Insights from the Qur'an by Ian Bakar

A look into the revelation of the central text of Islam

Edited by

Ian A. Bakar

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ilm Books Washington, D.C.

All rights reserved. No part of the material herein may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For further information, please write: Ian Bakar 1600 Valencia Way Reston, VA, USA ibakar01@gmail.com

Dedicated to those souls finding themselves in search of light, truth and wisdom.

CONTENTS

Preface 1

Foundations of the Revelation

The First Verses 3 Why Not Chronological? 4 Compiling and Preserving the Qur’an as a Book 5 Relation of the Qur’an to Earlier Scriptures 8 The Five Pillars of Islam 10 How the Qur’an Refers to Itself 12

Linguistic Wonders

How the Concept of God is Introduced in the Qur’an 17 How the Arabic Language Frames the Qur’an 19 Impact on the World of Literature 21 The Bismillah and the Mystery Letters 22

Science, Society and Morality The Heavens and the Earth 27 Animals 29 Unseen Creatures: Angels and Jinn Love and Kinship 32 Ethics and Morality 32 As it Applies to Society 35 Conclusion 37 Appendix 38 - 41

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P R E FA C E The Qur’an has been one of the most influential and inspirational books of guidance, healing and virtue for over 1400 years, and continues to fill the hearts of over 2.2 billion people across the globe. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the verbatim word of the Creator of the universe, transmitted through the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad. Growing up witnessing the trials, tribulations, achievements and misrepresentation in media as well as injustices coming out of the Muslim world, I felt compelled to share some of the most intriguing and eye-opening elements of the central text of Islam, relatable and palatable to Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Aiming to debunk what some present-day media portrays of Muslim traditions and what hate/war-mongering individuals (on either side) perpetrate, I set the goal of offering an objective look (to the best of my ability) into the Qur’an. While touching on some of its claims to truth, light, justice, life-purpose, movement of time and the nature of our universe(s), I would like my study to be beneficial for any individual to pick up, learn something new and walk away having applied something of the philosophy of the Qur’an to their daily life. Ultimately, my goal is to clear some of the misconceptions, and open the hearts of readers to what this scripture has to offer. While Islam is the fastest growing religion in our modern world, there are still a lot of challenges the Muslim world is currently facing in maintaining its integrity and merit in the public eye. It is momentous that the world of Islam keeps its doors open and that people take the middle path; that it’s not an us versus them scenario; not in the violent, irrational sense that is still perceived by many of those who are unaware. That violence and irrationality has never been in the tradition or story of Islam. The Qur’an offers much more than any of this. The world of Islam over the centuries has contributed so much to human development, economics, business, the sciences and the arts. Why would it suddenly, without warning, stray away from contributing this goodness? These things deserve to not be overlooked. Thankfully, people are more inquisitive, educated and understanding today due to living in this information age where ix

almost anything is readily accessible. Questions are being asked as opposed to just simply falling into believing all that is heard. One cannot force people into religion, or to accepting a faith and the Qurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;an itself covers this issue in a verse. That is never the intention, not mine here either, but rather if Muslims can positively share with fellow mankind and contribute goodness into the universe, make lives better, work towards peace and progress, then and only then the greater purpose is fulfilled. Working together, not against each other, has achieved wonders for human progress since the beginning of our existence. This helping each other in search of truth is something that is never ending. It is with a faithful hope that this book will contribute to continuing to the progression of bettering human understanding.

I.B. Reston, VA May 2014

F O U N D AT I O N S O F T H E R E V E L AT I O N

1. Recite, in the name of the Lord who created 2. Created man from a clinging substance 3. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous 4. Who taught by the pen 5. Taught mankind what he did not know. 96: 1 - 5

From islam101.com, “What is Qur’an?”

These are the first verses Muslims believe were revealed by the Creator of the universe through the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad in 610 A.D. in the Cave of Hira in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muhammad at times took retreat in this cave to meditate and contemplate about Arabian society. The Qur’an was revealed piecemeal, according to the needs of the time, over a period of 23 years via this method, where the Prophet Muhammad would memorize every verse revealed. Muslims believe the scripture has not changed since. It is reported that Muhammad could neither read nor write. He was orphaned young, and grew up working as a merchant and shepherd. He was 40 at the time of revelation. Prior to Muhammad’s revelations, Arabia endured a time of lawlessness and immorality amongst many other injustices. There were a number of early Muslims who would memorize each revelation as soon as it was revealed and thus had the whole Qur’an memorized at the time of the final revelation. The tradition of memorizing the entire Qur’an still continues today, with more than 10 million people having memorized it cover to cover, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, letter by letter.

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The Cave of Hira, Mecca, Saudi Arabia This is where Muslims hold the first revelations of the Qurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;an were received by Prophet Muhammad.

The Qur’an was also preserved through writing. Whenever any revelation took place, it was written at once on tablets, palm branches, shorn of leaves, or animal skin. This was done primarily by Zayd ibn Thabit, who was the main scribe out of the 42 scribes of the revelation. Muslims believe that Muhammad set the order of the chapters under the guidance of Angel Gabriel and ordered his companions to maintain that order. Abu Bakr, the first caliph (head of state) of Islam, who is also the father-in-law of Muhammad, compiled the Qur’an, and Uthman, the third caliph, made numerous copies and sent one copy to each state capital. From there, the Qur’an spread, and it eventually came to the whole world. THE FIRST VERSES From wikipedia.org, “Al-Alaq”

The first five verses of this sura, or chapter, the 96th in current order, are stated by nearly all sources, both traditional and modern, to be the first verses of the Qur’an to be revealed to Muhammad. Its title is Sura al-Alaq, which is taken from the second verse referring to the early stage of the human embyro, literally meaning “a substance that hangs or clings.” The chapter has two parts: the first part consists of v. 1-5, and the second of v. 6-19, which were revealed years later, when the Islamic prayer was established and Muhammad had his opposition. In the Qur’an, “mankind” refers to both man and woman, simply a human in general, not denoting gender. This sura presents a concise but compelling argument: man is a creature of wonder, beginning with its development from a biomass (or alaq), who has been granted the gift of sentience by God. Then, as a being, man divides into two distinct groups: those who recognize their cosmic condition, seek divine guidance (by ‘reading’ God’s word), and bow to God’s will (symbolized by ‘prostration’); and those who, even in the face of these apparent wonders of man’s condition, consider the human to be an ‘independent’ entity, answerable to no transcendent authority, and even more contentiously, take it upon themselves to prevent the first class of man from following God’s Word and submitting to Him. God then states that the first type of man, the believer, is the righteous one, and that the second class is both in error and is in fact a “lying and sinful” creature. The end words of each verse also rhyme, in Arabic, between each 2-3 verses. These methods and word-play are used often throughout the Qur’an to emphasize the message and in turn makes it very easy to memorize. I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

