◄PART 2: ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ETHICS, UNIT 1: PILLARS OF ISLAMPART 2: ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ETHICS, UNIT 3: COMPULSORY CHARITY IN ISLAM (ZAKAAT)►

PART 2: ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ETHICS, UNIT 2: QUR’AN AND ITS SPIRITUAL IMPORTANCE

  • PART 2: ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ETHICS, UNIT 2: QUR’AN AND ITS SPIRITUAL IMPORTANCE

    2.4The Quran’s message and human conductLearning Activity: 2.4 • Some say that since the Qur’an is Holy it came from Heaven? Do you agree with this statement? If yes? Why? If no justify its origin

    Introductory Activity 2

    Issac is a Senior 3 student. He considers the Qur’an as the normal book of per-sonal and community conduct as Penal code in Rwanda? Is he right is his think-ing? Why justify your position?

    2.1 Introduction to Qur’an: the structure of the Qur’an

    The Quran, the last revealed word of God, is the primary source of every Muslim’s faith and practice. It deals with all the subjects which concern human beings: wisdom, doctrine, worship, transactions, law, etc., but its basic theme is the relationship between God and His creatures. At the same time, it provides guidelines and detailed teachings for a just society, proper human conduct, and an equitable economic system.

    Note that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Arabic language only. So, any Quranic translation, either in English or any other language, is neither a Quran, nor a version of the Quran, but rather it is only a translation of the meaning of the Quran. The Quran exists only in the Arabic language in which it was revealed. The holy Quran was gradually revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) during 23 Years, and it contains 30 Parts (Juzu), 114 chapters (Surah) and 6236 verses (Ayat).

    2.1. Believe in Allah and the Qur’an

    Learning Activity: 2.1

    • Is the Qur’an Holy book? Justify your position? Is it important to the individual prayer and to the community worship? How?

    Believe in Allah.

    The doctrine of believing in One God is the foundation of Islam and is the central to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an. God is the Supreme Being who exists independently of everything else. He is the sole Creator of the Universe, the Maker of the Heaven and Earth. According to Islam, no event occurs in this Universe without God’s knowledge and implicit consent. He is the ultimate source of every action and happening, animate or inanimate. God created not only the galaxies and stars, but also the life-form on this earth and elsewhere. He is the Nourisher and Sustainer of all creation; He is their Lord

    The Holy Qur’an gives the important message that Allah is one. He is Independent. He does not need any support. Everything depends on Him. He has no father and has no son or daughter. There is none like Him. (Q. 112, verses 2-5). Islam stresses the need to have firm belief in various attributes of Allah, the Creator and the Controller of the Universe. He is the Lord of all the worlds. He is the Gracious, the Merciful. He is the Master of the Day of Judgment(Q. 1:1-4).

    For human beings, He is a very personal God. He listens to their supplications and prayers (Q2:187). He provides for all their needs (Q 42:20). He overlooks their shortcomings and forgives their excesses (Q 39:54). He is there whenever they need Him, in distress or prosperity (Q 13:27). He deals with His creation with mercy, love and compassion (Q 3:31). He cannot be seen with physical eyes but reveals Himself to man through His Prophets and through the working of His attributes. Allah is eternal and infinite. He lives today as He lived before and will continue to live hereafter. He speaks to people as He spoke in the past. All His attributes are Ever Lasting.

    Believe in the Last Book: Al-Quran.


    Muslims believe that the Qur’an is Allah’s last revelation and the best of His speech, the Quran can be defined as this: The Arabic word of Allah that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) both in word and in meaning. It was narrated in frequent chains, and is a challenge and miracle to humankind.

    We can learn five important things about the Quran from this definition.

    • The Arabic word of Allah: The Quran is the word of Allah, in Arabic. This means that anything that’s not Arabic isn’t the Quran. You can’t pray in English, in French, in Swahili, in Kinyarwanda, it has to be in Arabic.

    • Revealed to the Prophet: We know that Allah revealed many revelations including the Gospel (Injeel) revealed to the Prophet Jesus (Issa) and the Torah (Tawrat) revealed to the Prophet Moses (Moussa) and the Zabur revealed to the Prophet David (Dawud) (peace be upon them). Those are also revelations of Allah but they’re not the Quran.

    • Revealed in Word and Meaning: not only the meaning of the Quran the same as what Allah meant; but the words themselves are also from Allah.

