THE WORD OF GOD

THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 AD. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Believers, do not push yourselves forward in the presence of God and His Messenger. Fear God—God hears all and knows all. (49: 1) To hold one’s opinion superior to that of the Prophet is forbidden. During the life of the Prophet Muhammad, this attitude on the part of an addressee took the shape of indulgence in verbosity at his meetings, the object being to excel the Prophet’s discourse. Subsequently, this meant the forming of opinions in disregard of the guiding principles laid down by God and His Prophet. This sort of lapse occurs because man forgets that God is keeping a watch over him. If he came to know that his utterances reached God before they reached other human beings, he would prefer to remain silent rather than talk. Believers, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak as loudly when speaking to him as you do when speaking to one another, lest your actions come to nothing without your realizing it. Those who lower their voices in the presence of God’s Messenger are men whose hearts God has tested for piety—they shall have forgiveness and a great reward—those who call out to you from outside your apartments are lacking in understanding. If they waited patiently until you came out to see them, it would be better for them. But God is forgiving and merciful. (49: 2-5) The Bedouin tribes from the areas surrounding Madinah were not mature in understanding. When they used to come to the meetings of the Prophet Muhammad, they did not address him as ‘O Prophet of