Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim, in the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate. May all praise and praisings be to Allah alone. May we give all responsibility to God, the One of limitless grace and incomparable love, the One who gives us of His undiminishing wealth of grace. As-salamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, may the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon you.
For all three worlds, the world of awwal, the time of creation, dunya, the world in which we live, and akhirah, the hereafter, God has given us the most precious treasure. He created what is known as Adam (A.S.), then He made the world, and He gave explanations of the hereafter. We, the children of Adam (A.S.), must realize this.
We were all born as one family. Whether we live in the east, west, north, or south, the human generation is one race. And what is called God or Allah is one. The one God sent down His teachings to all the prophets. Out of all the prophets that came, twenty-five were specially selected, and out of these, eight were the chosen ones, having the greatest clarity: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad, may the peace of God be upon them all. Through these eight prophets God proved His secret to the people. Finally, all the teachings and commandments that were sent down from the beginning to the time of Muhammad, the Rasul (Sal.), were gathered together in what is called the Qur’an.
We must look at the Qur’an in two different ways. There are the opposites of khair and sharr or good and evil, dhat and sifat God’s grace or essence and the manifested creation, and halal and haram or permissible and impermissible. One section exists as the laws and justice of God, and the other exists as the section of darkness.
In this state, we who are the children of Adam (A.S.) must realize that we must discard all that is evil and accept and act upon only what is good. That is the law of righteousness. We must simply discard what is evil; we need not denounce or attack anything.
What is called Islam was brought as perfect purity by the Qur’an. It is brotherly unity. Islam is to bring together as one family all the children of the one mother who have divided into four separate sections. The Qur’an teaches us to see what is good as good, while discarding what is evil. It is the law of justice. It shows us patience, inner patience, contentment, surrendering all to the will of God, and giving all praise to God. We, the children of Adam (A.S.), must understand this.
The Qur’an and its explanations are very deep in meaning. Therefore, we who are the children of Adam (A.S.) should not hold up the Qur’an as a banner for the slightest reason. We should not quote from the Qur’an and use it for waging wars, for our fights and quarrels, for our anger toward others, or to gain things of this world. The world is sharr, evil, and has to be discarded. The opposite, khair, which is goodness, must be accepted and put into action. The Qur’an should only be used for what is good. It shows brotherhood and unity, not divisiveness and discrimination. It soothes those who are weeping in sorrow. It gives solace to those who are suffering and makes them smile. It comforts those who are ill and protects them. It explains the wealth of God to those who are poor. It gives peace to those who are mentally ill. It gives wisdom to those without wisdom. It creates faith in those without faith and makes them bow in reverence to God. What is called the Qur’an is, in reality, something that has great value and very deep meaning.
The true meaning of Islam and the Qur’an is quite different from what people accept today, in the midst of so much fighting and strife. People quote Islam and wave the Qur’an as a banner for their wars. This is not correct. The Qur’an discards what is evil and shows only goodness, unity, and tolerance. Tawakkul-‘alalläh, giving all responsibility to God, and giving all praise to God, saying, “Al-hamdu lilläh,” with every breath is the Qur’an and Islam.
No matter how large the ocean is, it cannot quench our thirst, can it? The ocean cannot quench the thirst of any life. But if there is a pond, however small it may be, it can comfort many lives, appeasing thirst and dispelling fatigue. Like that, the Qur’an comforts so many lives, dispelling fatigue and hunger and clearing away the dirt. This is the meaning of the Qur’an and Islam. When you quote from the Qur’an, those words must only demonstrate peace and equality. When you say “Islam,” you must show patience, equality, and peace. When you show what is good, that goodness points to Islam, but when you show what is evil, that evil is something that has been discarded from the Qur’an .
The treasures, kingdoms, and titles of this world are all sharr and have been discarded from the Qur’an. Fighting and waging war for these worldly things, seeking vengeance, committing treacherous acts, telling lies for worldly gain, eating haräm or impermissible foods, lying out of jealousy for the sake of titles and positions—all these cannot be called Islam. And you cannot quote the Qur’an, saying that these actions appear there, because these actions are totally contrary to the Qur’an.
