AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION

A question raised by a Muslim friend “how to know what to do in life according to the book Quran?” 

Answer: Very often we have to compromise / ignore what we love to do. It is generally perceived that earning for a living is more important than following our inner quest? In such situation we have to force ourselves to fit in the common pattern of work knowing very well that we are not made for that errand?

That's why it is important to understand and follow our inherent script [al-kitab] before “7 years” of age or at the earliest. Earning must be by product of what we love to do the most. We often become tired and dissatisfied with the monotonous way of life. Do what you love the most so that you don’t need a vacation from your job. This is what the message Book Quran in brief - To Create a Life you don’t need a vacation from.

We need to understand the Quranic term salat [the mechanism of connection] with our inherent script or book of Allah [كِتَابَ اللَّهِ]. Unfortunately very early in life we are being brainwashed or compelled to copy / imitate others thus we ignore the clear signs [ayaats] of the al-kitab present in all of us. The result is we lose confidence in our own abilities / potential / script and we simply follow what is taught to us by our society or follow some holy books which we don’t understand. In this case our society or physical guides are our teachers but not Rehman the teacher of the Quran [not a physical book] or the inner Rasul. Thus we become Mushrik / Kafir by ignoring Kitabil-Allah, our revealed expression [Quran] whose teacher is Al-Rehman.

اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ

29:45 -  Follow what was inspired / transmitted to you from the script, and hold / install the mechanism of connection. Indeed the mechanism of connection forbid/prevent concerning the enormous / atrocious deeds and the defiance of Allah, and Allah's remembrance / reminder is greater, and Allah knows what you manufacture / fabricate / imitate.

KHALIQ

Usually the word Khaliq used for a Creator is a Biblical concept use to elucidate one of the character of God. God created man or universe is a distorted version of an original Biblical theme. We are following the same distortion blindly.

Khaliq does not mean One Creator creating man from clay like a potter makes his pots. Then from man's rib women was created. Creating every species by His Own Hands or ordering His Angels to do certain tasks. These all are all fallacious Biblical concepts which got infiltrated in Islam and the translation of the book Quran.

Khaliq actually means Evolver / Giver of akhlaq [character / ethics] - Akhlaq and Khaliq are from same root word. Takhliq is to evolve with ethics and Makhluq is the one who is evolving. We all are makhluq; means we all are evolving with certain ethics. Furthermore we cannot fathom Allah by just concentrating on one attribute of Khaliq...

Without Khaliq we cannot evolve ethically. The Evolving Mechanism is inside us, we just need to activate it. Shaitaan too is inside us, we don't need to go to Mecca and throw stones at the pillar made of concrete and cement. Everything is inside us. The concept that God and Satan are outside forces hinders us in understanding Islam and the book Quran. This is the main reason we search for peace in physical aspects.

Without the process of ethically evolution we cannot meet our Rabb. We have to evolve ourselves through connecting or possessing love for everyone. The concise message of the book Quran is "sab mein Rabb dikhta hai" - God is everywhere - WASIUN - We are inside God and God is inside us. We are not separate from God; He is All Encompassing [Wasiun] -

We ignore various attributes of ALLAH present in the book Quran - We think that the attributes are for counting beads and chanting his names. The author of the book Quran has described Allah / Rabb by mentioning its attributes in different context, more than 5000 times still but we are not aware about the essence of Allah.

If we cannot understand the essence of Allah / Rabb / Rehman / Subhaan... and why these specific attributes are specifically used in different context; my opinion is we must not waste time in discussing the book Quran. This are the basics. If we cannot understand Allah in the context of the book Quran we can never able to understand the message of the book Quran how much ever we make an effort, Its simple.

                        

                                                           ahleaqal.com

MY METHOD TO UNDERSTAND THE BOOK QURAN

HOW I UNDERSTAND THE BOOK QURAN?

We have been following the so called well established meanings of the book Quran since ages but still we yearn to know / understand more about its intrinsic message. The reason is our soul knows we are missing something of great importance therefore we always try to seek knowledge through different ways. We are not satisfied with whatever we know and it is a good sign of being alive. Today the most prominent and the easiest way to seek information / knowledge are through social media. We must unlearn first, very often our inner urge desire to seek validation or confirmation of whatever we already know. Where religion or especially the book Quran is concern nobody wants to become a student, every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to be a Teacher, I am included. When everyone is a teacher or an expert of the book Quran it becomes very difficult for a real student to know what is right.

Please note this write-up is very important for those who are really interested to know the right method to understand the nuances of the book Quran, so please read the article attentively and very carefully. The most important features in the book Quran is to understand its vibrant vocabularies or terms that are specifically composed for the readers to understand the meanings from within the context. The beauty of this book is usually we don’t need to search for the meaning outside the Quran. As the language of the book Quran is very old we need to take extra efforts to extract the contextual meanings of some monumental terms or vocabularies from the different frame of references spread all over its format. The verses of the book Quran are called ayaats in Arabic but the actual meaning of Ayaat is signs. The basic purpose of any sign is to communicate, express, indicate, mark, point or demonstrate instructions to the readers or viewers. Complex signs are open to many interpretations; it cannot be understood only by knowing the language but must have overall comprehension of the subject. Basic knowledge of Arabic is an added advantage but not necessary for the initial student of the book Quran.

