Keys to understanding the Qur’an [1]

الكاتب / د. وليد بن بليهش العمري

The Qur’an is, the inimitable, verbatim Word of God, revealed to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as an ever-lasting miracle, ever-present to guide those who seek the Truth and the way to felicity in this life and the great reward of God in the Hereafter. It is Islam’s foundational text which encapsulates its message; it is the foremost source of guidance and legislation for Believers. Believers’ lives are directed by it and their actions find grounds in it. The tenets of Islam cannot be grasped without a proper understanding of the Qur’an. A great many Muslims learn it by heart, and it is used as a reference book, a book of rules and guidelines, and as an ethical textbook for hundreds of millions the world over. Its authenticity and the binding nature of its dictates are authoritative across the board. The word “Qur’an” relates directly to the act of reading and reciting. In fact, the first word revealed in the Qur’an was the command: Iqra’ (Read!). This great word is the key to unlocking the doors of knowledge and enlightenment, emancipating the human mind, and breaking the shackles of ignorance. Through ‘reading’ the Qur’an humans find their way to the Truth and take their surest steps on the Straight Path that leads to the Pleasure of God and deliverance. Each Qur’anic sura is preceded by the statement “In the Name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful”[2], thus one engages in this act of profound reading with the resolution of seeking God’s own help and assistance; and who is a better guide than God!

Although the Qur’an can be seen and read as a ‘book’, in as much as it is put down in book format, is not, however, to be thought of as a ‘book’ that follows the usual rules and maxims of text building and book composition. Rather, the Qur’an urges us to read it with careful attention focusing on its deep and various meanings. The relatively difficult language of the Qur’an, lack of access to mainstream Muslim commentaries (particularly as they are not widely translated into other languages), and inadequate Qur’an translations, among many other reasons, may, however, constitute a barrier blocking the channels of communication between the Qur’an and the reader. Muslims read the Qur’an on a daily or weekly basis and, especially during the month of Ramadan. It should be emphasized here though that a mechanical reading of the Qur’an cannot unravel the meanings underpinning the Qur’anic messages in each sura, and which would leave their hidden treasures locked away.

Furthermore, uninitiated readers will find it difficult to read through the Qur’an unless they are equipped with the right keys to understanding it. Some of these are as follows:

• Key 1: The Qur’an is a book of guidance. Indeed God speaks of the guidance of the Qur’an as a life-line and a source of light that dissipates the darkness of doubt and expunges other diseases of the heart: “Would the one who was dead and We caused him to come alive and bestowed upon him a light to walk in among people be like the one who is plunged in complete darkness; there is no way for him to emerge out of which!”(6: 122). The main purpose of the Qur’an is to guide people to eternal bliss and happiness which is gained through adherence to God’s commands. To this effect it employs such discursive tools as storytelling, admonition, encouragement in a manner not found in other books.

• Key 2: The Qur’an is first and foremost a constitution of high morals. It establishes the standards of morality that sound human nature embodies: justice, equality, moral integrity, fair and equitable laws and rulings, and good governance and administration of justice. Through the Qur’an, we find these highlighted, underlined and repeated in different forms and guises. They are projected as the elements which, when strung together, lead to the Pleasure of God.

• Key 3: The Qur’an came to us through revelation from God to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Angel Gabriel (n) was the conduit of this revelation and it did not happen all at once but went on for an extended period of 23 years. It came gradually and in sections at intermittent stages, rather than all at once. Thus, so as to maintain Allah’s guidance, consolidate the Prophet’s mission with Godly Signs (ayas), smooth the gradual legislation of the new code of life, and to make the Qur’an easy for the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions to learn by heart.

