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The Holy Quran – A Source of Divine Guidance
Quran and Today’s Muslims
It is sad to say that today, the Muslims either keep the Quran in their homes as a symbol of auspiciousness or merely recite it for requital. The irony is that if someone learns the translation and exegesis of the Quran, considers himself a scholar and starts presenting Islam in the light of his superficial knowledge. This is how various sects in Islam emerged, in which the so-called scholars declared fellow Muslims infidels. Such scholars are completely oblivious to the true teachings of the Quran. Their innerself (nafs) is infected with various esoteric ills and their inwards have become lifeless as a result. That’s why, instead of taking guidance from the Quran to correct their inwards and outwards, they waste their energies on criticising others.
The Quran only stays to their tongues let alone making any impact to their inwards. They have no idea of the eminence of the Holy Quran and why it was revealed.
The Quran guides towards the path of Allah Almighty. It has the depth and vastness of knowledge to provide guidance in resolving issues of every age. The revelation of Quran was completed over a period of 23 years. This is so that people could really digest the message of the Quran. Verses of the Quran were revealed at certain occasions to present solution to particular issues. The Holy Prophet provided explanation to complex issues that made it easy for the Companions to understand the true message of the Quran and gain guidance from it. The Quran has been a source of guidance since the Holy Prophet’s era and will continue to be so for the future generations.
Inward Peace through the Quran
The inward peace that the ardent lovers of Allah get when they read the Quran cannot be described in words. Majority of the people today are unaware of the true meaning of the Quran. We need to understand why the young generation has gone away from the teachings of the Quran and how we can bring them back towards understanding the essence of the Quran. Without truly understanding and acting according to the teachings of the Quran we cannot succeed in this world and hereafter. Iqbal describes status of today’s Muslims as below:
بجھی عشق کی آگ، اندھیر ہے
مسلماں نہیں، راکھ کا ڈھیر ہے
Explanation: As the Muslims moved away from the teachings of Islam, they lost their dignity in the world. Today’s Muslims are like a pile of ash without any spark.
The Role of a Perfect Spiritual Guide in Understating the Quran
The only way to truly understand the soul of Islam is to understand the true message of the Quran. Only a perfect spiritual guide can explain the real and hidden meanings of the Quran. Therefore, one first needs to search for a perfect spiritual guide, then spend time in his company to attain purification of the innerself and learn the true meanings of the Quran. Every word, in fact every letter of the Quran contains hidden meanings that we should strive to learn.
Allah Almighty describes the Quran as light and guidance so that we use that to find the path to Allah and follow that to attain Divine vision and closeness which is the purpose for our creation. The Quran teaches us that in order to attain Divine vision and closeness, we need to follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet. For this, we have the life of the Companions as an example for us to follow. The Companions first attained purification of their innerselves, this allowed them to understand the true message of Islam.
The Holy Prophet and the Divine Universal Man
The Companions used to sit in the Holy Prophet’s company and listen to his sayings. They used to attend these sessions with utmost attention and respect. A Divine Universal Man is the deputy of the Holy Prophet in his era. We need to follow the Divine Universal Man of our era as the Companions used to follow the Holy Prophet to fulfil the purpose of our lives. The Divine Universal Man needs to be the one who has attained the status of annihilation in Prophet Mohammad and annihilated in Allah and his every action is according to Sunna.
آئے تو ابوبکر تھے اللہ نے صدیقؓ بنادیا
آئے تو عمر تھے اللہ نے فاروقؓ بنا دیا`
آئے تو علی تھے اللہ نے حیدرؓ بنا دیا’
آئے تو عثمان تھے اللہ نے غنیؓ بنا دیا`
Explanation: All of the Companions of the Holy Prophet achieved the highest status as a result of the company of the Holy Prophet. In particular the four most prominent Companions i.e. Abu Bakr Siddiq, Umar ibn Khattab, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usman ibn Affan.
Need to Practice Islam from Heart
When we look around us, we find a lot of people who appear to be practicing Muslims. They pray five times a day, give zakat, may have performed Hajj and even many of them would know the Quran by heart. But are their innerselves purified and free of inwardly ills – i.e. backbiting, lying etc.? We find many of them who look for others’ weaknesses, they brag over their prayers and worships. Allah says for such people that He has put a veil over their inwards such that they cannot understand the teachings of Islam.