The problem is devoted Muslims will never find any fault in the traditional interpretation of the book Quran as they are not ready to unlearn or think out of what they have been taught. For them beating women, giving half share of the property to females, marrying slave girls, keeping 4 wives, considering women as impure at the time of menstruation, treating women like fields, killing non believers are normal as they think it is the commandment of God but such fallacious portrayal of the message of the Quran is more harmful than the ignorance of the message. The message of the book Quran is for the peacefulness of our soul / self but such foolish guidelines will never ever take them to the essence of the real content of the message. The proof of this statement is that we can see the plight of majority of the followers of this book. There are only two options for the followers of this book either leave this book and use their divine brain or search for the logical / rational interpretation of this book but following it blindly has more dangerous consequences.

Following the established meanings crafted by the theologians will take you nowhere; your plight will remain the same. My poor writing skills might not able to prop up the crux of the message which this wonderful book possesses, but I will try my best to explain it in a very concise manner.

To doubt and misunderstand is the first step to understand any information or knowledge, the message of the book Quran is no exception. We all are conditioned from childhood to blindly follow and hold certain beliefs which mold our future perspective. As we grow older our perspective becomes stronger and it becomes the base of our faith. To think outside the self made parameters of faith is considered blasphemy by haloed theologians, an unforgivable sin believed by the “keepers of faith” and the “society” at large. The believers too are very happy living in the holy cocoon weaved by the continuous chain of 1441 year old clerics.  

More than intelligence it needs courage to speak what we feel and think contrary to the beliefs of majority. Unfortunately the society does not like people who ask uncomfortable questions which are against the “standard norms” of thinking. They dislike the research that unsettles their beliefs and cocooned life style; on the contrary they leave no stone unturned to suppress progressive work.

Man is a thinking animal but he is often content or rather satisfied with what he perceives therefore he stops thinking further. But when he start to think it’s obvious that different type of questions would arise in him, why this, why that? How is it? And what it is; doesn’t matter its natural, continue thinking. If you don’t get immediate answers to your questions don’t lose heart keep thinking until you attain the right answers, this will bring peace to your heart, mind and soul. Note there are no wrong questions; just question everything if you really want to understand deeply.

For the beginners to learn Arabic language to understand the book Quran it is not at all important. Just come out of religiosity and study the translation in the language you understand. Try to find faults in the message of existing translations or interpretations, forget for a moment that the book is from God. It is easy to find faults than understand the content. Remove the lenses of faith and belief that you have put on your mind; it is not possible to find fault if your mind is covered with layers of previous indoctrination.

The seeker of knowledge must be ready to digest some bitter facts / truth that come their way while studying the scripture they loved the most. I have seen many ardent fans of the book Quran becoming atheist when they misunderstood the real message of the book Quran. Be careful understand one verse at a time and raise questions on it, don’t be in haste to understand it, have patience, you will only understand when you are ready.

I will show you my way of understanding a single vocabulary of the book Quran by giving one simple example, however the method is tedious unless one has the passion and interest to understand the crux of the message through the text of the Quran itself.

Before undertaking the task to understand this book we must understand the most important term of this book and that term is ALLAH / RABB, without the correct perception of these terms we cannot understand the book Quran. But for the sake of brevity I won’t discuss that topic. Note God does not write books and descend it upon his selected servants, for that we need to understand God and His system of conveyance of message which He conveys through signs [ayaats] or inspiration [wahi]. The term Kitabil Allah is grossly misunderstood as the book Quran.

Majority among us are aware that the meaning of Al-Kitab is book or to be more precise a textbook, this is the most popular interpretation but do the book Quran support this meaning in the given context? When we say Kitab immediately an image of a book with hard cover comes to mind to those who are well versed with Arabic and Urdu language. Let’s see if the book Quran supports this interpretation of Al-Kitab / Kitab as book. We will see its real connotation from the context or from the point of view of how the book Quran describes Al-Kitab / Kitab.

2:2 - ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِيْنَ

It is that script about which there is no doubt guidance for those who are cautious / God conscious / diligent

This verse appears to be a simple translation for normal readers but it is not at all clear for a critical thinking mind. He would wonder which book [Al-Kitab] is this that the author is so emphatically talking about that it contains guidance for those who are cautious or God Conscious; but a conditioned mind would easily come to the conclusion that Al-Kitab simply means the book Quran and what is there to think more about it. Those who are trapped in their beliefs will never question HOW Al-Kitab means the book Quran when they are two different words? The common prattle of so called scholars is that these words interchangeable. No words are interchangeable it has some reason why they are used differently.

