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| The Eternal and Living Reality |
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The Qur'an is the word of the Ever-living God; it has been sent down to guide
man for all times to come. No book can be like it. As you come to the Qur'an,
God speaks to you. To read the Qur'an is to hear Him, even to converse with Him,
and to walk in His ways. It is the encounter of life with the Life-giver. 'God -
there is no god but He, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting (by whom all
subsist). He has sent down upon you the Book with the Truth ... as a guidance
unto mankind ...' (Quran 3:
2-3).
 Yet
eyes remain dry, hearts remain unmoved, minds remain untouched, lives remain
unchanged. 
For those who heard it for the first time from the
lips of the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, the Qur'an was a living
reality. They had absolutely no doubt that, through him, God was speaking to
them. Their hearts and minds were therefore seized by it. Their eyes overflowed
with tears and their bodies shivered. They found each word of it deeply relevant
to their concerns and experiences, and integrated it fully into their lives.
They were completely transformed by it both as individuals and as a corporate
body - into a totally new, alive and life-giving entity. Those who grazed sheep,
herded camels and traded petty merchandise became the leaders of mankind.
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Remembering an eloquent voice for Islam
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In retrospect, it was a little bit peculiar to call his house after his passing.
I was hoping to give my condolences to his family - instead, I got a chance to
hear his voice one last time. On his answering machine, he still came through as
the distinguished gentleman I had always known him to be. With the passing of
Charles Le Gai Eaton, also known as Hassan Abdul-Hakeem, the last of a
particular generation of remarkable western Muslims left this world - and
certainly, he was one of the more influential of them, as attested by the
numerous condolence messages from across the spectrum of British society and
Anglophones everywhere.
Raised as an agnostic, Eaton received his education at Charterhouse (a renowned
school in England), before going to study at Cambridge University. After working
for some time as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt, he joined the
British diplomatic service in 1949. In 1951, he became Muslim, which irrevocably
changed his world view, enabling him to become one of the pre-eminent writers on
Islam for a British audience in the contemporary age. He was deeply engaged with
the challenges facing Britain's Muslims, and later served them at the Islamic
Cultural Centre at Regent's Park in London with distinction for many years.
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