WHY NOT CHRONOLOGICAL? From “Discovering the Qur’an,” Neal Robinson

The Qur’an comprises seven groups of suras, and each group contains a block of material revealed in Muhammad’s time in Mecca followed by material revealed in Muhammad’s time in Medina. The seven groups include: suras 1-5, regarding Muslim law, suras 6-9 about the Abrahamic religion, suras 10-24 about the struggle of truth and falsehood, and divine law as it applies, suras 25-33 giving proof of the status of being a Messenger, suras 34-49 covering the unity of God, suras 50-66 explaining the hereafter, and finally 67-114 as a warning to people who do not believe. The reason why groups invariably contain a Meccan block followed by a Medinan block is that each of the seven groups summarizes the history of the Islamic movement while majoring on a different theme. The Medinan suras in a group thus spell out the practical implications of the theoretical teaching enunciated in the Meccan suras. Most of the suras are arranged in complimentary pairs. A pair of suras can complement each other in many ways; one might state a theme briefly and the next deals with it in detail, or one may state the premise or an important principle, while the one after illustrates it or draws conclusions. It is also often said that the suras were arranged in decreasing order, though it does not follow perfectly. It is true that the larger suras are in the beginning, with 286 verses in the largest and 3 in the shortest ones. However, it is not sequentially decreasing, but generally. In some cases also, the word or phrase at the beginning of a sura echoes something from the end of the previous sura. Thus, the structure of the Qur’an was indeed done in a very sophisticated manner.

Early Qur’an, 9th Century From the Islamic Museum in Lahore, Pakistan

COMPILING AND PRESERVING THE QUR’AN AS A BOOK From “The Story of the Qur’an,” Ingrid Mattson

Islamic tradition holds that although the Prophet Muhammad himself did not know how to write, he considered it important to document critical communications and that he dictated correspondence, contracts and Qur’anic verses to his Companions, who acted as scribes. The biography, or sira of Muhammad mentions a number of public documents that were written during the Prophet’s life, including poems hung in the Kaa’ba (house of worship in Mecca, built by Abraham), the Quraysh tribes boycott of the Muslims, the Covenant of Medina, and the Treaty of Hudaybiya. The Prophet is reported to have sent written correspondence to a number of people, including the rulers of Bahrain, Oman, Alexandria, Syria and Persia. Given this practice of transmitting or documenting important communications in writing, it is not surprising that the Prophet would ask his followers to write Qur’anic verses as they were revealed, nor is it surprising that the Companions who knew how to write would be eager to record for themselves the revelations they heard from the Prophet. As long as the Prophet was alive, it was always possible that he would convey new revelations and, indeed, Islamic tradition holds that many verses were revealed during the final year of the Prophet’s life. These verses were not always new suras, but additions to existing suras. What this means is that as long as the Prophet was alive, the composition and structure of each sura was potentially incomplete. For this reason, it would not have been a simple matter to compile the Qur’an into a book during the lifetime of the Prophet. At any time, revisions could have been made to any of the suras, altering the internal composition of the Qur’an. It was only with the death of the Prophet that each sura and the Qur’an as a whole could be considered complete. Now the challenge for the Prophet’s companions was to ensure that they were in possession of all of the suras in their final form. Most Islamic scholars believe that a series of written compilations of the Qur’an took place within twenty years of the death of the Prophet. It is widely believed that the Qur’an was collected and recorded in two stages. The initial compilation took place about a year after the death of the Prophet during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, with Zayd ibn Thabit, one of the most reliable companions. Zayd is reported to have been one of a number of Companions who memorized the whole Qur’an. Nevertheless, rather than simply writing down the recitation he I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

and other memorized, Zayd is said to have searched for written transcriptions of Qur’anic passages. Sitting at the door of the mosque, Zayd collected from various Companions transcriptions they had made of Qur’anic passages they had heard. In keeping with the customary practice of document verification, written texts were generally accepted only if they were supported by two witnesses. Eventually, Zayd collected recitations and written texts of all the suras, and transcribed them on loose sheets of paper, or suhuf. Abu Bakr kept these pages until he died, when they were transferred to the next caliph, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. Before ‘Umar died, he deposited the papers with his daughter who kept them until the second project of transcription came. The second part happened in the third caliphate, of ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan. This is where the modern Qur’an was structured and composed. This compilation had to do with the proper recitation of the Qur’an. ‘Uthman had Zayd and a group of other Companions to form a committee to write out a complete transcription of the Qur’an. The difference between this and the one from the time of Abu Bakr was that this time, if any of those who memorized the text differed over the recitation, the dialect and recitation of the Quraysh, Muhammad’s merchant tribe from Mecca, would be preferred. Once the new text, called a mushaf, was compiled, it was read publicly in Medina, then a number of official copies were made and sent out to the various regions of the Islamic empire. Qur’an reciters were sent to teach and promulgate the official texts, and variant copies were gathered and destroyed. In addition to providing a degree of standardization to the readings of the Qur’an, the Uthmanic mushaf also fixed the order of the suras. The suras were now ordered roughly according to length, but as discussed previously it was a but more meticulous than that as well. All Muslims scholars agree that the internal composition of the suras was fixed by the Prophet Muhammad, and some hold that the Prophet himself designated the sequence of the suras. It is true that the idea of ordering the suras only became necessary once the Qur’an was written down in one text. A written text must have a beginning and an end, a first and last page. An oral text is not limited to this. Oral transcription still exists to this day. While the word of God in Islam is one, the ways in which different tribes and individuals recited it were multiple. According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet himself was the one who validated this diversity, that didn’t lead to different meanings, just different linguistic patterns. 6

22. And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the differences of your languages and colors; verily in that are signs for those who are knowledgeable.

30:22

These verses also lay evidence for Muslims to this being a promise from God that nothing of the Qur’an that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad could ever be lost or changed. The differences in recitation styles are also considered a sign from God relating to the first verse above. It is also important to know that when the Qur’an states “We” it is the royal “we,” not a plural we, rather implying majesty or kingship. It is also said that the Angel Gabriel would go over the Prophet’s memorization and recitation of the Qur’an every Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, said to be the month when the first revelation came. The angel is said to have done this twice in the Prophet’s last year of life.

15: 9. We have revealed this reminder and we will certainly be its guardian. 56: 77-80. This is an honorable Qur’an. In a protected book. None can grasp it except the sincere. A revelation from the Lord of the universe.

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RELATION OF THE QUR’AN TO EARLIER SCRIPTURES From “The Story of the Qur’an,” Ingrid Mattson

The Qur’an mentions at least twenty-five prophets, including the ancient prophets - Adam, Noah, Abraham and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, Jesus, John, Mary and others. The Qur’an invokes these prophets and holy figures as exemplars of piety and courage, who in many cases, met with significant opposition from their people whom they were calling to righteousness. At times, a reference to one of these figures is introduced with the words, “and recall when...,” implying that the listener already knows the basic story. In most cases, the story is also referenced in another sura. The Qur’an makes brief mention of a number of prophets in succession, not giving much detail about their stories. For example, Mary is referred to as one with a special status and a chaste devotee, and her miracle birth of Jesus. However, God states time and time again that he does not beget, nor is he begotten, and that both Jews and Christians were wrong in ascribing God to having a son, and also the trinity is rejected. The core concept of Islam, and the message of the Qur’an, is tawheed, the oneness and incomparability of God.

3. Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, the SelfSubsisting. He sent down to you the book in truth, confirming what you have and he sent down the Torah and the Gospel before this as a guide to people, and He sent the Criterion. 3:3

The main message is that God has always sent prophets or pious men and women to call others to the worship of the one God and to act righteously. From Christian and Jewish perspectives, some details are omitted, like Mary’s marriage to Joseph, the flight into Egypt and Noah’s ark, which is mentioned but does not tell the details of its construction or its inhabitants. We do not know if the Prophet Muhammad and early Muslims knew of these biblical stories, but 8

the Qur’an seems to assume that the listener has general knowledge of the figures involved. Arabs might have had their own oral traditions regarding them, as they did about Abraham, and the Prophet himself related some of these stories to his Companions. The Qur’an does recognize the divine origin of other scriptures, but also states that over time they were forgotten or amended by the hand of man.

79. So woe to those who wrote the Book with their hands, and then say: ‘This is from Allah,’ that they may sell it for a little price. So woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for their earnings. 2:79

These verses show why some Muslim scholars took this and other verses to mean that the earlier scriptures are no longer in their original form. At the same time, they are not fully neglected or rejected. When the texts are in agreement with the Qur’an, it is considered potentially corroborating revealed knowledge. The main discrepancy regards God, His oneness, lack of children and his worship.

113/114. They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Book is a community [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allah during periods of the night and prostrating [in prayer]. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and do good deeds. And those are among the righteous. 3:113-114

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THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM From isna.com, “The Five Pillars”

Practicing the religion itself, as interpreted from the Qur’an, is defined by how the Muslim ordains to the commands of God, defined as the pillars of Islam. The first pillar is known as the shahada, or the declaration of faith. Bearing witness (testifying) that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. It must be based on a sincere and firm belief in the heart, as well as being uttered verbally. This is recited during the call to prayer, which happens five times a day. The second pillar is prayer. The five daily prayers form the most important act of worship in a Muslim’s life; one each at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall. Prayer establishes a personal and spiritual connection between the Muslim and his Creator, based on faith, love, hope and reverence. Muslims hold when prayer is performed correctly with complete concentration, humility and sincerity, it will have an enduring effect on the person, filling his heart with contentment, peace and closeness with Allah. During the prayer, certain movements are made, prostrations and bowing, while facing the direction of the city of Mecca no matter where you are on the globe. The person praying recites the first chapter of the Qur’an in every unit of prayer, which is 7 verses, followed by another minimum of 3 verses from another chapter. The third pillar is charity. The prescribed charity (zakah) is an obligation on every Muslim who meets certain criteria (e.g. attained maturity, is sane, has wealth above a certain threshold). A mere 2.5% of wealth must be paid annually to those who are eligible, as prescribed in the Qur’an (e.g. the poor and needy). The meaning of the word “zakah”, is both ‘purification’ and ‘growth’. This is similar to the pruning of plants, whereby regularly trimming provides balance and encourages growth. By fulfilling this obligation, Muslims purify their remaining wealth, as well as ensure both financial and spiritual growth. The fourth pillar is the fasting during the month of Ramadan. As with any act of worship, fasting requires obedience and submission to Allah’s commands through the highest degree of commitment and sincerity. Every year during the month of Ramadan (the 9th month of the lunar calendar), Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, abstaining from three key human needs - food, drink and sexual relations. One should also abstain from all sinful actions. 10

Fasting during Ramadan is obligatory on every physically and mentally capable adult Muslim. Children, the sick, the mentally unfit, the elderly, menstruating women, and travellers are exempt. The final pillar of Islam is the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Pilgrimage to the Holy city of Mecca (in Saudi Arabia) and other sacred sites must be performed at least once in a person’s life, if they are physically and financially capable. Performing the pilgrimage is a temporary suspension of all worldly activities, and is a time for one to reflect, worship, seek the forgiveness of Allah and attain His closeness. The Pilgrimage is an annual event in the 12th month of the lunar calendar (Dhul-Hijjah in Arabic), which unifies people of every color, race, status and age, as they join in worship of the One True God. All pilgrims wear simple and similar clothing, which strips away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before Allah. Prophet Muhammad is said to have said, “Whoever performs Hajj and does not utter obscenities or commit sin, will come back just like the day when his mother bore him (i.e. pure of sins).”

Pilgrim making a supplication at the Kaa’ba A man who made Hajj, or pilgrimage to the house that Abraham is said to have built in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

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HOW THE QUR’AN REFERS TO ITSELF From “Introducing the Qur’an,” John Kaltner

The Qur’an refers to itself frequently, and those self-references are often found in passages that explain its nature and source. In many of these texts the divine origin of the Qur’an is reiterated. The words from the Arabic root n-z-l, meaning “to send down,” are commonly used to describe the act of revelation. It refers to itself as a source of healing, mercy, guidance, truth, light, criterion to judge right and wrong, and as a living, eternal thing. An important element of the Qur’an’s self-understanding is that it contains the same message that was given to previous prophets and messengers. Muhammad is the last of a chain of prophetic figures going back to Adam, and for this reason he is called the “seal of the prophets.” Similarly, the Qur’an is the last of a series of books that communicate God’s will for humanity. Among its predecessors are the books given to Moses and Jesus as noted earlier. The tampering of their books by man led to the necessity to send the Qur’an, which is claiming to accurately preserve God’s message and validates the previous revelations. The Qur’an says it was revealed on the “Night of Power,” an Islamic tradition that has designated one of the last ten odd nights of Ramadan to be the night Muhammad began to receive revelations.

Rooftops in Cairo, Jean Leon Gerome, 1824 Painting of Muslim men in ‘Salah’ or prayer, one of the five pillars of Islam. Some Qur’an verses are recited in prayer.

Copies of the Qur’an have existed since the earliest decades of Islam, but Muslims believe the urtext, or origin, of all those written copies resides with God in the heavens. This idea derives from a number of related passages that have been interpreted collectively as describing a heavenly book that contains a comprehensive record of the revelation God has sent down to humanity. One set of texts refers to the umm al-kitab, literally ‘mother of the bok,’ which is generally considered to be a way of designating the source of all the scriptures. According to a tradition found in other Islamic sources, on the ‘Night of Power’ the whole Qur’an was sent down from the umm al-kitab to the lowest portion of heaven just above the earth, and from there Gabriel communicated portions of it to Muhammad during the last twenty-two years of his life. This mother book would also then the source for earlier scriptures, like the Gospels and Torah. I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

L I N G U I ST I C WO N D E R S

2: 2. This is the scripture, in which there is no doubt, containing guidance sure for those who are mindful of God. 54: 17. And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?

