Pretext
True believer in God will come to this realization, today or tomorrow that God is One, Human family is a single family, Guidance of God has been the same for the benefit of mankind from time immemorial and God's Prophets and Messengers delivered the same message in different turn of ages - which were the Message of Unity, Compassion, Benevolence, Generosity, Justice, Right Governance and Togetherness.In the known human history, some of the monumental Prophets who came with pivotal role in bringing all round Guidance were Prophet Noah, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus and finally Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon them all. The Books of Guidance that survived from these five major Prophets are known as Torah, Gospel and Quran.
Among the Three Testaments, The Torah being the Old Testament of Truth and Guidance, The Gospel being the New Testament whereas The Quran is the Last or Final Testament to mankind. Quran, revealed to Prophet Muhammad continues the same message of Community Building through Divine Guidance and Principles based on Mercy, Love, Generosity, Justice, Right Governance and Unity. Again and again Quran testifies this truth that this book is a verifier towards the truthfulness of earlier Revelations and Scriptures namely the Torah and Gospel.
Step by step, God has sent down upon you, [O Prophet], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel earlier as a guide for people and He has sent down the Criterion [between right and wrong]. Those who deny God’s revelations will suffer severe torment: God is Almighty and Capable of Retribution. - Quran 3:3-4
God gave Moses the Scripture- so do not doubt that you are receiving it- and We made it a guide for the Children of Israel. - Quran 32:23
We did aforetime give Moses the guidance, and we gave the book in inheritance to the children of Israel. - Quran 40:53
Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to God] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of God, and they were witnesses thereto." - Quran 5:44
We gave him [to Abraham] Isaac and Jacob, all (three) We guided; and before him we guided Noah and among his progeny David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron; Thus do we reward those who do good; And Zakariya and John [the Baptist] and Jesus and Elias [Elijah] all in the ranks of the righteous. - Quran 8:84-85
So it is very much clear that Quran is a confirmation and testimony to the truth and veracity of earlier scriptures and revelations ie. continuous Guidance from God, whether those scriptures are mentioned by name or not. The Guidance of God was a continuous promise and process since Adam.
Thus those who understand this Pattern of God, hopefully will come to appreciate the Last and Final Testament, the Quran as a Source of Guidance, Inspiration and Communication from God, the Most High. Quran is not in conflict with the Torah or Gospel, but a continuation of the same Message from the One and Only God.
Be still and know that I Am God.
- The Psalms, 46:10
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...
- The Greatest of Commandments, Gospel of Matthew 22
Precondition of Love is knowledge. One must know a person before loving that person. Without knowledge and gnosis (ma'rifa), without recognition, love can not flourish. Thus the Command in the Psalms to know God and the Command in the Gospel to Love God are related to each other.
The Last and Final Testament, the Quran has a very distinct feature where God Unveils His Qualities, Attributes and Self-Disclosing Nature in a frequent and gradual manner. Once this pattern is understood, then one may uncover one's journey towards the very important function, in reality a holy one, to know God according to one's capacity.
The origin of the word Torah means Teachings / Instruction that flows from God / Teacher. On the other hand the origin of the word Quran means in Hebrew root words (Q R N) to shine or shine forth; in Arabic to recite or read, something that is read. Or said in another way, Quran is reading of the shining instructions of God. A major subject matter of the Quran is the mission of Moses including his life's journey; Revelation to Moses and Covenant of God with the nation of Israel. In a sense as Quran mention that it confirms the earlier Scripture and also refreshes earlier Message, particularly that of Torah.
Thus those who are familiar with the Old Testament and New, will simply find Quran as a continuum of the same flow of stream.
Self-Disclosure of the Divine in the Quran
If any person start to read any chapter or any section in a chapter of the Quran, one will notice that within each paragraph or at least after few sentences, God unveils God Self by unveiling certain divine attributes. Sometime this happen in the beginning, but more often than not, it happens inevitably at the end of each paragraph or finishing of verse.
