At last the Lord of the Universe sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) to Arabia and entrusted him with the same mission that He had entrusted to the earlier Prophets. This Last Messenger of Allah addressed the followers of the earlier Prophets (who had by this time deviated from their original teachings) as well as the rest of humanity. The mission of each Prophet was to call men to the right way of life, to communicate Allah's true guidance afresh and to organise into one community all who responded to his mission and accepted the guidance vouchsafed to him. Such a community was to be dedicated to the two-fold task of moulding its own life in accordance with the Allah's guidance and striving for the reform of the world. The Qur'an is the Book which embodies this mission and guidance, as revealed by Allah to Muhammad (peace be upon him).
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If we remember these basic facts about the Qur'an it becomes easy to grasp its true subject, its central theme and the objective it seeks to achieve. Insofar as it seeks to explain the ultimate causes of man's success or failure the subject of the Book is MAN.
Its central theme is that concepts relating to Allah, the universe and man which have emanated from man's own limited knowledge run counter to reality. The same applies to concepts which have been either woven by man's intellectual fancies or which have evolved through man's obsession with animal desires. The ways of life which rest on these false foundations are both contrary to reality and ruinous for man. The essence of true knowledge is that which Allah revealed to man when He appointed him as His Vicegerent. Hence, the way of life which is in accordance with reality and conductive to human good is that which we have characterised above as 'the right way'. The real object of the Book is to call people to this 'right way' and to illuminate Allah's true guidance, which has often been lost either through man's negligence and heedlessness or distorted by his wicked perversity.
If we study the Qur'an with these facts in mind it is bound to strike us that the Qur'an does not deviate one iota from its main subject, its central theme and its basic objective. All the various themes occuring in the Qur'an are related to the central theme; just as beads of different colour may be strung together to form a necklace. The Qur'an speaks of the structure of the heavens and the earth and of man, refers to the signs of reality in the various phenomena of the universe, relates anecdotes of bygone nations, criticizes the beleifs, morals and deeds of different people, elucidates supernatural truths and discusses many other things besides. All this the Qur'an does, not in order to provide instruction in physics, history, philosophy or any other particular branch of knowledge, but rather to remove the misconceptions people have about reality and to make that reality manifest them.
It emphasizes that the various ways men follow, which are not in conformity with reality, are essentially false, and full of harmful consequences for mankind. It calls on men to shun all such ways and to follow instead the way which both conforms to reality and yeilds best practical results. This is why the Qur'an mentions everything only to the extent and in the manner necessary for the purposes it seeks to serve. The Qur'an confines itself to essentials thereby omitting any irrelevant details. Thus, all its contents consistently revolve around this call.
Likewise, it is not possible fully to appreciate either the style of Qur'an, the order underlying the arrangement of its verses or the diversity of the subjects treated in it, without fuly understanding the manner in which it was revealed.
The Qur'an, as we have noted earlier, is not a book in the conventional sense of the term. Allah did not compose and entrust it in one peice to Muhammad (peace be upon him) so that he could spread its message and call people to adopt an attitude to life consonent with its teachings. Nor is the Qur'an one of those books which discusses their subjects and main themes in the conventional manner. Its arrangement differs from that of ordinary books, and its style is correspondingly different. The nature of this Book is that Allah chose a man in Makkah to serve as His Messenger and asked him to preach His message, starting in its own city (Makkah) and with his own tribe (Quraysh). At this initial stage, instructions were confined to what was necessary at this particular juncture of the mission. Three themes in particular stand out:
Directives were given to the Prophet (peace be upon him) on how he should prepare for his great mission and how he should begin working for the fulfilment of his task. A fundamental knowledge of reality was furnished and misconceptions commonly held by people in tat regard - misconceptions which gave rise to wrong orientation in life - were removed. People were exhorted to adopt the right attitude towards life. Moreover, the Qur'an also elucidated those fundamental principles which, if followed, lead to man's success and happiness.
In keeping with the character of the mission at this stage the early revelations generally consisted of short verses, couched in language of uncommon grace and power, and clothed in a literary style suited to the taste and the temperament of the people to whom they were originally addressed, and whose hearts they were meant to penetrate. The rhythm, melody and vitality of these verses drew rapt attention, as such was their stylistic grace and charm that people began to recite them involuntarily.
The local colour of these early messages in conspicuous, for while the truth s they contained were universa, the arguments and illustrations used to elucidate them were drawn from the immediate environment familiar to the first listeners. Allusions were made to their history and traditions and to the visible traces of the past which had crept into the beleifs, and into the moral and social life of Arabia. All this was calculated to enhance the appeal the message held for its immediate audience. This early stage lasted for four or five years, during which period the following reactions to the Prophet's message manifested themselves:
A few people responded to the call and agreed to join the ummah (comminity) committed, of its own volition, to submit to the Will of Allah.
Many people reacted with hostility, either from ignorance or egotism, or because of chauvinistic attachment to the way of life of their forefathers.
The call of the Prophet, however, did not remain confined to Makkah or the Quraysh. It began to meet with favourable response beyond the borders of that city and among other tribes.
