The Straight Path

"That is THE BOOK, there is no doubt in IT, a GUIDANCE for the pious."

"O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Book and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a LIGHT and a clear Book."

"guides with IT Allah those who seek his pleasure, (to the) ways (of) the peace. And brings them out from the darknesses into the LIGHT. And guides them to (siratin mustaqimin) (The) way, (The) Straight."

"Indeed, this Qur'an guides to that which is most STRAIGHT and gives good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a great reward."

"We have certainly sent down verses, CLEAR. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path (Siratin Mus'taqimin)."

"We have certainly sent down Clear verses. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path."

What do all of these verses have in common?

You will notice that in all of these verses, Allah constantly connects the verses with the straight path. In every verse, He mentions the verses, or the Book, or the Quran, and the straight path because the verses are how you get there. He did not give us anything else to follow in order to be put on the straight path. The verses are enough.

Now notice what Allah says next.

"And thus We have revealed to you an inspiration of Our command. You did not know what is the BOOK or [what is] FAITH, but We have made it a LIGHT, WE guide WITH IT whom we will of Our servants. And indeed, [O Muhammad], you guide to a straight path (siratin Mustaqimin)."

Now most sectarians will see this and say, 'See, Muhammad guides to the straight path, and he does that through Hadith books and his Sunnah.'

But that simply is NOT true. Because just as Allah tells us that the Messenger guides to the straight path, Allah also tells us what that straight path is in the next verse.

"THE PATH OF ALLAH, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Unquestionably, to Allah do [all] matters evolve."

The straight path that the Messenger guides to is the path of Allah.

What is the path of Allah?

"And this is the PATH (Siratu) of your Lord (rabbika), straight (Mus'taqiman). We have DETAILED (fassalna) the VERSES (AYATI) for a people who TAKE HEED."

When Allah says, 'And THIS is the path of your Lord,' what is 'THIS' referring to in this context?

The Quran. It is what we are currently reading.

The Quran is the way of Allah, and that is the straight path that Muhammad guides to. That is why Allah says in the verses below:

"So hold fast to that which is revealed to you. Indeed, you are on a straight path (Siratin Mus'taqimin)."

"And indeed, it is a reminder for you and your people, and you [all] are going to be questioned."

Allah tells him to hold fast to what is revealed to him. Then He tells him that he is on a straight path. He is on the straight path because he is holding fast to the revelation, not something man made or invented, but divine guidance. Then Allah tells him that it is a reminder for him and his people.

So if that is how the Messenger (Muhammad) was put on the straight path, then that is how everyone will be put on the straight path, by holding fast to the revelation and the revelation alone.

What is the revelation?

"Say, 'What thing is greatest in testimony?' Say, 'Allah is a witness between me and you, and this Qur'an has been revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches.'"

So the Quran is the revelation. That is what Muhammad was told to hold fast to. The Quran, nothing else.

So, to follow the Messenger, we have to do the same.

So now that we know what the straight path is...

What is the opposite of 'Straight'?

Crooked. The opposite of straight is crooked, and there are those who seek to make the straight path of Allah seem crooked.

Allah says:

"And the companions of Paradise will call out to the companions of the Fire, 'We have already found what our Lord promised us to be true. Have you found what your Lord promised to be true?' They will say, 'Yes.' Then an announcer will announce among them, 'The curse of Allah shall be upon the wrongdoers.'"

"Who averted/hindered from the way of Allah and seek IN IT CROOKEDNESS, while they were concerning the Hereafter, disbelievers."

Now this verse is telling us that those who hinder from the way of Allah are those who are going to Hell. We established earlier that the way of Allah is the Quran, so hindering from the way of Allah would be hindering from the Quran, from the verses of Allah. Not only do they hinder from the way of Allah, but they also seek crookedness in the way of Allah.

What does it mean to seek crookedness in the way of Allah?

The Quran is straight because it is complete. It is without flaw, without corruption, and perfect.

So seeking crookedness would be the opposite of that. It is seeking to make it seem incomplete, flawed, weak, or imperfect.

Just like how the sectarians say we need Hadith narrations because the Quran has missing information. Or how they deny that it is fully detailed and explained. Or how they say we need explanations from man when it comes to the Quran because the Book is not clear. They claim that the Quran is not enough.

They are seeking to make the way of Allah look flawed in order to validate their Hadith narrations and make them seem relevant or necessary. But in order to do that, they first have to make the way of Allah seem crooked, flawed, and imperfect.

But Allah tells us that there is no crookedness in the Quran.

"And We have certainly presented for the people in this Qur'an from every [kind of] example that they might remember."

"[It is] an Arabic Qur'an, WITHOUT any CROOKEDNESS that they might become righteous."

"[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the BOOK and has not made therein any CROOKEDNESS."

"[He has made it] STRAIGHT, to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward."

These verses confirm to us that the Book is complete, fully detailed, perfect, and without any flaw.