    • Frequent chain (Mutawaatir): The Quran was revealed in a frequent fashion, so many narrators narrated it, at every single step in the chain of narration, so it’s impossible that they all lied or made a mistake.

    • A challenge and miracle to Humankind: Muslims believe that the Quran is an ongoing challenge and miracle to the humankind until the end of the universe. The Qur’an has been given different names by Allah such as Al-Qur’an, Al-Furqaan, Al-Kitab, Al-Hudaa, A-Shifaa’, A-Zik’r, A-Nour, Al-Bayan, Ar-Rahmah, etc.

    Believing in the Quran has two levels:

    a. The first level is (a pillar of Faith) and leaving it is a nullifier of the Faith (Infidelity). It includes believing that the Quran is the word of Allah, was revealed to the Prophet (Peace be upon him), it is the last revelation, it was delivered to us completely, it is protected from addition and subtraction, it is a source of legislation, etc.

    b. The second level includes (obligations and recommendations). Leaving them is not considered (an Infidelity). It includes applying all its rules, reading it, memorizing it, understanding and applying it, etc.

    For a person to believe in Quran should think critically about two following things:

    • Its unique qualities which include the following:

    a. The Quran covers all the teachings of previous books. Allah says: “And We have sent down to you (O Mohammad) the Book (this Quran) in truth, confirming the Scripture that came before it and Muhayminan (trustworthy in highness and a witness) over it (old Scriptures)” (Q. 5:48)

    b. Allah promised to safeguard it as he says “Verily, it is Us Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)”. (Q.15:9).

    • Its miracles which include the following.

    c. . Knowledge or meaning. Al-Qur’an brought a lot of science and meaning which no human was capable of bringing. For example, the scientific phenomena that Qur’an has described long before they were understood. Such as Separation of Fresh/Salt water in the sea instead of their mixing, embryonic development stages in the mother’s womb, etc.

    d. Fulfilled many prophecies. Some examples;

    (1)New Transport Systems: “And when the she-camels, ten months pregnant are abandoned.” (Q.81-5). “And He has created horses and mules and asses that you may ride them, and as a source of beauty. And He will create what you do not yet know.” (Q. 16-9).

    (2) Pollution: “Corruption has spread on land and sea because of what men’s hands have wrought” (Q.30-42).

    One of the interpretations of the above verse of the Holy Quran is the environmental pollution, caused by human being. And that is spread both in land and sea due to our own inventions, i.e., fumes from chimneys of factories, chemical and nuclear waste, and huge traffic in the cities, noise and creation of ozone hole are manifest testimonies of the fulfilment of this prophecy. Thus there is a need of protecting the environment from change since the holly Quran revelation. Allah says “We have, without doubt, sent down the Message, and we will assuredly guard it (from corruption)”Q.15: 9

    Application Activity 2.1

    • Is using Qur’an in the spiritual activities necessary? Justify your position with concrete examples?

    2.2. The relationship between the people and the Quran.

    Learning Activity: 2.2
    • The entire Quran is memorized by almost every Islamic scholar and hundreds of millions of ordinary Muslims male and female, generation after generation. Almost every Muslim, Arab and non-Arab, elders and Children, has some portion of the Quran memorized to read in his prayers. That shows that the Quran is memorized inimitably. Why do you think it is important? Is there a loss if someone does not memorize it?

    The Qur’an as being the divine guidance of Allah for humanity establishes a living and dynamic relation between Allah and humanity to provide a basis for the integration of individual and social life and, in the final stage, for the creation of culture and the Islamic civilization. Muslims, therefore, have always approached the Qur’an as a dynamic source and a prescriptive guidance for the society and its welfare. Accordingly, Muslim scholars have solved the concrete problems by applying the rules derived from the Qur’an. Muslim intellectuals, throughout the history, hence, have produced an on-going and progressive way of interpretation and a fresh understanding by recontextualizing the Qur’an in the society.

