Session 3 Notes
Have we ever wondered why we live in this world? Are we here to have a profession, make lots of money and then leave this world? There must be a reason we are given this temporary life. Don’t we have any curiosity about what our purpose of our life in this world is? When it comes to our profession we take it very seriously, we access numerous resources, unhesitatingly dedicate time to utilize them, and learn from them. However when it comes to the true purpose of our existence, we may not be that enthusiastic. Most of us would say that they have access to the Qur’an, having printed copies in their house, rarely on their desks, libraries, and now phones and tablets as well. This temporary life will leave us; don’t we want to prepare for an eternal life that we are craving for? The question remains: how much are we engaging with the Qur’an that we have access to? We should attempt to make the Qur’an our closest friend, inshaAllah.
An Invitation to make the Qur’an relevant to my life
Let’s examine the following verse:
وَقَالَ ٱلرَّسُولُ يَـٰرَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِى ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ مَهْجُورًۭا
“The Messenger has said, ‘O my Lord, my people indeed treat this Qur’an as something to be discarded.’ “ (25:30)
This is a serious message which needs to be thought about. An interesting rhetorical beauty of the Qur’an is the delicate use of the Arabic language with the phrase “يَـٰرَبِّ” translated as “O my Lord”. The Qur’an in this verse drops the ending “ي” from the word “ربّي ” which is also translated as “O my Lord”. In the version of the Qur’an, the phrase “ يَـٰرَبِّ‘ indicates an extreme closeness, intimate relationship with the Lord. This kind of delicacy in the rhetoric of the Qur’an expressing intimate closeness to the Lord usually cannot be caught in translations.
- يا ربي (Yā Rabbī): “O my Lord” (Clear, formal, and complete)
- يا ربِّ (Yā Rabbi): “O my Lord” (Intimate closeness, urgent, and heartfelt)
The verse is conveying the general message to everyone. When the verse says “the messenger has said”, it means that he is bringing the message from the Creator of the universe. Messengers are employed by their Creator, acting as a continuous chain to transfer the original message to the next generation. They all had the same complaint when people did not listen to them, the message of God that they conveyed. The “Messenger” usage here is broad and includes the chain of messengers till the time of prophet Muammad (pbuh) and all those who have been helping us throughout the centuries in understanding the Qur’an from his time to this time now.
We will now look at the word “مَهْجُورًۭا” which is translated as “discarded”. Most of us may be familiar with the word “مَهْجُورًۭ” as related to the word “هجرة” having the letters: “هـ ج ر”. The word “هجرة ”indicates leaving a place and going somewhere else, migrating to another place. It also means abandoning and distancing oneself from something. The word “مَهْجُورًۭ” describes something or someone that has been left behind. If a person performs “هجرة”, migrates from their original place to another place then that original place may become a “مَهْجُورًۭ”, something discarded, abandoned or deserted and the person is called “مهاجِر” the immigrant.
Muslim scholars have explained their understanding of this verse over time. We will see a few examples from the prominent commentators and see how the understanding gradually changed over time.
- Abu Muslim al-Isfahani, (10th CE) says that this will happen in the Hereafter.
- Ibn Katheer, (14th CE) says, the Mushrikun (Conscious Deniers) did not listen to the Qur’an and made noises…
- Alusi, (Ruhu’l Ma’ani), (19th CE) says, either not accept the Qur’an or accept but not get engaged with it. The word “هَجَر” means to discard, “هُجُر” means “irrational talk” or “tales of ancient people”. Hence the deniers made irrational sounds not to listen to the Qur’an. If the messengers complain about their people to God, then God rushes His punishment.
- Ibn Ashur, (20th CE) says, in this verse the Prophet is asking God to send His help urgently. The phrase “ٱتَّخَذُوا۟” means purposefully treated, the phrase “هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ” means reverence, esteem, and exaltation of the Qur’an. This means that instead of discarding it, one should benefit from it.
Here we see the flavor from commentators addressing the people of their time. For example, the earliest Abu Muslim from the 10th century CE was satisfied with the meaning of “The Messenger has said, ‘O my Lord”, the complaining of the Prophet to happen in the Hereafter. Considering that the Qur’an is a universal book, we must take the message as being revealed to us right now. When we have the Qur’an with us, we must see it as the transfer of the message from the prophet (pbuh) to us to be paid attention to right now. If one doesn’t take it seriously, discards it, then the prophet is complaining about us right now. We must thus feel this verse right now.
