understanding the uniqueness of the qur'an

The study and knowledge of the Qur'an is essential for every learned person as well as for all faithful believers. It is specially essential for those scholars who are interested in the study of man and society, since this book has been effectively instrumental not only in moulding the destinies of Islamic societies, but also in shaping the destiny of the human race as a whole.

A brief glance over history would be enough to provide sufficient proof of the claim that there has been no such book that has ever influenced human societies to the magnitude of the Qur'an. It is for the same reason that the Qur'an automatically steps into the precincts of sociological discussions, and becomes the elemental constituent of the subjects of research in this discipline.

This means that any deep study and profound research in the field of world history of the last fourteen hundred years, is impossible without the knowledge of the Qur'an. The study of the Qur'an is essential for every committed Muslim, since it is the main source and foundation of the religious thought and faith. Whatsoever gives meaning, essence and sanctity to his existence lies in the Holy Qur'an.

The Qur'an is not just like other religious books which are content to discuss the problems of existence of God and creation in cryptic tones, or like those which merely convey a series of simple moral advice and counsels, so that those who believe in them are hopelessly left to search for guidance in other sources. Unlike such books the Qur'an formulates the tenets of faith besides communicating the ideas and views that are essential for a man of faith and belief. Similarly, it also lays down the principles of moral and ethical values for the purpose of social and familial existence.

It leaves the job of explanation, interpretation, and occasionally that of ijtihad and application of principles (usul) to secondary matters (furu') to be dealt with through ijtihad and sunnah. Accordingly, utilization of any other source depends on the prior knowledge of the Qur'an.

The Qur'an is the criterion and standard for judging all other sources. We should judge hadith and sunnah in the light of the Qur'an. We can accept it only when it is in accordance with the Qur'an, otherwise we do not accept it. There are four more books that come after the Qur'an, and are regarded as the most sacred and the most authentic sources (by the Shi'ah Muslims). They are:

 

Al-Kafi, Man la yahduruhu al-faqih, Tahdhib, and Istibsar. There are also other sources like the Nahj al-Balaghah, and the prayers of al-Sahifah al-Sajjadiyyah. All these books are secondary to the Qur'an, and their authenticity of source is not so absolute as that of the Qur'an. A hadith from al-Kafi is as trustworthy as it may be in conformity with the Qur'an, and reliable so far as its words comply with the teachings of the Qur'an and do not go against it. The Prophet (S) and the infallible Imams have said that their traditions should be checked in the light of the Qur'an; if they do not coincide with the words of the Qur'an, they should be regarded as false and fake, and as being wrongfully attributed to them; since they have not said anything that can go against the Qur'anic teachings.

 

Approaches to the Understanding of the Qur'an

Now that the necessity of understanding the Qur'an has been confirmed, let us see what are the ways of understanding this book. Generally for the purpose of a profound understanding of any book it is necessary to study it in three ways:

1. Authentication:

At this stage, we want to know to what extent the relationship of a book with its author is authentic. Suppose we want to study the Diwan-Hafiz, or the Ruba'iyyat of 'Umar Khayyam. At first, we have to see whether the work which is attributed to Hafiz, wholly belongs to him, or whether a part of it is Hafiz's work and the rest is an apocryphal annexation to it. Similarly in the case of 'Umar Khayyam, and others too, we must judiciously scrutinize their works. It is here that the matter of examination of manuscripts --and for that matter the oldest of them-- becomes relevant. Thus we see that none of these books can dispense with such a treatment. The Diwan-e-Hafiz printed by the late Qazvini, which has been based on some of the most authentic manuscripts of Hafiz's work, varies greatly from the ordinary editions of Hafiz. printed in Iran and Bombay, which are usually found in homes.

The editions of Hafiz's works published during the last thirty or forty years contain as much as twice the amount of Hafiz's original works. In view of certain modern manuscript experts of repute, they are fake; although we occasionally come across in them some verses which match the sublime heights of Hafiz's poetry. Likewise when we study the quatrains attributed to 'Umar Khayyam, we shall find nearly two hundred quatrains of the same poetical standard with only minor differences usually possible even among the authentic verses of a single poet. However, if we look back at the history of Khayyam's times, we shall notice that the number of quatrains attributed to him may perhaps be less than twenty.

The authenticity of the rest of them is either doubtful, or may with certainty be said to belong to other poets. It means that the first step towards the research study of any book is to see to what extent the book in our hands is authentic, whether all the things recorded on its pages are genuine, or if only a part of it is authentic. Moreover, what criteria and standards should be employed in order to judge the authenticity and genuineness of authorship? By what logic can the authenticity of any book be totally rejected or affirmed? The Qur'an is absolutely exempt from all such criteria that may be applicable to all worldly books. It is regarded as the exclusively singular book since the ancient times. No book of ancient days has remained above doubt to such extent despite a long lapse of several hundred years. No one can ever say about it that such and such a surah has a questionable authenticity or such and such a verse that is present in such and such a manuscript is missing from another manuscript.

The Qur'an stands above the notions of manuscript reading. There is no place for the slightest doubt that all of the verses that exist in the Qur'an are those conveyed to Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah (S) who communicated them as the miraculous Word of God. Nobody can ever claim that another version of the Qur'an existed anywhere, or still exists. There has not been any Orientalist either who would begin the study of the Qur'an by saying, "let us trace from the earliest of the manuscripts of the Qur'an to see what was included in it and what was not."

The Qur'an is absolutely free from this kind of investigation necessary in case of such books as the Bible, the Torah, or the Avesta, or the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, or the Gulistan of Sa'di and every other ancient or not so ancient work. Only for the study of the Qur'an no such questions arise, and the Qur'an is far above the usual norms of authenticity and the craft of manuscript reading. Moreover, besides the fact that the Qur'an is one of the heavenly scriptures and has been regarded by its followers as the most basic and authentic proof of the Prophet's (S) claim to prophethood, and as the greatest of his miracles, the Qur'an, unlike the Torah, was not revealed at one time and was not subject to later difficulties in distinguishing the true manuscript. The verses of the Qur'an were revealed gradually during a span of twenty-three years.

From the very first day, the eager Muslims memorized its verses, preserved and recorded them. Those were the days when the Muslim society was quite a simple society. No other book existed besides the Qur'an, and the Muslims were inevitably inclined to memorize its verses. Their clear, unmarked minds and their powerful memory, their general ignorance about reading and writing, all these factors assisted them in acquiring and retaining their information regarding the Qur'an. This is the reason why the message of the Qur'an, which was so congenial to their sensibilities and their natural propensities, got effectively imprinted on their hearts like inscription on stone. Since they believed it to be the Word of God, it was sacred to them also. They couldn't permit themselves that a single word or even a letter of it be altered or replaced in its text.

They tried to acquire the nearness to God by reciting its verses. It should be noted here that from the very early days the Prophet (S) had engaged a group of scribes for the purpose of writing down the Qur'an, who were known as the "Scribes of the Revelation." This should be regarded as one of the merits in favour of the Qur'an from which all other ancient books are excluded. The absence of any alteration and change in the Word of God was on account of this process of writing and recording from the very beginning. The other reason responsible for the popularity of the Qur'an among the people was its extraordinary, supernatural literary and artistic dimension depicted in its rhetoric and eloquence. It was this strong literary attraction towards the Qur'an, which had an appeal for the people, that prompted them to immediately memorize its verses. But unlike other literary works like the Diwan-e-Hafiz and poems of Rumi, which are exposed to meddling by admirers who think they are improving on the original, nobody could ever give himself the permission of meddling with the sacred text; for the Qur'an immediately declared in one of its verses:

 

Had he [the Prophet (S)] invented against Us any sayings, We would have seized him by the right hand, then We would surely have cut his life vein. (69:44-46)

 

There are several other verses in the Qur'an that forbid forgery in relation to the Word of God. The gravity of this sin as stressed by the Qur'an had profound impression upon minds and served as a severe discouragement in this regard. In this way, before any type of alterations could have taken place in its verses, they were repeated often, thus reaching a stage that it was impossible to increase, diminish or alter even a single word in this heavenly book.

Accordingly, there is neither any need of any discussion about the Qur'an from the point of view of authenticity, nor does any scholar of the Qur'an throughout the world see any necessity of such a discussion. However, I think, it is necessary to remind the readers about the fact that, because of the rapid expansion of the Islamic domain and distance of the major part of the population living far away from Medina, which was the center of huffaz (those who memorized) of the Qur'an and the Companions of the Prophet, there arose the danger of occurrence of advertent or wilful gradual alteration in the Qur'anic text.

But the prompt dexterity and timely awareness on the part of early Muslims averted this danger. Within the first five decades, they utilized the services of the Sahabah (the Companions of the Prophet) and those of the huffaz of the Qur'an for the purpose of averting the chances of conscious or inadvertent alterations in the text of the Qur'an. They distributed approved copies of the Qur'an from Medina to the surrounding regions. They thus checked any chances of wrongdoing, especially on the part of the Jews, who are well-known champions in this field.

2. Analytical Study:

During this stage of study and analysis of a book, it is essential to understand these things: the subject it deals with, the goal that it pursues, its outlook regarding the world, its point of view concerning man and society, its style and treatment of the subject-whether the treatment of the subject is in an intellectual and scholarly manner, or whether it has its own characteristic style. One more question that is relevant in this context is whether this book contains any message and guidance for humanity or not. If the answer to this question is in the affirmative, then what is the message that it conveys? The first group of questions are, of course, concerned with the point of view and outlook of the book regarding man and universe, about life and death etc. In other words, these questions are associated with the, world-outlook of the book, and in terms of Islamic philosophy, with its al-hikmat al-nazariyyah (theoretical wisdom).

But the second group of questions is concerned with the perspective of future of mankind offered by the book. They deal with the suggested basis for moulding the human kind and human societies. This aspect may be regarded as the "message" of the book. This sort of understanding is, however, concerned with the subject of the book, and is relevant in regard to all kinds of books, whether it is the medical treatise of Ibn Sina, or if it is the Gulistan of Sa'di. It is possible that a book may lack an outlook as well as a message, or it may contain an outlook but not a message, or it may contain both. Regarding the analytical study of the Qur'an we shall have to see, in general, what sort of problems does the Qur'an deal with, and what is its manner of presenting them. What is its manner of argument and its approach to various problems? Does the Qur'an, being the defender, presenter and protector of faith, and its message being a religious message, view reason as a rival to its teachings, and clings to a defensive posture against it, or whether it considers reason as a supporter and protector of faith and relies upon its power? These questions and various other queries, arise during the analytical study of the Qur'an.

 

3. Study of the Sources of Ideas:

At this stage, i.e. after verification of authenticity of the authorship of a book, and after thorough study and analysis of its contents, we come to the stage of exploring whether the contents of the book comprise of its author's own original ideas, or, the ideas have been borrowed from some other source. For instance, in studying Hafiz's works, after verifying the authenticity of the verses and making their analytical study, we have to see whether these themes, ideas and thoughts that have been incorporated into Hafiz's poetry and poured into the moulds of his words, phrases, couplets, language and style, are actually the creations of Hafiz, or whether only the words and phrases and the beauty, art and craftsmanship reflected in the verses come from Hafiz, whereas the thoughts and ideas belong to someone else, or have been borrowed from another source.

After ascertaining his artistic originality, the intellectual originality of Hafiz's works has also to be established. This kind of study regarding Hafiz, or any other author, implies the study of the source and roots of the author's ideas and thought. This sort of study is secondary to an analytical study; that is, firstly the contents of the author's thought should be completely understood, and afterwards an attempt should be made to identify its roots and sources. Otherwise, the result of one's effort will be something like the works of certain writers of history of various sciences, who write without any thorough knowledge of the subject, or similar to the works of those writers of philosophical books, who undertake, for instance, a comparative study of Ibn Sina and Aristotle, without any knowledge of either.

After superficial comparison and on discovering some literal similitudes between the works of the two great thinkers, they immediately sit down to pass a quick judgment. Although, for the purpose of a comparative study, very deep and profound knowledge of the ideas and thoughts of both of the philosophers is required. A lifetime of study is necessary for such a task; otherwise, it has no more value than can be given to blind imitative conjectures. For the study and understanding of the Qur'an, an analytical study must be followed by a comparative and historical study. That is, the contents of the Qur'an should be compared with other books that existed at that time, specially the religious ones. For the purpose of such a comparison, it is essential to keep in mind the conditions and relations of the Arabian peninsula with other parts of the world, and the number of educated Arabs living in Mecca at the time. Only then we can arrive at an estimation of the influence of other books of those times on the contents of the Qur'an, and if we find something common in them, discover its proportions. We can then see whether the material that has been borrowed from other books is used in an original manner or not. Does the Qur'an go even further to the extent of playing a role in amending the contents of those books and setting right the errors occurring in them?

 

The Three Distinguishing Characteristics of the Qur'an

Our study of the Qur'an acquaints us with three distinguishing characteristics of this holy book. The first distinguishing characteristic is the absolute authenticity of its source. That is, without the slightest need of any comparison between the oldest manuscripts, it is evident that what we recite as the verses of the Holy Qur'an, are exactly the same words presented before the world by Muhammad ibn 'Abd-Allah (S). The second characteristic feature of the Qur'an is the quality of its contents: its teachings are genuinely original and have not been adopted or plagiarized. It is the duty of an analytical study to prove this fact. The third characteristic of the Qur'an is its Divine identity: its teachings have been delivered to the Prophet from a world that transcends his thought and mind. The Prophet (S) was only a recipient of this revelation and message.

This is the result that we obtain from the study of the sources and roots of the Qur'an. But the study of the sources of the Qur'an, and confirmation of its originality, depend upon the analytical study. So I resolve to open this discussion with the analytical study of the Qur'an. We shall first see what is the subject matter of the Qur'an, what kind of problems are discussed in it, what type of problems have been given priority, and in what manner those subjects are presented in it. If we are successful in our critical analysis, and acquire a sufficient understanding of the Qur'anic teachings, it will bring us to an acknowledgment of its principal aspect, which is the Divine aspect of the Qur'an, the quality of its being a Divine miracle.

 

Conditions Necessary for the Study of the Qur'an

The understanding of the Qur'an requires certain preliminaries which are briefly described here. The first essential condition necessary for the study of the Qur'an, is the knowledge of the Arabic language, such as for the understanding of Hafiz and Sa'di, it is impossible to get anywhere without the knowledge of the Persian language. In the same way, to acquaint oneself with the Qur'an without knowing the Arabic language is impossible. The other essential condition is the knowledge of the history of Islam; since, unlike the Bible and the Torah, this book was revealed gradually during a long period of twenty-three years of the Prophet's life, a tumultuous time in the history of Islam.

It is on this account that every verse of the Qur'an is related to certain specific historical incident called sha'n-i nuzul The sha'n-i nuzul, by itself does not restrict the meaning of the verses, but the knowledge of the particulars of revelation throws more light on the subject of the verses in an effective way. The third condition essential for the understanding of the Qur'an, is the correct knowledge of the sayings of the Prophet (S). He was, according to the Qur'an itself, the interpreter of the Qur'an par excellence. The Qur'an says:

We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them ... (16:44)

The Qur'an also says:

It is He who has sent among the illiterate a Messenger from among them, to recite His sings to them, and to purify them and to teach them the Book and the Wisdom. (62:2)

According to the Qur'an, the Prophet (S) himself is the exegetist and the interpreter of the Qur'anic text. Whatever has reached us from the Prophet, is of great help in our understanding of the Qur'an. For the Shi'ah, who believe in the infallible Imams (A) also, and believe that the Prophet (S) has transmitted everything he obtained from God to his spiritual successors (awliya'), those genuine riwayat (narrations about the Prophet (S)) that have reached us through the Imams, possess the same degree of authenticity as those obtained directly from the Prophet (S).

Accordingly, the authentic riwayat of the Imams are of great help to us in our understanding of the Qur'an. A very important point to remember during the initial stages of study, is that we should try to understand the Qur'an with the help of the Qur'an itself; because, the verses of the Qur'an constitute a completely united integral whole, a coherent unified structure. If we single out any verse from the Qur'an and try to understand it in isolation from the rest of the Book, it would not be a correct method.

However, it is possible that we may happen to understand it, but the method is not recommended by caution, as certain verses of the Qur'an are explanatory for certain other verses. All great commentators of the Qur'an have affirmed this method; the infallible Imams also had approved of this manner of interpretation of the Qur'anic verses. The Qur'an has its own specific mode of discussing various problems. There are instances where if a solitary verse is studied without placing it in its proper context, it gives quite a different sense than when it is seen under the light of the verses dealing with a similar subject. For instance, the specific mode and style of the Qur'an may be noticed from the distinction drawn between al-ayat al-muhkamat (the firm verses) and al-ayat al-mutashabihat (the ambiguous verses).

There is a prevalent view regarding the muhkamat and the mutashabihat. Some people imagine that al-ayat al-muhkamat are such verses as whose meaning is quite simple and clear, whereas the meaning of al-ayat al-mutashabihat is cryptic, enigmatic and puzzling. According to this notion, men are only permitted to cogitate upon the meaning of al-ayat al-muhkamat, and al-ayat al-mutashabihat are basically inscrutable and beyond their understanding. Here, the question arises, what is the philosophy underlying al-ayat al-mutashabihat? Why has the Qur'an put forward such verses that are incomprehensible

A brief answer to this question is that neither muhkam means "simple" and "clear", nor mutashabih means "ambiguous", "cryptic" and "enigmatic." "Ambiguous" and "enigmatic" are adjectives applicable to sentences that do not convey the meaning in a direct and simple manner, as are sometimes met in the writings of various authors. For example, when Sultan Mahmud rewarded the poetic efforts of Ferdowsi with a reward of an insignificant and humiliating amount of money, Ferdowsi did not accept it, and instead he accused Sultan Mahmud of the trait of parsimony in his versified lampoons. Some of them were quite clear and obvious whereas the others were not devoid of ambiguity and a lot of enigma. Ferdowsi is quite direct when he says:

Had the king's mother been an honourable lady, He would have rewarded me with knee-high gold and silver.

However, when he remarks:

The palm of king Mahmud, the conqueror of lands, Was nine times nine and three times four,

what does he intend to say? Here Ferdowsi has made use of an enigmatic technique. Those who are interested would like to know the solution: 9 X 9=81, 3 X 4=12, and 81 plus 12 add up to 93. Ferdowsi says, the Sultan's palm was just like 93. It means that the fist of the Sultan was so tightly closed that only his thumb was free, and this thumb along with the index finger (which acquires the shape of 92 and other three fingers make 93.

Through this obscure statement Ferdowsi wants to emphatically report the miserliness of the Sultan. We shall see whether there are actually any enigmatic and abstruse verses in the Qur'an. Such an assumption contradicts with the text of the Qur'an which unequivocally states that it is a clear and comprehensible book whose verses provide guidance and shed light.

The core of the problem is that some of the issues dealt with in the Qur'an are related to metaphysical matters and the transcendental world, which cannot be expressed in ordinary language. In the words of Shaykh Shabistari:

The word fails to encompass meaning, The ocean cannot be poured into a pot

Since the language of the Qur'an is the same as used by men, inevitably, the same diction is used for the most sublime and spiritual themes as we human beings use for earthly subjects. But in order to prevent any misunderstanding about certain problems, some verses have been devised in such a way that they need to be explained with the help of other verses.

There is no way except this. For example, the Qur'an wanted to point out to a truth namely, seeing God through the heart; that is, to witness the presence of God by means of one's heart. This idea has been expressed in the following terms:

(Some) faces on the Day shall be bright, looking towards their Lord. (75:22-23)

Uniqueness of the Qur'an

The Qur'an makes use of the verb "looking," and no other word more suitable could be available for the expression of the desired sense. But to avert the possibility of any doubt, the Qur'an explains in other place:

Vision perceives Him not, and He perceives all vision. (6:104)

The second verse makes the reader distinguish between two different meanings conveyed by the same word. In order to avoid any possibility of ambiguity in its exalted themes, the Qur'an asks us to check the mutashabihat against the mahkamat:

He sent down upon thee the Book, wherein are verses firm (ayat mahkamat) that are the essence of the Book. (3:6)

Thereby, the Qur'an means that there are certain verses whose firmness cannot be denied and other meanings cannot be derived from them, except their real ones. Such verses are the 'mother' of the Book (umm al-kitab). In the same way as a mother is the refuge to her child, or a cosmopolitan city (umm al-qura) is the center of small cities, al-ayat al-muhkamat are also regarded as the axes of the mutashabihat.

Al-ayat al-mutashabihat are, of course, to be cogitated upon and understood, but they are to be pondered upon with the help of al-ayat al-muhkamat. Any inference drawn without the help of the mother-verses would not be correct and reliable.

 

Is the Qur'an Understandable?

During the analysis and study of the Qur'an, the first question that arises is whether the Qur'an can be studied and understood. Has this book been introduced for the purpose of studying and understanding it, or whether it is just for reading and reciting and obtaining reward and blessing? The reader, possibly, may wonder at raising of such a question.

To him it may appear beyond doubt that the Qur'an is meant for the purpose of knowing and understanding it. Nevertheless, in view of various undesirable currents, which due to numerous reasons came into existence in the Muslim world regarding the question of understanding of the Qur'an, and which had an important role in bringing about the decline of Muslims, we shall discuss this matter in brief. Regrettably, the roots of those degenerate and dangerous notions still persist in our societies.