• Key 4: The expanse of time over which the Qur’an was revealed is traditionally divided into two broad periods,e. those of Makkah (86 suras) and Madinah (28 suras). The Makkan period, which lasted for 13 years, saw the tender growth of the seedling of Faith in an extremely harsh environment of ignorance. The ayas revealed during this period talk about: matters of creed, Belief, resurrection and the Day of Judgement, Prophethood, the evil of Denial and Associating other deities in worship with God, the call to return to the pristine creed of Abraham and stories of earlier nations who incurred God’s Wrath and destruction for their rebelliousness against their Prophets. Qur’anic Signs (ayas) kept on coming until it was absolutely clear what Belief and what lack of it exactly entail. In the face of the unrelenting persecution that they were subjected to, the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions had to migrate to Madinah. This move heralded a new definitive phase in the history of Islam, the Prophetic mission, and the nature of the revealed ayas themselves. Here, the earlier themes also carried on, yet with a new emphasis along with the introduction of new laws for the community: rulings that bear on different circumstances, the penal code, religious obligations and how to deal with the People of the Book and the hypocrites. Indeed, a whole way of life was laid out quite distinctly, thus culminating in the final, most perfect Message that came from God: “Today I have finalized your religion for you, perfected My Favour on you and I approve Islam as a religion for you”.(5:3) It is very telling that the last aya of the Qur’an that was revealed was: “Be Mindful of a Day on which you shall be returned to Allah and every soul shall be paid in full what it earned—they will not be wronged!”(2: 281)—a person’s mission in life is to be prepared for judgement by God, the Most Just of all judges.

• Key 5:The language of the Qur’an is indeed unique in its style. It is neither prose nor poetry. Instead, it masterfully employs all what language has to offer to achieve the highest effect on the human psyche. Armstrong (1994, p. 168) describes the effect of the Qur’an on its immediate recipients as follows: “The early biographers of Muhammad constantly described the wonder and shock felt by the Arabs when they heard the Koran for the first time. Many were converted on the spot, believing that God alone could account for the extraordinary beauty of the language. Frequently a convert would describe the experience as a divine invasion that tapped buried yearnings and released a flood of feelings. Muslims like Umar seem to have experienced a similar unsettling of sensibility, an awakening and a disturbing sense of significance which enabled them to make the painful break with the traditional past. Even those Qurayshis who refused to accept Islam were disturbed by the Koran and found that it lay outside all their familiar categories: it was nothing like the inspiration of the kahins ´soothsayers` or the poets; nor was it like the incantations of a magician. Some stories show powerful Qurayshis who remained steadfastly with the opposition being visibly shaken when they listened to a sura”.

• Key 6: The Qur’an mainly deals with three themes: belief, laws and manners. Each theme comprises an array of interrelated and lesser ones that together constitute a complete whole. Belief entails how a Believer is to perceive matters such as the Unseen (al-Ghayb-what lies beyond the realm of human perception), Paradise, Hellfire, the origin of creation, the essentials of religion, the truth of God’s Oneness (Monotheism), the Prophets and what they really stood for, and the truthfulness of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and the Qur’an. A Muslim is to Believe in these in accordance with the Qur’an and the Sunnah (which, in a sense, is the Prophetic example of how the Qur’an is to be interpreted); they are the creedal foundations of Faith. Laws, on the other hand, are the practical foundations of Faith on which Islam is built. They revolve around three types of relationship: a person’s relationship with God (acts of worship), a person’s relationship with other humans (financial dealings, laws of inheritance, communal affairs) and each person’s relationship with themselves (those of food and drink and personal conduct). Manners abound in the Qur’an. Throughout its suras, the Qur’an establishes a very high standard code of morality, one that encourages people to strive to embody sterling manners. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), whose manners and conduct took their roots in the Qur’an (Muslim: 746), was set by God as a moral example to be emulated by all humans: “Indeed for you in the Messenger of Allah there is a sterling example”.(33: 21) God praised His Messenger (ﷺ) and extolled his virtuousness by saying: “Indeed you are of great moral character!”(68: 4).

• Key 7: Qur’anic suras are of different length, content and unique character. The length of Qur’anic suras varies significantly: the longest sura in the Qur’an is Sura 2 (al-Baqarah) in which there are 286 ayas and the shortest is Sura 108 (al-Kawthar) in which there are only 3 ayas. In terms of length, Qur’anic suras fall into four categories: al-ÏiwÉl (the lengthy) of which there are seven, al-mi’Ën (the hundreds-numbered) the ones in which there are more than one hundred ayas, al-mathÉnÊ (the oft-repeated) in which there are less than a hundred ayas, and al-mufaÎÎal (the detailed) which begin with SuraQÉf until the end of the Qur’an. These categories follow the order in which they are to be found in the Qur’an with the exception of the opening Suraal-FÉtiÍah (which is considered as a preface that encompasses the totality of the Qur’anic message).

