The Sound of Revelation, Exploring the Quran’s Unique Acoustic Miracle | DR. ABDUL RAZZAK JUNAID

The Acoustic Miracle of the Qur'an

Tonight the topic is about الإعجاز الصوتي في القرآن. This you can perhaps translate it to the sonic or audible or acoustic miracle of the Qur'an. What does this mean? Allah سبحانه وتعالى, of course, out of all of the languages that exist in the world, وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا وَعَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ Allah عز و جل is the one who gave us the ability to communicate. We all know this. He is the one who gifted us with all of these languages. But out of all of the languages, which one did he choose for the Qur'an to be كلام الله? The Arabic language.

But let me ask you here, how many of you over here are non-Arabs? Raise your hand. But you still love the Qur'an and the Qur'an still has an impact on your heart. And even if you don't know Arabic, you're still supposed to read the Qur'an for shifa. Yes or no?

The Pearl and the Oyster

So the Qur'an, my dear brothers, and I like to give this example. Imagine when you look at a beautiful oyster, its outer shell is so beautiful, and then when you open it, there's a pearl. The meanings of the Qur'an, the tafsir of the Qur'an, imagine it like the pearl inside. But sometimes we look at the pearl and we tell people to focus on the pearl, which we're supposed to. Learn the Qur'an, learn the tafsir of the Qur'an, but don't ignore the outer shell. Muslims are also supposed to pay attention to the tilawah of the Qur'an. اللهم اجعلنا من التعليم May Allah make us from those that frequently recite the book of Allah SWT.

The Qur'an, my dear brothers, even in the way it sounds, the way it sounds, it captures the meaning. The way the Qur'an, it sounds, the sound of the Qur'an, it actually captures the meaning.

Classical Scholarship on Acoustic Meanings

How? You may ask. I'll give you several examples. But before I say anything, I want to preface this by saying, this is not some new finding, but this is actually mentioned by classical scholars. The Imam of Sarf, Ibn Jinni, he mentions this in Al-Khasais. Sibawayh is quoted by Imam Ibn Jinni from there. And he mentions that the Arab tongue, the language, it gives words to things based off of the sound.

You know, the sound of a duck, for example, before I go into the Qur'an. It goes, bat, bat, bat, bat, bat, bat. So what do you think it's called in Arabic? Bat, batta. When you hear the sound of the crow, ghak, ghak, ghak, ghak, what do you think it's called in Arabic? Ghurab. Just giving you silly examples. But look, subhanAllah, how they name things based off of the sound. So it's literally a language that you can hear. And it's as though you're experiencing the language. It's a very powerful thing.

For example, what's heavier, Saad or Seen? Saad, of course. And when you look at Saad, Ayn, Dal, As-Su'ud is to physically elevate, physically climb. Yes, As-Su'ud. As-Sa'ada with the Seen, Seen, Ayn, Dal. That's an abstract elevation that a person's mood feels better. I'm giving you a few examples. Ibn Jinni mentioned several, he mentions dozens, and then he says at the end, if I were to mention hundreds of pages on this, how the Arabic language shows the meanings in the sounds, I could keep going and going. But what I have given suffices, you do the research yourself.

Modern Academic Recognition

So subhanAllah, as I said, the Arabic language captures the meanings even in the sounds themselves. And as I said, classically scholars have discussed this. And even now, one of the head of the faculty of Balagha in Dar al-Uloom, not Dar al-Uloom subcontinent, Dar al-Uloom of Egypt. We all know, what's the famous institution in Egypt? Al-Azhar Al-Sharif. May Allah protect it, Ya Rabbal Alameen. The scholars that would graduate from Al-Azhar if they wanted to continue their education, especially when it came to Lughah, and to become teachers themselves, they would go for Dirasat Uliya, for their master's and PhD in Dar al-Uloom of Egypt for their academic education.

And if you know any of the Arabic works like An-Nahw al-Wadih, Al-Balagha al-Wadihah, Shadh al-Arf. These are famous books of Arabic knowledge for those that are students of the Arabic tongue. The people who wrote those books, they are all graduates of that institution, Dar al-Uloom. So the head of that faculty, one of my teachers who's given me ijazah also in Balagha, he is one of the experts of this field. And he mentioned several examples from his many authored books. I'm gonna give you some inshaAllah ta'ala.

The Sound of Being Pushed to Hellfire

One of them, how the Qur'an captures the meaning in the sound. When you look at the verse of Allah عز و جل:

Allah عز و جل says about those disbelievers that they will be fiercely pushed into Jahannam, fiercely pushed to the hellfire. يَوْمَ يُدَعُّونَ إِلَى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا You see that shaddah that happens. يُدَعُّونَ And then there is the mad tabi'i for two counts. And then the masdar is repeated, da'a. It's as though when you hear this verse, you're non-Arab, but you can experience it, you feel it. يَوْمَ يُدَعُّونَ إِلَى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا How powerful is the Qur'an. May Allah open its doors for us, ya rab al-'alameen. اللهم افتح علينا فتوح العارفين

The Whispering of the Soul

Another example I'll give.

We have certainly created Insan. And we know what his soul whispers to him. توسوس over here, there are many layers of how the i'jaz, the miraculous nature of the Qur'an exists within this word. Four things and perhaps if you say it with me, you might learn something:

دِلَالَ مُعْجَمِيَّ Say it with me if you want. دِلَالَ مُعْجَمِيَّ
دِلَالَ صَرْفِيَّ
دِلَالَ نَحْوِيَّ
دِلَالَ صَوْتِيَّ

Each of these unlocks a layer of the i'jaz, the miraculous nature of the Qur'an from this word. When you look at for example دِلَالَ مُعْجَمِيَّ Are there many different words in the Arabic language to express talking? There is تَحَدَّثَ، تَكَلَّمَ، أَسَرَّ and many many words, dozens and dozens. But Allah chose specifically توسوس. When you look at النحو البلاغي it shows تجدد meaning that whisper is not something that happens once but it happens, and it happens, and it happens, and it happens. The nature of how your nafs talks to you, your soul talks to you.