So I consider it necessary to elaborate on this topic. Among the Shi'ah scholars of three or four centuries ago, there appeared a group which believed that the Qur'an is not a hujjah ("proof", meaning a legal source usable for vindication). Among the four sources of fiqh that have been regarded as the criteria and standard for the understanding of the Islamic problems by Muslim scholars, i.e. the Qur'an, the sunnah (tradition), 'aql (reason) and ijma' (consensus of opinion), they did not recognize three of them. Regarding ijma', they said that it belongs to the Sunni tradition and they could not follow it. Concerning reason, they maintained that reason can also err, and reliance on reason is not legitimate.

About the Qur'an they respectfully asserted that the Qur'an is greater in station than being subject to study and comprehension by us humble human creatures. It is only the privilege of the Prophet and the Imams to ponder over the verses of the Holy Qur'an. We ordinary human beings have only the right to read and recite them. This group was that of the Akhbariyun or Akhbaris. The Akhbaris regarded hadith and chronicles as the only permissible sources of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). One may be astounded to learn that in some of the Qur'anic exegeses written by these people, they mentioned only those verses about which the tradition existed, and refrained from mentioning other verses as if they are not a part of the Qur'an.

Such a kind of practice was an injustice to the Qur'an. This shows that a society that could neglect and alienate their own heavenly book and that too of the standard and stature of the Qur'an, is not at all up to the Qur'anic standards. Besides the Akhbaris there were other groups who also regarded the Qur'an as inaccessible to the ordinary human intellect. Among them the Ash'arites can be named, who believed that the knowledge of the Qur'an does not necessarily mean that its verses should be pondered over, but the real meanings are the same as that the words literally communicate. According to them, whatever we understand from the outward meaning, we have to be satisfied with it. We should not be concerned with the secret and inner meanings.

It was quite natural that this sort of thinking regarding the Qur'an, very rapidly, gave rise to serious deviations and grave misunderstandings. Since they were forced on the one hand to the task of interpretation of the meaning of the Qur'anic verses, and, on the other hand, banished reason also from the realm of religious learning, as a result, they were forced to adopt merely vulgar and superficial interpretations of the Qur'anic verses. On account of their faulty way of thinking, they deviated from the regular course of correct thinking, and thus gave way to distorted and faulty religious vision. As the result of this type of religious thinking, heretical beliefs like the personification of God the Almighty, and numerous other distorted ideas like the possibility of visual perception of God, His possession of physical characteristics etc., came into existence.

Opposing the group which abandoned the Qur'an, another group came into existence which used the Qur'an as the means to fulfill their selfish aims. They gave the Qur'anic verses such interpretations as were favourable to their selfish interests, and wrongfully attributed certain ideas to the Qur'anic text that were not at all in agreement with the spirit of the Qur'an. In answer to every objection that was made against them, they said that none except themselves could understand the esoteric and secret meaning of the Qur'anic verses, and whatever they stated was based on the understanding and knowledge of the esoteric meaning of the verses. The champions of this movement in the history of Islam consist of two groups: the first group are the Isma'ilis, who are also known as the Batinis (secret sect), and the other are the Sufis. Most of the Isma'ilis are found in India and some of them are in Iran. They had formed an empire in Egypt known as the Fatimid caliphate. The Isma'ilis are so-called Shi'ahs who believe in six Imams. But all the Twelver Imami Shi'ah scholars are unanimous in the opinion that in spite of their belief in six Imams, the Isma'ilis stand at a greater distance from the Shi'ite faith than the non-Shi'ite sects. The Sunnis, who do not believe in any of the Imams in the same sense as the Shi'ah do, nevertheless are nearer to the Shi'ah than these "Six-Imami Shi'ahs." The Isma'ilis, on account of their batini beliefs and secretive practices have played a treacherous role in the history of Islam and have had a big hand in causing serious deviations in the realm of Islam. Besides the Isma'ilis, the Sufis are also charged with distortion of the Qur'anic verses and had a long hand in interpreting them according to their personal beliefs.

Here I present a specimen of their exegesis so that the extent and method of their misinterpretation may be known: The anecdote of Ibrahim (A) and his son Isma'il is described by the Qur'an as follows: It occurred to Ibrahim (A) in his dream that he has to sacrifice his son for the sake of God. At first he is perplexed regarding such an instruction; but as he repeatedly has the dream reiterating the same theme, he becomes certain of the Will of God and decides to obey the Divine command. He puts the whole matter before his son, who also faithfully accepts his father's proposal of executing the Divine command:

"My son, I see in a dream that I shall sacrifice thee; consider what thinkest thou?" He said, "My father, do as thou art bidden; thou shalt find me, God willing, one of the steadfast." (37:102)

Here the aim is the expression of total submission and resignation towards the Divine decree. For the same reason the father and son are ready to execute the Divine command with whole-hearted purity and sincerity, but the execution of the command was stopped by the Will of God. But the same incident is interpreted by the Sufis in this fashion: Ibrahim here represents intellect and reason ('aql) and Isma'il represents the self (nafs); the Qur'anic anecdote is an allegory that hints at the attempt of reason to murder the human self (nafs).

It is obvious that such interpretation of the Qur'an is like wanton treatment of it, and presents a distorted perspective of its teachings. It is in the context of such deviate interpretations of the Qur'an based upon personal or sectarian bias and interests that the Prophet has said: One who interprets the Qur'an according to his wish, should be certain of his place in hell.

This kind of frivolous attitude towards the verses of the Qur'an amounts to the betrayal of the Qur'an and that too of a grievous degree. The Qur'an itself strikes a middle course between the stagnant and narrow-minded attitude of the Akhbaris and the unwarranted and deviate interpretations of the Batinis. It recommends a course of sincere, disinterested study and asks for unbiased and unprejudiced meditation over its meanings.

Not only the believers and the faithful, but even the infidels are invited by it to contemplate over its verses. The Qur'an demands that it verses should be first contemplated over, before forming any adverse opinion against them. Addressing the opponents, it says, why they don't ponder over the Qur'an, what sort of hearts they possess, they are as if shut close and sealed:

What, do they not ponder the Qur'an? Or is it that there are locks upon their hearts? (47:24)

The Qur'an also says in one of its verses:

(This is) a Book We have revealed to you abounding in good, that they may ponder the verses.

That is, We have not sent the Qur'an to be kissed, embraced and put on the niche to gather dust, but for men to read and to contemplate about its contents:

That those endowed with understanding may ponder its signs and so remember. (38:29)

The above verse and scores of other such verses emphasize the importance of contemplation in the Qur'an and interpretation of the Qur'anic verses, although not an interpretation based on personal caprices and bias, but a just, truthful and balanced interpretation free of all traces of selfish interests. If we try to comprehend the Qur'an in an honest and unbiased way, it is not at all necessary to solve all problems that we find in it. In this regard the Qur'an is similar to Nature.

In Nature, too, a number of mysteries have neither been solved yet, nor can they be solved in present conditions, yet are likely to be solved in the future. Moreover, in studying and understanding nature, man has to tailor his ideas in accordance with Nature itself. He is forced to interpret Nature in accordance with its reality.

He cannot define Nature in terms of his own caprices and inclinations. The Qur'an, like the book of Nature, is a book that has not been sent for a specific age and time. Had it been otherwise, all the secrets of the Qur'an would have been discovered in the past; this heavenly Book would not have presented its charm, freshness and vitality. But we see that the possibility of contemplation, reflection and discovery of new dimensions is inexhaustible in the case of this Holy Book. This is a point that has amply been emphasized and clarified by the Prophet and the Imams. In a tradition, it is related from the Prophet (S) that the Qur'an, like the sun and the moon, will present its movement and continuity; that is, the Qur'an is not static or monotonous.

In some other place the Prophet has said that outwardly the Qur'an is beautiful and inwardly it is deep and unfathomable. In 'Uyun akhbar al-Rida, from the Imam al-Rida (A), it is quoted that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (A) was asked about the secret of it that as the time passes and the more it is read and recited, the Qur'an increases in its novelty and freshness day by day. The Imam al-Sadiq (A) answered:

Because the Qur'an is not for an exclusive age or for an exclusive people.

The Qur'an has been sent for all ages and for all human beings. It is so composed that in spite of changes in knowledge, outlook and approach through various times and ages, it surpasses all learning and knowledge in all ages. While it encompasses mysteries and abstruse intricacies for the reader of every age, at the same time it presents a great feast of meanings and ideas that can satiate the needs of every time in accordance with the capacity of that particular age.

 

Issues in an Analytical Study of the Qur'an:

Now we shall proceed to study the contents of the Qur'an from an analytic viewpoint. Of course, if we were to deal with every subject of the Qur'an separately, it would call for --as Rumi would say-- seventy tons of paper. So we will confine our discussion mainly to general and then a few particular issues.

The Qur'an has dealt with a vast range of subjects, and in this process, it is more concerned with certain subjects and less with others. The universe and its Creator are among the most recurring themes of the Qur'an. We must try to see how it treats this theme. Is its outlook philosophical or gnostic? Is its treatment similar to that of other religious books like the Bible and the Torah? Is it similar to that of the religious books of Hinduism? Does it deal with this problem in its own independent manner? The other problem that is repeatedly treated by the Qur'an is the problem of the universe or the world of creation. We must examine the outlook of the Qur'an about the universe. Does it regard the universe and all creation to be an exercise in vanity and futility or does it regard it as being based on coherent truth?

Does it consider the state of affairs in the universe as being based upon a series of laws and principles, or does it regard it as a chaotic phenomenon in which nothing is the cause or condition of any other thing? Among the general issues dealt by the Qur'an is the problem of the human being. The Qur'anic outlook regarding the human being must be analyzed. Does the Qur'an possess an optimistic outlook of man? Does it speak of him in pessimistic and negative terms?

Does the Qur'an consider man as a despicable creature, or does it acknowledge his nobility and dignity? The other problem dealt with in the Qur'an is the problem of human society. We have to see if the Qur'an considers the society to be primary and the individual as secondary or whether it subordinates the society to the individual. Are societies, according to the Qur'an, subject to laws governing their life and death, their rise and decline, or are these conditions applicable to individuals alone? In the same way, its conception of history also needs to be clarified. What is the Qur'anic view regarding history?

What are the forces that control the dynamics of history? To what extent can an individual's influence affect the course of history in the view of the Qur'an? The Qur'an deals with numerous other issues. I shall enumerate some of them here. One of them is the point of view of the Qur'an about itself. The other issue is related to the Prophet (S) and its manner of introducing and addressing him.

Another issue is its definition of a believer (mu'min) and his characteristics and so on. Furthermore, each of these general issues possesses various branches and divisions. For example, when discussing mankind and its situation, it is natural to speak about morality. Or, when speaking about society, the problem of human relationships also unavoidably enters the discussion. The same is true of such notions as "enjoining good and forbidding evil," and the problem of social classes.

How does the Qur'an Introduce Itself?

For the purpose of analysing Qur'anic themes, it is better to start by examining the opinion of the Qur'an about itself and its manner of self-introduction. The first and foremost thing that the Qur'an pronounces about itself is that all of its words, phrases and sentences are the Word of God.

It makes clear that the Prophet (S) was not its author; rather the Prophet only related whatever was revealed to him through the agency of the Ruh al-Qudus (Gabriel) with the permission of God. The Qur'an describes its other function as the presentation of the Prophetic mission, which is aimed at guidance of humanity, by delivering it from darkness and leading it towards light:

A Book We have sent down to thee that thou mayest bring forth mankind from the darkness into the light... (14:1)

Without doubt the darkness of ignorance is one of the vices from which the Qur'an emancipates humanity and leads it towards the light of knowledge and wisdom. However, if merely ignorance were regarded as darkness, then the philosophers could have accomplished this job. But there exist other evils more dangerous than the vice of ignorance, and to subdue them is beyond the power of sheer knowledge.

Among them are the vices of worship of material benefits, egoism, enslavement to desires, and greed, which are considered to be personal and moral vices. Social vices like oppression and discrimination manifest the spiritual darkness of a society. In Arabic, the word zulm (injustice and oppression) is derived from the same root as zulmah (darkness), which shows that injustice is a form of social and spiritual darkness. To struggle against such forms of darkness is the responsibility and mission of the Qur'an and other heavenly books. Addressing Prophet Moses (A), the Qur'an says:

That thou mayest bring forth your people from the darkness into the light ... (14:5)

This darkness, this shadow, is the darkness of Pharaoh's oppression and injustice and that of his clique. The light is the light of justice and freedom. The exegetists of the Qur'an emphasize the point that whenever the Qur'an mentions darkness, it always uses it in the plural form although it always uses light in its singular form. This means that the word, (darkness) includes all sorts of darkness, all of the evil ways that lead towards darkness, and that (light) signifies one single right path --the path of righteousness, whereas the ways of deviation and perversion are many. In Suurat al-Baqarah, the Qur'an says:

God is the Protector of the believers; He brings them forth from the darkness into the light. And the unbelievers --their protectors are taghut, that bring them forth from the light into the darkness ... (2:257)

The Qur'an determines its goal to be the breaking of the chains of ignorance, misguidance, moral and social corruption and destruction, or in other words, to dissipate all sorts of (darkness) and to guide humanity in the direction of justice, goodness and light.

The Language of the Qur'an

The other issue is that of gaining familiarity with the language of the Qur'an and the recitation of it. There are some people who think that the Qur'an is to be read merely for the purpose of obtaining spiritual reward (thawab) without need of understanding anything of its contents. They continuously recite the Qur'an, but if they are even once asked) "Do you understand the meaning of what you are reading?" they cannot answer.

To recite the Qur'an is essential and good, being regarded as the first step necessary for comprehending its contents; and not merely as a means for gaining Divine reward. The comprehension of the meaning of the Qur'an has certain peculiarities to which due attention must be paid. While other books are read for the purpose of acquiring the knowledge of novel ideas that merely involve reason and the rational faculties of the reader's mind, the Qur'an must be studied with the intention of educating oneself. The Qur'an itself clarifies this point:

A book We have sent down to thee, blessed, that men possessed of mind may ponder its signs end so remember. (38:29)

One of the functions of the Qur'an is to instruct and to teach. For this purpose, the Qur'an addresses human reason and speaks in logical and demonstrative terms. There is also another language that the Qur'an makes use of. But this language is not used to appeal to the faculty of reason, but to the heart. This is the language of feeling. Whosoever wants to acquaint himself with the Qur'an, should be familiar with both of the languages and be able to make use of both of them simultaneously. It is a grave mistake to separate one from the other.

That which is termed here as the heart, is the great source of profound feeling that resides within all human beings. This is sometimes also called "the sense of being", i.e. the feeling of relationship between human existence and the Absolute Being. One who knows the language of the heart, when he addresses the human being in this language, can move the inner depths of his being. It is not merely the mind and the intellect alone which is affected, but his whole being, which is profoundly influenced. This sort of influence can perhaps be illustrated by the example of music.

The various forms of music share the common quality which is stimulation of human feelings. Music appeals to the human soul and immerses it into a specific world of feeling. The nature of feelings, excited by different kinds of music, of course, varies. Certain types of music may be associated with the passions of valour and bravery. In the past, on the battlefield, the effects of martial music were evident.

Sometimes its effects were so strong that the frightened soldiers who would not dare come out of their bunkers, were made to march in fervour despite fierce attacks from enemy's ranks. It is possible that certain other kinds of music may excite sensual feelings and invite the listener to succumb to sensual vices. The results of such music are noticeable in the moral waywardness of our own times. Perhaps no other thing could have so effectively broken down the walls of morality and chastity to the extent of this kind of music.

Other kinds of instinctive feelings and passions, whether aroused by means of music or by some other means, can be controlled when addressed in the language that appeals to them. One of the most sublime instincts and emotions present in all human beings is the urge for religion and the natural quest for God. It is in the same heavenly echoes that the Qur'an speaks to the Divine instincts of mankind. The Qur'an itself recommends that its verses be recited in fine and beautiful rhythms; for it is in those heavenly rhythms that it speaks to the Divine nature of man.

The Qur'an, describing itself, maintains that it speaks in two languages. Sometimes it introduces itself as the Book of meditation, logic and demonstration; at other times as the Book of feeling and love. In other words, it does not merely seek to nourish the intellect and thought, but also nurtures the human soul. The Qur'an lays great emphasis on its own specific quality of music, a music which more than any other music, is effective in arousing the profound and sublime feelings of the human heart. The Qur'an directs the believers to devote a few hours of the night to reciting its verses, and to recite them during their ritual prayers when their attention is turned towards God. Addressing the Prophet, the Qur'an says:

O thou enwrapped in thy robes, keep vigil the night, except a little (a half of it, or diminish a little, or add a little) and chant the Qur'an very distinctly. (73:1 -4)

It asks the Prophet (S) to recite the Qur'an while standing for the prayers. Tartiil means to recite neither too hastily that words cannot be distinguished, nor too slowly that their connection be lost. It commands the Prophet (S) to recite its verses rhythmically, and at the same time to cogitate upon their meaning.

Again, in a later verse of the same surah, the Prophet is reminded that he needs enough sleep to effectively perform the daily chores of business or jihad in the path of God; nevertheless, he should not forget to seclude himself for worship. It were the same rhythms of the Qur'an that became the singular source of spiritual joy and strength, and the means of producing inner purity and sincerity among Muslims. It was the same music of the Qur'an which, in a very short period of time, converted the barbarous tribes of the Arabian peninsula, into a steadfast nation of committed believers, who could grapple with the greatest powers of the age and overthrow them.

The Muslims did not merely view the Qur'an as a book of moral advice and instruction alone, but also, as a spiritual and ideological tonic. They recited the Qur'an with devotion of heart during their intimate nightly supplications, and during the day, they derived from it the strength to attack the unbelievers like roaring lions. The Qur'an had just such an expectation of those who had found their faith. Addressing the Prophet, it says:

Obey not the unbelievers, but struggle against them with it [the Qur'an] striving mightily. (25:52)

The Qur'an advises the Prophet (S) not to pay heed to the words of the infidels and to stand firmly against them equipped with the weapon of the Qur'an. It assures him that the ultimate victory shall be his. The life of the Prophet (S) itself is a positive proof of this assurance. He stood all alone against enemies without any support except the Qur'an, and the same Qur'an meant everything to him. It produced warriors for him, furnished arms and forces, until, ultimately, the enemies were totally subdued.

The Qur'an drew towards him individuals from the enemy's camp, and caused them to submit before the Messenger of God. In this way the Divine pledge was fulfilled. When the Qur'an calls its language "the language of the heart," it means the heart which it seeks to purify, enlighten and stimulate. This language is other than the language of music that occasionally arouses sensual feelings. It is also different from the language of martial music that arouses the spirit of heroism in the hearts of soldiers and strengthens and enhances their enthusiasm.

Rather, it is the language which converted the Arab Bedouins into inspired mujahidin, for whom it was said:

They carried their visions on their swords.

Those people carried their vision, their ideology, their religion and spiritual discoveries on their swords, and used them in the defence of those ideals and ideas. The notions of private and personal interest were alien to them. Though they were not innocent and infallible, and they did commit mistakes, yet they were those who rightly fitted the description:

Standing in prayer during nights, fasting during daytime.

Every moment of day and night, they were in contact with the depths of Being. Their nights were passed in worship, and days in jihad. It is on account of this characteristic, that the Qur'an is a book of the heart and the soul. Its appeal overwhelms the soul and brings tears flowing from the eyes and makes the heart tremble. It stresses this point and considers it true even of the "People of the Book":

Those to whom We gave the Book before this believe in it, and, when it is recited to them, they say, 'We believe in it; surely it is the Truth from our Lord; even before it we were of those who surrender. (28:52-53)

It describes a group of people who undergo a state of veneration and awe when the Qur'an is recited before them. They affirm faith in all the contents of the Book, declare everything in it to be nothing but truth and their veneration of it continues to increase. In another verse, the Qur'an affirms that among the Ahl al-Kitab (The People of the Book), the Christians are closer to the Muslims than the idolaters and Jews. Then a group of Christians who believed and became Muslims on hearing the Qur'an are described in these words:

And when they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, thou seest their eyes overflow with tears, because of the truth they recognize. They say, "Our Lord we believe; so do Thou write us down among the witnesses." (5:83)

In another place, while describing the believers, the Qur'an says:

God has sent down the fairest discourse as a book, consimilar in its oft repeated parts, whereat shiver the skins of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts soften to the remembrance of God ... (39:23)

In these, as well as in many other verses (such as 19:58, 61:1, etc.), the Qur'an tells us that it is not merely a book of knowledge and analysis; but at the same time that it makes use of logical arguments that appeal to the intellect, it also speaks to the finer sensibilities of the human soul.

The Qur'an's Addressees:

Another point that has to be inferred from the Qur'anic text during its analytical study, is to determine the identity of those who are addressed by it. There are certain expressions like "guidance for the God fearing," "guidance and good tiding for the believers," "to admonish and caution him who is alive," which often recur in the Qur'an. Here the question may arise: Of what need is guidance for those who are already guided, the pious and the righteous? Moreover, we see that the Qur'an describes itself in these words:

It is but a reminder unto all beings, and you shall surely know its tiding, after a while. (38:87-88)

Then, is this book meant for all the people of the world, or is it for the believers alone? In another verse addressing the Prophet, God the Most Exalted, says:

We have not sent thee, save as a mercy unto all beings. (21:107)

A more detailed explanation of this matter would be undertaken during the course of later discussion regarding the historical aspect of the Qur'an. Here it is just sufficient to mention that the Qur'an is addressed to all the people of the world.

