Understanding the Qur'an
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:40 am
Reading the Qur'an reminds me of all the wisdom and beauty of Allah's verses. The verses are beautifully written and contain infinite wisdom. Whenever I open the Qur'an (unfortunately today was the first time after a long period) I am baffled by its wisdom and the deep philosophy behind the verses which shake widely accepted notions/views. The Qur'an compels the readers to ponder on things, re-examine their basic believes and directs our attention to the irrefutable facts in life (existance of Allah, hereafter, judgementday etc).
Since this is a Somali forum visited by the Somali youth who like to exchange views (which unfortunately is often degraded into pointless discussions full with foul language) let us try to understand the verses of the Qur'an better and exchange knowledge/information.
Let me start this quest for more understanding of the Qur'an with the soerah Al Isra (The Night Journey), soerah 17:
17:23] And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and goodness to your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) "Ugh" nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word.
17:24] And make yourself submissively gentle to them with compassion, and say: O my Lord! have compassion on them, as they brought me up (when I was) little.
17:25] Your Lord knows best what is in your minds; if you are good, then He is surely Forgiving to those who return to Him.
17:26] Give relatives their due, and the needy, and travellers – do not squander your wealth wastefully.
17:27] Surely the squanderers are the fellows of the Shaitans and the Shaitan is ever ungrateful to his Lord.
17:28] And if you turn away from them to seek mercy from your Lord, which you hope for, speak to them a gentle word.
17:29] And do not be tightfisted, nor so open-handed that you end up blamed and overwhelmed with regret.
17:30] Your Lord gives abundantly to whoever he Will, and sparingly to whoever He will: He knowns and observes His servants thoroughly.
In these verses Allah commands certain things like to serve only Allah, do good to your parents, give relatives their due etc etc.
What I find quite interesting are the last two verse (17:29/30)
In verse 17:29 Allah swt commands people to be moderate in their spending on the path of Allah. You should not be tightfisted (when giving your relatives/the needy and travellers their due, thus when giving sadaqah/zakatah) but also warns of spending lavishly as to make yourself destitute.
Than in the last verse (17:30), and this verse is very deep when you ponder on it, Allah says that it is he who gives abundantely to whoever he wishes and sparingly to whoever he wishes. So, in my interpretation, this verse clearly means that the rich are rich because Allah has decided so and the poor are poor because Allah has decided so. One may argue that the poor are poor and the rich are rich because of their own actions and circumstances but eventually it is so because Allah has decided it. If one accepts this reasoning, than it becomes more interesting to the situation of the poor and their future. Should the poor accept their poverty, be patient and pray for better times or reject it and work hard to relief themselves from poverty? And why has Allah decided for some to be poor and for others to be rich?
What do you think of the above verses? Share with me your thoughts and post verses you find powerful.
Since this is a Somali forum visited by the Somali youth who like to exchange views (which unfortunately is often degraded into pointless discussions full with foul language) let us try to understand the verses of the Qur'an better and exchange knowledge/information.
Let me start this quest for more understanding of the Qur'an with the soerah Al Isra (The Night Journey), soerah 17:
17:23] And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and goodness to your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) "Ugh" nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word.
17:24] And make yourself submissively gentle to them with compassion, and say: O my Lord! have compassion on them, as they brought me up (when I was) little.
17:25] Your Lord knows best what is in your minds; if you are good, then He is surely Forgiving to those who return to Him.
17:26] Give relatives their due, and the needy, and travellers – do not squander your wealth wastefully.
17:27] Surely the squanderers are the fellows of the Shaitans and the Shaitan is ever ungrateful to his Lord.
17:28] And if you turn away from them to seek mercy from your Lord, which you hope for, speak to them a gentle word.
17:29] And do not be tightfisted, nor so open-handed that you end up blamed and overwhelmed with regret.
17:30] Your Lord gives abundantly to whoever he Will, and sparingly to whoever He will: He knowns and observes His servants thoroughly.
In these verses Allah commands certain things like to serve only Allah, do good to your parents, give relatives their due etc etc.
What I find quite interesting are the last two verse (17:29/30)
In verse 17:29 Allah swt commands people to be moderate in their spending on the path of Allah. You should not be tightfisted (when giving your relatives/the needy and travellers their due, thus when giving sadaqah/zakatah) but also warns of spending lavishly as to make yourself destitute.
Than in the last verse (17:30), and this verse is very deep when you ponder on it, Allah says that it is he who gives abundantely to whoever he wishes and sparingly to whoever he wishes. So, in my interpretation, this verse clearly means that the rich are rich because Allah has decided so and the poor are poor because Allah has decided so. One may argue that the poor are poor and the rich are rich because of their own actions and circumstances but eventually it is so because Allah has decided it. If one accepts this reasoning, than it becomes more interesting to the situation of the poor and their future. Should the poor accept their poverty, be patient and pray for better times or reject it and work hard to relief themselves from poverty? And why has Allah decided for some to be poor and for others to be rich?
What do you think of the above verses? Share with me your thoughts and post verses you find powerful.