Painting by: Jean-Baptistery Greuze, Le Petit ParesseuxIn Islamic tradition, the first revelation prophet Muhammad (pbuh) received from Angel Jibril (Gabriel) was the word “Read”. And it was the first Quranic verse revealed to him, which happens to be at the very end of the book.
The Quran is of subtle nature; it is not a book of stories but a book of Ayat (Signs), and like its Author it has no beginning and no end. The Aya ‘s are understood with a study of their context (which may be continued in different chapters) plus their time of revelation, and other determining factors.
Sh. Hamza Yusuf says: Violence in religion is not a matter of what is wrong with the religion, but rather, what is wrong with the human beings? Very true.
Bernard Lewis said: “Western people forget, the real reason they are ruling this planet is because they have perfected the art of wide spread massacre.”
And Muslims were not the inventors of nuclear weapons which burn countries alive.
Word.