The above verse further confidently states that Al-Kitab has guidance for those who take precautions or those are God Conscious [Mutaqi] – A rational mind would ask the conditioned mind how we can get guidance when we don’t understand the Arabic language of the book Quran. We will not touch the topic of Mutaqi as it will make the article lengthier.

Not satisfied with the explanation that Al-Kitab means 114 chapter book in Arabic language a rational mind will try to probe the contextual meaning of Al-Kitab from the various context present within the book Quran. On further investigation one would come across attributes of Al-Kitab from where we can easily understand the essence of the meaning of Al-Kitab without even referring the dictionaries.

My point of contention is that the term Al-Kitab in the context of the Quranic language is not Arabic Quran containing 114 Chapters. Now I will present my case by quoting verses from the book Quran and try to solve the riddle.

1) – 2:2 - ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِيْنَ – this verse says al-kitab has guidance for those who are cautious / aware or have knowledge of God.

The verse speaks the truth but if we infer the meaning of al-kitab as the book Quran, frankly it will not make any sense to a rational mind as it can only provide guidance to those who understand its language and I can confidently say that 100 to 99.99 % of the world population does not understand this book Quran including those who claim to be pious Muslims or scholars.

Majority of the Muslims think that the word Kitab or Al-Kitab mention in the book Quran is 114 chapter book in Arabic language revealed to Prophet Mohammed [PBUH]. This assumption is one of the biggest hindrances in understanding the book Quran. When the book Quran says that "This is the Book about which there is no doubt guidance for those who are conscious of Allah"; the simple readers think that the dhalikal-kitab mention in the verse refers to the Arabic book Quran. The innocent readers don't realize how they can receive guidance from an ancient language whose language now is only use for liturgical purpose and not used in daily conversation. How this book Quran can guide when it is open to so many interpretations and all claiming to be correct? If the message of Al-Kitab is universal it must be in the language of Rehman.

2) – 2:44 - أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَنْـتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ – 

We have been enjoined not to neglect our souls and follow Al-Kitab using our common sense [Aqal] –

Now the question is whether we use our intellect while following / reading the book Quran as the above verse says. Honestly the answer is straight NO, we just copy paste and blindly quote its verses or at the most refer some lexicons to understand the meanings of certain words. Therefore this term Al-Kitab cannot be construed as the book Quran as there no interference of our common sense while following or reading it. The message of the book Quran does not touches the soul but according to the above verse the message of Al-Kitab must reach our souls [nafs] therefore Al-Kitab cannot be inferred as the book Quran.

3) - 2:121 - الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَتْلُونَهُ حَقَّ تِلاَوَتِهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ - Those to whom We have given the script [Al-Kitab] follow it as a fact / reality / duty / right to follow it. They are the ones who continuously feel secure / safe with it. And whoever ignores with it - it is they who are the losers.

The important word يَتْلُونَهُ and تِلاَوَتِهِ does not mean read, recite, study, sing or rehearse - The basic meaning of the word تلو is follow closely without intervention, refer 91:3 for understanding the actual meaning. The above verse is not talking about the book Quran because its language is alien to us but it is instructing us to follow our own inherent script [Al-Kitab] sincerely because it is in our own language - 14: 1- 4

4) - اللّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ – 5:15 / 6:59 / 11:6 / 12:1 / 26:2 / 28:2 / 43:2 – Al-Kitab is clear and Allah is Light – the verse signifies that kitab is light which does not require any other extra light to understand it. The kitab is unambiguous [mobin], we cannot say same thing about the book Quran. To understand the book Quran we require intense knowledge of Arabic language, its lexicons and grammar and it can be subject to misinterpretation or can have more than one interpretation therefore al-Kitab al-Mobin cannot be assumed as the book Quran. If this 114 chapter book is called Al-Quran and its meaning is same as Al-Kitab then the book Quran does not fit into the definition of Kitabi Mobin.

5) – 2:101 / 3:23 / 5:44 /8:75 / 9:36 the term Kitabil Allah do not signify that God writes books or verses and sent them through His angels. For that we need to understand the term Allah. This term is the back bone to understand the message of the book Quran. Ironically we discuss, argue about everything except the term Allah / Rabb; we are not even ready to think about those terms. To explain that it will need another long article.

6) - 2:213 / 2:176 / 3:3 / 4:105 / 5:48 Kitabil Haqq – Book of Facts / truth / reality – Can we called the Quran book of facts or truth, what facts / truth is available for the readers of this book. ARE WE ABLE TO DEDUCE THE FACTS AND TRUTH FROM THE BOOK.

7) - / 3:184 / 22:8 / 35:25 – Al-Kitabil Munir – Enlightening Book

8) - / 10:1/ 31:20 Kitabil Hakim / - Wise Book

9) - 13:39 – Ummul Kitab / - Mother of all Books

10) - 16:64 – you won’t find any disagreement in Al-Kitab – but in the book Quran we find disagreement of understanding between different scholars.

