Why Quran Is Called Blessed
God says in Verse 50 of Surah Al-Anbiya: “This (Quran) which We have revealed is a blessed reminder. Will you then deny it?”
God has also described rain and a number of other things as blessed. Being blessed means there are many blessings, benefits and advantages in it. These benefits can be sought in both material and spiritual issues.
In order to assess the blessings of the Quran and how it creates awareness, it would suffice to consider the conditions of the people in Arabia before the revelation of the Quran when they lived in poverty, ignorance, misfortune and disunity and compared it to the time after revelation of the Quran when they became a role model for others. We can also study the lives of other peoples before and after they got familiar with the Holy Book.
Imam Ali (AS) on different occasions described the situation of the Era of Jahilliyah (the time before advent of Islam in Arabia), likening the people of Jahilliyah to a person caught in a terrible whirlpool, constantly crying out for help, or to animals whose helms were in the hands of corrupt persons who were leading them to an abyss.
Here are some of the things that the people of Jahilliyah did:
1- They waged wars under the most flimsy pretexts, and some of them lasted for years. These wars were called Ayam al-Arab and some of them lasted for up to 40 years. The people of Jahilliyah also attacked different lands and pillaged them. They knew nothing but the language of force and swords.
2-Their lives were plagued by ignorance and superstition because they were far from more advanced civilizations and cultures. For example, if a cow refused to drink water, they attributed it to a devil hiding in the bull’s horns, so they would beat the bull to make the devil go away.
3- The people of Jahilliyah considered no value for women and regarded daughters as a source of shame. Some even buried their daughters alive.
One example of the Quran’s blessings is changing such people.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH), with the teachings of the Quran, managed to introduce amazing changes to the society and lead it to the path of reform and enhancement of values and thought. Here are some moral recommendations of the Quran as opposed to the situation in the Era of Jahilliyah:
1- Warning against injustice: “The unjust will soon know how terrible their end will be.” (Verse 227 of Surah Ash-Shu’ara)
2- Underlining sincerity and truthfulness: “Believers, fear Allah and stand with the truthful.” (Verse 119 of Surah At-Tawbah)
3- Calling for justice: “Be just when passing judgment among people.” (Verse 58 of Surah An-Nisa)
Only after learning about the conditions in which the people of Jahilliyah lived can we truly appreciate the great achievements of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the blessings of the Quran (in changing that society).
