Voices of Islam (15 page)

THEMES OF THE QUR’AN

The Qur’an deals with a limited number of themes, but it foregrounds them again and again, in a variety of situations and from different angles. The major themes of the Qur’an can be summed up under three headings: faith, ritual, and conduct.

Faith

The most fundamental element of the Islamic faith is monotheism, the belief that there is but one God.
Sura
102, which is called The
Sura
of Sin- cerity, is probably the Qur’an’s most important statement of monotheism: ‘‘Say: He—God—is Uniquely One. God is the Refuge. He did not beget and He was not begotten. And He has no peers.’’

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The so-called Throne Verse (Qur’an 2:255) is also an important statement of Islamic monotheism:

God—there is no god but He, the Living, the Great Sustainer. He is overtaken neither by drowsiness nor by sleep. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who can intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows what is in front of them and what is behind them. And they cannot encompass any part of His knowledge—except what He should wish. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and guarding them does not fatigue Him. He is the Exalted, the Great.

The God of the Qur’an has many attributes. He is the creator of the uni- verse, which He administers. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, forgiving, just, and merciful. The most important of all of God’s attributes is His mercifulness: He is quick to forgive and slow to anger. Those who repent sincerely are not only forgiven but their bad deeds are also converted into good deeds (Qur’an 25:70).

The very frequent references to God in the Qur’an might suggest that the Qur’an does nothing but talk about God—that it is theocentric. But a deeper look will reveal that the Qur’an is equally concerned with human beings and their destiny. The commandments, ethical injunctions, legal stipulations, historical accounts—in brief, nearly everything in the Qur’an makes a direct or indirect, but in every case definite, reference to the human situation, with the avowed ultimate goal of improving that situation.

Another important element of the Islamic faith is prophecy. God provides guidance to humankind through chosen individuals, called prophets, who not only convey that guidance but also exemplify it in their lives, so that both the theoretical and the practical aspects of that guidance are presented before the nations to whom those prophets have been sent. According to the Qur’an, the prophets of all ages present the same essential message. This unity of message furnishes a conceptual basis for regarding, first, the prophets as members of a single brotherhood and, second, their nations as segments of a worldwide human community. The Qur’an thus uses the notion of the unity of the prophets’ message to reinforce the idea of a common humanity. This idea is further reinforced by the Qur’anic assertion that God has sent messengers among all the nations of the world (Qur’an 35:24). There is therefore no reason to regard the Middle East as the exclusive venue of prophecy. In Islam, Adam is the first prophet and Muhammad is the last.

The Qur’an presents the afterlife as a necessary complement to earthly life. According to the Qur’an, this world is not a place where complete recom- pense for good or evil actions is meted out. There is, thus, a need for another place where full, unbiased, and swift recompense for all actions can be given, and this need is satisfied by the Hereafter.

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Ritual

The Qur’an speaks of all the four main Islamic rituals—prayer (
Salat
), man- datory almsgiving (
Zakat
), fasting (
Sawm
), and pilgrimage (
Hajj
). It gives some details about each, but the full elaboration of the rituals, as of many other matters, is left to the
Sunna,
the Way of the Prophet Muhammad. By requiring believers to devote time, energy, and money to the performance of these rituals, the Qur’an seeks to strengthen their commitment and keep them rightly oriented. The rituals of Islam have a strong social dimen- sion; that is, they are intended to create and reinforce the bonds that ought to exist among members of a believing community. For example, the
Zakat
Alms Tax, which is one of several steps the Qur’an takes to ensure a wider distribution of wealth in society, helps alleviate economic deprivation. The annual pilgrimage to the Ka‘ba and the Sacred Mosque of Mecca, which is performed together by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, brings home the point that race, color, language, and other such social markers are irrelevant for the purpose of defi the essential humanity of human beings.

