Seventh Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1443 A.H.
I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Praise is to Allah, the Lord of Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, He is the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth; and that Muhammad, our master, is His servant, messenger, and last prophet.
O Allah, confer Your Salat (prayers) and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad just as You conferred Your Salat (prayers) and blessings upon Ebrahim and the Family of Ebrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahedeen.
Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you, as well as the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
O Allah, guide us and grant us acceptance, for You are the All-Hearing and the All-knowing; accept our repentance, for You are the Most Relenting and the Most Merciful.
Among the aspects highlighted in Surat --- of the Holy Quran is the obligatory ritual of fasting and the selection of Ramadan for performing that ritual as one of the pillars of Islam and main obligatory task: Allah says, {'Ramaḍân is the month in which the Quran was revealed as guidance for mankind and as clear proofs of guidance and criterion'}[ Al-Baqarah 2:185]. So, the month of Ramadan is the month when the Holy Quran was first revealed to Last Messenger Mohammad (PBUH&F), and how knows it might be the month that saw the beginning of the mission of delivering the Message to people, even though some say it was the month of Rajab. However, it is surprising that those who consider Rajab to be the month of the mission are saying that the Quran started to be revealed at the beginning of the mission (even as early as the first meeting Surat Iqra [Al-'Alaq] was revealed), but that doesn’t make sense because it is agreed upon that the Holy Quran was first revealed in the month Ramadan on the Night of Qadr: Allah (Glory be to Him says), {' We have sent it [the Qur'an] down in the Night of Qadr'}[ Al-Qadr 97:1]. Therefore, if the mission was directly accompanied with revealing the Quran, it must be the holy month of Ramadan that saw the beginning of the mission. There are also some narrations from Imam Ali (PBUH) supporting this. In any case, there is no doubt that if the revelation of the Holy Quran coincided with the beginning of the mission with the Message, the mission definitely started in the blessed month of Ramadan.
The Holy Quran was sent down in the month of Ramadan, and Allah prescribed for us to fast this month and revealed to us the practical purpose or the main practical fruit [of this obligation], which is Taqwa: {'so you may become Muttaqin [mindful of Allah]'}[Al-Baqara 2:183]. Therefore, there is no doubt about the integral relationship between obtaining Taqwa [piety] and benefiting from the guidance of the Holy Quran, because one of the first requirements of Taqwa is to obtain guidance in order to know what to do and what represents protection for us if we do it or adhere to it (actions, words, attitudes, and positions), and what can provide us with guidance that helps us purify ourselves. That is because one of the requirements of Taqwa is self-purification: We need to purify ourselves in order to be mindful of Allah (Glory be to Him).
Then when we come to the practical side, the practical side can't be fulfilled without guidance, without instruction, and without knowledge. Indeed, the person needs to know what to do in order to do, what to avoid in order to avoid, what to guard against and keep away from, and what can reflect badly on him/her or lead to serious consequences. That is why Allah (Glory be to Him) says regarding Taqwa and Muttaqin in their relationship with the Holy Quran, {' This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for Muttaqin [those mindful of Allah'} [Al-Baqarah 2:2], and He also says about them after introducing those characteristics mentioned at the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah,{' Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and those are the successful'}[Al-Baqarah 2:2]. A key requirement for Taqwa is to follow the guidance of the Holy Quran and act according to it. This is how Taqwa is obtained: through the practical commitment to Allah's guidance in the Holy Quran and through the great educational impact of the Holy Quran in purifying the human soul. Indeed, it helps it to display adherence and makes it ready for paying effort, and it also has an educational impact that goes in harmony with the [obligation of] fasting when it comes to encouraging the human soul to be patient and endurable and to providing a great faith-based motive for the person to walk in the right path body and soul with due care and a deep sense of responsibility. In addition, it also connects the person with Allah (Glory be to Him) in a way that grants him/her help and success from Allah. So, all these issues should be taken into consideration: their importance, harmony, and the integral relationship between fasting and the Holy Quran.
