Allah’s Second Quran
Allah’s Second Quran
The late Malay philosopher Haji Abdul Malek Karim Amirullah (HAMKA) once remarked that Allah blessed humans with two Qurans. One is open, which He revealed to Prophet Mohammad (May peace be upon him) in the seventh century; the other closed, this vast and wonderful universe.
Muslims are familiar with only the first Quran. Many neglect or are even contemptuous of the second Quran, dismissing it as “secular” knowledge.
We have an obligation to study Allah’s second Quran as much as the first. With the first, Allah generously provided us with an exemplary teacher in the person of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.
With the second, Allah has left that to our own. In His wisdom however, Allah did not leave us ill equipped for this pursuit. He endows each of us with akal (intellect), an ability to think and reason. This attribute differentiates us from the rest of His other creations. We must use this divine gift to pursue vigorously the secrets and wisdom of this second Quran.
The words, sentences (Ayat), and verses (Surah) of the Quran are finite, but their meanings and comprehensions are not. They have taxed and will continue to tax great minds. Those who declare with great certitude that the truth of the Quran had been fully uncovered reveal more the limitations of their intellect rather than the vastness of the knowledge and wisdom within the Quran.
These ulamas proclaim that all we need to do to be good and pious Muslims is to simply follow their dictates (taqlid). They would us be the sheep, and they, the shepherd. They would have us suppress that greatest gift Allah could bestow upon us, our ability to think and use our reason.
The Equally Infinite Second Quran
The second Quran too is infinite. In verse 27, Surah Luqman (31:27) (approximate translation), “If all the trees on earth were pens, and if the sea eked out by seven seas more were ink, the Words of God could not be written out unto their end.”
Scientists exploring the physical universe beyond and the living world within are in effect studying this second Quran. Allah has bountifully rewarded them – and mankind – for their efforts. Biologists diligently studying the viruses – that most elemental form of life – gave us lifesaving vaccines. Today smallpox is no longer a scourge, only a laboratory phenomenon, and perversely, also a potential lethal weapon for terrorists. Newton’s insights on physics gave us the jet engines, rockets and satellites. And from there we have cellular phones, MTV, and satellite television.
The Quran and the Sunnah (sayings and practices of the prophet s.a.w.) exhort us to seek knowledge and to use our akal. Having acquired that knowledge, we must act upon it to better ourselves and our fellow humans. If we do not, then we would be no better than a donkey carrying the Book of Knowledge on its back: an unnecessary burden, not a source of enlightenment.
With akal we have the capacity to decide between right and wrong, and even whether to believe or disbelieve.
On the Day of Judgment, Allah will judge us solely by our deeds. We cannot excuse what we did during our lifetime simply because we were merely following the teachings of this inspiring ulama or that mesmerizing mullah. Islam does not provide for “being a good German” defense. (In the Nuremberg trials Nazi operatives used the defense that they were merely “being a good German” by obeying their superior’s command.)
In Islam, it is us mortals and Allah, there being no need for an intermediary. We have no popes, bishops or priest to intercede on our behalf. Nor do we have a great savior who had sacrificed himself to save us all.
Yes, our faith has been blessed with great ulamas, from the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Prophet’s companions (May Allah be pleased with them!) to many others following them. They have enlightened and guided us further. Ultimately however, we are answerable for own deeds.
This is the beauty of Islam. There is no great savior for me except Almighty Allah, and I am answerable ultimately to Him.
Ancient Muslims implicitly recognized the importance of this second Quran. Thus, they eagerly learned from the Greeks and Romans, and then went on to make their own seminal contributions. Muslim luminaries of the era were unencumbered by the fact that they were learning from infidels or that the Greeks worshipped multiple deities. Those Muslims implicitly recognized that all knowledge ultimately come from Allah.
