2:1 Alif Laam Meem
So what is Alif Laam Meem ?
Traditional tafseer or hadith imams would say Allah knows best. ( Wallahualam ).
That was because the traditional tafseer scholars were not Arabs but Persians.
They say these letters are Muqataat letters. The Mysterious letters.
But the truth is, they were at the limit of their arabic and it was only a mystery to the Persians.
If they were Arabs, they would know that each letter of the Arabic Abjad has meanings.
Arab linguists would have known this.
ا - Allah
ل - Benevalent
م – King / Malek
But what do these letters mean in this combination ?
The answer is very obvious. It's given in the next verse.
2:2 dhālika l-kitābu lā rayba fīhi hudan lil'muttaqīna
That is Al-Kitab ( The Scripture ), no doubt in it, guidance for the muttaqin (Mindful)
[ Muttaqin in Malay : Orang yang bertaqwa ]
For this verse, we will unpack on these two kalimah : Al-Kitab and Muttaqin.
Because also in verse 2:183, Siyam is prescribed so that we may become Mutaqqin.
2:183
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū – O you who are entrusted,
kutiba ʿalaykumu – is prescribed upon you
l-ṣiyāmu – abstention
kamā kutiba – as prescribed
ʿalā alladhīna – to those
min qablikum – from before you
laʿallakum – so you may
tattaqūna – be mindful.
The question is, how does abstaining from eating and drinking makes you a mindful person / muttaqin?
The Quran defines Muttaqin as follows:
1. Those who do not trangress ( 2:65 2:66 )
2. Those who possess righteousness & being upright: ( 2:177,9:7 )
3. Those who are dutiful: 2:180
4. Good Doer 3:115
5. Observant of the outcome (Cause & effect) 3:137-138
6. Those who received the best outcome (7:128, 11:49)
7. Warn those who conceals ( Kafirin ) of the implications. 9:3-4
8. Those who fight the kufar ( concealers ) 9:123
9. Those who brought Truth & Truthful 39:33
10. The outcome will be given the Garden. ( 13:35, 15:45 16:30 -31, 26:90, 44:51, 47:15, 50:13, 51:15, 54:54, 77:41
11. The mindful are always reminded - 69:48
A post on this Muttaqin follow after this.
Now let's return to verse 2:2
2:2 dhālika L-KITABU lā rayba fīhi hudan lil'muttaqīna
We have now understood the meaning of Muttaqin, we can then ponder how Al-Siyam would make us Muttaqin. The answer is already in all the verses given.
Let us now focus next on the word Al-Kitab that is said to be the Guide for the Muttaqin.
Kitab means something that is written and documented. In English, we may call it The Scripture.
Misconceptions:
Al-Kitab is not Al-Quran. Al-Quran simply means The Reading. It’s a process.
Al-Quran & Al-Kitab are both mentioned in this verse, indicating, they are distinct.
10:37 And it was not for this Qur'an to be produced by other than Allah , but a confirmation of what was before his hands and a detailed explanationof Al-Kitabi, about which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds.
So Al-Quran explains Al-Kitab in detailed.
Al-Kitab is not Torah, not The Old Testament, not The New Testament, not The Bible.
Al-Kitab is not Al-Tawrata or Al-Injeela that is mentioned in the Quran because,
in the Quran, Al-Kitab is mentioned along side Al-Tawrata and Al-Injeela.
So they are clearly distinct components.
So let’s take a look what the Quran says, as everything that we need to know have been detailed:
41:3 A Book ( Kitabun ) whose verses have been detailed, an articulated (*arabbiyan) Qur'an for a people who know,
*traditional translation translate arabiyyan as Arabic language, which is not really the case.