The way Allah (Glory be to Him) has adopted to guide His servants is to send messengers with books from Him. It a typical way (to provide guidance for human society) that goes all the way back to the beginning of the existence of humanity, to Adam (Peace be upon him). Allah guided him, and that guidance was provided to him as soon as his succession begun on the earth. And this continued to be the case until the coming of the Seal of the Prophets. He continued to send prophets with holy books until the coming of the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (PBUH&F), who was sent with the Message to the worlds as a mercy to the worlds and accompanied with the Great Quran that was revealed to him.
The Holy Quran is a great blessing that Allah has bestowed upon us. The blessing of guidance through the Messenger and the Book is the greatest of all blessings, and it is the key to all blessings: Without it, all blessings turn into a curse, into a means for acquiring sins and evil deeds, for committing injustice against ourselves and against human society, for inflicting misery, for spreading corruption on the earth, and for leading an evil life. People are in need of an approach drawn for them to follow in in dealing with Allah's blessings, and of a good path presented to them to show them how they should carry out their responsibility on the earth, a path that combines between the divine principles and values and the noble humanitarian principles that are in harmony with human dignity. If people deviate from that [path] or don’t obtain that and get this connection (this guidance), then his deviation will be a cause of their misery and a reason for their misbehavior and rejection of Allah's blessings as well as inflicting injustice upon themselves.
The Holy Quran is a great blessing from Allah and is the main miracle of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH&F). What makes this blessing even greater is the fact that Allah has preserved the Quranic text for all subsequent generations coming after the era and time of the Messenger’s mission (PBUH&F). After the death of the Messenger (PBUH&F), if Allah hadn't preserved the Quranic text through a great divine miracle, that would have led to a very serious issue: the distortion of the Quranic text. That is because the issue of distorting what is presented in the name of religion was a common place. Indeed, all Muslims know that truth: Religious teachings, concepts, and all that is presented in the name of religion were subject to serious distortion, even the narrations about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&F). There are many false hadiths, which were not authenticated about the Prophet (PBUH&F).
And many are the things that are presented in the name of religion in the name of Islam, and in the name of what looks like legitimate although they have nothing to do with religion. So among the well-known issues is the issue of distortion; however, the whole Ummah agrees that the Quranic text is preserved, because Allah (Glory be to Him) took upon Himself to preserve it: Allah says in the Holy Quran,{'It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and We will certainly preserve it'}[ Al-Hijr 15:9]. He emphasized that He will preserve it until the Day of Resurrection, and this is true: Over all these centuries that have passed and passed, the Quranic text has remained preserved, and it will remain preserved until the end of the days of life, until the Hour of Resurrection. This is a blessing, a very great blessing bestowed on us, because even if some try to distort its meanings and the concepts, the Holy Quran still exposes them. So, the integrity, the survival, and the preservation of the Quranic text is a great blessing that exposes those who attribute lies to the Quran. This is one of the great blessings upon us in this time and in every time that Allah preserved the Holy Quran from distortion of its text. Indeed, it is a very great blessing that was preserved for us until this time and that will remain preserved for others after us until the end of history, the end of human existence.