From hamzatzortzis.com, “The Inimitable Qur’an”

In the following verses Allah has challenged the whole of mankind to try and produce a single chapter like the Qur’an. This challenge, which has remained unmet, captivated the minds of the Arabs at the time of revelation. They rationally assessed that if an Arab cannot challenge the Qur’an and nor could a non-Arab, then the Qur’an is not just for arabs. The Qur’an states: “If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our Messenger, then produce one chapter like it, call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful.” Sura al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2: 23. “Or do they say: “He (Prophet Muhammad) has forged it (this Qur’an)?” Nay! They believe not! Let them then produce a recitation like it (the Qur’an) if they are truthful.” Sura at-Toor (The Mount) 52: 33-34. This is to confirm the divine nature of the Qur’an. These verses issue a challenge to produce a chapter that imitates the unique literary form of the Qur’an. The tools needed to meet this challenge are the finite grammatical rules and the twenty-eight letters that make-up the Arabic alphabet. I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

The Qur’an was revealed over 1430 years ago and the challenge to produce something like the Qur’an has remained to this day. Throughout the centuries, thinkers, poets, theologians and literary critics have attempted to challenge the Qur’an. Some of these challengers in the past have included: Musaylamah; Ibn Al-Mukaffa; Yahya ibn Al-Hakam al-Ghazal and Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad. Without going into an extensive analysis of why Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have agreed that those who have attempted to challenge the Qur’an have failed, the following summary should suffice. Even though the challengers have had the same set of ‘tools’, which are the twenty-eight Arabic letters, finite grammatical rules and the blue print of the challenge – which is the Qur’an itself; they have failed to: 1. Replicate the Qur’an’s literary form 2. Match the unique linguistic nature of the Qur’an 3. Select and arrange words like that of the Qur’an 4. Select and arrange similar grammatical particles 5. Match the Qur’an’s eloquence and sound 6. Equal the frequency of rhetorical devices 7. Match the level of content and information 8. Equal the Qur’an’s conciseness and flexibility So when the Qur’an is translated into another language, although the general meaning becomes apparent, the actual linguistic beauty is lost. The totality of every chapter is a special characteristic of the Qur’an, each having its own unique form and its unique use of literary devices. It is sometimes claimed that the Qur’an should be categorized as poetry, but that is not correct. It is written in a distinct style of prose that has characteristics often associated with poetry. The most distinguishing feature of the text is its rhyme. Some studies have concluded that almost 90 percent of the Qur’an is written in rhymed prose, but it does not always take the form of having the same letter or sound at the end of each verse. The final syllable or word of most verses echoes that of surrounding verses, but this effect is realized through either using the identical sound or relying on assonance that approximates another sound without being the same. The most common way rhyme is achieved in the Qur’an is through the use of word endings. 16

HOW THE CONCEPT OF GOD IS INTRODUCED IN THE QUR’AN From “Introducing the Qur’an,” John Kaltner and From “The Story of

The Qur’an employs a wide variety of literary devices and figures of speech, including metaphors, parables and rich imagery. One such stylistic technique that has generated much discussion among exegetes and commentators is its use of anthropomorphic language to speak of God. Anthropomorphisms like the hand, eye and throne of God are mentioned throughout the text to describe various divine attributes like authority, power and omniscience.

3. Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne, arranging the matter [of His creation]. There is no intercessor except after His permission. That is Allah , your Lord, so worship Him. Then will you not remember? 10:3

This type of language in the Qur’an is usually explained as a way of speaking about the deity in human terms that are immediately understandable to people. The Qur’anic revelation, although transmitted through the Prophet, is not a response to his concerns alone. From an Islamic theological perspective, God created a community of men and women to whom he wanted to speak, in a manner that would have universal and eternal significance for people of other times and places. The main discourse is the oneness and magnitude of the nature of the Creator as presented in the Qur’an. God utilizes ninety-nine attributes, or names, referring to His nature, including Rahman, which translates roughly to the beneficent. Hence, the Qur’an is truly a unique expression of the Arabic language. Nothing has come before or after it that can match its literary form and style.

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At the core of the message that the Prophet Muhammad brought to his contemporaries was a call to shun polytheism and embrace worship of the only one God. “The One” is one of these ninety-nine names of God, and takes place in many instances in the Qur’an.

1. Say, ‘He is God the One, 2. God, the Eternal. 3. He begot no one nor was He begotten 4. No one is comparable to Him.’ 112: 1-4

Another set of titles identifies God’s role as creator. The first is al-Khaliq, or the Creator, which comes from an Arabic root that is commonly used in the Qur’an to describe God’s creative activity. Another title is “the Fashioner,” al-Mussawir. This term comes from an Arabic root that sometimes refers to artistic activity like shaping and sculpting. These two aspects of the divine nature, God’s unity and creative capacity, work in tandem to help shape the Qur’an’s view of humanity and the rest of the natural world. There is no division within God and no separation between God and what God creates. Everything is dependent upon God for its existence and so, in a certain sense, all of creation is imbued with God’s presence. If all is created by God, and God is one, it follows that there is unity and connectedness within the creation. Some other names often used in different forms in the Qur’an are: the AllEncompassing, All-Knowing, Most High, Knower of the Seen and the Unseen, the Forgiver, the Pardoner, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Peace, the Mighty, the Bestower, the All-Hearer, All-Seer, the Subtle, the Sustainer, the Majestic, the Bountiful, the Responder, the Watchful, the Wise, the Loving, and the Truth. 18

HOW THE ARABIC LANGUAGE FRAMES THE QUR’AN From archive.org, “Qur’an, The Linguistic Miracle”

The Arabic language is a unique language, and has many special and unique features which make it suitable for it to convey; many meanings in few words, subtleties, emphasis and powerful imagery through speech alone. If God was to convey a message to mankind, it would be through a language which is easy to learn, and has the highest form of expressiveness. Arabic has all the reasons to be that language. Arabic is an ancient Semitic language, believed to be over 2000 years old. So it has had alot of time to develop, and enrich its meanings and linguistic beauty. Some say it has been inspired and preserved miraculously in its pure form. It has stayed firm and pure to its roots, meaning that words and their meanings which were said over 1,400 years ago are still preserved and documented for us to this day. Unlike many other languages where words change meanings every few generations, and the meaning of the original word is lost. An example in the English language today is the word ‘wicked’ which meant ‘evil’ last generation, but in this generation it means ‘good.’ It may be that 2 generations ahead, ‘wicked’ may only be recognized as meaning ‘good’, possibly making future readers of the language confused. Arabic works with a trilateral root system, which means that most words are made of 3 root consonant letters, and other 1 and 2 letter words with different meanings surrounding that word. It is then for the reader to use his knowledge of the language to separate and distinguish between the letters to understand which letter means what. Arabic is a language which is directly to the point, and removes all unnecessary words from a sentence, so that only the necessary words remain for the sentence to be conveyed, spoken and understood quickly. If we compare Arabic words to other languages, we see there is one major difference. Arabic, unlike many other languages spoken today does not describe objects by mere names given to them, rather - Arabic words are descriptions, which if they match an object, that object will be called by that description. The way the language flows and its rhythm is also something people often marvel at.