The commentary from Ibn Katheer (14th CE) externalized the message to the conscious deniers, not relating it to oneself. Alusi from 19th century CE, who related it to some other verses and narrations of the prophet (pbuh) to explain that discarding refers to irrational talk or tales of Meccan people referring to the deniers of the truth making irrational sounds to avoid listening to the Qur’an.
As centuries go by, we can notice that the understanding of the verses is becoming more practical. The 20th century CE scholar Ibn Ashur says the prophet is asking God for help urgently. Rather than revering the Qur’an which deserves to be respected, benefited from, the people are discarding it.
What is respecting the Qur’an for us? In the general Muslim culture, respecting the Quran is to put it in a physically high place in one’s house. That is actually respecting the “mushaf”, the physical written copy of the Quran. The respect of the Qur’an is reduced to the understanding that It is not to be touched without ablution (wudu), remain silent when the Quran is recited, and women can cover their heads, read it during the month of Ramadan for blessings. There is nothing wrong with any of this. However, one must be ashamed of the fact that the Qur’an wasn’t revealed for this purpose only but to learn, benefit from the message, apply it to our lives, and get engaged with the deeper meanings. The more one studies the Qur’an the more they realize how much they are missing from the treasure of the Qur’an. We don’t really know what we are missing by not studying.
The serious scholars devoted their lives trying to get as much out of the treasures of the Qur’an. That is what we have now from their commentaries that address the needs of their time. A sensitive topic in the Muslim community is how they regard the oldest source to be more valuable than the newer ones. As the generations change, their needs change requiring a deeper understanding of the Qur’an. For example, the polymath, physician and philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna) made prominent contributions to the field of medicine of his time. His work has impacted much of the modern western medicine that we have today. What Ibn Sina said then about medicine is not very beneficial to the current needs of the people which the new modern medicine addresses. But we should not forget that if Ibn Sina had not contributed to the science of medicine in his time in his capacity the following generations would not be able to benefit from his contribution and improve it one step further. The same is with human questions and problems nowadays are different and newer Qur’anic commentaries are needed to address them. We must study the Qur’an as much as we can and search for the scholars who address the problems of this age by benefitting from the works of the previous scholars and they need to take it to the next level. As it is in every discipline of science, the commentaries of the Qur’an also must be updated according to the needs of their ages.
How are we being disrespectful to the Qur’an now? By not engaging with it is being disrespectful. For example, a professor is teaching and the students are not listening, isn’t that a disrespect to the professor. Similarly, if we do not take the speech of God as delivered to us right now, if we don’t pay attention to it, that is disrespecting it. We must pay attention to the distinction between the initial revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet (pbuh) and its content. That is, its nature as the divine word addressed to all humanity and revealed for everyone in every age. The language of the Qur’an has been structured by God in such a miraculous manner that it enables every scholar to derive a message from it to address the needs of their own era. Whenever we engage with the Qur’an, we must see that our Creator is speaking to us right now. Everyone can benefit and is responsible according to their capacity. For some the recitation may be sufficient but for others, they need to go deeper and deeper. Some have the questions that need to be addressed, and others may not have them. Some may not be exposed to the various ideas trending, others may be exposed to ideas causing them doubts. For example, is there really a Hereafter, how can one be sure? Is it really true what the Qur’an is saying? If someone has doubts, it is fine to have them. We cannot force ourselves not to have any doubts. What is important is to look for the answers that would satisfy us in a reasonable way. Search for those relevant books and engage with the message of the Qur’an. The scholar Nursi is a great resource to address the doubts of naturalism, materialism, and humanism that is replacing religion nowadays.
This implies that our specific needs must be taken into account when engaging with the Quran. The relationship with the Quran cannot be the same for the general public as it is for those who have undergone a modern secular education. Since the general public does not harbor the kind of questions that lead to doubt, they have no need to seek answers. Consequently, no need to search for and discover the answers embedded in the subtleties of the Quran’s message. In contrast, for those with a secular education, it is inevitable that the doubts and distorted information stemming from their secular mindset require correction and that their questions demand satisfying answers. Individuals in this latter group cannot benefit from the Qur’an simply by reading it in the same way the general public does; they merely delude themselves into thinking they have a genuine connection with the Quran.