The Holy Quran is of Allah’s light, of His knowledge, of His wisdom, and of His mercy. So, He names it the Wise, the Great, the Glorious, and the Light. He describes it as mercy and guidance. When we come to any blessed Surah, the start of all of them—except one Surah—is {‘In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful’}, to show us and to firm up in our minds that all that contained in Holy Quran (its guidance, directions, instructions, commands, and prohibitions) is out of Allah’s mercy, because He is the most merciful, and because He wants the good for us as well as happiness, success, and salivation. He does not want us to suffer or to cause horrible loss to ourselves. The manifestation of His mercy shown in His materialistic provisions that He has blessed us with and the manifestation of His mercy in what He [provided to] honour us in this life as human society and in creating us, are known and clear. Also, He reminded us of them in the Holy Quran a lot. Moreover, we, as human society, need guidance, instructions, teachings, and a system for the march of our life, so He offered that for us out of His mercy towards us. This also true for all that contend in the Holy Quran. Therefore, this is how we should look at the Holy Quran and at what is in it: instructions, teachings, commands, and prohibitions. That is so we do not look to any of our responsibilities [mentioned] in the Quran, or of what Allah has commanded us, directed us, or instructed us in the Quran as if it were a problem affecting the reality of our life, as if it were against mercy. Also, that is so we do not look at what Allah has forbidden us and prohibited us from as if it were to deprive us. We have to adopt the right view that that goes in line with this understanding that makes us see all what Allah has commanded us as mercy and to see all what He has made forbidden for us as mercy, so we take this to heart and be at ease. That is because a person need to trust this and rest assured about it: However hard, difficult, challengeable some matters are, those difficulties, challenges, and hardships are part of the life of humans, but the fact is that ease is in the Quran’s way, in the way of the right. That [way] is the easiest, of the least cost, the greatest, and of the best destiny for people, however hard hardships might be.
In addition, Allah describes His Book as blessed: {‘This is a blessed Book We have revealed. So follow it and be mindful [of Allah], so you may be shown mercy’}[Al-An’am 6:155]. This is of the most important virtues of the Quran: It is a blessed book.
It is blessed in the extensive guidance it contains, as well as the wonderful knowledge, the great deal of guidance, and the extensive knowledge. That is why whenever a person gets more linked to the Quran, his/her knowledge extends, and s/he gets wiser, more aware, and more knowledgeable. S/he will never get to the point where s/he might think s/he has comprehended all what this Book contains of light, guidance, and knowledge, because it is very extensive and contains amazing blessings in the knowledge it provides.
It is also blessed in its educational effects. It has an amazing effect that capable of rebuilding the soul, purifying the soul, and affecting the consciousness of the soul for good. There is no alternative or anything else can bring such positive effect on the soul of people, the kind of effect that provides the soul with tranquility, helps purify the soul, increases its attraction to what Allah has created people upon of the high moral values, and keeps it away from all impurities that goes counter to the genuine nature of the soul. Therefore, it is blessed in its educational fruit.
Moreover, it [the Holy Quran] is blessed in what it leads to. It leads to what contains blessings and to what contains huge goodness for us. When we move according to it, to its instructions and guidance, Allah blesses our efforts so that they become fruitful, blessed efforts: Their effects, results, and effectiveness become greater than what can be achieved by our own abilities and capabilities. That is because blessings are way greater than numbers, capabilities, and the realistic calculations, since Allah (Glory be to him) increases them [the effects of the efforts].
Its blessing is also in its results and effects, and that represents a great temptation [for people] to act according to the Quran, for whatever other things may present it comes nowhere near what the Holy Quran presents in quality or quantity. Its blessing is amazing! When a nation pays efforts based on it, those efforts will be blessed by Allah, leading to great blessings in everything: in deeds, in results, and in effects—in all fields. The nation that moves according to the Holy Quran (takes its guidance, adheres to it, follows its insight, remains conscious to it, takes it as its reference, and takes the positions the Quran calls for), Allah will also grant such a nation blessing in the goodness He provides, in its provisions, in the victory He holds for it, and in the goodness He keeps for it in all its life affairs!
Among other descriptions, Allah describes the Holy Quran as light, and this description was repeated many times in the Holy Quran. Of what Allah (Glory be to Him) says is, {‘There certainly has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book’}[Al-Ma’idah 5:15], and His saying, {‘A Book which We have revealed to you—this means to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&F)—so that you may lead people out of darkness and into light’}[Ibrahim 14:1]
A person who lacks divine guidance, lives a state of darkness. That is because s/he does not see the facts, does not indeed see goodness, and does not see the right way with which lies his/her success, salvation, and happiness. So, s/he starts to have assumptions and imaginations and so wrong perceptions and misconceptions that acts like darkness preventing him/her from seeing the truth as it is, the right as it is, and the good as it is. Matters often get inverted with him/her, so s/he has misunderstandings, misconceptions, wrong beliefs, and wrong ideas. These dark ideas represents an obstacle that blocks him/her from realizing truths and facts and the right direction, so s/he fumble around in his/her march of life, as well as in his/her deeds, decisions, behaviours, and attitudes at the personal level or the level of society that takes a direction away from the Holy Quran, depends on a system that is different from the Holy Quran, or builds its march of life on something other than the Holy Quran. Hence, that would cause deviation and a serious state of fumble.
