The Qur'an is the last scripture that has
been revealed to mankind by the Lord Creator
and Protector. It was through the last
messenger, Muhammad (pbuh), that the world
first heard of it. It certainly the Divine
scripture that is to be accepted by all, up
to the very last man.
The term ‘Qur'an’ has the meanings of ‘the
recitation’, or ‘that which is to be
recited’ and of ‘that which is recited.’
Indeed, the Qur'an itself has employed the
connotation ‘the scripture that is recited’
in connection with this term (13:31). Unlike
the earlier scriptures, the Qur'an is never
a compilation of legal pronouncements or
code of laws (Taurat), or hymns (Zaboor) or
a collection of Gospel of good news (Injeel).
It is highly probable that the Qur'an has
been named as the last scripture because
each one of its words is to be repeatedly
read by thousands upon thousands of its
believers and is to be so etched into their
hearts as to mould their very lives
according to its guidelines. As for the
actual reason, it is the Lord Who sent it
Who knows the answer thereof.
As far as its believers are concerned, the
Qur'an is but the criterion to distinguish
truth from falsehood. They understand that
all that has been commanded therein
constitute the good and all that has been
prohibited therein constitute evil. In fact,
the Qur'an introduces itself as Furqaan
(2:53, 2:185, 3:4, 25:1) which means ‘the
criterion to distinguish between truth and
falsehood.’
The Qur'an also describes itself as Kitab
(book), Dhikr (guidance), Burhaan
(evidence), Shifa (cure), Kayyim (that which
is pure), Muhaymin (that which preserves the
previous scriptures) and the like. Through
these attributes the reader of the Qur'an is
exposed to the clear picture of the morality
enshrined within. What is the meaning of
‘Book of Vedas’? The term Veda is a sanskrit
word which means knowledge, learning etc.
According to the vedic vision, the Vedas
signify Shruthi (or ‘that which is heard’).
It is believed that the contents of the
Vedas comprise the words of the Lord Creator
as heard by the Rishis. The RigVeda states
that the Vedas originate in the Parampurush
(10:90:9). In any event, the term Veda has
been used in India to mean Divine Scripture.
In due course of time, even the followers of
the semitic religions in India have tended
to describe their own religious scriptures
as Vedas.
The term which the Qur'an has employed to
refer to revealed scripture is Al-Kitab
which, in turn, simply means ‘the
Scripture’. The Qur'anic view is that the
religious scripture consists of the
revelations made to the messenger by the
Lord Creator Himself. Divine revelations
have been referred to as Wahy and as far as
a revealed scripture is concerned, it
contains wahy alone. However, it is not
necessary that all Wahy made to all
messengers should find mention in the
scripture. In fact, it is only that portion
of the Wahy which has been received with the
special command for its inception in the
scriptural text, that ultimately finds
expression in it.
The Qur'anic view contends that the primary
purpose of revealed scripture is to unite
mankind. Look at what the Holy Qur'an has to
say: ‘Mankind was one single nation. And
Allah sent Messengers with glad tidings and
warnings; and with them He sent the Book in
truth, to judge between people in matters
wherein they differed.’ (2:213)
It becomes evident from this that religious
scriptures were revealed in order that a
divine ruling, of a final nature, may be
made in the matters in which mankind
differed. Thus, the Qur'an declares that it,
too, was revealed so that mankind may be
freed of the dissensions that were rife
amongst themselves. ‘And We sent down the
Book to thee so that That thou shouldst make
clear to them those things in which they
differ, and that it should be a guide and a
mercy to those who believe.’ (16:64)
In order that the fate of the people of the
book, who had boasted of their own high
status, by which they were ultimately led to
dissension and anarchy, not fall upon its
believers, the Qur'an exhorts them to stick
fast to the last of the scriptures as well
as to its practical manifestation as
enshrined in the life and conduct of the
prophet. "And hold fast, All together, by
the Rope which Allah (stretches out for
you), and be not divided among yourselves."
(3:103) The commentators are unanimous in
their opinion that the ‘rope of Allah’
mentioned here indicates the Qur'an.
In short, therefore, the first and foremost
duty of the Scripture is to lead people unto
the truth and to eliminate, thereby, all
dissension and anarchy.
The Qur'an recognizes all the scriptures
that had been revealed before its own time.