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The Arabic Alphabet The letters that construct the Qur’anic language.

jiim

tha

alif

dhaal

daal

kha

daad

saad

sheen

seen

ghayn

‘ayn

‘zha

‘ta

noon

meem

lam

kaf

qaf

ya 20

hamza

waw

IMPACT ON THE WORLD OF LITERATURE From archive.org, “Qur’an, The Linguistic Miracle”

The Qur’an when heard has an ecstatic, almost hypnotic, overwhelming, and euphoric effect to those who understand it, and even to those who don’t. To the extent that the antagonists who heard it from the mouth of Prophet Muhammad accused it of being magic, due to its influence and power on the people when they heard it. It is meant to be read aloud, thus simply reading a translation, or more appropriately interpretation, only goes so far. Even at a literary level – it does not contain exaggerations or unnecessary words like poetry may. Rather it does the exact opposite of accurately choosing the best and most suited words which will describe in the most detail with the fewest of words. The Qur’an contains meaningful, reflective, beneficial, practical and unmatched literary gems in its verses, in comparison to poetry that may contain only a handful of literary gems in the entire poem. The Qur’an contains linguistic scientific marvels which describe modern science, such as embryology in extreme detail and accuracy. The Qur’an being the mother book of Arabic grammar has provided new levels of advancement in the Arabic language which were not found prior to it in any other language. Examples include; maqaam – whereby one would use different parts of a book to gain contextual understanding of the overall picture. When scholars of balagha [Arabic rhetoric] recognized the concept of maqaam (contextualization), they were one thousand years ahead of their time. (In comparison to other languages of the world.) The Qur’an also achieved a well-rounded success in using or introducing all the tools used for a piece of literature to have a powerful effect on all audiences (the experts of language and non-experts alike.) The Qur’an uses sounds, visuals, word play, such as palindromes, isocolons, cadence, hyperboles, words with multiple meanings, chiasmus, metonymy, and rhetoric in the strongest of forms to target and influence the deep inner psyche of the listener. When most read through the stories in the Qur’an, they have reported to find it fruitful. The more these stories are repeated, the more fruitful and beautiful they become to the reader. The Qur’an to its readers is reported not to become “old” or “outdated” when it is repeatedly recited.

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THE BISMILLAH AND THE MYSTERY LETTERS From “Introducing the Qur’an,” John Kaltner

Every chapter in the Qur’an but one begins with the same phrase—”in the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.” This formula is sometimes referred to as the bismillah, based on the Arabic words that translate “in the name of God.” Only in the case of the first chapter, Sura al-Fatiha, is the bismillah considered to be the first verse of the chapter. Everywhere else it functions as a superscription or introduction to the chapter. The bismillah is missing only in chapter nine, and two main reasons have been proposed for its absence there. It might be that chapters eight and nine were originally one unit that was separated at a certain point. Another explanation holds that chapter nine is unsuitable to begin with the bismillah because one of its main themes is the punishment that God will exact on idolaters and others who do not obey the divine will. The expression is also found in 27:30, where it is the introduction to a letter that King Solomon, considered another Prophet of God, sends to the Queen of Sheba. The full text reads bismilllahir rahmanir rahim, which every chapter is openly signifying God’s two greatest attributes, being that he is compassionate and the most merciful. This reminds the reciter that God’s mercy outweighs his wrath. This phrase or prayer is recited daily in Muslim life, before beginning an activity, before eating and at the time of preparing or serving halal, or permissible and lawful food. It also appears often in different Arabic calligraphic forms and art works denoting these two traits of God in Islam.

raheem

-ir rahmanir-

-lah mil-

-bis

This break down shows how Qur’anic Arabic is read. Read from right to left, this is a classic script setting of the bismillah. The first part bis is interpreted as in the name, mil-lah, of God, ir-rahman, the Lord of Mercy, ir-rahim, the Giver of Mercy. The elongated dialectic marks denote emphasis on those letters. 22

Another curious aspect of the Qur’an that has generated much discussion and fascination among scholars and non-scholars alike is the presence of a few letters from the Arabic language at the beginnings of twenty-nine different chapters. In a few cases these are single letters, but most of the time they consist of groups of two or more. Muslim tradition has referred to this phenomenon as “the opening letters” or “the cut-off letters,” and various explanations have been put forward to account for them. Among other theories, it has been suggested that they are abbreviations for the names of God or names of Qur’an chapters, division markers between chapters, symbols of numerical values, or secret messages that are shortened words and phrases. None of these proposals are fully agreed upon, thus Muslims often adhere that the meaning of these letters is a secret known to God alone. The following verses show some of these letters.

1. YA -SEEN [part of the mystery letters] 2. By the wise Qur’an. 3. Indeed, you [O Muhammad] are among the messengers, 4. On a straight path. 5. This is a revelation from the Exalted in might, the Merciful 36: 1-5

1. HA-MEEM [part of the mystery letters] 2. The revelation of the Book is from Allah , the Exalted in Might, the Knowing. 3. The forgiver of sin, acceptor of repentance, severe in punishment, owner of abundance. There is no deity except Him; to Him is the destination. 40: 1-3 I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND MORALITY

12. And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. 13. Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. 14. Then We made the sperm-drop into a leech-like clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best to create. 23: 12-14 From webmedcentral.com, “Quran, New Sciences and Development of Human Embryo”

These verses of the Qur’an descriptively mention that at the first stage, man was formed from components contained in clay. Most scholars of the Qur’an understand the creation of man out of ‘an extraction of clay’ as referring specifically to the Prophet Adam. Other scholars entertain the possibility that God might be referring to man’s body that consists of various chemical components, such as iron, phosphorus and carbon. These chemical components are also found in clay. The second stage of man’s creation, as mentioned in this sura, is the development of the diminutive quantity nutfah, or mixed liquids. Many modern researchers interpret nutfah as zygote formed by the union of a true mixture of the sperm and ovum. Nutfah in Arabic means “very little water” or “a drop of water”. This coincides with man’s water which contains sperms as part of its components. The sperm is reproduced from the despised lowly water. ‘Mudgha, as mentioned in this verse in Arabic, means a chewed-like material. This gives an accurate description of the embryonic stage as the embryo shape looks like a chewed material which constantly changes, with the appearance of somites bulges. The differences in these somites look like the teeth imprints over a I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

bread bite. The embryo turns and rolls in the cavity of the uterus as a piece of chewed material in the mouth. Transformation from the mudgha form to the beginning of the skeleton form occurs in a very short period of time at the end of the 6th week and the beginning of the 7th week. Therefore, the verse uses the Arabic conjunctive article (fa) instead of (thumma) to indicate a quick sequence of events. This stage is characterized with the appearance of the skeleton which gives the embryo the human image. The term of izam (bones), coined by the Qur’an, accurately expresses this stage in the life of the embryo, which includes the external appearance and is considered the most important change in the internal structure, with its associated new relations among body organs and regularity of embryo shape. This stage is clearly distinguished from the preceding stage of mudgha (chewedlike lump of flesh). Bone formation is a notable process in this stage, as the embryo is transformed from the image of mudgha which has no features of the human image. This skeleton gives the embryo more of an image of a human being after being clothed with lahm (muscles and flesh). The two eyes and the two lips then appear, and the head is differentiated from the trunk and the limbs. The stage of “clothing with flesh” is characterized with muscles encircling and tightly surrounding the bones. With the completion of clothing the bones with lahm, the human image starts to be more clear, as human parts are appropriately connected. After completion of myogenesis (muscle formation), the embryo can start to move. After the development of the cartilaginous skeleton, clothing it with muscles, and the head and the limbs are distinguished, the embryo changes into the definitive human form. This is the “new creation.” Until very recently, embryologists assumed that the bones and muscles in an embryo developed at the same time. For this reason, for a long time, some people claimed that these verses conflicted with science. More recently, advanced microscopic research conducted by virtue of new technological developments has revealed that these verses of the Qur’an is word for word correct. A majority of both Muslim and non-Muslim scientists agree to this analysis. There was no technology 1400 years ago that would allow to see the embryonic process and certainly was not visible to the naked eye. The use of the word “leech-like” is also perfectly descriptive of the human embryo at 25 days when compared to the internal structure, and the back-sucker of a leech. Many see this as a miracle for Muhammad to have known as he was illiterate and in the middle of a desert. 26

The growth of the human embryo at 23 - 26 days.