The next stage of the mission was marked by hard, vigourous struggle between the Islamic movement and the age old Ignorance ( Jahiliyah - The author uses the term Jahiliyah to denote all those world-views and ways of life which are based on the rejection or disregard of the heveanly guidance which is communicated to mankind through the Prophets and Messengers of Allah; the attitude of treating human life - either wholly or partally - as independent of the directives revealed by Allah. For this see the writings of the author, especially 'Islam and Ignorance',(Lahore, 1976), and 'A short History of Revivalist Movements in Islam', tr. al-Ashari , III edition, Lahore, 1976 -Ed) of Arabia. Not only were the makkans and the Quraysh bent upon pereserving their inherited way of life, they were also firmly resolved to suppress the new movement by force. They stopped at nothing in the pursuit of this objective. They resorted to false propangada; they spread doubt and suspicion and used subtle, malicious insinuations to sow distrust in people's minds. They tried to prevent people from listening to the message of the Prophet. They perpeterated savage cruelties on those who emberaced Islam. They subjected them to economic and social bycott, and persecuted them to such an extent that on two occasions a number of them were forced to leave home and emigerate to Abyssinia, and finally they had to emigerate en masse to Madina.
In spite of this strong and growing resistance and opposition, the Islamic movement continued to spread. There was hardly a family left in Makkah one of whose members at least had not emberaced Islam. Indeed, the violence and bitterness of the enemies of Islam was due to the fact that their own kith and kin - brothers, nephews, sons, daughters, sisters, brother-in-law and so on - had not only emberaced Islam, but were even ready to sacrifice their lives for its sake. Their resistance, therefore, brought them into conflict with their own nearest and dearest. Moreover, those who had forsaken the age old Ignorance of Arabia included many who were outstanding members of their Society. After emberacing Islam, they became so remarkable for their moral uprightness, their veracity and their purity of character that the world could hardly fail to notice the superiority of the message which was attracting people of such qualities.
During the Prophet's long and arduous struggle Allah continued to inspire him with revelations possesing at once the smooth, natural flow of a river, the violent force of a flood and the overpowering effect of a fierce fire. These messages instructed the beleivers in their basic duties, inculcated in them a sense of communicity and belonging, exhorted them to piety, moral excellence and puritgy of character, taught them how to preach the true faith, sustained their spirit by promises of success and Paradise in the Hereafter, arouse them to struggle in the cause of Allah with patience, fortitude and high spirits, and filled their hearts with such zeal and enthusiasm that they were prepared to endure every sacrifice, brave every hardship and face every adversity.
At the same time, those either bent on opposition, or who had deviated from the right way, or who had immersed themselves in frivolity and wickedness, were warned by having their attentions called to the tragic ends of nations with whose fates they were familiar. They were asked to draw lessons from the ruins of those localities through which they passed every day in the course of their wanderings. Evidence for the unity of Allah and for the existance of After-life was pointed to in signs visible to their own eyes and withen the range of their ordinary experiance. The weaknesses inherent in polythesism, the vanity of man's ambition to become independent even of Allah, the folly of denying the After-life, the perversity of blind adherence to the ways of one's ancestors regardless of right or wrong, were all fuly elucidated with the help of arguments cogent enough to penetrate the minds and hearts of audience.
Moreover, every misgiving was removed, a reasonable answer was provided to every objection, all confusion and perplexity was cleared up, and Ignorance was beseiged from all sides till its irrationality was totally exposed. Along with all this went the warning of the wrath of Allah. The people were reminded of the horrors of the Doomsday and the tormenting punishment of the Hell. They were also censured for their moral corruption, for their erroneous ways of life, for their clinging to the ways of Ignorance, for their opposition to Truth and their persecution of the beleivers. Furthermore, these messages enunciated those fundamental principles of morality nd collective life on which all sound and healthy civilizations enjoying Allah's approval had always rested.
This stage was unfolded in several phases. In each phase, the preaching of the message assumed ever wider proportions, as the struggle fort he cause of Islam and opposition to it became increasingly intense and severe, and as the beleivers encountered people of varying outlooks and beleifs. All these factors had the effect of increasing the variety of the topics in the messages revealed during this period. Such, in brief, was the situation forming the background to the Makkan surahs of the Qur'an.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------TO be continued inshaa ALLAH---------
For thirteen years the Islamic movement strive in Makkah. It then obtained, in Madina, a haven of refuge in which to concentrate its followers and its strength. The Prophet's movement now centred in its third stage.
During this stage, circumstances changed drastically. The Muslim Community succeeded in establishing a fully-fledged state; its creation was followed by prolonged armed conflict with the representatives of the ancient Ignorance of Arabia. The community also encountered followers of the former Prophets, i.e. Jews and Christians. An additional problem was that hypocrites began to join the fold of Muslim community; their machinations needed to be resisted. After a severe struggle, lasting ten years, the Islamic movement reached a high point of acheivement when the entire Arabian peninsula came under its sway and the door was open to the world-wide preaching and reform. This stage, like the preceding one, passed through various phases each of which had its peculiar problems and demands
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