The Holy Quran (continued...)

At another place it is said: We have not left out anything from the Book (6:39) . . . . Again it is said: Reciting pure scriptures wherein are lasting commandments (98:3-4 . . . .At another place it is said: Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, thou wouldst certainly have seen it bend down in humility and rent asunder in awe of Allah's majesty. These are illustrations that We set forth for mankind that they may reflect (59:22) . . . . Besides this, large numbers of miracles of external changes are mentioned in the Holy Quran. Miracles of this kind are like ornaments for the beauty of the Quran with which handsome people are bedecked. It is obvious that what is beautiful in itself does not need any ornament though an ornament enhances its beauty to some degree. These miracles that are mentioned in the Holy Quran are of diverse types. One is that through the prayer of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, God Almighty manifested His powerful control over the heavens and split the moon into two pieces. Secondly, the change that God Almighty brought about on earth through the prayers of the Holy Prophet, which appeared in the form of a famine that lasted for seven years, whereby people were so overcome that they ground down bones and swallowed them. Thirdly, the miraculous control that was exercised on the day of the migration of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, to safeguard him against the mischief of the disbelievers. When the disbelievers of Mecca resolved to kill him, God, the Glorious, informed the Holy Prophet of their design and commanded him to migrate from Mecca to Medinah and gave him the good news of his victorious return. It was a Wednesday and the time was midday and the day was very hot, when this trial was manifested by God. In this situation of distress when the Holy Prophet was about to leave suddenly his home town, and his enemies had surrounded his house with the design of killing him, a close relative whose being was compounded of love and faith laid himself down, under the direction of the Holy Prophet, on his bed, covering his face so that the spies of the enemies should not investigate the departure of the Holy Prophet, and deeming the substitute to be the Holy Prophet himself should continue to wait for killing him. After the Holy Prophet had left, leaving his faithful relative in his place, and his enemies discovered his departure, these wicked people pursued him with the intention of killing him somewhere on the way. At that time of distress the Holy Prophet was accompanied only by one sincere and faithful friend. But as ever, and also in the course of that dangerous journey, his Lord was with him, Who had sent this perfect and faithful servant of His into the world for carrying out a grand reform. In order to safeguard this dear servant of His, He exercised wonderful control in many ways which are mentioned briefly in the Holy Quran. One of them was that none of his enemies noticed his departure though it was morning time and his enemies were surrounding his house. As is mentioned in Surah Yaseen, God Almighty put a covering on the eyes of all those wretches and the Holy Prophet slipped away unnoticed. Another extraordinary manifestation that God, the Glorious, exhibited for safeguarding His immaculate Prophet was that, though his enemies arrived outside the cave in which the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was hidden with his companion, they could not see him for God Almighty had sent a pair of pigeons which built a nest the same night at the entrance to the cave and also laid their eggs there and by Divine command a spider also wove its web at the place, whereby the enemies of the Prophet were misled and returned frustrated. Another miracle that occurred was that an opponent of the Holy Prophet who was riding a pony on the way to Medinah, tried to approach the Holy Prophet and through the latter's prayer the hooves of his pony sank into the earth and he fell down, whereupon he asked for forgiveness of the Holy Prophet and turned away. Another miraculous event that occurred was that when being provoked by their failure, his enemies advanced against the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, with a large army so that they might destroy the Muslims, who were small in number, and thus root out Islam, God, the Glorious, created confusion among the enemy forces at Badr in consequence of the Holy Prophet throwing a handful of gravel at his enemies, and thus brought about their defeat. God Almighty caused this handful of gravel to make the enemy leaders blind and confused them and rooted them to the earth and made them fall down dead at the spots which the Holy Prophet had specified in advance. The Holy Quran mentions several other wonderful supports and Divine interventions, the purport of which is how God Almighty raised the Holy Prophet at a time when he was poor and an orphan and alone and helpless and then within a short period, which did not extend to even thirty years, made him victorious over a region and made him supreme over the Byzantine emperor and the kings of Syria and Egypt and the countries between the Tigris and the Euphrates, and spread the Muslim victories within this short period as far as the Oxus river. The Holy Quran had foretold the spread of Islam in these countries. Considering the resourcelessness of the Muslims and their wonderful victories, wise and learned Europeans have testified that there is no other instance in the history of the world of such rapid advance as that of Islam and the Islamic kingdom. It is obvious that that which cannot be matched is in other words miraculous. In short, many external changes of a miraculous nature are mentioned in the Holy Quran. Every part of this holy word announces aloud instances of Divine support [Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 12-19, footnote].