11) - / 17:58 /33:6 / 52:2 Kitabil Masturan – well recorded data base – Al-Kitab is well recorded and you won’t find in it any crookedness 18:1

12)  - 37:117 – Kitabal Mustabina – The book which helps to make things clear –

2:146 - الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقاً مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

Those whom We gave them Al-Kitab they recognize it, as they recognize their own children, and that a group from them hide/conceal the truth while they are knowing.

6:20 - الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمُ الَّذِينَ خَسِرُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ فَهُمْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ

To those whom We brought / ensued them the script [Al-Kitab], they recognized it as they recognized their own natural constitutions / children, those who lost themselves [nafs], so they do not believe.

Do we recognize Al-Kitab as we recognize our own children?

21:10 - لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَابًا فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

We have brought down to you a Script [Kitab], in it is your preserved memory, so do you not reason /understand?

Al-Kitab has your remembrance / memory – Al-Kitab is our inherent memory card in which we are the topic.

39:41 - إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ لِلنَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ فَمَنِ اهْتَدَى فَلِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا وَمَا أَنتَ عَلَيْهِم بِوَكِيلٍ

Verily We have sent down the script upon you with Truth / Facts, for agitated mind. He, then, that receives guidance benefits his own soul: but he that strays injures his own soul. Nor are you set over them along a manager.

Al-Kitab is for our soul / Nafs

40:53 - وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْهُدَى وَأَوْرَثْنَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ الْكِتَابَ

And We had certainly given Moses guidance, and We caused the Bani Israel to inherit the Script [Al-Kitab] –

Why only Bani Israel can inherit or have the book in their genes or blood? Who is Bani Israel, have we ever questioned this?

Please sincerely study the references provided and see if the meaning of Al-Kitab can be inferred as the book Quran. To understand a simple vocabulary of the book Quran we need to collect all the attributes used to describe that word in order to attain the correct comprehensive concept of the word. We are not always lucky to find so much supportive attributes to describe a single word but when some words are important it is properly explained by the many context of the book Quran.

If the book Quran says Kitabil Haqq we cannot ignore Kitabi Mobin or  Kitabal Mustabina or Kitabil Allah or Al-Kitabil Munir and so on… we have study all the aspect of Al-Kitab mention in the Quran. We cannot come to conclusion by just understanding few attributes.

CONCLUSION: After understanding the different qualities / attributes of Al-Kitab from the book Quran a rational open mind can never accept the meaning of Al-Kitab as the 114 chapter book Quran. The word Al-Kitab mention in the book Quran represents our inherent script which speaks to us clearly in our own language and whoever read, understand, study their unique script are enlightened and successful.

WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE BOOK QURAN UNLESS WE DEDUCE THE ESSENCE OF TERM ALLAH AND RABB IN THE SAME WAY AS WE DEDUCTED THE ESSENCE OF AL-KITAB.

Have you have ever pondered? Why in 112:1 قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ Ahad means ONE or Only One and in the same surah 112:4 وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ Ahad means none, anyone…? Is it not bad translation?


IF WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND ALLAH ONE NEEDS TO DEDUCE THE SIGNS [AYAATS] RELATED TO ALLAH / RABB AND MUST UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALL THE ATTRIBUTES, ESPECIALLY WAHID, AHAD, ZAHIR, BATIN, WASI AND OTHERS. 


EVERY SINGLE KEY WORD MUST BE UNDERSTOOD CONTEXTUALLY IF WE REALLY WANT TO DECODE THE SIGNS OF THIS MAGNIFICENT BOOK ON HUMAN THOUGHTS. THE SURVIVAL OF HUMAN EXISTENCE IS BASED ON HIS OWN THOUGHTS.

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"HOLY WARRIORS"

Some believers depend on references from their holy scriptures as if their entire life depends on it. When they argue or discuss some issues their common prattle is, show us the references, where it is written? They are the enemy of deduction [Gabriel] and intelligence [Michael]. They are allergic to overall understanding and common sense. They pick, choose verses or sentences from their respective books or scriptures to validate their opinions or belief of their conditioned mind and are happy to live with it.

Any new idea or concepts which are against their conditioned mind is severely ridiculed and mocked. They are dogmatic, never argue with such people; don’t waste your precious time explaining them your point of view, they are bound to misunderstand you. They are fighting their own battle; they call themselves holy warriors, don’t correct their mistake or they will become your greatest enemy. For them mere text of their respective scriptures is important than its spirit or essence. Wish well for them; hope they soon figure out their mistake.

QURAN RESONATE WITH THE OTHER PHILOSOPHIES OF THE WORLD.

THE MESSAGE OF THE BOOK QURAN RESONATES WITH THE OTHER PHILOSOPHIES OF THE WORLD. 

