Introduction to The Human Manual

A reflection of the life of a believer

This website is a personal effort to learn more and improve my understanding of the Qur’an by attending classes, courses, listening to lectures & talks, reading books and articles. These are tools towards achieving Taqwa. Taqwa will lead you to understand the meaning of life and the reason why humans are created.

The website title ‘Cermin Kehidupan’ is Malay for ‘Mirror of Life’, a reflection of what the life of a believer should be. A believer, due to his own weaknesses, may not be able to achieve everything that he should be, but at the very least he needs to know what the “should be” and “should not be” are and put effort towards them.

(This website is subjected to continuous editing & appending)

Understanding the messages in the Qur’an for the common man

Welcome to “The Human Manual” – Finding Guidance from the Holy Qur’an. Let’s embark on a journey trying to find the purpose of life. Questioning who has the ultimate rights of determining right from wrong. Searching for the True God. Wanting to be guided by God Himself.

Most people will not bother to ask oneself what is the purpose of being alive. They just follow what society does. When there is a problem in life, most will fall into depression and started thinking that life is meaningless. If a person believed in God and knows why God created him, then he has a purpose in being alive even though society think nothing of him. Most materialistic people will be conscious of what people think of him and he will put on a show that he is better than the next person while belittling a person that he is jealous of. This person does not understand the purpose of life.

A product created by human, eg. the Washing Machine, will come with a manual on how to operate the device correctly. If you keep doing it incorrectly, it will destroy the device.
The Quran is a manual for human to refer to. If human keep doing the opposite of what the Quran has stated, it will make human being becoming a miserable species.

The goal of the Quran is to guide people towards achieving Taqwa and the result is Jannah, Paradise for eternity.

What is Taqwa?

God consciousness in any situation by fearing and loving Him, having hope in His mercy while staying obedient to His Commandments (consistently performing worship & rituals) and staying away from His prohibitions. The most important of all is worshiping Him alone without any partners (w/o any sub-god, mini-god, sons/daughters of god, saints as intermediary, etc). The way of directly worshiping and praying/talking to Him is according to how He had taught through His Prophet s.a.w.

Without knowledge, a person can be manipulated by syaithan of having a false sense of Taqwa, deviated from what Islam is.

Taqwa varies from person to person. The same person will have different levels of Taqwa on the same day, and from day to day. Knowledge is a compulsory tool towards achieving Taqwa. With more knowledge, you gain more tools in opening up the doors of Taqwa. Without the tools of knowledge, you are unable to open the door.

However the amount of knowledge you possess may not be directly proportional to your amount of Taqwa. Someone might have lots of knowledge, yet has very little Taqwa. Knowledge must be supported with sincerity towards God and His religion. With a good understanding and sincerity towards God, you will able to consistently perform religious deeds. Religious deeds are to maintain your level of Taqwa. Without these daily maintenance, your Taqwa and connection to the Creator will perish. A house without walls, the roof will collapse and you are exposed to danger.

The difference between man in our Master’s perspective is the amount of Taqwa a person possesses. The amount of knowledge, the amount of status or the amount of wealth means nothing to God if we don’t have Taqwa. Achieving the highest amount of Taqwa is the goal.

Learning the Quran

There are many parts in learning the Quran as shown in the diagram below.
In this document, we will learn the "Tadabbur" and "Tafseer" parts which in some ways will include Arabic word translation with some grammar and Quran history.

The Clear Quran

[Quran 54:40]
"And We have certainly made the Quran easy to remember. So is there anyone who will be mindful?"

Allah made the Qur’an easy for remembrance. Easy for remembering Allah and remembering the Deen. Easy to get advice from it.

Surah Al-Hijr (15:1): "Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the Book and a clear Qur'an"

تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ وَقُرْآنٍ مُّبِينٍ

However, someone engaging in deep learning of the Quran will find that it is not that simple. He has to put lots of effort to learn everything about the Quran. Allah never said it is simple. But Allah said it is clear. Just like a professor who wrote lots of mathematical formula on the whiteboard. Those formulas were not easy to derive, but the students found his solutions and teachings clear. Clarity is when something make sense. A complicated thing is easy when you find clarity. 

The scholars writing Tafseer of the Qur’an is not easy. But when we read the Tafseer, it is easy for us to understand clearly the guidance. Humanity has so many problems. The Qur’an ease their burden and guide them out of the problems.

