Reflect on the Qur’an #09 – What does the Qur’an mean to you?
Date:
Channel: Mirza Yawar Baig
Series: Mirza Yawar Baig - Reflect On The Quran
File Size: 38.79MB
AI Generated Summary ©
The concept of the Quran is discussed, emphasizing the importance of treating it with respect and putting it in a high place. The use of a map and reciting the Bible correctly is emphasized. The importance of memorization and proper pronunciation of words is also emphasized. The use of "stedler" in English is discussed, as it relates to one's behavior and their mother. The transcript emphasizes the importance of understanding the meaning of "has" and its significance in one's life.AI Generated Transcript ©
smilla rahmanir rahim
al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa salatu wa salam O Allah Shara filmbay with mousseline Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi, WA he was Salam ala Steven Kaziranga sera.
My dear brothers and sisters.
I've been asked to speak about the Quran Al Karim.
And I want to begin and end with just one question.
And that question is, what does the Quran mean to you?
I want you to think deeply about this question.
And I want you to answer this question for yourself.
I want you to pray to Ricardo Salah to Raja and ask Allah subhanaw taala, to put the answer in your heart. And the question is, what does the Quran mean to you?
Let me illustrate why I'm saying this.
In 2015, I had been invited to deliver the keynote address at the International Conference on faith based education, which was in Oxford.
On my way there, I was in London for a few days. And I asked to visit a very famous, very beautiful Jewish school called j cos Academy, J cos Academy.
in that school, I was invited to
visit the
Religious Studies class.
This class was students were about maybe seven or eight years old. And it was a random visit, the class itself was not informed that I was going to visit. So it was a completely spontaneous kind of thing.
When I walked into the class,
little boys and girls, seven or eight years old, as I said,
the teacher said to me, please talk to them, ask them anything you like.
So naturally ask them. What do you know about Islam?
These are all Jewish children. I said, What do you know about Islam? So one little girl puts up her hand, I said, Yes, please.
She says to me, Islam is a religion based on a book
called The Koran.
So I said, What do you know about this book,
she says, this is a holy book, it must be treated with respect. And it must be kept in a high place.
Now, of course, I applauded the answer.
But in my heart, I thought to myself, how did this little girl know the truth
of what Muslims do with the Quran?
The short answer is I don't think she knows the truth. But because I know the truth.
I was able to see in her words
what Allah Subhana Allah wanted me wanted me to see about how we read the Quran. And how do we do that? Like the girl said,
it's a holy book, we treated with respect, and we put it in a high place. That's it.
Our relationship with the Quran is to treat it as a holy book. And to place it in a high place.
rabida nice velvet or, you know, what?
Usually green in color
as well. I didn't make any other color.
All culture, nothing to do with Islam.
And then we put it I place
my question do you brothers sisters? That's why I said ask yourself. What is my relationship with Cora?
What does the Quran mean to me?
It's not a matter of semantics.
It's to understand the fact that attitudes reflect
are reflected in language
and language affects attitudes.
attitudes are reflected in language and language
effects or changes attitudes.
This is my message to you as I told you
just ask yourself this question. What does the Quran mean to me?
Because if the Quran to you and me and this is May Allah protect us, the situation of the majority of Muslims all over the world if the Quran
to you or me
is a holy book,
to be treated with respect and put in a high place, then believe me that Koran will not be reflected in your life or my life. It will not be reflected in our lives, it will not be reflected in our language and how we speak with people, it will not be reflected in our dealings, it will not be reflected in anything to do with us.
And it will have no effect on us.
Even though we claim to believe in it, and we claim to respect it, and we put it in a high place.
On the other hand,
if we treat the Quran
and we believe about the Quran,
what Allah subhana wa Taala said it is which is hudl orderliness, guidance for all mankind, which is who the lil Mata pain, specific guidance for people of taqwa people who understand who Alize people who have a relationship with Allah subhanho, that people who love Allah subhanho, that people who are usually concerned about the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala.
Guidance for
what is the meaning guidance for
if I have a map,
today, we live in the world of, of Google Maps, right? And GPS systems. What I remember, in America when I'm sitting here now in the office in my in the budget.
When I lived here, 20 years ago, 22 years ago, there was no Google
didn't imagine a world without Google didn't exist, believe me.
