Amazing facts about the Quran - the usage of 'those who believe' & 'believers'

Alhamdulillah, after studying the Quran for some time, I've picked up a few amazing facts about the Quran that I was never even aware of before. I'd like to share a few of them which are easy enough to understand that even a dummy like me could feel relatively confident to write about.

InshaAllah, this will be the first of a series of posts on this topic. I pray that Allah give me the ability to express my thoughts clearly and give us the proper understanding of His book. And with that, allow me to begin my post properly.

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In the Quran, you will find Muslims being addressed in two ways

الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا (those who believe)

and الْمُؤْمِنُونَ (believers)

If one were to read it casually, it is entirely possible to think that the two are merely two different ways to say the exact same thing. After all, it is common knowledge for an author to use this technique to avoid the text from sounding repetitive. Even we do this all the time just in our assignments.

However, this isn't the case for the Quran. The Quran is hyper sensitive about it's choice of words, sentence structure, and in some cases, even how the words are spelled in each ayaat. With this rule in mind, you'll need to realise that where the Quran is concerned, even though you'd think they mean they same but 'those who believe' and 'believers' aren't interchangeable terms.

So what is the difference between الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا and الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

With 'those who believe', imaan (belief), is used as a verb while with 'believers', imaan is used as a noun. In the Arabic language, a verb is associated with time - a similar concept to the English tenses - whereas a noun is timeless. In other words, you can say that a verb isn't stable in that it changes with time while a noun is something that is concrete and unchanging.

This means that 'those who believe' are people like you and me whose imaan fluctuates all the time Therefore, you will sometimes find some negative commentaries directed towards 'those who believe' in some ayaat. For example :

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ

O you who believe! Why do you say what you do not do (61:2)

The 'believers' on the other hand are the hire echelons of Muslims such as the sahabah whose imaan has matured and became firm. Read through the entire Quran and you will never find anything bad said towards this group. You will find only good things mentioned about the believers. For example in the following ayaat:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ.الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ

Most certainly the believers have already attained success. Those whom in their prayer khushuu' (23: 1-2)

These are only two of the many ayaat where these terms are used. Interestingly, you will find a remarkable consistency throughout the entire Quran with how the two terms are used. Such a consistent style of speech would be an amazing feat even in this day and age where an author can use the computer to make drafts to check and recheck the text for consistency and even the best authors today have editors to help them in this process.

But the Quran wasn't originally revealed as a book. It was revealed in the form of speech without any drafts or editors and was only much later compiled verbatim as a written text. Not to mention that the Quran took almost 23 year to be fully completed. Think about it, most of us can't even be consistent in our speech with what we said in a period of a week, much less in 23 years.

This perfection of the Quran, it's attention to the minutest of details and to remain ever consistent is one example of an evidence to solidify the fact that the Quran can't be the word of a man.

SubhanAllah.

If I had only known you sooner...

I was brought up reciting the Quran since my early years. I can still remember how I loathed that moment when my Quran teacher would come to my house at 6, because that was the time that cartoons would air on TV (namely, Garfield). The Quran to me then was just words to be recited.

And then years later, I went to an Islamic school. I was taught some tafsir of the Quran (among other Islamic knowledge). Then, everything was about memorisation. I memorised a lot and have also forgotten a lot. The Quran to me then was just another subject that I needed to pass.

Then I went to college. I had so much time to do so much things but very, very little was spent on the Quran. Occasionally, seemingly out of whim, I would read its translation (which at the time I thought was tafsir) and then put it back where it was. The Quran to me then was just another book in the locker.

It wasn't until years later that I started to get really acquainted with the Quran. I started to listen to lectures about it, memorised it and read various tafasir books. The Quran to me now, is becoming the dearest thing to me. It lifts me when I'm down, guides me when I'm lost and gives me counsel whenever I'm in need. It shows me how to live my life.

Alhamdullilah - All thanks and praises be to Allah for guiding me to His path. Were it not for His mercy, I would have deviated from Him for sure.

Looking back now, I can't help but to feel regret that I hadn't developed this relationship with the Quran earlier in my life. Alas, what's past is past. However, I will try my best to impart the appreciation of the Quran that I've developed to the future generations so that they will not share the same regret I feel.

This is a responsibility that every muslim carries.

Wallahua'lam.

I like to Move it Move it

My PS3 is alive again!! After 2 months in the fixing bay and RM380 worth of cash flying out of my wallet. But well, at least I don't have to buy another one for the THIRD time.