Pondering on the Ayaat of Allah

Reading Qur’an is to understand the messages. That is the purpose of this documentation. Syaithan does not fear people who read the Quran without understanding but fears those who read and understand the messages. That was why the Mushrikoon of Makkah will make loud noises when the Prophet s.a.w was reciting the Quran to other Arab tribes because they want to distract them from understanding what was being recited.

The Mushrikun will not bother the Prophet s.a.w reciting the Quran if the people listening are non Arabs who do not understand Arabic and are just enjoying the melody of the Quran.

Only by understanding and contemplation will the Qur’an change a person from being bad to being good. A person can recite the Qur’an for 20 years but has no change in his bad behaviour since all the years of recitation are without any understanding. 

Definition of "Reading"

If you read a magazine or newspaper, the purpose is to understand what you are reading. How about reading a Book containing the speeches of Allah? Most Muslims will just recite making sounds that they have no idea what they are reading. That is not the definition of "Reading". Non Muslims will find it weird. How can you read a book of a language that you do not understand?

Tafsir of the Quran

A Tafsir is a detailed technical explanation of every kalimah (word) and ayah (verse) of the Quran. Example, describing the root letters of a word, the tenses, the linguistic meaning, the context of the ayah, the history behind it and any other relevant sources to explain the Quranic messages.
Scholars have put lots of effort in producing Tafseer upon Tafseer of the Quran. However they have to follow these set of rules in order to derive upon a meaning of a word or ayah:

>>1. The Quran to explain the Quran.
When a word found in one part of a Surah which the scholars are not too sure of the meaning will have them searching for the same word used in other parts of the Quran. Other part of the Quran will explain in detail what this word mean.
Example: In Surah Al-Fatihah, the word Áalaameen is mentioned in the phrase = Robbul-Áalaameen (Lord of the Áalaameen). What is Áalaameen?
Surah Ash-Shuára' (ayaat 23 - 24) explained the meaning :
Pharaoh asked, “And what is ‘the Lord of Áalaameen?”
Moses replied, “˹He is˺ the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, if only you had faith.”

>>2. The explanation from the Prophet s.a.w.
There are many instances when the companions would ask the Prophet what does certain word mean? Eg. the word "Zhulm" in the context of an ayah in Surah Al-An’Am: 82.

It is ˹only˺ those who are faithful and do not do “Zhulm” are guaranteed security and are ˹rightly˺ guided.

The companions understood “Zhulm” as injustice but after asking the Prophet s.a.w, he said it means associating partners with Allah (Shirk) based on the context of the ayah.

>>3. The understanding of the companions of the Prophet s.a.w.
They were the first generation of people:
--> They had direct access to the Prophet s.a.w
--> The ayaat were sent down because of incidents that happened to them
--> The Quran was in the classical language that they were speaking
--> The Prophet s.a.w praised them as being the very best generation of this Ummah i.e the most sincere, honest, knowledgeable and pious in religiosity.

Example Surah An-Nisa’: 43: 

  ..  If you are either ill or travelling or have satisfied a want of nature or have had contact with women and can find no water, then betake yourselves to pure earth .. (to do tayammum) ..

Ibu Abbas (a Scholar among the companions) said that contact with women means to have sexual relations with your spouse and not merely touching your spouse that will nullify your wudhuk. Therefore if some later opinion said that by touching your wife will nullify the wudhuk, this is a contradiction of what Ibn Abbas (the companion and cousin of the Prophet s.a.w) had said. The sayings of the Companions are above all other sayings of later generations.

We can also refer to the Tabieen who were students of the Companions. Three scholarly Companions had many students under them. They were Abdullah bin Mas'ud (in Kufah), Ibn Abbas (in Makkah) and Ubayy ibn Ka'b (in Madinah). When it is a consensus of Tabieen in understanding an ayaat, then we will take it.

>>4. The ayah must be understood as how the classical Arabic were understood.
Modern Arabs will need to refer to the Scholars who have knowledge of classical Arabic. The Arabic language of the Quran is not what the modern Arabs are currently speaking.

>>5. Tafseers may include some additional stories from the Israelite in supporting certain narrative, not as the source of a narrative. The Prophet s.a.w allowed this as some of their stories may be true and the some other are false.
It acts as additional material to complete the narrative of certain ayaat.

