{"id":20422,"date":"2014-12-16T01:07:46","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T01:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=20422"},"modified":"2014-12-16T01:07:46","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T01:07:46","slug":"the-imperative-of-iqra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/the-imperative-of-iqra\/","title":{"rendered":"The Imperative of Iqra\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A study conducted by the National Library (PNM) found that Malaysians now read an average of 14 books a year.\u00a0 This is a delightful news, as about 14 years ago, it was only two and a half pages a year on the average. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s evoke a historic battle happened a hundred years after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad.\u00a0 In the year 751, there was a territorial conflict between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty.<\/p>\n

Both troops met in the valley of Talas River, on the border of present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The Tang forces were defeated, and great changes transformed geo-politics and economics of the region, the Middle East, and eventually European West.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the Battle of Talas was a key event in the dissemination of sciences in general and papermaking process in particular. Prior to that battle, paper production was a sort of State secret, exclusively known to Buddhist monks personnel in some districts. Knowledgeable Chinese prisoners who were captured in that battle were ordered to produce paper in Samarkand, currently in Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

The art of papermaking was hence transmitted to the Muslim world, and later revolutionized the northern Europe. Soon, it was advanced by the Muslim world, which refined and transformed it into more technology-based mass production. Papermaking mills were established in Baghdad, Damascus, Tiberias, Syria, Egypt as well as Andalusia.<\/p>\n

The refined technique rendered the material for the dissemination of information \u2018cheaper\u2019 and \u2018of better quality\u2019. \u2018Cheaper\u2019, as the amount of labour decreased. \u2018Better\u2019, as the raw materials used were linen as well as hemp, whose fiber is longer and stronger than the bark of the mulberry formerly used by the Chinese.<\/p>\n

The mills of Damascus became the major points of supply to Europe, before those of Andalusia furnished Jativa, Valencia, and Northern Europe.<\/p>\n

Through the mass production of paper, Muslims made learning accessible to all and introduced a new era of civilization, \u201cthe one we live in now,\u201d as concluded by Joseph von Karabacek\u2019s work\u00a0Arab Paper<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the terminology of the Qur\u2019an, reading is reflected by the term\u00a0qira\u2019ah<\/em>. It does not mean reciting only\u2014in the sense of oral delivery even if with no understanding. \u00a0Rather, it involves \u201ca perusal and thorough study\u201d leading to \u201can in-depth investigation, examination and exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paramount element in man\u2019s system of thought, the philosophical and logical induction, is hence referred to as\u00a0istiqra\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(from the same root-word Q-R-\u2019).<\/p>\n

No wonder the name of the cave where the Prophet received the first revelation is\u00a0Ghar Hira<\/em>\u2019<\/em>, literally means \u201cthe cavern of research\u201d.<\/p>\n

This conception of reading coupled with understanding is reflected in the very first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad, wherein, as mentioned by commentators, there is a complete orchestral harmony of the terms used to indicate read, teach, stylus, knowledge, and proclaim.<\/p>\n

To escape from pagan Meccan idolatry, prior to his prophecy the Prophet passionately devoted himself to contemplation (tahannuth<\/em>) of the lessons the universe had to teach him. Nevertheless, being illiterate in worldly letters, he was filled with perplexity when the very first revelation commanded him to read, or\u00a0iqra\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What was the object for the Prophet to read?\u00a0 He said in a narration that it referred to a certain text in the hands of the Archangel Gabriel; hence, it may be said that the object to read was the Divine Message, the Book of God, which is a sublime Book as it is Divine Words on exalted themes.<\/p>\n

By exalted themes, we are referring to the issues surrounding who God is, the reality of creation, the relation between them, and the right way of life to salvation.\u00a0 Against those who feel that they need not listen to divine revelation, the Qur\u2019an throws this challenge: \u201cDo they think that the hidden reality of all that exists (al-Ghayb<\/em>) is within their grasp, so that they can write it down?\u201d (al-Tur<\/em>, 52:41;\u00a0al-Qalam<\/em>, 68:47).<\/p>\n

As\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>Source of \u00a0Islam, the guidance offered by the Qur\u2019an has been taught unfailingly, interpreted and clarified in various great and enduring voluminous works throughout the history of the Islamic civilization.<\/p>\n

But books alone are not education; books are good only as far as the reader is ready or has the aptitude for them. Therefore, the first Divine Order to the Prophet to \u201cRead!\u201d was indeed a regnant command to be acutely intelligent inclusive of perusal and thorough study on the most significant human issues preserved in Revelation.<\/p>\n

It is also quite significant that in Muslim lexicography, readers (qurr<\/em>a\u2019<\/em>) are given the status of those who devote themselves to Divine worship (tanassuk<\/em>); that reading (qir<\/em>a\u2019ah<\/em>,\u00a0iqr<\/em>a\u2019<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0taqarru\u2019<\/em>) is identified with religious integrated learning (tafaqquh<\/em>); and that the name of the Sacred Book of Islam comes from the same root-word, the\u00a0Qur\u2019<\/em>an<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Alas, present-day Muslim nations are far lagging behind regarding the culture which benefits by knowledge, sciences, research, technological development, and societal and governmental innovations. It is the United States of America and Japan which are blazing the trail in terms of technologies like Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, electronic books, audio books applications, and electronic and digital papers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A study conducted by the National Library (PNM) found that Malaysians now read an average of 14 books a year.\u00a0 This is a delightful news, as about 14 years ago, it was only two and a half pages a year on the average. \u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s evoke a historic battle happened a hundred years after the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-star","category-220","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}