Qur'an

The Quran (القرآن‎, romanized: al-Qurʼān, literally meaning "the recitation"), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (Allah). It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature. The Quran is divided into chapters (Arabic: سورة sūrah, plural سور suwar), which are subdivided into verses (Arabic: آية āyah, plural آيات āyāt).

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 2 years ago

Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at are combinations of letters or single letter of the Arabic language in the beginning of 29 surahs in Qur'an. 27 of them are Makki surahs and only 2 are Madani - al-Baqara and Aal Imran.
 
Each letter is recited separately. Examples are Alif Laam Mim, Haa Mim and Alif Laam Ra.
 
No doubt there are meanings for every letter in Qur'an but the ulama have discussed these letters and have different opinions.
 
Some of the ulama say that it is a challenge to the Arabs - the fact that these letters are from their own language. It is a challenge to them to prove that they can never bring something like Qur'an.  When they failed, they were challenged to bring ten chapters like its chapters, and when failed, they were challenged to bring just one chapter like its chapters. They failed as well. That is very clear evidence that the Qur'an is not from a human source.
 
No doubt the meaning of these letters in Qur'an and the meaning of the whole Qur'an is fully with the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and with his Holy Projeny Ahlul Bayt (AS).
 
We have many narrations in this regard in the book of al-Shaykh al-Saduq known by Ma'ani al-Akhbar - the meanings of the narrations.
 
Many narrations about the meanings of some of the Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at like Alif Laam Ra is that it is the greatest name of Allah (SWT), Ta Haa is one of the names of the Prophet (SAWA).
 
In surah Maryam the first verse - Kaf Ha Ya 'Ain Sad - according a narration it refers to Karbala, the victimisation of Ahlul Bayt (as), the criminal Yazid, the thirst of Imam Hussain (as) and the patience of Imam Hussain (as).
 
These narrations are many but we can come to the conclusion that the detailed meanings of these letters are with the Prophet (pbuh) and Ahlul Bayt (as).
 
The ulama have also seen a link between these letters and the surah itself so if any surah starts with Alif Laam Mim, there is a link between these letters and the contents of the surah.
 
Many books were written on the subject of Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at:
 
·        Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at fil-Qur'an by Abd al-Jabbar Sharara
·        Awa'il al-Suwar fil-Qur'an al-Karim by Ali Nasuh Tahir
·        Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at fee awail al-Suwar al-Qur'aniya by Muhammad Ahmed Abu Firakh
·        Asrar al-Huruf, wa yalih al Horoof al-Muqatta'ah fil-Qur'an al-Karim by Kazim Muhammad Ali Shukr
·        Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at fee awail al-Suwar by Adil bin Ali bin Ahmed al-Shiddi
·        Al-Nadhr ila al-Ma'ani Al Horoof al-Muqatta'at by Hamid bin Abullah bin Ali
·        al-Muqatta'at fee Fawatih al-Suwar by Asmaa Tariq Ismail Rayyan
 
Briefly we say that the real meanings of these letters are best known by the Prophet (pbuh) and his Holy Projeny (as).
Wassalam.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 2 years ago

Real Islam of the Prophet (SAWA) and Ahlul Bayt (AS) provides authentic answer to any question and full explanation to every doubt.
You should never feel disturbed from any question or any doubt, but face it frankly and seek the answer from authentic scholars.

You mentioned a question: How to know that the higher power is Allah?

Answer: Allah is Creator of every creature in the universe and the sophisticated  system in the creation and creatures proves that The Creator is One. Had another Gid existed, he should have declared his existence to the creature. Imam Ali (As) said : Had your Lord had a partner, the claimed partner should have sent messengers to people. All the messengers from Allah are the most noble and most truthful persons and all of them brought the message of Tawheed as the biggest fact in the existence.

You also mentioned a question: How to know that Quran is really from Allah?

Answer: The miracles in Quran prove with no doubt that Quran can never be from human source. Quran challenged the enemies who claimed that it is not from Allah, to brig any book like Quran using the help of every human and Jinn ( Say: If all human beings and all the Jinn join all their efforts to bring like this Quran,they will never bring like it, even if all of them joined their efforts)(Sura 17, Verse 88). When they failed, Quran challenged them to bring ten chapters similar to Quranic chapters which are 114 chapters. (They claim that Quran was created by you, Say: Bring you ten created chapters like Quran and call who so ever you can to help you other than Allah if you are truthful) (Sura Hood, verse 13).  When they failed to do that again, Quran challenged them to bring just one chapter like Quranic chapters (If you are doubt about what We revealed on Our servant, then bring one chapter like it and call all you supporters besides Allah if you are truthful.) They again failed. This itself is an evidence that Quran is above the abilities of humans and Jinns and it is from Allah.

Scientific miracles in Quran also prove that it is from Allah. You can search in the internet (scientific miracles in Quran).

These questions can be from Satan to disturb you but you should worry but get the answer from authentic scholars.

Wassalam.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 2 years ago

1. Every verse, every word, even every letter in Quran is very important. Muslims believe in the whole and everything in Quran.
2. Nothing in Quran is unimportant. Everything in Quran is The Word of Allah, which can never be unimportant.

3. Muhkamat verses are the very clear in meaning, while Mutashabihat can have more than the linguistic meaning. We must refer in understanding the Mutashabihat verses to the Muhkamat according to the Prophet (SAWA) and Ahlul Bayt (AS).

Wassalam.

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Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 2 years ago

Bismihi ta'ala

Yes, it is permissible, as long as it stays protected from any kind of najasah contamination. 

And Allah knows best. 

