How relevant is the Quran to Muslims?

First of all here is Fareed Zakaria with Sam Harris.  The discussion is basically not going anywhere.  I have my views. But it is just an opener.

A few weeks ago I blogged about the religious guy who was shouting and screaming at someone in the audience. It was a seminar on something about Islam. 

I forgot to mention, though you must know by now, that of the five speakers who spoke that day not one of them spoke of the Quran or made reference to anything from the Quran.  The Quran is largely ignored.

A few days ago I was invited to attend a two day seminar at the same institute. I could only attend for part of the first day. I sat through three speakers and again none of the three speakers referred even one sentence from the Quran.

This is always the case. Today is Friday. Listen to the sermon at the mosque. Try to catch exactly how many references they make to the Quran. (Standard mechanical recitation not included).

Many years ago, in a Pakistani discussion group, I ran an informal survey about how many mosques in Pakistan made references to the Quran in their Friday sermons.   The survey ran for more than three weeks. There was feedback and most of them said there was no reference to the Quran in the Friday sermons.

So you now have an excuse to stay awake in the mosque on Friday - listen carefully to the sermon and tell us if they referred the Quran or not. Please be honest. (Again standard mechanical recitation is not included).

The Muslims should begin asking what is the relevance of the Quran in their lives. The Quran says it was delivered at the time of the 'shahru ramadaan'. People say this is the month of the fast. This month (June) is the month of the fast. 

To all my Muslim readers, many masjids will be undertaking a mechanical recitation of the entire Quran in this month (in the terawih).  Few will understand what is being recited. 

Understanding the Quranic message is drowned out by ritualistic performances.  By the end of the month, the rituals are performed to completion but the understanding of the Quran remains incomplete. 

Another year will go by and the people (that is you) still will not know what is being recited.  And you will come back again next year. And it goes on for generations. After 1400 years, the average Muslim (that is you) will not even know how many chapters (surahs) there are in the Quran. The state of the ignorance is quite devastating.

Thank you to the reader who sent this very inspiring message (for me) :

Anonymous said...
 

Syed, you deserve a big thank you for sharing your thoughts and opening up the minds of your readers. Many of your readers have obviously been enlightened by your writings as seen by the sensible, wise and intelligent comments submitted by them nowadays.

There's no doubt you are helping many to get onto the right path of knowledge and enlightenment. Do keep at this ..... for too long you have fought this fight alone, but now it appears many have come onboard on your side. 

It's complete nonsense to say that you have too many supporters because the army of confused, blinkered, misguided, (mis)believers are so huge you'll need all the help you can get to help these misguided people onto the right path.

Thursday, June 18, 2015 11:39:00 AM

This makes my day. Thank you for these kind words.  I like to think that there are others who can see what I am trying to say. I hope there are many more who agree with me.  

It all boils down to minding your own business, do not get involved in your neighbours affairs, do not force your beliefs down other peoples' throats.  Do good, work hard, be honest, be scientific, use logic, be polite, be a non threatening human being. 

Everyone claims that "god" is on their side. Allow me to be a little humble, and a little more precise, I hope Allah is on my side.  And this depends on my own actions.  To discover what Allah has willed (ain-ya-syaa-allah) and to be able to act to fulfil what Allah has willed.

A simple example. Never stand in the way of a rock rolling down a hill. It is acting according to gravity. That is how Allah has "willed" that gravity should behave - to pull things downward.  So if we can figure that out, it is beneficial to us. 

Life is therefore an exciting and perhaps simple journey of figuring out what Allah has already put into His system or His Sunnatullah or the "sunnah of Allah". 

The sunnatullah or the sunnah of Allah never changes. It is very predictable. Hence the scientists can shoot rockets millions of miles into the sky to land on Mars. Because Mars is always at its predetermined spot (sunnatullah) in the sky. 

Surah 33:62  "This is Allah's eternal system, and you will find that Allah's system is unchangeable.

(33:62 Sunnatullaahi fee allatheena khalaw min qablu walan tajida li sunnatillaahitabdeelan)

This is the eternal system that never changes.  That is why the scientists, the engineers, the psychologists, the doctors, the clever businessmen, the great leaders, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk etc can get things done. 

They can understand, they can decipher how things work. They take advantage of what they understand. It has to be scientific. It has to be logical. It has to be doable, it must be 'discoverable", it must be repeatable. 

Why? Because  "walan tajida li sunnatillaahi tabdeelan"  -   "and you will find that Allah's system is unchangeable".  

Bear this in mind. Next time we may understand better why the New Economic Policy has not worked as well. It is all connected folks.