It is said in Quran:
فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَى- وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى- قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنتُ بَصِيرًا- قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنسَى
Meaning: Whoever will follow My guidance will neither lose the straight path (in the world), nor face misfortune (in the hereafter). And whoever turns away from My direction and guidance (i.e. remembrance and advice), his worldly sustenance will be narrowed, and We shall raise him blind on the day of Resurrection (as well). He will say: “O my Lord, why have You raised me up blind (Today) whereas I had vision (in the world)?” (Allah) will say: “In like manner, Our signs came to you (in the world) but you forgot them, and the same way you (too) will be forgotten Today.” (Taha 123-126)
It is clear from these verses of the Quran that, people who do not act upon the teachings of the Quran in this world will be raised up blind on the day of Resurrection.
Allah says in Quran:
وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي مَنْ أَسْرَفَ وَلَمْ يُؤْمِن بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَشَدُّ وَأَبْقَى
Meaning: And that is how We recompense the one who exceeds the limit (in sins), and does not believe in the Revelations of his Lord, and surely the torment of the Last Day is extremely severe and everlasting. (Taha 127)
The Purpose of Our Life
We need to ask ourselves how we have spent our lives so far. If we look closely, we will find that in fact we have gone away from the teachings of the Quran and have started living our lives according to our worldly desires. Despite having all the amenities that make our lives comfortable, we still do not find inward peace. That’s because our inwards only find peace in the pleasure and closeness of Allah Almighty. Allah is closer to us than the distance between the membrane and adjoining layers of onion leaves but we do not recognise Him and don’t feel His closeness because of our own ignorance.
The purpose of our lives is to gain gnosis of Allah. The fact of the matter is that we can only recognise Allah once our innerselves have been cleansed and purified of all the inner grimes and ills. And that is only possible through company of a perfect spiritual guide.
Murshid (spiritual guide) means partner or ally. A spiritual guide knows the ups and downs on the path to Allah. The Holy Prophet said:
الرفیق ثم الطریق
Meaning: Find an ally (spiritual guide) before embarking on a journey (to gain gnosis of Allah).
Sultan Bahoo says:
کامل مرشد ایسا ہووے، جیہڑا دھوبی وانگوں چھٹے ھُو
نال نگاہ دے پاک کریندا، وچ سجی صبون نہ گھتے ھُو
Explanation: A perfect spiritual guide is like a launderer who cleanses his disciples’ inwards through his gaze of all the inwardly grime and ills to enable their souls to gain Divine closeness and presence.
Allah draws man’s attention to Himself again and again throughout the Holy Quran.
يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ
Meaning: O man! You sustain rigours to reach your Lord. Ultimately you will meet Him. (Al Inshiqaq – 6)
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ إِنِّي لَكُم مِّنْهُ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ
Meaning: So run towards Allah. Surely, I am a clear Warner to you from Him. (Adh-Dhariyat – 50)
أَتَصْبِرُونَ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًا
Meaning: Will you observe patience (and not strive towards gaining pleasure and gnosis of Allah)? And your Lord is All-Seeing. (al-Furqan – 20)
We should strive to learn and understand the true message of the Quran and seek refuge from such prayers and rituals that may make us arrogant instead of being a source of inward peace.
Iqbal says:
منزل سے آگے بڑھ کر منزل تلاش کر
مل جائے تجھ کو دریا تو سمندر تلاش کر
ہر شیشہ ٹوٹ جاتا ہے پتھر کی چوٹ سے
پتھر ہی ٹوٹ جائے وہ شیشہ تلاش کر
سجدوں سے تیرے کیا ہوا صدیاں گزر گئیں
دنیا تیری بدل دے وہ سجدہ تلاش کر
Explanation: Put your best efforts into achieving your goals. Never stop, keep challenging yourself on achieving more and more. Once you have achieved your initial goal, set yourself even higher goal and put even more effort in achieving that. There is no point in praying for the sake of praying, strive for the prostration that will change your inward.
Our beloved spiritual guide Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammed Najib-ur-Rehman is working hard through day and night to spread the true teachings of the Quran throughout the world. A large number of disciples of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen who have got their innerselves cleansed are now living their lives according to the teachings of the Quran which is the real success both in this world and hereafter. May Allah grant health and wellbeing to Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen and give us the strength and courage to remain his loyal disciples. It is compulsory to swear bayat in Islam to gain gnosis. We invite you to swear bayat on the hand of Sultan ul Ashiqeen.
This article is written by Nimra Sarwari Qadri and translated by Waheed Hassan.
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