The Message of The Qur’an

The Qur’an is the last revelation of God to humanity. Many messengers of God before the last one, Muhammad, (peace and God’s blessings upon them all) had received a revelation, amongst them are Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus). The Qur’an stated:

“And verily We sent forth among every community a messenger (to say): Worship God and shun false deities. Then among them were some whom God guided, and among them were some who deserved to be in error. So travel in the land and observe the nature of the consequence of those who denied” (16:36).

The peculiarity of the Qur’an compared to other earlier revelations is its encompassment of those before it, and its continuous originality, as God says: “Verily it is We Who have revealed the Remembrance (= the Qur’an), and assuredly, We will preserve it” (15:9).  That is because it is meant to reform and expand its content, in order to fulfill the human needs through a complete guidance, and to confront the speed and revolutionary process of civilization in the world. The Qur’an represents the culminating point of all revelation and offers the final and perfect way to spiritual fulfillment.

Some shortsighted Muslims think (with real conviction) that the aim of Islam is to establish a Khilafah (Islamic State). However, if we attentively observe the Qur’an and the history of the Prophet’s struggle during his mission, we will find out that it was much deeper and broader. And certainly we cannot reach that level without a solid base in the society. The Qur’an clearly explains that the purpose in creating human beings is to make each of them a khalifah (see Qur’an, 2:30), a responsible person, in order to become a faithful person who can be a nucleus for a good and stable society. Only such society will be capable to organize itself in an adequate State. Thus, any faithful Muslim who does his duty correctly, will be considered to have fulfilled his task, even if no Islamic State has been established yet.

We can summarize the aims of the Qur’an as follows:

First

To give knowledge about:

a)   God the Creator, His Names (Attributes) and Deeds. Since human beings were given the advantage to be the master over all creation, then they should know the attributes of their Lord.

b)   the nature of God’s creation in general. The Qur’an often mentions the nature of every kind of creation in the universe.

c)   the creation of human beings and their task. There is a tremendous explanation about this in the Qur’an.

d)   the upcoming of the complete destruction of this world and the fact that God will resurrect all human beings, then give the best rewards to those who deserve it, and punish those who failed to fulfill their tasks correctly because of disdain.

Second

To inspire human beings:

a)   to use their minds correctly. Look how the Qur’an uses this kind of logical terms: “Have they not travelled in the land so that they shall have hearts to understand with, or ears to listen with? As, indeed, it is not their eyes that have become blind – but the hearts that are in the breasts that have become blind!” (22:46).

b)   to purify their inner selves attentively, by many means, such as prayers and different social works to satisfy God’s wish: “Successful indeed he who purifies himself, and glorify the name (= attribute of perfection) of his Lord, and offers prayer” (87:14-15). “Consider the human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be; and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God! Successful indeed will be the one who causes this (self) to grow in purity, and truly lost is he who buries it (in darkness)” (91:7-10).

c)   to strengthen fraternity between people in different areas of life: family, community and society in general.

Third

To introduce excellent conducts, which should be observed by human beings in their dealings with one another: “Indeed, did We send forth Our messengers with all evidence of (this) truth, and through them We bestowed revelation from on high, and (thus gave you) a balance (wherewith to weigh right and wrong), so that human beings might behave with equity” (57:25).

Fourth

To introduce ordinances of the lawful and the unlawful in their life, which they need to take into consideration, individually and as a society.

When most of the society’s members understand the Qur’an’s teachings well and are convinced of the worth of this guidance, and strive to make this message into reality, naturally they will realize the idea of building an Islamic State, not necessarily by the slogan of “khilafah”, but in a similar spirit as the Khilafah at the time of Abubakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali: no dictatorship, no monarchy, no tyranny and no oppression against anyone.

In other words, this Qur’an is revealed for people who use their mind and their insight: “Do they not contemplate the Qur’an? Or is it that there are locks, on (their) hearts?” (47:24).

This Qur’an is revealed for those who are endowed with insight, who seek inspiration from it, and intend to follow the truth. The Qur’an was revealed for people who are deeply desirous of understanding it, “Those who whenever they are reminded of their Lord’s verses (or signs), do not fall on them (as if they are) deaf and blind” (25:73).

Thus, among other things, the Qur’an was revealed to create cadres for a real Islamic society, open-minded people who seek “good in this world and good in the Hereafter” (2:201).