It so happens that after picking the console up we (the wife and I) ran into a Sony Style and.. er... kind of accidentally picked up the Move.

It was by accident.. really.

Anyways, I've never played any of these motion control game thingies before. I don't own a wii and have never even played it so I was really curious..

The Move set that we bought came with Sports Champions and we bought another Move controller just so that we could play it together. After giving it whirl, I think that it works great! I don't exactly think it's a replacement for the classic controller. While I had fun playing ping pong with the Move, I would never want to use that for games like Uncharted.

Overall though, I think it is a recommendable piece of hardware. It's not exactly cheap, but at RM 180 a piece, it's considerably cheaper than the plastic guitar controller (which most of you who own it may have already stashed in you closets) and will likely have support for more games in the future. The There are however some limitations of the hardware that I think you should consider before picking it up.

1. You'll need some space to play this. A pretty large space at that especially if you're going to play a two player game.
2. Your TV better be big. I guess a 32" will do, but for best results, I'd say 40" above since you'll be playing from about anywhere between 2-3 meters the screen.
3. It doesn't work well in a brightly lit room. Your movements with the Move is captured by a camera. When it's too bright, the camera won't be able to recognise the color of the ping pong ball at the tip of the Move controller. Also, playing in a dark, preferably closed private room also works better for you because people won't be able to see you flailing your arm around like a madman.
4. As I've said in the last one, it WILL make others look at you weird.

Other than that, it's all good. It's also a great way to get people who aren't even into gaming interested in trying. My nephews absolutely loved it. I even I got my mum to try it, and she has never touched a game before! So I say, buy it, if not for you then at least for your family.

Psst, Sony, shouldn't you at least be paying me some for this ad? :p

A reminder for all Muslims

The following are taken from a lecture from Surah Baqarah of ayahs 76-80. I transcribed them and edited the text to make it flow better as a written text. They aren't my own commentaries as I am not yet qualified to make remarks of my own in this subject matter. You can listen to the complete audio recording here, something I can't recommend enough. Please, spare some time to listen to the rest of the ayah because we owe it to ourselves as Muslims to learn Book.

I chose this one ayah (ayah number 78) to share with you because it contains a profound lesson that we need to know of. It also indicates a very huge problem that the we, the Muslims of today are marching forward into. May this knowledge help us in becoming better Muslims and may we be able to remind others with this knowledge inshaAllah.

And even out of them (Bani Israel), there are people who are 'ummiyyun', who don't know their Book (the Torah) except for 'amaniy' and they do nothing but make assumptions.

Now, lets analyse this ayah in three parts:

1. And even out of them (Bani Israel), there are people who are 'ummiyyun'

2. who don't know their Book (the Torah) except for 'amaniy'

3. and they do nothing but make assumptions

1. And even out of them (Bani Israel), there are people who are 'ummiyyun'

'Ummiy' means two things - someone who is incapable of reading or writing. In modern times it is translated as 'unlettered'. It comes from the word 'um' which means mother. Meaning they are as illiterate as they were when they came out of their mother. But the Israelites do know how to read. So why are they being labelled as unlettered?

2. who don't know their Book (the Torah) except for 'amaniy'

'Amaniy' means wishful thoughts. In other words, instead of knowing what it is, you just think you know what it is. Allah is saying, they don't know their Book at all except what they think they know what it is. They can read their Book but they can't understand what they read, so they might as well be called as unlettered.

This is a very serious ayah about the crime of Bani Israel against their Book.

Now let's stop to think about this for a bit as far as our own selves and our own ummah is concerned. How many of us think we know what the Quran says as opposed to actually knowing what it says?

Next, Allah says:

3. and they do nothing but make assumptions.

This is yet another crime the Israelite committed against their Book as a result of their wishful thinking. What this is teaching us is that our ummah better not make assumptions about Allah's Book - You and I better not make assumptions about what Allah expects us to do and what He expects us not to do. We better not make make out own assumptions as Allah has already given the Book detailing what Allah Himself wants us to do.

The second thing that we should really be aware of is the interpretation of the Sahabah regarding this ayah which is very shocking and scary as far as we should be concerned.

Now, the central crime that the Isralites commited against their Book is with the word 'amaniy'.

According to an explanation by Ibn Abbas, 'amaniy' in this ayah means tilawah (recitation). They (Bani Israel) know their Book only by reciting it and memorising it without understanding it.

