Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | 16th  September 2012 | Page 12

The Quran is essentially a book of guidance. Of that there is no doubt. But there is no sense of compulsion implied. It is up to the reader whether he accepts guidance from the Quran or not. A verse in the chapter entitled Al-Baqarah (The Heifer) enlarges upon this point.

The translation of this verse is as follows: "God does not disdain to give a parable about a gnat or a smaller creature. The faithful know that it is the truth from their Lord, but those who deny the truth ask, 'What could God mean by this parable?' He lets many go astray through it, and guides many by it. But He makes only the disobedient go astray" (2:26).

Why is it that the same book, that is, the Quran, is a source of both guidance and misguidance? The reason is not in the Quran itself.

The reason lies in the mind of the reader. It is the mind of the reader that decides whether he will find guidance in the Quran or whether he will be misled by it.

Those who read the Quran with a positive mind, or with a questing spirit, will find the truth in its pages. Such people read the Quran with an open mind. When the Quran states certain facts, they can easily grasp their true meaning, for they find that it is the same thing that they have felt in their hearts all along.

In other words, they find that Quranic statements are in consonance with their own nature. They instantly, and without any reservations, accept the truth of what is propounded in the Quran.
But there are others who are of a different, a more negative cast of mind, whose reading of the Quran produces different results.