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 2 years ago

In addition to praying for assistance in learning, I would suggest that perhaps you can try different techniques for learning. For instance, some people memorize well if they memorize to a fixed set of sounds (such as copying someone's recitation from a recording and always reciting it the same way until it is fully memorized). Others memorize well if they visualize the contents of the text well. Some people even use hand gestures with meanings to help with memorizing.

Personally, I find that knowing more about the tafsir of ayat helps me to remember them better, since I am able to put them in place better and understand how they relate to each other.

I heard of someone once who memorized the whole Qur'an during advertisements on TV. He used to sit and watch the news and then, every day during the advertisements, memorize an ayah or two. So sometimes having small habits during the day to practice can also be helpful, in addition to longer sessions. 

I also find that if I wish to remember something, repeating it while I am doing something else (walking, cooking, etc) helps me to review it in such a way that it is remembered better, because it needs to come out while I am distracted and not focusing on it. Inshallah this is not disrespectful to the Qur'an, but just suggesting it as a possibility.

I am sure there are also other techniques.

I am sure you will get more suggestions from others, but I just thought I would share those.

Also to repeat what you already know daily or as often as possible helps.

Sometimes the challenge with remembering is just due to age, since children are blessed to remember almost everything they see and hear, alas, this capacity sometimes wanes with age while at the same time we grow more busy and our minds full of many other things. So this is another reason to try new techniques. Inshallah Allah will help.

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Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 2 years ago

Bismihi ta'ala

Yes, it is allowed, and indeed a desirable act, where a circle of people agree on reciting specific parts of the holy Quran, for the reward of the whole khatm to be gifted to someone who has passed.

It is very much encouraged to do this, and hopefully others around you learn to do it as well.
With prayers for your success.  

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 2 years ago

No, insofar as there is not full agreement on the reliability of all hadith about commentary of the Qur'an that has been attributed to the Prophet (S) and Ahl al-Bayt (A). Probably, some of it is correct and some of it is incorrect. Also, we have probably lost a lot of material over history. This is apart from the fact that Shi'i tafsir, in particular, has not been translated extensively into English.

So you will still need to read various sources and investigate and put things together if you want to try to get as accurate a picture as possible. However, some suggestions in the meantime are:

* Read The Study Qur'an, ed. S. H. Nasr, and look specifically at the views from Shii commentators (the names of the commentators are given in parentheses). Of course there is no reason why Sunni commentators should not also have correct views sometimes, but I am just specifying this to give the best answer to the question here.
* Tafsir al-Ayyashi, trans. Nazmina Dhanji, which was just published.
* Reading the section on narrations in Tafsir al-Mizan (some of which is available online)
* Inshallah, ICAS Press is also planning to publish the translation of Tafsir al-Asfa soon, which is also heavily narration based and from a Shi'i lens.

Hope that helps! Maybe some people will also add some good sources.

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 2 years ago

Some Shi'i scholars have accepted the idea of deletion or rearrangement of material from the Qur'an based on narrations.

Some Sunni narrations also discuss deletions of material in the Qur'an, so it is not a Shi'i-only subject. 

Most Shi'i scholars today reject those narrations and reject the idea of tahrif in the Qur'an. You can find a good argument and overview of the narrations and the subject in https://www.al-islam.org/al-bayan-fi-tafsir-al-quran-prolegomena-quran-s...

This can be a very sensitive and taboo subject because it is generally taken as a primary pillar and fundamental belief of Islam that nothing in the Qur'an has ever been changed (apart from the minor variations in qira'at).

Shi'is are also particularly sensitive because they feel defensive because they feel they have to "prove" to Sunnis that they have the same Qur'an. (And, in fact, Shi'is do use the same Qur'an and same recitations as Sunnis.)

However perhaps it's good to step down from the ideologically and sectarianly charged nature of this discussion and just take it as it is. If some people held this view, it was their view, and that is that. 

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 2 years ago

According to some scholars in Iran, reiki is permissible.

In order to do reiki properly according to conventional methods, one does not recite anything except for a few words (which are optional and related to the technique), so reciting Qur'an here is not a factor. If one is relying on recitation of Qur'an or something else as the primary method, it is no longer reiki.

Of course there is no harm in reciting Qur'an or playing it in the background, and there is no harm in reciting Qur'an in the hope of or with the intent of healing. 

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 2 years ago

Reading other verses in Quran (Allah has created every moving animal from water) (24:45)

and (It is He, who sends down water from the sky and with it We bring forth plants) (6:99) clarifies that Jinns and angles are not included. We can not take just one verse on a subject and leave other verses on the same subject to understand what Quran says about that subject.

Wassalam.

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Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 2 years ago

Bismihi ta'ala

The rulings related to jewellery and items that have verses of the Quran, names of Almighty God, and also names of Ma'sumeen (a.s.) is that the script must not be touched unless one has wudhu', and that it is not contaminated with any najasah. 

If you have a ring, or a pendant, or something that has such script on it, and you know you cannot avoid touching it, or it touching your skin and you might not be on wudhu', then one thing you can do is cover it with a layer of colourless see-through nailpolish. 

With the layer over the script, you will not have a problem if you are not in wudhu', and you touch it, or it touches your skin. 

As for when you go to the toilet, you do not necessarily need to remove the jewellery, as long as you keep it away from najasah. If you think it might be contaminated with any najasah, then it is wajib to remove it. 

And Allah knows best. 

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The five Ineffable greatest personalities (The Prophet (SAWA), Imam Ali (AS), Fatima (AS), Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS) have repeatedly said in many authentic Hadeeths that all the nine following Imams are Infallible. Believing in Hadeeth al-Kisa leads definitely to believing that what ever was said by the greatest Five is the absolute truth which is strong evidence that all the twelve Imams are Infallible.

Wassalam.