Is Quran revealed for Tabarruk (Good Luck Gift)?

Among Muslims there are people who receive the Holy Quran as a gift and then place it ceremoniously in a shelf or keep it with themselves as a means of protection. No doubt the use of the Holy Quran for such purposes is a good and also effective deed. But the problem is the Quran has not come exclusively for such purposes and which are secondary. It will be an insult of Quran if it is accepted that Quran was revealed only for these petty purposes.

Its example is like that of a man who gets an invitation from the king. That unwise fellow neither opens that royal letter not reads it. Even if he opens it he only looks at the written thing and even if he reads the words he does not know its meaning. He simply utters them orally. Even if he undersatands it he gets no inspiration to see the king. He is not prepared to attend the royal court. He merely kisses the kings’ letter and then either puts it in his pocket or in a shelf of his house. In this way, has he not insulted the royal invitation? Will he not make the king frown on him?

The condition of most of the Muslims is like this. Only a few people keep any spirited connection with the Holy Quran. A majority of them, in order to get reward or Sawaab are content with mere recitation of the Divine Words.

No doubt the Words of Allah are in themselves radiance and there is reward in merely reading, writing or even looking at it. But the original and main purpose of the revelation of the Holy Quran is that man must think over its verses so that his heart may turn toward the higher universe. His heart my not entertain hopes from the world but may become inclined toward the Hereafter. The study of Quranic verses makes the heart warm and then man becomes ever ready to act according to its commandments.

The Lord of the universe has ordered man to think and ponder at many places including verse 29 of Surat 38 where He ordains:

كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِّيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُوْلُوا الْأَلْبَابِ

“O Prophet! The Book (Quran) which We have revealed to you is very blissful so that people may ponder over its verses and those who have intellect may gain admonition.”

(Surah Sad 29:38)

In Surah Zumar (39) verse 23 He says about the effectiveness of the verses of Quran:

اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابًا مُّتَشَابِهًا مَّثَانِيَ تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُودُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمْ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُدَى اللَّهِ يَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاء وَمَن يُضْلِلْ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ

“God has sent down the Best Word (Quran) the verses of which are similar to one another and (one thing has been said on a number of occasions) repeated. Its hearing makes hair stand on ends in case of those people who fear their Lord. Then their bodies become mild and their souls get restfully and peacefully attentive to the remembrance of their Lord.”

(Surah Zumar 32:23)

What is meant to convey is that the verses describing the punishment of the Hereafter make the recitor fearful and those promising Mercy make hearts happy and satisfied. Therefore if a man does not get affected by reciting Quran then know that he read the Quran in a state of mind when both his heart and mind were involved in their love for the material world. In his lecture 221, Amirul Mominin (a.s.) says about the virtues of the pious people: “These people recite the chapters of the Holy Quran with intense thought. They make their hearts melancholic by its recitation. They remedy their troubles and illnesses with the same verses of Quran. When they read verses relating to Divine Mercy their hearts incline to it with intense desire to get the same. When they hear verses mentioning God’s chastisement both their ears and hearts so much attentive to them too as if they hear the horrible roar of Hellfire.

There are hundreds of verses in the Holy Quran wherein the punishments of the Aakhirat (Hereafter) as well as the niceties of paradise have been detailed at length and then its followers have been invited to make attainment of the centre of their efforts. It has also condemned the worldly life and revealed its defects and drawbacks. The Surah Ankaboot (29) verse 64 mentions:

وَمَا هَذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

“And this worldly life is nothing but a plaything and showbusiness and if these people think and understand, there is no doubt that the everlasting life is only the house of the Hereafter.” In other words it is like the example of children gathering, playing for a while and returing back to their homes.

(Surah Ankaboot 29:64)

The fact is that only the life of the Hereafter is the real and the everlasting life. Now the question which inevitably arises is, after reading and hearing all these verses, have the hearts of Muslims turned away from this world and inclined toward the Hereafter orthey are mere orally and apparently expressing their belief in Quran and Islam while their thoughts and deeds, just like the materialists, have discarded the though of the Hereafter altogether?

