God's Final Message to Humanity

A Grand Purpose

The purpose of the Qur'an is to furnish guidance to mankind so that they may be led along the path that would bring them to their Maker in a state of complete submission to Him, thus fulfilling the purpose of their own creation.

'This is a Book that We have revealed to thee that thou mayest bring mankind out of every kind of darkness into the light, by the command of their Lord, to the path of the Mighty, the Praiseworthy Allah, to Whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth' [14:1,2]

For that purpose it draws attention to every type of phenomenon and thereby reveals vast treasures of profound truths, but all this is in pursuit of its appointed purpose, and must be viewed and appreciated in that context.

For instance, the Qur'an makes numerous statements based on historical fact to emphasize different aspects of the guidance it sets forth, but it is not a book of history. It draws attention to stages of creation of the universe [21:30] and of man [71:14; 32:7-9; 40:67] but it is not a treatise on cosmology or on the origin of species.

'He is the one who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each gliding along its orbit' [21:33]

'He has constrained to your service the sun and the moon, both carrying out their functions incessantly' [14:33]

'He created the sun and the moon and the stars, all made subservient to man by His command. Hearken, His is the creation and its regulation. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds' [7:54]

'He has constrained to your service the night and the day and the sun and the moon; and the stars too have been constrained to your service by His command. Surely, in all this there are Signs for a people who make use of their understanding' [16:12]

Yet the Qur'an is not a primer on astronomy. It makes reference to the operation of the law which revives the dry earth through rain [7:57] and to the wonderful system through which the supply of sweet and salt water is maintained in rivers and oceans [25:53; 35:12] but it is not a manual of meteorology or hydraulics.

'He it is who has constrained the sea to your service that you may eat fresh seafood therefrom, and may take out therefrom articles that you wear as ornaments. Thou seest the vessels ploughing through it that you may voyage across the oceans seeking His bounty and that you may be grateful' [16:14]

Yet it is not a volume of oceanography, nor a guidebook on pearl-fishing or deep-sea fishing.

'We created man from an extract of clay; then We placed him as a drop of sperm in a safe depository; then We fashioned the sperm into a clot; then We fashioned the clot into a shapeless lump; then out of this shapeless lump We fashioned bones; then We clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed it into a new creation. So blessed be Allah the Best of Creators' [23:12-14]

This was revealed close upon fourteen centuries ago, and yet the Qur'an is not a work on obstetrics.

It mentions that David and Solomon were taught the process of smelting iron and copper [34:10-13], and this has recently been confirmed by the discovery of the site of the furnaces and the system employed for the purpose, but the Qur'an does not treat of metallurgy.  It warns that flourishing ancient civilizations, very much more advanced than that of Central Arabia of the early seventh century of the Christian era, were destroyed in consequence of the disobedience and wrongdoing of the people [30:9] and the discovery of their remains in different parts of Arabia and of the rest of the earth has supplied confirmatory proof, but the Qur'an is no archaeological tome. It states that when the Pharaoh who pursued Moses and the Israelites was about to be overwhelmed by the rising tide and beseeched God for mercy, he was told his last-minute repentance could not avail him, but that:

'We will grant thee a measure of deliverance by preserving thy body this day that thou mayest serve as a Sign for those who come after thee' [10:92].

This was confirmed by the discovery of his body in 1909. But the Qur'an is not concerned with Egyptology. The prophecies contained in the Qur'an continue to be fulfilled in every age. All this is in support of the purpose of the Qur'an set out above.

From The Qur'an by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan