The Holy Qur'an is a divine book where all essential ingredients of life are found

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
The study and knowledge of the Qur\'an is essential not only for Scholars and Philosophers, but for everyone: an ordinary person, a student, a worker, a trader, a learned person as well as for all faithful believers. The study of the Qur\'an is essential for every committed Muslim, since it is the main source and foundation of the religious thought and faith.
Whatsoever gives meaning, essence and sanctity to his existence lies in the Holy Qur\'an. The Qur\'an is not just like other religious books which are content to discuss the problems of existence of God and creation in cryptic tones, or like those which merely convey a series of simple moral advice and counsels, so that those who believe in them are hopelessly left to search for guidance in other sources. It is a book where all essential ingredients of life can be found. Unlike other books, the Qur\'an discusses and formulates all the ideas and views that are essential for a man\'s life, beside communicating the tenets of faith. Since the Qur\'an is book of life, it also lays down all the principles of life including that of moral and ethical values for the purpose of individual, social and familial existence. Unfortunately, the study of Qur\'an has been left for Scholars and learned people only.
The aim pursued by the holy Qur\'an is the training of the human being as a being conscious of his duties. Now, the emergence of such a being requires a comprehensive reform of the human being, involving various changes such as the negation of false values and meaningless criteria, and fostering of a creative energetic spirit within him. The Qur\'an can thus be said to melt the spirit of human beings and pour them into a new mould, where they acquire a different, richer and more valuable form. Although this may be said to be the principal aim of the Qur\'an, it summons the human being insistently, at the very same time, to reflect and to ponder, and to acquire a realistic view of the world; it guides him on to the path of thought, of teaching and learning. The method used by the Qur\'an in training human being is that of \'Inductive Method\', i.e. the process of deriving general principles of life by using logic, reason and facts. According to the holy Qur\'an, there are four sources of human knowledge through which eternal truth can be derived, and they are: 1) Reason and logic. 2) Experience. 3) Study of Nature. 4) History.
All the other forms of sciences are offshoots of the four aforementioned sources, and the principal advances and developments in the natural sciences are all due these premises. Allama Iqbal, the famous Muslim thinker and poet of the Subcontinent, says: The advent of Islam, is actually the birth of inductive intellect. He adds: The constant appeal to REASON and EXPERIENCE in the Qur\'an, and the emphasis that it lays on NATURE and HISTORY as sources of human knowledge, are all different aspects of the same idea of finality. Of course, there are traditions narrated from Prophet Mohammad and the Infallible Imams of Ahl al-Bayt saying for example: \"Verily the Qur\'an has an exterior and an interior, and its interior has an interior upto seven (or according to a version, seventy) interiors . . . \"
And the Prophet and the Imams gave importance to its exterior as much as to its interior; they were as much concerned with its revelation as they were with its interpretation. That is why the holy Qur\'an deserves to be evaluated from different points of view. Some of the topics which call for examination in the Quran are: 1) The artistic and verbal beauty of the Quran and its style which is neither poetry nor prose. 2) The intellectual and scientific content of the Qur\'an. 3) The reinforcement of the spiritual dimensions of man. 4) The appeal to reflect and ponder. 5) The appeal to the study of nature. 6) The tapping of the historical incidents for evaluation. 7) The expounding of the mysteries of the creation. 8) The mentioning of series of truths and principles that govern the human life, i.e. Sociology, Economics, Government, etc.
However, each of these general issues possesses various branches and divisions. For example, when discussing mankind and its situation, it is natural to speak about morality. Or, when speaking about society, the problem of human relationships also unavoidably enters the discussion. The same is true of such notions as \"enjoining good and forbidding evil,\" and the problem of social classes. Now the question is: What is then the general theme of the holy Qur\'an? If pondered upon the multifaceted contents inside the Qur\'an, one can safely reach to the conclusion that the central theme and aim pursued by the Qur\'an is the \'training of the human being\' as a being conscious of his duties. The main aim of the Qur\'an is therefore to reinforce and accelerate the spiritual ascension, together with all the qualities of human being, toward a state of true loftiness and the dignity of which the human being is worthy. In another words, we can say that the main purpose of the holy Qur\'an is to expound truths that are relevant to the \'life of the human being\' and the exaltation of his being and conducive to his attaining a life of true happiness. The Prophet\'s 1st Infallible Successor, Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb (AS) narrated the following dua, from which we can derive very clearly that the Holy Qur\'an is the \'chart of life for man\'. He prayed: \"O Allah! expand my breast with the Qur\'an, actuate my body with the Qur\'an, enlighten my sight with the Qur\'an, liberate my tongue by the Qur\'an, and help me to mould my life according to Qur\'an, so long as You make me live\".