Leader: Humanity needs the Qur’an to confront arrogance and oppression

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on May 6 welcomed the blessed fasting month of Ramadhan by addressing a gathering of Islamic scholars and reciters and memorizers of God’s Final Revelation to mankind, the holy Qur’an, which he called the key to all success and protection against arrogance and oppression.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution praised Allah Almighty for His Favours, and saluted the Master of the all Divine Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Next he greeted the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS) – may God hasten his reappearance for establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

He said he benefitted from the good recitations of the heavenly scripture at the start of the meeting, adding: “Thankfully, our people, our youth and our reciters grow and move forward year by year and day and day and this should be a source of our eternal gratitude.

“The Qur’an is indeed a peerless artistic work. One aspect of its greatness and significance is its artistic aesthetics. What is interesting is that the first thing that attracted hearts to Islam like magnet was its artistic aspect. The Arabs understood both the rhyme and rhythm that exists in language and literary eloquence. They suddenly witnessed a phenomenon which they had not seen before. It was neither poetry nor prose; rather it was an extraordinary and matchless eloquence.

“The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) has also touched on this. For instance in Sermon 81 of the book Nahj al-Balagha, he says: “Certainly the outside of the Qur’an is wonderful and its inside is deep in meaning”. The Arabic word “aniq” means a bewitching beauty, one that astounds and captivates people when they face it. The beauty of the Qur’an is like this. Of course, most of us Persian-speakers and many Arab-speakers themselves do not have the capacity to understand this beauty, but we can do so if we familiarize ourselves with it. When we get close to the Qur’an and read and listen to it frequently, we understand how beautiful and eloquent the sentences are as well as its spiritual aspect.”

 “Sometimes, we read the Qur’an at home for ourselves. In this case, it does not matter in whichever way we read it. It does not matter if we read it in a rhythmic or non-rhythmic manner. Of course, it has been mentioned that you should read the Qur’an at home in a way that others outside hear you clearly, but the purpose of doing so is to create a Qur’anic environment in society. That is why they say that others should hear you, but when you read it alone for yourself, it does not matter if you read it quietly, loud or in a melodic way.

“However, when there is an audience you want to create an effect in your audience. Here, art should be employed. Here, art should play its part. It is with art that the audience can be influenced. That is the reason why we listen to these recitations and why we encourage and confirm them. The result is that the effect will increase by several times, provided that this artistic aspect is in correct and careful manner.

“I have frequently advised the friends to recite the Qur’an with the goal of conveying its meaning. This is what Sheikh Abdul-Fattah Sha’shayi and Mustafa Ismael do, although not everyone among the old Egyptian reciters is the same. When they read the Qur’an, they stress words whenever necessary. They read in a way that it sounds like you are being addressed by God and this way, your hearts are attracted.

“The second aspect – “And its inside is deep in meaning” – is correlated with the artistic aspect. This way of reading can lead us to that depth of meaning to a large part. However, we should pay attention to the depth of the Qur’an. By “the depth of Quran”, I do not mean those depths which only the followers of dhikr and the Infallible Imams are aware of. We should learn those depths from the narrations and statements of the Infallible Imams.

“What I mean by “the depth of the Qur’an” is attention to its words. For example, the Qur’an says in ayah 128 of Surah A’raaf: “And the end is for the righteous”. Well, what does “the end” mean? The end belongs to the righteous. Both the end in this world and in the hereafter belongs to the righteous and the pious. If you want to defeat the enemy in revolutionary activities and in the arena of war, you should be righteous. Notice that if you pay attention, you will see that the end belongs to the righteous. We should contemplate on these words and not go past them in a perfunctory manner.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Another example is ayah 155 of Surah Baqarah, where Almighty God says: “We will surely test you with a measure of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth, lives, and fruits; and give good news to the patient”

“What is that fear? What is that hunger? One should think deeply about these words and these concepts. This is deliberation on the Quran. Deliberation on the Quran involves these aspects. “And its inside is deep in meaning.” Everyone can get to the depth of this meaning within the scope of their capability, knowledge, studies, understanding and intelligence. Not everyone can understand it in the same way as others. We can do our best though. When it is said that we should learn from the Qur’an how to live, this does not mean that we can find, for example, driving rules in the Qur’an. The Qur’an adorns our minds with lofty teachings. When our mind transcends with lofty teachings, then we can get to all the secrets of the universe because with the Qur’an, we can learn wisdom.