According to my meagre knowledge the focuses of all the major ancient philosophies [1500 BC – 100 BC] is mainly on awareness or consciousness or development of self, except in the so called Abrahamic religion. The fact is Quran belongs to “Abrahamic religion” but when I understood it deeply to my utter surprise I found it to be one of the greatest proponent of consciousness, awareness or philosophy of know your own self thus resonating with all the great philosophies of the world.

The first human rights charter ever recorded was by Cyrus the Great [600 – 530 BC]. Known today as the Cyrus Cylinder, this ancient record has now been recognized as the world's first charter of human rights [539 BC]. It is translated into all six official languages of the United Nations and its provisions parallel the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So laws or societies are formed by individuals but the pattern keep on changing according to needs and circumstances of the time, however they are not product of 7^th century.

The ancient society was intellectually quite matured, to name some few, it gave us critical thinkers like Pythagoras [570 – 497 BC], Hippocrates [460-370 BC] Father of western medicine, Archimedes [287 BC – 212 BC] Founded the sciences of mechanics and hydro-statics, calculated pi precisely. There are many more who all belong to the period of ancient philosophers and thinkers. These chains of thinkers and philosophers in different fields / levels will continue to remain in every era and it will be the part of our future evolutionary process.

The basic need of all the people is to have good food, clothing and shelter; no ancient or modern scripture will guide you how to fulfill our basic needs or how to build societies for our convenience. Building a good society will always based on the experience of trial and error method. We all understand the basic ethics of living a good life but some follow it and some don’t follow it. We all know that honesty is the best policy, work is worship…but when we make the scriptures the book of morals that exclusively monopolizes certain religion or rituals we skip / ignore its greater message of universality and its instruction to use our intellect, better known as common sense. We only read those scriptures for validation / confirmation of our opinions or beliefs.

The unfortunate thing with all the ancient scriptures is their understanding is hijacked and dictated by the religious mafias or certain school of thoughts. Independent understanding of the scripture is a death call. The wrong perception of the contextual words like Allah, Rabb, Rasul, Nabi, Rajul, Nisa, Ummat, Qaum and Millat forces us to think that the book Quran is about God, Men, Women Society or Community building.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE MUSLIM / MOMIN ?

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE MUSLIM / MOMIN ?

A question: Peace and Harmony is not intrinsically (base instincts) the make-up of the Homo-Sapien species, instead Fear and Survival is.

Until fear and survival are addressed, peace & harmony is a pipe dream.

So how does the Quran address the base instincts of mankind?

Our basic instinct is how to survive and live a long and healthy life. There is no eminent fear for a modern man because he knows how to defend or take care of himself. His only fear is losing his job or failing to earn money and it is a part of his survival instinct. The entire Quran is about man’s desire to have better life but that message we have lost in bad translation.

In short the instructions of Quran are for people who are compassionate, social and merciful [Homosapiens / Insaan]. We cannot complete the definition of human being if we are not helpful to other human beings. To help other human being we need to be capable. We cannot serve tea to other people if our own cup is empty. For that we need to fill our own cup first. The essence of this statement is that first we must become Momin [safe / secure] and Muslim [sound / peaceful], then only we can serve peace, soundness, safety and security to others, otherwise it will be just a pipe dream without any positive result.

The main emphasis of the book Quran is to become safe, secure, sound and peaceful. We cannot become Muslim unless we have sound health, wealth and peaceful mind. We cannot become Momin if we are not safe and secure financially, health wise and mentally. These are the basics which all mankind must know. The message of the book Quran is for thinkers and researchers, how anyone can become a good thinker or researcher if his stomach is empty, his health is weak and mentally he is disturbed. If he cannot take care of himself how is going to take care of others? One who lacks these basics economics cannot become Muslim or Momin. The main criterion to understand the book Quran is to have sound health, mind and is not worried about his survival. The message of the book is for those who are above the situation of survival. I always advice people who want to understand Quran to earn first, pay taxes then only they can become Muslim / Momin a basic eligibility to understand higher sciences.

After we are satisfied / content with our own survival [including our family] we can go to study the nuance of Kalimah Shahdah, Salat, Zakat, Saum and Hajj etc. These are development tools for our further evolution. The eligibility to understand Kalimah Shahdah, Salat, Zakat, Saum and Hajj etc is to become Muslim and Momin first. If we are not sound and secure [Muslim / Momin] all these talks of providing Peace and Harmony to others are futile. Hope I am able to explain.

How to study Dictionaries and Lexicons?

How to study Dictionaries and Lexicons? 

A dictionary is simply a book that contains a list of words and their meanings that are or were commonly in use. A lexicon doesn't define the words. A lexicon in linguistics is the entire inventory or set of language lexemes. A lexeme [concept] is the smallest unit of a language that bears some meaning. In Arabic language the smallest unit is the root word from where the chains of derivatives emerge to form the branches or the family of that root word which contains the essence of root in all of them.