The Holy Quran opens three doors for bestowing the understanding of truth. One is the door of reason. The way of reasoning has been perfectly employed for the recognition of the existence of God and His attributes of Creation and Unity and Power and Compassion and Self-Subsistence. In the course of this reasoning, logic and eloquence and physics and medicine and astronomy and mathematics and philosophy and the method of debate have all been brought into play most appropriately whereby difficult problems have been resolved. This method is extraordinary and is a miracle of reasoning. Great philosophers who invented logic and laid down the rules of philosophy and occupied themselves much with physics and astronomy were not able, on account of the deficiency of their reason, to employ this learning in support of their faith. Nor were they able to correct their own mistakes or to confer any religious benefit upon others. Indeed most of them remained atheists or heretics or weak of faith, and those of them who believed in God Almighty to some degree mixed up error and truth and compounded the impure with the pure and thus went astray. It is thus miraculous that this Divine reasoning commits no mistake and has employed the learnings that we have mentioned for such a high purpose as no human being has attempted. It is enough proof that the statements of the Holy Quran with regard to the existence of the Divine and His attributes of Unity and Creation and other perfect attributes, are so comprehensive that they cannot be exceeded, nor is it possible for any man to put forth a new argument. If anyone doubts this, let him put forward some intellectual reasoning in support of the existence or the Unity or Creativeness or any other Divine attribute, so that we might point out from the Holy Quran the same arguments or even better ones for which we make ourselves responsible. This claim and this praise of the Quran are not mere words, but are true in fact, and no one can put forward an argument in support of the true doctrine which the Holy Quran has not put forward. The Holy Quran at many places claims perfect comprehensiveness for itself . . . .

The second door of Divine understanding which the Holy Quran has opened wide, is intellectual fine points which on account of their extraordinary nature could be called intellectual miracles. They are of many types. First, the knowledge of the insights of the faith, that is to say, all high insights in the matter of faith and all its holy verities and all the fine points of the knowledge of the Divine which are needed in this world for the perfection of the soul are fully set out in the Holy Quran; so also, all the illnesses of the self that incite to sin and its passions and all the remedies and requirements that are needed and all the ways of the purification of the soul and all the signs and characteristics and essentials and high moral qualities are fully dealt with. No one can set forth a verity or Divine point or a way of reaching God or a rare or holy discipline or form of Divine worship which is not mentioned in the Quran. Secondly, there is knowledge of the qualities of the soul and of psychology which is found in such a comprehensive way in this miraculous word that those who reflect can appreciate that this is not the work of any except the All-Powerful. Thirdly, there is the knowledge of the beginning, of the hereafter, and other hidden matters which are an essential part of the word of the Knower of the hidden, which comforts the hearts and proves the knowledge of the hidden possessed by the All-Powerful God. This knowledge is found in such detail and abundance in the Holy Quran that no other book can compare with it in this respect. Besides this, the Holy Quran has pressed into the service of the faith knowledge of other subjects in a miraculous manner. In this respect it has kept in mind logic, and physics, and philosophy, and astronomy, and psychology, and medicine, and mathematics, and the knowledge of composition, and has used them for expounding and explaining the knowledge of the faith, or facilitating its understanding, or for drawing any conclusion from it or repelling the objection of some ignorant person. In short, all these subjects are set out in the Holy Quran for the service of the faith in such an extraordinary manner that every type of intellect can derive benefit from them.

