In one of the letters written to his young daughter and later Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru introduces the arrival of Arabia into world history. Recorded in his work, “Glimpses of World History“, Nehru narrates the sudden uprisal of desert bedouins under a leader in the following words:
“It is strange that this Arab race, which for long ages had lived a sleepy existence, apparently cut off from what was happening elsewhere, should suddenly wake up and show such tremendous energy as to startle and upset the world. The story of the Arabs, and of how they spread rapidly over Asia, Europe and Africa, and of the high culture and civilization which they developed, is one of the wonders of history.”
It would be curious to raise a question: what happened in Arabia all of a sudden and who was this new leader who emerged out of nowhere?
Quran: The Final Revelation
His name was Mohammed ﷺ, the one upon whom Angel Jibreel descended with a revelation while he was in a state of seclusion at the cave of Hira. What was this new revelation that suddenly frightened Mohammed ﷺ. The revelation ordered Mohammed ﷺ to read in the name of his Lord, the one who created him. Being an illiterate man, Mohammed ﷺ was unable to read. Angel Jibreel shook Mohammed ﷺ and ordered him to read once again. Mohammed ﷺ once again explained his illiteracy to read. The incident followed a third time after which Angel Jibreel recited the first few verses of the Quran.
Fast forward 23 years later, Prophet Mohammed ﷺ passed away leaving behind the final revelation of God named Quran to his followers with at least more than a hundred verses urging mankind to read and contemplate the word of God. The Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ constantly motivated the believers to read and gain knowledge for the sake of Allah. Some of the verses which describe the same are:
“Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists), created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous”
“And recite the Quran with measured recitation”
“Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer….”
The Reward for Recitation
Recitation of Quran is not done simply for the benefits of reading. Rather, it is one of the best acts of worship in Islam. It is narrated in several teachings of the Prophet ﷺ about the reward for a person who sincerely recites Quran for the sake of God. Some of those narration’s include:
The Impact of Final Message by God on Mankind
With the help of Divine Revelation, the desert bedouins marked their presence in world history in the most remarkable of ways ever witnessed. The new message that has come to them through a Prophet encouraged to be free from the shackles of false divinity concerning the nature around them and urged them to read, learn and gain knowledge. Thousands of people spread all over the world continue to recite and memorise the Quran till today in response to the message.
Islam opened a new era of seeking knowledge under Divine guidance. The result of which left Muslims being at the epitome of knowledge at almost all fields of science: medicine, geography, mathematics, astronomy, agriculture to name a few. Baghdad was the centre of knowledge in the medieval era and Muslim Spain was famous for it’s advancement in astronomy, agriculture and other areas of development. Several Muslim scholars emerged in a wide array of disciplines: Ibn Sina in medicine, Ibn Khaldun in history, Al Khawarizmi in mathematics etc. Unlike today, it was regular to find these scholars excelling in more than one field of knowledge.
All of this knowledge was gained under the flag of the message sent down by God “to Read in His Name”. With reading and monotheism, a new chapter emerged in the history of mankind which was described by E.H Gombrich in his book “A Little History of The World” as “the most extraordinary of all stories he had to tell”.