Conduct

The Qur’an contains injunctions about legal, political, and social matters. It seeks to organize family life by laying down rules for marriage and divorce (Qur’an 2:221, 229–237, 240–241; 4:3, 19–25, 35, 128–129;

5:5; 24:3, 32), for dividing a deceased person’s property (Qur’an 2:180,

4:7–9, 11–12, 176), and for making loan transactions (Qur’an 2:282). It distinguishes between lawful food and unlawful food (Qur’an 2:168, 172–173; 5:3–5; 6:118–119, 121, 145–146; 16:114–116), decrees

punishments for certain offenses (Qur’an 5:38; 17:32; 24:2–9), and provides basic guidelines for running the Muslim body politic (Qur’an 4:59; 42:38). It advises kind treatment of parents (Qur’an 17:23; 29:8; 31:14; 46:15), promotes virtues like forbearance and repaying good for evil (Qur’an 23:96; 28:54; 41:34; 42:37, 40; 7:199), and forbids backbiting and calumny (Qur’an 24:4, 6–9). The ultimate goal of all such injunctions is to create ethically centered individuals, on the one hand, and to bring into existence an integrated and harmonious society, on the other. The following verses contain a few of the Qur’anic injunctions concerning conduct:

God commands us to deliver up trusts to those to whom they belong. And when you adjudicate between people, adjudicate with justice. It is a fi piece of advice that God gives us! Indeed, God is Keen of Hearing, Very Watchful.

(Qur’an 4:58)

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You will never attain piety until you spend of what you love. And anything you spend of—God has full knowledge of it.

(Qur’an 3:92)

Say: Come, I shall recite what God has made unlawful for you: That you shall not associate anything with Him and be good to your parents. Do not kill your children from considerations of poverty. We give sustenance to you and to them. Do not approach immoral acts, the obvious one among them and the hidden ones. Do not kill a soul whom God has declared unlawful to kill—except with justification. This is what He has advised you of, that you may have understand- ing. Do not approach the orphan’s property—except in a way that is best—until he should reach full maturity. Give full measure and weight, with fairness. We do not obligate a person except to the extent of his capacity. When you speak, be just—even if [the person] should be a relative. And fulfill the commitment with God. This is what He has advised you of, that you may take remembrance.

(Qur’an 6:151–152)

The believers are brothers, so make peace between your two brothers. And have fear of God, that you may be shown mercy. O you who believe, let not one group of people make fun of another—it is possible that they are better than them—or women, of women—it is possible that they are better than them. And do not make cutting remarks about yourselves
2
or call one another names. How bad is the very word ‘‘transgression’’ after belief! And those who do not repent, they, and they alone, are the unjust. O you, who believe, shun most con- jecture. Indeed, some conjecture is sin. And do not pry. Do not backbite one another: Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother?
3
You would detest it! And have fear of God. Indeed, God is Most Forgiving, Very Merciful.

(Qur’an 49:10–12)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE QUR’AN

Modern readers generally fi d the Qur’an to be a diffi book to navi- gate. Perhaps what troubles them most is the seeming lack of structure in the Qur’an. One sometimes gets the impression that the Qur’an moves hap- hazardly from one subject to another, hardly offering a sustained treatment of a given subject and without explaining why the frequent change of sub- jects takes place. That the Qur’an is unlike most books is soon noticed by readers, who remain puzzled as to why the Qur’an is—to borrow a word that Western scholars often use to describe it—‘‘disjointed.’’

A few classical scholars in fact discussed the structure of the Qur’an, but its extensive treatment belongs in the modern period. While a detailed examination of the subject is not possible here, the following observations will suggest that there is a method, both to the sequence of the verses in a

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given
sura
and to the sequence of the
suras
in the Qur’an, as it has come down to us.

First, many of the Qur’anic
suras,
especially the short
suras
toward the end of the Qur’an, obviously are unities. For example, the last 35
suras
(
Suras
80–114) of the Qur’an, ranging from 3 to 46 verses, each seem to offer a coherent treatment of one or more themes. In many medium-sized
suras
too, the general drift of the discourse is easily noticed, even if the relationship between some of the verses or passages is not fully clear.

