In order to accept the truth one has to deny one’s own self; one has to be prepared to admit that one is in the wrong. Those who do not have the courage to do so, will never arrive at the truth.

There are several sayings of the Prophet Mohammad in which he extolled the virtues of the Quran. One of these, reported by Umar ibn Khattab and transmitted by Imam Muslim, goes as follows:

“Some nations God raises by virtue of this Book, while others He degrades thereby.”

Clearly, this Hadith does not mean that the mere presence of the Quran in a nation’s midst is enough to elevate that nation to great heights. Were this the case, the Muslims would not have sunk to the great depths they have in the present day and age, for everywhere the Quran is present amongst them. Millions of copies of the Quran are regularly being printed and circulated throughout the world, and there is no home or village inhabited by Muslims in which people are not in possession of copies of the Quran.

What, then, is the meaning of this Hadith? How is it that one nation is elevated by the Quran, while another sinks thereby to ruin? The answer to this question is that it all depends on whether or not one adopts a Quranic outlook on life. Those who come to see things in the light of the Quran will ascend to great heights, while those who do not take the Quran as their beacon will fall to ruin and disgrace.

In the Quran, God has explained all the fundamental facts of life. In one verse of the chapter entitled ‘The Prophets’, it is written:

“We have revealed unto you a Book in which there is mention of you.”

                                                                                                                  (Quran, 21:10)

Quranic commentators have taken the phrase “mention of you” to cover both our religious and worldly affairs. The meaning of this phrase is clarified by a prophetic tradition, according to which Gabriel came to the Prophet and told him that times of great trial lay ahead. The Prophet asked Gabriel how they could be faced, so that one might emerge from them unscathed. Gabriel replied: “With the Book of God, in which there is mention of that which took place before your time and that which will happen after you. Furthermore, the Book of God provides a settlement to those matters affecting you.”

This Hadith makes it clear to us what position the Quran should occupy in our lives: the Quran enables us to scrutinize our problems, and offers solutions thereto; without doubt, it contains such guidance as will effectively lead us out of our present predicaments. However if we are to receive this guidance, it is not enough just to read the Quran. Over and above this, we must be wholly receptive to its teachings. We must read the Quran with the earnest intention of accepting, without misgivings or hesitation, whatever it may have to say.

It is, therefore, only those who are capable of self-effacement who are able to obtain guidance from the Quran; those who, when their own thoughts are not in consonance with what they find in the Quran, will readily admit that they are in the wrong. Neither self-interest nor questions of personal honour will ever cause them to flout the Truth.