(O Prophet), recite the Book that has been revealed to you and establish Prayer. *77
اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ
*77 The address apparently is directed to the Holy Prophet but, in fact, it
is meant for all the believers. Until
now they were being counselled
patience and reliance on Allah to
brave the extreme trying conditions in
which they found themselves and the
persecutions they were being subjected
to on account of their faith. Now they
are being told to recite the Qur'an
and establish the Salat as a practical
device, for these are the two things
which endow a believer with a strong
character and a wonderful capacity by
which he can not only brave
successfully the most violent storms
of evil and falsehood but can even
subdue them.
But man can acquire this power from
the recitation of the Qur'an and the
Prayer only when he does not remain
content with the mere recital of the
words but also understands well the
Qur'anic teachings and absorbs them in
his soul, and his Prayer does not
remain confined to physical movements
but becomes the very function of his
heart and the motive force for his
morals and character. The desired
quality of the Prayer is being
mentioned by the Qur'an itself in the
next sentence.
: As for its recitation, one should
know that the recitation which does
not reach the heart beyond the throat,
cannot even give than enough power to
remain steadfast to his faith, not to
speak of enabling him to withstand the
furies of unbelief . About such
people, a Hadith says: "They will
recite the Qur'an, but the Qur'an will
not go beyond their throats; they will
leave the Faith just as the arrow
leaves the bow." (Bukhari, Muslim,
Mu'atta`).
As a matter of fact, the recitation
which dces not effect any change in a
man's way of thinking, and his morals
and character, and he goes on doing
what the Qur'an forbids, is not the
recitation of a believer at all. About
such a one the Holy Prophet has said:
;'He who makes lawful what the Qur'an
has declared unlawful, has not
believed in the Qur'an at all."
(Tirmidhi, on the authority of Suhaib
Rumi). Such a recitation dces not
reform and strengthen a maws self and
spirit, but makes him even more
stubborn against Allah and impudent
before his own conscience, and
destroys his character altogether.
For the case of the person who
believes in the Qur'an as a Divine
Book, reads it and comes to know what
his God has enjoined, and then goes on
violating His injunctions, is of the
culprit, who commits a crime not due
to ignorance but after full knowledge
of the law.
The Holy Prophet has elucidated this
point in a brief sentence, thus: "The
Qur'an is a testimony in your favour
as well as against you." (Muslim).
That is, "If you follow the Qur'an
rightly it is a testimony in your
favour. Whenever you are called to
account for your deeds, here or in the
hereafter, you can produce the Qur'an
as a testimony in your defence, saying
that whatever you did was in
accordance with this Book. If what you
did was precisely according to it, no
jurist in the world will be able to
punish you, nor will God in the
Hereafter hold you accountable for it.
: But if this Book has reached you,
and you have read it and found out
what your Lord demands from you, what
He enjoins and what He forbids, and
then you adopt an attitude opposed to
it, then this Book will be a testimony
against you. It will further
strengthen the criminal case against
you in the Court of God. Then it will
in no way be possible for you to
escape the punishment, or receive a
light punishment, by making the excuse
of ignorance. "
.
