NON MUSLIMS CAN SKIP THIS. BUT THIS IS REALLY SUPER SHORT
I have been writing this Friday Notes from the Quran for sometime now. Muslim readers would have or should have noticed that I do not explain too much of the verses which I reproduce from the Quran.
- Because in truth, that is all that is needed to understand the Quran.
- You just have to read it.
- That is Step 1 and the only step needed.
- You just have to read it.
As Dr Maurice Bucaille said it is best if we read it in Arabic and understand it in Arabic. This is not a very difficult thing to do. A long time ago I took Arabic classes at the university here - certificate level. It does help a lot but of course if you dont practise speaking the arabic then your spoken arabic will be very rusty. N'theless reading the Quran in Arabic and reading it repeatedly does give you a grasp of the Quran in the original Arabic.
And there are translations in almost all languages which are very useful too. My all time favorite is a literal Indonesian translation. So it can sound like this: 'kemudian mereka tidak bertaubat dan mereka tidak, mereka mengambil pelajaran/ingat'
We should read the Quran carefully. Pay attention to details.
For example the Surah Baqarah verse no. 2 says :
ذٰ لِكَ الۡڪِتٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَ ۛۚ ۖ فِيۡهِ ۛۚ هُدًى لِّلۡمُتَّقِيۡنَۙ
which means "That is the Book. There is no doubt in it. A guidance for the muttaqeen" (the reverent, who stay straight).
The yellow highlight : لَا رَيۡبَ ۛۚ ۖ فِيۡهِ ۛۚ means 'There is no doubt in it'.
So the Quran says that "there is no doubt in it".
Plus other verses which say the Quran is majeed (glorious), muneer (enlightening), mubeen (clear), hakeem (wise).
So if someone comes along and says there are doubts in the Quran such a statement is basically challenging or rejecting Surah Baqarah verse no 2 above.
Or other similar statements like the Quran is unclear, its message its incomplete, etc. Such statements basically imply that Baqarah verse 2 is quite incorrect.
- Non-Muslims have no obligations to accept or believe in the Quran.
- They may have their doubts.
- But if Muslims have doubts then how would they deal with verses like Surah Baqarah 2 above?
If readers confine themselves to staying within the pages of the Book, they should stand a better chance of coming to a common understanding about what the Book says.