The third door of the understanding of the Divine which the Holy Quran has opened is the door of spiritual blessings which can be called its miracle of effect. Every intelligent person knows that the country of the birth of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was a limited peninsula called Arabia, which was cut off from all other countries. Even a bigoted opponent, who has some knowledge, cannot deny that before the advent of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, the people of this country led a wild and animal existence and were entirely unaware of religion, or faith, or the rights of God, or the rights of man, and that through the centuries they had been steeped in idol worship and other impure notions, and had reached the extremes of debauchery and drinking and gambling and other vices, and did not regard theft or robbery or murder or infanticide or devouring the substance of orphans or trespassing against the rights of others as a sin. In short, every vicious condition and every type of darkness and heedlessness enveloped the hearts of the Arabs. Then, it is also known that the same ignorant and wild and impious people embraced Islam and accepted the Holy Quran and were completely changed. The effectiveness of the Divine word and the companionship of the immaculate Prophet so changed their hearts suddenly within a short time, that after their period of ignorance they were enriched with the insights of faith, and abandoning the love of the world, they were so lost in the love of God that they abandoned their homes and dear ones, and their honour and their comforts for the sake of winning the pleasure of Allah, the Glorious. Both these pictures of their original condition and of the new life, which they acquired after their embracing Islam, are set out so clearly in the Holy Quran that a righteous and goodhearted person's eyes are filled with tears at reading the account. What was it then which pulled them away from one world into another so rapidly? There were two things; one was that that immaculate Prophet was most effective in his holy power such as never was nor will be. Secondly, it was the mighty and wonderful effect of the holy word of the absolutely Powerful, Ever-Living and Self-Subsisting God which pulled a large population out of thousands of darkness into the light. Without doubt this effect of the Holy Quran is miraculous for no one can cite another instance in the world that a book had proved so effective. Who can give proof that another book brought about such a change and such reform as was brought about by the Holy Quran? . . . Hundreds of thousands have the experience that by following the Holy Quran, Divine blessings descend upon the heart and a wonderful relationship is established with the Divine. Divine lights and revelation descend upon the hearts, and insights and fine points issue from mouths. They are bestowed a strong trust and a firm certainty and the delicious love of God which is nurtured by the delight of meeting, is generated in their hearts. If their beings are ground down in the mortar of calamities and are squeezed in powerful presses, their essence would be found only to be the love of God. The world is unaware of them and they are far above and higher than the world. The treatment accorded to them by God is miraculous. It has been proved to them that God exists and that He is One. When they pray to Him, He hears them, and when they call on Him, He responds to them. When they seek refuge with Him, He runs to them. He loves them more than a father. He rains down blessings on their homes. They are recognized by His overt and covert and spiritual and material support. He helps them in every field for they are His and He is theirs. These things are not without proof [Surma Chashm Arya, (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 24-31, footnote].

Some Brahmo Samajists object that if perfect understanding depends upon the Quran, then why did God not publish it in all countries and in all places of population, ancient and modern, and why did He deprive millions of His creatures of His perfect understanding and of true doctrine?

The reply is that this objection derives from short-sightedness . . . . If the light of the sun does not reach certain dark places or if some people shut their eyes like an owl on beholding the sun, would this mean that the sun has not been created by God? If the rain does not fall on some dry land or a saline area does not get the benefit of it, then would it follow that rain is the work of man? To meet such doubts God Almighty has made it clear in the Holy Quran that the guidance of Divine revelation is not meant for every temperament, but is meant for those pure temperaments that possess the quality of righteousness. It is only such people who take advantage of the perfect guidance of revelation and are benefited by it. Divine revelation reaches them in any case. In this context we draw attention to the following verses of the Holy Quran:

I am Allah the All-Knowing. This is the Perfect Book. There is no doubt in it. It is guidance for the righteous, who believe in the unseen, observe prayer, and spend out of whatever We have bestowed upon them; and who believe in that which has been revealed to thee, and in that which was revealed before thee, and have firm faith in that which is yet to come. It is these who are firmly grounded in the guidance that has come from their Lord, and it is these who shall prosper. Those who have disbelieved so that it is the same whether thou warn them or warn them not, will not believe. Allah has set a seal on their hearts and their ears and over their eyes there is a covering. For them there is a great punishment (2:2-8).