Why Allah chose to reveal the mystery of the concept of zero to a Hindu, the insight on gravity to an Englishman, and the secrets of the atom to a Jew is not for us to question. That is Allah’s prerogative. Suffice for us to recognize that such knowledge and insight are for the benefit of all.
Those early Muslims did not distinguish between worldly and religious knowledge. This artificial division of knowledge between secular and sacred is just that – artificial. All knowledge is sacred, and must be respected as such. My knowledge of human biology could be used to save lives or perversely, to end or maim them. Allah has endowed me with akal to differentiate between the two.
The Prodigal Son
To me, Anak yang soleh (The prodigal son) is a broad concept. The engineer who builds dams that provide irrigation and better livelihood to thousands by ending the cycles of flooding is very much anak yang soleh. He studies the second Quran in the form of the physical world around him, and uses that knowledge to benefit his community.
The late Tun Razak used his knowledge to bring development to his people, and gave dignity and meaning to their lives. He too was a prodigal son. P. Ramlee, whose voice and melodies uplift the spirits of millions, was another. The gifted Sudirman brought smiles and happiness to many by honing his God-given talent in music and then generously sharing it with us. He too was a prodigal son personified.
It is Allah’s prerogative upon whom He would bestow such gifts and wisdom of the second Quran. It is also His sole prerogative as to whom He would admit to Heaven. To me, however, it would not be heaven without the likes of Tun Razak, P. Ramlee and Sudirman.
April 3rd, 2006 at 12:12 am
Dr Bakri / Prof Din Merican,
I thought the term “prodigal” means wasteful etc while “soleh” would mean pious. So, how can these 2 terms be used as synonym in 2 different laguages? Hope you can enlighten us.
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:08 am
Although I am a regular follower of this blog, I have not been a regular participant. Dr Bakri’s latest essay excites me since it is in harmony with my view of Islam.
Believers during the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not have the benefit of scientific books, libraries, travels and Internet. Thus their “Second Qur’an” was basically what they saw and heard. Most present day Muslims unfortunately confine themselves to the written Word and treat the “second Qur’an” as second class although the Holy Book in constantly encourage them to contemplate God’s handiwork, His infinite creation.
I understand “soleh” by the following hadith (translation):
When a son of Adam dies all his deeds end except in three - his benefiting knowledge, his flowing charity, and the righteous son who prays for him.
The Malay translation of the third is “anak yang soleh yang mendo’akan baginya.” It follows that the measure of a successful life (or otherwise) is the extent to which a person contributes to the world. If he uses his knowledge or uses his wealth or produces offspring to contribute negatively to the welfare of the rest of creation then he is the opposite of “soleh”. Having knowledge, wealth and children is a responsibility. Has his own life been a boon or bane.
Did someone say, “The world is my book”?
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:20 am
Sorry, “in constantly encourage” should read “constantly encourages”.
Second last sentence to read “boon or bane, asset or liability to humanity.”
April 4th, 2006 at 6:29 am
Dear Bakri,
Islam has never taught us to neglect the study of the universe,neither has it discouraged the study of the knowledge that Allah has bestowed to humankind through any of His creation, be he a Muslim or a Jew.
As you are aware the Quran address itself to all mankind,muslims,non muslims, pagan worshipers the hypocrites muslims, the non practicing muslims,the mukmin etc. not only to the intelectuals!
The Quran ask mankind to travel the world and seek ‘his signs’ and therefore every good muslim should do so. The Quran however remind us that there are people who’has eyes but cannot see and also those who has hearing but cannot hear’. What is expected of us is too seek not only the knowledge that is explicit but also that that is implicit.Therefore in seeking knowlwdge remember where that knowledge comes from and Who is the Creator of all the Universe and the Provider of the knowledge
Human knowledge is but a spec of dust compared to what the Almighty knows and therefore get ‘barakah’ in whatever knowledge we seek and learn. Just like we should study the knowledge that is channelled through humankind, we should also study the ‘Wahyu’ which is Gods ayat. Only then can we say that we are that vicegrant on earth. We also have to see what cannot be seen with the eyes and what cannot be heared withe the ears but with the heart. It is the unlettered Mohamed that recieve the prophethood not Ali or Abu Bakar who are the intelectual and the rich,but they both saw what the unlettered prophet saw and never questioned him, cause they see not with their eyes but with their heart.
But what is important for mankind after seeking all the knowledge in the world, and if he still cannot see… he is still incomplete. Not that he has no ‘akal’ and no knowledge but he could not see the ’signs’ that God has given in his ‘Ayat’ and in the Universe.
In Islam there is no such thing as secular knowledge, since all knowledge is given by Him alone unless it is satanically inspired, which is what secularism is all about.
It is therefore not right to say that ancient muslims recognised the presence of this second Quran, and current muslims do not recognise this. Secular knowledge, do not exist in Islam, and if it does it has never been attributed to knowledge except to that which is contradictory to the faith, Darwinism for instance is secular. All knowledge that has barakah and inspired by Him wordly or otherwise has never been regarded as unislamic then or now. Secularism, refers more to the ideology of man’s superiority, to God, that man’s law is better than His, that man is governed by his own will than God etc. It has never refered to knowledge or wisdom.
By the way the second Quran is not specific to knowledge but refers to the Universe… and incidently there is another Quran, the living Quran ie the Prophet saw.
Salam and God Bless
GKB
April 4th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Dr. Bakri:
I chanced upon an article by Reuters (Yahoo) today which may be of interest to our friends. It just made my spirit feel so wonderful. How nice if such things could happen in Malaysia.
FEATURE - Indian Islamic schools offer lesson in harmony
By Bappa MajumdarMon Apr 3, 9:49 PM ET
Indian schoolgirl Julita Oraon, a devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school, or madrasa.
Oraon is one of tens of thousands of Hindu and Christian students in the state of West Bengal now attending such schools, considered breeding grounds for religious intolerance and even terrorism in much of Asia.
In this part of India, madrasas are emerging as beacons of tolerance. While a predominantly Hindu state, a quarter of West Bengal’s population of 80 million are Muslims and one percent are Christians.
Thousands died in communal violence before and after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. There was more violence in the 1960s and 1970s after the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims and Hindus from what was then East Pakistan and became Bangladesh.
But there have been no major communal clashes for decades in the state, which has been ruled by communists for most of independent India’s history, and who have gained at the polls from policies designed to boost Muslim employment.
They have been handsomely rewarded with Muslims overwhelmingly supporting the left at the ballot box.
Community policing and street plays stressing religious harmony play their part as the state’s leaders constantly push a message of tolerance. But in the wake of the violence in the 1960s and 70s, officials also moved to reform the state’s schools and especially its madrasas.
In 1977, they started reviewing the Islamic schools, introducing history and social science to the staple of Koranic study. And after 2002, on the recommendation of a specially appointed committee, students had to study science, geography and computing. There are plans for foreign languages soon.
The changes have been credited with bringing about a change in the social outlook of the state’s various faiths, and have attracted both teachers and students from other religions to the madrasas. School boards have recruited non-Muslims in a bid to find the best tutors for their students.
Now about 25 per cent of the 400,000 students who attend madrasas, and 15 per cent of their 10,000 teachers, are non-Muslims, officials say.
“In the 1970s, the mistrust grew and Muslims were thought to be friends of Pakistan and mostly spies,” says Ahmed Hasan Imran, the general secretary of the Muslim Council of Bengal. “But that perception gradually changed with the reforms in the madrasas as well as other education institutes.”
GETTING ALONG
Swapan Pramanik, a leading sociologist and vice-chancellor of Vidya Sagar University in Kolkata, agrees that the reforms have helped bridge the divide. “The conservative outlook of the Muslims as well as Hindus have changed,” he says. “The changes have rubbed off on parents and whole communities, who have been able to spread the message of harmony.”
