The Interpretation of the Holy Quran - Assignment Example

The Interpretation of the Holy Quran The Qur'an is described as the most influential and important text in the Islamic faith tradition. Could you describe some general trends in the ways the Qur'an has been interpreted from the early days of Islam to the present, both among Muslims and non-Muslims? Introduction Qur’an is the book regarded in Islam as one of the complete text which unfolds the meaning and way of life. It is the last of the Holy Scriptures revealed on the last prophet according to the Islamic faith. There is a special bond between the spiritual virtues and their materialization in the form of stories mentioned in the Qur’an such as the prophets’ lives from the early eras. These interpretive challenges are found in the Bible also. Qur’an suggests constructive methods of interpreting the script with accordance to the traditional chain from earlier times. The religious scholars of any religion take it upon their shoulders to interpret their respective Holy Scriptures after many years of study and in-depth research with the aid of other senior scholars. The interpretation of Qur’an has varied from time to time and hence if today its interpretations are viewed from the beginning, one can easily classify them into several ages starting with the classical period which was the earliest period to have interpreted Qur’an and closest to the time when the last prophet had died. The post-classical period can be stated as the age of confusion and multiplicity (Hunter 2009). Hence, the interpretation of the Qur’an done during the post-classical period is different from the one done in the classical age. The Classical Period The most significant form of exegesis is the interpretation based on the text or the tradition. This can be properly labeled as the tradition-based exegesis which means that the interpretation of the Qur’an should be channelized by the Qur’an, the Prophet and the earliest Muslims. Stress is laid on the original source of Islam (Saeed 2006). Tafsir which is the classical science of interpretation and elucidation of the Qur’an took its form in the early tenth century. It claims that Qur’an is the word of Allah (God) which was revealed on the last Prophet Muhammad through divine inspiration and is preserved by Allah Himself. Hence, it is considered to be a unique and peerless miracle. It is considered to be a right of every human to study and contemplate on the meaning of the Holy Scripture word to word to discover the underlying meaning of each verse. An allegorical form of interpretation is thus done to develop this inner meaning of the scripture since the Qur’an is the decisive factor through which other matters are resolved (Sookhdeo 2006). Muhammad, the prophet on whom the Qur’an was revealed was given the responsibility to interpret it through his words and actions which became to be known as the hadith or the sunnah that eventually became the second means of interpretation which expounded on the Qur’an. Hence one can categorize the five different traditional sources which are means of commentary on the Qur’an, namely “The Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad’s explanation, The Sahaba’s (companions of Prophet Muhammad) reports, the reports of the followers of companions” and lastly with connection to all the above “the reason”. Qur’an being the word of God is authoritative in its explanation. The Prophet was sent to clarify the meaning of the Qur’an. After Prophet Muhammad, the companions followed his footsteps in reiterating what he had taught and practiced on the basis of Qur’an but where the Qur’anic interpretation and the tradition of the Prophet is silent, then a consensus of the companions may be accommodated in the interpretation. Similarly the followers of the companions of the Prophet are considered next in line in their opinion on such matters. The present day scholars are accommodated in the use of the final method of interpretation of the meaning of the Qur’an. A qualified scholar would give his personal reasoning (ijtihad) to an argument based on his understanding of the all the above mentioned methods (Sookhdeo 2006). The classical form of exegesis as followed by the exegetes dealt with “linguistic issues, juristic issues, and theological issues”. These issues required an understanding of the Arabic language in which the Qur’an is originally revealed. The importance of law (shariah) was another concern for the scholars who mainly dealt with the issues of legality and defining the commandments of God as ordained in the Qur’an. Another set of concerns in the interpretation of the Qur’an were traits of the prophets and the issue of free will and predestination. The interpreters were also preoccupied with the reconciliation of the two extremes (Sookhdeo 2006). The process of interpretation mainly leads to its purpose, that is, the teaching of the Qur’an. They main aim of teaching the Holy Scripture is to pass on the chain of tradition to keep it alive. Qur’an lays stress on the intention of the reader. This is summed up by the traditional scholars in the following words: “You should seek to understand each verse as though it were revealed directly to you” (Cornell 2007). The meaning and interpretation clash occasionally because of the second degree of translation. For a non-Arab, the meaning is already colored because an exact meaning can never exist except for the closest translation which is a humble attempt by the translators. As mentioned earlier this is categorized as a linguistic issue. The interpretation of the translated text