The internal structure of a leech.

THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH From “Introducing the Qur’an,” John Kaltner and quranandscience.com, “The Sun is a Great Lamp, and the Moon Gives Light”

When the Qur’an utilizes the phrase, “the heavens and the earth,” it is usually used in a way to include everything that exists between the two. There are many references in the Qur’an to God’s creating everything. Many verses testify that the creation is not a random occurence, rather that the creation is a structured system with meaning and significance. This is one reason why the unity of creation is an important concept in Islam—in the Qur’anic worldview, everything works together to achieve a common purpose. In the Qur’an’s cosmology, the sky is understood to be a type of dome or roof that covers the earth. This is similar also to the Biblical understanding of the sky as expressed in Genesis 1. But according to one text, things were not always this way. It is either understood that heaven and earth were originally one entity that was split apart by God, resulting in the world as we know it. The other standpoint is that it was a two-step process, with the earth created before the heaven. In another verse, it states that the earth was created in the first two days and the heavens are brought about in days five and six. In a few places, the Qur’an speaks of God creating seven heavens, one above the other. There is an allusion to the sun and other heavenly bodies, which describes the level nearest the earth as illuminated and protected. The nature I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

of this protection is explained in other texts that add the detail that some of the heavenly bodies, probably a reference to meteors, act as weapons that are hurled from the heavens at demons and other enemies of humanity.

25: 61. Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp and luminous moon. 55: 5. The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation, 55: 6. And the stars and trees prostrate.

More than fourteen centuries ago, the Qur’an indicated the difference between stars and planets and their relations, as well as between the sun and the moon. Modern astronomers only discovered this fact recently after the telescope was invented and after applying photometric and spectrogram researches. Stars are luminous celestial bodies whereas planets are dark celestial bodies that reflect the light received from stars and the sun as do all other natural satellites of the planets and (moons). Interestingly, the word “day” or yawm appears 365 times in the Qur’an. The word “month” appears 12 times. The sun is a mega atomic pile swimming very fast in space and has many various forms of light, heat, and energy. It is not just a bright disk; rather it is like a shining lamp, whereas the moon is a planet that reflects the light of the sun to lighten the night on earth. The Qur’an also speaks of everything having a specified term of existence. Scientists have also confirmed that the sun will ultimately burn out. There are also verses illustrating the idea that the night covers the day, and the day is brought out of the night. How an illiterate man in the middle of a desert came to know these things is a marvel to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. 28

1. By the sun in its morning brightness 2. and by the moon as it follows it 3. by the day as it displays its glory 4. and by the night as it covers it, 5. by the sky and how He built it 6. and by the earth and how he spread it 7. by the soul and how He formed it 8. and inspired it to know its own rebellion and piety! 9. the one who purifies the soul succeeds 91: 1-9

ANIMALS From “Introducing the Qur’an,” John Kaltner

Six chapters in the Qur’an have titles associated with animals: The Cow (2), Livestock (6), The Bee (16), The Ant (27), The Spider (29), and The Elephant (105). The titles of chapters 79 and 100 are usually considered references to horses. In addition, animals are mentioned fairly frequently in the text, with more than two hundred passages making reference to one or more types of creatures, including birds, fish, reptiles and insects. Despite their fairly strong presence in the text, however, the Qur’an does not contain very much detailed information about the animals it mentions. The two most common Arabic words in the text for animals are an’am (plural) and singular na’am, which is used thirty-three times to describe cattle or livestock, and dabba which is used to refer to any non-human living creature. The two animals that serve as chapter titles describe their activity, which is a rare occurrence to actually describe animal life in the Qur’an. Some of the bee’s traits and habits are discussed in 16:68-69, stating that God told the bee to build their hives in mountains and trees and whatever humans build, as well as to eat from every fruit, humbly. Then it is stated to the reader that from within the bee, their comes a drink of different colors that is healing to the people. Following the pattern that has been seen with other elements of the created world, the bee is to be a sign for humans., as by God’s leave it makes honey for human use. I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

The other animals whose habits are described is the spider, but here the example is negative. The spider’s capacity to weave a web is compared to people who depend on other things aside from God to sustain them, and their webs are these flimsy, fragile homes that are easily destroyed. The clearest distinction the Qur’an makes among land animals is based on their mode of locomotion—it distinguishes among those that crawl on their bellies, those that move on two legs, and those that get around on four legs. The colorful array of shades and tones found among the animals is further evidence of the diversity that God has introduced into the world. The Qur’an also refers to animals and everything else in the earth as being made subservient to humanity, and that animals can be used in various ways, not just as food.

UNSEEN CREATURES: ANGELS AND JINN From “Introducing the Qur’an,” John Kaltner

The Qur’an’s cosmology also includes other beings that, while not human, are capable of interacting with humanity. These beings are not part of the physical environment that people inhabit as normally conceived. They do however continue to play an important role in Islam. The angels, creatures without free will created to serve God and the Jinn, creatures with free will in a dimension parallel to that of the human world. The Arabic term for angel is malak, a word found thirteen times in the Qur’an. Most angels in the text remain unnamed, but some, like Gabriel and Michael, are identified by name. The primary distinction between them is the number of wings they have, and their assigned duties. Angels are primarily messengers, and they are made from light, that is probably ultraviolet, invisible to the naked eye. The concept of angels sitting on either shoulder of every human recording their good and bad deeds is also taught in the Qur’an. The Qur’an teaches that angels were with God when humanity was first created. It states that angels at first were reluctant for God to create a creature of free will because of the problems that will result, but, God shows a special preference for humanity. The Qur’an states that then God created Adam, and asked the angels and the jinn to bow to him, not in worship, but reverence.

This other group of supernatural beings is the jinn, from which the English word Genie comes. Belief in jinn predated the coming of the Qur’an. They are said to be invisible creatures created from a smokeless fire, sometimes associated with animals or other parts of the natural world, who interacted with humans and influenced their lives in both positive and negative ways. The jinn, like humans, are said to marry, reproduce, work, eat and sleep. Many of the references to them in the Qur’an are found in the phrase “jinn and humans,” or vice versa, showing the close connection between their two spheres of existence even though people are incapable of seeing jinn. It is believed that jinn can possess people and cause them to act erratically. Amongst the jinn are also good and evil, as they too have free will, and will ultimately die and be resurrected to be judged for the afterlife. The only jinn mentioned by name is Satan, also known as the devil, or Iblis in the Qur’an.

