O mankind! Fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul. He created its mate from it and from the two of them spread countless men and women [throughout the earth]. Fear Allah, in whose name you appeal to one another, and be mindful of your obligations in respect of ties of kinship. Allah is always watching over you.” (4:1)
The above verse from the Qur’ān is recited as part of every Muslim wedding ceremony, but as mostly observed, only in Arabic, without majority of the audience knowing its translation in the local language, let alone giving a detailed explanation to the heterogeneous gathering, with many first time attendees of a Muslim marriage, eager to see and know all about it.
In quite a few cases, pleasantly, a knowledgeable speaker explains the importance of marriage in Islam as a tradition of our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) besides reading the Arabic original and translation of the nuptial sermon.
It is high time all Muslims noted that it is their obligation to see that all human beings including all our Non-Muslim brothers are acquainted with certain minimum knowledge of the Qur’ān, as the message of the Master of the worlds and traditions of the universal and final Messenger of Allah.
Unfortunately one finds Muslims, who are expected to “act as witnesses unto mankind,” in respect of Islam, are themselves nowadays groping in dark about their own religion.
Although the Qur’ān and traditions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) were originally in Arabic, they are accessible, thanks to translations, to those who have no knowledge of Arabic.
The Qur’ān is apparently in the Arabic language, but in reality, it is in the language of nature, that is, the language in which Allah the Exalted directly addressed all human beings at the time of creation.
This divine invocation of humanity is ever-present in the consciousness of all human beings; that is why the Qur’ān is universally understandable – to some on a conscious plane, and to others at the subconscious level. This reality has been described in the Qur’ān as ‘clear revelations in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge’. This verse goes on to say that “none deny Allah’s revelations save the wrongdoers.” (29:49).
This means that the Divine Reality, explained by the Qur’ān on a conscious plane, pre-exists in man at the subconscious level. The message of the Qur’ān is not therefore, something alien to man. It is in fact a verbal expression of that same Divine Reality, which is in consonance with man’s own nature and with which he is already familiar. The Qur’ān explains this by saying that those born in later times were all initially born (or existing) at the time of the creation of Adam and, at that time, Allah had directly addressed all these human souls.
This event is thus alluded to in the Qur’ān: “[Prophet], when your Lord brought forth the offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and they replied, ‘Yes, we bear witness that You are.’ So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were not aware of this’.” (7:172)
The Qur’ān, for man, is in essence already known to him, rather than an entirely unknown entity. In reality, the Qur’ān is unfolding of the human mind.
When one whose nature is alive – having saved oneself from conditioning – reads the Qur’ān, those brain cells will be activated wherein Allah’s first address lies preserved. If we keep this in mind, it will not be difficult to appreciate that the translation of the Qur’ān is a valid means of understanding it.
If Allah’s address was the first covenant, the Qur’ān is the second covenant. Each testifies to the veracity of the other. If one has little or even no grasp of the Arabic language, and can read the scripture only in translation, he should not anticipate that he will be frustrated in his understanding of the Qur’ān, for the Qur’ānic concept of man as the natural recipient of Allah’s word has become a reality in modern times. The science of the genetic code and the findings of anthropology both fully support this viewpoint.
According to the Qur’ān, material life is a testing ground while the hereafter is the place where the result of this test will be taken into account by the Almighty and whatever man receives in the life after death, by way of reward or punishment, will be commensurate with his intentions, expressions, and actions in this world. The secret of man’s success in this life is to understand Allah’s creation plan of his temporal pre-death and permanent post-death periods and chalk out his life plan accordingly.
Allah explained the reality of giving life, death and resurrection at several places in his final revision of His scriptures in the form of the Qur’ān as follows: “O people! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, remember that we first created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then from clotted blood, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped, so that We might manifest you [Our power]. We cause what We will to stay in the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants and then We cause you to grow and reach full growth. Then some of you will pass away early in life, while some of you will reach extreme old age in which they will know nothing of what they once know. You see the earth dead and barren, but no sooner do We send down rain upon it than it becomes to stir and swell, and produce every kind of luxuriant vegetation: that is because Allah is the Truth. It is He who gives life to the dead and He has the power to will anything.” (22:5-6)
“Look, therefore, at the signs of Allah’s mercy; how He resurrects the earth after its death. Truly, the same Allah will resurrect the dead; for He has power over all things.” (30:50)
“….Allah is forgiving and merciful. But Allah undertakes to accept repentance only from those who do evil out of ignorance and those who repent soon after. Allah turns towards such people with mercy; He is All Knowing and All Wise. Forgiveness is not for those who continue to do evil, until, when death comes upon one of them, he says: ‘Now I repent!’ nor for those who die as deniers of the truth. We have prepared a painful punishment for them.” (4:16-18)