Second, certain themes are often grouped together in the Qur’an. For example, the same Qur’anic passage may discuss the need to protect human life and the need to protect property.
Sura
4:29 of the Qur’an reads: ‘‘O you who believe, do not devour one another’s wealth unjustly—except that it take the form of commerce, with your mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves (that is, one another). Indeed, God is very kind to you.’’
Sura
2:178–182 lays down the law of retaliation for murder and, at the same time, urges that the bequest of a deceased person be executed without any wrong- ful alteration of the terms of the bequest.

Third, a brief statement in one
sura
sometimes finds elaboration in the following
sura
. For example,
Sura
25 of the Qur’an (
al-Furqan,
‘‘The Criterion’’) makes a general reference to previous nations’ rejection of the prophets who were sent to them and cites the names of a few such prophets. Verses 35–44 open with a reference to Moses, who, according to the Qur’an, was sent to prophesy to Pharaoh and his people. The following
sura, Sura
26 (
al-Shu‘ara’,
‘‘The Poets’’), provides details of the rejection of prophets mentioned in
Sura
25, citing incidents from the lives of the prophets men- tioned in the previous
sura
and also from the lives of a few other prophets not mentioned in that
sura.

Fourth, in many cases, one
sura
picks up the theme on which the preceding
sura
ends. For example, the concluding verses of
Sura
22 (
al-Hajj,
‘‘The Pil- grimage’’) enjoin Muslims to bear witness to the peoples of the world and, to that end, to discipline themselves by carrying out such religious obligations as performance of the daily prayers and payment of the
Zakat
Tax. The opening verses of
Sura
23 (
al-Mu’minun,
‘‘The Believers’’) speak of the obligations that believers must perform; these obligations include the daily prayers and the
Zakat
tax, mentioned in
Sura
22. Similarly,
Sura
105 (
al-Fil,
‘‘The Elephant’’) speaks of God’s protection of the sanctuary of the Ka‘ba in Mecca against the invading army of the Yemenite ruler Abraha.
Sura
106 (
Quraysh,
‘‘The Tribe of Quraysh’’) says that the Quraysh, the tribe of Mecca’s idola- trous rulers, ought to worship Allah, the only true deity. This is because they owe their affl and prestige to their custodianship of the Ka‘ba, which, as the preceding
sura
says, God protected against a major attack.

The foregoing discussion underscores the need to revisit the charge of dis- connectedness that is often made against the Qur’an. Two more points need to be made. First, a main thing to consider in studying the structure of the

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Qur’an is the living context of the Qur’an. The Qur’an was not revealed in a vacuum, but in a live setting composed of a wide variety of elements. The Qur’an, delivered by the Prophet Muhammad in an oral situation, addressed supporters, opponents, and doubters at the same time; it consoled the Prophet, replied to his critics, and counseled the believers; it recounted past history, commented on recent events, and charted a course for the future. Thus, for example, while addressing the believers, the Qur’an may suddenly and without giving any warning start addressing the disbelievers, for they too form part of the Qur’an’s audience. Such sudden shifts of address may be perplexing to readers unfamiliar with the presumption one has to make of a live and diverse audience of the Qur’an. Second, the Qur’an, following the style of Classical Arabic, does not usually employ the transitional expres- sions on which modern readers rely so heavily for establishing links between the parts of a discourse. Words and phrases such as ‘‘therefore,’’ ‘‘conse- quently,’’ ‘‘however,’’ ‘‘in view of the above,’’ and ‘‘on a different note,’’ which are important external aids for connecting parts of a talk or a piece of writing, are often skipped in Classical Arabic, the listener or reader being supposed to supply them mentally.

THE STYLE OF THE QUR’AN

The language and style of the Qur’an are, in many respects, akin to the language and style of pre-Islamic Arabic literature—or, more specifically, of Arabic poetry. The vocabulary and style of the Qur’an, however, are much simpler than those of pre-Islamic poetry, and, as such, are more accessible to a larger audience. In the Qur’an, as in pre-Islamic poetry, there is abun- dant use of imagery, and so similes, metaphors, and parables are frequently employed. Strictly speaking, the language of the Qur’an is neither prose nor poetry, although it has elements of both. The term ‘‘rhymed prose’’ (
saj‘
in Arabic) is often used to describe the Qur’an’s language, which, as a rule, is also quite terse.