>>6. Lastly are the opinions of later scholars that are subjective depending on the time and era that we are living in. Eg. Surah Ar-Rahman 55:37 :

"And when the sky is SPLIT OPEN and becomes ROSE-coloured like TANNED LEATHER".

Take note that “ROSE” colour on tanned leather takes TIME to develop.

Modern scholars are in the opinion that this ayah is talking about the Rosette Nebula. Photographs of the Nebula taken by telescopes visually looked like a rose. Clusters of hot stars (4-5 million years old) RELEASE intense radiation and powerful stellar winds, blowing away gas and carving out the nebula's iconic "rosette" cavity. The center cavity looked like where the “sky split open” and the whole process took millions of earth years. The size of the Nebula is about 100 to 130 light years in diameter.

The ways the Quran were being studied

Scholars exhaust themselves in the study of the Quran.
--> Some produced Tafseers as mentioned above.
--> Some counted the number of ayaat.
--> Some counted the number of letters.
--> Some wrote the connections between surahs and between ayaat.
--> One scholar compiled every word in the Quran into a dictionary of Quranic Arabic explaining each one of them:
Al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran - A classical dictionary of Qur'anic terms by 11th-century Sunni Islamic scholar Al-Raghib al-Isfahani

Teaching and studying the Quran

[Sahih al-Bukhari 5027] Narrated `Uthman: 

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it."

Learning and teaching is not only about recitation but more importantly is about understanding.

A good teacher is when students understand what is being taught using simple everyday examples. The aim is to get guidance (“huda, hidayah”). A bad teacher is when he is using bombastic words to impress people but nobody understands what he is teaching. 

A scientist will not be able to teach kindergarten kids as good as a kindy teacher will. The kindy teacher may not have the knowledge of the scientist but she can achieve much more with the kids.

The students in turn need to know the skills of learning. There is only so much a Teacher can teach but it is up to the student to personally know how to study.

> Increase in knowledge is not proportional to increase in “iman” (guided faith).
> Increase in sincerity is proportional to increase in guidance.

By only glorifying knowledge will lead you away from guidance.
By glorifying guidance is a start of getting both knowledge and guidance from your Master.

Qur’an as a Miracle to the last nation on earth

If you were with the Jews who saw the sea parted into two, you would be overwhelmed by that miracle. However we did not see this miracle. The Qur’an is an on-going miracle. Therefore the same feeling that was felt by the Jews during the time of Moses (a.s) should be experienced by the Muslims nowadays when reading the Qur’an.

Virtues in Quran recitation

[Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2910]
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will receive one good deed (reward) as ten good deeds (rewards) like it. I do not say that Alif Lam Mim is one letter, but rather Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter, and Mim is a letter.”

[Sahih al-Bukhari 5027]  Narrated Aisha:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Such a person as recites the Qur'an and masters it by heart, will be with the noble righteous scribes (in Heaven). And such a person exerts himself to learn the Qur'an by heart, and recites it with great difficulty, will have a double reward."

[Sahih al-Bukhari 5059] Narrated Abu Musa:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The example of a believer who recites the Qur'an and acts on it, like a citron which tastes nice and smells nice. And the example of a believer who does not recite the Qur'an but acts on it, is like a date which tastes good but has no smell. And the example of a hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is like a Raihana (sweet basil) which smells good but tastes bitter And the example of a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an is like a colocynth which tastes bitter and has a bad smell."

[Sunan an-Nasa'i 1015]
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'Make your voices beautiful when you recite Quran.'"

[Sunan Ibn Majah 1339] It was narrated that Jabir said:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Among the people who recite the Qur’an with the most beautiful voices is the man who, when you hear him, you think that he fears Allah.’”

[Riyad as-Salihin 991] Abu Umāmah (R.A) reported:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Read the Qur’an, as it will come as an intercessor for its companions on the Day of Resurrection."

[At-Tirmidhi (2914) and Abu Dawood (1464)]  ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (R.A) said:
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It will be said to the companion of the Qur’an: ‘Read, and ascend, and recite as you used to recite in the [previous] world, for your status will be according to the last verse that you recite.’” 

[Sunan Abi Dawud 1398] Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone prays at night reciting regularly ten verses, he will not be recorded among the negligent; if anyone prays at night and recites a hundred verses, he will be recorded among those who are obedient to Allah; and if anyone prays at night reciting one thousand verses, he will be recorded among those who receive huge rewards. 

