Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
THE STYLE AND STRUCTURE OF THE Qur’ân
THOUGHT:
The Qur’an says about itself that it was sent down during the month of Ramadan (2:185), in the Night of Power (97:1), its primary and eternal existence being in a “Tablet Preserved” (85:21-22), “in the Mother of the Book, in Our (i.e., God’s) Presence, high (in dignity), full of wisdom” (43:4).
The question is: Does the coming down of the Qur’an in the Night of Power imply the commencement of revelation to the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him!), or its revelation to him in its entirety on that single occasion, or its descent from the ‘Tablet Preserved’ in some other dimension?
As to the first, we have already recorded in the foregoing that the first revelation came to the Holy Prophet on the 12th of Rabi‘ alAwwal, that being the fact to which a critical study of all the relevant reports leads us. Taking up the second alternative: It is denied by the Qur’an. We are told therein: “And (this is) a Recitation (lit., Qur’an) that We have divided (into parts from time to time), that you (O Muhammad!) mayest recite it to humankind at intervals, and We have revealed it (to you) by (successive) revelation.” (17:106).[1]
Thus we are left only with the third alternative, and here we get to the correct answer. Abdullah ibn Abbas, whose authority in respect of the problems relating to the Qur’an has been held in very high esteem all through Islamic history, is reported by different authorities, like Nasai, Baihaqi, al-Hakim, al-Tibrani and al-Bazzar, to have held that the entire Qur’an, as we have it today, came down in the Night of Power from the “Divine Presence” “to the nether heaven” (i.e., the heaven nearest to the earth), where in the “House of Power, Honour and Glory (bait al-‘izzat)”, it dwelt, like the stars, by the order of God, and from where its portions came to the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) as occasions arose, even “as the stars fall from heaven”, under the Decree of God,—whereafter the revelations were arranged, under Divine guidance, by the Holy Prophet, through his Scribes, in accordance with the original eternal Qur’an and not in their chronological sequence. The Commentator Ibn Kathir has concurred with this view in his TafsÊr (vol. 4, p. 529), while the famous Suyuti proclaims, quoting al-Qurtubi, thus: “The consensus of learned verdict is to the effect that the the Qur’an came down all at one time from the ‘Tablet Preserved’ to the ‘House of Power, Honour and Glory’ in the nether heaven.” (Al-ItqÉn, vol. 1, p. 40).
The report of Ibn Abbas directs our attention to sura Ha Mim (41), which begins with the claim of the Qur’an as a revealed book; then, after reference to those who contested its divine origin and the Divine Messengership of the bearer of its Message, speaks of the bounties of God as manifested in the earth and of the wahy of God to the seven firmaments in respect of the assignment of their duty and command,—thereafter emphasising: “And We adorned the nether heaven with lights, and rendered it inviolable. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge” (verse 12). Maybe, the reference in the adornment of the nether heaven with lights and the establishment of inviolability, is concerned not only with the physical phenomenon as the human beings know it but also with the spiritual phenomenon so explicitly spoken of by Ibn Abbas.
Anyhow, the main point to be noted is that the Qur’an we possess today existed in ‘Divine Presence’ eternally as a ‘Book’[2] and that, although it was revealed piece-meal as occasions arose,[3] the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) arranged it in accordance with the eternal arrangement as revealed to him. It may be emphasised that unless this fact is accepted, the style of the Qur’an cannot be properly the understood.
Now, a collection of haphazard statements cannot be genuinely named as a book. There should be a sequence and a system inherent in it, which alone bestows that status properly. Thus, because the Qur’an insisted upon designating itself as a Book, much before it acquired the book-form with the ending of the Revelation, there must be present in it some definite type of sequence. And that it does possess. In fact, there are two types of sequence enshrined in the Holy Qur’an: one sequence relating to the chronological order of revelations, the other relating to the order in which the revealed messages were arranged.
The chronological sequence guides us, not only in respect of the commencement and progress of the Holy Prophet’s mission, but also about the future technique concerning the reform and development of human communities, and of individuals, on the Islamic pattern. Hence Islamic scholars took the greatest pains in preserving the knowledge of chronological sequence as best as they could.
