends, if you want to learn Islam please study the Quran-DONT Study the Muslims!
Who cares about the Minorities? Me or You?
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”.
-Martin Luther King Jnr-
It has been quite a while since the Twin Towers was struck down by two Dual engine planes, but the effects of the event still linger on. Muslims in America are subject to verbal abuse and physical pain on a daily basis and the media feeds good fodder to ensure the fire burns till the so called democracy in America starts shedding its first drop of blood.
As the saying goes, the most beautiful white flowers rise in its pureness from the muddy depths of the slimy swamp and America is no different. The public is kept misinformed and the propaganda machines work day and night to taint the image of Islam and Muslims; inspite of this all millions seem to embrace the path of Islam in flocks and the educated neutrals take a genuinely just stand in the wrong doings that take place in the country which was founded on the hard work of their forefathers.
Click here to see an experiment conducted by the ABC News crew to ascertain the general attitude that an average American takes towards Muslims and their religious values. It is amazing how the ethical stand that people take is based on pure understanding and the ignorant ones seem to hold on to the tales projected by the biased media and make themselves self professed “Muslim Bashers”.
This is most relevant to the Sri Lanka of today where we see minorities being subject to similar small acts of injustice which is bound to have and has already started having an adverse snowballing effect on the social fabric as a whole. Personally I make it a point to sacrifice my prized bus seat (that’s just behind the driver’s seat where I fall asleep the best!) to Pregnant Mothers and Clerics as and when they get onto the bus. Many a time have I seen Muslim and Tamil mothers being denied this Social Right and the giving up of seats for clerics being polarized only between Christian Fathers and the Venerable Buddhist Monks. The Muslim Imam (“leader” in Arabic but mostly identified as a Spiritual Leader) is never even considered for this seat and this may be partly because there is no set uniform for an Imam.
This video which I’m sharing made me realize the resounding words of Martin Luther King Jnr “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people”. So how many silent good people have we got both in the United States and here in Sri Lanka? Do we do the talking or should we let the uneducated ignorant people to shout on our behalf? It’s up to you to choose!
Peripatetic Wayfarer's Blog 