Understanding Islam — Page 124
DOES VIOLENCE ESCALATE IN EARLY ISLAM? 122 Holy Quran. Thus, if an interpretation made by the Holy Prophet sa is available, then a Muslim is duty-bound to accept it without any hesitation or reservation, otherwise he will appear to be feeble of faith and under the spell of philosophy. The third criterion is the interpretation of the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa. There is no doubt that the Companions ra were the first to inherit the light of the Holy Prophet sa and were the foremost inheritors of his knowledge. Allah blessed them abundantly and helped them in their understanding, for they practiced what they preached. The fourth criterion is to meditate upon the meanings of the Holy Quran with the purity of one’s own self, because purity of the self has a certain affinity with the Holy Quran, as Allah says 7 : ﻻ / ﯾ َ ﻤ َ ﺴ _ ﻪ ٗ ۤ ا ِ ﻻ / ا ﻟ ۡ ﻤ ُ ﻄ َ ﻬ / ﺮ ُ و ۡ ن َ ؕ which means that the verities of the Holy Quran are disclosed only to a person of pure heart, for the two have an affinity with one another. Such a person recognizes these verities, and smells them, and his heart cries out that this indeed is the true way. The light of his heart is