Dictionary is a list of vocabularies that individuals know or use regularly. Dictionary is different from lexicon because vocabulary is about what an individual or group of people uses, in addition to that the vocabularies keeps on growing whereas lexicon is strictly based on the language itself.

A lexicographer or a lexicologist is a compiler or writer of a dictionary; a student of the lexical component of language. Lexicographer compiles information based on etymology or origin of the word. There are many lexicographers having different views on the meanings of single word; that’s the reason why we find range of meanings for a single word. The work of a good lexicographer is to provide an idea or concept or a hint the meaning of the word and it is the job of the student to deduce or pick the correct essence of the word using his/her own power of deduction that connects with the context and makes sense to his/her overall understanding.  

When a translator undertakes the job of translating any book of foreign or old language he has to come across various meanings of a single word. If he does not have the overall idea of the theme of the book his job becomes more difficult. Right themes are the vital key for correct interpretation of any book or message otherwise any amount of grammar or knowledge of linguistic is of no use.

Deducting the correct meaning from the range of meanings needs a lot of common sense, only bookish knowledge is not sufficient. Deduction of the meanings is to derive a logical conclusion based on the context of the subject and not on preconceived assumptions. Translation must be purely done on the merit or on the basis of the context. To deduce the meaning is to figure something out based on the overall information that we already understand. Those who are simple readers may or may not understand the reason of explanation or tafseer of that particular word. Some of them may search in for reference books or lexicons or seek their scholar’s help for the confirmation of their understanding of that particular word but they will never apply their own mind or common sense because they are conditioned not to think independently. Cult mentality is the main enemy of using our own common sense. Such people will always require crutches of reference books and guides as they insist on the exact meaning of what the lexicographer had entered in the lexicon. One must understand lexicographers are humans and they also have their limitations, plus decoding an old language is not at all easy.

How to Use Context to Determine the Meaning of Words:

Often, using the context is the only way to figure out the meaning of the word as it is used in the sentence, passage, or chapter. Sometimes we don’t get a clear idea of the meaning of the word from dictionaries or lexicons alone. We need to have a deep overall understanding of the content we are translating.

One way of looking at ways of interpreting meaning from a text is to think in terms of what is often called context. However, this is a rather woolly term, applied by different people to different things in different disciplines and rather inconsistently at that, so we can further break it down into:

The co-text: the linguistic environment of an unknown item, such as its place in the sentence or the morphemes of which it is composed. What is co-text? An unknown word surrounded by particular words or passage within the text that provides the structure to build the context and helps to determine the meaning of that unknown word in the sense of the context.

The context: what Scott Thornbury calls the “physical and temporal setting” in which discourse occurs and which requires knowledge of its purpose, knowledge of participants and the knowledge of the format of the text whether it is written or spoken or written in theophany style.

As nouns the difference between context and co-text is that context is the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence while co-text is the text that surrounds the node, or word of interest or a key word in the context.

A further way of looking at how this text might be interpreted is to examine different processes which readers employ when they try to comprehend something. The process involves use of linguistic clues present in the text, lexicons and the themes. The process of comprehension also involves using existing schemata (world knowledge) to aid comprehension and treating text as a whole, rather than a series of individual words understood in myopic manner. But for some applying world knowledge to understand the book Quran is a taboo or not acceptable because of the cult mentality or tunnel vision.

The preceding discussion has focused on an example of what’s often called “deducing meaning from context” or “inferring lexical meaning” or other similar appellations. This is a commonly discussed sub skill in the teaching of reading and one you’ll find a few Delta background essays on. It’s also something you can help your learners develop in by working on it in class, showing them how to do it and providing practice in order to help them become more autonomous readers who don’t need to translate every word they don’t know. They are more concerned about the sense and essence of the matter and have the greater tolerance for vagueness. But there are some learners who only read to increase their knowledge of vocabularies. However, when we interpret the meaning of a text, there’s much more going on above the level of the individual word.

For example see how I do translation of Quranic verse - 2:185

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيْ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an [114 chapter book], a guidance for the people / mankind and clear proofs of guidance and criterion – Traditional understanding

Suppose the key words in this sentence is Shahru Ramadan – شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ

The traditional meaning of shahru is month and the meaning of Ramadan is 9^th month of Islamic Calendar.

Yes these meanings are present in Modern Arabic Dictionaries as well as in the classical Arabic Lexicon so what is wrong in it. These are the most popular meanings and established meanings and grammatically also it seems to be okay but does the sentence make sense for a thinking mind?