is twice removed from the original, hence the stress on understanding of Arabic language. From this issue springs another concern of the Muslims who fearfully claim that the translation can cause the distortion of meaning. This may cause the meaning to be damaged and cause inaccuracy. Similarly, a non-Muslim or anti-Muslim who makes an effort to translate the Holy Scripture might induce the fear of attempting mischief amongst the Muslims (Bennett 2010). The Transition With regard to the linguistic perspective, a subset of the tradition-based exegesis namely the linguistic exegesis “ignores or rejects the socio-historical context of the Qur’an in interpretation”. Both the classical and modern Textualists regard the early interpretation of the Qur’an especially its ethico-legal content as the most authoritative and authentic. The modern Textualists follow their classical counterpart and strongly believe that the earliest Muslim interpretation of the Quran is the most legitimate (Saeed 2006). The reformation in the Islamic thought as it occurred in the modern times gave rise to several renowned scholars who stood against any false claims regarding the interpretation of the Qur’an. Fazlur Rahman, the Pakistani-American scholar of the twentieth century was known to have fought this challenge with succinctness. On being appointed the director of the Islamic Research Institute, established by Ayyub Khan, Rahman took upon his shoulders to maintain the tradition of Qur’an alive. His thoughts and efforts, however, were most influential and regarded in countries like Indonesia and Turkey. He mainly dealt with the reforms in “Islamic education, Qur’anic hermeneutics, hadith criticism, early development of Islamic intellectual traditions, reforms of Islamic law and Islamic ethics” (Taji-Farouki 2004). The Post-Classical Period Ever since the nineteenth century, attempts have been made to modernize the Islamic law by reconsidering the fifth method of interpretation, ijtihad. In this regard, there were was subdivision of groups according to their intentions of such kind of reformation. One group wanted to modernize and liberalize Islam to keep pace with time and contemporary civilizations. Another group believed in a more strict and puritanical faith which must not be influenced by time and various other elements such as culture. But the modern interpretation of the Qur’an is based on the following principles: i “Use of scientific reason and methodology to interpret the Koran, or use of the Koran itself and rejection of extraneous material found in hadith and earlier commentaries ii Divesting the Koran of presumed legendary traits, fantastic stories, magic, fables, and superstitions, and focusing instead on symbolic interpretation iii Rationalizing Islamic doctrine by basing it solely or mainly on the Koran.” The characteristics of modernist interpretation of the Qur’an can be summed up in the following points: a Significance of the spiritual aspect of Qur’an. b Lesser stress in the linguistic exegesis. c Emphasis on modern concerns of economics, society, moral and political spheres affecting Muslims. d Using exegesis to advance in the above mentioned spheres for reformation purposes. e “The assumption that Koranic suras are unities with significant order and coherence” f Efforts to demonstrate unity between science and Islam g Rejecting the concept of following the tradition through a chain of scholars and reconsidering reason as the main source of achieving goal. Reason or ijtihad is considered to be a God-given method of reforming the society and politics. It is considered by the modernist as the essential component of the vitality of Islam. They believe that by being strict and closing the chain after the followers of the companion has created decay in the Muslim civilization (Sookhdeo 2006). Here is will right to mention how a non-Muslim approaches this situation. For Christian scholar it is seen as a diplomatic race. He advises his Christian and Muslim students to read the Qur’an in a more sympathetic fashion and as objectively as possible. He therefore attempts to read Qur’an as a Muslim should read and urges his students to take a more phenomenological approach to the text (Aydin 2002). Coming back to the modernist era of the Muslim interpretation of the Qur’an one wonders whether if holds any significance as opposed to a non-Muslims’ interpretation of the same Scripture. Modernist interpretation demands a renewal of faith by way of giving up on the traditional or classical approach. These reformers see no harm in rejecting common law and the “popular Sufi practices”. In the post-classical era there is widespread demand of the commentaries of the Qur’an as the sole changing force for the society at large (Sookhdeo 2006). Reformation even had a great impact on the conceptual basis of certain terms such as jihad which primarily means to strive in the name of God. The “technical signification occurred only in the post-classical period,” whereby it was understood and transmitted that jihad is not all about fighting or waging war against the non-believers (Aziz 2007). A non-Muslim would seek the interpretation of the Qur’an in a historicist aspect but he will be compelled to remove the traditionalist aspect because he is not part of the practice himself. Going against the tradition is not an easy task because such is a challenge considered with hostility by the Traditionalists (Sardar 2011). Among the reformist the famous names include Sayyid Ahmed Khan of India (1817-98). He wrote the first modernist interpretation of the Qur’an Tafsir al-Koran. The