Surah Al-Imran
3:3
nazzala ʿalayka – He revealed to you
l-kitāba – The Scripture
bil-ḥaqi – with Truth
muṣaddiqan - confirming
limā bayna – that is what between
yadayhi – your hands
wa-anzala – and He revealed
l-tawrāta – the Tawrat
wal-injīla – the Injeela
3:4
min qablu – from before
hudan – A guide
lilnnāsi – for mankind
wa-anzala – and He revealed
l-fur'qāna – The Furqan ( The Criterion )
inna alladhīna kafarū – verily, those who concealed
biāyāti l-lahi – with the signs of Allah
lahum ʿadhābun – for them, a suffering
shadīdun - severe
wal-lahu – and Allah
ʿazīzun – All mighty
dhū – All Able
intiqāmin – of retribution.
From these two verses, we can see that Al-Kitab, Al-Tawrata, Al-Injeela and Al-Furqan have been revealed to us, a guide for mankind.
So where are they?
How do we recognized Al-Kitab?
2:146 Those to whom We have given the AL-KITAB, recognize it just as they recognize their own sons. But, some of them knowingly conceal the truth.
This verse says we will definitely recognized Al-Kitab.
Al-KItab is complete. Nothing has been left out.
Surah Al-An’am
6:38 there is not an animal that moves about on the earth, nor a bird that flies on its two wings, but are creatures like you. We have left out nothing in Al-Kitabthey shall all be gathered before their Lord.
Al-Kitab fully detailed
Surah Al-An’am
6:114“Shall I then seek a Judge other than Allah? When it is He Who has revealed to you Al-Kitab fully detailed?”
6:115 “The words of your Lord are completein its truth and justice. Nothing can change His words – He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. If you obeyed most of those on earth, they would lead you away from the path of Allah.
6:116 They follow nothing but speculation – they are merely guessing.”
Al-Kitab explains clearly everything
Surah An-Nahl
16:89 And on the day when We will raise up in every people a witness against them from among themselves, and bring you as a witness against these - and We have revealed AL-Kitab to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and benefit and good news for the muslimin.
So where is Al-Kitab?
Surah Al-Kahf
18:109 Say: "If the ocean were ink, the words of my Lord, sooner wouldthe ocean be exhaustedthan would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid."
Surah Luqman
31:27 And if all the trees on the earth were pens and the sea, with seven seas behind it to add to its, yet the Words of Allah would not be exhausted. Verily, Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.
Al-Quran has only 6236 verses. It will only take a few gallons of ink to write the Quran. Clearly these two verses are not referring to the Quran.
These two verses obviously are saying that Al-Kitab are written all around us.
These two verses are referring to the scripture that is embedded in us and around us.
Deep inside us were already written about right and wrong, do’s and don’t. There are messages coming from deep inside us all the time. Are we listening to them?
A simple example is the newly hatched turtles.
They knew they have to crawl towards the sea water. How do these baby turtles know when their mothers are nowhere to be seen?
Did the baby turtles read any book that tells them to head for the ocean?
What scripture did they read?
So how about us humans? Are we any different?
This is why the Quran starts of with Al-Kitab as our guide so we may become mindful.
Now that we have known what is Al-Kitab, what is the function of Al-Quran.
The Quran is the reading to awaken our consciousness and to return to Al-Kitab.
Surah Yunus
10:37 And it was not for this Qur'anto be produced by other than Allah , but a confirmation of what was before his hands and a detailed explanation of Al-Kitabi, about which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds.
There is no doubt in the Quran. There is no need to label it as Sahih like the others.
And around us there are writings, written all over the universe. Inks from the oceans will not be enough.
E=Mc2 for example is part of Al-Kitab. This important formula discovered by Einstein is being read and use as guide for scientists. All scientific formulas are part of Al-Kitab. This is why scientists are mindful of consequences of science.
Allah forbid conjectures. So who follows conjectures?
The Quran also explains Al-Taurat and Al-Injeela in verse 7:157.
Because Al-Quran explain itself.
75:19 Then it is We who will explain it.
Conclusion :
Verse 2:1 & 2 is saying that we shall always revert to Al-Kitab as guidance so that we may become mindful.
A mindful person is very conscious of his surroundings and will take all considerations, impact and strive for righteousness.
He must be be knowledgeable or strive to obtain true knowledge (39:33) before making such decisions or actions.
A muttaqin shall be successful and receive the best outcome. (7:128, 11:49)
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