So, the Quran is light because it offers you what illuminates the reality of life for you: It illuminates your path, the path that leads to Allah (Glory be to Him), to the good of this life and the Hereafter, to the great success, to salvation from Allah’s torment, to salvation from misery and losing, and to what makes you transcend. So, it guides; it guides to the straight path in order for you in your march of life to go on the right direction that leads to the greatest aim and result, to the great success. Otherwise, the march of the person will go astray: A person goes and fumbles in this life, so s/he does not reach the great result, the great aim, and the good outcome. And after the misery of this life, his/her destiny (Allah forbid) will be Fire in the Hereafter.
{‘There certainly has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book’}[Al-Ma’idah 5:15]; {‘A Book which We have revealed to you so that you may lead people out of darkness and into light’}[Ibrahim 14:1]. That was clear in the movement of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&F) and in how he brought people out of darkness: They had many void beliefs, on which they base their practical affairs; they had many superstitious, ignorant and false concepts and perceptions, which caused them to go astray at the practical level; and they had many deviated, hideous behaviours and habits, which were not in harmony with human dignity and went counter to what Allah has wanted for humans and how He has honoured them with highness in morals, wisdom, and behaviours. So, with the endeavor of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH&F), his conveyance of the Divine Message, his great efforts, and his great performance, in which the wisdom of the Holy Quran was embodied as well as the blessing of the Holy Quran, he changed the reality of that time: the reality of ignorance in the true sense of the word. He made a great leap forward with that society, leading to positively change the reality of that society to a great extent. At that time, that society was the lowest among the other societies regarding its life reality and circumstances. The illiterate this is how they were known, since they had no culture, and most of what they have was superstitions, tales, misguidance, and ignorance, as well as a state of division and disintegration (that had no similarity in other societies) and great backwardness in their life affairs. With the change that the Messenger (PBUH&F) made to bring them out of darkness to light, they got to the highest level a humanitarian society can get to in that time. So, they ruled over other societies on this earth. It was a big leap during a small period of time, and it moved them and totally changed their reality. If they had continued and moved in the same way, their reality would not be as it is today.
{‘[This is] a Book which We have revealed to you so that you may lead people out of darkness and into light, by the Will of their Lord, to the Path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy’}[Ibrahim 14:1]. This is also how Allah shows in the Holy Quran how great His Book is: It is a great Book; its verses are well perfected; it contains wisdom; and it is the miracle of the Messenger (PBUH&F). Allah says about it, {‘Say, [O Prophet,] “If humans and jinn were to come together to produce the equivalent of this Quran, they could not produce its equal, no matter how they supported each other”’}[Al-Isra 17:88]. This means that if they cooperate with each other and support each other, they cannot produce the equivalent to the Holy Quran; they cannot produce anything similar to it at all: in its perfection, eloquence, wisdom, or the level of guidance it contains. Its guidance is amazingly wonderful, comprehensive, and extensive. It is the finest thing Allah has given people. They do not have anything that reaches its level: in their ideas, in their suggestions, in their imaginations, and in all they have produced (intellectually, culturally, and scientifically). They have nothing that is equivalent to the Holy Quran in any field:
Political visions do not rise to the level of what is in the Holy Quran; no comparison can be made—they are nothing when compared with what the Holy Quran contains!
At the economic level, theories, suggestions, studies, and all their outcomes including visions and ideas do not equal anything of what is in the Holy Quran: its effect, reality, good result, and good impact on people.
