ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Learnings of the Glorious Quran The Necessity of Utilizing the Qur'an As Amirul-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A.S.)[^1] said: "The outside of the Qur'an is elegant and its inside is deep."[^2] The Qur'an is a limitless ocean whose depths cannot be fathomed except by the Ma'sums (A.S.).[^3] Nevertheless, both the Qur'an and the Ma'sums advise the people to contemplate the ayahs [verses] of the Qur'an.

The Qur'an says: "A Book We have revealed to you, blessed, that they may ponder over its ayahs..."[^4] Not satisfied with that, it even rebukes those who do not ponder over it, saying: "Do they not, then, ponder over the Qur'an, or are there locks on the hearts?"[^5] Likewise, the Prophet (S.A.)[^6] and the (twelve) pure Imams (A.S.) had frequently advised that the Qur'an should be referred to and meditated upon, especially when the general ideological situation gets obscure and confused, and when there appear among the Muslims dubieties which may cause ideological and doctrinal deviations.

It is advised that in such conditions the Muslims are to refer to the Qur'an: "When ordeals become ambiguous to you, like lumps of a black night, refer to the Qur'an."[^7] How to Utilize the Qur'an According to many narrations, the complete knowledge of the Qur'an was with the Prophet (S.A.) and with the pure Imams (A.S.), and it was they who were the real teachers and interpreters of the Qur'an.

The Qur'an itself presents the noble Prophet as its teacher and explainer.[^8] At the same time we realize that the noble Prophet (S.A) as well as the pure Imams (A.S.), stress that people should refer to the Qur'an, and that when the truthfulness of a narrative was doubted, it must be compared with the Qur'an.

There is a chapter in the narrative books called "Comparison with the Book", which also comes in the books of Usul under the title: "Equality and Preference." One of the preferences, or the conditions, for accepting a narrative as true, is whether it is in conformity with the Qur'an or not.

So, when we want to make sure whether a narrative is in conformity with the Qur'an or not, or whether it is, at least, preferable to other ones, we must first know the meaning of the relevant ayah in order to see if the narrative conforms to it or not. If it is such that the ayah has to be in conformity with the narrative, there we will have a cycle.