The reforms have saved lives, experts say. After a Hindu mob destroyed a mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 much of India was wracked by deadly communal riots. But in Bengal students from madrasas, both Muslims and Hindus, led processions denouncing the demolition, Imran says. In the aftermath of the Gujarat anti-Muslim riots a decade later, Bengal’s Hindus, Christians and Muslims were quick to meet to ensure passions were cooled. The state government offered riot victims the chance to come and settle in West Bengal.
“People find it difficult to believe, but our madrasas … are reflecting modern aspirations and expectations of the community irrespective of religion,” Kanti Biswas, the state’s education minister, told Reuters.
“We had carefully planned the madrasa reforms to make young minds understand the values of religious tolerance and it is finally paying off.”
TOP OF THE CLASS
In Jalpaiguri district, about 500 km north of the state capital, Kolkata, 14-year-old Julita is posting higher marks in Arabic tests than her Muslim classmates at the Badaitari Ujiria Madrasa. “I like the subject very much and that fact that I am a Christian has never been a problem with my Muslim friends.”
Tapas Layek, the Hindu headmaster of a madrasa in south Kolkata has several co-religionists as colleagues. “We are loved and respected by our Muslim students who are also friendly with their Hindu classmates,” he said.
Bengali Muslim scholars say that the view that madrasas are simply Islamic finishing schools is a corruption of their traditional role. “Our madrasas are the perfect examples of what such institutes should really be,” said Dr. Mohammed Sahidullah at Calcutta University.
Renowned Bengali filmmaker Mrinal Sen, a former jury member at the Cannes festival, said the state’s experiment should be copied across the country.
“I can’t help but be amazed at the way some of these religious schools are working towards communal harmony,” he said. Officials from other states — including Maharashtra and Rajasthan — have come to West Bengal to see the impact of the changes for themselves, said education minister Biswas.
“The perception of the respective communities about different culture and religion has helped residents of West Bengal to bridge the gulf of mistrust and come together,” said sociologist Pramanik. “This has been a significant development in madrasas for the entire world to see.”
COMMENTS:
THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS EDUCATION AND TOLERANCE. CONTRARY TO WHAT PAK LAH AND THE CABINET MAY THINK, THE KEY TO ACHIEVING VISION 2020 AND MAINTAIN THE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVE EDGE AGAINST OTHER ECONOMIES IS TO GET THE RACES TO WORK TOGETHER. ISN’T IT OUR DESTINY THAT WE CAME TOGETHER ON THIS LAND? ISN’T IT OUR DESTINY THAT WE GOT INDEPENDENCE TOGETHER? ISN’T IT OUR DESTINY THAT COME WHAT MAY, WE HAVE TO BREATHE THE AIR AROUND US TOGETHER? TO ACHIEVE GREATER TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING, INTER-RACIAL AND INTER-RELIGIOUS MARRIAGES SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED WITHOUT INHIBITIONS ON RACE OR RELIGION SO THAT OVER TIME WE FORGET ABOUT BEING MALAY, CHINESE OR INDIAN OR ANY OTHER RACE. TODAY MY CHILDREN ARE JUST MALAYSIANS BECAUSE THEY HAVE AN INDIAN AND ONCE HINDU (NOW FREE-THINKER) FATHER AND A CHINESE CHRISTIAN MOTHER. WOULD FORESIGHT AND WISDOM BE SEEN ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE?
April 4th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Appreciate your candour, Fair Malaysian. There is more to life than just being cooped up in one’s belief and idealogy. “Juah berjalan luas pandangan”. Although this Malay peribahasa has been around since time immemorial, there are still those who see no further than the walls of their houses. What a pity.