It does not single out any particular nation or group. Everyone who accepts the invitation of the Qur'an is assured of spiritual salvation. However, the verses which mention the Qur'an as the book of guidance for the believers and the God-fearing (mu'minun and muttaqun), clearly specify the kind of people who will be attracted towards it and others who will turn away from it.

The Qur'an never names any particular nation or tribe as being its devotees. It does not take sides with a specially chosen people. Unlike other religions, the Qur'an never associates itself with the interests of any specific class. It does not say, for example, that it has come to safeguard the interests of the workers or the peasants. The Qur'an repeatedly emphasizes the point that its purpose is to establish justice. Speaking about the prophets, it says:

And We sent down with them the Book and the Balance so that men might uphold justice ... (57:25)

The Qur'an advocates justice for all mankind, not merely for this or that class, tribe or nation. It does not, for example, like Nazism and other such cults, stir up the passions of prejudice to attract people. Similarly, it does not, like certain schools of thought like Marxism, base its appeal upon the human weakness of interest-seeking and enslave-ment to material motivations to incite people; because the Qur'an believes in the essential primariness of the rational consciousness of man and his intrinsic conscience.

It believes that it is on the basis of its moral potentialities and its truth-conscious human nature that mankind is placed firmly on the path of progress and evolution. This is the reason why its message is not limited to the working or farming class or exclusively to the oppressed and deprived. The Qur'an addresses both the oppressors as well as the oppressed, and calls them to follow the right path. Prophet Moses (A) delivers the message of God to both Bani Israel and Pharaoh, and asks them to believe in the Lord and to move in His path.

Prophet Muhammad (S) extends his invitation both to the chieftains of Quraysh and to ordinary persons like Abu Dharr and 'Ammar. The Qur'an cites numerous examples of an individual's revolt against his own self and his voluntary return from the path of deviation to the straight one. But, at the same time, the Qur'an is aware of the point that the restoration and repentance of those immersed in a life of luxury and opulence is comparatively more difficult than that of those familiar with the hardships of life: the oppressed and the deprived, who are, as a matter of fact, naturally more inclined towards justice; whereas the rich and wealthy, at the very first step, have to forgo their personal and class interests and abandon their wishes and aspirations.

The Qur'an declares that its followers are those who have a clear and pure conscience. They are drawn to it solely by the love of justice and truth, which is ingrained in the nature of all human beings ---not under the urge for material interests and worldly desires and allurements.

 

Conception of Reason in the Qur'an

Heretofore we have discussed briefly the diction of the Qur'an, and said that, for the purpose of communicating its message, the Qur'an makes use of two types of languages, namely, the language of rational argument and the language of feeling. Each of these languages has a specific appeal. The first type addresses and appeals to the intellect or reason, while the second one is meant to appeal to the heart. Now we shall examine the point of view of the Qur'an regarding reason ('aql).

It is to be seen whether or not the Qur'an acknowledges the "authority" (hajjah) of reason --as the scholars of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and usul put it. This means whether or not we should respect the judge-ments of reason and act according to them if they happen to be correct and rightly deduced by it. Moreover, if one acts according to the dictates of reason and occasionally falls into error, will God exonerate him for it, or whether He will punish him on account of that error? And, if one fails to act according to the ruling of reason, does he deserve punishment?

Evidence in Favour of the Authority of Reason

The issue of the authority of reason in Islam is certain. Since the earliest times until the present, none amongst the Islamic scholars --except for a very small number-- has ever negated the authority of reason; they have counted it as one of the four sources of Islamic fiqh.

1. The Qur'an's Emphasis on Rationalism

Since our discussion is about the Qur'an, I think it necessary to produce arguments concerning the authority of reason from the Qur'an itself. The Qur'an, in various ways, confirms the authority of reason. About sixty to seventy verses can be cited --and that, too, for just one of the various ways, as mentioned-- in which the Qur'an indicates that such and such a matter has been mentioned for reason to reflect on. In one instance, the Qur'an refers to this issue in a striking statement:

Surely the worst of beasts in God's sight are those that are deaf and dumb and do not reason. (8:22)

Of course, it is obvious that the Qur'an does not mean the physically deaf and dumb, but those who do not want to listen to truth, or those who, when they hear, do not wish to admit it with their tongues. In the view of the Qur'an, the ears which are unable to listen to truth and which are only used for listening to absurd and nonsensical things, are deaf. The tongue which is merely used to utter nonsense, is dumb. The people who do not reason, are those who do not make use of their intellect and their faculty of thought. Such are not fit to be called human beings.

The Qur'an includes them among the beasts. In another verse, while bringing up a subject related to Divine Unity (al-tawhid), the Qur'an refers to the issue of unity of Divine Acts, and says:

It is not for any soul to believe, save by the leave of God... (10:100)

After stating this profound issue --a problem which is not easily comprehensible to every human mind-- the Qur'an continues the verse like this:

And He lays abomination upon those who do not reason. (10:100)

In these two verses, which I quote here for the sake of example, the Qur'an, in the terms of logic, invites us to ratiocination. There are many other verses in the Qur'an which, on the basis of consequential signification, can be said to accept the authority of reason. In other words, the Qur'an makes statements which cannot be accepted without accepting the authority of reason. For instance, an opponent is asked to forward rational argument in favour of his position:

Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful. (2:111)

This can only be inferred to mean the Qur'an's ratification of the authority of reason. In another place it uses syllogistic argument to prove the existence of the Necessary Being (wajib al-wujud):

Were there gods in them [earth and heaven] other than God, they would surely disintegrate ... (21:22)

In these verses the Qur'an has framed a conditional proposition, which exempts or excludes the antecedent premise for arriving at a conclusion which is consequent upon it. Thus the Qur'an aims at emphasizing the role of reason and refutes the view of some of the religions that faith is alien to, or, is incompatible with reason, and that to embrace faith one has to suspend his rational faculty and concentrate upon heart alone, so that it may absorb the Divine light and become illuminated by it. This view is totally negated and refuted by the Qur'an.

2. References to the Law of Causality

The other argument that supports the view that the Qur'an approves of the ultimate authority of reason, is that it defines various problems in terms of cause-and-effect relationship. The cause-and-effect relation-ship, or the law of causation, is the foundation of rational thinking. This law is honoured by the Qur'an and is also employed by it.

The Qur'an speaks on behalf of God, the Almighty, the Creator of the system of cause and effect. Despite the fact that His Word transcends the limitations of causality, the Qur'an is not oblivious of pointing out to the system of causality operating in the universe; it views all phenomena and events as being subservient to this system. The following verse supports this view:

God changes not what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves ... (13:11)

The Qur'an intends to say that, although all destinies depend on the Will of God, He never imposes upon human beings such fate as is outside and alien to their determination, will and action. The destinies of societies also change according to their intrinsic system of functioning. God does not extravagantly alter the destiny of a nation without any specific reason, unless they themselves bring about a major change in their system of social and moral values and their manner of performing their individual duties.

The Qur'an urges Muslims to study the conditions and circumstances of societies of the past and to take lesson from their history. It is evident that if the destinies of races and nations were random, or dependent upon accidents, or were prescribed from above, the advice to study and draw a lesson would not have any sense. By laying emphasis on it, the Qur'an intends to remind us that a uniform system of laws governs the destinies of all the nations of the world. It also reminds us that if the conditions of a society in which we live, are similar to the conditions prevalent in a society of the past, the same fate awaits us too. Elsewhere, the Qur'an says:

How many a city We have destroyed in its evildoing, and now it is fallen down upon its turrets. How many a ruined well, a tall palace. What, have they not journeyed in the land so that they have hearts to understand with, or ear to hear with ... ? (22:45-46)

From this statement, we can infer that the affirmation of the law of causality and the approval of the cause-and-effect relationship, imply the acceptance of authority of reason.

3. Rational Basis of Divine Commands

Another argument which proves that the Qur'an believes in the ultimate authority of reason, is that the Qur'an always explains the rationale behind its commands, laws and precepts. The scholars of usul al-din (the principles of the Faith) maintain that the harms and benefits caused by human deeds are among the reasons behind laws and commands.

For example, while at one place the Qur'an ordains the performance of prayers, in another place it explains the philosophy of prayer:

Indeed prayer forbids indecency and dishonour ... (29:45)

It mentions the spiritual effects of prayer, and states how the prayer can edify man. It explains that it is on account of this exaltation that man can dissociate himself from indecencies. Elsewhere, after laying down rules for observing the fast, the Qur'an explains the rationale for its command:

Prescribed for you is the Fast, even as it was prescribed for those that were before you haply you will be God-fearing. (2:183)

Similarly, with respect to other commandments like those regarding zakat (alms) and jihad, the Qur'an clarifies their necessity for individual, as well as for society. In this way, the Qur'an, not withstanding the transcendental nature of Divine commandments, clarifies fully their worldly and terrestrial relevance, and asks men to cogitate upon their rationale until their meaning becomes explicit, so that it may not be imagined that these laws are based on a series of occult notions beyond the power of human comprehension.

4. Combating Deviations of Reason

Another evidence in favour of the Qur'an's affirmation of the authority of reason --which is more conclusive than that mentioned above-- is the battle it launched against all those agents which obstruct the proper functioning of reason. For clarification of this point, we are forced to mention certain things in the way of an introduction. The human mind can, in many cases, fall into error. This fact is acknowledged by all of us. However, this danger is not limited to the intellect alone, but can equally befall the senses, and feelings as well.

Just for the sense of vision, scores of visual errors and optical illusions have been pointed out. In the case of reason, too, there are times when people frame an argument and rationale and draw an inference on its basis, but later on they realize that the basis of their conclusion was erroneous. Here the question arises, whether the faculty of reason should be suspended on account of its occasional failures, or whether we should employ other means for discovering the errors of the intellect and seek to avoid such errors. In answering this question, the Sophists said that reason should not be relied upon, and that, basically, argumentation and reasoning is an absurd practice. Other philosophers have given a fitting reply to the Sophists, and said that though the senses can also err like reason, but no one has ever recommended their suspension.

Since it was not possible to discard reason, the philosophers resolved to find ways of making reason secure from error. During their efforts in this regard, they discovered that all arguments consist of two parts, namely, matter and form. Like a building which has various ingredients in its construction, like, lime, cement, steel, etc. (matter), to acquire a specific structure (form). In order to attain the permanence and perfection of its construction, it is essential to procure proper material as well as to draw a perfect and faultless plan. For the correctness and accuracy of an argument, too, it is essential that its content and form be both free of error and defect. For judging the validity of the form of any argument, the Aristotelian or formal logic came into existence. The function of formal logic is to determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the form of an argument, and help the mind to avoid errors in the process of reasoning. But the major problem that remains is that solely formal logic is inadequate for this purpose, because it cannot alone guarantee the validity of an argument.

It can give assurance about one aspect alone. To obtain the perfection of the material aspect, the use of material logic is also essential, that is, we need certain criteria for controlling the quality of the rational material. Thinkers like Bacon and Descartes strove hard to evolve some kind of material logic similar to the formal logic of Aristotle, which was devised for formal reasoning. They did obtain certain criteria in this regard, though they are not as universal as those of Aristotelian logic, but are, to a limited extent, helpful in preventing the mind from committing errors in reasoning. Some may be surprised to know that the Qur'an has presented such principles for the prevention of any lapses in the process of reasoning, which surpass in merit and precedence the efforts of philosophers like Descartes and others.

The Qur'anic Viewpoint Regarding the Sources of Error

 

Among various sources of error mentioned by the Qur'an, one is that of taking conjecture and hypothesis for certainty and conviction. If a person were to adhere to the principle of putting conviction only in certainties and of not confusing between conjectures and certainties, he would not fall into error. The Qur'an lays great emphasis on this problem, and has clearly stated in one place that one of the biggest errors of the human mind is pursuit of conjectures and hypotheses. In another verse, which is addressed to the Prophet (S), the Qur'an says:

If thou obeyest the most part of those on earth, they will lead thee astray from the path of God: they follow only surmise, merely conjecturing. (6:116)

In another verse, the Qur'an says:

And pursue not that thou has no knowledge of ... (17:36)

This is the word of caution to mankind extended by the Qur'an, for the first time in the history of human ideas, warning mankind against this kind of error. The second source of error in the reasoning process, which is particularly relevant in social issues, is imitation. Most people are such that they accept whatever beliefs that are current in their society. They adopt certain beliefs merely for the reason that they were followed by their preceding generation.

The Qur'an bids people to carefully scrutinize all ideas and judge them by the criteria of reason --neither to follow blindly the conventional beliefs and traditions of their ancestors, nor to reject them totally without any rational justification. It reminds us that there are many false doctrines that were introduced in the past, but were accepted by the people, and there are also certain truths that were presented in the distant past, but people resisted them on account of their ignorance.

In accepting any ideas or principles, men are advised to make use of their intellects and rational faculties, and not to indulge in blind imitation. Very often, the Qur'an puts imitation of ancestors in direct opposition to reason and intellect:

And when it is said to them: 'Follow what God has sent down', they say, 'No; but we will follow such things as we found our fathers doing.' What? Even if their fathers had no understanding of anything, and if they were not guided ? (2:170)

The Qur'an constantly reiterates the view that the idea of antiquity of an idea is neither the evidence of its falsity, nor is it a testimony of its truthfulness. Antiquity affects material objects; but the eternal truths of existence never become old and outmoded. Truths like:

God changes not what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves ... (13:11)

are true for ever and ever. The Qur'an asks us to face issues with the weapon of reason and intellect. One should neither forsake a belief for fear of becoming the target of others' ridicule and banter, nor should he accept a belief just because it is upheld by some important and well- known persons. We should ourselves study and investigate the roots of all matters and draw our own conclusions. A Third effective source of error pointed out by the Qur'an is

Selfish motives tarnish virtue and merit, A cascade of curtains gallops from the heart towards vision.

Unless one maintains objectivity and neutrality in every matter, he is unlikely to think correctly. Reason can function properly only in an atmosphere that is free of selfish desires and motives. A well-known anecdote of al-Allamah al-Hilli, can illustrate this point. A problem of fiqh was put before al-Allamah al-Hilli: If an animal falls inside a well, and the carcass cannot be removed; what should be done with the well?

Incidentally, during the same days, an animal happened to fall into the well in his own house, and it became inevitable for him to deduce an injunction to solve his own problem, too There were two possible ways to solve the issue: Firstly, the well should be totally closed, not to be used again; secondly, a fixed quantity of water should be emptied from the well and the rest of well's water would be clean and usable.

The 'Allamah realized that he could not give a completely impartial verdict about the problem without interference from his own personal interest. Accordingly, he ordered his own well be closed. Then, with an easy mind, free of the pressure of selfish motives. he turned to deducing the details of verdict in the second case. The Qur'an contains a large number of warnings regarding the evil of submission to personal desires. The following is just one instance of it:

They follow nothing except conjecture, and what the self desires ... (53:25)

 

Qur'anic Outlook Regarding the "Heart"

Perhaps I need not explain here that in the language of literature and mysticism the term heart does not mean the organ situated in the left side of the human body, which pumps blood into the blood vessels. What is implied is the sublime and distinguishing faculty of the human soul, as can be readily understood from the following examples from the Qur'an and verses of Sa'di:

Surely in that there is a reminder to him who has a heart ... (50:37)

My heart was alarmed [on sensing the coming danger], While I, a thoughtless dervish, Do not know what this wandering prey has come across.

These two examples make it obvious that the connoted meaning of the heart is quite different from the bodily organ. Elsewhere, the Qur'an refers to the ailments of the heart:

In their hearts is a sickness, and God has increased that sickness ... (2:10)

To cure this sickness is beyond the powers of any man of medicine, even the heart specialist; only the doctors of the spirit can diagnose such diseases and suggest proper remedies.

Definition of the Heart

What is the definition of this heart then? An answer to this question is to be sought in the reality of human existence. Every human being, although he is a single individual, possesses myriads of existential dimensions. The human "self" encompasses myriads of thoughts, desires, fears, hopes and inclinations.

Like the ocean which links all rivers with one another, all these components of the human personality are related to the same center, which unites them with one another. The "self" itself is the deep and unfathomable ocean, whose depths no one can claim to have charted out and to have discovered all its mysteries. Philosophers mystics, and psychologists --each of them has tried in his own specific way to explore its depths, and has succeeded only to a certain degree in discovering its secrets. Perhaps the mystics, a bit more than others, have been successful in this regard. What the Qur'an refers to as the heart, is the reality of that ocean, which includes all that we name as the manifestations of the soul, to which all its rivers and tributaries are connected. Even reason is one of the various rivers associated with this sea. In places where the Qur'an speaks of revelation, it does not make any mention of reason; rather it is merely concerned with the heart of the Prophet (S).

This does not mean an absence of rational and demonstrative reception of the Holy Qur'an on the part of the Prophet, but it was his heart which, in a state that we cannot imagine, obtained the direct experience and awareness of those transcendental realities. The verses of Suurat al-Najm and Suurat al-Takwir describe the state of this union to some extent:

Nor speaks he out of caprice. This is naught but a revelation revealed taught him by one terrible in power, very strong; he stood poised, being on the higher horizon, then drew near and approached nearer, two bow's length away, or nearer, then revealed to His servant that He revealed. His heart lies not of what he saw. (53:3-11)

The Qur'an mentions all these things to show that these matters are basically beyond the range of rational understanding.

Truly this is the word of a noble messenger having power, of honoured place with the Lord of the Throne, obeyed, moreover trusty. Your companion is not possessed; he truly saw him on the clear horizon; he is not niggardly of the Unseen. (81:19-23)

Muhammad Iqbal offers a fine interpretation of this subject. He says that the prophet is one who, at first, imbibes the entire truth, and later on, in order to enrich the world and to alter the course of history, communicates everything that has reached him by the way of Revelation. Wherever the Qur'an speaks of the revelation and the heart, al- though its import transcends the limits of reason and thought, its speech is not irrational or anti-rational. It expounds a vision which surpasses human reason and sensibility, and enters a domain which is, basically, beyond reason and intellect.

Characteristics of the Heart

The Qur'an regards the heart, also, as an instrument of understanding. In fact, the greater part of the Qur'anic message is addressed to the human heart --a message which is audible to the ears of the heart alone, and is inscrutable to other receptive faculties. Accordingly, it attaches great importance to the care, protection, and development of this instrument. In the Qur'an, we recurrently come across such notions as purification of the self, purity and enlightenment of the heart, and purification of the heart:

 

Prosperous is he who purifies it [the self]. (91:9)

No indeed; but that they were earning has overwhelmed their hearts. (83:14)

And about the salvation and enlightening of the heart, the Qur'an says:

If you fear God, He will assign you [the capacity of] distinguishing ...(8:29) But those who struggle in Our [cause], surely We shall guide them in Our ways... (29:69)

Contrarily, the Qur'an recurrently reminds that indecencies infect and darken the human soul, and deprive the human heart of sublime inclinations and virtuous tendencies. At one place, speaking on behalf of the believers, it says:

Our Lord, make not our hearts to swerve after Thou hast guided us ... (3:8)

Describing the qualities of the evildoers, the Qur'an says:

No indeed; but that they were earning has overwhelmed their hearts. (83:14)

The darkness of sin and injustice has engulfed their hearts:

When they swerved, God caused their hearts to swerve ... (61:5)

About the sealing and hardening of the hearts, it says:

God has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a covering ... (2:7)

And also:

We lay veils upon their hearts lest they understand it ... (6:25)

So does God seal the hearts of the unbelievers. (7:101)

So that their hearts have become hard, and many of them are ungodly. (57:16)

All these verses point to the fact that the Qur'an recommends a sublime, spiritual atmosphere for mankind, and deems it necessary for every individual to strive to keep it clean and unpolluted. In addition, since an unsound social atmosphere renders fruitless the efforts of most individuals to keep pure and wholesome, the Qur'an recommends that the people should employ all their endeavour in the direction of purification of their social atmosphere. The Qur'an unequivocally propounds the view that the continued existence of all those sublime values, beliefs and ideas, and continued social receptivity to all its moral advice and counsels, depend upon individual and collective struggle to eradicate all types of meanness, sensuality, and lewdness. Human history itself is a witness to the fact that whenever despotic regimes have wanted to bring other societies under their autocratic rule, they have tried to corrupt their social spirit and pollute their social atmosphere.

They provided enormous facilities for the people to indulge in licentiousness, and gave them every kind of freedom in this regard. A heart-rending account of this unholy treatment meted out to Muslims of Spain --a region which is regarded to have played an effective role in initiating the Renaissance, and had the most advanced culture in Europe-- throws enough light on this phenomenon. In order to divest Spain out of Muslims' hands, the Christians resorted to defilement of the morals of Muslim youth, by providing ample facilities for their debaucheries. They even went to the extent of alluring and enticing the army generals and government officials in topmost ranks. They thus succeeded in diverting Muslims from the path of determination and purpose, and in divesting them of their power, their strength of faith, and purity of soul, converting them into profligate weaklings addicted to drinking and licentiousness.

