بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
رَبِّ ٱشۡرَحۡ لِى صَدۡرِى (٢٥)وَيَسِّرۡ لِىٓ أَمۡرِى (٢٦)وَٱحۡلُلۡ عُقۡدَةً۬ مِّن لِّسَانِى (٢٧)يَفۡقَهُواْ قَوۡلِى (٢٨
Muslims’ belief on Al Quran can be summed up in three sentences:
Al Quran is the ‘Word of Allah’
It was revealed through the angel Gabriel Alaihe Salam (AS) to the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wassalam (SAW)
It is the complete text and exists in its absolute original form as it was revealed.
The last part means that Al Quran exists in its pure form without any adulterations, there is only one version across the continents and there is no change whatsoever even in a single alphabet or dot.
Let us deliberate on the first point and try to understand about the ‘Word of Allah.’
Most of us know that Torah was given to Moses (AS) in written form; the commandments were inscribed on stone tablets, whereas the revelation of Al Quran on the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) took a different process.
The Holy Quran itself refers to this as the “Word of Allah”. In Surah 9. At-Taubah, Verse 6:
وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّىٰ يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
And if one of the idolaters seek protection from you, grant him protection till he hears the word of Allah, then make him attain his place of safety; this is because they are a people who do not know.
In the above Ayah or Verse it clearly states that it is the ‘Word of Allah’, however it is like tip of the iceberg, question is does Allah speaks? A very difficult question, if we look at the 99 names of Allah, every name signifies different attributes or characteristics of Allah. Wherein we don’t find attribute pertaining to ‘speech or speaking’. However some scholars agree that ‘Al Mutakallim’ meaning ‘The Speaker’, is also one of the names or attributes of Allah.
We also know that Allah spoke to Moses (AS) as mentioned in Surah 28, Al Qasas Verse 30:
فَلَمَّا أَتَاهَا نُودِيَ مِن شَاطِئِ الْوَادِ الْأَيْمَنِ فِي الْبُقْعَةِ الْمُبَارَكَةِ مِنَ الشَّجَرَةِ أَن يَا مُوسَىٰ إِنِّي أَنَا اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ
And when he came to it, a voice was uttered from the right side of the valley in the blessed spot of the bush, saying: O Musa! surely I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
It is quite evident from above Ayah that Allah does Speak. What and how the relationship of attributes with the divinity is very difficult for human beings to understand, we can only imagine that there is a strong relationship of Al Quran with Allah.
To illustrate the grandeur and the divine power of Al Quran being the Word of Allah, Allah says in Surah 59 Al Hashr Ayah or Verse 21:
لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, you would certainly have seen it fallin down, splitting asunder because of the fear of Allah, and We set forth these parables to men that they may reflect
Just imagine a mountain being falling down, splitting asunder because of the fear of Allah, because of the divine powers of the Words. This phenomenon can be better understood by referring to another Surah 7 Al Araf Ayah or Verse 143:
وَلَمَّا جَاۗءَ مُوْسٰي لِمِيْقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهٗ رَبُّهٗ ۙ قَالَ رَبِّ اَرِنِيْٓ اَنْظُرْ اِلَيْكَ ۭقَالَ لَنْ تَرٰىنِيْ وَلٰكِنِ انْظُرْ اِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَاِنِ اسْـتَــقَرَّ مَكَانَهٗ فَسَوْفَ تَرٰىنِيْ ۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلّٰى رَبُّهٗ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهٗ دَكًّا وَّخَرَّ مُوْسٰي صَعِقًا ۚ فَلَمَّآ اَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحٰنَكَ تُبْتُ اِلَيْكَ وَاَنَا اَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ
And when Moses came at Our appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: ‘O my Lord! Reveal Yourself to me, that I may look upon You!’ He replied: ‘Never can you see Me. However, behold this mount; if it remains firm in its place, only then you will be able to see Me.’ And as soon as his Lord unveiled His glory to the mount, He crushed it into fine dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he recovered, he said: ‘Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance, and I am the foremost among those who believe.’
From this we can correlate the ‘Word ( كَلَام ) of Allah’ and the ‘Glory (Tajalli – تَجَلّٰى) of Allah’, we can say that it has similar relationship, if Glory of Allah can crush the mountain into fine particles and dust, the Word of Allah can also crumble the mountains, can split them into pieces and particles.
If we ponder on Al Quran, we see that it is full of Glory, it is filled with Glorious Words. Spoken words are the picture of the person; they tell you about the personality of the speaker, a literate person will speak differently compared to an illiterate person.
Mark Twain said that “the difference between the right word and almost the right word is like lightening and the lightening bug!” Words make the difference. Anyone with open heart and soul who reads Al Quran or listens to the recitation knows that this is no ordinary conversation, it is no ordinary communication, it is something out of this world.
Divinity Speaks. But the language of Divinity is not like languages spoken by human beings, it has no match. Whatever is revealed to the messengers of Allah it is revealed through the divine knowledge, Moses (AS) was given the Tablets in Hebrew language, Isa (Jesus – AS) was given Bible, we don’t exactly know whether it was in Hebrew or Aramaic language. There is no scripture of original Bible available to us; the oldest version that is available is a translation in Latin or probably Greek.