April 4th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Hi Fathol:
True but if we allow the racial and religious chauvinists to manipulate, then this is what we will have in Malaysia. The history is there for all of us to see. One may assume that such chauvinists to be just Malays and and Muslims but how I could be so wrong? When I discussed with my mother on getting married to a Christian girl, she vowed to disown me. My wife’s mother was worse. She told my wife would burn in hell as a sinner. The church branded my wife a sinner, too. My wife, to this day, prays faithfully in her own way and we have three grown-up children who have grown up with non of the prejudice nor animosity that haunts children of differing faiths in our schools and society. Both of us agreed that our children should be given the choice and space to decide for themselves while we will serve as guides in understanding universal values. We wanted to make a difference and a wonderful experience it has been. Thanks
April 5th, 2006 at 1:37 am
Human reasoning has no place in religious discourse, I suppose?
April 5th, 2006 at 3:09 am
If is only because of human reasoning which we sometimes coin in as “civility” that a son does not sleep with a mother although biologically there is nothing to stop them. I am sorry for this candour but isn’t this a scientific fact? We have every reason to respect and belief in “reasoning”, otherwise the social order for a civil society in terms of observing family values would never have been given prominence. Over time many cultures steeped in religiousity have abandoned practices that were deemed “beyond reasoning” in a civil society. Our mind may not provide us with all the answers to the many questions we are faced with but to say that the alternative is in god’s language is stretching the imagination towards a luckless draw.
April 5th, 2006 at 3:41 am
“To me, however, it would not be heaven without the likes of Tun Razak, P. Ramlee and Sudirman.”
That’s rich coming from you…as if trying to say that if these guys are not in there, you might as well not wanna be in heaven!!
Nauzubillah……
Dont tell ALLah who HE should or should not put into HIS heaven!!
It contradicts your statement previous to it….
“It is also His sole prerogative as to whom He would admit to Heaven.”
April 5th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
baju,
Why are you limiting yourself and confine to the meaning of heaven. Heaven can be anything above all. The commonly reiterated phrases like heaven on earth, heavenly feeling etc are to describe the utter grandeur situation one is having or had before. I do agree with Dr. Bakri that without the likes he mentioned above, it was not heaven to him and perhaps to few of us as well. I didn’t get to watch Tun Razak in action but by being one of MRSM students, I regard I am one of his product (DEB).
As for P. Ramlee, Sudirman - yes they were there entertaining us. One of the pundits in music industry announced that those singers @ performers of the past are entertainers @ penghibur. Why? Because we felt entertained by them, by then (kita rasa cukup terhibur mendengar nyanyian dan dendangan mereka). The current singers are just merely sing and just sing (sedangkan penyanyi sekarang hanya menyanyi dan menyanyi, mereka tidak menghiburkan).
Thus, in conjecture, when we felt entertained, we had this heavenly feeling.
No one has been to heaven, thus we tend to prophesy everything in its. I remember once asking my ustaz during one boring subuh surmon, how does it feel like being in heaven. He said that the feeling is just like we men were about to ejaculate.
Wow! That is heaven for me..
April 5th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Opps! Typo error. It should read - one boring subuh sermon @ khutbah.
April 5th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
Well said, keropok lekor. The word, “ejaculation” sums it all. How else one can describe heaven when none has been there before.
You deserve a standing ovation, my dear friend.
Cheers.
April 5th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
pre-emptive strike!!
April 5th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
“Heaven” - You can only speculate as to what it really is. Until and unless you are free from defilement, then heavenly bliss will appear. A state of unalloyed happiness?
April 5th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Hi Friends:
Dr. Bakri meant figuratively, I belief. And, of course, I share similar sentiments with keropok and Fathol - someone told me when I was young that heaven and hell are here on earth - then what Jong says will make sense.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Dear Bakri,
I enjoyed this piece of yours. I for one believe that in todays day ‘akal’ (art of thinking) is the least used highest ‘gift’ that Allah has bestowed on us, the humankind. It is true, that it is this very gift, that separates us from the rest of His other creations, as you said.