This means that they did have a relationship with their Book but their relationship with their Book is just two things; they recite it and memorised some parts of it, but the most crucial aspect of reading - comprehension - is absent.

This is a description of Bani Israel. Now think about this. Think about our own ummah. Think about ourselves. The vast majority of the Muslims today can be described as people who read the book, maybe even memorise some parts of the book, but has no idea what it says.

*personal note: in Malaysia especially, isn't it true that when we think 'mengaji Quran', what immediately pops in our head is recitation?*

Again, this is Allah describing Bani Israel but look who else the description fits! Isn't it a scary thought?

*So, there are at least 2 lessons that I gathered from this lecture:

1. Do not make assumption on the contents of the Quran. Don't even say "I think this ayah means this that or the other", we're just putting ourselves in dangerous waters.
2. The second lesson is the most crucial. For our own sake, we really need to start being 'students' of the Quran. It is a must for all of us - not just the scholars or the sheikhs or the ustadz - to really learn the Quran. We also need to realise that learning the Quran means 3 things - recitation, memorisation and understanding it.

I hope this piece of reminder has been useful and will inshaAllah lead us to take actions so that we will be able to avoid ourselves from being in the same category as the people described in this ayah. Do remind your family and friends of this lesson and lets pray that Allah not make us among those who are described in this ayah.

Everything that is good comes from Allah, and any flaws is from my own weaknesses.

Wallahua'lam.

The three individuals that changed my life

Up until the last Ramadhan, I was probably your average Muslim of the 21th century. I pray 5 times a day, fast for a month every year, try my best not to lie, yet as I came to find out just recently, I was probably not even at the rank of average - I was a weak believer.

Alhamdulillah, Allah has guided on the path towards him once again. And here I would like to share with you my story.

Now, Allah's Mercy and Hidayah may manifest in different ways. For me, it was 3 individuals who have changed my life forever.

To be perfectly honest with you, I wasn't at all one to open up youtube in search of religious lectures. However during the last Ramadhan, I was somehow compelled to view this video on the sidebar entitled 'How the bible led me to Islam' by a brother Joshua Evans. The gist of it is, brother Joshua was a devout Methodist, a youth minister even, who, after a series of events found Islam at the age of 17. Not only did he just learn the basics of Islam, he even went as far as becoming a Da'ie (one who calls towards Islam).

Brother Joshua and said video

After I watched the video, I was absolutely ashamed of myself. There I was, a Muslim for 24 years - since birth! Yet I had nowhere near the level of conviction that brother Joshua had. This propelled me into doing a lot of study about Islam and I did a lot of comparative religion study by myself.

I also watched more videos from brother Joshua when I eventually stumbled onto a Da'wah show from the States - the Deen Show (now available on ch al-hijrah, at 11 every Saturday). The host of the show, brother Eddie is a very interesting person. He has never said much about his own past, but he himself wasn't a Muslim to begin with. This man of Romanian descent used to live a shady past until he became a Muslim and left it all behind. Brother Eddie has been described by a person (who I will later reveal) as a 'Da'wah machine'. Literally, he would approach just anybody on the street and inform them about Islam. Subhanallah, that is the extent of change in character Islam bring out of a person.

Brother Eddie, Da'wah machine and MMA instructor

Brother Eddie's show features a guest speaker every week giving talks about Islam. Through the show, I learnt not only much about Islam but also of great speakers. I came to know of Sheikh Kamal Al-Mekki, Professor Jerald Dirks, Abdur Rahim Green, Imam Suhaib Webb, just to name a few. But of all the speakers, one of them got me truly captivated. Nouman Ali Khan.

Brother Nouman's speeches are almost always about the Quran. MashaAllah (what Allah wills), the way he explains the Quran is like none other I have been exposed to and it really touched my heart at its core. I began searching more videos of brother Nouman and later found Bayyinah.com, the website of his own Institute for Quranic studies. I must have listened to his lectures on the Quran's contents for hundreds of hours - repeatedly! - and still I couldn't get enough of it! The Quran is truly magnificent. It is through his lectures that I came to the realization that I must memorize the Quran for myself.

Brother Nouman in another one of his amazing lectures

May Allah reward these brothers for all their effort in spreading and explaining to the world and especially to me about Islam. However, I acknowledge that it is only through the Mercy of Allah that I was given the opportunity to find these brothers. If not for Him, I would not have been where I stand today - more convinced of Islam as the ultimate truth than I ever was in all my 24 years of life combined. For that, I have no words to express my appreciation other than Alhamdulillah.