It is obvious that it is not very difficult to subdue such individuals. Christians took revenge on nearly eight hundred years of Muslim rule in such a way that history is ashamed at recounting those deeds. The same Christians who, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ ("offer your left cheek if your right cheek is slapped"), were supposed to behave in a different way, surpassed the bloodthirsty tradition of Genghiz Khan by the massacre of Muslims in Spain. Nevertheless, the ruin that Muslims suffered was the result of their own spiritual degeneration and decay; it was their punishment for abandoning the Qur'anic commands.

In our times, also, wherever the evil of colonialism exists, the same practices are vigorously adopted --a danger against which the Qur'an so emphatically warns us. The colonialists try to corrupt the hearts; when the heart is thus debilitated, reason, too, is not only lost and fails to function properly, but is itself turned into a terrible bondage. The colonialists and the exploitive powers are not afraid of establishing schools and universities: they even advocate popular education; but, on the other hand, they take good care to make arrangements to corrupt and destroy the spirit of students, and of the teachers as well.

They are fully aware of the fact that an unhealthy mind and a sickly soul cannot make any decisive move, and readily yield to every type of exploitation and degradation. That is why the Qur'an gives ample importance to the idea of exaltation, edification, and purity of the soul of society. In one of its verses, it says:

And help one another to piety and God-fearing, do not help each other to sin and enmity... (5:2)

Men are, firstly, enjoined to pursue piety and are warned against sinning; secondly, they are asked to perform righteous deeds collectively, not individually. Here I shall mention two or three sayings of the Prophet (S) and the Imams (A) in order to elucidate this point. There is a tradition that once a person came in the presence of the Prophet (S) and told him that he wished to ask certain questions. The Prophet asked him whether he wanted to listen to the answers, or if he wished to ask questions first. He asked the Prophet (S) to give the answers.

The Prophet (S) told him that his question was concerned with the meaning of virtue and goodness. The man affirmed that he intended to ask exactly the same question. The Prophet gently knocked the man's chest with his three fingers, saying: "Put this question to your own heart;" then he added: "This heart is so made that it is harmonious with virtue; it is put at ease by virtue and piety, but disturbed by vice and villainy.

In the same way, as presence of an alien disharmonious object in the human body causes uneasiness and discomfort, and disturbs its order, the human soul is thrown off its balance and ease on account of faulty behaviour." What is commonly called the pain and torment of the conscience, is the same state of inconformity and alienation of the soul:

 

[For an honest insight] ask your own heart, though the masters may have their own (different) opinion.

 

The Prophet (S) points out the fact that if a person endeavours to seek reality and truth with an open and impartial mind, his heart can never deceive him in this regard; it will always guide him towards the straight path. Basically, as long as man is in search of truth and reality, and treads the path of truth, whatever he encounters in this course is nothing but truth. This is, of course, a very delicate point which is often misunderstood. When someone falls into misguidance and loses his path, it is because he was following a certain direction which was not determined by sincere search of truth.

Answering someone who had asked the Prophet, "What is virtue?," he said, "If you really want to know what is virtue, then understand that when your heart is serene and your conscience at rest, whatever has caused them to be such, is virtue. But when you are attracted towards something, and that does not bring peace and serenity to your heart, then you should know that it is vice and sin."

Elsewhere, when the Prophet (S) was asked about the meaning of faith (iman), he said, "When one performs an ugly deed, and is overwhelmed with the feeling of reproach and displeasure, and when one performs virtuous deeds and feels happy and joyous, it means that he is endowed with faith." It has been quoted from Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (A) that when a believer liberates himself from all worldly bondages, he feels the delight of nearness to God within his heart; in this state, the whole world appears to him very small and insignificant; he strives with all power to liberate himself from the bondages of the material world.

This is a reality attested by the lives of the men of God. In the biographies of the Prophet (S), it is written that once after his morning prayers the Prophet (S) went to visit the Ashab al-Suffah. They were a group of poor men who did not possess any worldly belongings, and used to live by the side of Prophet's Mosque in al-Madinah. When the Prophet (S) happened to see one of them, Harith ibn Zayd, who looked rather pale and emaciated, his eyes sunk deep inside his skull, he inquired, "How are you." He answered, "I have woken up a man of certain faith."

The Prophet asked him what proved his claim. He answered, "I am bereft of sleep at nights and engage in fasting during the days." The Prophet told him that this was insufficient. "Tell me more about it," he said. Harith said, "O Messenger of God, my condition is such that I can clearly see and hear the people of heaven and those of hell. If you permit me, I will inform you about the secret thoughts and inner states of every one of your companions." The Prophet bade him hold his tongue, and say no more; but asked him, "What is your desire?" He said, "To fight in the way of God."

According to the Qur'an, furbishing of the human heart exalts a human being to such a point that, in the words of Ali (A), even if the veils that conceal the Unseen be removed from in front of him, there is nothing that can enhance his faith. The teachings of the Qur'an are meant to educate man to become a being equipped with the power of knowledge and reason on the one hand, and possessed of a pure heart and sound feeling on the other. They aim to train a human being who is able to employ his reason and heart in the most proper and exalted fashion. The Imams (S) and their true pupils were examples of such human beings.

---

Some Old Manuscripts of the Holy Qur'a

 

Kazim Mudir Shanehchi

 

This article appeared in the journal Mishkat (No 4, Spring 1363 H. Sh.), published by Idareh-ye Umur-e Farhangi, an academic and research institution attached to Astan Quds Razavi, that is, Imam Rida's Shrine at Mashhad. The author is a well-known Iranian scholar.

Undoubtedly, no other book has been the subject of discussion to the extent of the Qur'an, the number of treatises, books and exegeses written on which far exceeds those written about any other book.

Although the Torah and the Gospel have been translated into more languages, the Qur'an has a lead over other scriptures in respect of the variety of studies, the number of exegeses and the various aspects of it that have since long been the topic of discussion and writing.

Even in respect of the number of copies circulated the Qur'an has a lead over all other books. Muslims believe that a spiritual reward (thawab) lies in not only writing and reciting the Qur'an but even in looking at its sacred script. Accordingly, as we know, there have been Muslims who in their lifetime produced more than a hundred hand written copies of the Qur'an for the sake of thawab. Many others have bought hundreds of copies of the scripture and donated them to mosques and shrines to be kept for reading .by visitors. And-if we take into account the age-old Iranian custom of reading the Qur'an in majalis-e khatm where copies of it - usually in thirty, sixty or hundred and-twenty parts, each separately bound - are kept to be read by those attending, the total number of printed and hand-written copies reaches an amazingly large number. If to these is added the number of copies written by young pupils in the traditional schools (maktab khanah) in the course of their Qur'anic instruction, the-number would be a truly stupendous one.

The tradition of writing the Qur'an commenced from the time of the Noble Prophet (S) himself, who had assigned certain persons to write down and record the Qur'anic revelation as and when it came and was recited by him. They are known as kuttab al-wahy, Scribes of the Revelation. These were different from the secretaries who wrote letters, pacts and treaties for the Prophet (S) or wrote agreements and contracts between parties in his presence. [1]

 

 

Compilers of the Qur'an:

Ibn al-Nadim writes that from among the Companions of the Prophet (S) 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A), Said ibn 'Ubayd ibn al-Numan, Abu al-Darda', Mu'adh ibn Jabal, 'Thabit ibn Zayd [2] and 'Ubayd ibn Mu'awiyah ibn Zayd compiled the Qur'an during the Prophet's lifetime. [3]

Al-Bukhari narrates from Anas ibn Malik that Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Mu'adh, Zayd ibn Thabit and Abu Zayd had collected the Qur'an during the Prophet's era. [4] In another narration he mentions the names of Abu al-Darda', Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Zayd ibn Thabit and Abu Zayd in this regard. [5]

Al-Zarakshi narrates from al-Sha'bi that those who collected the Qur'an during the Prophet's lifetime were these six: Ubayy, Zayd, Mu'adh, Abu al-Darda', Sa'id ibn 'Ubayd and Abu Zayd, and lastly, Mujamma' ibn Jariyah, who had collected all the Qur'an except for two surahs. [6]

Ibn al-Nadim describes the order of the surahs in the compilation of 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud and Ubayy ibn Ka'b, which shows that Ibn Mas'ud too had compiled the Qur'an; [7]or perhaps he did so after the Prophet's demise.

In al-Tamhid, Abu Musa al-'Ash'ari and Miqdad ibn al-'Aswad are mentioned among the compilers of the Qur'an. It adds that before the standardization of the codices by the order of 'Uthman, the people of Kufah recited according to the compilation of Ibn Masud, the people of Basrah according to the codex of Abu Musa, the people of Damascus according to the codex of Miqdad, while the rest of Syrians recited according to the codex of Ubayy ibn Ka'b. [8]

Ibn al-Nad'im, al-Ya'qubi and many Shi'i traditionists have mentioned the episode of the compilation of the Qur'an by 'Ali (A) after the Prophet's demise. The arrangement of the surahs in 'Ali's mushaf, as mentioned by al-Ya'qubi in his history, [9] is different from those of Ibn Mas'ud and Ubayy ibn Ka'b, which have been described by Ibn al Nadim. [10]

There are minor differences also in the names of the surahs from the well-known and presently popular names. [11] There is also a difference of sequence in the above-mentioned masahif. For instance, in Ibn Mas'ud's mushaf the Surat al-'Anfal is the twenty-fifth surah, while it is the ninth one in Ubayy ibn Ka'b's arrangement and the eighth one in the present compilation. And as we know, the present compilation is the one made by Zayd ibn Thabit at the order of Abu Bakr, the first caliph.

Zayd says, "Abu Bakr sent for me after the Battle of Yamamah, in which a large number of the Prophet's Companions and qurra' (reciters) of the Qur'an were killed. He told me, "'Umar, who is now here, says that qurra' of the Qur'an have been martyred at Yamamah. If a similar incident should recur, it is feared that a part of the Qur'an retained by them in their memories would be lost. Since you are an intelligent man and happen to be one of the scribes of the revelation and are trustworthy as well, I ask you to collect the Qur'an.' Accordingly, I collected the Qur'an from original recordings, and from the memories of men." [12]

According to al-Ya'qubi twenty-five men from among the Quraysh and fifty from among the Ansar helped Zayd in this task, [13] among whom 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham were permanent members of the committee.

 

According to al-Tamhid, the work was started by Zayd ibn Thabit along with some other;, but later Ubayy ibn Ka'b assumed responsibility for reading and Zayd for writing down.

In any case, the Qur'an was compiled in this manner and the compiled text was deposited first with Abu Bakr and after him with 'Umar and was a source of reference for the people. After the death of 'Umar, this compilation remained in the possession of Hafsah until the year 22/642, when differences of reading appeared during the reign. of 'Uthman. Thereupon, on the Caliph's order, the mushaf was taken from Hafsah for transcription, and from it Zayd ibn Thabit (who was the main scribe) prepared several copies with the help of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hisham (both members of the original committee that compiled the Qur'an) and Said ibn al-'As. While the original was returned to Hafsah, one of the copies was kept with the Caliph at Madinah and the rest were sent to major Islamic cities. [14] Thereafter, the handwritten compilations of the Qur'an were destroyed on the Caliph's order for the sake of eliminating differences among Muslims. [15]

The compilation written during Abu Bakr's days remained with Hafsah until the reign of Marwan ibn al-Hakam. Marwan wanted to burn it also, but Hafsah refused to hand it over to him. He waited until her death and thereat destroyed that compilation also. [16]

 

Thus the task of ensuring the uniformity of the Qur'an was carried out in the year 22/642, [17] though 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud refused to hand over his compilation to 'Uthman, who wanted to destroy it. [18] Similarly, the compilation made by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A) was retained by him and later preserved by his family.

 

The 'Uthmani Codices:

The copies of the Qur'an prepared by 'Uthman's order by the committee formed for this purpose, apart from the first copy which came to be known as the 'master copy' (al-mushaf al-imam), numbered, according to the different narrations, from four to nine. These were assigned to Kufah, Basrah, Makkah, Syria, Bahrayn, Yemen, Egypt, al-Jazirah and Madinah. [19]

Each of these copies of the Qur'an served as a referential authority for the people of the city, from which they made copies and to which they referred in event any difference in reading should arise among them. Also occasionally, in cases of difference between the masahif of the cities, the Qur'an at Madinah (al-mushaf al-'imam) served as the final criterion.

'Uthman also despatched a qari along with each copy sent to the cities, so as to demonstrate the correct reading to the people. Thus 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'ib in Makkah, Munirah ibn Shihab in Syria, Abu 'Abd Allah Salami in Kufah, 'Amir ibn 'Abd al-Qays (or 'Amir ibn 'Abd al-Rahman) in Basrah, and Zayd ibn Thabit in Madinah were responsible for qira'ah in the respective areas. [20]

These masahif, which became famous as "'Uthmani Codices," remained intact for a long time. As Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 626/1228), writes in his Mu'jam al-buldan [21] one of the 'Uthmani Codices existed in the grand mosque (jami') of Damascus. Ibn Fadl Allah al-'Umari (d. 749/1348), the author of Masalik al-'absar, also mentions the Damascan codex. Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1372), who had seen it, describes it. [22] Ibn Battutah (d. 778/1376) has recorded his observations as follows:

 

In the eastern side of the hall of worship, facing the mihrib is a big repository where the Qur'an sent to Syria by Amir al-Mu'minin 'Uthman ibn 'Affan is preserved. This repository is opened to the public after the congregational prayer and the people throng to embrace it. It is at this place that parties to disputes take oath from defendants and debtors? [23]

 

According to Kurd 'A1i, [24] this Qur'an existed in the mosque of Damascus until the year 1310/1892, but that year it was destroyed in a fire at the mosque.

However, Dr. Ramyar, without mentioning any source, writes: "It appears that fragments of the verses of the Qur'an attributed to the 'Uthmani script were taken by Amir Taymur Gorkani with him from Syria to Samarqand with the intention of having them placed at his tomb. This manuscript was later transferred to the library of the Imperial Institute of Archeology at Leningrad and in 1905 C.E. fifty copies of it were lithographed, of which twenty-five were gifted eminent figures from Islamic countries." [25]

 

Ibn Battutah also mentions having seen in the mosque of Kufah another Qur'an ascribed to 'Uthman which bore traces of his blood. Al Nabulusi (d.1105/1693) has been quoted to the effect that in the mihrab of the ancient mosque in the fort of Hums there existed a copy in the Kufic script bearing traces of blood. In the time of al-Nabulusi the people used to approach it during times of drought to pray for rain. [26]

 

Several manuscripts pertaining to the 'Uthmani codices have existed in various cities, and as mentioned by some they were as many as sixteen. [27] Even now some copies ascribed to 'Uthman (i.e. the Uthmani codices) exist in Egypt, Turkey and at Tashkand. Their details are as follows:

 

1. The Egyptian Codex of the Qur'an is kept at the repository at al-Mashhad al-Husayni at Cairo. Written in the old Kufic script,, it is a big and voluminous size.

2. The Turkish Codex is the one which was at Mosul at first and was subsequently plundered by the invading Tatars. Eventually it was returned to Istanbul, the Ottoman capital. At present it is kept at al. 'Amanah collection, with the serial number one. Its microfilm is present at Ma'had al-Makhtutat al.'Arabiyyah, Cairo, under serial number 19.

3. The Tashkand Codex is commonly believed to have been brought from Syria to Uzbekistan by Taymur as part of his booty, and in accordance with his will was kept at his tomb at Samarqand. Later it was transferred to Petrograd (the present Leningrad), the capital of the Russian Empire. After the October Revolution it was returned on the orders of Lenin to Tashkand where it still exists.

A brief account of this copy's transfer has been mentioned briefly in Dr. Ramyar's Ta'rikh 'al Qur'an, [28] and apparently its source is the popular belief. Dr. Subhi :a1-Salih states in this regard: "Some researchers opine that this copy, remained for a period of time at the Leningrad Imperial Museum before being transferred to Uzbekistan.

Then in the footnote he refers the reader, for details to the tenth volume of Chavin's, Bibliographie des ourages Arabes ou relatifs aux Arabes, Liege, p. 45-56. He adds that other researchers believe that this codex remained safe at the grand mosque of Damascus until 1310/1892 when it was destroyed by fire. [30]

We know that Taymur conquered Damascus in the year 803/1400 and in the same year his army conquered the city pillaging it and setting it on fire. Although Taymur had ordered that the grand mosque should not be touched, its wooden roof caught fire and its eastern minaret was totally destroyed, though the 'Arus minaret (about which the Prophet [S] had reportedly foretold) remained intact. [31]

Accordingly, it is probable that before the mosque of Damascus caught fire, Taymur had the Qur'an transferred to his own camp and had later on taken it to his capital Samarqand. If this has not happened, it is unlikely that the codex has survived the devastating, fire that consumed Damascus and its mosque.

As to the story of its existence until 1310 at Damascus, as quoted by Dr. Subhi al-Salih from Khutat al-Sham, it is not improbable that after the end of Taymur's domination and the resumption of Mamluk rule over Syria, the Uthmani Qur'an of Hums, which al-Nabulusi reported to exist at the old citadel mosque in, Hums, was transferred to Damascus. Hums had remained un-attacked by Taymur's forces in 803/1400 because it accepted his suzerainty and paid tribute. [32]

As per this probability, the Damascan codex, after many a change of place, has finally come to remain at Tashkand, and the Hums codex, after being transferred to Damascus after the 11th/17th century, was destroyed by fire at the mosque in the year 1310/1892.

However, this writer was told by the Director of the Islamic Centre of Uzbekistan at Tashkand that the aforesaid codex is kept under lock and key by the governor of Tashkand. But a photographic copy of it, of the same size as the original (65x50), is kept at the Islamic Centre for display for visitors.

 

 

The Codex of 'Ali (A):

The first person to start the collection of the Qur'an after the demise of the Prophet (S) was 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A). He did so in accordance with the instructions and testament of the Prophet (S). [33] He arranged the verses chronologically and mentioned their context and place of revelation.

Ibn al-Nadim writes: "After the demise of the Prophet (S) 'Ali (A) vowed not to leave his home until he had collected the Qur'an. He remained at home for three days and collected the Qur'an. He was the first one to have compiled the Qur'an from memory; this compilation remained in the custody of the family of Ja'far". [34]

It is inferred from the observations of Ibn al-Nadim that 'Ali (A) had already memorized the Qur'an before the demise of the Prophet (S) and after his (S) demise he retrieved it from his memory and compiled it. Perhaps he had already written parts of it, because even a highly skilled scribe cannot write the entire Qur'an in three days from memory or copy it from another copy. Since there is no evidence that 'Ali (A) copied the Qur'an from another copy, it follows that he had previously written the Qur'an as and when it was revealed in that order, and since the Prophet (S) was aware of 'Ali's (A) work and his writing of the Qur'an, he (S) instructed him (A) to collect and compile the same, so that it was safeguarded from destruction and tahrif like the revealed scriptures of the past.

Ibn al-Juzzi in at-Tashil and al-Zarakshi in al -Burhan [35] observe That during the time of the Holy Prophet (S) the Qur'an was scattered In the form of suhuf, loose pages and in the memories of the Companions. Some of them, like 'Uthman and 'Ali (A), even used to recite it in presence of the Holy Prophet (S). Al-Shaykh al-Mufid cites the statement in his tract, Ajwibat al-masa'il al-Sarawiyyah. [36]

From the foregoing account that 'Ali (A) collected and compiled the Qur'anic text in the order of its revelation, it is inferred that the 'short surahs, which are generally Meccan, were placed at the beginning "of the Qur'an, followed by the longer ones revealed at Madinah. Further, the context of revelation of the verses was also mentioned and the nasikh and mansukh verses were also specified.

Al-Ya'qubi in his Ta'rikh (Najaf, ii, 113) mentions the order of the surahs as arranged by 'Ali (A). Ibn al-Nadim, while discussing 'Ali's (A) codex in al-Fihrist, had left some empty space but apparently could' not record the order of the surahs from the codex written by 'Ali (A) which he had seen. This is in itself an evidence that the surahs were arranged differently by 'Ali (A).

 

Codices Attributed to 'Ali (A):

The codex compiled by 'Ali (A) existed until the time of Ibn al Nad'im, i.e. the last decades of the 4th/10th century." As mentioned in al Fihrist, he saw this codex in the possession of Abu Ya'la Hamzah al-Hasani and it remained as a legacy in the family of al-'Imam al Hasan (A). [38]

Probably, the aforementioned person is al-Sharif Abu Ya'la - Hamzah ibn Zayd ibn al-Husayn al-Hasani al-'Aftasi who was a disciple of al-Sayyid al-Murtada. [39] Considering that al-Fihrist was written in the year 377/987 and al-Sayyid al-Murtada was probably born in 355/966, Abu Ya'la's meeting with Ibn al-Nadim must have preceded his discipleship of al Sayyid al Murtada for it is unlikely that Abu Ya'la may have become the Sayyid's pupil before the latter had reached the age of 22 years.

 

 

The Egyptian Codex:

Al-Maqrizi (d. 845/1441) mentions in Khutat Misr [40] a Qur'an written by 'Ali (A) that existed in the library of the Fatimid caliphs in Cairo. This codex was initially safeguarded in a silver chest in the ancient grand mosque (al-Jami' al-'Atiq) of Egypt when Ma'mun Bata'ihi, a minister of the Fatimid caliph Amir Billah, ordered a golden chest to be made for it. [41]

Presently a Qur'an attributed to 'Ali (A) exists in the collection at the shrine of al-Husayn (A) at Cairo. It is not unlikely that it is the same one which existed at the ancient grand Mosque of Egypt and and was later transfered from there.

