The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Archive for July, 2013

"O you who are unaware and indifferent, gird up your loins to serve the Quran
before the call is sounded that your turn has come (to depart from the world)."

— From poem by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

This year's Quran studies will be on the topic of the how the Quran presents itself and its qualities:

• Guidance on significance of Ramadan and some prayers for Ramadan (advised by Maulana Muhammad Ali)
• Ramadan Message from Head of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, Dr A.K. Saeed, dated 19 July 2012
• Prayers based on Surah Fatihah for Ramadan (advised by Maulana Muhammad Ali)
• Original Urdu text of the prayers in the above two links

• Fast 1 — How the Quran introduces itself
• Fast 2 — The Quran's challenge
• Fast 3 — The doctrine of abrogation in the Quran
• Fast 4 — The Quran as guidance and as the Criterion
• Fast 5 — The Quran describes itself
• Fast 6 — The Quran is a revelation from God
• Fast 7 — Rule of interpreting the Quran, as taught in the Quran

• Fast 8 — Quran revealed in portions
• Fast 9 — Jinn and the Quran
• Fast 10 — The Quran "verifying" previous scriptures
• Fast 11 — Taking a "small price" for messages of God
• Fast 12 — Pondering over the Quran
• Fast 13 — The Quran guarded and perfected the light and guidance which had come with previous scriptures.
• Fast 14 — The extraordinary prophecy in the Quran that it shall be forever guarded against corruption

• Fast 15 — The Quran is a mercy, guidance and healing for those who follow it.
• Fast 16 — The Quran calls itself "good news" for those who follow its teachings in practice.
• Fast 17 — The Quran provides a full explanation of all the principles that it requires us to accept.
• Fast 18 — The Quran calls itself the "light" which brings people out of darkness.
• Fast 19 — The Quran calls itself the truth and says that truth can only be established through knowledge, while false beliefs are based on conjecture.
• Fast 20 — The Quran gives proofs and arguments to support its teachings.
• Fast 21 — The recitation of the Quran, as mentioned in the Quran.
   
• Fast 22 — The Quran on how to recite it, and how not to.
• Fast 23 — The Quran is a revelation from God because the Holy Prophet himself did not possess the knowledge to teach those grand truths and principles which are found in the Quran.
• Fast 24 — The Quran, as "guardian" of previous scriptures, has corrected certain stories as given in the Bible. An example is the story of Adam and Eve and their temptation by the devil.
• Fast 25 — We continue to contrast the account of Adam and Eve in the Quran with the story in the Bible.
• Fast 26 — The Quran has established the sinlessness of the earlier prophets. We look at how it has cleared the prophets Noah, Lot and Solomon of the stains on their character in the Bible.
• Fast 27 — Lailat-ul-Qadr, the night in Ramadan when the revelation of the Quran commenced.
• Fast 28 — The Quran cleared Jacob of the various allegations of deception and lying made against him in the Bible. Jacob is also known as Israel and was the forefather of the Israelites (i.e. the Jews), and he is the one whom the Quran honoured as a true, righteous prophet.
   
• Fast 29 — The Quran calls itself a "reminder". Among various aspects of it being a reminder, it calls itself a "reminder for all the nations".
• Fast 30 — The Quran will open the hearts of even its most stubborn opponents and bring them to spiritual life, thus clearing away the obstacles that stand in its way like mountains. But for that to happen, followers of the Quran must strive hard to spread its message in the world.

The home page of the Central London Mosque is still displaying the message, as at 14.30 UK time, 8th July, that the 1st of Ramadan will be on either 9th or 10th July. "We will make the announcement the exact moment the new moon has been sighted", it says. The page informs us that we can join them on Facebook and be kept informed of all announcements from them.

It strikes one as strange, or incongruous, that it is not considered objectionable, in fact it is considered quite normal, to use the latest technology, such as the Internet, mobile devices etc., to try to find out news about the appearance of the new moon (if indeed their announcement is based on appearance and not on political partisanship), yet it is considered un-Islamic to use science and technology to calculate the same appearance well in advance.