And again: He it is who has raised among the unlettered people, and among others from among them who have not yet joined them, a Messenger from among themselves who recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them and fosters their welfare and teaches them the Book and wisdom, though before this they had been in manifest error. He is the Mighty, the Wise. This is Allah's Grace; He bestows it on whom He pleases. Allah is the Master of immense grace (623-5).

One should ponder over the first verse, namely: I am Allah the All-Knowing. This is the Perfect Book. There is no doubt in it. It is guidance for the righteous. It will be observed how nicely and beautifully and succinctly God Almighty has furnished the answer to the objection raised. First reference is made to the Author of the Holy Quran and His Grandeur and Majesty are indicated. It is said: I am Allah the All-Knowing; that is to say, I, Who Am All-Knowing and All-Wise, Whose knowledge is not matched by the knowledge of anyone else, am revealing this Book. Then the greatness of the Holy Quran is referred to and it is said: This is the Perfect Book; that is to say, this is a grand and highgraded Book which derives from Divine knowledge. It is established with regard to it that its source and spring is the Eternal Being of the All-Wise. By referring to it as The Book, God Almighty has indicated that this Book derives from the knowledge of that Being with high attributes, Who is Matchless and Peerless and Whose perfect knowledge and minute mysteries are very far from the limits of human sight.

Then it is said that the body of the Quran is so well reasoned that there is no room left in it for any kind of doubt, meaning that like other books it is not a mere tale or story, but is comprehensive of conclusive arguments and reasoning, and sets forth clear proofs of its objects and purposes, and is in itself a miracle which operates like a sharp sword for the removal of doubts and suspicions, and does not leave the matter of the recognition of God at the conjectural stage of He should be, but carries the matter to the certainty of, He is.

Despite the grandeur of these purposes which are greatly concerned with effect and reform, it proceeds to define the fourth purpose which is its ultimate object, which is the provision of guidance for the righteous. It announces that this Book has been revealed for the guidance of those who, on account of their pure interiors, and sane reason, and firm intelligence, and eagerness for search of truth, and right motives, would, in the end, arrive at a high degree of faith and recognition of God and perfect righteousness. In other words, those about whom God knows that their nature is suited to this guidance and they can make progress in true insights, will in the end be guided by this Book; and this Book would reach them and God would enable them to follow the right path before their death. Thus God Almighty has clearly stated that those who in the knowledge of God are worthy of being guided and possess the quality of righteousness by their nature will surely be guided through the Holy Quran. The succeeding verses set forth the details and pronounce that those who in the knowledge of God are likely to believe will all gradually believe, and only those will be left outside concerning whom God knows that they will not embrace Islam and, whether they are warned or not, they will not believe, or will not arrive at the perfect stage of righteousness and understanding. Thus in these verses God Almighty has made it clear that only those can derive benefit from the guidance of the Quran who are righteous and whose true nature is not overcome by any darkness of their ego. If it is asked what about the salvation of those who have had no access to a revealed Book, the answer is that if they are wholly wild and are deprived of human intelligence, they will not be called to account in any way. They are in the category of the insane. But those who possess some degree of intelligence, will be called to account according to the degree of their intelligence (Braheen Ahmadiyyah, pp. 183-187, footnote II).

The seed of the Unity of God which the Holy Quran has sown in Arabia, Persia, Egypt, Syria, India, China, Afghanistan, Kashmir and other regions, and the manner in which it has rooted out from most places idol worship and the worship of creatures, is a matter which is not matched in any age. As a contrast, when we look at the Vedas, we find that they were not able to reform even Arya Vart itself [Chashma Marifat, (Qadian, Anwar Ahmadiyyah Press, 1908); Now published in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 23., p. 69].

