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Your Questions Answered
The remedy for ignorance is asking questions. (Prophet Muhammad). The spirit of enquiry is the hallmark of an open society and the above saying of the Prophet aptly illustrates this principle. A culture of curiosity and open-mindedness will foster development in any society by motivating its members to learn enthusiastically and enrich their knowledge. This is because awareness of one’s ignorance is half of knowledge, as it becomes a stepping-stone to seeking and finding answers. A questioning mind is like a flowing river that is replenished with fresh thoughts and ideas and continues on its journey.
How should we strive to understand the deeper meaning of the verses of the Quran?
The Quran has its own style. The Quran is not a narration of history nor is it a novel. The truth is that the Quran is a book of wisdom. In the language of wisdom, some things are between the lines or undeclared. Thus, you have to engage in reflection in order to understand the message that lies between lines. For example, at the time of the Battle of Uhud, seventy Companions of the Prophet were killed. A verse that was revealed on this occasion said:
He paid you back with one sorrow after another, so that you might not grieve for what you lost, nor for what befell you. (3: 153)
The wisdom behind this verse of the Quran is that after every loss, we need to adopt the attitude of re-planning instead of becoming hopeless or engaging in complaints against others. According to the Quran, the deeper meaning of the Quran can be understood through contemplation (tadabbur). Such reading should be done with an open mind, not with a conditioned mind. Only if a person reflects objectively would, he be able to reach the deeper meaning of the verses of the Quran.
What do you think about the verse of the Quran, "The Messenger will say, 'Lord, my people did indeed discard the Quran'?"
This verse is about the Day of Judgement. These are the words the Prophet will say on the Day of Judgement about his community of later times. After the death of the Prophet and the passing of several generations, the followers of the Prophet went into a state of religious degeneration, thus abandoning the revealed Book.
Today, we see that most Muslims respect the Quran by kissing it and keeping it in ‘sacred’ places, but they do not really follow its guidance in their lives. Instead of being accessed as source of guidance, it seems to have acquired the status of being an item of display.
This verse of the Quran is an admonition for the Muslim community. They are forewarned that they should save themselves from developing the tendency of simply reciting the Quran while at the same time heeding the dictates of their own desires.
If some verses of the Quran were for only a specific time or age, how can the Quran be meant for every generation?
The teachings of the Quran and every other book have to be re-applied according to changing situations. This is applicable to every book and constitution. In the matter of belief there will be no change. However, in the matter of application there can be temporary modifications.
Can I gift the translation of the Quran to a non-Muslim friend, knowing the fact that he is going to read it without ablutions (wudu)? Can one read the translation of the Quran without ablutions?
Yes, absolutely! The misconception about not reciting the Quran without performing ablutions comes from a misunderstood Hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab (a Companion of the Prophet). According to a teaching recorded in a Hadith, when Umar heard his sister reciting the Quran in her house, he went inside and asked for the pages from which the Quran was being read. At this, his sister asked Umar to first perform ablutions (wudu) before he could read the Quran. This was a psychological gesture from a sister who requested his brother to clean himself before he read the Book of God.
The fact that one does not need to perform ablutions before reading the Quran is affirmed by another incident concerning Umar. During the days when he was Caliph, he was discussing a verse from the Quran with some people. During the discussion he picked up a copy of the Quran from a shelf and started reading the verse being discussed. One of the participants asked him if he had performed ablutions. At this Umar became furious and strongly condemned it by asking if Musaylima (a false prophet) had given him a fatwa (ruling) in this regard? In other words, he meant: ‘Which hypocrite told you of this wrong practice?
When Umar’s sister had asked him to clean himself, she said it out of the leverage she had over her brother. We may not have the same leverage over others in our life. Cleanliness is a form of respect a reader gives to God’s word. However, imposing this practice keeps people away from comfortably reading or gifting the Quran, and, above all, prevents people from knowing the message of God.