• Key 8: Overall, there are 114 suras, 6,236 ayas, 77,437 words, and 321,000 letters in the Qur’an. The first revelation was Sura 96 (al-ÑAlaq) in which there is the command “Read!” and the last revelation was Sura 110 (al-NaÎr) which foretells the conquest of Makkah and the culmination of the Prophetic mission.
• Key 9: The suras of the Qur’an, and the ayas within them, do not follow the chronological order in which they were revealed; they are ordered as we find them today in the printed muÎÍafs (or written Qur’an copies) at the behest of the Prophet (ﷺ). This arrangement, however, is unique in terms of the logical and thematic coherence of the content of each sura and how they interrelate with the following and preceding suras. As a whole, they provide a seamless, intellectually engaging read. It is a person’s mission in life to ponder these and try to discover the gems they offer to the curious mind.

• Key 10: Thematic unity in the Qur’an can be found in either one of two aspects. The first whereby every sura deals with a unique theme right from its beginning to its end.In this respect,Surasal-InfiÏÉr, al-InshiqÉq, and al-Zalzalahdeal solely with the tribulations of the Day of Judgement. The second type, the more common of the two, is that whereby a sura may deal with more than one theme. Yet no matter how many themes are dealt with in the same sura, one finds a commonality that binds them together to form a complete whole. A certain theme might also be dealt with recurrently throughout a number of Qur’anic suras. Each occurrence of such theme is context-bound and is meant to serve the purpose for which it is mentioned in that particular instance. ‘Patience,’ is one of these themes. It is dealt with in Makkan and Madinansuras in instances where laws, manners, matters of faith, stories of old, and the call to Believe are spoken of. This no doubt reflects its importance as also the defining nature of how life is projected in the Qur’an, i.e. as an ongoing struggle. The Qur’anic field of knowledge that deals with thematic wholesomeness is known as ÑIlm al-MunÉsabah (the Science of Relevance). It focuses on how the beginning of the sura sets the essential scene, the connection between the variousayas, how the different thematic units within the sura are relayed and the relation between that sura and the ones preceding and following it.

• Key 11: Historical accounts and stories of old found in the Qur’an are cited as examples to take heed from. Although one may find snippets of a story told in one place, other events relating to that same story may be found in another place but in more or less detail and presented from a different angle. In order to unlock the full meaning of these accounts they should be read within their immediate context. In this way, the overall purport of the sura most certainly affects the story’s interpretation. Sometimes, a complete story is told in full in one place. For exampleSurasal-AÑrÉf, al-ShuÑarÉ’ and YËsuf, each tells a complete story. Besides, there are three types of stories that are told in the Qur’an. The most common are stories of the Prophets of God. The other two being: accounts of persons and peoples of ancient times (the companions of the cave (aÎÍÉb al-kahf) the companions of the pit of fire (aÎÍÉb al-ukhdËd), the companions of the Sabbath (aÎÍÉb al-sabt), the two sons of Adam (Cain and Abel)); and accounts of the events that took place during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ), such as the battles the Prophet (ﷺ) waged. Stories in the Qur’an are intended for various purposes among which are: to highlight the bond that exists between the followers of the Truth with each other and those of falsehood with each other throughout different times and circumstances; so that Believers follow the example of their predecessors, especially their steadfastness in the face of relentless opposition; to give concrete examples of how Divine laws and canons came to pass; to prove the truthfulness of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and to soothe the hearts of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions. Some stories are repeated in different places in the Qur’an to achieve a number of aims: to highlight the uniqueness of the Qur’an in its ability to tell the same story from a number of different angles without showing any discrepancies; to underline the importance of the story itself and the many lessons that can be drawn from it and to constantly remind people of certain stories that are of particular significance (take for example the various events that took place during Prophet Moses’ (n) lifetime and mission).