As regards the Muslim faith in Aakhirat, there are innumerable events. But to be brief we point to only three in short:

Anas bin Nazar came to fight in the battle of Uhad. Thereafter no one could get his whereabouts. All Muslims began to search for him. At last Saad bin Muaaz found him out. Addresing Saad, he (Anas) said: By the Lord of Kaabaa, I am observing paradise with my own eyes, I can smell its fragrance. Saad says: I could see more than seventy (70) wounds on his body. Thereafter, when I once again went to look for him, I could not find him. But his sister saw his fingers lying on the ground and we knew that he wad already martyred.

During the battle of Badr, Umair bin Humaam Ansari heard the Holy Prophet saying: O Muslims! Get up and rush towards the Jannat (paradise) the area of which id equal to the sky and the earth. Umair asked amazingly: Is it so large? The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied: Yes, of course. Mair expresses much happiness. When the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) asked for the reason, Umair replied: Perhaps I may also get admission to it. The Holy Prophet assured him: Your entry is certain it. Then Umair picked up some dates and began eating. Then all of a sudden he said: It will be too late if I remain alive to finish all these dates. He put down dates and started battling unitl he attained martyrdom.

Amr bin Jamooh had four sons. He entered battlefield of Uhad with a lame leg. He also took all of his four sons with him. His sons told him: Since you have a significant physical defect, God has not made Jihaad compulsory for you. Amr went to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and complained that his sons were preventing from fighting in the path of God. He emphatically said that: It is my strong desire and ambition that I should be killed in this Holy war and enters Paradise with this defective leg. The Holy Prophet told him thato f course Jihaad was not incumbent on his but at the same he also asked his sons not to prevent the enthusiastic old fellow from fighting against the enemies, may be Allah grant him the high status of a martyr (Shaheed). Amr entered the battlefield along with the Holy Prophet and got martyred.

(Duniyaa dar Khatare Suqoot – World in Zanger of Collapsing)

The adventures of bravery and courage shown by Amirul Mominin (a.s.) in his desire for Hereafter, during the battle of ‘Lailat al Mabit’ and similar war have been recorded in history books. So much so that after returing from every battle he used to complain to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.): I am afraid I may miss martyrdom in the path of Allah. In reply the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) gave him good tidings of martyrdom in mosque. Similarly the life giving sacrifices of his beloved son Imam Husein (a.s.) and his companions and the virtues of his Shias (companions) are also recorded in history books.

Love for Hereafter and Negligence cannot go side by side

It must be born in mind that loves for Hereafter and carelessness (gaflat) cannot go side by side. Since the world-lovers remain engaged all the time in earning worldly material benefits their entire attachment is only with the world. Similarly who lone for Aakhirat also remember only the Hereafter and their love and affection is reserved for the other world only. Therefore the only way of loving Aakhirat is to remember the life after death constantly. Negligence toward it must be decreased. This is why the Holy Shariat has made it Mustahab (desirable) to remember death again and again, to keep one’s will and coffin cloth ready and also to look at it often, to attend funerals, to participate in the burial of other Muslims, to remember the dead and to give charity on their behalf. The aim of all these deeds is to make the living remembering their death constantly.

It is necessary for a faithful the time and which he spends for the world should be used for his Aakhirat so that the love for the world in his heart may be replaced by the love for the Hereafter. Here an objection is likely to be raised and that is what has been said above does not apply to the man of today. His life is different. Now he is so busy that at every moment he is short of time. A number of his jobs remain unattended even after sunset. This is the only point that makes some think that the ignorants have also some point and so they say that our statement does not apply to the modern age.