 

 

The Najaf Codex:

Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Dawudi al-Hasani, known as Ibn 'Inabah (d. 825/1422) - mentions in 'Umdat al-talib a Qur'an which existed in the collection at 'Ali's shrine at Najaf. He also mentions another Qur'an written, by 'Ali (A) which he had seen at the shrine of 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Ali. Any connection between these two Qur'ans and their link with the'one in Egypt requires further investigation.

Even today there exists a Qur'an in the collection at 'Ali's shrine at Najaf [42] which some scholars believe to be the one mentioned by the author of Umdat al-talib. It is possible that the codex at the tomb of 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ali might have comprised some parts of the one at Najaf.

Sayyid Ahmad al-Husayni al-'Ashkawari in Fihrist khizanat al rawdat al-Haydariyyah, quoting Mawsu'at al-'atabat al-muqaddasah (chapter on Najaf), writes that in the year 755/1354 the shrine of 'Ali (A) was affected by fire in which many rare possessions of the collection were lost including the Qur'an written by 'Ali (A) in three volumes.

On the margin of the manuscript of 'Umdat al-talib present at the library of Astanah-a Quds-e Radawi, there are useful notes written by a librarian of Nassabah named Husayn, which include a description about the Najaf codex. The relevant note says: "The codex seen by al Sayyid al-Naqib (i.e. Ibn 'Inabah al-Hasani Nassabah, author of 'Umdat al-talib) at Najaf, still exists in the collection at Najaf. However, a considerable part of it was burnt and only one volume remained, and that too without the marginal notes since all the margins along with a part of the text were destroyed in the fire. " [43]

 

 

The Codex at al-'Imam al-Rida's Shrine:

Apart from the Qur'an kept on the sarcophagus (dari') at the tomb of 'Ali (A) at Najaf, two more Qur'anic codices exist in the collection at al-'Imam al-Rida's shrine at Mashhad that are attributed to Imam 'Ali (A). The first bears the number 6 and is kept at the library. It is written in Kufic script on deerskin with the note: "Katabahu 'Ali ibn Abi Talib."

On the first page there is a dedication by Shah 'Abbas, the Safawid monarch, in the writing of al-Shaykh al-Bahai and with his signature with the date 1008 H. There, al-Shaykh al-Bahai mentions it as having been written by 'Ali (A). This Qur'an in 68 folios contains a part of the scripture from Surat Hud to the end of Surat al-Kahf. [44]

The second Qur'an bears the number 1. Parts of its margins are gone and verses are missing from in between. For instance, between Folios 33 and 34 nearly 79 verses are missing. This Qur'an has been been written on deerskin and has 341 folios comprising the whole Qur'an. It was endowed by Shah 'Abbas in the year 1009/1600 to the shrine. We quote below the endowment deed written in al-Shaykh al-Bahai's hand:

 

This Glorious Qur'an written by the Amir al Mu'minin, Sayyid al Wasiyyin, Asad Allah al-Ghalib, Imam ahl al-mashariq wa al-magharib, Mazhar al'aja'ib wa Muzhir al-ghara'ib, Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A) has been endowed to the sacred, luminous, immaculate, compeer to the Throne, and blessed shrine of Rida, on whose dweller be thousands and thousands of salutations and benedictions, by the shadow of God, the dust of the threshold of the Best of Mankind (i.e. the Prophet), the disseminator of the righteous faith of the Twelve Imams (A ), the sincere slave of Amir al-Mu'minin Haydar, Shah 'Abbas al-Husayni al-Musawi al-Safawi Bahidur Khan, may God immortalize his kingdom and authority and bestow his kindness, justice and goodness upon mankind. Amin Rabb al-'Alamin. Written by the dust of the Shrine of al-Rida - peace be upon him - the humblest of creatures, Baha' al-Din Muhammad in the year 1009.

 

 

The Codex at Topkapu Sarayi Collection:

Two more codices exist in Turkey which are attributed to 'Ali (A). Both of them are kept at al-'Amanah Library (which is presently a part of the Topkapu Sarayi library). The first codex bears the al-'Aminah library number (no. 2). Its microfilm, numbered 18, is kept at Ma'had al-Makhtutat al-'Arabiyyah, Cairo. The second codex bears the number 29 and its microfilm, numbered 14, is kept at Ma'had al Makhtutat al 'Arabiyyah, Cairo. [45] [46]

* * *

It is appropriate here to consider the following points.

 

1. The handwriting of the codices attributed to 'Ali (A) shows mastery, harmony and elegance, while in the first half of the first century Arabic writing (the Kufic script) had not yet developed that finesse and harmony and was consequently not very elegant. Therefore, how, is it possible to ascribe these codices to 'Ali (A) whose martyrdom occurred in the year 40/660?

 

2. Considering that 'Ali (A) had many engagements, is it possible that he might have written several copies of the Qur'an?

 

3. According to the traditions, 'Ali's (A) codex was compiled in a chronological order and mentioned the context of the revelation of various verses, while these codices follow the customary order.

However the above-mentioned doubts concerning the authenticity of the attribution of the above codices can be answered as follows:

There is no doubt that 'Ali (A) compiled the Qur'an in the chronological order, [47] but it is not unlikely that he might have subsequently written it in the customary order.

 

As to the numerous preoccupations of 'Ali (A), there is no doubt that after the demise of the Holy Prophet (S) he was one of the central figures of Madinah and an authority on issues confronting the Muslims, especially judicial issues. But since he did not directly intervene in these affairs and did not participate personally in the wars, it is not improbable that during that period in times of leisure he may have applied himself to copying the Qur'an, especially when we consider that at that time there were few copies of the Qur'an and any addition to those available was conducive to its preservation. In such a situation it was a duty for anyone having this ability to apply himself to this task.

As to the beauty and harmony of the, script of these codices, which create an impression of un-likeliness of their belonging to the era of the beginnings of the Kufic script, it can be explained by the fact that 'Ali (A) was one of the masters of calligraphy in his time. 'Ali (A) is reported to have taught calligraphy to his secretary 'Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Rafi. [48] It is reported that an accomplished scribe was writing the Qur'an, 'Ali (A) admired his writing as he examined it, though he disapproved of his use of diminutive writing for the Qur'an.

In Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist there is a reference to Khalid ibn Abi al-Hayyaj, a companion of 'Ali (A), as one of master calligraphists of the Qur'an. [50] Khalid was employed after 'Ali's martyrdom by the chamberlain of Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik for making copies of the scripture and for writing poems and traditions for him. It was he who wrote the inscription in gold of the qiblah of the Prophet's Mosque, which runs from Surat al-Shams to the end of the Qur'an. [51] Despite all this, the authenticity of the attribution of each these codices to 'Ali (A) is a matter that requires a separate study.

 

 

Script of Early Qur'anic Manuscripts:

Doubtlessly the script of the Qur'an in the times of the Prophet (S), the Sahabah and the Tabi'un, was the Kufic script: This script, which is a variation of the Hiran script (belonging to the city of al Hirah came to the Hijaz from Iraq about the time of the outset of the Prophet's (S) ministry and the companions of the Prophet (S) learnt to read and write it during his lifetime.

According to some the Kufic script has its origin in the Nabataean scriptr [52] Some others say that it evolved from the Syrian script [53] because both in the Kufic and Syrian scripts the alif is not written when it occurs in the middle of a word.

However, a style of writing other than the Kufic existed in Hijaz at the time of the Prophet (S). This was the Nabataean script from which the Nakshi style evolved later. The Nabataean script being easier, was commonly used except by the people of Arabia. [54]

Malik al-Shu'ara' Bahar observes in Sabkshinasi that from that which can be gathered from the bulk of traditions is that the Islamic script, from the very beginning, was the Nabataean script, which was called al-Naskhi and al-Darij. The Arab had taken it directly from the late Nabataean script. The Nabataean script had come to the Hijaz from Huran (an ancient Syrian town), but, as mentioned earlier, the Qur'an was usually written in the Kufic script and the practice lasted for several centuries. Some even claimed that writing the Qur'an in any script other than the Kufic was improper because the Qur'an was written in Kufic script in the times of the Prophet (S) and his companions. They considered any change of script to amount to bid'ah. [55]

 

Evidently there is no justification for the aforesaid argument, because the medium of recording in those days was exclusively limited to this script. Further if we extend this logic, the use of paper and print, which did not exist at that time, should also be prohibited. Incidentally, the scholars of the Ottoman Empire had proscribed for a long time the printing of the Qur'an [56] in the vast regions under Ottoman rule although the process of printing had become prevalent in its domains. [57]

 

 

The Naskhi Script:

With the development of sciences and arts in Islam, especially during the 'Abbasid period, the character of script also improved and reached its zenith. Rules were formulated for the art of calligraphy and masters emerged in this art. However, since the Naskhi script was simpler than the Kufic, the former received greater attention of both the calligraphers and the common people. A group of calligraphers devoted their attention to the refinement of the Naskhi script. To it belonged Ibn Muqlah - Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Husayn ibn Muqlah (272-328/885-939).

Some even believe him to be the inventor-of the Naskhi script, though this is not true. Like all other sciences, arts and crafts, script too evolved gradually towards excellence, and hence it is not possible to consider the writing of Ibn Muqlah the beginning of the Naskhi script (fortunately manuscripts attributed to him or resembling his writing still exist). [58]

As a result of my study of the invaluable collection of Qur'anic manuscripts at Astanah-ye Quds-e Radawi and the Qur'ans preserved at Dar al-Kutub at Cairo, the Zahiriyyah Library at Damascus, the Library of Jama'at al-Qarwiyyin at Fas, and the library of Topkapu Museum, Istanbul, I have found that the Naskhi script was used even before Ibn Muqlah. This view is further affirmed by writings that preceded those of Ibn Muqlah, whose samples can be found in the following books:

1. A1-Khatt al-'Arabi al-'Islami by Turki 'Atiyyah.

2. Atlas-e Khatt.

3. Intishar al-khatt al-'Arabi by Ustad 'Abd al-Fattah 'Ibadah.

4. AI-Khattat al-Baghdadi by Dr. Suhayl Anwar.

5. Al-Khatt al-'Arabi wa adabuhu by Muhammad Tahir ibn 'Abd al-Qadir al-Makki.

6. Musawwir al-khatt al-'Arabi by Naji Zayn al-Din. [59]

7. Ahwal wa athar-a khushnawisan by Mahdi Bayani (the section on Naskhi).

A perusal of these works would remove all doubts for the reader. Therefore, Ibn Muqlah only attempted to perfect the six styles (which includes the Naskhi) which were already pervalent two hundred years before him. [60] A study of the aforementioned works and of the Qur'anic manuscripts in libraries and museums mentioned above leads us to conclude that the Naskhi script was derived from the Kufic, not the Nabataean as claimed by some.

 

Manuscripts Ascribed to the Imams, Sahabah and Tab'iun:

Fortunately we have today some very ancient Qur'anic manuscripts which date back to the time of the Sahabah of the Prophet (S). Though the authenticity of the ascription of each one of them to its purported writer is not certain, to be sure there exist among them Qur'ans of the period of the Sahabah, a number of whom lived until the end of the 1st/7th century. [61]

 

Codices Attributed to al-'Imam al-Hasan (A):

Among the codices attributed to some famous sahabah of the Prophet (S) - other than 'Uthman and 'Ali (A), which have been already discussed - are three codices ascribed to al-'Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (A). The first one is kept in the Qur'anic collection of Astaneh e Quds-a Radawi. It bears the serial number 12 and contains from the twenty third juz' to the twenty-fifth juz' of the Qur'an in 122 folios of deerskin. [62] In Kufic script, it has inscribed on it the words: "al Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib" with the date 41 H. On the first folio is a dedication (waqfnameh) by Shah 'Abbas Safawi and bearing the signature of al-Shaykh al-Bahai who attributes it to al-'Imam al-Hasan (A).

 

The second codex is the one placed upon the sarcophagus at the tomb of 'Ali (A) at Najaf. [63] The third one, written on ten folios of deerskin, was seen by this writer in the library of Ustad Mahmud Farrukh Khurasani. Apparently, it is still in the possession of his family. It starts with the twelfth verse of Sura al Nisa' and ends at the seventh verse of Surat al-Tawbah. It bears the signatures of Hasan ibn 'Abbas, al-Safawi Bahadur Khan and Isma'il al-Musawi al-Hasani Bahadur Khan, indicating that they got the blessed chance to view this manuscript [64]

It is not very unlikely that this third manuscript is a part of either the Qur'an at Astan Quds Razavi or the one at Imam Ali's tomb, from which it might have been separated. Incidentally, it should be remembered that the Qur'an in the possession of Ustad Farrukh and his family does not contain more than 10 leaves and it cannot comprise nearly six parts (juz') of the Qur'an, i.e. from the fourth to the tenth. Without doubt it consists of scattered leaves of the Qur'an attributed to the Imam that were collected and bound without attention to sequence.

 

 

The Codex of al 'Imam al-Husayn (A):

 

It consists of 41 folios of deerskin in the Kufic script with the inscription the sixteenth juz' of the Qur'an starting from verse 72 of Surat al-Kah f and ending with the last verse of Surat Ta Ha. [65] Each of the pages of this pocket-size codex have seven lines. Its serial number is 14.

 

The Codex of 'Aqabah ibn 'Amir:

It was written in the Kufic script in 52/672 by 'Aqabah ibn 'Amir, a Companion of the Prophet (S) who lived in Damascus. He was appointed in 44/664 by Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan as the governor of Egypt where he died in 58/678. He used to recite the Qur'an in a good voice. [66] In Taqrib al-tahdhib, his tenure in Egypt is mentioned as three year and it goes on to add that he was a faqih and a scholar. Al-Suyuti, in Husn al muhadarah writes: He was an eloquent qari and a faqih among the sahabah. [67]

This Qur'an is kept at the al-'Amanah Library, Istanbul, with the serial number 40. Its microfilm, numbered 10, exists at Mahad al Makhtutat al-'Arabiyyah, Cairo. [68]

 

 

The Codex of Khadij ibn Mu'awiyah:

Another codex exists in the Maghribi script by Khadij ibn Mu'awiyah ibn Salamah al-'Ansari, who is definitely other than the father of Rafi' ibn Khadij, a Companion, because the grandfather of Rafi (the father of Khadij) is 'Adi and the father of this Khadij is Mu'awiyah. [69] Khadij completed this codex in 47/667 at the city of Qayrawan for Amir 'Aqabah ibn Nafi' al-Fahri. It is kept at the al-'Amariah Library, Istanbul, with the number 44. Its microfilm, numbered 9, is at Ma'had al Makhtutat al 'Arabiyyah, Cairo.

 

 

The Codex of al 'Imam Zayn al 'Abidin (A):

It is attributed to al-'Imam al Sajjad Zayn al Abidin 'Ali ibn al-Husayn (A) and is kept at the library of Astaneh-ye Quds-e Radawi, under the serial number 15. Its deerskin folios of 30x20 cms size contain from verse 180 of Surat al-Baqarah to the end of the Qur'an. Subsequently the original folios were bound and the margins were illuminated.

 

The Codex of al Imam al-Sadiq (A):

The codex attributed to Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (A) is kept at the al-'Amanah Library, Istanbul, and has been given the number 39. Its microfilm bearing number 11 is at the Ma'had al Makhtutat al-'Arabiyyah [70]

 

The Codex of al-'Imam Musa ibn Ja'far (A):

The codex attributed to Musa ibn Ja'far (A) contains verses beginning from verse 265 of Surat al-Baqarah and ending with verse 84 of Surat Al 'Imran. It is written on medium octavo folios with each page comprising 6 lines. It is kept at the library of al-'Imam al-Rida's shrine and bears the serial number 20. It has been endowed to the sacred shrine by Shah 'Abbas Safawi. In earlier times the text and the margins of this Qur'an written on parchment were pasted with a thick paper of the same colour.

 

 

The Codex of al-'Imam al-Rida (A):

The codex attributed to al-'Imam al-Rid a (A) bears the number 86 of the library of the Astaneh-ye Quds-e Radawi. It contains only a part of the Qur'an [71]written on octavo size deerskin folios with each page containing 16 lines. On the first page is written: on oval seal with the inscription.  In addition to the aforementioned codices, there are many other 'ancient codices in the Kufic script some of which even do not have such marks as the madd and shaddah, which came to be used in Qur'anic writing only later. Most of them have red dots in the place of the now usual diacritical marks (i'rab) because that was the mode of indicating 'vowels before the use of i'rab. Most of them do not contain the name of the scribe and the date of completion, because most of their pages have been lost or have been scattered into several parts.

Such manuscripts, which are present in large numbers in museums and libraries around the world, have been - according to the experts who date them - mostly written between the 2nd/8th and 4th/10th centuries when the Naskhi script had not yet replaced the Kufic script. Precious specimens of these manuscripts can be seen at the exquisite collection of the Astan Quds Razavi, the Iran Bastan Museum, the museum of the shrine at Qumm, the library and museum of Shiraz and Kitabkhanehye Waziri at Yazd, as well as several libraries abroad.

 

Specimens in Kufic Pertaining to the 2nd to 4th Centuries:

The codex numbered 11 at the Astaneh-ye Quds-e Radawi is' one such specimen. It consists of 133 folios of deerskin [72] and dates back to the earlier part of the 3rd/9th century. Another such codex, which is apparently complete, is the one endowed by Shah 'Abbas and bears the number 42 of the library of al 'Imam al-Rida's shrine. Its writing is attributed to the Infallible Imams (A).

There is also a codex numbered 31, in the shrine's library. It comprises 545 octavo folios containing apparently the entire Qur'an and was written in the 2nd/8th or 3rd/9th century. Yet another codex written on parchment exists in the museum at Qumm and dates back to the 2nd/8th century. Then there is the Qur'an bearing number 38 in al-'Imam al-Rida's shrine which belongs to the 3rd/9th century. There is also the codex at the National Library of Tunis which was written at Qayrawan in the 3rd/9th century. [73]

 

The Old Dated Codices:

As mentioned above, the Qur'anic codices of the early centuries, except those attributed to the Infallible Imams (A) and the two written by 'Aqabah ibn 'Amir and Khadij ibn Mu'awiyah, are without the names of their scribes and dates of their writing.

The most ancient dated Qur'anic codex, to the best of this writer's knowledge, is the one bearing number 162 at the museum at Qumm and bears the date 198 H. The script is Kufic and the size khishti.

Another codex is the one written by Ibn Muqlah (272-328/ 88E- 939) and present at the Herat Museum. [74] Yet another codex written by 'Ali ibn Hilal, known as Ibn al-Bawwab (d. 423/1032) is dated 391 H. and is kept at Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.

There is a codex in the treasury of the Astaneh-ye Quds-e Radawi which has been endowed by Abu al-Qasim Mansur ibn Abi al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Abi Mansur Kathir in the year 393 H. Abu al-Qasim's place of birth is Herat and his grandfather, Ahmad, is from Qa'in. His father Abu al-Husayn Kathir was minister under the Samanids and al'Asma'i has eulogized him. Abu al-Qasim Mansur himself was a minister during the time of Sultan Mahmud al-Ghaznawi. According to a report of al-Bayhaqi, he was minister of defence (diwan-e ard) during the reign of Sultan Mas'ud who used to consult him about military matters. Later he became defence secretary (sahib-a diwan) of Khurasan. [75]

An incomplete codex written in 410 H. by 'Ali ibn Ahmad al Warraq for Hadinah, the nurse of al-Mu'izz ibn Badis al-Maghribi, is now in the museum at Tunis. [76]

There is a codex in the collection at Imam 'Ali's shrine at Najaf written by 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Muhaddith in 419 H. at Ray [77] Another codex written in the Maghribi script in gold bears the date 400 H. and is kept at the library of John Wilander, at Manchester, England. [78]

There is also a codex at the Astaneh-ye Quds-e Radawi which Abu al-Barakat endowed to the shrine of al-Rida (A) in Ramadan 421 H. through Abu 'Ali Hawwulah. This Abu 'Ali Hawwulah, whose biographical accounts have been written by his contemporaries al-Tha'labi in Tatimmat al-Yat'imah and al-Bakharzi in Dumyat al-qasr was a learned Shi'ite minister of the Daylamites and served for a long time as the diwan-a rasa'il of Majd al-Dawlah al-Daylami. On taking possession of Ray in the year 420/1029, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznawi honoured Abu 'Ali and took him along with himself to Ghazni and made him a secretary. During the reign of Sultan Mas'ud he was once again made diwan-a rasa'il. He lived a long life. [79]

An incomplete codex exists at the British Museum that was written in the Naskhi script by Abu al-Kazim Said ibn Ibrahim in 427H. It was Gilded by Naji lbn 'Abd Allah. There are two incomplete parts of the of the Qur'an in the library of al-'Azhar, Cairo, and at the end of the second state of completion given is 465 H. [81]

At the collection of Imam Ali's shrine at Najaf there is another gilded codex which was written and gilded in 432 H. by Zayd ibn al Rida ibn Zayd al Alawi. [82]

Recently, parts of an exquisite codex written and gilded by 'Uthman ibn Husayn al-Warraq and dated 466 H. was dug out in the precincts of the shrine of al-'Imam al-Rida (A). Each of these parts has golden frontispiece. They are kept at the Qur'anic collection of the Astan Quds Razavi.

