According to one ‘rawayat’,
Allah has kept the person of our Nabi ﷺ with five ‘pardas’; it means the inner self of our
Nabi ﷺ has been blessed with
five categories/ levels of knowledge. We have already seen in the article ‘Quranic Knowledge and its Levels’ dt: 22-09-2011 that Quran has been revealed
with five levels. Before getting a little idea about the depth of ‘rehma’
flowing from the person of our Nabi ﷺ, it is pertinent to reiterate in the following the
levels of Quranic knowledge already described in above mentioned article.
According
to the ‘rawayat’ “Allah has revealed Quran with five levels”. While
substantiating this ‘rawayat’ on the basis of Quran, we may infer that these
levels of understanding of Quranic knowledge are vertical and can be accessed
only one after the other. Access to each of these levels is associated with a
certain level of spiritual elevation.
The first level of understanding of
Quranic knowledge is ‘kitaab-e-mastoora’. Quran has been called by this name
many times: “And [by] a Book inscribed (mastoor)” (al-toor-2); “And there is no
city but that We will destroy it before the Day of Resurrection or punish it
with a severe punishment. That has ever been in the Book inscribed -mastoora”
(Isra-58). This is in the Book inscribed (al-ahzaab-6). At this level, one can
have access to the grammatical meanings of Quran’s written words. This is the
level of Quranic knowledge pertaining to facts and events apparently described
in the Quran. This is the level of Quranic knowledge associated with common
Muslims/ ‘muttaqeen’. “This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a
guidance for those conscious of Allah” (al-baqra-2).
The second level of access to
Quranic knowledge is ‘kitab-e-mubeen’. At this level of Quranic knowledge,
access is granted to facts and events described by inference, not apparently
described, in the Quran. At this level, Quranic knowledge pertaining to natural
laws (physical and social) relating to this world is accessed to. Quran says:
“everything unseen in the sky and earth has been described in “kitab-e-mubeen”
(al-naml-75). Every ‘khabar’ relating to this world has also been mentioned in
the ‘kitab-e-mubeen’. “And no moist or dry [thing] (in the darkness of earth)
but that it is[written] in a ‘kitab-e-mubeen’ (al-anam-59). “And there is no creature
on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of
dwelling and place of storage. All is in a “kitab-e-mubeen” (hud-6). This is
the level of Quranic knowledge/ information relating to both changeable and
unchanged destiny of every person/ mankind; but the person having access to
this level can’t differenciate between changeable and unchanged destiny. This
level of Quranic knowledge/ information is associated with ‘mumineen’.
Both levels of Quranic
knowledge/information described above can be accessed by non-Muslims as well;
in Quran, non-Muslims have not been excluded from having access to these both
levels. But they have been excluded explicitly from having access to the third
level of Quranic knowledge/ information.
The third level of Quranic knowledge
is called ‘kitab-e-maknoon’. This level is different from the second level in
some aspects. For instance, this is the level of Quranic knowledge, which
non-Muslims cannot have access to. “Indeed, it is a noble Qur'an. In a ‘kitab-e-maknoon’.
None touch it except the purified” (al-waqiah-77-79). It means non-Muslims
cannot be first recipient of Quranic knowledge of ‘kitab-e-maknoon’. However
they can receive this knowledge from its Muslim recipients.
Another difference as compared to
second level is that the third level pertains to unchanged destiny of
persons/mankind. “Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is
the ‘ummul kitab’ (al-ra,ad-39). Out of two types of destiny-changeable and
unchanged- Allah eliminates the changeable one (depending upon His Will and
actions of the concerned people) and the unchanged destiny may be accessed to
at the third level of Quranic knowledge/information. This level of Quranic
understanding is associated with ‘mutahharin’/purified.
The fourth level is
‘kitab-ul-hakim’. Quranic verses have been described as “ the signs of the Wise
Book (kitab-ul-hakim)” [al-luqman-2). This level provides rationale of all
natural laws working in this world; and rationale of all events happening in this
world. This level pertains to knowledge as to why natural laws and events are
like as they exist. This level of Quranic knowledge is associated with
‘muhsaneen’.
The fifth level is ‘ummul kitab’.
Quran has been called by this name in al-imran-7 which states: “It is He who
has sent down to you, [Muhammad (saw)], the Book; in it are verses [that are]
precise/ ‘muhkamat’ - they are the foundation of the Book/ummul kitab”. Sura zu
khraf-2-4 states: “By the ‘kitab-e-mubeen’. Indeed, We have made it an Arabic Qur'an
that you might understand. And indeed it is, in ‘ummul kitab’ with Us, exalted
and full of wisdom”. This level of Quranic knowledge provides the Basic
Principles from which natural laws and events originate. Al-imran-7 also states
that these Basic Principles are found in the verses which are
‘muhkamat’/precise. There are two kinds of verses in the Quran; firstly those
which are ‘mutashabihat’-these are not so precise/easy to understand; secondly
those which are ‘muhkamat’- these are precise/easy to understand in nature. The
Basic Principles which are origin of natural laws and events happening in this
world are to be discovered out of Quranic verses which are precise in nature.
This fifth level of Quranic knowledge is associated with ‘mutwaqqalin’.
‘Lohe Mahfooz’ is just a compilation
of all these five levels of Quranic knowledge/ information.
Now we can imagine -though only a little bit -comprehensiveness of
knowledge being imparted through Quran. Actually these five levels of Quranic
knowledge are what are imbedded in the inner-self of the person of our Nabi ﷺ; actually the five ‘pardas’ with the inner-self of our Nabi ﷺ described in the ‘rawayat’ mentioned in the opening para,
are these five levels of Quranic knowledge. In other words, Quranic knowledge
is the inner-self of our Nabi ﷺ. In
the article ‘ Ilham- a function of human
mind (2) dt: 31-01-2015, we have seen that
“all knowledge and skills a
particular man can achieve exist in that
man's mind, and can be obtained by understanding and manipulating the relevant
stimuli to be generated in the mind”.
Our Nabi ﷺ is the
embodiment of whole knowledge contained in the Quran, and it is the duty of our
Nabi ﷺ to teach this knowledge to humanity. Quran says:
“……… And We revealed
to you the ‘zikr’ that you may make clear to the people what was
sent down to them and that they might give thought” (al-nahl-44).
In
this verse, it is stated what zikr- Quran and Sunnah- have been revealed to our
Nabi ﷺ, it is the duty of our Nabi ﷺ to clarify/
teach that ‘zikr’ to the people. In other words, our Nabi ﷺ clarifies/teaches that ‘zikr’ to the people. It may please
be noted that ‘wahi’ related to ‘sunnah’ is not revealed in the form of words
like Quran; sunnah is revealed in the form of Allah’s Ideas which are clarified
by the Nabi ﷺ through his actions/statements
(sunnah) [for details please see my article ‘wahi,
intuition and their implications’]. It may please be noted that in this
verse word ‘people’ has been used. It means our Nabi ﷺ teaches Quran and ‘Sunnah’ not only to the Muslims but
also to the non-Muslims (as has been stated above, non-Muslims can also avail
Quranic knowledge up to the second level). In other words, our Nabi ﷺ teaches knowledge of everything contained in this world to
the Muslims, and also to the non-Muslims to the extent of the second level of
Quranic knowledge.
Now we can imagine though a little bit
what is the scope of ‘rehma’ flowing from the person of our Nabi ﷺ; that is why our Nabi ﷺ has been
called ‘ﷺ للعلمين
۱ رحمتہ’.
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