Two Levels of Understanding the Qur’an

Transcript of the Friday Sermon delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on Jan 01, 2016

Brothers and sisters! There is a verse (an ayah) in the Qur’an which suggests an analogy that might help us to understand the majesty, grandeur, and magnificence of the Qur’an. Allah (SWT) says in Surat al-Hashr,

لَوْ أَنْزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآَنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُتَصَدِّعًا مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“Had We had sent this Quran down on a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and split apart out of fear of Allah. We offer these examples to people so that they may reflect.” (al-Hashr, 59:21)

It is sad but true that by and large, Muslims have abandoned the Qur’an. Had it not been so, the Muslim ummah would not be in the crisis, in which it finds itself today. The Qur’an tells us that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) himself will cry out to Allah on the Day of Judgment and say,

يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا

“O my Lord! My people did indeed abandon this Quran.” (al-Furqan, 25:30)

On the Day of Judgment, the Qur’an will be brought as a witness, and the attorney bringing the witness will be none other than the Prophet (SAW) himself. He would complain to Allah that his ummah left this Qur’an way behind. They had ignored it. They had migrated away from it. People who hold on to the Qur’an, who do not abandon it, who understand their responsibilities toward the Qur’an, who try to mold their lives according to the Qur’an are the ones who are not deaf and blind towards it.

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ لَمْ يَخِرُّوا عَلَيْهَا صُمًّا وَعُمْيَانًا

“And those who, when reminded of their Lord’s signs, do not turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to them.” (al-Furqan, 25:73)

In order to rectify our condition, we must understand our responsibilities toward the Qur’an and try our best in fulfilling them. The Qur’an demands of every Muslim certain obligations. A Muslim is required to believe in the Qur’an, to read it, to understand it, to act upon its teachings, and to convey its message to others.  In today’s khutba, I shall only discuss the third obligation, and share some thoughts with you about the distinct levels of understanding the Qur’an. This discussion is primarily based on the thoughts of Dr. Israr Ahmed (Rahimahullah), a contemporary scholar of the Qur’an.

The Qur’an keeps reminding its readers to exercise their faculty of reasoning in order to follow its arguments and comprehend its meanings. For this purpose, it uses words such as ‘aql, fahm, fiqh, zikr, and fikr amongst others that have all to do with the faculty of intellect or with the process of thinking, reflecting, and understanding.  The initial stage in the comprehension of the Qur’an is denoted by the term tazakkur, made up of the Arabic root letters (zaal-kaaf-raa ذ ك ر  ). The Qur’an frequently calls itself zikr, zikra and tazkirah.

 وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“And We have sent down the Reminder to you so that you can make clear to mankind what has been sent down to them so that hopefully they will reflect” (al-Nahl, 16:44).

إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَذِكْرَىٰ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ

“There is a reminder in that for people of intelligence” (al-Zumar, 39:21).

إِنَّ هَٰذِهِ تَذْكِرَةٌ فَمَن شَاءَ اتَّخَذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِ سَبِيلًا

“This is a reminder. Let whoever wishes take the way to his Lord” (al-Muzzammil, 73:19).

Tazakkur bil Qur’an alludes to the fact that the Qur’anic teachings are not extraneous to human nature, but reflect the experiences of man’s inner self and are meant to awaken the reminiscence of his intrinsic nature, rather than import anything altogether new.

وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“And keep reminding, because reminding benefits the believers” (al-Dhariyat, 51:55).

Every person, whether mediocre or an intellectual, is in constant need of tazakkur, which is necessary for recalling to the mind the truths that have been forgotten or for keeping in mind the truths that are likely to be forgotten. It is for this reason that Allah (SWT) has made the Qur’an so easy for the purposes of tazakkur, a fact which has been stated four times in Surat al-Qamar:

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآَنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ

“We have made it easy to learn lessons from the Quran. Is there anyone who would receive admonition?” (al-Qamar, 54:17,22,32,40).

The Qur’an has been rendered easy in different ways for those who try to understand it and derive tazakkur from its ayat. In the first place, the Quran’s central theme and basic subjects are nothing new or unfamiliar to the human nature. Secondly, the mode of inference adopted is simple and natural. The difficult and complex subjects are brought home to the reader by easy and simple parables. Thirdly, although the Qur’an is a masterpiece of literature of the highest eloquence, yet its language is generally simple and a man with a basic knowledge of Arabic can easily understand the text except for a few difficult portions.

