Kitaab Allah (swt); the Book unlike any other book
The Qur’an is unique in its arrangement Allah (swt) revealed,
“And rule between them by that which Allah revealed to you and do not follow their whims, and beware
that they may deviate you away from even some part of what Allah revealed to you.” [TMQ 5:49]
If we look to the books written and compiled by human beings we see they have a certain
structure to them. The information within the books is divided in to separate chapters
covering separate topics. So for example an Economics textbook has chapters on Demand
and Supply, Exchange Rates and Unemployment. The hadith books compiled by Bukhari
and Muslim are also divided in to separate volumes and books. For example the Book of
Prayer, Book of Government and Book of Jihad.
But when we look to the Book of Allah (swt), Kitaab Allah (swt), we see its contents are
organised totally different to the books written by human beings. In the year of the
Prophet’s death, the arrangement of all the surahs and ayaat was completed, and
Jibra’eel (as) came down twice to order the Prophet to read the Qur’an in this order. The
Qur’an contains 114 chapters (surahs). Each surah is divided in to verses (ayaat). The
Qur’an begins with Surat al-Fatiha and ends with Surat an-Nas. The ayaat of Qur’an relate
to many areas and cover many different subject matters. But unlike the books written by
human beings the subjects covered in the Qur’an do not appear in any particular order.
There is no surah devoted solely to salah or another solely to jihad or another on the belief
in Allah (swt).
The subject matters of the ayyaat
In ayyaat 238 to 246 of Surah Baqara Allah revealed ayyaat relating to divorce, fighting,
salah, sadaqa and one of the stories of Bani Israel,
“Guard strictly your habit of prayers especially the middle prayer and stand before Allah in a devout frame
of mind.” [TMQ 2:238]
“For divorced women maintenance should be provided on a reasonable scale. This is a duty on the
righteous.” [TMQ 2:241]
“Then fight in the cause of Allah and know that Allah hears and knows all things.” [TMQ 2:244]
“Who is he that will loan to Allah a beautiful loan which Allah will double unto his credit and multiply
many times? It is Allah that gives (you) want or plenty and to Him shall be your return.” [TMQ 2:245]
“Have you not turned thy vision to the chiefs of the children of Israel after Moses? They said to a Prophet
among them: ‘Appoint for us a king that we may fight in the cause of Allah.’” [TMQ 2:246]
Clearly the Book of Allah (swt) does not separate the ayaat relating to salah, zakah, siyam
and hajj from those relating to Jihad, trading and lashing the fornicator. The ayaat are all
intertwined and the Qur’an is an indivisible whole that cannot be separated.
Selective emphasis upon ayaat
Today we find Muslims very selective on the ayaat they chose to follow or seek knowledge
about. The ayaat relating to the five pillars of Islam are well known and mentioned many
times by the imams in the Friday Khutbas. Many books exist discussing these topics. As
an example Allah (swt) revealed,
“Perform Hajj…” [TMQ 2:196]
So, we will find this year over two million Muslims attending the hajj. Many have saved all
their lives for this act or made months of preparation to secure their visas and
accommodation there. Muslims are very diligent not to do anything that will break their
ihram whilst on hajj. But Allah (swt) also revealed,
“Those who do not rule by whatever Allah has revealed are fasiqoon.” [TMQ 5:47]
However, there is not the same effort and diligence in abiding by this command. No
preparation is made to establish Allah’s (swt) rule on earth and no discussion is made
about it. Does this ayyah have less value than the ayyah commanding us to perform hajj?
The Prophet said, “Ten rewards for each letter recited.”
The meaning of this hadith is 'aam (general) and applies to all ayyaat of the Qur’an. So
clearly the ayyah relating to politics and ruling have no lesser value than those relating to
praying salah. The reciter will get the same reward. In Ramadhan when the whole Qur’an is
recited in tarawih prayers no distinction is made.
When we look to our Muslim countries we find much emphasis on certain ayaat and none
on others. Sudan recently introduced an Islamic law requiring all women to wear khimaar
and jilbaab as ordered by Allah in the Qur’an. But what about all the other ayaat of Qur’an
that are not implemented in Sudan?
When the leaders signed peace with the Jews in Palestine, the late King Hussein began
banning the public displaying and mentioning of ayaat attacking the Jews and calling for
their re-interpretation. This is unacceptable. The Qur’an is an indivisible whole. Allah warned
us very clearly about being selective in following ayaat we like and leaving those we dislike.
Rejecting part of the Book of Allah (swt)
Allah (swt) revealed
“Do you believe in a part of the Book and reject a part? What else, then should be the retribution of those
among you who do this than that they should live in degradation in the present life, and that on the Day of
Resurrection they should be sent to the severest chastisement?” [TMQ 2:85]
This is a characteristic of the Jews, and why Allah cursed them. During the time of the
Prophet the Jews came to the Messenger of Allah and mentioned to him that a
man and women from among them had committed adultery. The Messenger of Allah
asked them, “What do you find in the Torah about stoning?” They said, “We make their
wrong actions known and flog them.” 'Abdullah ibn Salam said, “You have lied! It has
stoning for it, so bring the Torah.” They spread it out and one of them placed his hand over
the verse of stoning. Then he read what was before it and what was after it. 'Abdullah ibn
Salam told him to lift his hand and there was the verse of stoning. They said, “He has
spoken the truth Muhammad. The verse of stoning is in it.” So the Messenger of Allah
gave the order and they were stoned.
Implications for today
The Book of Allah (swt) is a miracle from Allah (swt) and is unlike any other book. It is an
indivisible whole and cannot be separated in to ayaat we like and ayaat we dislike. All must
be accepted and implemented in life, state and society. Separating the ayaat relating to
the systems of Islam like ruling and economics from the ayaat relating to the 'aqeedah and
'ibaadat will lead to Islam becoming a religion with no impact outside the mosques and
homes of the Muslims. This is the situation we find ourselves in today.
If we look to the constitutions of our Muslim countries we always find the article that Islam
is the religion of the State. So we see thousands of mosques and hear the adhaan five
times a day echoing throughout the cities in our lands. But in the articles of the
constitution covering the laws and system implemented we find Republics, democracies,
monarchies and dictatorships. The Prophet mentioned this in a hadith, “The knots of
Islam will be undone one by one until when everyone of them is undone, and the first one to
be undone is the ruling by Kitaab Allah and the last one is the prayer.”
Since the destruction of the Khilafah, the ayaat of Qur’an related to ruling ceased to be
implemented.
muhammed