Issue No: 111
24th February 2012
2nd Rabi' al Thaani 1433 A.H.
Salamun Alaykum,
Iqra – Read:
The centrality of reading in Islam is emphasized by the fact that the first revelation of the Holy Quran to the Holy prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w. commenced with the verb : Iqra – Read.
The voice in the cave:
In the 40th year of his life when the Holy prophet was in meditation in the cave of mount Hira the angel Jibrail conveyed to him the Divine revelation:
"Read, in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clot. Read, for your Lord is most Honorable, who teaches (to write) by means of the pen, teaches man what they know not," (Sura Al-'Alaq: 96:1-5)
Thereafter over a span of 23 years the revelations continued and upon instructions of the Holy prophet these were recorded in writing forming the compilation we revere as the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran served as the prototype of the written word and bears significantly on the importance of role of reading and books.
Do we revere the Holy Quran?
The spontaneous response to the above question would be:"Of course we do."
Obviously as muslims we handle the Holy Quran with great respect. Some of the ways we revere the Holy Quran are by placing it on a high level, wrapping it in decorative cover, touching the writings with wudhu, protecting it from najasat etc. But is that all?
A great form of reverence for the Holy Quran is to pick the Holy Quran and read it. This action of reading the Holy Quran is unbearable by Shaytan.
“Nothing is harder for shaytan to bear than a person who recites the Quran by looking at the pages (of Quran).” Holy Prophet s.a.w.w.
In addition to our children seeing us revere the Holy Quran by physical gestures as outlined above, it is important for them to see those around them in the family reading the Holy Quran.
Every time an adult picks up the Holy Quran and reads it infront of a child they are showing children that reading is an important way of revering the Holy Quran.
Do we take time?
As we close the days of celebration of Meeladun Nabi let us reflect as to how we put into practice - ‘Iqra – Read’ - the first word of revelation to the Holy Prophet.
“Do we take time to read part of the Holy Quran every day?”
“Do we read the Holy Quran infront of our children and encourage them too, to revere the holy Quran by reading the Holy Quran every day?"
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat