It is rather ironic that today’s world takes Muslims for the mirror through which Islam is perceived when the opposite should actually be the case. Just as it is wrong to measure knowledge, in a citadel of learning by the quantity or quality of the architectural structures available therein, so it is wrong to use Muslims as the mirror through which to measure the value of Islam nakedly and avowedly. On the contrary, Islam is the mirror as well as the scale with which Muslims are supposed to be seen and measured respectively, not the other way round. For instance no reasonable person will ever blame Nigerian constitution for any misconduct of some maleficent Nigerians abroad. Nigerian constitution is one thing misconduct of Nigerians is another. The one is not and cannot be a corollary of the other.
Emergence of Islam
When the sacred religion called Islam emerged through Prophet Muhammad (SAW) almost 1,500 years ago, it was with certain fundamental norms meant to guide humanity towards all virtuous acts in life. One of the most formidable pillars of that divine religion is fasting in the month of Ramadan. With it, all genuine Muslims are supposed to fortress themselves against any satanic recklessness that could turn them into wild beasts.
Qur’anic revelations
Now, we are in the sacred lunar month in which the revelation of the Qur’an began in 610 C.E. It was in this divine month that the last divine constitution with which to liberate mankind from the shackles of Satan was revealed. The real spiritual essence of Ramadan is to show mankind the right path to Paradise through a phenomenal transit called the world.
This allegorical month is like a school in which Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was both the pioneer student and the pioneer teacher. All other students who passed through this school or are still passing through it are heirs to those forerunners.
Duties of Shepherds
The duty of those heirs is to serve as shepherds for the wandering flocks of the universe. It is this duty that confirms man as Allah’s vicegerent on earth.
Anyone who is in a position to serve as a shepherd but does otherwise has surely contravened the rules of his or her Creator.
Ironically, most of those we perceive as shepherd in our society are worse than the lost sheep they are supposed to guide aright. For those who know and appreciate it, the opportunity of rebirth provided by this sacred month has no duplicate. It is like a ‘once in a while’ train which everyone should endeavour not to miss. Missing it is like missing a lifelong destiny of fortune. But will the recalcitrant ones heed the warning?
A Season of jamboree
With the arrival of Ramadan this year, a scene of jamboree took over most radio and television stations as usual, especially in the Southwest of Nigeria. Many pseudo Alfas who had become redundant before Ramadan quickly dusted their gowns and turbans for the purpose of sharing from the annual largess which they believe the sacred month had brought for them. Such pseudo Alfas who might have taken advantage of some ignorant Muslim money bags in the society by asking them to sponsor Ramadan preaching on radio and television stations swarmed the airwaves like bees on a hive. With little or no knowledge at all, those pretenders posed like scholars and dished out rubbish by arrogating to themselves the knowledge they did not possess. Their displayed symbols of scholarship included big gowns, turban, unkempt beards and irrelevant long rosaries.
Clerics or charlatans?
One of the characteristics of such charlatans in their preaching was to spend the first 10 minutes or thereabout in singing the praises of their sponsors and in chanting some irrelevant slogans even as they relayed primordial stories with neither roots nor any bearing with Islam. Their trade in stock was to seek fraudulent recognition for themselves by showing their faces on television stations or by airing their voices on radio just to be accorded the status of Alfas. Such are people who have no Islamic knowledge and do not see the need for seeking it. Rather than guiding the multitudes of uninformed Muslims aright, which is the primary duty of qualified, genuine Muslim clerics, they further mislead them.
To this category of so-called Alfas, all that matters is the money they want to make through their deceptive appearances as well as the cheap fame they want to gain as a boost to their fraudulent gimmicks.
That is their annual deed in the month of Ramadan. And through those deeds, the impression they invariably give is that Ramadan is an annual festive booty celebrated with fanfare.
Faulty Recitation
The most embarrassing aspect of their action is not only the faulty recitation of the Qur’anic Verses but also the shameless misinterpretation they give to those Verses. This, on its own, is not just an abuse of Ramadan but also a flagrant abuse of the Qur’an. That is how the charlatans turn the sacred month into a gross abuse of Islamic religion. What those charlatans do not understand is that the Qur’an in its original form is not just any book that any charlatan can dust up once in a year as a means of fetching money for selves.
Reading Method
For the learned ones, reading any book at all has a purpose and a method. No good reader will ever read a book without taking note of its author, its publisher and its date of publication. And to read any new book, the very first point of call is its contents which tell you the topics and the subjects you will read about in it. Then, to have an idea of the entire book in its summary form, before reading it, a good reader goes straight not only to the introduction or preface to such a book but also to the foreword written on it. The combination of both will surely give the reader a pretty idea of what the book is all about. This is the shortest means of familiarizing oneself with a new book before going through its chapters.
