In any rate...

In any rate, the aim of the Qur’an is not merely reading, chanting, browsing through, or barely reciting it for blessedness. The main aim is understanding it, that kind of understanding which is comprehensive and goes deep into its meaning and encourages man to put what he reads into practice.

The indication, occurred in ten suras, to the fact that the Qur’an has been revealed in Arabic is an answer to the accusation that the holy Prophet (S) had learned it from a non Arab and that its content was an imported way of thinking, and not a revelation originated from Allah. In the meantime, all Muslims must try to learn Arabic as a second language, for it is the language of Divine revelation and the key to understanding the holy Qur’an and Islamic knowledge.

Surah Yusuf - Verse 3 نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ هَذَا الْقُرْءَانَ وَإِن كُنْتَ مِن قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ 3. “We relate unto you the best of stories, by that We have revealed to you this Qur’an; though before this, you were of those who did it not know.” The Arabic term /qasas/ means both a story, and the telling of a story.

Stories and tales play an important role in man’s education, for they depict the life of a nation and provide practical examples of an Ummah. History is a mirror that reflects the deeds of nations and the more we are acquainted with the story of our predecessors, the more we acquire the feeling of having lived their lives.

Ali-ibn-Abitalib (as) in a letter to his son, Imam Hassan, implied that he had studied the lives of the former nations in a manner that as if he had lived with them and did it as long as their lifetimes. Perhaps one of the reasons why stories and tales leave such a great impact upon man is because he has an inherent love for stories.

Usually, books on history, epics and myths have been successful throughout man’s cultural history, and understandable for the majority of people, while issues requiring rational proofs and intellectual matters have been the concern of only a small group among them. The Qur’an calls the story of Hadrat Yusuf the ‘best of stories’.

However, some narrations tell us that the entire Qur’an is also called /ahsanul qasas/ (the best of stories) and certainly, it is not incompatible with the previous definition of the Qur’an, that the Qur’an is the best among all the Holy Books, and the story of Yusuf is the best among the stories of the Qur’an.

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