What light we receive through the consideration of chronological sequence may be illustrated here very briefly by way of example. The first revelation that came to the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him!) and formed, thus, the starting point for his mission, consisted of the first five verses of the sura named al-‘Alaq (96). Now, the basic problem projected in those verses is that of the conflict of Faith and Reason and the solution thereof. The immense importance of this problem in human history in respect of the establishment of peace and harmony between religion, on the one hand, and philosophy and science, on the other, cannot be over-estimated, especially when we consider that the Holy Prophet stood at the helm of the modern era of scientific advancement—of which he himself was to be the inaugurator, while his basic role was to establish Religion on sound footing as God Himself had revealed it before him time to time. Hence, placing the human knowledge cultivated through the pen in the embrace of a dynamic Faith in God, as those verses do, it was only logical and natural that they should have been revealed first. Moreover, the importance given there to the cultivation of knowledge lend to those verses pre-eminence in view of the fact that it was the Holy Prophet’s mission to “teach new knowledge” (2:151).
Then, the first verses that were revealed after the short suspense in Revelation, i.e., 74:1-5, reflect in essence the five Pillars of Islam, as we find them mentioned in the Hadith,[4] the first two verses reflecting the Divine Messengership of Muhammad (Peace be on him!); the third verse reflecting the belief in God, the fourth reflecting the concept of purity, for which prayer, compulsory charity and pilgrimage, have been prescribed as Pillars of Islam;[5] the fifth verse reflecting fasting (among the Pillars) in respect of the elimination of impurities—spiritual, moral and physical.
Thereafter, we come to the following verses which, by general consent of the authorities, are accepted as having been revealed in the first year of the Call, forming thus a part of the very earliest revelations: “And what will make you comprehend what the uphill road (of virtue) is: (It is:) the setting free of a slave; or the giving of food in a day of privation to the orphan with claims of relationship, or to the indigent (down) in the dust; and to be of those who believe, and enjoin patience, (constancy and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion” (90:12-17). The emphasis in these verses on the abolition of slavery, which had been one of the greatest curses of the pre-Islamic civilisations, on service to fellow-beings, and on the cultivation of a serene personality, has an importance in understanding the approach of Islam to human problems and its system of priorities in respect of the role of religion.
As regards the arrangemental sequence, the Holy Qur’an
contains two levels of understanding Nature, it being the Book of the Religion
of Ideal Human Nature and (al-Din al-Fitrah) authored by the Author of
Nature. The two levels that relate to the understanding of Nature
are: the commonsense level and the probe-level. Human commonsense feels the existence of a system—an order,
and witnesses the beauty and the grandeur of the starry heavens, the luminous
moon and the blazing sun, the majestic mountains, the enchanting landscapes,
and many many other parts of Nature
besides. It is, however, the scientists who, through their probe into the
depths of the mysteries of Nature, define the system—though not unerringly in
every detail—and discover the facts that exist below the surface, revealing the
knowledge progressively as they attain level after level.
The two levels that relate to the understanding of the Holy Qur’an are: (1) the level of religious consciousness, which is embraced by unperverted human commonsense; (2) the level of theoretic consciousness, which necessitates probe and research below the surface of the Qur’anic text. The logic of religious consciousness is the instrument for acquiring understanding at the first level; while the logic of theoretic consciousness serves the other level.
The logic of religious consciousness witnesses in the Holy Qur’an the sequence and the concordance as grounded in the demands of Religion. The logic of theoretic consciousness observes the sequence and inter-relatedness as grounded in the requirements of theoretic Reason.
The Holy Qur’an has come to guide all human beings, including the common men and women, and not merely the scholars; and its primary function is: (1) religious and not speculative; (2) development of human personality and the social order on the basis of Religion, and not speculation in terms of the deduction and induction of Reason; (3) exhortation for guidance on the basis of the absolute Knowledge and Wisdom of God and in the form of direct and categorical statements of the Truth, and not the presentation for academic interest of any imperfect findings of the struggling human mind which, if it is to succeed in its labours in any measure, has perforce to proceed within the framework of certain fixed categories and under a certain ‘system’.
Thus the primary level of sequence in the Holy Qur’an is that of the logic of religious consciousness, and in that respect there exists perfect and multi-dimensional sequence [6] from the beginning to the end,—a sequence that, has been demonstrated by the classical commentators. Indeed, even a cursory glance at the Qur’anic text bears out this fact. For instance, the very starting point of the the Holy Qur’an is: “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful”—the quest for God being the highest quest, nay, the very basic quest, of religious consciousness.[7] Then it continues to speak of God, together with the emphasis on His relation with the universe and man: “Praise be to God Allaah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds, the Beneficent, the Merciful, Ruler of the Day of Judgment” (1:1-3). Then, because man seeks God primarily in the perspective of his needs, the 4th verse is: “You (alone) do we worship; and your aid (alone) we seek.” Then the dimensions, positive and negative, of the Path that leads to the fulfilment of human destiny, have been crisply projected in verses 5-7: “Show us the Straight Path, the path of those on whom you have bestowed your Grace; not (the path) of those whose portion is Wrath nor of those who stray.”
