Awn al-Hanan fi Sharh al-Amthal fi al-Quran
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- Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah
Awn al-Hanan fi Sharh al-Amthal fi al-Quran (Arabic: عون الحنان في شرح الأمثال في القرآن, lit. 'The Help of the All-Compassionate in Explaining the Parables in the Quran') is a contemporary treatise on Quranic parables and the purpose of the Quranic text, authored by Ali Ahmad Abd al-Aal al-Tahtawi, the president of the Ahl al-Quran wa-al-Sunnah Society .
Purpose and Scope
The author composed the work to emphasize that the Quran is a divine legislation, constitution, and source of guidance intended primarily for the living, rather than a text to be recited over the dead or used in folk practices . Throughout the opening sections, al-Tahtawi strongly opposes various contemporary popular customs and innovations (bida'), such as dedicating Quranic recitations to the deceased, broadcasting recitations over mosque loudspeakers before Friday prayers, creating amulets (ahjibah), and engaging in superstitious rituals involving Surah Ya-Sin to divine lost property or discover thieves .
Structure and Content
The book is structured into three main chapters (fusul) :
- Chapter One (Introduction): Covers the foundational purpose of the Quran and the ways Muslims interact with it . It includes discussions on the question of whether the dead benefit from Quranic recitation, common innovations regarding the Quran, the obligation of obeying God and His Messenger, the mandate to contemplate the Quranic text, warnings against turning away from it, the virtues of reciting specific surahs and verses, the traditional division of the Quran into daily portions (tahzib), the practice of combining variant readings (jama' al-qira'at) within a single verse, and the ruling on listening to recitations from radios inside mosques . To demonstrate that the Quran addresses the living, the author cites modern tafsir commentary, including Muhammad Rashid Rida's Tafsir al-Manar .
- Chapter Two: Titled Ilzam al-Quran li-l-Madiyyin wa-l-Milliyyin ("The Quran's Compelling Proofs against Materialists and Religious Adherents") . It outlines the meaning of materialism (al-maddiyyah) and presents Quranic cosmic and natural phenomena as rational and observable evidence of divine revelation against materialist viewpoints, before addressing other religious groups and offering historical reflections .
- Chapter Three: Dedicated directly to the parables of the Quran (al-amthal fi al-Quran al-karim), exploring their educational aims, spiritual impact, and guidance for human intellect and conduct .
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