So when we went anywhere, every car had maps. So you would, before you left, you would open your map, you would mark out your route,
you would highlight the bottom places their route, where you need to take turns and so on and so forth.
And then you would have this map open on the passenger seat in the car. And if you had a passenger, the passenger automatically took the position of the Navigator and sat there with the map in their lap, and they called out the transducer.
So what am I saying here? I'm saying that this map was my book of guidance.
And because it was the book of guidance, I used it to guide myself to the right destination. I did not put that map in a velvet cower and put it in a high place and treated it and treated with respect.
Using is not disrespect.
To use something for the purpose for which it is created is the highest form of respect.
Not use that thing.
Not use a map to keep the map in a high place within quotes with respect
and then be misguided and then fall into holes and pits is the highest form of disrespect. It is to deliberately ignore
the guidance that was sent to us. Let us ask ourselves what we are doing with the Quran today.
We focus on reciting it correctly specific pronunciation
every letter every sound the Muharram the Maharaja, where is it to be
expressed from which part of the throat tongue Swan Swan
be focused on that.
We focus on doing that in a very pleasant way not to touch with that should sound nice.
should sound nice listen to the words.
Third one
we focus on memorizing it
and the memory must be so perfect and I have the lab we have files like this absolutely anywhere on the hora
just read for that have his first two or three lines or two or three letters now I mean words, two or three words in the air and he will complete or she will complete that I have anywhere random.
We focus on the memorization. We focused on what we call the miracle of the grammar.
So we focused on for example in italic kursi how many times I incomes
The letter I in how many times it is mentioned, or it is written in idle kursi.
The construction of the word
right
now, please understand, I'm not saying that all of this is unimportant. Of course, it is important, there's nothing, there's nothing good about mispronouncing the Quran, there is nothing Tajweed is the way of reciting the Quran. There is no other way. Somebody who does not understand that V, who does not always does not learn that with and who is mispronouncing the Quran
is doing a disfavor to himself. And of course, the Arabic language is such that if you in certain cases, if you mispronounce a particular word, now you are saying something completely different, the meaning itself is different.
So I'm not denigrating or discounting the importance of luxuries. I'm not saying the Quran must be decided doesn't matter how
that sounding nice and sounding good. And pleasant is not important. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that memorization, memorizing is unimportant.
None of that. I'm saying that none of those things, these are all important, but they are not the purpose.
They are not the purpose. The purpose of the revelation is one, which is guidance.
The purpose of the map is what guidance.
Is it important for the map to be printed on good quality paper? Yes. Is it important for the map map to have all the fonts clear in it so that you can read it easily? Yes. Is it important for the map to be to look nice, and you know, to be beautified? maybe have some pictures and so on and so forth. And oh yes, of course, most important, very important.
But just a simple map on a piece of paper, a line drawing will guide you just as best as just as well. And just as good as the most elaborate the most beautifully decorated the most illuminated map in the world
provided provided you treated as something to use to guide yourself
whether it's a line drawing on a piece of paper, or whether it is the most elaborate the most beautiful looking map in the world.
It will only guide those who treat it as something to be used
to guide themselves to the correct destination.
So I said I want to begin and end with this and that is what does the Quran mean to you?
Now
let me illustrate for you some of the things we do with the Quran.
And I'll start with a very simple one, which is
many of us are most of us, including the Arabs
except those who have learnt classical Quranic Arabic
Read translations of the Quran. Because the classical Quranic Arabic, we don't know, we don't understand. And so we have to take the help of translations.
No problem hamdulillah good.
The question is, how do we translate
the words of the Quran
there are two aspects to translation. One
is
the meaning of meaning.
The meaning of meaning. Think about this, the meaning of meaning.
For example,
if I asked you, what is the meaning of Abu
he will say father,
English Father, in order violet, or bap,
right.
In Tamil, the herban
and other languages I won't go into all that not trying to impress you with the number of languages I speak.
My point is very simple.
When I read the word above, or I read the word father
does anything happen to me
Am I just reading FA th er
or
when I say the word father
does a picture of a man come into my mind
a man who
I used to call
no matter where I was in the world, and I used to say,
Papa
verily do IKEA
I just hit him papa.
He's a big dog for me. This is the challenge that I'm facing, this is a difficulty that I have.
This is a problem that is there in my life now.
