The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Standards adhered to in writing of this book

“In this auspicious meeting, which has been convened with the object that the advocates of the different religious systems should, so far as the limits of the questions set allow, set forth the beauties of their respective religions, I, as an advocate of the faith of Islam, will dwell upon its beauties. Before I start with the proper object, I take leave to state that all my assertions and arguments shall be based upon and drawn from the Holy Quran. I deem it a matter of the first importance that everybody, who believes in any sacred scriptures as the revealed Word of God, should so set limits to his advocacy of the religion he supports as not to go out of the holy book or depend upon arguments other than those which the book furnishes. For, if he does not observe this rule, he, as a matter of fact, makes and advances a new book and not the one which he professes to support. Therefore, as it is my object to show the beauties of the Quran and to establish its exclusive excellence over all other books, I shall bind myself by the rule above stated and depend solely upon the Quran for every assertion and argument, stating only that which is contained in it in plain words, or what may be reasonably inferred from its words. As the other gentlemen are also expected to set limits to their discourses by this reasonable rule, there will be a good opportunity for judicious minds to form a judgment as to the comparative value of the different books claiming to be revealed. For the same reason, I shall avoid all reference to the authorities containing the reported words of the Holy Prophet and not go outside the Word of God as revealed in the Quran. In short, this is the day of the manifestation of the glory and the excellence of the Quran, and I humbly beseech Almighty God to assist me in this undertaking. Amen!”^[i]

The above are the opening remarks in an interfaith meeting in which agreed upon questions were answered from Islamic perspective sourced on Quran. This book at hand too, while relying on Quran, deals with questions pervading within Islam that have become a source of unsubstantiated miracles, myths, mistakes and matters. Ironically, such all too familiar issues instead of becoming arguments for faith have taken the center stage as articles of faith for Muslims and the consequent fallout of divisions within the faith. In Muslim societies these astigmatic views have stained the collective psyche to an extent that they have crept into the legislative fabric as an almost indelible stain. Before, the unintelligence which was limited to clergy has now seeped into the law of the land and its subsequent erosion of human rights, strengthening of non-democratic forces, engendering vicious sectarianism, increased focus on shell of religion rather than its soul and separation of logic from faith. The formulated faith has become a burden that common sense cannot bear. As a reaction to such dogmas the counter arguments, if any, are individualistic rather than institutional in nature and they soon lose steam. The hopelessness ever increases in the enlightened segments of the societies that in due course turns them not only irreligious but pushes them into atheism as well. The religion which was supposed to inculcate belief based upon reason has itself become the prime source of soulless atheistic tendencies in the society. Such fractures are too visible on the body of nations like a parched lake bed out of which nothing substantive remains for human resource of a nation.

This book undertakes some of the common misattributes to Islam head on, only in an effort to reverse the decay that has set in. The focus of Qur’ân is primarily on the articles of faith and their natural downstream virtues for an individual and the society. While promulgating its teachings, it takes examples and arguments from history and nature to strengthen and glue together the core articles that it propounds. The problems arise when the reader of Qur’ân starts to mistake the arguments as articles and in due course relying on extra-Qur’ânic sources mixed with personal prejudices erects an edifice of religion which is more of mortar than the bricks. With every passing generation, more mortar is added to prevent its crumble. This layer upon layer hides the bricks of articles of faith deeper and deeper and religion soon takes the outward appearance of an ugly mythological façade that can now only gloat on its historical glory and has nothing to offer to its visitors or dwellers of the present. Islam too to a certain extent has reached a stage where its mass understanding is nothing but an empty shell casing, a remnant of mythos devoid of any logos.

Of the many not too surprising aspects of Qur’ân are its intelligent constructs that not only cleared the fabrications of religions before it, but are also able to dissipate falsity that has crept after it and attributed to it. Qur’ân fulfills the standards of reason for itself that it uses to challenge others:

All the nonsensical miracles, myths, mistakes and matters that are attributed by misread of Qur’ân are washed away by Qur’ân itself. It is this detergent quality of Qur’ân that this book relies on and tries to launder the fabric of Islam using no other source but Qur’ân itself. Hence, all the rebutting arguments in this book are based upon Qur’ân for the mere fact that the ultimate burden to clean the closet of Islam is on Qur’ân that it does so quite convincingly.

The quality of nectar of Qur’ân can be judged merely by first commandments that were revealed to Prophet Muhammad:

A keen reader will immediately notice the path to human progress when one is to Read in the name of your Lord Who creates the basis of all material and non-material opportunities in life; and the Divine guarantee of success if one is to read and your Lord is most Generous; and the knowledge that He taught man what he did not know which leads to progress; but the natural impediment to this progress is the human side of man i.e. Man is surely inordinate, he looks upon himself as self-sufficient and thus robs himself of the progress that the Almighty has in store for him. Embedded in these first commandments is the message that lays down the very foundation of what we call individual scholarship and, collectively, as the university in modern day.

Besides, validating the previous scriptures, Qur’ân distinctly declares God Himself as the source of the Book; it is God as the “Lord of the Mankind” and not of a particular race, region or religion; Qur’ân vivifies God by bringing to light His Attributes; removes the human-ness of god and instills the godliness of humans; God for the benefit of man and not the ritualistic vice versa; God as the first observer of His own laws; a God of action and not of slumber; a Hearing, Seeing and Speaking God.

Qur’ân expounds its message with proofs based upon logic, reason, history, physical phenomenon, science and sociology, when it discusses monotheism, human nature, equality and fraternity of man, the sinless soul, and the physical and moral states of man. On the same principles it describes the purpose of the man and the universe he lives in. It declares nature as being subservient to man. It outlines virtues and sins, paths of salvation, emphasis on action rather than homilies, the state of life after death, and the concept of hell and heaven. Qur’ân launders the previous prophet from all of the historical smears and offers this as a doable example of Qur’ân. It brings morality, spirituality, physicality and science into a mutually complementary logic. Qur’ân declares the divine guarding of its own everlasting purity, free from adulteration and contradiction and with an open challenge to any to bring even a chapter matching that of Qur’ân. It identifies the divine origin of all monotheistic faiths and the completion of religion with Islam.

In the study of Qur’ân, one comes across its following attributes^[iv] or varying hues which is a cure for the people (16:69)^[v]:

[i] Preliminary Remarks in the book, delivered as a lecture, “The Teachings of Islam, a Solution of Five Fundamental Religious Problems from the Muslim Point of View”, by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, p. 1-2, translated into English by Maulana Muhammad Ali – It was read at the Great Religious Conference held at Lahore (Punjab) in December 1896 by Maulvi Abdul Karim. The paper discusses from a Muslim's point of view the five subjects selected for discussion by the conveners of the conference. These five subjects related to (1) the physical, moral and spiritual conditions of man, (2) the state of man in the after-life, (3) the real object of the existence of man and the means of its attainment, (4) the effect of actions in the present life and the life to come, and (5) the sources of Divine knowledge.
[ii] Al-Saffat – The Ranging in Ranks: Nooruddin
[iii] Al-Alaq – The Clot: Muhammad Ali
[iv] Adapted from “Names of the Holy Book,” p. 2-A, The Holy Quran, Eighth Edition (2008) As Explained by Allamah Nooruddin, Rendered into English by Amatul Rahman Omar, Abdul Mannan Omar, Copyright © Noor Foundation International Inc.
[v] Al-Nahl – The Bee: Nooruddin