Such Disclosure has the characteristics where God declares His Qualities such as:
Inna Allahu Ghafurur Raheem.
Indeed God is the Most Forgiving, Merciful.
InnaLlaha yuhibbul muhsineen.
Indeed God loves those who do good.
Wa Allahu sariuul hisab
God is swift in reckoning.
Such Disclosure has the characteristics where God declares His Qualities such as:
Inna Allahu Ghafurur Raheem.
Indeed God is the Most Forgiving, Merciful.
InnaLlaha yuhibbul muhsineen.
Indeed God loves those who do good.
Wa Allahu sariuul hisab
God is swift in reckoning.
There are 3 Dimensions of God's Self-Disclosure:
1) Disclosure of Divine Nature, Sifat
2) Disclosure of Divine Will, through Command, Prohibition and Instructions
3) Disclosure of Divine Pattern, SunnataAllah, Archetypal Principles
Knowing Divine Nature helps us realize how as Representation of God (Khalifa) on Earthly plane or Image of God, how we may embody the Divine Qualities and to become Coloured in the Colour of God (Sibghat Allah).
Knowing Divine Will help us realize direct our actions in sync with God's Will.
Knowing Divine Pattern or Principles which are immutable from time immemorial as God reminds in the Scripture that man will find no changes or alteration in the Way's of God - help us understand the world, history of it and how life works.
Here are few examples directly quoted from the Quran:
O you who have believed, be constantly upright with equity (with others), witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or (your) parents and nearest kin. In case (the person) is rich or poor, then God is the Best Patron for both. So do not ever follow prejudice, so as to do justice; and in case you twist or veer away, then ˹know that˺ God is certainly the All-Aware of what you do.. - The Quran 4:135
In the above example verse, it's an instruction to uphold equity and justice and not to be affected by social status or be biased due to blood-ties when it comes to justice. Not to ever follow prejudice. This is a reflection of Divine Will. But the paragraph ends with a Self-Disclosure of God's Attribute - which: The Divine is the All Aware (Allahu Khabeer). The Ever Aware.
Your God is the one God: there is no deity except Him, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy. - The Quran 2:163
If My servants wonder about Me, I am near. I respond to those who call Me, so let them respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be guided. - The Quran 2:186
We have bound each human being’s destiny to his neck. On the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring out a record for each of them, which they will find spread wide open,
[It will be said], "Read your record. Sufficient is yourself against you this Day as accountant."
Whoever accepts guidance does so for his own good; whoever strays does so at his own peril. No soul will bear another’s burden, nor do We punish any people until We have sent a messenger.
How many generations We have destroyed since Noah! And your Lord suffices as One Who is Ever-Cognizant of (and) Ever-Beholding of the guilty (deeds) of His servants. - The Quran 17: 13-15
In the above example we find Way of God that without sending a warner He never destroy a people. No soul will bear another's burden is another blueprint Divine Archetypal Principle.
And some say, "The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son."
You have certainly made an outrageous claim, by which the heavens are about to burst, the earth to split apart, and the mountains to crumble to pieces in protest of attributing son to the Most Merciful.
And it is not appropriate for the Most Merciful that He should take a son. There is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant.
Indeed He has already enumerated them, and He has numbered them with (exact) numbering. And all of them are coming to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.
As for those who have faith and do good, the Most Compassionate will ˹certainly˺ bless them with ˹genuine˺ Love. - The Quran 19:88-96
In light of the above discussion it is clear that the Quran is a book of Divine Gnosis and Self-Disclosure of God by God.
So sooner or later, through reading practice of the Reading (al-Quran) any person who wish to be a knower of God, who wish to be a lover of God, can not help but discover this unveiling of Self-Disclosure of God in the Quran. Indeed only God knows God and only God reserves the right to Self-Disclose His Light upon whom He wills.
Sadiq M. Alam
Mirpur, Dhaka
15 Nov 2019
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