    The most dynamic aspect of the Qur’anic revelation is its invitation to Muslims to reflect the meanings of messages in order to seek right guidance for establishing an ideal society. The main key to prosperity for this construction is the interaction between revelation and the processes of reasoning in a way that there has been an ongoing relationship between humankind, and revelation.
    The relationship between the Quran and Society is described in the following facts:

    The Qur’an as a Communicative Act.
    The Qur’an is the message from Allah to all humans, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic to guide and to explain the right path as Allah says in the Qur’an: “Verily this Qur’an leads to the path that is most right” and also “And We have sent down the Book to you as an explanation for everything,a guidance, a mercy and glad tidings for Muslims”. Allah linguistically communicates with man in a way that the words are understandable and comprehensible. Allah uses the most clearly, eloquent and concise language, and in doing so the meaning is clear to those who are well-grounded in the Arabic language.

    This is the reason that every messenger has been sent in the language of his people. There are two sides in this communication, God and human who are ontologically different from each other. However, the message is considered to have been delivered by an intermediary, Gabriel (Jibril). In this process the first side was always sender, speaker while the second side remained as the receiver.

    Therefore, revelation consists in verbal communication between God and man. But theoretically no exchange words, nor teaching nor learning is possible unless there is realized between the two parties a certain kind of equality, i.e. the relation of the speaker and the hearer. Basically, the form of the Qur’anic revelation is such that God is the speaker, Muhammad is the recipient, and Jabril is the intermediary agent of the revelation. Muhammad is then the Messenger of the divine message and brings it to his people.


    This communication is identified in the Qur’an by the term of (Wahy) which is the central concept regarding to the nature of the Qur’an. The termitself signifies the oral communicative character of Qur’anic revelation eventhough it is sometimes accompanied by visions and nonverbal communication. When the verb, Wa-ha is used of divine activity, it mostly refers to divine communication with human beings in terms of the process of communication, “God spoke” that “He revealed himself through language and that not in some mysterious non-human language but in a clear humanly understandable language.

    Occasions of revelation: Relationship between revelation and social context
    The Islamic tradition is certainly careful to maintain the ontological differences between Allah and human and one dimensional nature of revelation. However, each part of the Quran, verses (Ayat) was revealed in a particular context in response to a particular situation. The particularity and contextuality are sometimes translated as “occasions of revelation”. Occasions offer a coherent historical context for a limited number of the verses in the Quran and recognize the responsive nature of the revelation. This dynamic aspect of the Quran revelation is essential counterbalance to an understanding that privileges the idea of static and fixed pronouncement of the scripture. According to this understanding, the Qur’an is the eternal, uncreated and literal words of Allah which is originally preserved in the Heavenly Book (i.e. Umu ul-Kitab) and in the guarded Table (i.e. al-Lawh al-Mahfuz).

    Application Activity: 2.2
    • Discuss how Quran teaching would be the way being good and doing good at school, at home and in the community?

    2.3 Revelation and collection of the Quran.

    Learning Activity: 2.3
    • Some say that since the Qur’an is Holy it came from Heaven? Do you agree with this statement? If yes? Why? If no justify its origin

    Revelation and preservation of Quran.Quran is a heavenly book and the word of God Almighty. Lofty matters and facts of Quran have come down in the form of Arabic words and sentences which were sent down to the illuminated heart of the Prophet of Islam through the Angel Gabriel (Jibril). Verses of Quran were revealed on the Prophet of Islam in a period of 23 years on different appropriate occasions. Sometimes one verse, sometimes a number of verse and at other times even a whole chapter was revealed at a time.
    The Holy Quran has 114 chapters and all of them except Surat 9 (Tawbat) begin with the formula (Bismillah Rahmani Rahim): In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, and the Merciful. Every chapter is composed of a number of verses. A number of chapters were revealed in Mecca or its surroundings and they are known as the Meccan chapters and others were revealed in Medina and its surroundings and they are Medinan chapters.

    The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) paid special attention in order to preserve the collection of Quran and to prevent it from interpolation and alteration, and that is why he performed the following three actions:
    1. Whenever a verse was revealed on the illuminated heart of the Prophet, he recited it immediately and stored it in his memory, never forgetting it, because his infallibility prevented him from forgetting it or making a mistake in it. Quran says: “We will make you recite so you shall not forget...” (Q.87:6)
    2. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) recited to the companions every chapter or verse that was revealed on him and also encouraged them to learn them by heart. Through this method, a large number of companions learnt the correct recitation of Quran and among them seven persons became famed in this regard they were: Uthman bun Afan, Ali bun Abitwalib, Ubayy Bun Kaab, Zaid ibn Thabit, Abdullah Ibn Masud, Abu Darda and Abu Musa al-Ash’ari.