The foregoing are some of the dated codices pertaining to the early centuries. The undated codices or dated codices of the late 5th century onwards are so numerous that their description would virtually take a voluminous work. If life and leisure provide the opportunity, we shall give a summary of the same in a later article with the help of the Almighty, great are His bounties, insha 'Allah ta'ala.

Notes:

[1] Most of the Prophet's biographers have mentioned the names - more or less - of the scribes of the revelation. Dr. Ramyar in his Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, p. 66, has mentioned the names of forty of them. Dr. Subhi al-Salih, in Mabahith fi 'ulum al-Qur'an, p. 69, ascribes the maximum number of forty to Blachere.' Dr. Hujjati, in his Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, p. 203, mentions the names of these forty scribes. See Dr. Ramyar, op. cit., p. 324 for the names and number of the scribes mentioned in different sources.

[2] This is what is mentioned in al-Fihrist, but it must be Zayd ibn Thabit. Similarly, it is Sa'd ibn 'Ubayd in more correct accounts. See al-'Isabah.

[3] Ibn al-Nad'im, al-Fihrist, Cairo: al-Maktabat al-Tijariyyah, p. 47.

[4] Sahih al-Bukhari, "Kitab fadai'al-Qur'an", "bab al-qurra min ashab al-Nabi (S)."

[5] Sahih al-Bukhari, "Kitab fadai'al-Qur'an", "bab al-qurra min ashab al-Nabi (S)."

[6] Al-Zarakshi, al-Burhani, ed. 'Isa al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo, i, 241.

[7] Al-Fihrist, 45, 46.

[8] Al-Tamhid, 2, 247.

[9] Ta'rikh-e Ya'qubi, (Persian trans.), ii, 15.

[10] Al-Fihrist, 45.

[11] Such as Ta Sin Sulayman, Ashab al--Hajar, al-Taharah, and Alif Lam Mim Tanzil in Ubayy ibn Ka'b's mushaf and a1-Hawariyyun; al-Qiyamah and Inshaqqat in Ibn Mas'ud's mushaf.

[12] Sahih al-Bukhari, "Kitab fada'il al-Qur'in," "bab jam'al-Qur'an"; Ibn al Athir, Kamil al-Tawarikh, as well as other works on history and biography. See also Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, Persian. trans. 41.

[13] Ta'rikh-a Ya'qubi, Persian trans., ii, 15.

[14] Sahih al-Bukhari; al-Suyuti's al -'Itqan; al-Zarakashi's al-Burhan, i, 240; Ta'rikh al Ya'qubi, Najaf, ii, 147; Subhi al-Salih, Mabahithfri'ulum al-Qur'an, 78.

[15] Sahih, al-Bukhari and al-Zarakshi's al-Burhan, i, 236:

[16] Al-Masahif 24.

[17] Mabahith fi'ulum al-Qur'an, 8th edition, 82.

[18] Al-Masahif 15; Tarikh al-Ya'qubi, ii, 147.

[19] Nine according to al-Ya'qubi, ii, 147, five according to al-Suyuti in al-'Itqan, eight according to Ibn al-Jawzi; Subhi al-Salih in Mabahith fi 'ulum al Qur'an, 84, mentions Abu 'Amr al-Dani's narration according to which they were four copies; he also mentions the tradition stating that they were seven.

[20] Mujaz 'alum al-Qur'an, 166.

[21] Mu'jam al-buldan, Beirut, ii, 469.

[22] From al-Tamhid, 299 and Subhi al-Salih, op. cit, 90.

[23] Safarnameh ibn-e.Battutah, Pers. trans. i, 87.

[24] Khutat al-Sham, v, 219.

[25] Ramyar, Tarikh-e Qur'an, 106.

[26] Ramyar from Goldziher's Madhahib al-tafsir al-'Islami, from Nabulusi's Kitab al-haqiqah wa al-majaz, MS. at Leipzig.

[27] Casanova, as quoted in Rimyar, op. cit., 466.

[28] Ramyar, Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, 106.

[29] Mabahith fi 'ulum al-Qur'an, 88.

[30] Ibid., as quoted from Khutat al-Sham, v, 279.

[31] Rawdat al-safa, vi, 372.

[32] Ibid., vi, 364.

[33] Ta'rikh al-Ya'qubi, ii, 113; Tafsir al-Qummi, 745; Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, Pers. trans,

[34] Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist, Pers. trans., 47.

[35] Ibn Juzayy, al-Tashil fi'ulum al-tanzil, Beirut, 4; al-Zarakshi, al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Qur'an, i, 242, 238.

[36] As quoted by al-Tamhid from al-Majlisi's Bihar al-'anwar.

[37] He wrote al-Fihrist in 377 H.

[38] Al-Fihrist, Pers. trans. 47.

[39] See Riyad al-'Ulama, v, 533.

[40] Al-Maqrizi, al Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khtitat wa al-'athar, ii, 252.

[41] See the article of this author regarding Islamic libraries, Nameh-ye Astane Quds, Nos. 22, 23.

[42] See Fihrist Makhtutat al-Rawdat al-Haydariyyah, 14.

[43] The last part is based on the information provided by my earned friend Hujjat al-'Islam Hajj Sayyid Musa Zanjani (Shabbiri).

[44] Rahname-ye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an, 3.

[45] List of the microfilms of Ma'had al-Makhtutat.

[46] Probably a mushaf attributed to 'Ali (A) also exists at the Shiraz Museum, but since I do not have a precise knowledge of it I refrain from mentioning it. Another Qur'an attributed to 'Ali (A) exists at the Library of San'a', Yemen, about which I came to know through my learned friend Sayyid Ahmad Ashkawari.

[47] See al-Tamhid, i, 226.

[48] 'Ali (A) in the Nahj al-balaghah, "Hikam," is reported as having said to his scribe 'Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Rafi.

[49] I do not remember where I read about this episode.

[50] Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist, Pers. trans. 71.

[51] Al-Tamhid, i, 355.

[52] The Kufic and Naskhi scripts were derived from the Nabataean and Syriac alphabets nearly a century before the Hijrah (Da'irat al-ma'arif musahib, i, 908 ).

[53] Ramyar, Tarikh-e Qur'an, 117.

[54] Ibid.

[55] Al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-iman as quoted in Ramyar's Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, 141.

[56] Tarikh al-tiba'ah fi al-sharq.

[57] In the year 1121 H. Arabic letters started to be used in print (Tarikh al-tiba'ahf i al-sharq, 25).

[58] Such as the mushaf of Herat Museum in Afghanistan. See al Khatt al Arabi al-'Islami, 155 and al-Khattat al-Baghdadi, 16.

[59] In this work 249 books, treatises and articles have been referred to and it has been illustrated with 757 facsimiles of the works of eminent calligraphers. It was published in 1388 at Baghdad.

[60] Dairat al-ma'arif musahib.

[61] The last surviving companion of the Prophet (S) was Abu al-Tufayl ('Amir ibn Wathilah.), who died in 110. The names of the last surviving Companions of the Prophet (S) in different countries have been mentioned in this writer's Ilm al-hadith, 24.

[62] Rahnama-ye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an.

[63] Fihrist makhtutat al-Rawdat al Haydariyyah, 15.

[64] Husayn ibn 'AbbAs al-Hasani al Safawi Bahidur Khan had the honour of viewing this blessed and noble mushaf. "Isma'il al -Musawi al-Hasani al Safawi Bahadur Khan had the honour of viewing this blessed and noble mushaf on the 27th of Rajab 9... (the year has been lost as a result of the binding). Mr. Farrukh writes: "That which I know is that this Qur'an was in the library of the late Mirza Askari, the imam jumu'ah. My grandfather, Mirza Husayn Jawahiri, with the takhallus 'Asi, purchased it from the heirs of Mirza 'Askari, and it reached me through my father Sayyid Ahmad Jawahiri, whose takhallus was Dana, as a legacy. It is presently in my possession. Hujjat al-'Islam Hajj Mirza 'Askari, the imam jumu'ah, was the uncle of the famous mujtahid and poet Hajj Sayyid Habib and the son of Hajj Mirza Hidiyat Allah, son of Sayyid Mahdi, the Shahid-a Thalith. The Shahidi family of Khurasin are his progeny. Sayyid Mahdi, the Shahid-a Thalith, was himself a descendant of Shah Ni'mat Allah Wali. He had come to Khurasan from Isfahan and was martyred."

[65] Rahnamaye Ganjineh-ye Quran, 8-13.

[66] Al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al asmda, i, 336.

[67] Husn al-muhadarah, i, 220.

[68] Al-'Amanah Library is presently a part of the big Topkapu Sarayi Library and is independently and separately maintained.

[69] Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalini, Taqrib al-Tahdhib.

[70] It would be very appropriate if the library of the Astinah-ye Quds-e Radawi obtains films and facsimiles of, this and other manuscripts which exist in foreign libraries for displaying them to those interested in the relics of the Family of the Prophet (S) and the general public.

[71] Contains ,the Surahs al Nur, al-Qasas, al-'Ankabut, al-Rum, Luqman, al-Sajdah, al-'Ahzab, al-Mu'min, Fussilat, al-Jathiyah, al-Ahqaf, al-Waqi'ah and al- Hadid.

[72] Considering that deerskin is white, delicate and has a low fat content, it was used for parchments, and the ancient manuscripts were accordingly termed "deerskin", although apparently lambskin, which was available in larger quantities,: has also the same qualities. 'Jafr' or 'jafr-e abyad' were also lambskin parchments on 4 which sacred knowledge was recorded and were in the possession of the Ahl al Bayt. See under 'jafr' in Majma' al-bahrayn.

[73] See its facsimile in Dr. Hujjati's Ta'rikh al-Qur'an, No. 60.

[74] See al-Khatt al-'Arabi al-'Islami, Turki'Atiyyah,155; cf. al-Tamhid, 358.

[75] Rahnama-ye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an, from Lughatnameh-ye Dehkhuda.

[76] Dr. Hujjati, Ta'rikh-e Qur'an, illustration no. 79.

[77] Fihrist makhtutat al-Rawdat al-Haydariyyah, 14.

[78] See of Mustashriqun, ii, 466.

[79] Rahnamaye Ganjineh-ye Qur'an, from the marginal notes of Rahat al-sudur, al-Naqd, and Ta'rikh-e Bayhaqi.

[80] Dr. Hujjati, Ta'rikh al-Qur'an, illustration no. 80.

[81] This author's Yaddashtha-ye safar-e Misr.

[82] Fihrist makhtutat al-Rawdat al-Haydariyyah, 15.

 

Facts about the Qur'an

The Glorious Qur'an is the Word of Allah as revealed to His Prophet, Muhammad, peace be on him and his progeny.

On reading the Qur'an one is at once convinced that it is the Word of Allah, for no man can write such perfect guidance on so many subjects.

The Holy Qur'an says that no man will be able to forge even a part of it and that no corruption shall touch it from any side. It is a miracle that the Holy Qur'an has remained unchanged and unaltered during all these 1400 years and it shall remain so till the Day of Resurrection, for Allah, has taken it on Himself to protect it.

The Book of Allah is like an ocean. The less learned, like children, collect pebbles and shells from its shores. The scholars and thinkers, like pearl divers, bring out from it the highest philosophy, wisdom and rulse of a perfect way of living.

For easy dailiy recitation, the Qur'an is divided into thirty equal parts. One part takes only twenty-four reading minutes, and the whole Book requires twelve reading hours. There are 114 chapters, and 6,226 verses, containing 99,464 words made up of 330, 113 letters.

Millions of Muslims read the Qur'an daily. Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq has said that, the minimum dailiy reading of the Qur'an should be fifty verses or one-fourth of the part, about five minutes reading.

 

Adapted from (Shakir, M.A.: Islamic History)

 

 

Let Us Know the Quran Better

 

by Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari

 

The means for establishing the messengerhood of the Prophet of Islam are those we have already expounded. The conditions and clear signs which must exist in every bearer of a heavenly message must be shown to exist also in the Prophet of Islam.

Prophethood and messengerhood are closely and inseparably linked to the miracle that proves the relationship of the claimant to prophethood with the supra-natural realm; the miracle is the clearest and most objective evidence that disarms those who would illogically deny prophethood, for it demonstrates that the claim of the Prophet is founded on a reality.

All the Prophets had but a single aim in fulfilling their Divine missions; their teachings are all of a similar type, notwithstanding the peculiarities of the mission of each, and the truths they expounded concerning the supra-natural realm differ only with respect to the degree of detail.

It is true that there are differences with regard to acts of worship and social dealings; a common principle is implemented in differing ways that take into consideration the specific characteristics of each age and represent an evolutionary process.

It appears that one of the reasons for the variation in miracles is that in the times of earlier Prophets, people were inclined to believe only on the basis of material observations of visible objects that lacked any spiritual content. The fetters imposed on human thought by the seers and sages of those times caused people's attention to be limited to a particular realm, which, in turn, was the most significant factor in separating them from God and causing their minds to stagnate. The destruction of such a limited mode of thought was therefore of necessity a principal aim of the Prophets.

The Prophets were entrusted by God with the duty of attacking this source of error by confronting the seers and soothsayers with deeds of a type similar to that which they performed, but enjoying a special advantage that placed them beyond the reach of all competition. By the power of the miracle they negated and destroyed that particular cause of the human beings' separation from God-the concentration of their attention on the dazzling acts performed by the soothsayers of the age which enslaved their spirits. By demonstrating their own miracles and setting forth the realistic principles of Divine religion, they opened the doors of guidance, growth, and development toward perfection, and linked all dimensions of human life and activity to God. All of this survives from the real nature of the miracle.

The Prophet of Islam began conveying his heavenly message in the midst of a society where people's minds revolved exclusively around eloquent speech and the composition of beautiful and attractive poetry and literary excellence. Precisely this concentration on a field of activity that cannot be counted among the basic and vital concerns of the human being was an important factor in prolonging the stagnation of thought and lack of attention to the source of all existence.

Under these conditions, God equipped His Prophet with a weapon, the Quran, that apparently belonged to the same category as the literary works of the age but possessed unique and astonishing characteristics that were beyond the capacity of the human being to reproduce.

The Quran's sweetness of speech, the attraction exerted by the verses of God's book, filled the hearts of the Arabs with new feeling and perception. Their deep attention was drawn to this Divine trust that had come to them, this inimitable work. Fully versed as they were in the arts and subtleties of rhetoric, they realized that the extraordinary eloquence of the Quran was beyond the power of man to produce. It was impossible for someone to hear the Quran and understand its meaning without being profoundly affected by its power to attract. From the beginning of revelation, the Quran was, then, the most important factor in bringing the human being to God's religion.

Moreover, if the Prophet of Islam had performed some miracle other than the Quran, it would have had no meaning for that people, given their mental structure. The path would have been open for all kinds of doubt and hesitation. But the Arabs of that age who were addressed by the Quran could never have any doubts about its extraordinary eloquence, for they were well aware of all the mysteries of rhetoric and had living among them masters of language and literary composition.

At the same time, since the Quran is intended to be an eternal miracle, revealed to make science and learning blossom among humanbeings, it is also a scientific miracle. It has expounded, in the most eloquent fashion, truths of a metaphysical nature together with everything that touches, however slightly, on the happiness of wretchedness of the human being. Although those who are not acquainted with the Arabic language cannot fully appreciate its miraculousness, they can perceive the miraculous nature of the meanings and truths it contains.

The limitation in time of the miracles performed by the earlier Prophets was an indication of the impermanence of their religions and the laws that they brought. By contrast, the miracle attesting to the prophethood fo the Prophet of Islam cannot be temporally limited, because his message is universal and represents the culmination of all preceding religions; his prophethood requires an eternal miracle, a brilliant and eloquent proof of its immortality.

A permanent message must display to mankind a permanent and everlasting miracle, one which advances with time, so that just as it offered convincing proof to people of the past, it may do the same to people of the future. A short-lived miracle that is imperceptible to later generations cannot be a source of reference or judgment for the future.

For this reason, the Quran is presented as a permanent and everlasting miracle, the final manifestation of God's revelation. The Quran itself says: "The true and well-formulated message of your Lord has now been completed, and none is able to change it." (6:115)

From the very first day when he presented his religion as a universal school of thought, the influence of which was not to be contained by geographical or ethnic boundaries, the Prophet of Islam displayed this proof of his messengerhood to the whole of mankind, as a living proof that his mission and the revolutionary movement he inaugurated represented the final chapter in the history of prophetic missions and movements.

The Quran does not represent an ideological weapon for temporary use in moving from an inferior social system to a superior one at a given stage in history; it represents the permanent ideology of the human being living in the social and intellectual order of Islam.

The miracle accompanying the mission of the beloved Prophet of Islam brings to an end all the previous messages, limited as they were to a certain time. In its unique style, the Quran provides the human being with all necessary guidance by means of either recalling the circumstances leading to the revelation of various verses or of recounting of historical narratives or of describing the events that took place during the life of the Prophet, or by means of various similes and comparisons that touch on the different concerns of human life and guide the human being in the direction of higher degrees. By analyzing the stories and events contained in the Quran, which include also a distinctively Quranic mode of Judgment, it is possible to deduce certain general principles.

Although the gradual and orderly descent of the Quranic revelation was regarded as a defect by superficial and ignorant people, it should, in fact, be recognized as a principal factor in the triumph of the Prophet's message, given the conditions of the age and the events with which he was confronted.

Just as chronic diseases require long-term treatment, a continuous struggle against the factors that constantly prevent the human being from perceiving the truths of existence and stand in the way of his growth and development must be grounded on a firm ideational basis and a comprehensive social organization. Only then will it be able to implement its goals over a period of time and guide human beings to its ultimate purposc their liberation from self-alienation.

Solutions whose efficacy does not transcend events limited in time and space will be unable to solve the problems of the human being. Islam represents the only system which is able to answer those problems because of the attention it pays to all phenomena.

For Muslims, the miraculousness of the Quran is a matter of religious belief; for scholars and researchers, it is a matter of scientific belief. The Quran possesses a remarkable comprehensiveness and richness, with respect to its worldview and scientific content, and its ability to guide the individual and society. There are still many matters contained in the Quran that call for investigation and await discovery by further research.

 

The Extraordinary Richness of the Quran

The Quran represents the principal source of all researches concerning the Islamic school of thought. Moreover, in every age and every part of the world, it can serve as the basis for a developed and free society which enables all the hidden capacities and potentials of the human being to blossom in all their dimensions; it lays down a path to the ideal society and the government of God.

More than fourteen centuries have passed since the revelation of the Quran. Throughout this period, mankind has undergone numerous changes, and passing through repeated stages of development and growth, it has attained a more comprehensive awareness of the mysteries of creation. Nonetheless, the Quran has at all times retained its proud and dignified presence on the stage of human history.

When this miracle first came into existence, at a time when the foundations of human thought had not fully developed, it served to prove categorically the messengerhood of the Prophet of Islam. In the present age, as the human being discovers in the treasure house of the Quran, more and more remarkable indications, commensurate with his own growth in perception, knowledge and civilization, the Quran still stands as a permanent historical miracle and a living universal proof for the veracity of the Seal of the Prophets. The increase in the volume of human knowledge and the opening up of new horizons of thought have given us the chance to benefit more fully from the Quran than past generations.

If the Quran had been able to establish itself only during a certain segment of time and in a limited spatial environment, it would not have been able thus miraculously to advance together with time. The reason for the eternal vitality and authenticity of the Quran is that it has always been a source for spiritual guidance and command in the face of the changing events of time.

History bears witness that the emergence of the Seal of the Prophets and his mode of activity within society marked the beginning of a new stage in human thought and ratiocination and in the development and expansion of the will and independence of the human being. For in his growth to maturity, the human being now advanced in his investigations from the stage of mere observation to that of thought; an exact and profound examination of phenomena took the place of simplistic assumption. All this is indicated by the fact that the human beings' acceptance of true faith was no longer on the basis of miracles involving supranatural or extraordinary phenomena, as was the case with the mission of previous Prophets.

Human beings turning to faith on the basis of knowledge and thoughtùsomething to which the Quran repeatedly invites human belngsùrepresents in itself the miracle wrought by the heavenly message of Islam. Reliance on sensory miracles would not have been compatible with the nature of the final Divine message and its aim of liberating the human being and fostering the growth of his intellect. God, therefore, prepared the human being in the course of many thousands of years to receive the final guidance.

Our investigations of the Quran can be of value only when we empty our minds of all pre-existing notions and attitudes, because fanatical convictions concerning the contents of the Quran will yield nothing but mental stagnation and immobility. This is a pitfall that every alert and fair-minded researcher must seek to avoid.

It is an undeniable reality that the Quran is too elevated a book to be the product of ideas held by a group of scholars. It is even more impossible for it to have been produced by a single individual or to have been borrowed by him from other sources, particularly an individual who was unlettered, had not even studied, and had grown up in the degenerate environment of the Arabian peninsula at that time, an environment which was totally alien to science and philosophy.

