Al-Hafiz Yunus Omotayo
If Muhammad, the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be on him) had been sent to personify the mercy of Allah to mankind (Qur’an, 21:108), the Holy Qur’an is indeed the ever-living proof of that mercy (Qur’an, 4:175).
More interestingly, by applying the same criteria by which the American Historian, Michael H. Hart had so ranked our Holy Prophet (saw) as the first of the 100 Most Influential Men in History, we may as well go a little further to rank the Holy Qur’an as the Most Influential Book of all the scriptures and books in the world. For, if Muhammad (saw), the body, had so influenced humanity, it is the Qur’an, the soul, which had first influenced Muhammad (saw); and, if he is the action, it is the teaching, the substance. Hence, speaking about the Holy Qur’an, Goethe, the greatest of German poets, declared: “This book will go on exercising through all ages a most potent influence. (www.alislam.org, The Al Islam e-Gazette, Friday, August 3, 2007, p. 10)
Allah the Omniscient Himself sufficiently bears witness through the treasures of the Holy Qur’an as a proof of its divine origin; even the Angels all attest to this fact. (Qur’an, 4:167). Muhammad (saw) the Prophet of power and glory, in a Hadith reported by At-Tirmidhi, describes the Holy Qur’an as the strongest Rope of Allah (Habluhu al-Mateen), His Clearest Light (Nuruhu al-Mubeen), All-Beneficial Cure (Shifa’uhu an-Nafi), and a means of protection (‘Ismah) and salvation (Najah) for its upholders. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad,(as) the Imam of the Age, was also blessed with a revelation which declares: “Al-Khairu kulluhū fil-Quran”, i.e., all kinds of good lies in the substance (Ahmad, Mirza Ghulam, Our Teaching, Islam International Publications Limited, UK, p. 17)
The above perhaps establish the reason why Allah gloriously eulogizes Himself thus: “All praise belongs to Allah Who has sent down the Book to His Servant and has not put therein any crookedness.” (Qur’an,18:20).
In the light of the above, the exigency of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an is asserted as the Divine Book whose teachings, doctrines and principles must be believed in, and submitted to, by man; whose divine text must be continuously taught, learnt, read and oft-recited by all and sundry; whose literal words must be recorded intact, committed to memory and preserved by Muslims; and most significantly, whose injunctions, message, philosophy, and ideology must be obeyed, imbibed, practiced and propagated.
This is therefore the reason why it has received more attention by believers and detractors alike. According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali: “ There is no book in the world in whose service so much talent, so much labour, so much time and money have been expended as has been the case with the Holy Qur’an (3) Indeed, no other scripture has been patronized by men of letters, philosophers, philologists, sociologists and political analysts as the Qur’an. (Ali, Abdullah Yusuf, The Holy Quran English Translation of the Meaning and Commentary, Introduction (Commentaries of the Quran)
Excerpt from: Memorization of the Holy Quran – Merits and Methods, by Al-Hafiz Yunus Omotayo (2013)