However, the Qur'an does not, in an explicit
fashion, state the total number of all such
revealed scriptures. There is only the
mention of the names of four other
scriptures in the Qur'an. These include the
Taurat which was revealed to the prophet
Moosa (a), the Zaboor which was revealed to
the prophet Dawood (a) the Injeel which was
revealed to the prophet Isa (a) and the
Qur'an itself which was revealed to the
prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Qur'an further
highlights the fact that besides these four
scriptures, other edicts, too, were revealed
by the Lord Creator.
"Say : We believe in Allah and what is
revealed to us and what was revealed to
Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and
the tribes, and what was entrusted to Moses
and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord."
(3:136)
"And this is in the Books of the earliest
(Revelations), The Books of Abraham and
Moses." (87:18,19)
The Qur'an attests the truth of all the
previous scriptures. "It is He Who sent down
to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book,
confirming what went before it; and He sent
down the Torah (Of Moses) and the Gospel (Of
Jesus)." (3:3)
It is the compulsory duty of the Muslim to
believe in all the scriptures that were
revealed by Allah. Indeed, the Qur'an views
the disbelief in the Divine nature of any of
the previous scriptures as a gross
perversion.
"O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His
Messenger, and the scripture which He hath
sent to His Messenger and the Scripture
which He sent to those before (him). Any who
denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His
Messengers, and the Day of Judgment, hath
gone far, far astray." (4:136)
Tauraat is the scripture that was given to
Moosa (a). Similarly, the Zaboor and the
Injeel are the books that were given to
Dawood (a) and Isa (a). The Qur'an
introduces the scriptures as those that were
revealed by the Lord Creator Himself. "It
was We who revealed the Tarah (to Moses):
therein was guidance and light." (5:44)
"And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the
son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had
come before him: We sent him the Gospel:
therein was guidance and light." (5:46)
From this it is abundantly clear that these
scriptures were all in fact, revealed by the
Lord Creator Himself. But this is not the
case with the books of the Bible. They were
all written centuries after the messengers.
Indeed, there is extant not even a single
book in the Bible which can reasonably be
believed to have been revealed to the
messengers. It is the traditional belief of
the Jews that Moses (a), himself, had
written the Pentateuch (Torah); not that it
was revealed by God. However, modern
research indicates that even the traditional
belief that Moses had written the Pentateuch
is, in itself, baseless. It is the opinion
of the scholars that since the death of
Moses, and the events that followed his
death, have been described in the Pentateuch
(Deuteronomy 34:5-10), it can never be that
Moses (a) had written the book himself.
Similar is the case of the Book of Psalms.
In actual fact, there is not in it, a single
Psalm that can be authoritatively said to
have been written by David. In the Gospels,
too, although there is mention, therein, of
the true Gospel of God which Jesus had
actually preached (Mark 1:14,15), there is
no clear picture about this Gospel in the
four accounts in the Bible. As for the
Gospel in the New testament, it was written
at least five decades after Jesus. The
gospels give but vastly differing and
contradictory accounts of the life of Jesus.
It is now clear that none of these was the
true scripture that was revealed to Jesus.
In short, therefore, even though the various
books of the Bible do quote certain ideas
from the Tauraat, the Zaboor and the Injeel,
it cannot be said that they are present in
the Bible in all their fullness and purity.
Messengers have been sent to all communities
among mankind. The Qur'an makes it so
explicitly clear as to leave behind not a
shadow of a doubt, that "there has not gone
by a single nation wherein a warner was not
sent." (35:24) Therefore, as an ancient land
in which had thrived a civilization and a
culture, India, too, must have had been the
destination of the messengers. Further, some
among those messengers must have been the
recipients of scriptures also. It is not for
the Muslim to take any of these messengers
or their scriptures lightly or with
indifference. For the Qur'an has sternly
warned against showing partiality with
respect to the messengers (4:150). The
Qur'an therefore reveres the messengers who
had come to India, as also the scriptures
which were revealed to them.
But can it be said that any of the existing
books on the Shruthi (the vedic
compilations, Brahmanas, Aaranyas,
Upanishads) has been revealed to the
messengers by the Lord Creator? It is
believed that these have been referred to as
Shruthi because they had been heard of from
God Himself.
The concept of Shruthi makes it clear that
it was also the belief of the Hindus that
mankind does, indeed, receive messengers
from God. Even though all the above
mentioned books are all Shruthis in
themselves, the question as to which amongst
them forms the more authoritative text is
one over which there is much difference of
opinion. While Dayanand Saraswathi, the
founder of the Aarya Samaaj, accorded the
status of authority only to the four
compilation of the Vedas, others like Swami
Vivekananda gave prime importance to the
Upanishad.