This is a danger that I foresee.
Please make for me,
no matter where I was in the world,
I would call this man
I will say this to him.
And he's one response
is one response
came from that place in his heart
a place of such tremendous pain, such tremendous faith
in his creator and in my Creator, a new creator, Allah Subhana huhtala jello
and his wonders was always was
my bacala don't
nature, anything nature
the water golfito
used to say I will hold on to him
and I will not let go
until he gives
you will be successful inshallah go
always civil response sales
letter.
I will hold him
later.
I will not leave it.
I will not do
the
gifts
has not led
us to fill the hopper of my father with no at the heart of my mother who taught me to read the Quran.
She did not teach me the rules of Tajweed. Because you did not know the rule of thumb.
But you taught me to read the Koran.
She would sit there and mad This was off.
We had a green background. And black writing that used to say this color green is cool. The ice is a big one. It was a huge big muscle.
And I was maybe
three, four years old.
And I was usually active.
And we had this we used to live in by just a house with my great grandfather built his back
which was on three acres of land.
beautiful garden.
And from where we used to sit in the in my grandfather's apartment.
There was a door that opened into the into the garden.
And the mother would sit there with the most of the hell in the staff.
And I would come and sit by her. And I would read
a line or two as you say, read aloud, recite loudly. As you say the tree The trees are hearing you.
And they will bear witness for you on the Day of Judgment recite loudly.
So I will decide,
you know a line or two. Maybe when I had that I would get up and none of it
into the garden.
My mother never came up to me. She never called me back.
She never reprimanded me.
But she never left her place.
She didn't get up and go with she just did.
I would run around. And then of course, you know, I would think over my mom is sitting there. I would come back
and I would sit and I would decide some more then I would run away and she never called me. She never held me She never said no no, no, no, no.
But until that page was finished,
and that is one page. So until that page was finished, my mother did not move from that.
This,
of course, gradually my staying power improved.
She taught me during the course.
She taught my father to read the Quran. My father was a medical doctor. He didn't know how to read the Quran until he finished medical school until he got married, my mother taught
and then they will have to
read Quran at the time of the head.
And I recall, my memory of my father
is hearing the,
the metal bucket of water and this was days before plastics.
And plastics came without this was the greatest, never the greatest gift of Allah.
So I would hear the sound of the bucket being put down in the bathroom, we'll have a big clang, you'd be a bit laggy it would make a noise. And he would make widow. And this is about maybe 230 in the night.
And then we would hear his voice reciting the Quran.
My father did not notice with
he decided to not today, there is no recording, unless we had it that ensured that
there was no record except with him delillo
and Allah was not looking at whether he pronounced is that Eva arza which is how most speakers pronounce it.
Allah was looking at where it was coming out from his heart.
He did not know that we but he knew Allah.
That Quran, illuminated his heart. It illuminated his life.
It gave him that power on the occasion in his lab jello.
He gave it gave him our cooling away somehow, like
when I talk about Docker today,
the picture the picture in my mind, I know many stories of taco. I know many, many stories of I have a lot of the great scholars of Islam of the of the validity Barb's and their tawakkol and so on and so forth.
And I'm sure you know, those stories are also
what I know one man was not a great event. He was not a great alum.
But he was both our key.
Historical
was like the solid concrete foundation
of the Lord bearing pillar.
The greatest structure in the world
completely unshakable.
Where did the story start from the meaning of Allah.
And that's why I said, the meaning of meaning. Today, unfortunately, when we say meaning, we really mean translation.
That's not the meaning of meaning.
So if I ask you what is the meaning of Allah?
You might say God, you might say Hoda and I would say you are wrong.
That is the translation.
And that is incorrect translation. Because Allah is not God.
Allah is a is a lot of handle intelligibility level whose personal name
right.
The word for God is Allah. Allah.
Allah, an object or worship.
I'm not asking you to give me the translation of ILA object of worship. I'm saying Allah.
What is the correct answer?
The correct answer is, there is no translation of Allah. It's a specific name
of the one I worship
of the only one who lives and is established Allah Eureka, yo.
Now,
therefore,
when we say Allah,
we easily translated as God. And that's why even Laila heilala there is no god but God, have you ever heard a statement more nonsensical than that?
It's like a joke. There's no god but God, what is this riddle?