When we consider the system and program of action proposed by the Quran for the uplift of the human being and compare it with the laws and systems of the past, we realize that it borrowed nothing from them and bore no resemblance to them. It represents an entirely new phenomenon, original and unprecedented in its fundamental nature, and among its lofty aims are the transformation of human societies and their restructuring on the basis of justice, equality, and freedom for the oppressed and deprived masses.

The Quran speaks in detail of the history of earlier Prophets and their communities, referring constantly to the events that occurred during their careers. When we encounter the narratives contained in the Quran, the events that it relates, we are brought into direct contact with reality, in an unparalleled fashion. Every reference they contain, direct and indirect, acquaints us with the very substance of truth. It is, then, totally impossible that the narratives of the Quran should have been borrowed from the Torah or the Gospels. The Quran always presents the stories of the Prophets in a positive framework by changing and modifying them so as to purge them of unworthy excesses and elements contrary to pure monotheism, reason, and sound religious thinking. A copying would have resulted in mere imitation, and would have been entirely negative.

Dr. Murice Bucaille, the French scholar, expresses himself as follows on this point: 'In the West, Jews, Christians and Atheists are unanimous in stating (without a scrap of evidence, however) that Muhammad wrote the Quran or had it written as an imitation of the Bible. It is claimed that stories of religious history in the Quran resume Biblical stories. This attitude is as thoughtless as saying that Jesus Himself duped His contemporaries by drawing inspiration from the Old Testament during His preachings: the whole of Matthew's Gospel is based on this continuation of the Old Testament.... What expert in exegesis would dream of depriving Jesus of his status as God's envoy for this reason?

"The existence of such an enormous difference between the Biblical description and the data in the Quran concerning the Creation is worth underlining once again on account of the totally gratuitous accusations leveled against Muhammad since the beginnings of Islam to the effect that he copied the Biblical descriptions. As far as the Creation is concerned, this accusation is totally unfounded.

How could a man living fourteen hundred years ago have made corrections to the existing description to such an extent that he eliminated scientifically inaccurate material and, on his own initiative, made statements that science has been able to verih only in the present day? This hypothesis is completely untenable.

The description of the Creation given in the Quran is quite different from the one in the Bible."

Taking these factors into consideration, no truth-loving individual can conceive of an origin other than Divine revelation for the Ouran which is not only a book, but also a proof of messengerhood and a manifestation of the miraculousness that supported the Prophet.

The Quran thus came to be the profound, brilliant and eternal miracle of God's Messenger enabling the teachings and laws of Islam to retain their validity through time. The Divine commands and instructions were made manifest in phrases and sentences that were marked by miraculousness, thus implementing God's will for the preservation of religion when faced with the assaults of rancorous enemies and for the frustration of their conspiracies.

Through the permanence and stability of the mould in which God's Commands are uniquely set, these enemies who would reach out against them in order to change and distort them are permanently prevented from attaining their goal; the eternal teachings and laws of God will last throughout time, immune from change or distortion.

Another aspect of the miraculousness of the Quran which has had a great effect is the revolutionary transformation it brought about in human civilization. A matter calling for serious attention in the study of Islam is the fact that it received no assistance from factors extemal to itself when it began to create the nucleus of a universal society out of a scattered and disunited people that lacked all science and free thought and did not even seek to unify its constituent tribes; and when it began, moreover, to found a uniquely, vast and spiritual civilization.

All the factors for changing the world, for putting forward an international law with the slogan of unity among races, peoples, and social classes, for creating a movement for the liberation of thought and the ennobling of knowledge, were derived from the very text of the Quran, from the culture that emerged from the Quran and from the Islamic order. Islam never relied on a government or a power situated outside the society it had itself brought into being.

Even the aggressors who attacked the Islamic lands and triumphed over the Muslims, thanks to their military superiority, lost their dominance in the end when they were confronted with the spiritual power of Islam, and they adopted the religion of the people theyihad conquered. This history of nations does not record any other example of a victorious aggressor adopting the religion of the people it had defeated.

Complete Reference:

The Seal of the Prophets and His Message

Lessons on Islamic Doctrine

Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari

Translated by Hamid Algar

 

 

Women in a Qur'anic Society

 

Lois Lamya ' al-F'aruqi

 

The topic of this paper was chosen out of the conviction that humanity is suffering today from a number of serious social problems related to women and to the interrelations of the two sexes in society. Although these problems may be more pronounced, disturbing, more debilitating for some of us than for others, there are probably few if any regions of the contemporary world whose citizens have not felt in some way the repercussions of these problems. Therefore, there is a pressing need for exploring possible solutions.

The problem of women is linked, for the present study, with the Qur'an, and what I have called the "Qur'anic society," out of strong conviction that the Qur'an offers the most viable suggestions for contemporary social reform which can be found in any model or any literature.

Many of you may be puzzled by the title of this paper-"Women in a Qur'anic Society." You may ask yourselves, "Why didn't she say "Women in Muslim Society" or even "Women in an Islamic Society?" Let me explain why the expressions "Muslim" and "Islamic" were rejected for this paper, and how the use of the rather unusual appellation, "Qur'anic society," is justified. There are at least three reasons for my choice of that title

The first of these derives from the concern that many beliefs and practices have been labelled "Muslim" or "Islamic" without warranting those names. There are approximately 40 nations of the world which claim to have a Muslim majority population and therefore to be exemplary of "Muslim" or "Islamic" societies. This of course results in a great deal of confusion as the question is asked: Which of these regions represents most faithfully the true "Islamic" society? Among Muslims that question is most frequently answered by the claim that their own national or regional society is the truest to the intentions of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Non-Muslims, on the other hand, and especially the Western anthropologists who travel around the world to investigate the customs and mores of its peoples, tend to treat each variation within the Muslim World as equally valid. This results from their adherence to what I call the "zoo theory" of knowledge. Adherents of that theory regard all Muslims-and of course similar treatment of other non-Western people is discernible-as different species within the human zoo.

The "zoo theory" protagonists go to the field, record and snap pictures of every strange or exotic practice they see and hear; and for them, this is Islam or Islamic practice. A trip to another part of the Muslim World with the ubiquitous devices for recording and photographing generates a different body of materials documenting superficial variations in customs. But this, too, is Islam or Islamic practice for the "zoo theory" investigator or ethnographer. There is far too little effort spent on understanding Islam as a whole. As a result, the basic premise of scepticism and relativism is confirmed in the mind of the researcher; and he/she returns home convinced that there is not one Islam, but scores of Islams existent in the worl

d. In like fashion, the researcher reports that there are many definitions or descriptions of the status and role of women in Muslim society. Each one of the resultant definitions or descriptions is dubbed as "Muslim" or "Islamic" even if we as Muslims may hold some of these practices to be distortions or perversions of our principles and beliefs by the misguided or uninformed among us.

It was partly to avoid confusion with these variant descriptions and misunderstandings that I have chosen the appellation "Qur'anic" for the present discussion. In this way, I hope to move beyond the limited relevance and particularism of a "zoo theory" of investigation to a presentation which avoids such fragmentation and is ideologically in conformance with the true prescriptions of Islam. In regard to matters so determining of our destiny and very existence, we can never be satisfied with mere reportage about certain human animals in the "zoo" who are statistically "Muslim" or whose customs have been labelled as "Islamic."

Those designations have sometimes been misapplied. "Qur'anic," on the other hand, is a term which is unequivocal. It points clearly to the topic of this paper. Secondly, "Qur'anic society" was judged to be the most suitable title for it orients us towards discovering those core principles in the Qur'an itself which form the underlying framework for our societies throughout the Muslim World.

It is the society based on Qur'anic principles which is the goal of all of us, even though we may unknowingly deviate from time to time from those principles. It is the conformance to a Qur'an-based society for which we must all work if the Muslim peoples are to enjoy a felicitous future. It is not an Indonesian, Pakistani, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian or Nigerian version of that society that we should regard as indisputable norm, but one firmly based on the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. Only therein can we find a proper definition of woman's role in society. Since it is these teachings which are the subject of my paper, "Women in a Qur'anic Society" seemed the most proper title. Thirdly, I wish by this choice of title to emphasize that we should regard the Holy Qur'an as our guide in all aspects of our lives.

It is not only the prime source of knowledge about religious beliefs, obligations, and practices, it is also the guide, whether specific or implied, for every aspect of Islamic civilization. In the centuries of past glory, it determined the political, economic, social and artistic creativity of the Muslim peoples. If we are to succeed as members of an Islamic society in the coming decades and centuries, it must again determine our thinking and our actions in an all-inclusive way. Din is not limited to the Five Pillars of the shahadah, salat, siyam, zakat, and the hajj. Din in fact defies simple equation with the English term "religion," for the former's significance penetrates into every nook and cranny of human existence and behaviour. Surely it should be our goal to relate every action to our Din.

We can only do this by allowing the Holy Qur'an to in-form and re-form every realm of our lives. As a step in this direction, let us consider what the Qur'an has to teach us about the society towards which we should be striving, and ponder its effect on the position of women. What are the basic characteristics of a Qur'anic society which particularly affect women? Five characteristics - which seem basic, crucial and incontrovertible - of Qur'anic society will be considered. Although they are presented in a series, each one rests upon the others and affects them. The interdependence of these five characteristics makes it difficult to speak of any one of them without mention of the others, and of course they do not and cannot exist in isolation from one another.

 

1. EQUAL STATUS AND WORTH OF THE SEXES

The first of these characteristics of a Qur'anic society which affect women is that both sexes are held to be equal in status and worth. In other words, the Qur'an teaches us that women and men are all creatures of Allah, existing on a level of equal worth and value, although their equal importance does not substantiate a claim for their equivalence or perfect identity. This equality of male and female is documentable in the Qur'an in passages pertaining to at least four aspects of human existence and interaction.

 

A. Religious Matters

The first of these Qur'anic confirmations of male-female equality are contained in statements pertaining to such religious matters as the origins of humanity, or to religious obligations and rewards.

 

1. Origins of Humanity.

The Qur'an is devoid of the stories found in the Old Testament which denigrate women. There is no hint that the first woman created by God is a creature of lesser worth than the first male, or that she is a kind of appendage formed from one of his ribs. Instead, male and female are created, we read, min nafsin wahidatin ("from a single soul or self") to complement each other (Qur'an 4:1; 7:189).

 

Whereas the Torah or Old Testament treats Eve as the temptress of the Garden of Eden, who aids Satan in enticing Adam to disobey God, the Qur'an deals with the pair with perfect equity. Both are equally guilty of sinning; both are equally punished by God with expulsion from the Garden; and both are equally forgiven when they repent.

 

 

2. Religious Obligations and Rewards.

The Qur'an is not less clear in commanding equality for men and women in its directives regarding religious obligations and rewards. We read:

 

Lo! Men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give aims and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah and women who remember-Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (33:35)

 

B. Ethical Obligations and Rewards

Secondly, the Qur'an reveals to mankind the desired equality of the two sexes by establishing the same ethical obligations and rewards for women and men.

 

And who so does good works, whether male or female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. (4:124) Whosoever does right, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily We shall quicken with good life, and We shall pay them a recompense according to the best of what they do. (16:97)

 

If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had not deemed the two sexes of equal status and value, such explicit statements of their equality in ethical obligations and rewards would not have been made in the Qur'an.

 

C. Education

Although the more specific commands for the equal rights of women and men to pursue education can be found in the hadith literature, the Qur'an does at least imply the pursuit of knowledge by all Muslims regardless of their sex. For example, it repeatedly commands all readers to read, to recite, to think, to contemplate, as well as to learn from the signs (ayat) of Allah in nature. In fact, the very first revelation to Prophet Muhammad (S) was concerned with knowledge.

In a Qur'anic society, there can never be a restriction of this knowledge to one sex. It is the duty of every Muslim and every Muslimah to pursue knowledge throughout life, even if it should lead the seeker to China, we are told. The Prophet (S) even commanded that the slave girls be educated, and he asked Shifa' bint 'Abdillah to instruct his wife Hafsah bint 'Umar. Lectures of the Prophet (S) were attended by audiences of both men and women; and by the time of the Prophet's death, there were many women scholars.

 

D. Legal Rights A fourth evidence in the Qur'an for the equality of men and women is its specification of legal rights which are guaranteed for every individual from cradle to grave. Unlike the situation in the West, where until the last century it was impossible for a married woman to hold property on her own, to contract with other persons, or to dispose of her property without the consent of her husband, the Qur'an proclaims the right of every woman to buy and sell, to contract and to earn, and to hold and manage her own money and property.

In addition to these rights, the Qur'an grants woman a share in the inheritance of the family (4:7-11), warns against depriving her of that inheritance (4:19), specifies that the dower (mahr) of her marriage should belong to her alone and never be taken by her husband (2:229; 4:19-21,25) unless offered by the woman as a free gift (4:44).

As with any privilege, these rights of women carry corresponding responsibilities. If she commits a civil offence, the Qur'an tells us, woman's penalty is no less or no more than that of a man in a similar case (5:41; 24:2). If she is wronged or harmed, she is entitled to compensation just like a man. It is clear that the Qur'an not only recommends, but is even insistent upon, the equality of women and men as an essential characteristic of a Qur'anic society. The claim of the non-Muslim critics that Islam denigrates women is denied emphatically by the Qur'an. Similarly denied are the arguments of certain Muslims that women are religiously, intellectually and ethically inferior to men, as Jewish and Christian literatures had earlier maintained.

 

2. A DUAL SEX RATHER THAN UNISEX SOCIETY

 

Now let us consider the second basic characteristic of the Qur'anic society which affects the position of women. This is found in the directives for a dual sex rather than a unisex society. While maintaining the validity of the equal worth of men and women, the Qur'an does not judge this equality to mean equivalence or identity of the sexes.

Probably all of you are familiar with the contemporary move toward unisex clothes and shoes, unisex jewellery and hair styles, unisex actions and entertainments. In fact, it is often difficult in America to decide whether one is looking at a boy or a girl. This results from the current notion in Western society that there is little if any difference between the two sexes in physical, intellectual and emotional endowment; and that, therefore, there should be no difference in their functions and roles in society.

The dress and the actions are but superficial evidence of this deeper conviction. Accompanied by a downgrading of the qualities and roles traditionally associated with the female sex, this current idea has generated a unisex society in which only the male role is respected and pursued. Although meant to bring a larger measure of equality for women, the idea that men and women are not only equal, but equivalent and identical, has actually pushed women into imitating men and even despising their womanhood. Thus it is generating a new type of male chauvinism.

Tremendous social pressures have resulted in stripping women of their role-responsibilities formerly performed by them, and they are forced to live a life devoid of personality and individuality. The society based on the Qur'an is, in contrast, a dual-sex society in which both sexes are assigned their special responsibilities. This assures the healthy functioning of the society for the benefit of all its members.

This division of labour imposes on men more economic responsibilities (2:233, 240-241; 4:34), while women are expected to play their role in childbearing and rearing (2:233; 7:189). The Qur'an, recognising the importance of this complementary sexual assignment of roles and responsibilities, alleviates the greater economic demands made on male members of the population by allotting them a larger share than women in inheritance.

At the same time it grants women the right to maintenance in exchange for her contribution to the physical and emotional well being of the family and to the care she provides in the rearing of children. The unisex ideology generates a competitive relationship between the sexes which we find in America and which is disastrous for all members of society: the young; the old; the children; the parents; the single and the married; the male and the female. The dual-sex society, by contrast, is a more natural answer to the question of sexual relationships, a plan encouraging co-operation rather than competition between the sexes.

It is a plan which has been found suitable in countless societies through history. Only in very recent times did the idea of sexual non-differentiation or identity achieve prominence, and then primarily in the Western society. Even the medical evidence for mental or emotional difference between the sexes is suppressed in Western research, for it threatens the prevailing trends of thought. How long this socially disastrous movement will continue before it is rejected as bankrupt is not known. But certainly we as Muslims should be aware of its deficiencies and dangerous consequences, and make our societies and young people aware of the disaster caused by it. Protagonists of the unisex society have condemned the dual-sex human organisation as dangerous for the well-being of women. If dual sex means that one sex is superior to the other, such a situation could have arisen. But in the true Qur'anic society, toward which we all aspire to move, this is not possible. As we have seen above, the Qur'an advocates eloquently the equal status of women and men at the same time as it recognises their generally relevant differences of nature and function.

Thus while acknowledging the religious, ethical, intellectual and legal equality of males and females, the Qur'an never regards the two sexes as identical or equivalent. It justifies this stand in its assignment of variant responsibilities and its provisions regarding inheritance and maintenance which match those responsibilities.

 

3. INTERDEPENDENCE OF THE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY

 

The third characteristic of the Qur'anic society which is strongly assertive of women's position is the insistence on the interdependence of the members of society. Contrary to the contemporary trend to emphasize the rights of the individual at the expense of society, we find the Qur'an repeatedly emphasising the interdependence of the male and female as well as of all members of society. The wife and husband, for example, are described as "garments" (libas) of each other (2:187), and as mates living and dwelling in tranquillity (33:21;see also 7:189).

Men and women are directed to complement each other, not to compete with each other. They are the protectors of each other (9:71). Each is called upon to fulfil certain assigned responsibilities for the good of both and the larger group. In order to insure this interdependence which is so necessary for the physical and psychological well-being of both men and women, Allah, in the Holy Qur'an, stipulated the reciprocal or mutual duties and obligations of the various members of the family-men and women, fathers and mothers, children and elders, and relatives of all degrees (17:23-26; 4:1, 7-12; 2:177; 8:41; 16:90; etc.). The care of and concern for other members of society is equally a duty of the Muslim.

 

It is not righteousness that you turn faces to the east and the west; but righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets; and gives his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free ... (2:177)

 

The Qur'an thereby instils in the Muslim a sense of a place within, and responsibility to society. This is not regarded or experienced as a repression of the individual. Instead the Muslim is constantly encouraged in this interdependence by experiencing the benefits it brings. The economic, social and psychological advantages of such close relationships and concerns within the social group provide more than ample compensation for the individual to sublimate his/her individualistic aspirations.

The anonymity and lack of social interdependence among its members in contemporary Western society have caused many serious problems. Loneliness, inadequate care of the aged, the generation gap, high suicide rates, and juvenile crime can all be traced back to the ever-worsening breakdown of social interdependence and the denial of the human necessity for mutual care.

 

4. THE EXTENDED FAMILY

Closely intertwined with interdependence is the fourth basic characteristic of the Qur'anic society which serves to improve male-female relations. This is the institution of the extended family. In addition to the members of the nucleus that constitutes the family- mother, father and their children-the Islamic family or 'a'ilah also includes grandparents, uncles, aunts and their offspring.

Normally Muslim families are "residentially extended;" that is, their members live communally with three or more generations of relatives in a single building or compound. Even where this residential version of the extended family is not possible or adhered to, family connections reaching far beyond the nuclear unit are evident in strong psychological, social, economic and even political ties. The extended family solidarity is prescribed and strengthened by the Holy Qur'an, where we find repeated references to the rights of kin (17:23-26; 4:7-9; 8:41; 24:22; etc.) and the importance of treating them with kindness (2 :83; 16: 90; etc.).

Inheritance portions, for not only the nuclear family members but those of the extended family as well, are specifically prescribed (2:180-182; 4:33,176). Dire punishment is threatened for those who ignore these measures for intra-family support (4:7-12).

The extended family of Islamic culture is thus not merely a product of social conditions, it is an institution anchored in the word of God Himself and buttressed by Qur'anic advice and rules. The extended family is an institution which can provide tremendous benefits for both women and men when it exists in conjunction with the other basic characteristics of a Qur'anic society. 1) It guards against the selfishness or eccentricity of any one party, since the individual faces not a single spouse but a whole family of peers, elders and children if he or she goes "off course."

2) It allows for careers for women without detriment to themselves, spouse, children or elders, since there are always other adults in the home to assist the working wife or mother.

Career women in an Islamic extended family suffer neither the physical and emotional burden of overwork nor the feeling of guilt for neglecting maternal, marital or familial responsibilities. In fact, without this sort of family institution, it is impossible to imagine any feasible solution for the problems now facing Western society. As more and more women enter the work force, the nuclear family is unable to sustain the needs of its members.

The difficulties in the single parent family are of course magnified a hundred-fold. The strain that such family systems put on the working woman are devastating to the individual as well as to the marriage and family bonds. The dissolutions of families which result and psychological and social ramifications of the high divorce rate in America and other Western nations are the growing concern of doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists and sociologists as well as, of course, of the unfortunate victims of these phenomena.

3) The extended family insures the adequate socialisation of children. A mother's or father's advice in a nuclear or single parent family may be difficult to be followed by an unruly or obstinate child, but the combined pressure of the members of a strong extended family is an effective counter to non-conformance or disobedience.

4) The extended family provides for psychological and social diversity in companionship for adults as well as children. Since there is less dependence on the one-to-one relationship, there are less emotional demands on each member of the family. A disagreement or clash between adults, children or between persons of different generations does not reach the damaging proportions it may in the nuclear family. There are always alternative family members on hand to ease the pain and provide therapeutic counselling and companionship. Even the marriage bond is not put to the enormous strains that it suffers in the nuclear family.

5) The extended family or a'ilah guards against the development of the generation gap. This social problem arises when each age group becomes so isolated from other generations that it finds difficulty in achieving successful and meaningful interaction with people of a different age level. In the 'a'ilah, three or more generations live together and constantly interact with one another. This situation provides beneficial learning and socialisation experiences for children and the necessary sense of security and usefulness for the older generation.

