Al Qur’aan; it is the word of God sent down to Muhammad who was one of his Deliverers and it was revealed in the Arabic language.  The revelation of Al Qur’aan was during a period of time when the Arab peoples had immersed themselves in idolatry and had adopted many social practices repugnant to moral sensibilities however, it would be incorrect to assume that was the nature of all Arabs at that time.  There were Arabs who had accepted Judaism, Christianity, as well as other forms of monastic worship but many of those who had accepted monasticism still maintained social and cultural practices inherited from their ancestors.  In short, they were a diverse grouping of peoples.  Conflicts aside, Arabs and non-Arabs lived and worked side by side in many areas of Arabia and many of those non-Arabs adhered to their own faiths as well as Judaism and Christianity.  One difference that set the Arabs apart from their non-Arab brethren was religion.  The Arabs had not received a divine scripture from God.  Therefore, the Arabs by that one fact were an “unlettered” people; additionally many of them had no formal or classical education, which also designated them as being “unlettered”.  The term “unlettered” is no more than the opposite of being “lettered”, or schooled in higher learning - a term still used in modern society and academia - “he was a man of letters” - meaning he was “scholarly”.  The Arabic form of “unlettered” is “ummiy” - and both have the same meaning and significance attached to them - as opposed to being unable to read and write.  In modern society the term “illiterate” often describes a person who is unable to read and write, however, the term, illiterate, does have more than one definition and a person who can read and write might still be “illiterate” according to them.

When Al Qur’aan was "sent down"/revealed to Muhammad, his people - the Arabs - were already a religious people, they were Polytheists.  The Arabs not only believed in God, they believed in approximately 364 lesser gods as well.  Before I go any further I would like to address something of a controversial nature, and that is regarding the name Allaah.  It has been suggested the name Allaah, which is used in Al Qur’aan, is not the same as the God of all creation due to its use by the Pre-Islaamic or Pagan Arabs.  Firstly, the word “God” in its strictest sense is not a personal name; it is a name of something.  Secondly, the word “Allaah” is correctly a personal name.  In English God is considered a noun, and a name; however, it is more accurately a pronoun, a description.  If I were to say someone was a man or a woman I am referring to ‘what they are’, to refer to the specific person I would call them by their name i.e. Ahmad, Amiyna, etc..  The same holds true with the word God, which is ‘what I am referring to’, but the use of the name Allaah, that is ‘who I am referring to’.  Many languages have their own word for God, in Spanish, it is Dios, in German, it is Gott, and in Arabic, it is Ilaah and not Allaah as you might have thought.  Therefore, the Pre-Islaamic Arabs, being Polytheists, had many ‘aaliha’ (god’s) but they did believe in an Ilaah (one God), who created everything - including the lesser ‘aaliha’ - and whose name was/is “Allaah”.  Consequentially when Muhammad received the revelations of Al Qur’aan and spoke to fellow Arabs of “Allaah”, they already knew who “Allaah” was.  Their problem was with relinquishing the approximately 364 lesser ‘aaliha’, something they did not want to do.  Therefore, the greatest challenge with which Muhammad faced was the resistance to the concept of there being only one God!

الله لآ اله الا هو

Allaah there is no god but him  2:255

The physical abuse Muhammad withstood, the verbal abuse, ridicule, loss of income, alienation of family and friends, were all reactions of rejection to the “One God Concept”.  All these reactions of rejection were endured by Muhammad in furtherance of the message of “tawhiyd” (there is only one God) hence “tawhidullaah” (there is only one God, Allaah).  Any battles ultimately fought by the Muslims were for the defense of life due to the reactionary rejection of the ‘tawhidullaah’ concept (The Qur’aan 2:255) by the people.  However, the great ‘jihaad’ (effort) for Muhammad, and then the early Muslims, was over the ‘tawhidullaah’ concept and the weapon they used was the word of Allaah, Al Qur’aan.  For years, Muhammad endured all manner of physical and verbal abuse, as did the early Muslims, until Allaah gave the permission to defend their selves.

اذن للذين يقاتلون بانهم ظلموا

Permission is given to those to fight to whom have been wronged  22:39

و قاتلوا فى سبيل الله الذين يقاتلونكم و لا تعتدوا  ان الله لا يحب المعتدين

Fight in the way of Allaah those who fight you but do not transgress, verily Allaah loves not transgressors  2:190

During that time of the Muslims passivism, the only thing they relied upon was Al Qur’aan and the strength of Muhammad.  The Muslims often asked Muhammad’s permission to defend their selves, and Muhammad denied their requests, explaining Allaah had not permitted it.  A good number of Muslims were not only tortured but also killed during this period.  They were non-violent martyrs preferring death rather than disobey the word of Allaah - Al Qur’aan - not like their present day counterparts who kill innocent men, women, children, and themselves, with bombs strapped to their bodies.  Once given permission to fight, the Muslims did so under the direction of Al Qur’aan, which forbade not only their being aggressors but also transgression, by using more force than was necessary for defense.