Is it a riddle? There's no God, but God
There is no one worthy of worship except Allah.
But because Allah has no meaning for us, because we translate, Allah is God.
Instead of
asking ourselves, what does this word Allah do to me, as I told you, I do not translate far abou, or above are valid,
or
orapa.
As father,
all of those words, and the word father, bring in my mind and image, bring memories, bring in my mind, steel cards, have a relationship that binds me,
to my father,
and which will remain with me as long as I breed.
That is the meaning of all. It's not translation.
And that is why the agency
is reported to have said that the first bidder, the first reprehensible innovation, that came into the religion of ours, was that people took the name of Allah. Without the Hachette of Allah, their hearts. People started taking the name of Allah, without that name doing anything to them. One lie This soup is beautiful.
Hold on one law, what kind of a car?
Meaning means what? Meaning means? What does it do to me?
And so we translated the Quran. And some of the basic fundamental principles advisor, what does it mean to you? Ask yourself, that's what's your relationship with?
For example, what is our relationship with Allah? subhanaw? taala? There's nothing that there cannot be anything more fundamental than that. This is the absolute ground. This is the foundation,
the relationship between the rubber and the
what is the relationship? It's called? What about the earth?
Being the abbot of Allah? Now think about this.
How do we translate this word?
in English?
Go pick up the English translation. How does it translate? How do people people have knowledge at hamdulillah?
How do they translate that word when they speak? Serbian?
Again, as I told you, it's not a matter of semantics.
In this case, it's even semantics. But I'm saying I'm not focused on that. So first of all, do yourself a favor.
Pull out your phone, go to google translator, which is the simplest way of doing that. But you can even go to pick up a dictionary look at it.
type the word
and see what the translation comes. What translation does it show
the source server
or does it show slave?
ABD is what
the other type the word server
and see what the Arabic is for it. The Arabic word is hard.
type the word slave and see the see the Arabic translation. The translation is
because I told you it's not about semantics. It's about attitude. Language reflects attitude. And attitudes are changed when the language is changed.
Who the server
a server is somebody who is an employee
right?
An employee is a servant.
So therefore, who is a server? a server is somebody who applies for employment, joins the employment voluntarily has specific duties for which he or she is paid a specific compensation and they can leave that employment at their choice anytime.
I want to design and go I can go I will. So
what is the slave?
A slave is owned by the owner.
A servant or an employee is not owned by the employer is employed by the employer.
But a
slave is old, even if the slave does no work.
The slave belongs to
the employer, employees, the employee is employed by does not belong to
is a world of difference.
An employee has a choice of obeying or not obeying an employee has a choice of remaining in that employment or leaving that employment. An employee has very specific duties.
A person that is employed to drive a car cannot be asked to cook a cook a meal.
They cannot be asked to sweep the floor they cannot be asked to clean the toilet they cannot be asked to teach somebody something Their job is to drive a car.
What a slave.
A slave has no specific duties. What is the duty of the slave? The duty of the slave is only one and that is to obey.
That's it.
To obey, obey what obey whatever is told to them.
Ask yourself, are you the abbot of Allah?
Or are you the heart of Allah?
What is the word Allah used in the Quran? Subhana Allah de asabi Abdi he or Jaime
and this has been useful. This is being used for
the Usher of all marsali the IMA mole marsali the Cesar mursaleen the Imam will ambia
the hydro Hulk,
the best of creation,
the leader of the prophets and the messengers. The side of them.
Will Hamburg Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam what is Allah calling him?
So is that a address of honor or dishonor?
The the laws of Arizona called De Gaulle this was a solemn Abdi he, his slave to honoree model is based in Nashville.
So what's your problem with using that word for yourself? Or as a translation? Because that is the correct translation? Why do you serve it? You are misquoting and Miss translating the word of the Koran, Fear Allah.
And why is that important? As I told you not semantics is important because that then brings out this attitude of selective obedience. we behave like servants and that is the problem.
We must behave like slaves.
The slave has no choice.
The job of the slave is to obey. That's it.
If the Master says turn on your head, what does the slave do? He doesn't say why he does. He just said
he doesn't ask why. Why? Because he's doing his job. The Master says just sit in this chair.
Okay, I still do.
My job is to do what my aura tells me to do.