Qur’anic Sciences (Ulum al-Qur’an)
We have a huge heritage from our scholars that was discussed in Session 1 notes. We need to get the nourishment from the roots but we need to make it for our time and living conditions in order to benefit from them. Let’s examine the background of the Qur’anic studies to see how the disciplines were developed around the Qur’an in Islamic History. We should keep in mind that the scholars understood according to the requirements and needs of their age, they did a marvelous job. In our time, we need to search for scholars who address the problems of this age.
Core Disciplines Directly Related to the Qur’anic Text:
- Tafsir
- Ilm al-Lughah
- Ilm al-Sarf
- Ilm al-Nahw
- Ilm al-Balagha: Ilm al-Bayan, Ilm al-Ma’aani, Ilm al-Badi’
- Ilm al-Qur’an
- Ilm al-Qira’at
- Tajwid
- Rasm al-Mushaf
- Ilm al-Nuzul/ Asbab al-Nuzul
Here we see the list of items starting with the commentary on the Qur’an, “tafsir” includes many important subcategories, without them “tafsir” is impossible, followed by the recitation of the Qur’an which is also important, followed by “Tajwid” where each letter and word pronunciation must be carefully distinguished. The pronunciation must be clear to avoid any confusion as to what is being said. The “Rasm al-Mushaf” is the way the Qur’an is written. “Ilm -al-Nuzul” and “Asbab al-Nuzul” refer to the conditions, occasion for the revelation of the verses.
The Quran is treated so respectfully where each subject is studied separately; over 15,000 commentaries have been written on the Quran some of which may have 10-20 volumes.
Disciplines Examining Internal Structures and Layers of Meaning:
- Nasikh-Mansukh
- Muhkam-Mutashabih
- Gharib al-Qur’an
- I’rab al-Qur’an
- Balaghah / I’jaz al-Qur’an
The first one “Nasikh-Mansukh” is abrogation which is studied separately from the other subjects. The “Muhkam and Mutashabih” subject is also studied separately on what is clear and what is allegorical, that needs interpretation. “Gharib al-Qur’an” refers to words that are not used, not generally known, the unaccustomed words in the Arabic language. Scholars have devoted over 60 years to understand the usage of words and sentences in the Qur’an which the Arab speaking people are unaccustomed with. The subject of “I’rab al-Qur’an” is the subject that covers grammatical analysis. The “Balaghah/Ijaz al-Qur’an” is the quality of conciseness for saying something. Seemingly short speech but telling a lot in it. This is a very important aspect of the Qur’an, where if one gets the taste of it, they would not be able to stop themselves from engaging with the Qur’an.
Disciplines Examining the Qur’an’s Overall Structure and Purpose:
- Munasabat al-Qur’an
- Makki-Madani (Gradual Education)
- Maqasid al-Qur’an
The subject of “Munasbat al-Qur’an” studies the relationship between the words within the verse and relationship between the verses before and after. We also must become familiar with the chronological order of the revelation of the Qur’an. For example when studying a verse, find out at what occasion was the verse revealed in and then one can now adjust that to this occasion in their life.
The majority of the Qur’an has “Makki” sections and fewer “Madani” sections but together they culminate in establishing the way of living, addressing the personal and social problems. The society is gradually being educated. Everyone knows that one cannot change a society radically in 23 years which the Qur’an was able to accomplish, started by one person from a complete pagan society to a civilized society with a complete administrative system of its own standing out as one of the three major civilizations of its time. This is why the chronological revelation of the Qur’an is very important which applies to our life as well. The Revelation periods of the Qur’an encompass all kinds of possible personal and societal conditions. Each of them can find an example to follow in the chronology of the Qur’an.
The Maqasid al-Qur’an are the purposes of the Qur’an, addressing our need for proper guidance in this temporary life. A great scholar was studying the history of the interpretations of the Qur’an, he concluded that there are 60 disciplines developed to study the Qur’an which also have 60 different perspectives. We must be aware of the treasure of the Qur’an that is available to us. We must not treat the Qur’an lightly by just reading the verse and some translation but benefit from it, apply it in our living as much as we can at the level of our capacity.