And the same is true at the educational level, social level, and all other levels.
There are different attributes and various tittles for the Holy Quran that demonstrate for us some aspects of its greatness and importance helps us understand how great the blessings Allah bestowed on us.
One of the Holy Quran’s attributes is ‘full of wisdom’ which comes as an oath in the Holy Quran. Swearing by the Holy Quran shows its significance and make it clear that it is a blessing from Allah: {‘by the Quran, full of wisdom’}[Ya-sin 36: 2]—swearing by the Holy Quran and its wisdom! So, it is full of wisdom, and everything mentioned in it and its guidance provide wisdom in all the fields of life, such as the political, economic, social, security fields, and all other fields. That is because it guides us to Allah and His mercy, bounty, and generosity as well as the Hereafter. (It guides us in this life and the eternal one.) {'full of wisdom’}: One of the most essential things we are in need of is wisdom, for the opposite alternative is stupidity, haphazardness, and wrong attitudes, and wrong perceptions and concepts—sticking to which direct the efforts into the wrong direction no matter how sincere these efforts might be.
This makes it clear for us how the terrible loss of Muslims when they forsook the guidance of the Holy Quran in many of their affairs and in the main fields of this life. They have lost wisdom and accepted some alternatives to the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Quran, such alternatives that are no more than foolishness and stupidity, that have caused them nothing but misery and hardship, and that have reflected negatively on their lives.
Another attribute of the Holy Quran is its Glory, which comes as an oath again: {‘Qaf. By the Glorious Quran’ }[Qaf 50: 1]. Here He is swearing by the Quran and its glory: It is Glorious. If the Ummah adheres to it and it is guided with it in all life matters, it [the Ummah] will gain glory because all Allah’s guidance in the Holy Quran makes us transcend and gain glory and honour. It has nothing that degrades human society, offends, humiliates, or demeans it.
What the guidance of Allah (Glory be to Him) in the Holy Quran presents is nobility, honor, might, transcendence, strength and everything that brings about gloriousness for the Ummah. When the Ummah keeps to it, it will be glorious, lofty, strong, mighty and far away from deterioration, inferiority, humiliation, and failure. This is what the godly human soul yearns for; it always yearns for glory and rises above lowness. So, when the Islamic Ummah follows the Holy Quran and takes it as its true source of guidance, it is sufficient to make the Ummah gain transcendence, dominate the rest of the nations, and lead human society for what is good and in a good way that goes in line with divine principles and values that make the world good and right and leads to the transcendence and purification of the soul as well as to preserving human dignity. However, this is not limited to the Ummah as whole. No! Any nation within this Ummah moves in this same direction can gain glory too.
Another attribute of the Holy Quran is ‘mighty’: {‘And indeed, it is a mighty Book’}[Fssilat 41:41]; The Holy Quran demonstrates Allah’s mighty, and it is mighty in the sense that it accepts none of falsehood or any defect in its composition, eloquence, and wisdom. Its verses are perfected and fully explained: There is no room for defect at all. It is also mighty in the sense that Allah has preserved its text from distortion and in the sense of its guidance as it has no ridiculous visions, nor false ideas. Rather, it exposes others’ ideas, and then it nullifies them. Indeed, the Holy Quran is mighty.
At the educational level, the Holy Quran gives might: It bestows might on the human soul and grants it transcendence; It raises society that follows its guidance on might. It also presents guidance that makes any society within the Islamic Ummah powerful as long as it is preserved and adhered to. In addition, the Holy Quran does not involve ideas, cultures, teachings, or instructions that cause humiliation and degradation to the Islamic Ummah. Rather, the reason behind the humiliation experienced by this Ummah is that it has turned away from the guidance of the Holy Quran, which would have granted it might, had it followed the Holy Quran and adhered to what is in it.
{'And indeed, it is a mighty Book’'}: It is mighty in itself, its bounty, and in what it guides to–what it guides to grants honour.
