15 minutes

We try really hard to manage our time everyday but if there’s a 15-minute
delay in even one of the million tasks we do everyday, it becomes the
cause\reason of many problems\losses. Sometimes missing the bus can
be a huge problem and sometimes we end up missing class or having a
proper meal and sometimes something even as big as losing our job. If we
can take those 15 minutes and put it ahead in time, as in finish our task 15
minutes in advance, we can most probably get more relaxed sleep, we can
also be saved from getting a speeding ticket. Only 15 minutes of exercise,
yoga or Sal’at can change a person’s life for the better and make them
own an incredibly positive personality. We can watch an entertaining clip in
15 minutes to lighten your mood, help someone who needs it or gain
knowledge and information about important things by reading a good book
or researching. Observation of things or people or even life can be more
rewarding than years of praying, which is also an excellent way of
spending 15 minutes wisely.

Have you ever noticed how many books a person reads in his\her lifetime
and how many of those are actually useful? Have your eyes ever
experienced the “perfect” book, a book that has absolutely no mistakes
whatsoever, a book that has the perfect use of grammar and vocabulary?
Library; just one word makes our brain picture a map of a place with
countless books, where everyone can pick out books to their needs and
wants. But have you ever heard of such a complex\compact book that
contains the entire library within?

Just a single book that not only has information and details about life itself
but also contains everything one should know about death and the afterlife.
A book that is based truly and entirely on facts. A book that has signs and
symbols that today’s science is in the process of discovering. From
geography to astronomy, biology, botany, history and banking, to the
basics of social systems and many more subjects that come-in handy to
everyone in their day to day life – important information that will help them
lead their lives in a better manner. There is such a book…… The root of all
books; Al-Quran.

People still ask many questions about how it is possible that the Quran and
its contents never changed from how it was when it was first introduced,
and how there are no different volumes and versions. And even after
centuries passed, how come the rules stated in the Quran are still
benefiting people who follow them. In short, the answers to these
questions, in the next 12 minutes are as follows:

History tells us that Allah’s last prophet, Prophet Mohemmed (P.B.U.H)

received Allah’s word via Angel Gabriel gradually. Prophet Mohemmed
(P.B.U.H) upon receiving the WAHI (the revelation-for the lack of a better
word), would recite in front of his companions, who would write it down for
themselves along with memorizing what the Prophet (P.B.U.H) had just
said. And this continued for the next 23 years, which tells us that Quran
was completed in a time period of 23 years.

Centuries ago, instead of using paper to write on, people used camel ribs,
camel skin, stones, tree bark or cloth, that is why the messages that were
written by Prophet’s (P.B.U.H) scriber (Katib-e-wahi-these were known
companions trusted by Prophet (P.B.U.H)) were written on these things,
but the book didn’t have a look overall. The Apostle of Allah recited Quran
in Ramadan, so his followers knew the sequence in which they should
recite Quran. In this manner, the orders regarding the Shariah-Muslim
Laws, was completed on the day of Hajj, but it is said that the last Ayat of
Quran were revealed only nine days before the departure of our beloved
Mohemmed (S.A.W) from this world. Till this point, the Muslim were very
clear in what to recite where and how.
Then once at war (war of yamama), many Huffaz – The protectors (people
who memorize the Quran by heart for its protection), were martyred. At this
time, Muslims’ first Caliph, Hadrat Abu Bakr (R.A) was approached by
Hadrat Omar (R.A, who was later selected Caliph after Hazrat Abu Bakar),
and suggested that if the Hufaz were going to be martyred the same way,
Allah forbid, parts of the Quran might get lost or be incomplete, therefore
the Quran was decided to be put into the shape of a book and Hadrat Zaid
bin Sabit (R.A) was given the responsibility to complete this, but even
though he also was a Hafiz of the Quran, he still worked with extreme
caution and made sure that whoever has written down any Ayat (even just
a single one), had 2 witnesses with them to prove that what was being
said, was actually heard from Prophet Mohemmed (P.B.U.H). Once the
Quran was put into an actual book, it was sent to places miles and miles
away, as far away as Islam was spread at the time. And people who
owned different and small parts from before the Quran was formed were
removed. Since then the people were introduced to the Quran and, to date,
read and follow it, and Insha-Allah will stay this way till the day of
Judgment.