• Key 12: Those who were given earlier Divine Scriptures are referred to in the Qur’an with the honorary title, the People of the Book. The ‘People of the Book’, namely, the Jews and Christians, and their religious symbols are a recurrent Qur’anic theme, particularly in the Madinan suras. Overall, they are spoken of as nations who have diverged from the correct path. They are constantly reminded of their wrong and are gently called to mend their ways. The Qur’anic principle of how to engage in debate with the People of the Book is to be considerate and draw on shared values: “Do not argue with the People of the Book unless gently, except with those of them who act wrongfully. And say: “We believe in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God is ´the same` And to Him we ´fully` submit”.(29: 46)

• Key 13: Each sura in the Qur’an is unique in its own way. The blueprint of a sura is defined by its theme, employment of discourse, style, markedness of lexis, length of ayas and sound of pauses (with which each aya ends). All of these make up the special character of each sura.

• Key 14: Some would willingly look at the Qur’an through the narrow eyes of 21st century secular values and eventually take issue with certain of its dictates. Knowing that these so-called values are lacking and, more often than not, detrimental to humans and disastrous to their planet at large, the fact of the matter is that such a Divinely revealed Book of guidance as the Qur’an should be the yardstick against which all these ‘values’ should be judged. But then, “Is one who walks with his face stooped down more guided, or one who walks upright upon a straight path?”(67: 23)

• Key 15: The Qur’an is only befittingly interpreted within context. Each word is to be read within the aya, each aya within the thematic unit, and each thematic unit within the sura in which it occurs if the deep meaning is to be got at. Needless to say, context is of central importance to understanding any given message and no word or string of words should be taken out of context, if it is to be understood properly.

• Key 16: Although we were not among the immediate audience addressed by the Qur’an or players in its stories, we are nonetheless encouraged to take heed from them, and try to bring personal insights drawn from them to bear on our circumstances.This obviously comes with the caveat of doing so withfull realization of the proper meaning we choose to apply to our lives. In this respect, those with particularly receptive hearts, will usually feel as if what is being recited is meant for them personally.

• Key 17: Finally, the most important of the keys to approaching the Qur’an is that it is to be read contemplatively (c.f. 4:82, 38:29, 47:24), with an open heart and a receptive mind. It is a dignified text that remains aloof and will only yield its fruits to those who approach it with the best of intentions. But for those who come to it with their hearts smitten with doubt, it remains insurmountable and its terrains rugged. ‘Buts and ifs’ will only work as hurdles preventing the reader from getting to the core of the Message.

It remains to be said that at surface level, taken at face value, the Qur’an can be striking for some whilst daunting for others, especially to those whose hearts are not possessed of the sweet, blessed Faith. Yet, much of the Quran’s beauty and real significance is to be found in what lies beneath. One can only begin to have a feel of this deep meaning once the surface is left behind and one dives deep to explore what intricate mesh of relationships ties with what hits the eyes at first appearance. Such is the life-long quest that has engaged many a celebrated scholar and many a sincere person in search of the Truth: “Would they not ponder the Qur’an or are there on some hearts their locks!”(47: 24)

The Quran is an incredibly deep text. Deeper than oceans, indeed God says: “Had all the trees of Earth been pens and the sea been supplied by seven [other] seas, the Words of Allah would not have been exhausted” (31: 27). This depth is indicated, to name but a few, by the relationship that holds each sura with the preceding and following ones, the relevance of each aya to the next, semantic chunking of ayas into passages, parallel ayas which are similar, or slightly different, and that are to be found in different places, how the same word is strategically deployed along the suras, stories told many times over from different angles, the judicious use of synonymous and near-synonymous words, homographs, dialectical variations, pronoun shifts, grammar and syntax as also graphic representations. If at all, this translation only manages to allude to such depth, direct the inquisitive mind to it, but it would be weaving a tall story indeed to say that it has got to its bottom. This can only be found in the many centuries of scholarship that have permeated the past and will continue to do so throughout many future ones.

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[1] This article is taken from the Introduction of Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh al-Amri’s The Grand Qur’an: A faithful rendition and annotated translation of the first ten ajza’ of God’s Message. Available for free download at: https://t-alwahyain.org/archives/9491

[2] With the exception of Sura 9, at-Tawbah (Repentance)