And the fourth one, الدلالة الصوتية even the choice of letters and the qualities of those letters express the meaning. Subhanallah, look, وَسْـ... وَسْـ... وَسْـ... وَسْـ... what does it tell you? A whispering sound, a whispering voice.

The Two Protecting Surahs

When you look at the two surahs at the end of the Qur'an, الفَلَقْ وَالنَّاسِ

There's قَلْ قَلَى these are حُرُوف of شِدَّة very strong letters. And Allah Azawajal here tells us in this surah to seek protection from the external evils. But when you look at سورة الناس where you're seeking protection from the hidden evils, look at the choice of letters.

Shaytan is وَسْوَاسِ الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ You see how the whispering sound exists in a surah that is telling you to seek protection from the hidden evils. May Allah protect us from the hidden and apparent evils, ya rab al-'alameen.

You see how powerful the Qur'an is? You see how amazing the Qur'an is? Those are just two examples that I gave. وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ

Surah Maryam and Surah Qaf

Let's look at for example surah Maryam. Surah Maryam starts with very beautiful soft letters. كَافْ هَا يَعْيُن صَادِ The soft letters begin this surah, حُرُوف مُقَطْعَة And when you look at for example قَافْ Is that a heavy letter? Very heavy letter. And what do you think is talked about in that surah? يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَة

Surah Maryam, family ties, the most mentioned of the mercy of Allah SWT. And look at the surah itself. It's so soothing to hear.

The whole surah.

So soothing. So beautiful to the ears. We all love surah Maryam. May Allah be pleased with Maryam A.S. But there's a break in the surah, a shift in the nazm, a shift in the style of the surah. It goes until Allah SWT speaks about aqeedah, then it's very serious. Allah SWT, all the way you get to:

A break in the rhythm, a break in the style. Why? This is very serious. It says, no, Allah SWT is catching your attention. That is Isa, the son of Maryam, not the son of Allah SWT. قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ The statement of truth in which they dispute.

There is no way impossible for Allah SWT to take a child. Glory be to Him, He is above that. And it continues in that style until it goes back to then the Prophets.

Until the end of the surah. How powerful is the Qur'an? May Allah open the doors of Qur'an for us, Ya Rabbal Alameen.

The Vibrations of Surah Qaf

Let's look at surah Qaf for example and how i'jaz al-Sawti, that audible miracle of the Qur'an shows in every single aspect.

قَلْقَلَ قَلْقَلَ قَلْقَلَ اِطْطِرَابٍ صَوْدٍ The vibration of the voice until this ayah comes. وَعِندَنَا كِتَابٌ حَفِيظٌ When Allah Azzawajal talks about His divine preserved record, no اِطْطِرَاب, no قَلْقَلَ, it's a stable voice, رِخَاوَة in the voice. وَعِندَنَا كِتَابٌ حَفِيظٌ No bounce there.

What's the next ayah?

They belied when the truth came to them. They rejected it. فَهُمْ فِي أَمْرٍ مَّرِيجٍ قَلْقَلَ again. When Allah Azzawajal says that they are in a confused state, one day they're saying He's kahin, one day they're saying He's majnun, one day He's saying sha'ir, one day this, one day this, one day... They're indecisive, they don't know, they're confused. فَهُمْ فِي أَمْرٍ مَّرِيجٍ They're in that state of confusion.

Allah Azzawajal shows it, not only through the meaning, but the ittirab and the vibration of the voice, that just as they're in a state of turmoil, and they're in a confused state, in a state that's not stagnant and stable, they themselves, subhanAllah, in the qalqala it shows. فَهُمْ فِي أَمْرٍ مَّرِيجٍ How powerful is the Qur'an. How amazing is the Qur'an. May Allah open its doors for us. Ya Rabbal Alameen.

The Elevation of Surah An-Najm

Look at for example surah an-Najm.

SubhanAllah talking about the miraj, literally elevating you with the way the surah sounds and at the end of the surah telling you about Allah Azzawajal.

And this is the surah that subhanAllah even made the mushrikun do sajdah because of how powerful it was when they heard it literally made them fall into sajdah.

The Descent of Surah Al-Qamar

And then you look at a surah that's talking about the revelation and how Allah Azawajal protects it and how Allah Subhan, Who Allah Azawajal is and what his actions are and then you look immediately at the surah after suratul Qamar. That tells you about the destroyed nations of the past and how they all fell. Even the rhythm and the style of the surah takes you down.

It's taking you down and showing you the fall of those civilizations and how Allah Azawajal sent the punishments against them. SubhanAllah, how powerful is the sound, the audible sound of Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem.

The Contrast of Comfort and Wrath

Let's look at for example suratul Duha. So soft, so soothing. Allah Azawajal is giving comfort to our beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم صلوا على رسول الله. You hear this surah and it just takes you, you know, subhanAllah in a different... It's like you're in Jannah when you hear these beautiful surahs.

But then when you read suratul Masad. You it's as though you can hear the wrath of Allah Azawajal on Abu Lahab just from the sound of the surah.

The shaddah, the qalqala, the hard letters, sharp endings. The rhythm and the style and the sound is literally capturing the meaning.