One may ask what is so special or important in this month that the entire 114 chapter holy book was revealed in it. Why not any other month? Is it not important for a thinking mind to know within the context the connection between the phrase Shahru Ramadan and the book of guidance & criterion meant for the entire mankind? Does it not look absurd that the entire mankind has to learn and understand the book Quran? Do we not need to ponder upon it as this Al-Quran is connected with the entire mankind? This 114 chapter book is in Arabic language then why is it meant to be necessary for the entire mankind? Again does it make sense? Do the people living in African, Indian, Amazon and Australian Jungles need to learn Arabic language in order to understand 114 chapter book? Are we not missing something important and big? Is this not the reason that Muslims want to preach the book Quran to the entire world and convert them to Islam when the truth is they themselves have not understood its core message? Is it not important to know or we can leave the understanding as it is? The explanation of this small sentence in 2:185 can fill an entire book.  

When the reader is not satisfied with the logic behind this verse he will search for alternatives. Here comes the role of lexicons, dictionaries and grammar.

2:185 - شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيْ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ

The root word of شَهْر is – شهر -

The range of meanings of shahr and its derivatives are - made it apparent, conspicuous, manifest, notorious, notable, commonly known or public, celebrated, renowned, notorious, infamous. In modern Arabic shahr in form ii verb signifies he paraded an offender as a public example. This word is also connected with month, new moon. Mashoor مشهور is famous, celebrated, renowned, notorious, famed, eminent – shaheer شهير is renowned, noted, lustrous, prominent – shaurat شهره signifies fame -الاشتهار is the appearance, conspicuousness, manifestness, notable, publicity etc – الاشهران means the drum or the banner – The phrase shahr saifhu - شهر سيفه  also signifies taking out sword from scabbard or he drew his sword and raised it over the people  - There are many more meanings, those who are interested may refer to the lexicons.

Sometimes lexicographers give illustrative examples as clues and hints to understand the essence of the word more clearly but sadly some people take that illustration as literal meaning of that word.

The basic meaning of Shahr and its derivatives is manifestation. The lexicographer illustrated an example to express that drawing the sword from the scabbard to raise the sword to its people is the sign of manifestation. But a much respected translator Dr. Qamarzaman made a grave mistake by deriving the meaning of war and sword from the word shahru. He ignored the Arabic meaning for sword given by the same lexicographer and in the same context as saif [سيف]. Ironically his blind devotees are citing it as one of the lexicon meaning of Shahru [شهر]. I just have pity for such arrogant followers; instead of correcting his mistakes they are ready to criticize or fight with others.

By assuming the meaning of shahr as a situation of war Dr. Qamarzaman not only twisted the meaning but totally change the complexion of peaceful message of the book Quran. War and aggression takes us nowhere even if it is done to establish peace on Earth. Every person has his own version of peace. To impose our version of peace is to seed of hate and division of humanity.

Now understanding the essence of Ramadan:

The root word of رَمَضَانَ is –رمض  

The range of meanings of ramz - رمض and its derivative are -

Almost all the lexicons that I referred agree that the basic meaning of رمض is related to heat, burning a derivative of word رَمَضَانَ – The earth or the ground became vehemently heated = رمضت الارض – our day became intensely hot = رمض يوما – Ramiz رمض - said of a man, he had his feet burnt or affected by heat of the sun – رمضت عينه – his eyes became hot, so that it almost burned – according to TA his inside became vehemently hot due to fasting [Fr, K], hot by reason of intense thirst [Fr, TA] – cultivation of   land [L,TA] – رمضت من الامر = I was distressed and disquiet by the reason of things or affair, I grieved for it – ارتمض signifies he was distressed or disquieted by reason of such a thing – ترميض  [S,A,K] – signifies causing to burnt by heat or giving pain due to tardiness -رمض الغنم – he pastured the sheep or goat on the vehemently heated ground – kindled the fire upon the stones / hot ashes for the purpose of cooking the flesh = رمض اللحم – Making the blade knife or blade sharp by beating it between two smooth stone = رمض الموصى = beat the razor between two stones that it may become thin or sharp – الترمض = heaving of soul or being agitated by the tendency of vomit = غشيان النفس  - رمضة = process of rubbing…

The basic idea of the word ramz - رمض is that it signifies heat, fire, burn, kindle but when I write friction or combustion for the sake of explanation, the so called expert linguists or dumb people will cry Oh from where you got these meanings it is not even mentioned in the list of meanings. They will not understand that friction and combustion are only extended examples meant for explanation and are the part of heat process as rubbing of two stones or sharpening of knives.

Again to justify the meaning of shahru as war like situation Late Dr. Qamarzaman twisted another important word Ramadan by ignoring the basic meaning of رمض – ramz which basically signifies heat, friction, burn, fire and kindle due to some action. But again the illustration given as example of generation of heat due sharpening of the blades between the two stones is taken literally as the meaning of Ramadan that is “sharpening the blade of a sword”. I have not seen such blatant misuse of lexicons to justify the theme of establishing the “Kingdom of God on Earth” commonly known as Nizam e Rabbubiyat.

