4 - Kuwait Oil Company

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Quran: An Introduction to Islam’sHoly BookThe AWARE Center recently hosteda presentation by Dr. Teresa Lesherwhich focused on presentingintroductory information aboutthe Quran, Islam’s Holy Book. Dr.Lesher was born and raised in theUnited States but has lived heradult life in the Middle East, whereshe is an Associate Professor ofInformation Science. Dr. Teresaholds her PhD in InformationScience from the UK and teachesat the <strong>Kuwait</strong> College of BasicEducation. She held the positionof General Manager of the AWARECenter for three years and returnsoften to host presentations relatedto Arab and Islamic culture. Shehas spent the last 30 years as aMuslim focusing on the study ofthe Quran.During the AWARE CenterDiwaniya Event, Dr. Lesher toldthe audience that the Holy Quranis one of the divine scriptures,with one major and fundamentaldifference. Although the Quranmentions the divine scripturesthat Christians and Jews follow,what sets the Holy Quran apartfrom those scriptures is that theHoly Quran is considered thelast testament and final versionof divine revelation. In addition,the truly remarkable aspect ofthe Holy Quran is its original andunadulterated content. The Torahand the Bible were written bynumerous individuals over differentperiods of time, and they have alsobeen altered throughout history.The content of the Holy Quran,however, has remained intact andexactly as it was received since itsbeginning.“The Holy Quran is considered arevelation from God, the Creator,”Dr. Lesher delivers her presentation at the AWARE CenterDr. Lesher said. “It is a messagethat was received by the ProphetMuhammad (PBUH), who wasresponsible for conveying it to allof mankind. The exact wordingof the Quran is essential incommunicating the divine message,and the way the words in the HolyQuran are pronounced today is theexact same way in which they wereheard by the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH).”Composed of a collection ofverses (Ayat) which make up 114chapters (Suras), The Holy Quranis the central religious text ofthe Islamic faith which Muslimsconsider as the verbatim word ofGod. Revered by many as the finestpiece of literature in the Arabiclanguage, Dr. Lesher went on tosay that Muslims believe that itstext was revealed to the ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) through theangel Jibril over the course of 23years beginning on December 22,609, when Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) was 40, and concluding in632, the year of his death. Beforehis death, the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) specified the order of theplacement of chapters (Suras) ofthe Holy Quran as told to himthrough divine instruction.“At first glance, the Quranmay appear fragmented ordisorganized,” Dr. Lesher said,“However, it exceeds humanconceptions of human organization.There is a purposeful organizationto the Holy Quran which begsfurther study and contemplation,”46October - December 2012
she said, adding that she liked toview the Holy Quran as a “gift”which, when unraveled, revealedricher and deeper meaningunderneath its layers. What makesthe gift of the Holy Quran evenmore valuable is the fact that thereis only one version of it, and ithas never been altered. Everysingle letter and diacritic mark isuniform across every single copyof the Holy Quran, which is quitean accomplishment consideringthe fact that it is the most widelyprinted book in the world.Lessons for All MankindBy reading and studying theHoly Quran, one can cometo understand that Allah(SWT) addressed the ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) with variousinstructions, encouraged himto do or say certain things, andeven reproached him on variousoccasions. While some of theseinstructions were directedspecifically for Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), the underlying essence ofthe Holy Quran serves as a manualfor guiding all of mankind andproviding us with lessons aboutmorality and spirituality. In part,the Quran provides instructions onhow to conduct oneself as a sonor daughter, parent, employee, orperson.“If you want to know how to behappy, I recommend reading theHoly Quran,” Dr. Lesher said.“Reading the Quran will allow youto discover patterns of instructionson how to be happy.” Dr. Lesherwent on to say that studyingthe Holy Quran aids in thedevelopment of moral reasoningand spirituality. Thought processessuch as logic and assimilationare also developed throughstudy of the Quran, and recitingand memorizing the Quran is acommon practice among Muslimswhich can help in keeping a sharpmind while increasing memory.Translations and theLanguage of the QuranAlthough Arabic was an establishedlanguage at the time of therevelation of the Holy Quran, thereis no doubt that it became moresophisticated and complex afterits arrival. Before the Holy Quran,Arabic was rudimentary in nature;however, the language was refinedthanks in great part to the diacriticrules that were introduced in theQuran. In addition, the Holy Quranencouraged higher thought andlearning, as is evidenced in themeaning of the name of the Quranitself, which relates to the Arabicverb qara’a, meaning “he read” or“he recited.”“Today, there are countlessnumbers of books in Arabic thatdiscuss the meaning of variouswords, passages, and suras of theQuran,” said Dr. Lesher. “Arabic is adeep and rich language, so a singlepassage can have pages and pagesof commentary.”To understand this commentary,Dr. Lesher pointed out that it isof great benefit to understandthe Arabic language itself, asno knowledge of the HolyQuran does it justice if it is notunderstood in its original language.“It is impossible to portray theHoly Quran’s depth, rhythm,Audience members listen to the presentationconnotations and subtlety in adifferent language other thanArabic,” she said, adding, “Youcan’t really call a translation theQuran, but only an approximationof the Quran. In translation, thingsare lost, and this is definitely truein the case of the Quran.”After her presentation to theaudience, Dr. Lesher invited thosein attendance to take part in adiwaniya discussion of the HolyQuran, where audience membersasked questions and engaged inthoughtful discussion about Islam’sholy book.The AWARE Center, which standsfor Advocates for Western-ArabRelations, is a non-profit, nongovernmental,and non-politicalorganization that works towardspromoting positive, constructiverelations between Westernersand Arabs by organizing socialactivities and information servicesrelated to Arab and Islamicculture. In its mission statement,the AWARE Center states thatit is dedicated to becoming the“Cultural gateway for Westerners toexplore Arab/Islamic culture andcivilization by facilitating socialencounters, educational activities,dialogue, cultural exchange, andintercultural friendship.” Part ofthis goal is accomplished by hostinga new speaker every week.October - December 2012 47
Page 2 and 3: October - December 2012The Kuwaiti
Page 5 and 6: Esam Al-Houti Returns Safely to Kuw
Page 9 and 10: Minister of Oil Hani Hussein (L) an
Page 11 and 12: At KOC, the Asset Action Planis alw
Page 13 and 14: Appendix II: 72 MonthsProduction Fo
Page 16 and 17: Figure 3: Comparison of any company
Page 18 and 19: Enterprise Content Management Busin
Page 20 and 21: • Identifying requirements andmak
Page 22 and 23: The Benefit of Variable Speed Drive
Page 24 and 25: The simulation results of the scala
Page 26 and 27: Fig. 1: Risk reduction layersIndepe
Page 28 and 29: The risk reduction factor fromeach
Page 30 and 31: Caring for the CommunityKOC’s His
Page 32 and 33: An instructor gives a lesson in Eng
Page 34 and 35: Oil Origins: The Biotic Vs. Abiotic
Page 37 and 38: wells pumped water with a salinityl
Page 39 and 40: ground.” Dr. Kotwicki explainedth
Page 41 and 42: nanoscale photonic circuits, as exi
Page 43 and 44: heavy oil, density and viscosityare
Page 45 and 46: shipyards strategically located all
Page 47: childhood. Young children whooften
Page 51 and 52: Wellhead Operator, 1959

4 - Kuwait Oil Company

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?