The Qur’an shows the brotherhood where we live as one family and eat off the same plate in unity. The Qur’an shows the brotherhood where we live in harmony, the way it is in the church or the mosque, where the beggar and the king are equal. It shows the brotherhood where we embrace each other, whether in the place of prayer or in the home. If two people have a fight, the next time they meet, they will look each other in the face and embrace and beg forgiveness from each other. The Qur’an and Islam tell us to ask forgiveness from God for our own faults, to dispel our anger, and to embrace each other in the next moment.
These are the explanations of the laws of the Qur’an from the beginning of creation to the hereafter. Lying, vengeance, treachery, jealousy, and murder should never be done in the name of Islam. Islam is brotherly unity, tolerance, and peacefulness. It is to purify each heart with the water of the Kalimah which the Rasul (Sal.) brought, washing away the darkness and creating peace.
But there are some people who hold up the Qur’an with anger, jealousy, and selfishness, using the Qur’an and Islam for their own self-gain and pride. The Qur’an should never be mentioned with these qualities, but should be mentioned only where there is righteousness. Anger, treachery, deceit, discrimination, divisiveness, and all that is impermissible have been thrown out of the Qur’an. All these sections belonging to the world have been eliminated from the Qur’an, and they must be eliminated from man, too. Man must take what is khair and eliminate what is sharr. In this way, the Qur’an must be used to show what is good and to eliminate what is evil, and this is Islam. Just bringing to the lips the words Qur’an and Islam for the slightest reason is not correct. The word Islam means unity, brotherhood, and harmony. It does not see differences among people; it only sees peace and harmony among all lives. This is Islam. This is the Qur’an. Every one of the children of Adam (A.S.) must realize this.
The words of the Qur’an are the divine words of Allah. If we take even one atom from the Qur’an, we will find countless meanings, beyond our understanding. If we split that one atom with our wisdom and then divide it into ten million pieces and take one of those pieces and examine it, we will find ninety-nine, ninety-nine particles revolving round and round without one touching another. These are His wilayats, His powers, revolving around each other inside that tiny particle. If we take one of those particles and divide it into five million pieces and then take one of those particles and examine it, there too we will find ninety-nine, ninety-nine particles revolving one around the other without touching one another. If we take that particle and divide it into two and a half million pieces and then take one particle and examine it, we will find ninety-nine particles revolving around each other without touching. If we take one of those pieces and cut it into a million particles and take one of those and examine it, we will find ninety-nine, ninety-nine particles revolving one around the other without touching. If we take one of those particles and divide it into five hundred thousand pieces, each of those particles will show ninety-nine, ninety-nine revolving one around the other. If we take one of those particles and cut it into one thousand pieces, again we will see ninety-nine, ninety-nine particles revolving round and round without one touching the other. If we take a particle from that and cut it into one hundred pieces and examine it from the station of wisdom within wisdom, again we will see ninety-nine, ninety-nine particles revolving one around the other without touching. As we keep examining these, we find it going deeper and deeper within, while the power is becoming greater and greater.
These ninety-nine are the Asma'ul-Husna, the divine names of Allah. God has three thousand divine attributes and ninety-nine wilayats or powers. Everything is in the form of atoms, and every particle contains the qudrat, the power of Allah. Everything moves through His power. We who are Islam must realize this. This is the Qur’an. This is His wilayats.
One who calls himself Islam will never harm anyone, take revenge, or be treacherous toward anyone. We must realize this. Islam must realize this. The name “Islam” has very deep meaning and is of inestimable value, and it should never be held up for falsehood, robbery, or murder. Islam is brotherly unity that can appease the thirst of the entire world. This is the Islam which was brought by Prophet Muhammad (Sal.). All of everything, all the universes, and all of creation is contained within the Qur’an. But failing to understand this, we hold up and quote the Qur’an and Islam for the slightest reasons.
We who are in the world must realize that the Qur’an is the divine law of righteousness, which was given to show brotherly unity, to make lives peaceful, to forgive in the presence of faults, to teach patience and compassion and to comfort all lives. We must have sabur, shakur, tawakkul, and al-hamdu lillah. This is the Qur’an and Islam. All my brothers and sisters who have iman, perfect faith in God, must realize this. Amin. Amin.
M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
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