In this connection our reply is that, first of all, today’s man has made it his aim of life to gather worldly material benefits and so also irrationality. In order to gain wealth and luxury and comforts and tasty things he has deprived himself of genuine and natural rest, keeping himself engaged in a hot persuit for twentyfour hours. Such continuous struggle affects his nerves very adversely and makes him ill and shortens his life span.

Secondly, the focus of our talk was on thoughts, not on work and effort. What we said was that man must always keep thinking how can be, in a short span of this worldly life, beautify his eternal life of the Hereafter. So far as effort and work and business is concerned, there are innumerable narrations telling us that God does not like a lazy, inactive and self-indulgent fellow. Similarly God also dislikes one who goes too far in loving worldly comforts and who become almost and after them. A man who keeps himself engaged in his genuine worldly needs and works and also is moderate in his life along with making his aim the obedience of God will be the beloved of God. The worldly looking deeds of such a man will become the means of bettering his Hereafter. For example, if one is a soldier, his aim will be maintenance of public peace and of protecting Muslims from enemies. If he is an office employee, his aim ought to be service to public and to help the weak. If he is a teacher, he must always keep the instruction of the youth and their religious instruction before his eyes. Likewise if he is connected with trade and industry, then his goal should be public welfare. Shariat has put emphasis on each and every point and has also insisted that one must earn a lawful income and maintain his family members. (See Wasaail-e-Tijaarat). If his aim is to please God then the same worldly-looking work will, since it will be in obedience of God, be regarded as an act of worship which will benefit him in the Hereafter. Thirdly, we have not said that it is essential that the worry for the Aakhirat should be more than that about the worldly life. What we said is that one who has a powerful Faith and wants to be benefited by it should do so.

It should be understood that just as the friendship with world-lovers proves very harmful, similarly, sitting with the Aakhirat-lovers plays a very important role in strengthening the Faith.

Lessening the love of the world

The following things should be kept in mind in order to divert the heart from the worldly love, to inculcate the love of God, the prophet and the Holy Progeny and the Hereafater:

It is necessary to study deeply the verses of the Holy Quran and other narrations quoted in this discussion and which condemn world-love so that the severity of the sin of world-love can be understood, as it deserves to be understood. The root cause of all sins relating to body and soul is this love for world, because if this fountainhead of sins is nipped in the bud man will remain protected from the whims of satan. Man can practice good deeds as a provision for his Hereafter only when he clears his heart of worldly love because until he remains captive of the worldly love neither his Faith will be strong and steady nor can he be expected to do good deeds which can benefit him in the Hereafter. If man’s intentions are pure and selfless, sometimes the results of his good deeds show permanence whereas a man whose heart is full of the dirt of worldly love remains empty of truth and selflessness.

Worldly love comes in the way of Gathering provision for the Hereafter

To understand the severity of the sin of world-love, it is enough to mention that it prevents man from making provision for the life after death, that is, Aakhirat or Hereafter. The reason is that one will reap in the Hereafter only that which he has sown in this world. This world is the market place of trade whereas the Aakhirat is the place of enjoying the fruits of this business. It is compulsory for man to refrain from things that prevents him from realizing the soverity of the sin which forces him to enter a life of bankruptcy in the Hereafter. This should be regarded as the biggest of all dangerous things.

The summary of the talk is that the importance seriousness of the sin of world-love must be exposed fully because it is the root cause of all spiritual and physical illnesses. If illnesses like TB and cancer cut off man’s physical life, the worldly love also brings man’s spiritual life to an end. Such man is from the viewpoint of the permanent abode, a walking corpse who, becoming deprived of the successes of the everlasting life gets entangled in worldly troubles and chastise – chastisement.

This Illness must be remedied

Let it be understood there is no man whose heart is empty of love for this world because the moment he comes here and attains instinctive conscience he gets inclined toward the world around him. During this journey toward perfection, there comes a stage when the human conscience become ripe and he becomes aware of his eternal life. This exactly is the time when he should divert his attractions from this world and connect himself with the eternal world after death, i.e. the Aakhirat or the Hereafter.