{'It cannot be proven false from any angle. [It is] a revelation from the ˹One Who is˺ All-Wise, Praiseworthy} [Fussilat 41:42]. It is a revelation from Allah who is All-Wise in all what He presents, guides, and calls for. He is Praiseworthy: All His commandments in the Holy Quran involve praise, great honour; they do not encompass what may cause shame for a person, degrade his/her human value and dignity, or offend his/her humanity—as lots of beliefs, cultures, and concepts that entail degradation, offence, and negative reflections on the reality of the person and society.
The Holy Quran is a book of guidance, its basic function is to guide. Allah says, as recited at the beginning of the lecture, {' Ramaḍân is the month in which the Quran was revealed as guidance for mankind and as clear proofs of guidance and criterion'}[Al-Baqarah 1:186]. It is the guidance about which Allah says, {'Where with Allah guides all those who seek His Good Pleasure to ways of peace'}[Al-Maidah 5:16] and says, {'Verily, this Quran guides to that which is most just and right and gives glad tidings to the believers'}[Al-Isra 17:9]. Therefore, the guidance in the Holy Quran is guidance from Allah to the best thing, to the most successful aspect of life, and to the most elegant thing. The Holy Quran does not only offer us, for example, the correct vision, or the right idea about a particular subject, or the right instructions concerning a particular situation or a specific issue; but it offers us the best, the most sublime, and the most lofty thing that makes all matters in our life straight and right. All this is provided by the Holy Quran; it provides us something so remarkable and great that no human being can introduce a better, greater, more fruitful, effective, or successful thing: The Holy Quran always provides the best.
It is a serious loss that Muslims look for alternatives to the Holy Quran and sometimes, they look to these alternatives with arrogance and admiration towards these alternatives, in most cases, are not only equal to what the Quran guides to but that are nothing: They are not beneficial, useful, or good for life; rather, they are of negative consequences.
When we want to take a position, in the march of life, we have to look for what the Holy Qur'an guides to so that we can take the position that it directs us to with full confidence and tranquility. We have to rely on the Quran in our attitudes, loyalties, and life affairs at the economic level. Why do not we do that? Why do we turn away from the Holy Quran? What are our justifications to look for other alternatives that are in contrast with the Holy Quran?
Understanding that the Holy Quran is a book of guidance, we should rely on it in the march of our lives, starting with the faith aspect that we need to keep improving and that depends on our knowledge of Allah (Glory be to Him) in the first place . We, the Islamic Ummah, suffer from a shortage in our knowledge of Allah, which has negative consequences on our trust and reliance on Allah and even our relationship with the Quran. However, the Holy Quran help us tackle this problem and is of great importance and impact when it comes to our knowledge of Allah, Who says, {'Had We sent down this Quran upon a mountain, you would have certainly seen it humbled and torn apart in awe of Allah. We set forth such comparisons for people, ˹so˺ perhaps they may reflect'}[Al-Hashr 59:21]. If the Holy Quran was sent down on a mountain and that mountain comprehended it, it would be extremely humble out of fear of Allah and would have known and feared Allah to the extent that it cracks and appears humble. {'you would have certainly seen'}—its fear of Allah is clearly manifested in the state of cracking.
In the field of our knowledge of Allah, the Holy Quran is guaranteed to improve your knowledge of Allah and accordingly your faith of Him, trust in Him, and fear of Him to a great extent. Nothing else can do that. So, we need to return to the Holy Quran to obtain that and pay attention to it.
As we mentioned before about the effect of the Quran at the educational level, Allah (Almighty) said, {'And We send down of the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers'}[Al-Isra 17:82]. {‘Which is healing’} means that it heals the human soul of what it has been polluted and defiled by, of what contradicts its rational human nature, and of what has negative effects on that nature, as well as on good values, excellent qualities, noble morals, all sources of goodness and virtue, and different sorts of virtues that Allah has created within the human soul. Hence, people admit this fact and adopt it greatly throughout the march of their life. They also agree on titles, but such titles are not taken sincerely by a lot of people.
