By Syed Abul Ala Mawdoodi – Journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader, political philosopher, and Islamic thinker
All kinds of praise are for Allah (swt), Who is the Sustainer of the whole Universe. He is the Only One Who has the right to be worshipped and is the All-Seer and All-Knower of everything we do. We praise and glorify Him, as He should be praised and glorified. We send blessings of Allah (swt) to all His noble messengers, especially the last of them, Muhammad (saw). May Allah’s blessings be upon all of them.
This article is based on an abstract from Tafheem-ul-Quran, a Quranic Tafseer (commentary) written by Syed Abul Ala Mawdoodi. He informs us about the first task which needs to be done before we start learning the word of the Supreme Authority (Allah), the Quran.
He writes:
“There are many people in this world who seek guidance from the Holy Quran for various reasons. Keeping this in view, it is quite impossible to give any opinion about it. I am only interested in those who want to learn the Quran and want to know how this book guides the humankind in their overall life. I want to advise such people about learning the teachings of the Quran and trying to solve certain problems which are faced during the whole experience of interacting with it.
Any one, whether or not he believes in the Quran and who really wants to learn its teachings, the very first thing which is required to be done is to free his mind from any sort of resistance which he might face due to already established beliefs, facts or thoughts and then start reading it with an open mind and heart. People who read this book, keeping in their hearts some specific kind of thoughts and beliefs, keep on reading their own thoughts and beliefs in the lines of the Quran. Due to this, the Quran never exposes itself to them. This way of reading is no doubt the wrong way to read any book. Specifically, the Quran does not open its doors to people who have such an attitude towards it.”
We pray to Allah (swt) that He let us open our hearts and minds before we start reading the Quran.
“And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?” (Al-Qamar, 54:22)
Compiled for “Hiba” by Zaki Imtiaz.
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