Tuesday 16 August 2011

Selamat Menyambut Nuzul Quran, let us understand the Quranic recitals

If you have been reading the local news on paper and the internet you will be quite familiar with the debate about the volume intensity of the Quran recital in the morning before the Suboh (Morning) Azan call for prayers.

Latest news today from the MI:
Penang Mufti says no coercion in Quran broadcast banAugust 15, 2011

GEORGE TOWN, Aug 15 — Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Hassan Ahmad today said the decision by the state fatwa council banning loudspeaker broadcasts of Quran readings at dawn was not the result of outside pressure.

The Islamic cleric also denied that the ban included the azan (Muslim call to prayer), before clarifying that the decision was an advisory and not an edict as widely reported.

“I am disappointed over the unprofessional and ill-mannered statements from all quarters, including accusations that the state Fatwa Council decided on the matter in a reckless manner,”
 Hassan was quoted in a Bernama Online report today.

“This matter is not a political issue but is a directive from Prophet Muhammad and also to safeguard a harmonious Islam.”Hassan explained that under Section 45 Penang Islamic Enactment 2004, fatwas require the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the head of Islam before they could be issued.

The state’s ban on loudspeaker broadcasts of Quran readings had received the support of Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who advised Muslims to consider the sensitivities of their neighbours when practising their faith.

The PAS spiritual leader’s backing of the ruling became political fodder when Malay rights group Perkasa seized upon it to declare themselves the new defenders of Islam, saying Nik Aziz’s remarks meant the Islamist party was no longer committed to the religion. Read the rest here.
I am a Muslim but I am no expert in my religion. I am not going to give my thoughts on the appropriate volume level for broadcast of the Quran recital as the debate will never end. People will debate on volume intensity of Azans  for Subuh, Dzuhur, Asar, Magrib and Isya' next you can be sure of that. I think the Majlis Fatwa Negara should convene  before the matter gets out of hand with people less knowledgeable about Islamic knowledge giving their own versions of fatwa. 

Actually in this Holy month of Ramadhan I am less worried about the volume of the Quranic recital than the problem about people who recites the Quran in Arabic  but do not know the meaning of the verses. Unfortunately too much emphasis is placed on the form but not on the substance.

In fact I think many Muslims have forgotten that the first verse of the Quran revealed to our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) starts with the word "Read":

File:Iqra.jpg

Read in the name of your Lord who created
Created man from a clinging substance.
Read, and your Lord is the most Generous -Who taught by the pen 
Taught man that which he knew not.
Read the rest of Surah Al-Alaq here.

READ (BACA)

While some of us enjoy to READ the Quran many still do not understand what they are reading. If majority Muslims had understood the first verses revealed to  Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) we would have been one of the most advanced people on earth because it tells us to read and seek knowledge.

This is a beautiful celebration of the first word of the first verse revealed by ALLAH to his Prophet Muhammad by Ahmad Bukhatir:


Selamat Menyambut Nuzul Quran

2 comments:

quran learning said...

MAsha Allah, beginning of is lslam

quran karim said...

beautiful verse i love it.