Allah (swt) has made clear a lot of matters, for example, He has explained to us matters of the creed and the matters connected to the actions in life and worship through which the human being carries out the responsibilities of faith.

(  وَلِتَسْتَبِينَ سَبِيلُ الْمُجْرِمِينَ… ) (…and [thus] the way of the criminals will become evident): The Arabic word of (the way) here can be recited in two ways, either (Sabilu), according to the dialect of Hijaz or with (Sabila) according to the dialect of Tamim. The Canonical Recitations of the Book of Allah (swt) bring meanings that no other language on the face of this earth can contain by just changing the ending vowel of a word. When the word recited as (Sabila), it means: ‘This is how We make Our signs clear, so that it will be clear to you, O Muhammad, the way that the wicked follow.’ Whereas if it is recited as  (Sabilu), it means: ‘so that the way of the wicked will be made clear.’ As we can observe, the meaning changes with just a change in the last vowel of the word.

So, when we know the way of the wicked, we will also certainly know the opposite, which is the way of the believers.

The Holy Quran has various Canonical Recitations, and it came in a language which was honoured by Allah (swt) to be the language it was revealed in. This language contains some aspects which no other language can contain. For example, a single word could bring a variety of meanings, for example, the word ‘Ain. Among the meanings it could bring are ‘the eye that we see with’, ‘a water spring’ and also ‘a spy’.

Therefore, the Holy Quran needs to be pondered upon and interpreted. However, this can only be done according to certain guidelines, which some groups of people try to escape from adhering to. Among the guidelines are to look at the Prophetic Traditions and the Prophet’s commands, prohibitions, everything he carried out, his actions and his words, as they are all practical interpretations of the Holy Quran. Some people claim: ‘We are in need of a new interpretation. We answer them by saying: ‘We are not in need of a new interpretation, but a contemporary one. One which gives deep understanding suitable to the depth of the Holy Quran, for as the human mind develops, it becomes more and more able of deriving gems from the Book of Allah (swt).