The Quran: It’s not just a Book; it’s a Phenomenon
The Quran is like the most beautiful, crafted, crystalline glass broken into a myriad of fragments and assembled into a complete and harmonious whole made sound without any visible blemish or crack. It is not just a Holy Book; it is a Pattern of Existence by itself containing the easiest patterns in a web of such complexity that man cannot yet completely fathom this WORD OF GOD. Why? Because it was not forged by the hands of men but rather it emanated from GOD HIMSELF!
The many miracles performed by Muhammad and Jesus (pbh them both) are really wondrous but they don’t stack up to the MIRACLE called the Quran. It can be both salvation and death at one and the same time depending upon how it is used or abused. And it is the only known Holy Book that is, has been and will be kept pure (in its original language) defying the Earthly condition of decay.
All the praises and thanks be to ALLAH, WHO has sent down to HIS slave the Book and has not placed therein any crookedness.
(HE has made it) Straight to give warning of a severe punishment from HIM, and to give glad tidings to the believers, who work righteous deeds, that they shall have a fair reward (Paradise) Quran (18:1-2)
It is a perfect broadcast medium of the Divine that we have on Earth. So, even though we can’t see GOD, we can get to know something about HIM when we seek to understand the Quran!
It is the only known Holy Book (and Holy Books are made to provide patterns of success to the Believers) that will be taken away or lifted up from human beings when they enter the ‘trashy state’ of existence as guaranteed losers in this world and the next when the kingdom given to the ‘anointed one’ (the Christ-soul) comes to an end as is declared in a hadith and a fatwah by Ibn Taymiyyah.
The trashy state of existence becomes in full swing when the last soul who has even a mustard seed’s grain of ‘goodness’/faith is taken up (the body stays down as it is not yet time for Judgment Day yet) and the remaining humans are basically and literally trash! So, in what need is there for the Quran!!!
This Great Book came down by the Angel of Revelation (Gabriel) in drips and drabs with no final, correct, written in stone order until the very end of Prophet Muhammad’s life. So, it was pertinent during the chaotic times when it came in pieces and it became pertinent when it was set in order near the end of Muhammad’s life (pbh).
The study of the Quran is an immense task covering a huge catalog of ‘things to understand’. Many people study the Quran for remembrance purposes, while others study the Quran linguistically. Some break down the Quran into varied Sura placement as to Makkan or Medinan characteristics while others look at the Quran matching content with the time when certain verses came down into what was happening in ‘real time’. Even different Quranic types of ‘chanting’ is a lengthy topic and of course the science of the beginnings of the Quran and its various preserved manuscripts as to times going back to the Uthmani original as near as possible.
If one dwells upon its Exalted Excellence, one can pick up a few gems, GOD WILLING, showing the basics of humanity and its time honored tests given to it. But the Quran can be described as a Book that has the known and unknown side by side. And then there is its DEPTH.
No human being or any other creation can imagine the depth of Quranic knowledge as to it various hues and meanings. When considering its various hues and meanings, the Quran must still remain pure and coherent while covering an infinite number of actual probabilities.
The closest mankind can come to understanding the above, because we don’t have the capacity or the resources to understand, is that the Quran is Cyclic in nature. Therefore, somehow it must cover all possible contingencies induced from patterns found in the universe. That by itself makes it GOD’s WORD and GOD’s WORD is never outdated!
Now the danger comes in pushing the envelope too far and creating a lie or an invention that is wrong and contradictory to the TRUTH. Just as one of ALLAH’s NAMES stands for the ‘Totality of TRUTH in HIMSELF’ there is also the possibility of causing chaos (the devil’s brew) by declaring a falsehood about GOD’s WORD. So, it is best to see the Quran in the light of man’s limited knowledge or limited wisdom which can be verified through scriptural study.
That does not mean that all people are on the same wavelength because they are not. But if one wants to advance in knowledge to a certain degree, one has to back that up with practical thought patterns (bring forth your evidence if you are telling the truth – Quran) while not going overboard in effusive praise that results in misleading anyone down a pathway of error and lies.
When this work stated that Sura (Chapter 12) in the Quran was a miracle in just being number 12, one might get the sense that this chapter has quite a bit of foundational lessons including the number 12 which one might reflect back to the number of Jesus’ close Companions and what that might imply. Yes, there are deeper things than this but at whose expense would one try to ‘tempt fate’ as it has been called?
And the mention of Sura AL-Rum (Chapter 30) in the Quran being quite beneficial to man’s thought processes in knowing that we as 3rd dimensional creatures are on a planet that is 3rdfrom the Sun and that life as we know it can be summed up in all its hues and colors from past to present and even future in just this Sura.
A deep look at this Sura tells us things about the past and even ourselves that if it struck us out of the blue, would be disconcerting. For example, generally in our lives (what we can handle to keep our sanity) we grow old and older and then die. But this is only one phase and another verse proves it! It proves that we don’t really understand much of anything so it behooves us to have faith and not just lip service.
On the Day that the Hour (of reckoning) will be established, the transgressors will swear that they only tarried but an hour: thus were they used to being deluded!
But those endued with knowledge and faith will say: “Indeed you did {in fact} tarry, {However it was only} within ALLAH’s DECREE to the Day of Resurrection {that that was possible} and {now Behold!} This is the Day of Resurrection: but of this you were not aware!” Quran (30:55-56)
The Quran is for contemplation, whether of the past or present or future but it should not be abused and treated as an experimental comic book!!! It has to be loved and believed in as well as admired and respected on every level.