“When you understand what Qur’anic teachings are and when they are instilled in the minds of the people in society, in the minds of all the people in this country or at least in the minds of our Qur’anic community, then the different doors of human teachings and knowledge will open to humanity.

“In my opinion, one of the most necessary tasks would be to increase the number of Qur’anic meetings and Qur’anic sessions. Among the traditions are Qur’anic recitation sessions in private houses, as well as in mosques and Hussainiyahs. You should turn mosques into bases for the holy Qur’an.

“Mosques should be the bases of the Qur’an. They should set certain nights – for example, Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights if it is not possible to do so every night – so that a person engages in reading the Qur’an while you open the Qur’an and listen to the reciter. And you should also refer to the translation: good translations. In our time, the time when I used to teach tafsir or exegesis of the holy Qur’an in Mashhad – long years ago – there was only one a few translations. In the present time, however, there are thankfully many good translations available to the people. They should look at and read these translations.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: “This is one task. Another task is to hold tafsir sessions. Tafsir is highly important. Those who have the competence – mainly the ulema, seminarians and religious scholars – and those who are well-informed about the Qur’an should conduct a study and do some thinking in order to teach the people lessons on tafsir, thus increasing society’s level of understanding.

“Our men and women and our youth become increasingly familiar with Quranic teachings. Qur’anic teachings should dominate minds. If this happens, there will be the power to reason and to defend. Faith will be complete and movements will produce results.

“My dear ones, we need the holy Qur’an. Not only we the Iranian people, but also the whole Islamic ummah and the global community are in real need of the holy Qur’an today. It is the Quran that opposes arrogance. It is the Qur’an that explicitly opposes oppression. It is the Quran that openly confronts denial of God Almighty. It is the Qur’an that powerfully confronts chaos and all devilish tendencies, as is evident in ayah 76 of Surah an-Nisa, where God Almighty commands: “Those who have faith fight in the way of Allah, and those who are faithless fight in the way of the evil. So fight the friends of Satan; indeed the stratagems of Satan are always flimsy.”

“Look, how strong is the tone of the Qur’an here? These are the problems that humanity has today. Those who yell, as the presidents and kings of such and such countries, do at the nations, disturbing peace, tranquility and the stability of countries, are warned by God in the holy Qur’an. People should understand this. God says in ayah 113 of Surah Houd: “And do not incline toward the wrongdoers, lest the Fire should touch you, and you will not have any friend besides Allah, then you will not be helped.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “This is the problem that peoples throughout the world have today. They have misplaced confidence in the wrongdoers, and as a result, they are ruined.

“You witnessed that a good movement was launched and a good campaign started in certain Arab countries. There was an uprising and awakening, but it was extinguished like a flame that is put out with ash and earth. Why; because they did not pay attention to this particular ayah and the warning from God Almighty by compromising with the US and the Zionist regime. If Allah the Exalted helps a people and those people do not appreciate it, they will be beaten and slapped across the face. Therefore, they should appreciate the value of it.

“Our nation thankfully appreciated the value of this help from the very first day. This great movement of our nation, the strengthening of the Revolution, the resistance and the dignity of this nation, and the extraordinary progress of this country, all happened because our nation acted in accordance with the ayahs of the Qur’an, thanks to the guidance of Imam Khomeini. He taught this to us. His heart was imbued with faith in Allah. He was brimming with faith in God and in Qur’anic teachings. So, he taught us what to do and how to move.

“And thankfully, the people stood firm. Today, the same path exists. Today too, there is no path for this country other than resisting the devils, the wicked and the unbelievers. By Allah’s favour, Allah the Exalted will bestow his blessings and assistance on our nation.”

In the end, the Leader prayed, saying: “Dear God, make us among the steadfast followers of the Qur’an. O God, make us live and die in accordance with the teachings of the holy Qur’an. O God, by the Prophet and his blessed household, gather our Late Imam Khomeini with Your saints, and grant our martyrs the company of the immortal martyrs of Karbala. O God, guide our youth towards the straight path. Ordain a good end for all of us. Resolve our problems.

AS/SS