There were many holy scriptures that were revealed to different Apostles
of Allah; these were called ‘Suhuf’ in Arabic; these books either have
vanished from the face of the earth or have been tempered with. Through
Quran we understand that Hazrat Ibraheem was given a saheefa (singular
of Suhuf); as to where it is? no-one really knows. Hazrat Moosa or Moses
was given Torah or Toraat; Zabur was the book sent to Hazrat Dawood;
both these books have faced human intervention, and these do not exist in
their true forms any longer. Today’s Bible is attributed to Jesus, but the
same is accounts of different disciples; as to where the real ‘Injeel (bible)”
is? None but Allah knows at the moment.

The question now, is how come the Quran didn’t change from how it was
originally written? And how come there aren’t different versions of the
Quran being read by the people today. This has only been possible
because Allah himself promised to protect the Holy Quran from anything
wrong happening to it, the content and Ayats will never be changed from
the original. And because of this promise, there has always been only one
– the original – Quran in every part of the world today.

This world became the global village just recently, but centuries ago
people from one part of the world even did not know what was on the other
end or if it even existed. Because of the promise Allah made, all the
different places that some didn’t even know existed, got to read the very
original Quran, without any kinds of changes being made to it by people
who might’ve wanted to make money by maybe changing the Ayats of the
Quran and writing their own versions. But Allah sent Prophet Mohemmed
(P.B.U.H) to the entire universe, as a blessing. Not for an occasion, or a
certain time period, but till the Day of Judgment. And since Prophet
Mohemmed (P.B.U.H) is the last prophet and no other is supposed to
come after him, the message that was sent in the Quran for the benefit of
not just Muslims but for every single human being and that’s why the
promise was made by Allah to protect the Quran and the message within,
by all means necessary.

Despite the other holy books that were revealed on apostles before
Mohemmed (S.A.W), which were only memorized by heart by the Prophets
because it was too hard for the ordinary humans, the Quran is a
miraculous book, which can be memorized and read by children as young
as 7 years of age. Other than memorization, everything related to the
Quran is protected as well, which includes the Ahadith (saying) of Prophet
Mohemmed (P.B.U.H) – through which its much more easier to understand
the Quran – doesn’t matter how many times versions of the other books
were changed, the statements and predictions made by Prophet
Mohemmed (P.B.U.H) are still protected and valid, along with proofs
needed for anything stated in the Quran. Languages spoken by humans
are changed all the time and they become totally different from what they
originally were, so did Arabic. Ruins from ancient times – writings in this
sense – are found but there’s no one that can interpret them perfectly, but
it is the miracle of Allah that despite being modernized, Arabic is the only
language that has retained it originality in the course of its modernization.
That is another example of Allah’s promise of complete protection of the
Quran, that the language it is originally written in and should always be
read in, has been protected too. Moreover, Quran being read in Arabic is
also a wonder in itself. Most of the Arabs are stunned to learn that some
people who can recite Quran are unable to speak Arabic at all.
Observation shows that people, who keep themselves close to the Quran,
by means of reading, understanding, following (taking action on what they
learn) knowing (the difference between Halal & Haram or prohibited) and
actually believing in it are also protected by Allah.

Allah asks believers to hold on tight on his rope in Quran. THE

DEFINITION OF THE WORD ‘ROPE’ IN DICTIONARY IS A THICK,
STRONG STRING WHICH IS FORMED BY MANY LITTLE STRINGS OR
‘WIRES’ JOINED TOGETHER. This means that everyone should remain
steadfast, strong willed and committed to the system Allah has created for
his people, with all the Mega & Nano level rules. Usually the English
dictionaries fail at explaining Arabic words in English because the power
Arabic words carry cannot be matched with any other language; after all,
Allah communicated with humanity in Arabic, (the nearest match is only
Hebrew, which is illegible unfortunately) and sent his final words in this
language. Now let’s take the word ‘Islam’ itself as an example, mostly
people describe it as just one word – PEACE and this is good enough for
them, even though in reality at least 5 english words describe just a single
Arabic word: Submission, sincerity, surrender, obey and peace. When
head of these words together, a clear idea would be in our minds and that
would be the definition of Islam. Also, this word would make our minds
come up with a question: Who do we submit, surrender and obey to? The
answer will automatically be there: to Allah. This is why when the Quran
was recited amongst the Arabs, who called all other nations ‘Ajam –
meaning inarticulate or mute’ because they thought that they had supreme
command of their language, were fascinated with what was written in the
Quran and some were mesmerized to the level of accepting Islam; yet
there were many who said that this is Magic or high class poetry, and
Nauzobillah they accused Prophet Mohemmed (P.B.U.H) of producing the
Quran himself. This is when Allah challenged those people through the
Quran. This is when Allah challenged those people through the Quran’s
Ayats, that if they think the contents of the Quran aren’t sent from Him,
then they must go and make a Quran of their own or write 10 sura’s or
maybe even just one and for this leave Him out and ask any other person
(or whoever they worship) to help them, but everything in the universe
combined wouldn’t be able to win this challenge. If a human wrote the
Quran, then the Ayat and the rules present would have collided one way or
the other at some point for sure. And we all know that humans are to err
and very minute in their knowledge as compared to Allah.