6) The 'a'ilah eliminates the problems of loneliness which plague the isolated and anonymous dwellers in the urban centres of many contemporary societies. The unmarried woman, or the divorced or widowed woman in an Islamic extended family will never suffer the problems that face such women in contemporary American society, for example. In a Qur'anic society, there is no need for the commercial computer dating establishments, the singles' clubs and bars, or the isolation of senior citizens in retirement villages or old people's homes.

The social and psychological needs of the individual, whether male or female, are cared for in the extended family. As marriage-bonds grow more and more fragile in Western society, women tend to be the chief victims of the change. They are less able to re-establish marriage or other bonds than men, and they are more psychologically damaged by these losses.

7) The extended family provides a more feasible and humane sharing of the care of the elderly. In the nuclear family unit, the care of the elderly parent or parents of one spouse may fall entirely on one individual, usually the mother of the family. She must provide for the extra physical care as well as for the emotional well-being of the elderly.

This is a tremendous burden on a woman who probably has children's and husband's needs to attend to as well. If she is a working mother, the burden can be unmanageable; and the elderly are put in an old peoples' home to await death. With the shared responsibilities and duties that the extended family provides, the burden is significantly lightened .

 

5. A PATRIARCHAL FAMILY ORGANIZATION

 

The fifth basic characteristic of a Qur'anic society is that it is patriarchal. Contrary to the goals of the Women's Liberation movement, the Qur'an calls for a society which assigns the ultimate leadership and decision-making role in the family to men. Any society is made up of smaller organisations of humans, governments, political parties, religious organisations, commercial enterprises, extended families, etc. Each of these organs needs to be stable, cohesive and manoeuvrable if it is to be beneficial to its constituents. In order to acquire these characteristics, the organisation must assign ultimate responsibility to some individual or some group within its ranks.

Therefore, the citizens may vote, parliament may legislate, and the police may enforce the law; but it is ultimately the head of state that carries the burden of making the crucial decisions for the nation, as well as the onus or approval, i.e., the responsibility, for those decisions. In like manner, the work of a factory is conducted by many individuals, but all of them are not equally capable of making the ultimate decisions for the company. Neither is each employee equally charged with the responsibility for the organisation's success or failure.

The family also has need for someone to carry the burden of ultimate responsibility for the whole. The Qur'an has assigned this role to the most senior male member of the family. It is this patriarchal assignment of power and responsibility which is meant by such expressions as "wa lil rijali 'alathinna darajatun " (2.228; see supra, pp. 40, 41), and "al-rijalu qawwdmuna 'ala al-nisa'i.... " (4:34).

Contrary to misrepresentations by the Qur'an's enemies, these passages do not mean the subjugation of women to men in a gender-based dictatorship. Such an interpretation shows a blatant disregard of the Qur'an's repeated calls for the equality of the sexes and for its command to show respect and kindness to women. The passages in question point instead to a means for avoiding internal dissension and indecision for the benefit of all family members. They advocate for a patriarchal society. In addition, we would draw attention to the use of the word qawwamun in the statement, al-rijalu qawwamuna 'ala al-nisa'i ... (4:34).

Certainly the verb qawwama, from which the verbal noun qawwamun is derived, does not imply despotic overlordship. Instead, the term refers to the one who stands up (from qama, "to stand") for another in a protective and benevolent way. If an autocratic or domineering role for the male half of the society had been meant, there are many other verbal derivatives which would have been more applicable, for example, musaytirun and muhayminun Other instances of the Qur'anic use of the term qawwamun confirm this supportive rather than authoritarian or tyrannical meaning of the term (see 4:127-135; 5:9). Ascription of a different significance to the passage in question is, therefore, ideologically inconsistent as well as linguistically unsupportable. Why should the Qur'an specify male leadership for the 'a'ilah, i.e., a patriarchal family, rather than a matriarchal organisation? The Qur'an answers that question in the following manner:

Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women)....(4:34)

Physical and economic contributions and responsibility are, therefore, the Qur'anic reasons for proposing a patriarchal rather than a matriarchal society. Some Westerners, confronted by the problems of contemporary society, are beginning to ask such questions as:

Where can we turn for help? What can we do in the face of the present social disintegration? It is a time of despair and searching as Western society reels under the blows of steadily increasing personal disorientation and societal dissolution. What can we do as Muslims to help? First of all, we must build true Qur'anic societies throughout the Muslim World. Without these, we cannot establish equitable and viable accommodation for the interaction of men and women in society.

In addition, we cannot hope to establish in the coming generations a respect for and loyalty to our societies and their accompanying institutions if pseudo-Islamic societies are the only ones we are capable of producing and maintaining. Pseudo-Islamic measures or institutions are actually anti-Islamic; for they posit a model which cannot be respected, and attach to it the label of "islam" in the minds of many Muslims as well as non-Muslim. this results in a wrongful transfer of the onus of the faulty institution to the religion of Islam itself.

We must educate our fellow Muslims-and especially the youth for they are the leaders of tomorrow-with regard to the importance and viability of their (Qur'anic traditions concerning women, the family and society. Despite the failure of alternative contemporary Western social patterns, some Muslims seem to hanker after the Western brand of sexual equality, its unisex ideas and modes of behaviour, overemphasis on individualism or personal freedom from responsibility, and the nuclear family system.

We must awake to the dangers which accompany such social ideas and practices. If the consequences of these ideas and practices are not pointed out and combated, we are doomed to an unfortunate future as such social experiments are to fail ultimately. But even this is not an adequate response for us as Muslims.

As vicegerents of Allah on earth (2:30), it is our duty to be concerned about the whole world and about all of God's creatures. In the light of the command to propagate the will of Allah in every corner of the earth, we should not neglect to suggest or offer the good that we know to others. It is time for Islam and the Muslims to present their solutions of the problems of contemporary society, not only to the Muslim audience, but to the non-Muslim audience as well.

This can and should be done through the living example of true Qur'anic societies in which the problems of men and women are resolved. It should also be done through informative writings and discussions by our scholars which could be made available to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. There is no better way to serve the will of Allah and the whole of mankind. There is no better da'wah than such offering of a helping hand to the struggling victims of contemporary society.

 

IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLY QUR'AAN

The first lesson to be learned by all students is about the importance of the Holy Qur'aan. The Qur'aan is the Book of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'aalaa. Every word in the Qur'aan has come from Allah. That is why we say that it is a Holy Book. The words in the Qur'aan were sent by Allah to Prophet Muhammad sallal-laahu 'alayhi wa-aalihi wa sallam. The Prophet (s) received the words of Allah through angel Jibra'eel. This Qur'aan is a Holy Book that was not written by anyone but sent by Allah to Prophet Muhammad (s) through Jibra'eel.

 

It is the most truthful speech:

Prophet Muhammad (s) regularly read the words of Allah to Muslims around him. These Muslims were very pleased and excited to receive the words of Allah. Prophet Muhammad (s) said:

 

The most truthful speech, the most eloquent advice, and the greatest stories are in the Book of Allah.

 

The Muslims listened carefully to what the Prophet read, memorized the sentences and passages of the Qur'aan, recited them regularly and followed the teachings of the Qur'aan. In order to preserve the words of Allah the Prophet appointed special people known as "Scribes of the Qur'aan" to write down the words of Allah.

 

 

It is in original language:

Prophet Muhammad (s) was an Arab and the majority of people in Mecca and Medina spoke Arabic. Therefore the Qur'aan was sent in Arabic. Arabic is written from right to left. It is better to learn to read the Qur'aan in its original language. Therefore, we will put efforts to learn Qur'aan written in Arabic instead of simply reading its translation in other languages.

 

 

The Holy Qur'aan contains Allah's message to all people.

It tells people how to act correctly. It guides us to a correct way of life in this world. The Book of Allah also talks about life after death. It tells us that Allah has prepared Paradise for good people and Hell for bad people. The Qur'aan encourages the worship of only one God Who creates and provides for them.

The Book forbids people from evil and condemns those who do wrong. It contains stories of the past Prophets and the examples of bad and good people. People are advised in the Qur'aan to be good to others and respect them. It teaches people to live in peace and harmony.

 

 

Qur'aan brings happiness in this world and the Hereafter.

Following the Qur'aan brings happiness in this world and the world after death. The Prophet (s) said:

 

If you desire the life of the fortunate, the death of a martyr, the salvation on the Day of Regret and the shade on the Day of Extreme Heat, then you should study the Qur'aan because it is the word of the Merciful, a sanctuary from Shaytaan and a causes the tilting of the Balance.

 

In another Hadith we read that the Prophet (s) has said:

 

The recitor of the Qur'an will be spared from the calamities of the Hereafter.

 

 

It is the only Divine book that has remained unchanged.

Allah sent the Qur'aan to His Prophet. A book sent by Allah to people is known as a Divine Book or a Heavenly Book. Other Divine Books were also sent to previous prophets. These are: Suhoof to Prophet Ibraheem 'alayhis salaam; Zaboor to Prophet Dawood 'alayhis salaam; Tawraah to Prophet Moosaa 'alayhis salaam; and Injeel to Prophet 'Eisaa 'alayhis salaam.

The difference between the Qur'aan and past revealed books is that the Qur'aan is the only Divine Book that has remained unaltered. The Qur'aan we have with us contains exactly the same message that was sent to Prophet Muhammad by Allah through Jibra'eel.

 

Our supplications get answered if we were to pray after reading the Holy Qur'aan. The Prophet (s) said: One who starts the Qur'an and finishes it, Allah will grant him one answered supplication. It also helps in strengthening our faith. Imam Ali (a) said: Reciting the Qur'an plants the seed of faith.

 

The Qur'aan is the best companion.

It can be of great help when a child or adult is feeling lonely. Imam Ali Zaynul 'Aabideen (a) said: If all who live between the East and West perish, I will have no fear as long as I have the Qur'an with me.

 

Students get wise when they start reading the Qur'aan in their childhood. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: Whoever reads the Qur'an before becoming Baaligh, has indeed been given wisdom as a child. The Holy Book is the best intellectual treasure a student can have. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: The Qur'an is a wealth with which there is no poverty, and without which there is no wealth. On the other hand not caring to read and study the Qur'aan is a great loss. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: Surely the person in whose heart lacks the trace of the Qur'an is like a ruined house.

 

Muslims read the Qur'aan to understand the true teachings of Islam. Prophet Muhammad (s) left the Holy Book and the Ahlul Bayt (a) as the most important legacy for Muslims after him. He said: I leave tow weighty things among you: The Book of Allah and my family – the Ahlul Bayt. Indeed these two will never separate until they reach me near the pool of Kawthar.

 

All Muslims recite some Soorahs in their prayers. However, it is good to memorize more Soorahs and read them in Salaat. Imam Muhammad Al-Baaqir (a) said:

Whoever recites the Qur'aan while standing in his prayer, Allah will bestow on him a hundred blessings for every letter; and whoever recites it while sitting in his prayer, Allah will reward him fifty blessings for every letter; and whoever recites it outside of his prayer, Allah will grant him ten blessings for every letter.

 

The Qur'aan is a cure to mental and spiritual diseases:

Imam Hasan al-'Askaree (a) said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: I advice you to the Qur'aan since it is the beneficial cure, the blessed medicine, the protection ('Isma) for he who holds fast to it, and the salvation for he who follows it. Neither does it cause crookedness so that it departs (from the truth) nor does it deviate so that it causes trouble. Its marvels do not come to end and the vastness of refutations does not wear it.

 

RESPECT AND RIGHTS OF THE HOLY QUR'AAN

 

Now that we know that the Holy Qur'aan is not an ordinary book, but a Divine Book sent by Allah for the guidance of all people, we must show respect to it. Here are some of the points we need to remember.

 

1. A part of the Qur'aan carries the same respect as the entire Qur'aan. Allah says:

When the Qur'aan is recited, listen to it (7:204).

We know that when recitation takes place it is always of a part of the Qur'aan. Even then Allah uses the word Qur'aan for the part that is being recited. Therefore, if you have a Siparah, a binder or a booklet that contains Soorahs and passages from the Qur'aan, you treat it like a Qur'aan.

 

2. The Qur'aan should always be carried with proper care. When your Madrasah bag contains the Qur'aan, or a part of it, take extra care of the bag. Keep the bag slowly on the desk or floor instead of letting it fall on its own. Use both hands to remove the Qur'aan from your bag, kiss the cover of the Qur'aan, place it slowly on a desk (or on a wooden carrier specially built for holding the Qur'aan) and open the pages gently.

 

3. When the Qur'aan is being recited, listen to it and be attentive (7:204). If you are busy with something else then at least do not disturb the recitation by talking, for example, or making noise. There is reward for listening to the Qur'aan. Imam Ali Zaynul 'Aabideen (a) said:

Whoever listens to a letter of the book of Allah, the Glorious and Almighty, without even reading it, Allah will write down for him one good deed, forgive a sin, and raise him a degree.

It was the practice of unbelievers in Mecca to make a lot of noise so that others could not listen to the Qur'aan (41:26). Do not be like them and instead lend your ears to the Qur'aan and give it respect. We often wish that God would talk to us. One way to achieve this is by reading the Qur'aan. Prophet Muhammad (s): said:

Lo! Whoever has longing for Allah should listen to the word of Allah!

Also, if you wish to talk to God then do Tilaawa. Prophet Muhammad (s) said:

Whenever one of you would like to talk to his Lord, he should read the Qur'an.

 

 

4. The Qur'aan should be recited regularly. It is disrespect to keep the Holy Qur'aan unread. Prophet Muhammad (s) said:

Brighten your homes with reciting Qur'aan; do not turn them into graves. Surely the house in which a lot of recitation takes place enjoys many blessings and the members benefit from it. Such a household shines for the inhabitants of Heaven as stars shine to the inhabitants of the earth.

On the Day of Judgment the Prophet will complain to Allah about some Muslims who had abandoned the Qur'aan (25:30). Another Hadith of the Prophet (s) says:

Indeed hearts rust in the same way irons rust.

He was asked: "What will polish the hearts?" The Prophet answered:

Reading the Qur'an.

The more Qur'aan we read the better it is. We should discipline ourselves to read a good portion of Qur'aan daily. Imam Ali (a) said:

He who recites 100 verses daily from the Book in the order it is in, Allah writes for him the reward equal to all the good actions of every one on this earth.

Shaytaan would like us not to read, understand and study the Qur'aan. Let us fight him with all our strength and faith. Imam Ja'far As-Saadiq (a) said: There is nothing more unpleasant to Shaytaan than to see a man reading the Qur'an to gain insight.

 

5. Children should get familiarized with the Qur'aan early in their lives. Imam as-Saadiq (AS) said:

He who recites Qur'aan while he is young, Qur'aan mixes with his flesh and his blood, and Allah places him amongst the blessed and the chosen righteous. On the Day of Judgment, Qur'aan shall become his defender and [pray for him a handsome reward.]

 

6. It is the right and respect of the Qur'aan that it should be followed. Imam Ja'far Saadiq (a) said:

Lo! One, who learns the Qur'aan, teaches it and practices according to it, I will guide and lead him to Paradise.

 

7. It is also the right and respect of the Qur'aan that those who have the knowledge of the Qur'aan should teach it to others. This is among the noblest acts. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: The best of you is he who learns the Qur'an and teaches it.

 

8. Take the interpretations of the Qur'aan from the Holy Prophet (s) and the Imams from his family, i.e. the Ahlul Bayt (a). Imam Hasan al-'Askaree quoting Prophet Muhammad said:

Recite it (i.e. the Qur'aan) as Allah gives you ten rewards for each letter that you recite from it.

Then the Imam (a) said:

Do you know who really holds fast to it and reaches to such honor and reward? He is the person who takes Qur'aan and its interpretation from us Ahlul-Bayt (a) or from the deputies that we send to our followers, and takes its (interpretation) neither from the opinions of those who argue (on the speech of Allah) nor form the analogy of those who compare (different parts of the speech of Allah).

 

1. Once you have completed reading your lesson or referring to the Qur'aan then close it gently instead of leaving it open.

2. Do not put another book or any weight above the Qur'aan. The Holy Book should always be kept on the top in a pile of books.

3. It is Haraam (forbidden) to make Najaasaat (impure things like blood and urine) touch the Qur'aan. In the event where the Qur'aan becomes Najis, for instance if it falls in Najis water, it is Waajib (obligatory) to purify it (make it Taahir).

4. Old and worn out copies of the Qur'aan should be disposed in safe places. This includes sending them for recycling, burying them in the earth or casting in rivers.

 

MANNERS OF RECITING THE HOLY QUR'AAN

By now we know that the Qur'aan is a special book and deserves respect. Now let us look at some of the manners of reciting the Qur'aan. It is the right of the Tilaawa (recitation of the Qur'aan) that we follow the rules when reciting the Qur'aan.

 

1. Perform Wudhoo before you prepare to read the Qur'aan.

Allah says: None can touch it (the Qur'aan) save the purified ones (56:79). Once Imam Ja'far As-Saadiq (a) asked his son Ismaa'eel to read the Qur'aan. The latter said that he was not in Wudhoo. The Imam said in that case he could recite it but should not touch the writings of the Qur'aan. Therefore, it is advisable to use a stick or pen to point to the words or sentences of the Qur'aan you are reading if you are not in Wudhoo.

 

2. Read Du'aa before Tilaawa.

Reading of the Du'aa helps to keep our focus and reminds us of what we need to take from the Holy Book. Ma'soomeen (a) have recommended a number of Du'aas. The Du'aa taught by Imam Ja'far As-Saadiq (a) appears in this booklet with Qur'aan lessons.

 

3. Always say A'oodhubillaahi minash shaytaanir rajeem

(اَعُوْذُبا اللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْم) when you begin reading the Qur'aan. It means: I seek refuge in Allah from the cursed Shaytaan. This is what Allah instructs us to do in Aayah 16:98.

 

4. Next say Bismillaahir rahmaanir raheem

(بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم ) The meaning of this phrase is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Whenever Imam Moosaa Al-Kaazim (a) wished to make a point to Haroon Rasheed using Aayaat from the Qur'aan, the Imam would begin with A'oodhubillaah . . . followed by Bismillaah . . .

 

5. Sit facing Qiblaah when reciting the Qur'aan. Please note that this is the best direction to face. However where it may be difficult or impossible to face Qiblaah when reading the Qur'aan (for example if your desk is facing another direction) then it is all right not to face the Qiblaah.

 

6. Recite the Qur'aan with Tarteel as instructed by Allah in Aayah 73:4. This means that we should recite the Qur'aan in a good voice with rhythm instead of plain reading.

 

7. Recite the Qur'aan slowly Allah said to the Prophet do not move your tongue with it (Qur'aan) to make haste therein (75:16). The aayaat of the Qur'aan should be recited in slow tones with each word being pronounced clearly. The Prophet (s) advised Muslims not be concerned about finishing a Soorah when reciting the Qur'aan.

 

8. Be Humble when reciting the Qur'aan. The Prophet (s) says that the best recitor is he who is humble when reciting the Qur'aan and realizes his own insignificance. Some people exhibit their insignificance and the awe of talking to Allah through weeping. This is a good sign. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: Eyes that weep when reciting the Qur'an will be shining with delight on the Day of Resurrection.

 

9. Try to understand the recitation. Holy Qur'aan is a book of Guidance (2:2). It is necessary for us to understand the message Allah sent all people through Prophet Muhammad (s).

 

10. Read from the Qur'aan by looking at the writings instead of reciting from your memory. In a Hadith from one of our Imams it is said that mere looking at the writings of the Qur'aan carries reward.

 

11. Interact with the Qur'aan. Imam Ja'far As-Saadiq (a) says that it is important to react to the aayaat of the Qur'aan when reciting it. When we come across aayaat on Paradise, Mercy and Grace of Allah, Good Outcome in the hereafter, we should hope for these in our hearts. On the other hand if we are reading aayaat that warn us about the punishment, fire, Hell, etc. we should pray to be saved from these.

 

12. Open your heart and mind to the Qur'aan and ponder over what you read. Allah often invites us to think and ponder over the contents of the Qur'aan. In 47:24 Allah says: Do they not then think deeply in the Qur'aan, or are their hearts locked up?

 

13. Perform Sajdah where required to do so In the entire Qur'aan there are 15 places where performing of Sajdah is required. At 4 places it is Waajib (obligatory) to do Sajdah if we were to read or listen to these sections of the Qur'aan. For the rest of the places it is Mustahab (recommended) to do Sajdah.

14. Say Sadqallaahul 'Aliyyul 'Azeem

(صَدَقَ اللهُ العَلِيُّ العَظِيْمُ) every time you end a recitation of the Qur'aan. The meaning of this phrase is: Allah, the Sublime, the Great, is truthful in what He has said

 

15. Read one of the Du'aas after Tilaawa

. The Ma'soomeen have taught a number of Du'aas, from these two have been included with Qur'aan lessons. In these Du'aas, amongst other things, we pray to the Almighty to enlighten us through the Qur'aan and make us follow the teachings of the Qur'aan.

Hadiths in the lessons taken from:

Forty Hadiths (1), Virtues of The Qur'an, Department of Qur'anic Affairs, 1998.

Wasaa'ilush Shi'ah, v. 27. 3. Al-Kaafee, v. 2 4. Bihaarul Anwar, v. 89/92.