"Ask Those who Know"
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Peace. I wrote the following because the Sunnis/Shias as always, have been twisting it - perhaps some readers here might find it useful. Note I use the word 'Allah' instead of English word 'God' as 'Allah' is more familiar to target audience.
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"Ask Those Who Know"
Allah tells us in the Qur'an in many places, that the Qur'an is a guide for the individual person. That is, the actual verses within it are guidance
"That is the Book, without any doubt. A Guide for those who guard against evil." (Qur'an 22)
"These are the verses of the wise Book. A Guide and mercy for those who do good." (Qur'an 312-3)
Despite Allah continuously reminding people of this fact, people do not take the Qur'an as the guide and know very little about the Qur'an. Immediately, they will plead their lack of qualifications and cite how difficult it is to properly understand the Qur'an without resorting to other sources.
A person who has fallen into this trap will cite quotes he has heard or read which are said to be from the Qur'an in order to justify his stance on the Qur'an. One of these is where the Qur'an allegedly says, "Ask those who know". So where is this verse which so many people utter? 1643 and 217 are both repetitions of the same verse. Below is 217
None of the towns which We destroyed before them had believed. Will they believe?
And We did not send before you except men whom We inspired to. So ask the People of the Reminder (Ahl-Azzikr / ) if you do not know. (Qur'an 216-7)
The underlined portion is what they quote (but do not quote it accurately). They quote it as "ask those who know". The correct meaning is strikingly apparent when reading the actual verse. It reads, / So Ask the People of the Reminder (Ahl-Azzikr / . But who are "Ahl-Azzikr (People of the Reminder)"?
If we look at what is just before the verse "And We did not send before you except men whom We inspired to...", we notice that this verse is speaking of previous messengers who were sent with Scriptures, and it points out that they were ordinary human beings. The verse continues... "So Ask the People of the Reminder (Ahl-Azzikr / ر if you do not know". This is a metaphorical expression to the disbelievers to go and ask the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) who will testify to this fact, since they are following previous messengers of Allah. The particle " (fa)" or "so" in English used in "so ask the people of The Reminder" is an additional clue.
Azzikr / (The Reminder) is a term used frequently in the Qur'an to refer to Allah's Books. The disbelievers too had used this term
"They say, 'Receiver of this Reminder (Azzikr / ر, you are mad!' " (Qur'an 156)
"We have sent down The Reminder (Azzikr / ر, and We will guard it" (Qur'an 1510)
"Ahl-Azzikr / " (People of the Reminder) is a term used just like " / Ahl-alkitaab" (People of the Book) used in the Qur'an to refer to Christians and Jews.
In conclusion,
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The verse does not say "Ask those who know" it says "Ask the People of the Reminder", which is referring to the People of the Book - this phrase had been erroneously translated by them to meet their objectives.
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When we take the whole verse into consideration, we see that "So ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know" is related to the first part of the verse, which they deliberately omit. The verse in complete form reads "And We did not send before you except men whom We inspired to. So ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know" - the context renders it completely clear.
Therefore, verses 1643 and 217 do not order the believer to resort to clergy in order follow the Qur'an. Allah continuously orders people to take the Qur'an as a personal guide and asks everyone to think over its message for themselves. He also reveals to us that the Qur'an can be understood when any person sincerely thinks over its verses
"We clarify the verses for a people who reflect" (Qur'an 1024)
and that the Qur'an is easy to comprehend and follow
"We have made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember will anyone take heed?" (Qur'an 5417)
Moreover, Allah opposes the popular notion of clergymen, which has drifted many people from devoting themselves to Allah by understanding the Qur'an, in the following verse
"Then We sent in their tracks Our messengers. We sent Jesus the son of Mary, and We gave him the Injeel, and We ordained in the hearts of his followers kindness and mercy. But they invented Monasticism - We did not ordain it for them, only that they should seek Allah's good pleasure - and even so, they did not observe it properly." (Qur'an 5727)
QuranicPath | "Ask Those who Know"
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Peace Brother
Whether Quran says or not ,we always ask those who know about some topic, which may be
-Personally
-Through books
-Through internets
Everyone learns from those who know something.
Regards -
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Brother remember, this is the clear injunction, using a third person singular. We know so many Farads, however, in AlKitab this word is only used 4 times, one in this verse.
Yes we do ask, but not just one person. Sepecially when things do not make sense, do not we keep looking for satisfactory answer for our query.
Badar
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Peace,
There is nothing wrong with asking, but they are not asking, but begging. Beggars can't be choosers, nor can the secterian have any choice but to obey once the answer has been given.
The Quran says ask. It says listen. It says reflect. It doesn't say beg.Nadeem
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Peace,
I would like to contribute...
Ahl-AlZikr are the people of the Book or the people who study the Book send to Moses which the Book of Mohammed is confirming. So it is logical, if you are in doubt regarding the Quran, ask those who study the previous Book that was given to Moses. Note there are no other Books. They are only two. The Pagans called them two works of Magic and they are going to reject both. It is interesting to note that when Mohammed was addressing the pagans in Mecca, he used the term the Book of Moses and didn't mention the Torah and Injil.
Peace,
Rami
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Peace,
I would like to contribute...
Ahl-AlZikr are the people of the Book or the people who study the Book send to Moses which the Book of Mohammed is confirming. So it is logical, if you are in doubt regarding the Quran, ask those who study the previous Book that was given to Moses. Note there are no other Books. They are only two. The Pagans called them two works of Magic and they are going to reject both. It is interesting to note that when Mohammed was addressing the pagans in Mecca, he used the term the Book of Moses and didn't mention the Torah and Injil.
