By Nuraidah Haji Abd HamidÂ
œThe time is now. We need wakeup call. This is the real expression from my respected lecturer, Dr. Sofiah Samsuddin, from the Department of Quran and Sunnah, KIRKHS. I met her after making an rushing appointment within one day as to finish my first task in news writing. This is a big challenge for me to fulfil the task as I am not a communication major. I take the challenge in order to prove that a student who is majoring is Islamic studies could also do a challenging task in writing news.
The term œwake up call as expressed by Dr. Sofiah is regarding the understanding of people on the beauty of Quran. I have attended her Kuliah Tafsir in the first week of this semester, and it has impressed me when she gave her lecture in a simple way for me to understand the ayah in Surah as-Shams in the Quran.
It is not an easy job to make others understand the Qur’an. It needs an aggressive effort to do so. As she said, this is compulsory to all individual Muslims because Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w which contains 114 surahs as ˜a must syllabus for us (as servants of Allah) to learn. It is not a matter for students in Islamic studies only. It should be put as main target to finish all of these surah in relations to understanding of each of the surah.
Dr. Sofiah also said that Allah has already designed to all His servants to get any kind of kindness through this holy Quran. Interestingly, the lecturer insisted that Quran is ˜For Life. Â She brought the verses 42 from surah Fussilat, where Allah mentioned: œNo falsehood (batil) can approach it (Quran itself) from before or behind it: It is (Quran) sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all Praise.
Dr. Sofiah has been assigned by the administration of the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque to conduct Tafsir Class which is conducted every Monday evening  (after the Asar Prayer) and Friday afternoon (before Jumaah prayer). This class is open to all students and staff of IIUM and participants only for sisters.
Not only in IIUM, Dr. Sofiah also used her weekend time to make Tafsir class around Gombak area such as Masjid Zakaria Batu 8 and Surau al-Falah.
She said, œBy doing so, this is one of my efforts towards the community as they are actually my concern to make them understand the meaning of Quran. This is we called continuous effort.
“In addition, I always remind the students especially those who are taking Quran and Sunnah studies, for now, they should refer Tafsir instead of translation in which they have to refer back the books of Tafsir, so that they know the real essence of revelation of the Quran.
Tafsir class started in 2011 and is now open to all community of IIUM. Starting with Surah an-Nur, Dr. Sofiah is using Tafsir al-Mubin published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as her reference while conducting the class.
After finishing Surah an-Nur, it continued with other surah which is Surah al-Kahf and al-Mulk. Now, she is focusing on the hikmah of Surah al-Mulk by using additional references as make the meaning of Quran grounded in the earth.
The last words from Dr. Sofiah, she said, œSpreading about the truth and kindness begin with odd perception. But as a person who knows the obligation as a Muslim to make people understand the meaning of Quran, we need to continue our effort in delivering the truth.
“In doing so, we need to practise in a collective way from the others as to invite and let them learn to gain and share something among them. Thus, this is an encouragement to all people to understand the real meaning of Quran. Now, we can call: œWake up call.
For those who are interested, you are kindly invited to join this Tafsir Class every week, Monday evening and Friday afternoon. Any additional information regarding this class, you can contact Sis Hajar at 01152625733.***