There were also scholars of Hinduism who
opined that even the most authentic of the
Books of Shruthi can be prone to error. The
stand of Dr. Radhakrishnan that "the Vedas
are neither infallible nor all-encompassing"
(Indian Religions, Page 22) and of Swami
Vivekananda that "To the extent that they
are supported by sound reasoning all
portions of the Vedas are acceptable to me.
However, some portions of the Vedas are, at
first sight, self contradictory"
(Vivekananda Sahitya Sarwaswam vol. 4, Issue
55) will serve in breaking the spear-head of
the claim that the Vedas comprise, in their
totality, the Divine message.
Generally speaking, the Shruthi form the
books which present the actual and existing
beliefs and practices that once prevailed in
India. However, the dim light of the message
of the prophets who were sent to India will
may be seen in them. But the claim that
these are completely Divine is, however,
without foundation.
The theme of the Qur'an is the
salvation of man. As the only
creation capable of independent
action, man is to follow certain
laws for his very survival and
progress. All things in the universe
follow the Divine laws of their own
accord. Indeed, they do not possess
the option of straying from this set
course. In fact, the systemic
functioning of the human body itself
compulsorily follows the Divine
laws. However, man has been granted
freedom of action in certain limited
domains. Even in these spheres he
can attain salvation if, and only
if, he obeys the Divine
commandments.
It is to mankind that the Qur'an
speaks. It is to his salvation that
the Qur'an beckons. It convinces him
of the existence of the Lord Creator
by turning his attention to the
varied and incredible phenomena of
nature. It speaks to him of the
impermanence of the life of this
world and of the utter
meaninglessness of wasting an entire
lifetime in pursuit of the comforts
herein. It makes clear to him the
path which must be followed in order
that he be of that blessed group
which becomes worthy of the entry
into Paradise as of the safety from
the confines of Hell.
It invites his attention to the
history of those who purchased the
punishment of Hell in exchange for
the comforts of this world. It tells
him of those who were granted the
entry into Paradise for having led a
life of purity.
Briefly put, the Qur’an prepares man
for attaining salvation both in this
world and the next through obedience
to the Divine commandments
The Qur'an contains within itself the words
of the Lord Creator. Mankind is the subject
of its exhortation and address. It is not
the discursive style of the other ordinary
books which the Qur'an adopts. The style the
Qur'an does adopt is not merely the
assertive style of scientific books or the
discursive style of the history books or the
expressive style of the books of literature.
However, the Qur'an does accept all of these
styles. The Qur'an does not assert the
required point by elaborating on the
branches and sub-branches of a selected
central topic. The Qur'an’s has not been a
method in which the subject is first
determined on the foundations of which is
then divided the various chapters and
sub-tittles. It is in a very haphazard
manner that a varied assortment of subjects
are dealt within its pages.
It can be safely said that the style of the
Qur'an is one by which it successfully
communicates with those who are being
addressed by it. The Qur'an teaches man the
path of salvation. To that end, it does
employ the lessons of science and history.
Glad tidings as well as stern warnings -
both find their way in between its other
verses. It convinces one of the reward which
is to be had in following the true path and
of the dire consequences that ensue from
going against it. It calls for man’s
recognition of the truth of its message by
way of his casting his eyes over his
surroundings and of employing the faculties
of his intelligence and reasoning. It is in
an entirely mixed form that all of these
injunctions have come together. It is in the
interest of those who are addressed that the
Lord Himself has adopted this style. Indeed,
this style has proved effective in making
its appeal felt within the human society
which consists of both the intellectuals as
well as the ordinary people. To approach the
Qur'an as one would a book of science or
history, without proper appreciation of this
special and particular style, would be to do
little justice to the satisfactory
comprehension of its contents.
The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters. A
chapter is called a Surah. Each chapter has
been given a different name. The first
wordings of certain chapters have been used
to name the chapter itself. Other surahs
derive their name from a particular
reference somewhere in its middle portion.
There are yet other surahs which are named
after the main theme therein. Some other
surahs have names which highlight the basic
issue discussed in them.
There is also much difference in the size of
each surah. Indeed, there are surahs which
vary in length from three small verses to
lengthy surahs which have nearly three
hundred.
Each verse of the surahs is called an aayath.
In the length of the aayaths, too, there
exists much disparity. The aayaths range
from very short ones, which comprise a
combination of a few sounds, to very lengthy
ones indeed. Many aayaths are in themselves
complete words. Then there are other aayaths
which form full sentences only if put
together. Similarly, there are aayaths which
are a combination of complete words. The
structure and length of the aayaths have all
been decided by God Almighty Himself.