Be alert all the time and do not take a single step contrary to Divine teaching and the guidance of the Quran. I tell you truly that anyone who evades the least one of the 700 commandments of the Quran, shuts upon himself the door of salvation. The ways of true and perfect salvation have been opened by the Quran and all the rest is its reflection. Therefore, study the Quran with care and hold it very dear with a love that you have not for anything else. As God has said to me: All types of good are contained in the Quran. This is wholly true. Those people are to be pitied who prefer anything else to it. The fountain-head of all your prosperity and salvation is the Holy Quran. There is no religious need of yours which is not filled by the Quran. On the Day of Judgment, the Quran will confirm or deny your faith. There is no other book under heaven beside the Quran which can furnish you with salvation. God has been very Beneficent towards you that He has bestowed a Book like the Quran upon you. I tell you truly that if the Book that is recited to you had been recited to the Christians, they would not have perished. If this bounty of guidance which has been bestowed upon you had been bestowed upon the Jews in place of the Torah, some of their sects would not have denied the Judgment. Then value this favour that has been bestowed upon you; it is a very dear favour, it is great wealth. If the Quran had not been revealed the whole world would have been left like a dirty lump of flesh. The Quran is the Book in contrast with which all other guidance amounts to nothing [Kashti Nuh, (Qadian, Ziaul Islam Press, 1902); Now printed in Ruhani Khazain, Vol.19, pp.24].

In addition to all the excellences of composition and wisdom and insight, the Holy Quran possess such a spiritual effect that following it truly a person achieves prosperity and inner light, and expansion of mind, and becomes accepted of God and is addressed by Him. The Holy Quran creates in its follower those lights and hidden graces and provides him with such certain supports that are not found in others. He receives from God that delicious and comforting word in consequence of which he realizes more and more every moment that by the true following of the Holy Quran and true obedience to the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, he has arrived at a stage which is special for those whom God loves, and that he has been bestowed such Divine pleasure and kindnesses, which had been bestowed upon all those of perfect faith who have passed on before him. He perceives not only in words, but as actual fact, a pure spring of all these loves flowing through his heart and observes such a condition of relationship with God in his open breast which he cannot describe in words or by means of any illustration. He observes Divine lights descending like rain upon his soul. Those lights cast their reflection upon him sometimes in the form of the disclosure of hidden matters, sometimes in the form of knowledge and insights, and at other times in the form of high moral qualities. These effects of the Holy Quran have been continuous. Ever since the sun of truth appeared in the world in the blessed person of the Holy Prophet, thousands of people who possessed the capacity and the ability have arrived and continue to arrive at those high stages, by following the Divine word and obeying the Holy Prophet, that we have mentioned above. God Almighty bestows continuously such favours and exaltations on them and manifests such support and bounties for them, that those with clear eyesight recognize that they are accepted of God and that they are under a grand shadow of Divine kindness and enjoy a majestic Divine grace. Observers can see clearly that they are honoured with extraordinary bounties, and are distinguished with wonderful miracles, and that they are scented with the perfume of the love of God, and are invested with the pride of being accepted of God. The light of the All-Powerful so fills their company, their attention, their resolve, their prayer, their eyesight, their moral qualities, their way of living, their pleasure and their anger, their liking and their dislike, and their movement and their rest, and their speech and their silence and their exterior and their interior, as a precious perfume fills a phial of transparent glass. Those things are acquired through the grace of their companionship and their attention and their love, which cannot be acquired through the severest discipline. By entertaining goodwill and good faith for them, faith takes on another aspect and a new strength is gained for the display of good moral qualities, and self-will and inclination towards disobedience begin to decline, and a satisfaction, and a sweetness is gained. According to one's capacity and the degree of one's relationship, faith surges up, and affection and fondness manifest themselves, and delight in the remembrance of God increases. By keeping company with them over a long period, one is brought to confess that in their strength of faith, and their moral conditions, and their cutting off from the world, and their inclination towards God, and in their love of God and kindness towards His creatures, and in their fidelity and steadfastness, they occupy such a high place as has no equal in the world. Sane reason immediately perceives that the shackles and chains which bind other people have been removed from their feet and their minds have been cleansed of the narrowness and constraint through which the minds of other people are constrained and fatigued. They are honoured by the frequency of converse with God and are considered worthy of being continuously addressed. They are considered a means of direction and guidance between God and His eager servants. Their own brightness illumines other hearts. As by the advent of spring there is an upsurge in vegetation, in the same way, by their advent, natural light upsurges in obedient temperaments and every fortunate heart desires to make every effort to bring into manifestation its capacities for good fortune, and to be rid of heedlessness, and to be rescued from the darkness of sinfulness, disobedience, vice, ignorance and unawareness. During their blessed time, there is such spread of light that every believer and seeker after truth, according to the degree of his faith, discovers an expansion and fondness for religiosity without any apparent reason and perceives an increase and strengthening of resolve. In short, from their daily perfume which they acquire through the blessing of perfect obedience every sincere person is benefited according to the degree of his sincerity. It is true, however, that those who are eternally unfortunate, do not partake of it, but advance in rancour and envy and ill fortune and thus fall into hell. This is referred to by God Almighty in the verse: Allah has set a seal on their hearts (2:8) (Braheen Ahmadiyyah, pp. 506-510, sub-footnote).