We forget the mere fact that we went to school, we went to University, the prime objective of it all is to hone the ‘Art of Thinking’. We could graduate as doctors, architects, lawyers, engineers, religious teachers and what use are all of these esteemed degrees, if all that we get as end products are people who are only fueled by the tunnel vision attitude. People who do not apply what they learn to the best of their potential to achieve the highest glory humans can possibly achieve.
I think we forget when God said ‘go as far as China for knowledge’, God meant do not leave any stone unturned when it came to achievements in our lives. Some 1400 years ago, going to China was no mean feat. Therefore to achieve the highest level of the ‘Art of Thinking’ is no mean feat. It is a great challenge. It is difficult.
That is why it is easier to abdicate and just go with the flow, as do most of people do these days.
Many asked why the ‘Glory days’ of yore. Here’s the answer, people thought better then. The ‘Art of Thinking’, the application of the gift of our intelligence from God, was at its heights.
Therefore to my mind, the answer lies in our Education.
Thank you.
Ruby Ahmad.
April 6th, 2006 at 4:01 am
“…I remember once asking my ustaz during one boring subuh sermon, how does it feel like being in heaven. He said that the feeling is just like we men were about to ejaculate.
Wow! That is heaven for me.. ”
Heavenly piece of story … that’s enough to lift my despair for today …
Maybe Mr Baju should calm down a bit, and think deeper about different ways of using a word before firing off, which may lead to comical results.
April 8th, 2006 at 6:08 am
As a woman I’d like to have my moment too - with seven male virgins waiting for me at Heaven’s gates. I have yet to find one male virgin in my line of profession.
April 8th, 2006 at 8:29 am
Hi Tina,
You mean you tested all of them? Gosh, you must be a lucky devil after all. Anyway, I do support women on this. When man expects his woman (if he does expect) to be a virgin, then the woman, too, deserves the same observation. Cheers.
April 11th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Fathol Zaman
Lucky for you Mr Baju didn’t go after you for saying that none have gone to heaven. Correction, Prophet Muhammad was shown heaven as well as Prophet Adam. Otherwise where would we get the description of heaven as narrated.
Perhaps we should have termed the feeling as “heavenly or heaven on earth” that way it will clearly demarcate the real Heaven “Jannah” as against the heaven on earth.
April 11th, 2006 at 11:47 am
Hi Ogre:
Heaven and hell is actually “a state of mind”. Perhaps, it is little wonder that from the ordinary man to Prophets, they have to “walk upon this earth”.
Regards.
April 25th, 2006 at 3:28 am
I have this to say about the Quraan. Its the law and hypothesis.Its the law that is true that need to be proven or disprove. We muslim must take the challenge of the Quraan try to disprove it !!!! am sure in the end we would concur to the statement ,,but by doing that we shall feel the immenseness of Allah knowledge
eg al alak..tranlated as ’segumpal darah ” but a further arabic translation claimed that it is “the things that cling”. If muslim of earlier years were in pursue of knowledge and work on this ‘hypotheses of the thing that clings’ by trying to disprove it, he would be the first to discover embryonic clinging to the uterine wall….we lost that to the non muslims scholars.If the men was a muslim he would have sujud shukor and would have felt the greatness of Allah and how near He was to him….for those who just know about this …feel it …its was difirmankan 1400 years ago!!
Allah said the mountains were pegs to the earth …basically to stabilise it.To the mechanic who is balacing the wheel using a small metal counterweights, he understand the statement well as he would see how much the wheel wobble and remedied by just putting simple ‘pegs’ .To him the statement that the mountains are the pegs of the earth is proven by daily experiment that he conducted everyday.
Quraan and the creations must be viewed with knowledge of Quraan ,hadith and aqal….muslim were always been challenged by the Quraan …but we dare not take it fearing we become infidel…but Quraan has lasted the test tthe past 1400 years and i believe a few thousand more years it would still be able to stand the test…dont be afraid..seek knowledge as all would lead to HIM..amin