Auron ka hai Payaam aur, mera Payaam aur hai, / Ishq key dardmand ka tarz-e-kalaam aur hai! (Iqbal)
The Qur’ān remains open, beckoning and available to all humanity in all parts of the world to come to it; to read it with a mind that is open and free from prejudice and hate of all kinds; and to make use of its teachings to build a better life for themselves, their societies and peoples and for all human beings everywhere.
However, what needs to be clearly understood today, and what needs to be openly and fearlessly acknowledged, is the fact that the Qur’ān presents the world with a perfect blueprint for its progress.
That means all the progress that the world has made over the past 1400 years, since the departure of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, from this world, in any good sense of that expression “progress,” is the result of the world following the teachings of the Qur’ān.
The world progress thus is the result of the various peoples, societies and individuals of the world embracing and implementing in their lives and affairs the teachings of the Qur’ān. The sad part, however, is that the world has mostly tended to do so without acknowledging its debt to the Qur’ān or Islam.
Or, for that matter, to the Muslims.
IT IS GOD WHO KEEPS THE QUR’ĀN GOING
The Qur’ān continues to exist in its original form and at the same time continues to exert its inexorable influence on the world for one simple reason: because God almighty himself undertook to protect and preserve the Qur’ān in all forms and aspects.
So, the Qur’ān continues as God’s last, final and eternal living testament in this world. And it shall stay with humanity till the end of time.
Innaa nahnu nazzalnaz zikra wa innaa lahoo la-haafizoon, is how the Qur’ān itself records this manifest and unambiguous divine undertaking to protect and preserve the Qur’ān. Paraphrase: We revealed it and we shall protect and preserve it.
Among some of the most unique features of the protection and preservation of the Qur’ān on earth in its pure and perfect form are the following facts, which no unbiased observer can deny or question:
The Qur’ān always existed in written form.
Countless people memorised the Qur’ān from cover to cover in all ages and societies and they continue to do so to this day.
Practically every Muslim everywhere recited – and continues to recite to this day – parts of the Qur’ān in daily prayer or worship routine, at the bare minimum of five times a day.
Muslim communities everywhere gathered, and continue to do so to this day, in one or more area mosques every night during the month of Ramadan to do a complete recitation of the Qur’ān from cover to cover.
A MIRACLE CALLED THE SUNNAH
When Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, died, Islam was a done deal. It was complete and perfect in every sense and in every aspect. The world had received, embraced and implemented the message of God in its life.
And a complete society consisting of several generations of young and old had come into existence that was as complete a personification of the teachings of Islam in every single aspect of its life as it is possible for any human society to be.
Thus, Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, left the world with two aspects of his Sunnah – or model or example or record and practical illustration of his ideals and teachings – fully alive and accessible to the world.
One called Hadith. The other called Ummat.
Hadith was a comprehensive compilation of as complete a record of his life – sayings, teachings and doings – as humanity has ever been able to assemble of anyone, anywhere at any time.
And the other called Ummat was the human embodiment of his teachings and sayings – and of the Qur’ān. It was a vibrant, powerful and dominant human society and state that was as complete a personification of all that he taught, preached and practiced as it is possible for any society or state in the world to be.
Simply stated the Ummat was Qur’ān and Sunnah come alive in human life: in the life of Muslims as individuals as well as in the form a full-fledged society and state with all their social, political, economic and so-called “religious” institutions, models and practices.
THE MIRACLE OF HADITH
Hadith is what the world can neither contemplate nor fully comprehend. For, it is a miracle in its own right.
For, the Hadith is nothing short of a complete, word by word, record of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam’s, life and teachings.
Hadith is all primary, eyewitness account of everything – repeat everything – that Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, ever said or did. Nothing like Hadith exists about anyone or anything in this world.
What the world doesn’t know about Hadith is that it is all primary data. It is not a set of interpretations or conclusions by historians or scholars. All of human history on the other hand is mostly analysis, interpretation, conclusions and findings by one or more historians at one time or another.
That is why and how Hadith is completely and fundamentally different from any and all historical documents and their sourcebooks.
That is why I maintain that the only true history in existence anywhere in the world is the Hadith. Just like the only true, error-free, book in existence in the world is the Qur’ān.
Everything else is guesswork or patchwork or reconstruction or approximation. And subject to error.
That is what Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, left behind. He left behind the Qur’ān and the Sunnah.
The Sunnah in turn consisted of the Hadith as well as a composite Ummat of multiple generations of Muslims that embodied the Qur’ān and Hadith in their individual and family lives as well as in their society and state as a whole.
That was the miraculous legacy of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, that lives to this day.
[Write to the author at Drsyedpasha@aol.com. Also visit www.IslamicSolutions.Com and Listen to Pasha Hour International.]