Now the question is can we not use modern words to describe our current understanding of the book Quran? Do we have to stick to the exact words of ancient lexicographers who compiled classical lexicons roughly between 1066 C.E - 1768 C.E with limited resources at their disposal –

For example if I take the meaning of nazil as down loading then the same linguist experts will accuse me of twisting meanings of the book Quran. Such people who stick to the exact lexicon meanings and are blind to its spirit are harming the message of the book Quran tremendously.

Sometimes lexicographers give illustrative examples as clues and hints to understand the essence of the word more clearly but sadly some people take that illustration as literal meanings.

The actual objective of Ramadan is to sharpen the intellect, give pain to the brain or pass through the tough times. We cannot achieve anything without the touch of abrasion or heat. Kindle or ignition of knowledge occurs due to the tedious process of sharpening of intellect done between the grinding stones of grief and the intense desire to come out of that grief and anxiety. In such situation the Quran is revealed or downloaded to those agitated minds that are ready to receive guidance and criterion.

 Although a good lexicon enter all the possible entries so it is obvious that they will also include the popular meaning of Ramadan رَمَضَانَ that is 9th month of Islamic calendar. It will not make sense if we don't interpret the word Ramadan according to its root meaning. The word Shahru cannot be categorized as month as it is in nominative case; this means it has to show / manifest some state or condition that justifies the downloading of the Quran. No one can achieve the masterpiece of knowledge by just fasting from dawn to dusk or indulging in warfare. Thinking logically and persistently is the only criteria to receive right knowledge, guidance and criterion.

Again for those who have not yet clearly understood the verse; please understand the context and the spirit of how these words are used.

2:185 - شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيْ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ

State of notable manifestation (shahru) is the kindle of knowledge / sharpening the intellect (ramadan), in which the Expression (Al-Quran) is revealed / downloaded, [in it] is the guidance for the agitated minds and clear explanation (bayanati) from the guidance and the Criterion (Al-Furqan).

For further explanation of what is Quran and why it is revealed in Arabic and how it is connected with every human being may read my article on Kitab, Quran & Arabic at –www.ahleaqal.com-

THE WORD RAMADAN

Analyzing the word Ramadan in the context of the book Quran:

Almost all the lexicons that I referred agree that the basic meaning of رمض is related to heat and burning; a derivative of word رَمَضَانَ – The earth or the ground became vehemently heated = رمضت الارض – our day became intensely hot =  رمض يوما – Ramiz رمض - said of a man, he had his feet burnt or affected by heat of the sun – رمضت عينه – his eyes became hot, so that it almost burned – according to TA his inside became vehemently hot due to fasting [Fr, K], hot by reason of intense thirst [Fr, TA] – cultivation of land [L,TA] – رمضت من الامر = I was distressed and disquiet by the reason of things or affair, I grieved for it – ارتمض signifies he was distressed or disquieted by reason of such a thing – ترميض  [S,A,K] – signifies causing to burnt by heat or giving pain due to tardiness -رمض الغنم – he pastured the sheep or goat on the vehemently heated ground – kindled the fire upon the stones / hot ashes for the purpose of cooking the flesh = رمض اللحم – Making the blade knife or blade sharp by beating it between two smooth stone = رمض الموصى = beat the razor between two stones that it may become thin or sharp – الترمض = heaving of soul or being agitated by the tendency of vomit = غشيان النفس  - رمضة = process of rubbing / friction…

Although a good lexicon enter all the possible entries so it is obvious that they will also include the popular meaning of Ramadan رَمَضَانَ that is 9th month of Islamic calendar. It will not make sense if we don't interpret the word Ramadan according to its root meaning. The word Shahru cannot be categorized as month as it is in nominative case; this means it has to show some state, condition or disposition that justifies the downloading of the Quran. No one can achieve the masterpiece of knowledge by just fasting from dawn to dusk. Thinking logically and persistently is the only criteria to receive gradually or avail right knowledge.

But if the common sense prevails upon us anyone can ask the question what a month has to do with the revelation of Al-Quran / Al-Furqan and Hidaya? If we have to understand any word we cannot understand it in isolation; it has to be placed in proper context for comprehensive understanding.

The word Ramadan is actually in accusative case but Arabic Corpus shows it as genitive case only to justify their preconceived concept that Shahru means the month of Ramadan. The actual objective of Ramadan is to sharpen the intellect, give pain to the brain or pass through the tough times. We cannot achieve anything without the touch of abrasion or heat. Kindle or ignition of knowledge occurs due to the tedious process of sharpening of intellect done between the grinding stones of grief and the intense desire to come out of that grief and anxiety. In such situation the Quran is revealed or downloaded to those agitated minds that are ready to witness / experience it.

Those who are stuck up with popular meanings or so called established meanings will never able to understand this as they are deeply attached to the tradition of feasting; fasting, praying and keeping themselves busy for Eid shopping. They will never look for other optional meanings that give more sense to the message, only because they have unflinching faith in their rituals and scholars. No intention to offend anyone. Salam / Peace