Qur’an was re-interpreted and understood in light of reason and attempted to accommodate the Western influence along with modern coloration to reconcile the growing distance with the rest of the world. Traditional Islam was urged to blend with the modern science so that the non-Muslims could understand what the Muslims were actually trying to do. According to Khan it was the need of the time to clarify the Muslims’ stance on life and death, which could only be done through such modifications in the interpretation. The law was made to be reinterpreted in accordance with modern context. Laws, therefore, subject to change depending upon the circumstances. Only “ibadat (“regulations governing worship and religious rituals”) were perfect and immutable” because this had to do with an individual and not the community at large. This basically sums up and represents all the reformists and modernists of the post-classical era. Other scholars of this age include Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849–1905) and his influence in the Egyptian reform and Fazlur Rahman (1919–88) of Pakistan who was mentioned earlier (Sookhdeo 2006). Sects, Reformists, Feminism and Islamicists The sects formed within the religion led to a further distortion of the interpretation of Qur’an. In the early twentieth the Shia also called for reform in the Qur’anic interpretation. Ali Shariati of the Iranian Islamic revolution diverted from Khomeini’s traditional brand of theology. He integrated modernity with Islam and invited the Western political and sociological thought into the Muslim ideology. In the midst of these reforms arose the Feminists’ outcry and demand of clarity in the Qur’an of women’s rights. Hence there was a reformist group of Malaysian sisters in Islam raising their voice in favor of equality and freedom (Sookhdeo 2006). Man always craves for innovations and modernity. It attracts him naturally and leaves him with a sense of wonder. Muhammad Taqi Usmani in his book “Islam and Modernism” explains in detail how it has become the greatest challenge for the Islamic world today to recognize the limits of "Modernity". He says that with the invention of Machines, industrial and material progress came about and affected all spheres of life. This great revolution emerged out of human intellect rather than Divine Revelation (Wahi) and thus lacked Divine guidance. The principles and laws of Islam would suffice for all times to come. And in this context Usmani emphasizes that industrial revolution which has become a necessity in the Islamic world should be free of the profanities of Western civilization. Modernists have made loud claims of making prohibited deeds such as usury and interest permissible with an excuse that time has changed. In another article “Research and Distortion”, Usmani gives a critique of an article by Dr. Fazlur Rahman, which raises the concerns of the need for useful work. The people undertaking these researches are unable to differentiate between the terms "research" and "distortion". The author suggests that in order to conform to the ideology of Islam at all times, one needs to explore the guidelines of Islam provided about the problems being faced with the mankind in twentieth century. Qur’anic interpretation would eventually fall on track and continued to be revered as the traditionalists always followed it (Usmani et al 2008). Conclusion To sum up the endless trend in a few words, one can speak of the interpretation of the Qur’an as an issue dealing in biasness due to the changing times. The primary goal of the interpretation is the self-development and analysis of one’s intentions. There is a hierarchy in the process of interpretation of the Holy Scripture which was revealed to the last Prophet Muhammad. This chain is not similar to that of the Royalty but it is revered by Traditionalist who believe that there are five methods through which a Qur’an was meant to be interpreted namely the actual word of God, the explanation of that text with the help of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and actions, the opinion of the companions of the Prophet and the opinion of those who followed the companions of the Prophet. The fifth method followed the concept of ijtihad which called for the reasoning of the traditionalist scholars who gave their interpretation based on the other four methods of interpretation. The innovations started to trickle in the mainstream religion after the tenth century when the reformists from all over the world added their vision of reasoning in the concept of ijtihad which colored the interpretation of the Qur’an through the Traditionalists’ point of view. This was an unfortunate inclusion and caused hostility towards these reformists who were merely attempting to add vitality to Islam by trying to keep pace with the time and modern Western civilization. In the midst of these changing scenarios in the interpretative front, many Traditional scholars emerged who started laying stress on research as an awareness program which they thought would allow both Muslims and non-Muslims to interpret Qur’an in the same way as it was ordained many centuries ago during the classical period. Bibliography AZIZ, Z. (2007). Islam, peace and tolerance: full freedom of belief recognized, violence and coercion prohibited, Jihad is not war, Muslims taught to live in peace with others. 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Oxford, Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. US̲MĀNĪ, M. T., RĀZĪ, M. V., & SIDDIQUI, M. S. (2008).Islam and modernism. New Delhi, India, Adam Publishers. Read More