    3. Transcription and compilation. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) chose some persons to transcribe the Quran. When a verse or some verses were revealed, he summoned one of them and dictated the same and they put it in writing. After that he asked the scribe to read what he has written and the Prophet listened to it carefully. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon Him) used to specify the place where the scribe was supposed to record the verse and for example the Prophet says: Write down this verse in such and such chapter after such and such verse.

    Compilation of the Quran.As mentioned previously, Muslims believe that verses of Quran were revealed dis-parately on the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) during a period of 23 years and he paid special attention to have them compiled and recorded. It was compiled a number of times till it came into the hands of Muslims in the present form and the method of compilation and arrangement was finalized during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon Him) and under his supervision, taking into account the divine promise when God said: “Surely We have revealed the Reminder (Quran) and We will most surely be its guardian.” (Q.15:9). And also Allah’s promise where He says: “Falsehood shall not come to it from before it nor from behind it; a revelation from the Wise, the Praised One.” (Q.41:42). And a collection of chapters and verses of Quran, without any alteration or additions or deletions, remained forever at the disposal of Muslims.

    Application Activity: 2.3
    • Explain how the Quran was revealed and preserved to guide worship and spiritual activities of believers in Allah

    1Aisha the wife of the prophet (may Allah be pleased with her), when she was asked about the code of conduct of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) she said: “his code of conduct was Quran”. We can learn the massage of Quran toward the human conduct through the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) since whatever he did or he said he got the inspiration from Allah as he says: “nor does he speak out of desire, it but a revelation revealed” (Q.56:3, 4).

    The code of conduct of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him is derived from the Quranic verse where Allah the Almighty says “Indeed in the Messenger of God you have a beautiful example of conduct to follow...” (Q.33:21). Islam is not only a religion instead it’s a beautiful way of life. Islam states that one can achieve higher ranks through his/her good conduct. The prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was best in his character and is a role model for whole humanity

    The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) “Through his manners and good conduct, the believer can attain the status of a person who frequently fasts and prays at night. In fact Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned good conduct as a best form of worship. On the Day of Resurrection, nothing will be heavier in the scale (of good deeds) of the believer than good conduct. God hates the one who swears and hurls obscenities”. Good character is a key of pleasing Allah and his beloved prophet. By maintaining good character, one can be beloved servant of Allah. The Prophet said: “The most beloved servants of God to God are those who have the best manner”.

    Once a man asked Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that “what is religion”? Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) replied that religion is good conduct. Then that man came in front of him and asked again, “O dear Prophet, what is religion”? He replied again that religion is good conduct. That man came again on his left side and asked about religion, The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, good conduct. The man again to his back and repeated the same question, the Prophet (peace be upon him) replied good conduct. The Prophet (peace be upon him) told him that, “not being angry”, is good conduct. The man then asked, “What is misfortune?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “bad conduct”.

    Hence according to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) Islam is nothing but a good conduct or character and good conduct or character is based on transparency of both inner self and outer self. On the day of resurrection good conduct will be the heaviest righteous deed to be placed on one’s scale of deeds. Good conduct is a key to enter paradise. Islam states that anyone with good character will be with prophet (peace be upon Him) on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet (peace be upon Him) guarantees a house within the highest part of Paradise to those that have good ,So we must study good character and conduct. By adopting good character, we can make our life beautiful in both this world’s life and life after death. As Muslim’s and as humans, we should always follow Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) so as to become amongst the most effective Muslims with the most effective potential manners as a step nearer to Allah and a permanent resting abode in Paradise.

    Application Activities: 2.4
    • According to the teachings of Quran and the prophet as your role model discuss how you would behave with your non-Muslim fellow students at your school.

    2.5 End Unit Assessment

    Unit Assessment 2.
    1. How long did the revelation of the Quran take place?
    2. What happened to the Prophet when he was receiving revelation?
    3. What were the verses of the Quran first written on?
    4. What is a Surat?
    5. What is an Ayat?
    6. How many Surat are there in the Quran? And what is their general order?



    ◄PART 2: ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ETHICS, UNIT 1: PILLARS OF ISLAMPART 2: ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ETHICS, UNIT 3: COMPULSORY CHARITY IN ISLAM (ZAKAAT)►