Peace,
Rami
Peace
The Quran has used the term "Al - Ziker " for all divine books including Quran.
Regards -
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Peace
The Quran has used the term "Al - Ziker " for all divine books including Quran.
RegardsHighly inaccurate, Al-Zikr is Al-Kitab which is given to both Moses and Mohammed.
4612 And before this was the Scripture of Moses, as a role model and a mercy. And this is an authenticating Scripture, in an Arabic tongue, so that you may warn those who have transgressed, and to give good news to the righteous.
4630 They said O our people, we have heard a Scripture that was sent down after Moses, authenticating what is before it. It guides to the truth; and to a Straight Path.
2848 But when the truth came to them from Us, they said If only he was given the same that was given to Moses! Had they not rejected what was given to Moses before? They had said Two works of magic assisting one another. And they said We reject all these things.
2849 Say Then bring forth a scripture from God that is better in guidance than these two so I may follow it, if you are truthful.
2850 But if they fail to respond to you, then know that they follow only their desires. And who is more astray than one who follows his desire, without guidance from God? God does not guide the wicked people.381 Sad, and the Quran that contains the remembrance(Zikr).
21105 And We have written in the Psalms "After the remembrance(Zikr), that the Earth will be inherited by My servants who do good."
1644 With clarity and the Psalms. And We sent down to you the Reminder(Zikr) to make clear to the people what was sent to them, and perhaps they will think.
Note that the Zikr in the Quran will confirm and explain what is sent down in the past to Moses that they rejected.
Peace,
Rami
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Peace,
The Arabic word "Ahl" can mean "worthy of".
So "Ahl Althikr" does not have to mean the people of the Reminder. It could very possibly mean "those people who are worthy of the Reminder", "who are worthy of knowing", etc..What is the plural of ?Ahl? when it means ?worthy of?? Can it be ?Ahilla??
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Peace sister
Quran does not use so many arabic words ,it does not mean that they do not exist.
RegardsThe dictionaries give an example from a line in a poem. Does this mean it is correct? The qur'aan used similar contexts but did not use the plural form. I am not asking of a word that is not used in the qur'aan, but a word that is used and in similar context, but not the same form.
Besides, why do you comment on part and leave the mail part of the post? The plural you quote does not men "worthy" and the dictionaries do not give the "ahl" in the plural form when it means "worthy".
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I like this rendition.
Sister,
Ordinarily you give the argument and evidence for your likings. In this case reason is not given. The word is used for 127 times in the Grand Qur'aan and nowhere it could be stretched to give the above quoted rendition. It denotes a group of people having some commonality and relationship, like of family, land, city, common Book, way of life, taqwa, having been forgiven, residents of same place like hell.
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Sister,
Ordinarily you give the argument and evidence for your likings. In this case reason is not given. The word is used for 127 times in the Grand Qur'aan and nowhere it could be stretched to give the above quoted rendition. It denotes a group of people having some commonality and relationship, like of family, land, city, common Book, way of life, taqwa, having been forgiven, residents of same place like hell.
Salaam Mazhar
What's wrong with liking an understanding? Am I supposed to give evidence for it? It means I like it, I never thought of it, and maybe try to research it. I did not say I agree. And I am glad you notice that I give evidence with my "agreeing", not with my liking. I once said "I like that" in reponse to a post, although I had my own "evidenced" different understanding. No one popped up and said I should give evidence.
And to tell the truth, this is the best response on this thread, yet it's not my understanding. I am against treating qur'aan, alqur'aan, kitaab, thikr, furqan, alkitaabul mubeen, alkitaab...etc, as if they are synonyms. -
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Peace,
In conclusion,
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The verse does not say "Ask those who know" it says "Ask the People of the Reminder", which is referring to the People of the Book - this phrase had been erroneously translated by them to meet their objectives.
-
When we take the whole verse into consideration, we see that "So ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know" is related to the first part of the verse, which they deliberately omit. The verse in complete form reads "And We did not send before you except men whom We inspired to. So ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know" - the context renders it completely clear.
Therefore, verses 1643 and 217 do not order the believer to resort to clergy in order follow the Qur'an. Allah continuously orders people to take the Qur'an as a personal guide and asks everyone to think over its message for themselves. He also reveals to us that the Qur'an can be understood when any person sincerely thinks over its verses
"We clarify the verses for a people who reflect" (Qur'an 1024)
and that the Qur'an is easy to comprehend and follow
"We have made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember will anyone take heed?" (Qur'an 5417)
Moreover, Allah opposes the popular notion of clergymen, which has drifted many people from devoting themselves to Allah by understanding the Qur'an, in the following verse
In addition, the implied assertion of not knowing is not correct.
To be asked is a rhetorical question so they can ponder on the answer
Were not all prior messengers human?1643-44 And We did not send from before you except men/humans, We inspire to them, so question the reminder's people, if - you (p) were not knowing. With the evidences and The Books, and We descended - to you (s/m) the reminder to show to the people what was descended to them, and perhaps they think.
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Sister,
I partially agree. But when a teacher expresses liking, it is taken as her/his approval and in the sense of "almost correct" and other students may immediately take a tilt towards that end which could stop them from further penetrating into it.
Well, this is a big reponsibility you are charging me with, which I did not seek nor claim. I hope others do not forget that I am a student on this forum. Maybe you are right. I will be careful next time