The bounties that are bestowed upon the followers of the Holy Quran and the special gifts that they receive are not capable of being expressed in words, but some of them are of such great magnitude that it would be proper to mention them in some detail for the guidance of seekers.

Of these are the knowledge and insights which are bestowed on perfect followers. When a person adopts true obedience to the Holy Quran, and commits himself wholly to its commandments, and reflects upon its guidance with perfect love and sincerity, and does not hold back in any respect, then his observation and reflection are bestowed a light, and he is equipped with a delicate sense of reason whereby he is informed of wonderful fine points of Divine knowledge, which are hidden in the -word of God, and fine insights descend upon his heart like heavy rain. These fine insights are given the name of wisdom in the Holy Quran as is said: He grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant good (2:270). This knowledge and understanding, which are called wisdom, being comprehensive of abundant good, are like a vast ocean which is bestowed upon the followers of the Divine word. Their observation and reflection are so blessed that high verities are reflected in their souls, as in a mirror, and perfect truths are disclosed to them. Divine support furnishes them with such means at the time of every research that what they set forth does not remain incomplete or defective and contains no error. So the knowledge and insights and verities and fine points and arguments and proofs that occur to them are so perfect and complete that it is a matter above the ordinary and other people cannot match them. They do not arise of themselves in their minds, but they are guided to them by a hidden understanding and Divine support, and it is through the strength of that understanding that they alight upon the mysteries and lights of the Quran, which cannot be acquired in the smoky light of reason alone. This knowledge and these insights that are bestowed upon them, and the fine points and deep insights relating to the Being and attributes of the Divine and to the life after death which are disclosed to them, are in their nature spiritual which in the estimation of the wise are higher and finer than material wonders. In the estimation of the wise the value and rank of the man of God are determined by these extraordinary gifts. These are the ornaments of their high rank and are the beauty of their countenance. It is a part of human nature that the awe of knowledge and true insights affects it most, and truth and understanding are dearer to it than everything else. If it were supposed that a pious person is granted visions and is given knowledge of hidden matters, and subjects himself to severe disciplines, and many extraordinary things are manifested by him, but that he is ignorant of the knowledge of the Divine so much so that he cannot distinguish between truth and falsehood, and is caught in wrong thinking and incorrect doctrine, and is weak and liable to error in every matter, he would appear as base and contemptible in the estimation of every sane person. A person who smacks of ignorance in the estimation of a wise one, and is disliked by those who hear him utter stupid things, cannot be respected by a wise one and appears contemptible, however pious and devoted he might be. This shows that spiritual wonders, that is to say, knowledge of the Divine and insights, are a necessary characteristic of the man of God and are special conditions for the recognition of the great wonders of the faith. These conditions are bestowed in a complete and perfect manner upon those who follow the Holy Quran to the full. Despite the fact that many of them are not learned and are not well versed in current subjects, they are so much in advance of their contemporaries in fine points and knowledge of the Divine that very often their opponents are surprised on hearing their speeches, or on reading their writings, and are forced to confess that their knowledge and insights belong to another world and bear the colour of Divine support. One proof of this is that if anyone, who is opposed to them, seeks to compare their speeches on subjects relating to the Divine with anyone else's speech, he is forced to confess, provided he is just and honest, that truth resided in their speeches. As the discussion proceeds and becomes deeper many fine arguments emerge which would establish their being in the right, like a bright day. We are ready ourselves to furnish proof of this to every seeker after truth.