Language of the Qur’an
Most Muslim clerics read the Qur’an in its original language (Arabic) without compreending what they are reading because they do not understand that language. Some read it as a means of solving their imaginary problems thus taking the Qur’an for a charm which must yield result if manipulated towards their whims. Others believe that the melody of reciting the Qur’an alone, if well mastered, can serve as a means of making money.
The Qur’an is not meant for that purpose. It is rather the manual of life for man by which he lives his daily life and conducts his daily affairs.
The Meaning of Qur’an
The word Qur’an means continuous recitation and understanding. It is so called because of its inimitable origin which makes it a compelling daily reading throughout the world, across nations and ages. It is the unsurpassed word of Allah not only in the grandeur of its diction and splendour of its rendition but also in the depth of its meaning, substance and profundity.
Profile of the Qur’an
The revelation of this Book to mankind through an unlettered desert Arab, Muhammad son of Abdullah and Aminah, began in the month of Ramadan in year 610 CE. It lasted for about 22 years and three months (10 years in Makkah and12 years plus three months in Madinah). The book contains 114 chapters and 6,246 verses (not 6,666 verses often announced by most Imams and Alfas). Any individual can verify this by checking the number of verses in each chapter and adding them together. It does not take more than one hour to do this.
Of the 114 chapters contained in the Qur’an, 86 were revealed in Makkah and 28 in Madinah. But the 28 chapters revealed in Madinah constitute two thirds of the entire Book. And this is because the Makkah chapters are short and rhythmic while those of Madinah are long and prose-like.
Although the Qur’an was revealed orally, its writing began almost immediately the revelations started. The writing was however done on primitive materials like wood, animal hides, back of trees and others of the like which were then readily available. It was only much later, after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that those writings were brought together and rendered into a book form. And one of the wonders of recording the Qur’an in writing is the classification of those revelations into chapters and verses by the Prophet himself despite his illiteracy.
Manner of Presentation
The manner of presenting the Qur’anic revelations is simple and direct. It employs neither artifice nor conventional poses. Its main appeal is to man’s intellect, feelings and imagination. It does not only touch the anecdotes of the past Prophets in different ages and nations as well as the accounts of earlier revelations, it also covers the period from the beginning of creation to the very last Day of Judgment and beyond.
Not only that, Al-Qur’an also gives insight into some natural phenomena like sphericity and revolution of the earth (Q. 39:5) the formation of rain (Q. 30:48); the fertilisation of the wind (Q. 15:22); the revolution of the sun, the moon and the planets in their fixed orbits (Q. 36:29-38); the aquatic origin of all creatures (Q. 21:30); the duality of the sex of plants and other creatures (Q. 36:35); the collective life of animals (Q.6:38); the mode of life of the bees (Q. 16:69) and the successive phases of the child in the mother’s womb (Q. 22:5 & 23:14). Yet, the purpose of this Book is not to teach history, astronomy, philosophy or sciences. The details of these will be spelt out fully after Ramadan under a theme to be called ‘ANATOMY OF THE QUR’AN’ in sha’Allah.
Unnecessary Controversy
Meanwhile, there is a raging controversy among Muslim scholars over the first and last revelations in the Qur’an. Much as this controversy is unwarranted, it may be necessary to clear the coast here (without laying any claim to authority) if only for the purpose of authenticating history.
It is almost a consensus that the first revealed chapter in the Qur’an is Suratul ‘Alaq (Chapter of the Clot). But the very first revelation reaching Prophet Muhammad (SAW) through Angel Jibril is ‘BASMALAH’
(In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful) which precedes every chapter in the Qur’an except one (Suratut-Tawah).
As a Messenger of Allah to another Messenger of Allah, Angel Jubril couldn’t have commanded Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to read anything without doing so in the name of Allah who sent him with the message.
Thus, Suratul ‘Alaq, as preceded by ‘BASMALAH’, could only have been the first revealed chapter but not the first revelation. And that is logical.
As for the last revelation in the Qur’an majority of Nigerian Muslim scholars believe that it is chapter 5, verse 3 of the Qur’an which says: ”Today, I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favour on you. And, I am pleased with Islam for you as religion”.
That verse of the Qur’an that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) at ‘Arafah while performing his farewell Hajj couldn’t have been the last revelation. It came 81 days before the demise of the Prophet (SAW). And there was another revelation, thereafter, which came about nine days before the Prophet fell sick and died. This can be found in Qur’an 2: 281 which says: “And fear the day when you shall all return to Allah; the day when every soul shall be requited according to its desert and none shall be wronged”.
Clarification
The earlier verse was an accentuation of Hajj as the last pillar of Islam. And that was why it came on Arafah Day. The latter is a reminder of man’s final destination and the account of his worldly activities. These and many more are what readers of the Qur’an should know inside out. But the big question is this: who will teach them when the supposed teachers have sold out to money and ignorance? To Muslims who are conscious of their spiritual affinity and retain their conscience for the day they will meet their Creator and account for their deeds on earth ‘The Message’ says RAMADAN KARIM!