"Truly it is a Noble Quran in a Book conceals. None touch it, save those made pure."
Quran 56:77-79
I often tell my students the story of my friend Debi being in Morocco and buying me a small travel Quran as a gift (years before I converted, ironically). She placed the Quran in her bag and headed towards a public toiler. At that moment the shopkeeper ran after her and, politely, insisted that she let him hold the Quran while she entered the toilet. He wasn't assuming that she was going to do something to defile the Quran, but rather that just taking it into that place was being unintentionally disrespectful. Debi handed it over, entered the toilet, and found him waiting for her. After handing it over he walked back to this shop; he had been insistent, but completely respectful and polite the entire time. That story leads us to today's post. These three very brief verses are drawn from al-Waqiah, the 56th surah, here rendered as "The Event." Yes, you should not do anything to defile or besmirch a Quran, as you shouldn't with any other holy book; even if you don't believe in that particular religion or its perceived holy scripture why would anyone go out of their way to be disrespectful? That said, in this case there is a far more profound, and thus important, meaning. It deals with the sense of being spiritually pure, or at least more pure, as you try and tackle the Quran. We've talked before the concept of wudu, or ritual purification, before, and even if you view the process as being completely metaphoric it doesn't make the need to make the need to try and get yourself in an intellectual, emotional and spiritual place to understand the words any less valid.
Quran 56:77-79
I often tell my students the story of my friend Debi being in Morocco and buying me a small travel Quran as a gift (years before I converted, ironically). She placed the Quran in her bag and headed towards a public toiler. At that moment the shopkeeper ran after her and, politely, insisted that she let him hold the Quran while she entered the toilet. He wasn't assuming that she was going to do something to defile the Quran, but rather that just taking it into that place was being unintentionally disrespectful. Debi handed it over, entered the toilet, and found him waiting for her. After handing it over he walked back to this shop; he had been insistent, but completely respectful and polite the entire time. That story leads us to today's post. These three very brief verses are drawn from al-Waqiah, the 56th surah, here rendered as "The Event." Yes, you should not do anything to defile or besmirch a Quran, as you shouldn't with any other holy book; even if you don't believe in that particular religion or its perceived holy scripture why would anyone go out of their way to be disrespectful? That said, in this case there is a far more profound, and thus important, meaning. It deals with the sense of being spiritually pure, or at least more pure, as you try and tackle the Quran. We've talked before the concept of wudu, or ritual purification, before, and even if you view the process as being completely metaphoric it doesn't make the need to make the need to try and get yourself in an intellectual, emotional and spiritual place to understand the words any less valid.
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