There fore it is a must for man to ponder over all the three stages of worldly love mentioned above and decide for himself as to in which stage he finds himself and then try his best to reform himself.

Dangers upto the brink of grave

So long as man is in this world be ffases the danger of his conditions being changed or altered. For example, it is possible that a man remains in the third stage of worldly love for one month or for one year, but, thereafter, due to carelessness he may come up to the second stage and finally even at the first one which is kufr or blasphemy. So it is absolutely essential for man to look attentively to the condition of his heart and the circumstances and must never remain carefree.

Excessiveness of lust and intensity of anxiety

The man who gets himself imprisoned in the love of world not only makes himself liable to eternal punishment in the Hereafter but also gets entangled in trouble and difficulties in this worldly life too, so much that a time comes when e desires death. Here we enumerate some such difficulties and worries.

Increase in Greed:

This is a conditinm of the mind and heart of man wherein if he has nothing of the worldly wealth, he tries to earn it. When he gets it, he does not restcontented but struggles to increase it. This is the condition about which the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) says, “If man has two valleys full of gold he will remain anxious to acquire a third one.”

Growing anxieties:

Such a man always remains full of anxieties about the future. He feels terribly worried about his empty handedness and failure in his alms. When he loses any worldly thing he becomes so gloomy that he finds it unbearable to remain alive. NO other thing gives him satisfaction.

Anvy, anger and fearlessness

A world-loving man cannot see his beloved in the possession of others. He burns himself internally seeing the other one enjoying its benefits. Even if he enjoys the world he does not like that others too should benefit from it (worldly possessions).

Annoyance

In the life of a world-lover, if anything happens which is against his liking it becomes unbearable for him. He expresses his frowning and burns himself in fury.

Fearlessness

A world-lover does not care about his Hereafter when he runs after his worldly wishes. He rushes toward it becoming fearless of the future. As a consequence, he has to suffer difficulty, competition and a tag of war so much so that finally he even loses his life.

The difficulty of death

When it become clear to the lover of this world that the moment has come when a barrier is to come up between him and his beloved permanently, the death will become difficult for him to the extent of his love for the world. About such fellows, the Holy Quran says:

وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ كَمَا فُعِلَ بِأَشْيَاعِهِم مِّن قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا فِي شَكٍّ مُّرِيبٍ

“Now a curtain has been drawn between him and his longings.”

(Surah Sabaa 34:54)

In short, the death is a point of separation for world-lovers and the first step toward meeting the beloved for those who love the Hereafter.

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“And these people will forever remain (satisfactorily) enjoying their longings. Obviously the more one will have tasted the sweetness of worldly drinks and the more wealth he will have gathered the more difficult and regretful will be the death for him.

It is said that Sultan Mehmood Gaznavi was very fond of jewelry. He remained on deathbed continuously for three days. He ordered that all the precious stones brought from India should be heaped up before his eyes. So boxes full of jewelry were brought before him. He was looking at them and weeping. Signs went off his heart. Finally he had to breth his last with a heart full of ungratified intense desires. What is all the more strange is that even at that stage he was not ready to give some of the wealth to the needy.

(Zeenat-ul-Majaalis).

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) says: The more a man is attached to this world, the more difficult will death seem to him.

(Kaafee Mutarjim: V: 3, p. 473)

If a man is longing for the worldly life and he comes to know definitely that death will separate him from his beloved for ever and he also knows that death comes only by the Command of God, from which he can never escape, he becomes an enemy of the angel of death. The condition of a man who enters the other world in a state of anger and frowning is obvious. According to the testimony of the holy Quran and authentic narration, such a fellow will never come out of the Hell and will remain eternally in the chastisement. Sometimes it also no happens that Satan brings before the eyes of a world-lover at the last moment, things intensely loved by the departing soul and compels him to commit blasphemy (Kufr). There are innumerable examples of such tragic ends. Here we present only two.