A person needs the Holy Quran at the educational level; it educates the soul with a great, elegant discipline, with which s/he exalts. It revives and develops in the soul what Allah has placed in it of noble morals, of virtues, and of great meanings that has made humans special, has granted them dignity, has promoted their role, and has prepared them to rush in the march of their lives to do good deeds, to take good positions, and to take the right direction with great desire and complete conviction. That is because great values and self-purification help the soul to achieve that, so it moves according to that, abhorring bad morals, hating vices, and enjoying might and generosity that make it rise over bad, degraded, vile things and above humiliation, weakness, and shame and seek what contains goodness and what preserves its human dignity.
Of the main tasks of the Quran through the Messenger is to {'purify them’}[ Al-Baqarah 2:129]. He (PBUH&F) used to purify people with the Quran, its guidance, and Allah’s instructions in the Quran.
Of the most important things that we must benefit from the Holy Quran and seek its guidance is to identify our responsibilities as Muslim Ummah: first, our responsibilities as human society (what our role is, why Allah has made us successors on the earth, the way of this succession, what makes us succeed in it both in this worldly life and in the Hereafter, and what its consequences in the Hereafter are.), then the level of our responsibilities as well as our [personal] commitments (moral commitments, religious commitments, and commitments based on belief) which have been set for us in the Holy Quran. That is because some [people] firm up among people the idea that our Ummah has no responsibilities: This Ummah has no commitments nor responsibilities; it remains subordinate to and led by other nations; its affairs are interfered in by other nations; it is controlled by other nations; it has no purpose, no message, no international role, not even a role in its reality. Instead, [They want it to] stay as it is in this era. This is a disaster. Allah (Glory Be to Him) says {‘You are the best nation ever raised for mankind: you enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and believe in Allah’}[Ali 'Imran 3:110]. Even if the interpretation of this verse meant those who come mainly first of the elite and the good of this Ummah, still what is meant is that they are supposed to guide it and lead it to fulfil its responsibilities. That is, their responsibility is mainly this responsibility [guiding and leading the Ummah] even if who carry out this role of getting the Ummah to move should be the best of this Ummah, its elites, and the right doers in it.
{‘You are the best nation ever raised for mankind’}; therefore, you have a great and global responsibility to be fulfilled. {‘You enjoin what is right’}, and this is your message in this life: The right that is being fought, the right in all fields that is being neglected, paving the way for falsehood and its people to take its place: {‘And forbid what is wrong, and believe in Allah’}.
It is a march of faith with a great, global responsibility, starting from within the Ummah. {'Let there be a group among you who call [others] to goodness, enjoin what is good, and forbid what is wrong—it is they who will be successful'}[Ali 'Imran 3:104]. {'O believers! Whoever among you abandons their faith, Allah will replace them with others who are loved by Him and love Him. They will be humble with the believers but firm towards the disbelievers, and they fight in the cause of Allah; fearing no blame from anyone. This is the favour of Allah. He grants it to whoever He wills. And Allah is All-Bountiful, All-Knowing'} [Al-Ma'idah 5:54]. This means that our Ummah has responsibilities. The issue is not that we should stay in our villages, mosques, and homes, from home to mosques without caring about anything but isolating yourself from the reality of this life, from what is happening in this life, and from what is going on in this life. As a Muslim, you are committed to be among the Ummah that fights injustice, corruption, and tyranny; stand up to the wrong, evil, and wicked people; and make the earth of Allah and His servants righteous. It is an important collective responsibility, and the Holy Quran guides us to our responsibilities; makes us know them; and emphasizes them, their consequences, and the danger of disobeying them. It also guides us to what builds us to be capable of carrying out these responsibilities, what builds us cognitively, culturally, and educationally, as well as what builds us at the practical level. It builds us practically in terms of how we should move to carry out this responsibility and how to follow the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&F) in his way, in his march, in his movement with the Divine Message, and in building the Ummah.
