THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between AD 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary by
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Those who take protectors other than God can be compared to the spider which builds itself a cobweb, but the frailest of all structures is the house of the spider, if they but knew it. God surely knows what they invoke besides Him. He is the Mighty, the Wise One. Such are the comparisons We make for people, but only those understand them who have knowledge. God has created the heavens and the earth for a purpose; surely in this there is a sign for true believers. (29: 41-44)
It is shown here that one who sees a spider’s web and learns a lesson about reality from it is a learned person in the true sense. This clearly demonstrates who are the truly learned in the eyes of God. They are not those who have become expert in bookish discourses, but, rather, individuals who are capable of imbibing the sound advice conveyed through God’s signs scattered throughout His world and whose minds are capable of magnifying small events into great lessons. When this learning reaches the final stage of ma‘rifah or ‘knowledge with intense realization of God,’ then it is called by its other name: faith or iman.
Recite what has been revealed to you of the book, and pray regularly. Surely prayer restrains one from indecency and evil, and remembrance of God is greater. God has knowledge of all your actions. (29: 45)
‘Recite what has been revealed to you of the book’, here means ‘the propagation of the revelation’ i.e. reciting the Quran before people and making them aware of the will of God. This work of propagation is a task calling for great patience. To perform this work well, one has to be the well-wisher of one’s opponents. One has to ignore their excesses. One has to look at one’s addressees as one’s invitees, even if they are rivals and opponents.
Just as prayer restrains a man from evil in everyday life, similarly, it saves a missionary from unmissionary-like behaviour. Only that person can become preacher of God’s message whose heart is full of God’s remembrance and who bows down before God in all sincerity.
Prayer, or salaat, restrains the human being from committing evil. If a man bows down or prostrates himself (performs ruku‘ and sajdah) before God in all earnestness, he develops a sense of responsibility and humility. The character which forms in a man as a result of this makes him do that which he should do and desist from that which he should not do.
When a man attains perfect knowledge through intense realization of God, or ma‘rifah, the result is that the thought of God permeates his very existence. This is what is meant by remembrance of God (dhikr). This spring of God’s remembrance, or dhikr, wells up and flows through his body and soul. Reaching this height of spirituality, man begins uttering noble words in praise of God, and this is undoubtedly the highest form of prayer or worship.