Preface - Way to The Quran - Preface - by Khurram Murad
This book is the product of a long and still-continuing search. Its contents have beengathered over many years of reading. The beginning of this book goes back more thanthree decades when I had just begun my own struggle to live by the Qur'an, and whenI was given the duty of explaining how to study the Qur'an to a group of similarlycommitted young students. Most of what I said then, I owed to a small number of sources: Hamiduddin Farahi's
Tafdsari Fardhi
; Sayyid Mawdudi's
Tafhimul Qur'an
;Amin Ahsan Islahi's
Tadabburi Qur'an
; al-Ghazali's
lhya' 'Ulum al-Din
; Shah Waliullah's
Hujjah-Allah al-Balighah
and
al-Fawz al-Kabir fi Usul al-Tafsir
, and Suyuti's
al-Itqan fi'Ulum al-Qur'an
. For all that this book contains, I continue to owe a debt of gratitudeto them. And whilst I would like to acknowledge this, I must also point out that none of these authors are responsible for my own errors of understanding and presentation.The first opportunity to put my thoughts in writing arose in 1977 when I wrote a shortintroduction to Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an published by the Islamic Foundation'The Way to the Qur'an'.This book is born out of certain abiding convictions. And whilst they are all explained inthe book, it is useful to recall and summarize some of them here:
First
, our lives will remain meaningless and ruined unless they are guided by the Qur'an,the word of God.
Second
, the Qur'an, being the eternal guidance given by the Ever-living God, is asrelevant for us, today; as it was fourteen centuries ago, and will remain so forever.
Third
, we almost have a right, in some sense and measure, to receive its blessings todayas its first believers did; provided, of course, that we come to it and move in it in amanner that may entitle us to share its rich harvest.
Fourth
, every Muslim has a duty to devote himself to reading, understanding andmemorizing the Qur'an.
Fifth
, one must abandon oneself totally, in thought and deed, to whatever the Qur'an hasto offer. Any pride, arrogance, sense of self-sufficiency, reservation, or ingenuity that canmistakenly be read into it, is fatal to its understanding and would shut the door to itsblessings.
Sixth
, the path of the Qur'an is the path of self-surrender, of practising what it tells you,even if one learns only one Ayah. One Ayah learnt and acted upon is better than athousand which are explained beautifully but which do not impart any beauty to thereader's life. Obedience, after all, is the real key to understanding.
There are seven chapters. Each deals with a different aspect of the journey. The first,dwells on what the journey means to our lives; the second, on what provisions mustbe gathered inside our hearts and minds before setting out; the third, on whatpostures and actions of heart, mind, and body are necessary for the full involvement of the inner self; the fourth, on what rules should be followed in reading; the fifth, onwhy and how to understand; the sixth, on how to undertake collective study; and theseventh, on the essential need of offering our lives to the fulfilment of the Quranic
file:///C|/Program%20Files/Way%20to%20The%20Quran/files/Preface.htm (2 sur 4)22/09/2004 03:11:29
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