We need the Virtues from our deeds in order to add on our "Good" Scales on judgement day. Refer to the discussion on Scales of Justice.

Before going into the Tafseer

Before we dive into the Tafseer or Tadabbur of the Quran, we will quickly go through some technical aspects of the Quran regarding Ayaat and Surah.

Ayaat

"Ayah" = 1 ayah (singular).
"Ayaat" = several ayaat (plural)

Understanding Ayah
--> An "Ayah" is not a sentence. It has its own unique definition.
--> There can be several sentences in 1 "Ayah".
--> There can be several "Ayaat" in 1 Sentence.
--> Ayaat in a Surah are NOT revealed sequentially one after another until a Surah is complete.
--> Ayaat are revealed randomly in the timeline and the Prophet s.a.w will dictate which ayah will come after which ayah and in which Surah. The sequence of revelations in the timeline does not dictate the order of the ayaat in Surahs.
--> Eg. Several ayaat revealed today may be put at an earlier part of a Surah than ayaat revealed yesterday or last month.

Number of ayaat in each Surah
--> The Prophet s.a.w did not mentioned the number of ayaat for each Surah except for a few eg. Surah Fatihah (7 ayaat), Surah Al-Mulk (30 Ayaat). 
--> The original written Uthmani Mushaf, there were no Ayah number. Later generations of scholars start to put in ayah numbers. They were actually putting in the "Full Stop" for each ayah.

The printed Mushafs of today from different printing companies will have most of the Surahs having the same number of ayaat except for a few Surahs. Why?
--> As the scholars are from different continents and different time in history, therefore the place where they put the punctuation mark of the "Full Stop" for an ayah may vary.
--> A long ayah may be broken into 2 ayaat by one set of scholars but remained as 1 ayah for other.
--> There were no addition or subtraction of ayaat. All the words remain intact. Only the "Full Stop" marks vary from one Mushaf to the other in another region of the world.
--> Majority of the 114 Surahs have exactly the same location of all the "Full Stops" except a few where the Scholars differed in the "Full Stop" locations.

Refer to Ayaat for full discussion.

Surah

There are 114 Surahs consisting of 86 "Makki" Surahs and 28 "Madani" Surahs.

Makki Surah having Ayaat that were revealed before the Hijrah of the Prophet s.a.w.
Madani Surah having Ayaat that were revealed after the Hijrah of the Prophet s.a.w.
--> If an Ayah was revealed in Makkah but after the Hijrah, it is considered as a Madani ayah.
--> Therefore a Madani Surah may contain ayaat revealed in Makkah after the Hijrah.

Makki Surah - The Theme is mainly about Tauhid (The Oneness of Allah as the Creator and Master), life after death, judgement day, Sabr (perseverance, patience), strength in faith, etc. The Primary non believing audience were the pagan Mushrikun. Generally, the shorter Surahs were usually Makki.

Madani Surah - The Theme is mainly about Islamic Laws, the Muslim community, the Jews, the Christians, the Munafiqs, relationship with others, tension with the Mushrikun, war, etc. The Primary non believing audience were the Jews and Christians.

Understanding Surahs:
--> Some Surahs are named by the Prophet s.a.w while others are named by the Companions.
--> A Surah may have more than 1 name. Eg. Surah "At-Tawbah" is also Surah "Al-Bara'ah". Do not be confused when a printed Mushaf has a different name for a Surah than what you are familiar with.
--> Surahs are not Chapters (unlike a Story book). It has its own unique definition. Most will translate it as Chapters as this is what the English speakers are familiar with. A Chapter in a story book will depend on an earlier Chapter for the reader to follow the story line. Surahs are not part of a sequence of Chapters in a story.
--> Surahs are not revealed sequentially one after the other in a timeline. Revelations keep coming and it does not wait for a Surah to be completed before another Surah is revealed. Therefore in 1 given period, several ayaat may be revealed and put into different Surahs. The order of the Ayaat and Surah was dictated by the Prophet s.a.w.
--> Refer to Surah for the full discussion.

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كِتَـٰبٌ فُصِّلَتۡ ءَايَـٰتُهُ ۥ قُرۡءَانًا عَرَبِيًّا لِّقَوۡمٍ يَعۡلَمُونَ

A Book whereof the ayaat are detailed (clear): an Arabic Quran: for a people who know
(Surah Fussilat – 41:3)

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