And people, like colors, vary as to their individual levels. This depends upon what is needed for soul growth or repair just like food does for the body – maintenance, growth and repair all harmonizing and marching according to the tune it deserved and or what is needed to advance on the avenue of hopeful success or in the worst case scenario – dissolution, degradation and spiritual death.
And among HIS SIGNS is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know. Quran (30:22)
Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of that which the hands of men have {previously} earned that (ALLAH) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from evil). Quran (30:41)
For the keys to eternal success and happiness are found inside the Quran for those who have the GOD-given ability to contemplate ALLAH’s MAGNIFICENT GREATNESS WHO HAS NO COMPARISON OR ANY RIVALS!
It is HE WHO begins the creation; then repeats it; and for HIM it is most easy. To HIM belongs the LOFTIEST SIMILITUDE (we can possibly think of) in the heavens and the earth: For HE is EXALTED IN MIGHT FULL OF WISDOM. Quran (30:27)
To HIM belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to HIM. Quran (30:26)
That means ALLAH is the OWNER of all things and ALL will obey HIS DESIGNED PLAN, whether they will or don’t want, because there is NO contest against ALLAH’s WILL and even the devils acknowledge this or so it is declared by James the half-brother of Jesus:
You believe that there is ONE GOD {The LORD and MASTER of ALL}. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! James (2:19)
So, it is ALLAH’s WILL that drives the universe’s outcome and there is no power or no strength EXCEPT IN ALLAH!
What is meant by the saying, ‘By his stripes we are healed’?
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows {through the ages to be that SIGN of surrendering to GOD}; yet we esteemed him stricken, Smitten by GOD, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions {by leading the way, he took on those challenges and}, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him {put on his shoulders as our adam representative}, and by his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD {GOD} has laid on him the iniquity of us all {by having him go through all the phases of temptations and breaking those chains that bind as the representative of the human race.} Isaiah (53:4-6)
He was delivered over to death {as all humans are bound by death} for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification {as an example or Sign to mankind about what man could become IF he was willing to forego his ego and serve the LORD with one’s mind, body and soul – and by trusting fully in the LORD he becomes that one designated and honored as the Messiah and will be raised up to great honor along with those who are closest to ALLAH in Fealty – Quran}. Romans (4:25)
Those who have little faith are accustomed to have the ‘lazy thought pattern’ of Jesus doing all the work and punching our ticket so we can get a ‘free meal’. That is the way of lazy thought as those did of old whereby certain gods got to do the work while the humans played at life. This is nothing new but a rehash of old practices with a new dress put on the dummy!
The ‘stripes’ mentioned have nothing to do with any whipping or wooden cross carrying! By his stripes means by his experiences in his (the Christ’s soul’s life) whereby he took on the disjointed world of falsehoods and pagan practices and as a SIGN to mankind became that one who represented mankind in the struggle of good versus evil! First for himself (as a human being and then for others – book of Hebrews in the New Testament)
So historically he becomes that exemplifier, that trainer of the human way of life moving people towards the LIGHT. Angels can’t do it; animals can’t do it but only a human can be a guiding light to other humans!
What kept men back from belief {in every case} when Guidance came to them, was nothing but this: they said, “Has ALLAH sent a man (like us) to be (HIS) Messenger?”
Say, “If there were settled, on earth, angels walking about in peace and quiet, WE should certainly have sent them down from the heavens an angel for a Messenger {to give guidance}.” Quran (17:94-95)
He didn’t become the Messiah by a ‘luck-of-the-draw’ concept but through his putting himself through the rigors of ‘leading the Way or being that SIGN’ by showing that we also can be elevated LIKE HIM and this goes back to the idea that he is our brother, our elder brother, if you will, by being our adam representative which like we are and that is 100% human!!!
For it was fitting for HIM {GOD}, for whom are all things {made} and by whom are all things {made}, in bringing many sons {faithful ones} to glory, to make the captain of their salvation{the Messiah} perfect through {his trials and} sufferings.
For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one {being totally human}, for which reason he {Jesus} is not ashamed to call them brethren {fellow created beings who worship but ONE and who bow down to HIS COMMAND and that is ALLAH}. Hebrews (2:10-11)
Further Explain taking up one’s cross and owning it:
To own it means to admit to those deficiencies that are negatively affecting one’s spiritual growth such as lying, stealing, throwing temper tantrums, being too short with people, and other vices and doing something about them such as to promote spiritual healing. In this way one recognizes the deficiency in self and uses this as a check on the dependency of or trust in the ONE GOD.
So, you carry this spot or remembrance or ‘cross’ to acknowledge your devotion to the belief in GOD and the attempts that one makes in controlling the ‘beast’ that is within. Hence, you recognize and own up to your humanity and necessity of bowing down to ALLAH’s WILL in peace and submission which is another meaning of the word ISLAM.
That beast that is within was discussed by Prophet Muhammad (pbh) thusly:
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of ALLAH, (pbh) said, “Each one of you has a devil-companion from the jinn over him.” They said, “Even you, O Messenger of ALLAH?” The Prophet said, “Even me, yet ALLAH helped me against him until he embraced Islam. He does not order me to do anything but good.” (Muslim)
So that is the concept and in acknowledging that one can look to Islam to be that WAY, if understood correctly, that Pathway to Paradise but only for the Believers!
And So It Goes!