The Qur’an has declared in unambiguous terms that every person can get the benefit of tazakkur from it. It does not matter if a person’s intelligence is limited, or his knowledge of logic and philosophy is poor, or if he has no fine sense of language and literature. In spite of these drawbacks, he can have tazakkur from the Qur’an if he has a sound heart, a sound mind, and a pure nature not perverted by any kind of crookedness. He should read the Qur’an and should go on understanding its simple meanings. This will be enough for the purpose of tazakkur.

The real lesson which is implied in any surah or ayah of the Qur’an is made quite clear so that the basic guidance regarding human conduct may be attained. This involves focusing on the clear meaning of the text and deriving lessons from it just as morals are drawn from a story. This is the case with the lesson or essence of a surah. This can be further understood from the example of oil spilled in the sea. If oil is spilled in the sea, there is a layer of oil on the surface. The water below may be miles deep. Similarly, the composition of the Qur’an is such that its lesson or essence is on the top, which can be approached and understood easily.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ 

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters! The Qur’an is like an ocean from which a scholar can bring out pearls of knowledge and wisdom according to his natural ability, intellectual capacity, and mental makeup. His efforts to comprehend the Qur’an will be rewarded in proportion to the enthusiasm, time, and labor that he puts into its study and research. At the same time, it will be found that so far as its comprehension is concerned, no person, however intelligent and learned, shall ever feel that he has done justice to the Qur’an even though he may have spent his whole life pouring over its pages and meditating over its meanings.

The highest stage of contemplation of the Qur’anic text has been termed tadabbur bil Qur’an, which means reflecting and pondering over every word deeply in order to deduce the philosophy and the wisdom of the Book. In this sense the Qur’an is the most difficult of books as it is not easy to attain the depth of its meaning. The fact that the Qur’an is something to be reflected and pondered over is a point which has been emphasized by the Qur’an itself:

كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِّيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

“It is a Book We have sent down to you, full of blessing, so let people of intelligence ponder its Signs and take heed.” (Saad, 38:29)

To stress this point further, the Qur’an says in a mildly admonishing vein:

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ

“Do they not ponder over the Qur'an?” (al-Nisa’, 4:82)

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

 “Do they not then deeply think over the Qur’an, or are their hearts locked up?” (Muhammad, 47:24)

The Qur’an while being easy for tazakkur is in the same degree, difficult for tadabbur. Those who dive into this boundless ocean know that it is not possible to fathom its depth. We learn from authentic traditions that the companions of the Prophet (SAW) used to ponder over the different surahs of the Qur’an for years on end. It is reported about Abdullah Ibn Umar (RA) that he spent eight years pondering over Surat al-Baqarah. Interestingly, this was the case with people who spoke the same language in which the Qur’an was revealed and who, being the contemporaries of the Prophet (SAW), had seen it being revealed before their own eyes. There was no necessity for them to learn the Arabic language and its grammar or to undertake research for ascertaining the historical background of different ayat or surahs and the occasions on which they were revealed. In spite of all these advantages, they pondered over each surah for years at times.

Tadabbur bil Qur’an calls for strenuous effort and constant application. Many well-known Muslim scholars have dedicated their entire lives to the study of the Qur’an, but throughout the past fourteen centuries, there has not been a single scholar who, after having written the most voluminous commentary on the Qur’an would claim that he had said the last word on it and had left no room for further interpretation and deliberation.

 The unprecedented advancement of the physical sciences and technology has stunned humanity and has rendered it incapable of making critical appraisal of the misguiding views that have found currency in the modern world. Under such circumstances, the imperative duty of comprehending and interpreting the Qur’an cannot be fulfilled unless some patient and persevering individuals address themselves to this momentous task with single-minded devotion, equipping themselves with both classical and modern knowledge adequate for the task.

These dedicated and fully equipped scholars of the Qur’an would carry out a searching analysis of modern knowledge and sift the sound from the fallacious in the light of the Qur’an. They would approach the intellect of the modern man, making a judicious use of modern terminology and sophisticated methods of logical reasoning. Thus they would be able to brighten the minds of their contemporaries with the light of Qur’anic guidance. In this way the duty of "explaining the Qur’an to the people" which was performed by the Prophet (SAW) himself in his life time would be performed by his Ummah in the present age. Brothers and sisters! We need to understand what we read from the Qur’an. We need to follow its teachings and then finally we need to convey its message to others.  An authentic hadith tells us, 

‏ خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ‏

"The best among you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it."

May Allah have mercy upon us by means of the Qur’an; and may He make it a source of light, guidance, and mercy for us. May He remind us from the Qur’an that which we have been made to forget, and teach us from it regarding which we are ignorant.  May He bless us with its recitation, and may He make it a proof for us and not against us on the Day of Judgment. Allahumma Ameen.

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