A Letter to a Dear One — Page 39
Muhammad Zafrulla Khan 39 Safeguarding the Qur’ ā n Allah the Exalted has promised in the Holy Qur’ ā n that He has revealed it and He shall safeguard it. There are two aspects to this safeguard: the apparent and the concealed. The apparent safeguard connotes that its words and its order will be safeguarded. That is to say, they shall neither be dissipated nor tampered with. Therefore, friends and foes alike, all agree that all the words and letters of the Holy Qur’ ā n and all its vowel points remain in the order that was established in the days of the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and that there has been no change of any kind in them. Today, the Holy Qur’ ā n is the only book in this world that shall remain if all the books in the world were to be destroyed, for it lives, and is thus protected, in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of its lovers. The ‘concealed’ safeguard means that its teachings will be safe and will be manifested according to the need of each era. Whenever human interpretations and commentaries will put a veil over its reality, Allah the Exalted shall manifest its genuine teachings through a chosen servant of His. Hence, this promise is also being fulfilled. There are scarce examples from earlier times of the revolution to have come about in the apparent and the concealed life of man at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. On the one hand, the apparent sciences have developed amazingly, on the other hand, the world has become completely negligent, in fact destitute, of spirituality. There was a particular need for the renaissance of the teachings of the Holy Qur’ ā n at such a time. Therefore the grace and mercy of Allah the Almighty brought this renaissance about through the Promised Messiah (‘alaihissal ā m) and in this age the new life of Islam ensued with his hands. It is obvious that the Divine promise of the apparent and concealed safeguard and its practical arrangement demonstrates that the Holy Qur’ ā n is the Word of a Living, Mighty God. In short it is a source of immense satisfaction and bliss for us that we have been granted the Word of Allah. All the guidance needed for our age has been delivered to us through the Divine Order and Arrangement, thus the doors leading to the ways and means to seek nearness to Allah have been opened to us.