35: 1. [All] praise is [due] to Allah , Creator of the heavens and the earth, [who] made the angels messengers having wings, two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills. Indeed, Allah is capable of all things. 18: 50. And [mention] when We said, “Prostrate to Adam,” and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was of the jinn and disobeyed his Lord. Then will you take him and his descendants as allies other than Me while they are enemies to you? Wretched it is for the wrongdoers as an exchange.

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LOVE AND KINSHIP The most basic social unit mentioned in the Qur’an is the nuclear family, comprising husband, his wife or wives and their offspring. Family relations are to be marked by closeness and intimacy and this is most clearly seen in the conjugal relationship between spouses. In a simile that is striking for its imagery and simplicity, one verse refers to a couple as each other’s clothing, or protecting garments, as compliments to one another and supporters of each other, loving only for God’s sake, read in 2: 187. Both play an egalitarian role in Islam. Like most other things, love is understood in the Qur’an in primarily theocentric terms. References to love between humans are relatively rare and tend to be general in nature. However passages that discuss love in relation to God, as both subject and object, are more numerous and detailed. This emotion, which is at the core of family life, therefore serves to support the theological agenda of the Qur’an, which highlights God as love’s source and perfect manifestation.

ETHICS AND MORALITY A book of guidance is ultimately a book about ethics and morality. So it should not surprise us to discover that the Qur’an contains numerous verses and passages about moral and ethical concerns. Gratitude is the prime moral value of the Qur’an and the foundation of its ethics and morality. Again and again, we are asked to be thankful to God. “The signs of God are there to see for every steadfast and thankful person” (14:5). “God provides you with good things so that you might be grateful,” (8:26) and “God always rewards gratitude.” (4:147). Gratitude comes both from the heart and the mind. It is a reflection of the feeling of awe at the wonders of God’s creation, it is dismayed neither by terror nor by despair, and, like true love, it cannot be forced or controlled. Yet, unlike love, it generates perspective and discernment that lead to critical capacity and awareness. This is why gratitude in the Qur’an is always connected to God’s favors, and believers are asked to be grateful. In contrast, the Qur’an also sometimes deplores the behavior of ungrateful or graceless people, acknowledging that even though God is bountiful, most are ungrateful. This is not to condescend, but to ignite gratitude. 32

Both gratitude and ingratitude manifest themselves through service or lack of service to humanity. Gratitude has external as well as internal, personal dimensions. Externally, it expresses itself by working to improve the lives of others and enhancing the environment we inhabit. The Qur’an gives great importance to charity, to helping the orphans, the needy and the old, and spending one’s wealth on good causes. Helping those less fortunate than oneself is not an incidental, part-time concern for believers; gratitude demands that in one way or another one’s entire life is devoted to promoting equity and human dignity, peace and harmony, and conserving and preserving the environment. The most profound way of thanking God, as most Muslims deter from reading the Qur’an, is to enhance our humanity and beautify the garden of the creation. The challenge is both collective and individual. The same moral and ethical principles are an exhortation and imperative for the community. The greatest gratitude is to organize and operate an entire society that delivers human dignity, peace, justice, equity for all, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Indeed, the whole point of the Qur’an’s moral and ethical principles is that they are not branded products, not a special preserve of Muslims alone. In a complex heterodox, multicultural society, they cannot be achieved by Muslims in isolation. They are principles that dictate the need for common aims and objectives, for collaboration with people of other faiths and no faith, a fact for which we should be truly thankful, since it offers a realistic way to achieve peace, if we learn to implement the guidance properly. Internally, gratitude is about two specific values that the Qur’an mentions repeatedly: patience and moderation. The Qur’an divides patience into three components. First, patience requires endurance, but endurance in the face of affliction is not fatalism. It is about steadfastness, the second element of patience. Affliction is endured patiently because there is always hope if, with determination, we steadfastly follow the path of virtue. Third, patience is about self-control and seeking righteousness without being distracted by the glamor of the world or materialistic and physical desire.

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The Qur’anic idea of patience is not passive but proactive. In expressing our gratitude to God by seeking equity and justice, we can err by straying into selfrighteousness, feebleness or violence. This is why patience is associated in the Qur’an with strength, discipline and persistence. It is not about succumbing to the misfortunes and hurdles, but control of the self in the face of opposition, resolve in the task of striving for social transformation. The function of patience is to persevere, against all odds, in striving for greater good. Moderation has two elements. First, moderation requires restraint in all we do. Whether the good we seek is service to others or charity, the Qur’an states we need to follow the middle path. Temperance is necessary, the Qur’an tells us, even in worship. And we should certainly be moderate in what we say and what we do. Second, moderation based on gratitude requires humility. Humility is acceptance that perhaps we don’t have the full story, the whole truth, the absolute definitive answer. The Qur’an advises not to strut arrogantly about the earth, not to just hubris towards others but also towards the flora and the fauna of the planet, the kind of built environment we create and how we study and seek to understand nature. The Qur’an promises paradise to those who do not seek superiority on the earth. Thus, just like patience, the Qur’an links humility with strength, not weakness.

8: 26. ...but He sheltered you, supported you with His victory, and provided you with good things - that you might be grateful. 2: 152. So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me. 27: 40. ...“This is from the favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful - his gratitude is only for his own benefit. And whoever is ungrateful - then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous.”

AS IT APPLIES TO SOCIETY Now the purpose of all this moderation and patience is not just individual salvation. Clearly, the individuals will benefit, in this world and the next as the Qur’an states, by following its moral guidance. But these moral precepts also have a social dimension. Societies also need to be moderate and patient, and shun the pursuit of superiority in favor of modesty and gratitude. The personal and social moral imperatives lead in the same direction: the well-being of and harmony in society. The Qur’an challenges the individual and society to transcend their will to power for working together to address the moral and ethical concerns of humanity as a whole, by answering God’s call ‘to that which gives you life.’ Thus, the Qur’an suggests we can, perhaps, enhance our humanity and enrich life in all its exuberance and fullness. But that still leaves a burning question: why do bad things happen to good people, best efforts go awry and the worst of human potential regularly make its appearance, and even win the day? No one of faith can be so lacking in imagination as to be unaware of the problem. Faith is no gold chip guarantee, nor is that what the Qur’an necessarily promises. The first, inescapable reality of faith is that this life is not all there is, as posed in the Qur’an. The essence of belief in the Hereafter, our continuation beyond this life, is exactly the reason to persevere in doing as much good as one is able, despite the bad things that happen. Only if one loses sight of the life in the Hereafter is there a reason to give up when best efforts turn to dust in your hands and society seems to be going to hell in a hand basket in your eyes. Second, if bad things are a negation of the promise of faith, and the outcome of gratitude to God is good results, then faith itself becomes an entirely materialist proposition. It is very easy to reduce this equation to the personal and individual counsel of self-satisfied complacency, the sanctimonious self-righteousness that says so much ‘good’ done, so many reward points accumulated—’I’m all right, mate, pity to you!’ This is exactly where the Qur’an’s insistence on the social dimension is so essential and so great a saving grace. When is the state of the world such that anyone can simply rest assured?