Let us all take a minute here and ask ourselves: what is the purpose of
reading, understanding & relating/connecting to the Quran? What can one
gain out of it? One of the answers could be that if, of all the rules being
applied to almost everything in this world, traffic rules never existed and
there were no fines/charges for any type of violation, everything would’ve
been a wreck. Countless collisions, chronological disabilities, deaths,
hours of traffic jams, way more waste of gas & fuel, smokes from cars,
pollution, lack of tolerance, and frustration etc. Society, since human
beings make them so, connect everyone to everyone, in one way or the
other, whether you like it or not; thus, the absence of the traffic rules, might
just lead to be the cause of a complete destruction of the economy. This is
why, the rules are essential for the individuals of a society, in order to be
able to carry out a healthy & well managed lifestyle and for there to be
peace in this world.

Have another perspective on this: a human being is a combination of 2

things, i.e. body and soul. If the body doesn’t get proper nutrition and
doesn’t stay healthy, then the body will for sure, be sick and unhealthy.
Just like that, the soul badly needs, more like requires, being able to
recognize Allah and to obey his orders. When this doesn’t happen, a
person, subconsciously, feels anxious, dissatisfied and upset. Such a
person either doesn’t understand the reason of this at all or he/she doesn’t
want to, and as a consequence forces him/herself to stay oblivious about
it. We recharge our hand held devices every single day, but never realize
that the charger only works when both pins are functioning properly, not
just one; this is exactly why it’s important for our souls to be connected to
Allah via Quran, at all times; or else, the soul will start suffocating.
Diseases of the heart are treated by angioplasty, open heart surgeries, and
continuous use of medicines and diet control; similarly the soul is treated
by reading the Quran, forgiving people, letting go of grudges, remembering
Allah and praying to Him with all your heart, asking for forgiveness for all
the wrong things we’ve done in our life, and preparing for the 5 questions
that would have to be answered at the day of resurrection, when one
wouldn’t be able to move their feet even an inch before answering. Want to
get the paper out don’t you? Here you go! Those 5 questions are; 1) when
educated about Islam, how much attention was paid to detail and how
much of it was actually applied to your everyday life? 2) Where was the
money earned? 3) Where was the money spent? 4) How did you spend
your life? Doing what? 5) What was the body used for? And who can doubt
the existence of the Day of Judgment, for Allah himself stated that we
should be ready for it.

Almost every day a company introduces some new invention to the

market, and without even thinking people just sit there and wait for it since
our minds have accepted science is everything and is always right. A few
100 years ago, when different people came up with different inventions, it
used to seem so impossible that people used to mock them due to lack of
knowledge at the time. But eventually, human minds started recognizing
the possibilities of flying aircrafts, long distance calling with a telephone;
devices to keep things cool and electricity operated light bulbs. People
started getting so impressed with all the ideas and inventions that they
thought the mind and science is the way to go. Now how is it possible that
everything men promised actually happened, but Allah’s promised, of the
Day of Judgment and staying ‘’alive forever’’, the afterlife, the most
impressive rewards to be given in paradise, and the most horrific
punishments in hell, wouldn’t come true? We all have 5 senses, most
things in life are recognized by the help of these, and other than these 5,
we have intuition/intelligence, but even all of these combined we can’t
understand the ‘’GAIB’’. These ‘’Gaib’’ were sent to the humans via the
messengers of Allah, for which any degree of gratitude is too little. The 2
gifts from Prophet Mohemmed (P.B.U.H) to us are still there; one is the
Quran and second the sunna’s (ritual) of the Prophet (P.B.U.H), we only
need to be able to understand these and apply to our daily lives. And for
this, if only 15 minutes were to be taken out of the 24 hours, those 15
minutes can change a whole person for the better.

Farah Rizwan
www.Scribd.com/axim99