1) Young Muslims - The Message

which are absolutely clear appear to them irrelevant in the contextsthey occur.The reader may be saved from all these difficulties, if he is warnedbeforehand that the Book he is going to study is the only book of itskind in the whole world, that its literary style is quite different fromthat of all other books; that its theme is unique and that hispreconceived notions of a book cannot help him understand theQur’an. He should free his mind from preconceived notions and getacquainted with the distinctive features of this Book. Then and thenalone can he understand it.In order to understand the Qur’an thoroughly, it is essential toknow the nature of this Book, its central idea and its aim andobjective. The reader should also be well acquainted with its style,the terms it uses and the method it adopts to explain things. Heshould keep in mind the background and circumstances underwhich a certain passage was revealed.Background: One cannot fully understand many of the topicsdiscussed in the Qur’an unless one is acquainted with thebackground of their revelation. One should know the social,historical or other antecedents or conditions which help explain anyparticular topic. For, the Qur’an was not revealed as a completebook at once; nor did God hand over a written copy of it toMuhammad (Peace be upon him) at the very beginning of hismission and commanded him to publish it and invite people toadopt a particular way of life. Moreover, it is not a literary work ofthe common conventional type that develops its central theme in alogical order; nor does it conform to the style of such a work. TheQur’an adopts its own style to properly guide the Islamic Movementthat was started by God’s messenger under his direct command.Accordingly, God revealed the Qur’an piecemeal to meet therequirements of the movement in its different stages.Young Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 46