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Faith is not a guarantee. We have free will, freedom of choice and responsibility for our actions as limited human beingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;people with a lot to learn. Faith is a guide, a source of resolve, a reservoir of strength in striving to make things better, not a certainty that all will be well. It is we fallible humans who have put in the effort to make it work and keep it up and running. Faith is about the work we have to do, not something that will be done for us because we have faith. If simply believing and being grateful were enough, we would neither have free will and personal responsibility nor live in a world with other people equally as free as ourselves. But having faith is large in part, as the Qurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;an emphasizes and amplifies, as seeing ourselves and our problems from a larger perspective.

4: 29. O you who have believed, do not consume one anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful. 2: 267. O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective therefrom, spending [from that] while you would not take it [yourself] except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.

CONCLUSION The Qur’an is a dynamic, interconnected text. It does not present a static view of society; but actively encourages change, evolution, progress and asks us constantly to adjust to that change. But to discover the underlying dynamics of the Qur’an one needs to do much more than simply read its verses in isolation and assume that what the verse says is all there is. One needs to connect one segment of the text to the next, and many other segments throughout the text. Movement becomes visible when these connections are made, and a whole new dynamic of meaning emerges. The meaning evolves, develops and changes the more connections are made and the more we see the Qur’an as an integrated text. From its verses it tells us that the world itself and all that is in it, the creation of God, is complex, full of intricacies and not amenable to simplistic analyses of situations and problems. They suggest that choices we make always involve oppositions, and many moral choices require us to think seriously about intended and unintended consequences. They express a general way of looking at the world, incorporating complexity and change as natural and essential. To understand the overall message of the Qur’an, the time and place of revelation has to be taken seriously, the days of Muhammad and his society. Learning as much as possible about the language, customs, circumstances and personalities at the time of revelation should heighten the sense of the distinction between what is specific and that which is universal and timeless. Understanding its ideals has been essential for releasing the universal and timeless for Muslims, which makes the Qur’an relevant and alive in any time and in any situation, hence its having come so far in time and widely adhered to. Of course, there is a possibility, within a self-critical reflection that there is error in this writing, in which case, I seek refuge in the words of the Qur’an itself: “You will not be blamed if you make a mistake, only for what your hearts deliberately intended, God is most forgiving and merciful,” from the fifth verse of the 33rd chapter, Sura al-Ahzab. I hope my intention is clear and I have made a small contribution with this brief introduction to the permanent work in progress that is human engagement with the living Qur’an.

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APPENDIX List of Verses Mentioned (In Order of Appearance) 39 Selected Recitations 40 (Links to videos with subtitles - scannable with QR code reader) Bibliography 41

LIST OF VERSES MENTIONED (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE IN THIS TEXT) Sura Al-Alaq, “The Clinging Substance” Chapter 96, Verses 1-5 Sura ar-Rum, “The Romans” Chapter 30, Verse 22 Sura al-Hijr, “The Stoneland” Chapter 15, Verse 9 Sura al-Wa’qiah, “The Inevitable,” Chapter 56, Verses 77-80 Sura al-e-Imran, “Family of Imran,” Chapter 3, Verse 3, 113-114 Sura al-Baqarah, “The Cow,” Chapter 2, Verse 79, 2, 23, 152, 267 Sura al-Qamar, “The Moon,” Chapter 54, Verse 17 Sura at-Toor, “The Mount,” Chapter 52, Verses 33, 34 Sura Yunus, “Jonah,” Chapter 10, Verse 3 Sura al-Ikhlas, “The Sincerity,” Chapter 112, Verses 1-4 Sura Ya-Sin, “Ya Sin,” Chapter 36, Verses 1-5 Sura Ghafir, “The Forgiver,” Chapter 40, Verses 1-3 Sura al-Mu’minun, “The Believers,” Chapter 23, Verses 12-14 Sura al-Fur’qan, “The Criterion,” Chapter 25, Verse 61 Sura ar-Rahman, “The Beneficent,” Chapter 55, Verses 5-6 Sura ash-Shams, “The Sun,” Chapter 91, Verses 1-9 Sura Fatir, “Originator,” Chapter 35, Verse 1 Sura al-Kahf, “The Cave,” Chapter 18, Verse 50 Sura al-Anfal, “The Spoils of War,” Chapter 8, Verse 26 Sura an-Naml, “The Ant,” Chapter 27, Verse 40 Sura an-Nisa, “Women,” Chapter 4, Verse 29

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S E L E C T E D R E C I TAT I O N S

(With on-screen translationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;scan with phone QR code reader.)

Sura al-Fatiha, The Opener, Chapter 1 by Abdul Hadi Youtube.com

Sura al-Kahf, The Cave, Chapter 18 by Faisal ar-Rashood Youtube.com

Sura ar-Rahman, The Beneficent, Chapter 55 by Sheikh Abdur-Rahman as-Sudais Youtube.com

Sura al-Hashr, The Gathering, Chapter 59 by Murtada Bakour Youtube.com

Sura ash-Shams, The Sun, Chapter 91 by Omar Hisham al Arabi Youtube.com

Sura al-Alaq, The Clinging Substance, Chapter 96 by Sheikh Abdur-Rahman as-Sudais Youtube.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abdel Haleem, MAS. The Qur’an A New Translation Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004 Kaltner, John. Introducing the Qur’an for Today’s Reader Minneapolis, MN USA: Fortress Press, 2011 Mattson, Ingrid. The Story of the Qur’an Its History and Place in Muslim Life, Second Edition. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2013 Robinson, Neal. Discovering the Qur’an, Second Edition Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2003 Sardar, Ziauddin. Reading the Qur’an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011 Islam101.com: What is the Qur’an 2008. http://www.islam101.com/dawah/WhatIsQuran.html Wikipedia: Al-Alaq: Part of a Series on the Qur’an 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Alaq Islamic Information and Services Network of Australia: Five Pillars of Islam 2014. http://www.iisna.com/articles/pamphlets/the-five-pillars-of-islam/ HamzaTzortzis.com: The Qur’ans Challenge: A Literary & Linguistic Miracle 2014. http://www.hamzatzortzis.com/essays-articles/exploring-the-quran/theinimitable-quran/ Archive.org: The Linguistic Miracle 2001. https://archive.org/stream/Quran-TheLinguisticMiraclelinguisticmiracle. com/Quran-the_Linguistic_Miracle-LinguisticMiracle.com_djvu.txt Mohsen M, Esmaeilzadeh M, Hamid S.: Quran, New Sciences and Development of Human Embryo. 2011. http://www.webmedcentral.com/article_view/2260 Quranandscience.com: The Sun is a Great Lamp, and the Moon Gives Light 2013.http://www.quranandscience.com/index.php/quran-science/ universe/293-the-sun-is-a-great-lamp-and-the-moon-gives-light I N S I G H T S F R O M T H E Q U R ’A N

This single volume was designed and hand bound by Ian Bakar. Apart from the Preface, all articles in this book are from the listed corresponding source. The text is set in 10 pt Ideal Sans Light with Gotham HTF Book for display. Hoefler & Frere-Jones Type Co. designed this typeface in 2012. Gotham HTF, the display type for chapter headers, was also designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones in 2000. Printed on a digital press in the spring of 2014. Designed and bound at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.