The first chapter ends here, and the second chapter begins. There, the opening verse forms the response to the prayer contained in the first chapter, with the words: “A. L. M. This is the Book; in it is guidance, with no dubiousness, for the godfearing: who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer and spend out of what We have provided for them; and who believe in the Revelation sent to you (O Muhammad!), and before your time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter. They are on the right path, guided by their Lord, and they shall prosper” (2:1-5). Here the basic qualifications of the Acceptors of the Truth, or, the Pursuers of the Straight Path, mentioned in the first chapter, have been referred to. Immediately after that comes the reference to the Rejectors of the Truth, and then of those who swing between Truth and Falsehood, i.e., the Hypocrites,—and so on the narration proceeds.
Similarly, when we look at the last portion of the Holy Qur’an, we find that, after its multi-dimensional and elaboration of the Straight Path, it enters into certain very important and relevant topics. Picking up the last one dozen chapters for the illustration of sequence, the picture that emerges in respect of one dimension of sequence is that, having taught the Islamic Way of Life in detail, the Holy Qur’an renders advice to the Muslims with regard to their status as promoters of the mission for which Islam came. In this perspective, chapter 103 deals with the principles of the rise and fall of nations,—providing to the Muslims certain positive dimensions of the basic emphasis; chapters 104 and 105 project the fatal consequences attendant upon the evils of love of wealth and lust for power; chapter 106 recalls the principles of devotion to God and trust in His Providence as opposed to indulgence in worldy aggrandisement; chapter 107 emphasises that lack of the spirit of human fellowship constitute the very denial of religion and Divine Judgement; chapter 108 emphasises that the Holy Prophet, who is the highest embodiment of service to others based on love for God, is the recipient of unlimited Divine favours—thus indirectly inviting the Muslims to a life of service to fellowbeing and devotions to God in conformity with the Ideal that the Holy Prophet’s life present; chapter 109 highlights toleration, with devotion to Islam, as the virtue to be pursued, in combination with the virtues emphasizes positively and negatively in the preceding chapters just mentioned, by the Muslims in their world-mission relating to the establishment of all that is good for humanity and the elimination of all that is evil; chapter 110 directs to the assurance of the triumph of Truth and emphasises the spirit of humanity and godliness that should be observed in victory; chapter 111 reflects inevitability of destruction of the forces of evil; chapter 112 lifts up into the appreciation of God concerning such of His Attributes as are basic for faith in Him,— establishment of a dynamic and living relation with Him being the goal towards which entire Islamic activity is directed; chapters 113 and 114, which are the last two, teach the principle that, with all the positive technique taught by the Holy Qur’an for the pursuit of godliness, a Muslim should ever remain vigilant against the impact of even the slightest evil,—thus to ensure his progress on the path of godliness and the attainment of the final goal, namely, complete harmony with God.
Here we must record one of the miracles relating to the holy book, to which our attention has been drawn thus:
“Allaah has revealed (from time to time) the most excellent Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself and conformable in its various parts, repeating (its teaching in various aspects) …”[8] (39:23).
The Holy Qur’an was revealed in portions during a long period of well-nigh twenty-three years, wherein the Holy Prophet’s life passed through very complicated and varied circumstances, and events of very different types took place. Indeed, the situation remained throughout such as to invite discrepancies in the Holy Prophet’s conduct and in the projection of principles by him. Had the Holy Qur’an been a product of the Holy Prophet’s mind, it was bound to have registered numerous inconsistencies,129 and those inconsistencies were bound to have been present in it because its piecemeal revelation was recorded once for all on all the occasions of revelation and was preserved as such. But under the circumstances that we have noted, the presence of consistency in it is a definite and miraculous proof of the truth of its revelation, as well as of its preservation, by God.
Now, besides consistency, the conformability of the Holy Qur’an
in its various parts, as mentioned in the above verse, brings us to the logic
of theoretic consciousness, which, too, is inherent in the holy book, even as
the logic of religious consciousness is enshrined therein. The conformability,
however, signifies, in the estimation of the best Qur’anic authorities, not
only uniformity of teaching but also the principle that all the verses of the
holy book are inter-related as parts of an intelligible system—whereby the
existence of a system of meaning in the Holy Qur’an is positively established,
as also the technique of the exposition of that system. The present work is a
humble attempt towards the presentation of that system, and the author hopes
that he has accomplished that task,—of course, in accordance with his
limitations, and not in accordance with the greatness of the Holy Qur’an.