But if I'm a summit, that ask questions,
I challenge I pick and choose selective obedience is disobedience. Because when you have three things, and you select one of them, you are de selecting the other two.
Ask yourself what is our attitude towards Islam? Is it the attitude of an ABS? Or is it an attitude of having
settled is for yourself? Are you Abdullah? Or are you hiding Allah? Which one?
Are you a slave of Allah? Or I was summoned Allah please
do not do injustice with a corner. My Miss translating it.
I told you is not semantics. This is fundamental.
This is what drives us and this is the root of the problem of how we approach the Quran and therefore the issues in our lives.
In other words, again, a fundamental word. That word is ay.
Ay ay.
How do you translate
the orders because I saved
Because we don't try is also another word.
So it's a foreign key that
I adore.
But English, the word is translated as worse. Where did you get that from? We got this from a mindless transfer from the Bible.
The Bible is supposed to have verses. And so therefore English translators, they simply took that word verse and they put it in the correct
again, go to Google.
type in the word verse
Arabic what comes? What does it show?
The show I
order this show share,
I shall
versus I shall
I add what is the word I?
I type via
Arabic to English? What What do you see the sign?
sign?
Again, is it semantics No. Fundamental?
How is it randomized? Let me explain to you what is the sign?
What is a verse?
A verse is a piece of poetry.
It may be well written poetry, it may be badly written poetry, maybe poetry that that brings tears to your eyes and poetry which is so beautiful and so on audit might be portrait which leaves you unmoved. But it
doesn't demand that you do something not necessarily
not necessarily.
What about a sign?
What about a sign
a sign has meaning.
A sign has been assigned always be sign off something right sign off something sign of danger sign of health sign a wealth whether it whether it whether it's a doctor diagnosing clinical diagnosis of a patient by looking at the patient The doctor is looking for signs. What are the signs of water retention? For example, what are the signs of difficulty in respiration and asthmatic patient the doctor can look at his face and say this person is asthmatic because of the sunken cheeks, which come from drawing breaths struggling to draw breath.
Eyes are looking yellow sign probably habitus.
signs have meanings red light, when you are driving down the road, a red light is not decoration.
There had been a knowledge Oh wow, lovely Christmas, no.
Each of those signs has a meaning.
You go walking in the bush.
And if you don't know to read designs, you won't walk for very long
it will become the intrinsic part of the digestive system of Alliance.
Right
science demand understanding science Demand Action versus demand nothing.
We call the ayat of the Quran verses. So we do nothing. We focus on reciting them very nicely we just sound
and we do not even see how the same word we translated differently.
In the same person for example, in the vehicle, a lot of the work delivery lately one na de la
I adore Russia
sino word or vers
la de la
last run a data set in the eyes of sort of algebra
truly in the creation of the heavens of the earth and the automation of the night of the day. There are signs for people of intelligence. Now read that I have in the Quran itself. And there you're not translating it as either as verse you're translating it as sign it isn't a sign.
But when you are speaking about the eyes of the Quran, you say verse, verse number so and so.
My brothers and sisters the karate is not a book of poetry.
The Quran is no one no verses. The Quran is
a Koran is the book of guidance. It is a map and the map has signs. Does it make sense?
The Koran is a map to navigate your life
to take you to the right destination which is Jana insha. Allah
and like all good maps, it has signs
if you love
To read the signs and you follow the signs, it takes you to the right destination.
If instead of that you treat the person as a book of literature,
a book of quality with versus
you know the result
language
reflects attitudes and language
changes,
attitudes affect attitudes.
Therefore,
I end with where I began.
What does the Quran mean to you? The meaning of meaning,
not translation.
What does it mean to you? What does it do to you? What does it create in your life?
I ask Allah subhanaw taala to illuminate your life with a scallop ask Allah Subhana Allah to guide you to read it correctly, to understand it correctly, and to stop misquoting and Miss translating it and misguiding people and yourself.
ask Allah Subhana Allah to help us to understand
that this great
wealth he gave us which is his column
is something that we need to not just treat with respect and put it in a high place. But we use it
resorts it daily, in our lives, to refer to it again and again and again.
To find meaning in it.
And for it to be in the life jacket, which keeps us from sinking and drowning in the sea of this world.
Was Allah Allah hi Nana will Karim Allah Allah He was ibH by in burrata Gurdwara Hamid Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.