            As time passed, the once tiny band of Muslims grew to proportions that they became a force worthy of reckoning.  Ultimately, the aggressive tactics of the Muslims opponents abated and the word of Allaah, Al Qur’aan, was once again the weapon that the Muslims used against their adversaries.  It was during this period that Al Islaam actually exploded across the Arabian Peninsular and beyond.

            There is an incorrect postulation that after this explosive growth of Al Islaam all of Arabia was Islaamic.  The truth is that a large number of peoples did become Muslims but many - including Arabs - continued to practice other forms of religious faith, Judaism, Christianity, and Idolatry were among them, however Idolatry was no longer mainstream nor in the majority.

It is important to understand what accounted for this transition of Arabia in the short time span of but twenty-three years.  What was at the heart of the Muslims success against seemingly overwhelming odds?  What did those Muslims do which led to their success that their present day counterparts - with all the advances in education, technology, and weaponry - have not done?  The answer is a simple one and maybe its simplicity is what causes it to be so hard to accept.  Those Muslims believed in Allaah, believed in Al Qur’aan and refused to follow anything other than that.  They saw that was what their leader, Muhammad, did and they did likewise.  That was the sun’a of Muhammad and they followed that same sun’a, and were successful, just as Al Qur’aan promised them!

قد افلح المؤمنون

Certainly successful will be the believers  23:1

            Those Muslims internalized Al Qur’aan, they believed it, lived it, breathed it, it was their sole source of guidance, they preferred death rather than abandon it, and Allaah blessed them for their unwavering devotion to his word.  The present day Muslims in contrast to their predecessors follow everything except Al Qur’aan.  Too many of the present day Muslims do not even bother to learn Arabic, feeling it is unnecessary, if Arabic is not already their native language.  Do you really think you are following the word of Allaah, when you cannot even read it?  They are the Muslims who would choose to believe that verse 14:4 (below) is referring to Arabs and probably those of Muhammad’s time and geographical locale.  They have failed to realize that once they submitted and became Muslims - if they in fact did - and accepted “Diyni Allaahi” and Al Qur’aan as the word of Allaah, Arabic became their “native language” irrespective of whatever their native language had been.  They have not become Arabs and Arabic is not their native language due to ethnicity or nationality but it is their native language via Al Diyn (The Way Of Life) which they freely chose.  “They became their Deliverers people”!

و مآ ارسلنا من رسول الا بلسان قومه ليبين لهم

And we sent no Deliverer except with the language of his people to make the message clear to them  14:4

انآ انزلناه قرآنا عربيا لعلكم تعقلون

Verily we have sent down the Arabic Qur'aan to you so that you can understand  12:2

قرآنا عربيا غيرذى عوج لعلهم يتقون

A Qur'aan Arabic free from flaws so that they can be reverent  39:28

كتاب فصلت آياته قرآنا عربيا لقوم يعلمون

A book of detailed verses an Arabic Qur’aan to people of knowledge  41:3

فانما يسرناه بلسانك لعلهم يتذكرون

Verily we have made this easy in your language so they can remember  44:58

And those Muslims whose native language is Arabic, most of them fail to take advantage of that blessing and ‘study’ Al Qur’aan, preferring to rely on someone else to tell them what Allaah said and means in Al Qur’aan.  They are really no better than their non-Arabic reading counterparts who also prefer to rely on someone else to tell them what Allaah said and means in Al Qur’aan via interpreted Qur’aan’s, and tafsir’s (commentaries), etc..

Al Qur’aan is “the word of Allaah and it is in Arabic”, in any other language it is an “interpretation” of what the translator ‘may understand that word to mean’; however, no one can tell you what Allaah means better than Allaah can personally tell you.

Do we want the promised success of verse 23:1 and are we willing to put some jihaad (effort) into achieving it?  Do we want the abundant blessings we should be receiving or not?  Are we there yet?  Are we willing to keep on being less than the best, less than the foremost?  Moreover, when will we finally be tired enough and fed up enough with our present condition?  Are we there yet?  If we are there, then all we have to do is the same as our predecessors did - follow their sun’a and that of Muhammad - and believe in Allaah alone and follow Al Qur’aan.

لتبلون فى اموالكم و انفسكم

You will be tested in your wealth and your personal selves  3:186

كتاب انزلناه اليك مبارك ليدبروا آياته و ليتذكر اولوا الالباب

A decree we have sent down to you blessed to ponder on its signs and to remember by those of intelligence  38:29