The fulfilment of the demands of theoretic consciousness is contained so richly and so emphatically in the Qur’anic Guidance that even non-Muslim scholars, who are naturally devoid of the eye of faith, could not fail to notice it. As examples of this appreciation, we may quote the judgment of two Western scholars.
Eduard Montet observes:
“Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest sense of this term, considered etymologically and historically. The definition of rationalism as a system that bases religious beliefs on principles furnished by the reason, applies to it exactly. It is true that Muhammad, who was an enthusiast and possessed also the ardour of faith and the fire of conviction, the precious quality that he transmitted to so many of his disciples, brought forward his reform as a revelation; but this kind of revelation is only one form of exposition, and his religion has all the marks of a collection of doctrines founded on the data of reason… A creed so precise, so stripped of all theological complexities and consequently so accessible to the ordinary understanding might be expected to possess and does indeed possess a marvellous power of winning its way into the consciences of men.”[9]
Dr. A. Bertherand remarks:
“‘To seek knowledge is a duty for every Muslim man and woman’. ‘Seek knowledge even though it be in China’. ‘The savants are the heirs of the Prophets’. These profound words of the great reformer (Muhammad) are an indisputable contradiction to those who seek and exert themselves in putting the responsibility of the intellectual degradation of Muslims upon the spirit of the Qur’an. Let them read and meditate upon this great Book and they will find in it, at every passage, a constant attack upon idolatry and materialism; they will read that the Prophet incessantly called the attention and the meditation of his people to the splendid marvels, to the mysterious phenomenon of creation. The incredulous, skeptical and un-believing may convince themselves that the importance of this Book and its doctrine was not to throw back, eventually, the intellectual and moral faculties of a whole people. On the contrary, those who have followed its counsels have been, as we have described in the course of this study, the creators of a civilization which is astounding unto this day.”[10]
[1] Cf. 25:32; 76:23.
[2] That the Qur’an calls itself a Book even in the early revelations forms proof of the fact that it was a ‘Book’ before its revelation to the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!).
[3] It should be clearly noted that though the revelations came as occasions arose, the message contained therein was not confined to the exigencies of the situation.
[4] For instance: Imam Ahmad: Musnad, vol. 1, p. 27.
[5] The expression: “Thy raiments purify” covers, in the widest sense, physical, moral and spiritual purity,—these three forms of purity bearing reference to the three pillars of Islam mentioned in that connection. The words ‘raiment’ and ‘garment’ have been used in the Holy Qur’an in wider significance than clothes (2:187; 7:26).
[6] It should be emphatically noted that a multi-dimensional sequence, which is richer than the single-dimensional sequence that is found in the literary works of the greatest human writers, emerges in the Holy Qur’Én primarily in the order and arrangement that has been given by God through the Holy Prophet to the verses that constitute its text, as well as to the words of rich connotation employed therein.
[7] The Quranic narrative begins with God, both chronologically and arrangementally, in response to religious consciousness. The Biblical narrative begins with the story of “Creation”, in response to what? Mark the contrast.
[8] The reference here is to multi-dimensional sequence mentioned in the foregoing.
[9] Eduard Montet: La propagande Chretienne et es adversaires Musulmans, Paris 1890, pp. 17-18.
[10] Dr. A. Bertherand: Contribution des Arabes au Progress des Sciences Medicales, Paris 1883, p. 6.
129 Also: if Muhammad (Peace be on him!) had not been truly a Divine Messenger, living his entire life under the guidance of God, his conduct was bound to have registered numerous discrepancies. But we find his whole conduct and his entire career as absolutely self-consistent. Bosworth Smith confesses this fact in these words: “On the whole the wonder to me is not how much, but how little, under different circumstances, Muhammad differed from himself. In the shepherd of the desert, in the Syrian trader, in the solitary of Mount Hira, in the reformer in the minority of one, in the exile of Madina, in the acknowledged conqueror, in the equal of the Persian Chosroes and the Greek Heraclitus, we can still trace a substantial unity. I doubt whether any other man, whose external conditions changed so much, ever himself changed less to meet them: the accidents are changed, the essence seems to be the same in all.” (Mohammad and Mohammadanism, London 1874, p. 93).
to be continued . . . . .