Of the most important things that gets us to be guided by the Holy Quran—the Ummah has lost a lot because it has forgotten it—is guidance in the field of increasing our awareness with regard to the enemies, challenges and risks. However, this issue received no attention and met with terrible ignorance, stupidity, deviation, and wrong policies that have led the Ummah to end up in a deadlock, in the bottom, have enabled its enemies to have the upper hand, and have incurred very terrible losses due to that [ignorance]. The Ummah has lost its awareness of its enemies, and who its enemies are. The Holy Quran identifies the enemy for you, and this is what the Ummah needs, because there is a great misleading within the Ummah about who the enemy is and who the friend is. Who is the enemy? The Holy Quran identifies to you (as a Muslim) who your enemies are, why they are your enemies, on what basis [they have become enemies], what the reality of your problem with them is, and what the reality of their problem with you is. Great is the attention devoted to this issue, to what can build the Ummah to face those risks imposed by the enemies, to the natural of the enemies’ activity, to their method in targeting the Ummah, to the right approach to face them, and the areas of confrontation with them. It is a very extensive talk that has what the Ummah needs to face the risks in this Ummah, and to be tough and honorable enough over its enemies, based on an important rule that Allah (Glory be to Him) has mentioned in the Holy Quran: That is the saying of Allah (Glory be to him), {‘Allah knows best who your enemies are!’}[ An-Nisa 4:45]. Allah knows who they are, knows how they are, and knows what they do, and what their policies and methods are. Allah knows how dangerous they are, what their weakness points are, what the right approach to face them is, and what the wise, fruitful, and useful policies against them are, etc. {'Allah knows best who your enemies are'}: A wide circle that contains everything about the enemy, and everything we have to do against them.
Of the most important things that is related to the Holy Quran—and it has already been mentioned—is wisdom. It is a wise book to the degree that it is described as wise: {‘This is part of the wisdom which your Lord has revealed to you‘}[Al-Isra 17:39]. All that Allah guides us to of deeds are wise deeds, and of behaviours are wise behaviours, of manners and of attitudes [they are wise]. All what is based on this makes us a wise Ummah: sensible in its thoughts and straight and balanced in its actions, attitudes, and policies. People need this at the personal level and so does the Ummah as a nation and as society.
And with all its great attributes—this is just a part of which, as its attributes are wider and greater—is that Allah has made it easy for mentioning. When we recite the Holy Quran with comprehension and meditation, we benefit of what it presents very clearly, intuitively, and quickly from the first moment and with minimal meditation. {‘And We have certainly made the Quran easy to remember. So is there anyone who will be mindful?’}[Al-Qamar 54:17]. However, [the matter is] how we turn to our reality as we reflect on the Holy Quran and evaluate our reality based on that. Its guidance is extensive. {‘We have certainly set forth every [kind of] lesson for people in this Quran’}[Ar-Rum 30:58]
And righteousness does not come true in the reality of the Ummah unless it holds tight to it [the Quran], gets guided by it, and goes according to its guidance: {‘As for those who firmly abide by the Scripture and establish prayer—surely We never discount the reward of those acting righteously’}[Al-A’raf 7:170]. The way to get things right in relation to the soul, the reality of society, the state of the Ummah, and all that is destroyed in the Ummah is through the Holy Quran as well as through holding tight to it and taking it as a source of guidance.
Speaking about the Holy Quran can go longer, but through reciting the Holy Quran and taking care of its culture, a person benefits more and more and strengthens his/her relationship with the Quran more and more. What is more important than all of this is what Allah provides you with throughout your march towards the Quran to be guided by it, to be pleased by it, to comprehend (even to some extent) the greatness and importance of this book.
That is enough for today.
We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us success and lead us to what satisfies him. O Allah (Glory be to You), have mercy on our martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. You are All-Hearing! O Allah, accept our fast, night prayers, and good deeds. You are All-Hearing!
Peace be upon you, as well as the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
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