|
|
INTRODUCTION
|
|
Muhammad (may peace be upon him) and the Holy Qur'an
are, no doubt, two separate entities, but they are both so closely allied that
we cannot conceive of their independent existence. It is through Muhammad (may
peace be upon him) that the Holy Qur'an has been vouchsafed to us, and it is in
his august personality that we find its visible expression.
He it is Who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth,
that He may cause it to prevail over all religions (ix 34).
The verse bears clear testimony to the fact that the fountain-head of True
Guidance and True Religion is the Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him),
since he has been entrusted with the responsibility of showing to the people the
path of Righteousness and the path of Salvation, as desired by the Lord. He is
the trusted Messenger of Allah on earth, and it is through him that mankind has
been able to know His Will with all its major and minor implications.
We have been told in clear terms that the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon
him) neither said anything nor did anything of his own accord; whatever he said
and whatever he did emanated from the Lord
He does not speak of his own desire (liii. 8).
Say: I follow only that which is revealed to me from my Lord (vii. 203).
All the utterances and deeds of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) are
thus divinely inspired, and is them alone can one find the true meaning and the
real significance of the Will of Allah.
Mere transmission of the Book of Allah to the people faithfully and sincerely
does not exhaust the Prophet's duties. On him also lies the responsibility of
explaining the real purport of the Qur'anic teachings and then giving them a
visible shape, so that mankind may see, along with the injunctions of Allah, the
process of their transformation into reality and the outward forms in which they
are to be crystallised. Words alone, however powerful and however pointed,
cannot be fully comprehended unless these conjure before our minds definite
forms and shapes. Similarly, precepts, however valuable, can be best understood
only when these are illustrated by living examples.
It is indeed a boundless favour of Allah to humanity that, along with His
message, He also sent to us His Messengers to elaborate and elucidate it, and
then transmute it into practical reality under His direct guidance.
And We have sent unto thee the Admonition that thou mayest expound unto
mankind that which hath been revealed to them (xvi. 44).
As a final dispenser of the Message of Allah, the Prophet alone is best
fitted and, therefore, divinely authorised to determine the meanings of the Holy
Qur'an, to unfold
|
