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Qur'an
and its Interpretations
Contributor: A. Ameli
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Types of Interpretation
All praise is
for Allah Who sent down the Qur'an to His servant so that he may
be a warner to the worlds; and blessings be on him whom He sent
as a witness, and a bearer of good news and a warner, and as one
inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a light-giving
torch; and on his progeny from whom Allah kept away the
uncleanliness and whom He purified a thorough purifying.
* * *
In this article
we shall describe the method adopted in this book to find out
the meanings of the verses of the Qur'an. at-Tafslr (exegesis),
that is, explaining the meanings of the Qur'anic verse,
clarifying its import and finding out its significance, is one
of the earliest academic activities in Islam. The interpretation
of the Qur'an began with its revelation, as is clear from the
words of Allah:
Even as We have
sent among you an Apostle from among you who recites to you Our
communications and purifies you and teaches you the Book and the
wisdom and teaches you that which you did not know (2 :151).
The first
exegetes were a few companions of the Prophet, like Ibn 'Abbas,
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, Ubayy (ibn Ka'b) and others. (We use the
word, 'companion', for other than 'Ali(A.S.); because he and the
Imams from his progeny have an unequaled distinction - an
unparalleled status, which we shall explain somewhere else.
Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of
literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation
and, occasionally interpretation of one verse with the help of
the other. If the verse was about a historical event or
contained the realities of genesis or resurrection etc., then
sometimes a few traditions of the Prophet were narrated to make
its meaning clear. The same was the style of the disciples of
the companions, like Mujahid, Qatadah, Ibn Abi Layla, ash-Sha'bi,
as-Suddi and others, who lived in the first two centuries of
hijrah.
They relied
even more on traditions, including the ones forged and
interpolated by the Jews and others. They quoted those
traditions to explain the verses which contained the stories of
the previous nations, or which described the realities of
genesis, for example, creation of the heavens and the earth,
beginning of the rivers and mountains, the "Iram" (the city of
the tribe of 'Ad), of Shaddad the so-called "mistakes" of the
prophets, the alterations of the books and things like that.
Some such matters could be found even in the exegesis ascribed
to the companions. During the reign of the caliphs, when the
neighboring countries were conquered, the Muslims came in
contact with the vanquished people and were involved in
religious discussions with the scholars of various other
religions and sects.
This gave rise
to the theological discourses, known in Islam as `Ilmuu 'l-kalam.
Also, the Greek philosophy was translated into Arabic. The
process began towards the end of the first century of hijrah (Umayyad's
period) and continued well into the third century ('Abbasid's
reign). This created a taste for intellectual and philosophical
arguments in the Muslim intelligentsia. At the same time, at-tasawwuf
Sufism, mysticism) raised its head in the society; and people
were attracted towards it as it held out a promise of revealing
to them the realities of religion through severe self-discipline
and ascetical rigoursinstead of entangling them into verbal
polemics and intellectual arguments. And there emerged a group,
who called themselves people of tradition, who thought that
salvation depended on believing in the apparent meanings of the
Qur'an and the tradition, with- out any academic research. The
utmost they allowed was looking into literary value of the
words. Thus, before the second century had proceeded very far,
the Muslim society had broadly split in four groups: The
theologians, the philosophers, the Sufis and the people of
tradition There was an intellectual chaos in the ummah and the
Muslims, generally speaking, had lost their bearing.
The only thing
to which all were committed was the word, "There is no god
except Allah, and Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) is the Messenger of
Allah'. They differed with each other in everything else. There
was dispute on the meanings of the names and attributes of
Allah, as well as about His actions; there was conflict about
the reality of the heavens and the earth and what is in and on
them; there were controversies about the decree of Allah and the
divine measure; opinions differed whether man is a helpless tool
in divine hands, or is a free agent; there were wranglings about
various aspects of reward and punishment; arguments were kicked
like ball, from one side to the other concerning the realities
of death, al-barzakh intervening period between death and the
Day of Resurrection); resurrection, paradise and hell. In short,
not a single subject, having any relevance to religion, was left
without a discord of one type or the other. And this divergence,
not unexpectedly, showed itself in exegesis of the
Qur'an. Every
group wanted to support his views and opinions from the Qur'an;
and the exegesis had to serve this purpose. The people of
tradition explained the Qur'an with the traditions ascribed to
the companions and their disciples. They went ahead so long as
there was a tradition to lead them on, and stopped when they
could not find any such tradition (provided the meaning was not
self-evident). They thought it to be the only safe method, as
Allah says:
... and
those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say:'
"We believe
in it, it is all from our Lord ... " (3:7) .
But they were
mistaken. Allah has not said in His Book that rational proof had
no validity. How could He say so when the authenticity of the
Book itself depended on rational proof. On the other hand, He
has never said that the words of the companions or their
disciples had any value as religious proof.
How could He
say so when there were such glaring discrepancies in their
opinions? In short, Allah has not called us to the sophistry
which accepting and following contradictory opinions and views
would entail. He has called us, instead, to meditate on the
Qur'anic verses in order to remove any apparent discrepancy in
them. Allah has revealed the Qur'an as a guidance, and has made
it a light and an explanation of everything. Why should a light
seek brightness from others' light? Why should a guidance be led
by others' guidance? Why should "an explanation of everything"
be explained by others' words? The theologians' lot was worse
all the more. They were divided into myriads of sects; and each
group clung to the verse that seemed to support its belief and
tried to explain away what was apparently against it. The seed
of sectarian differences was sown in academic theories or, more
often than not, in blind following and national or tribal
prejudice; but it is not the place to describe it even briefly.
However, such exegesis should be called adaptation, rather than
explanation. There are two ways of explaining a verse-One may
say: "What does the Qur'an say?" Or one may say: "How can this
verse be explained, so as to fit on my belief? " The difference
between the two approaches is quite clear. The former forgets
every pre-conceived idea and goes where the
Qur'an leads
him to. The latter has already decided what to believe and cuts
the Qur'anic verses to fit on that body; such an exegesis is no
exegesis at all. The philosophers too suffered from the same
syndrome. They tried to fit the verses on the principles of
Greek philosophy (that was divided into four branches:
Mathematics, natural science, divinity and practical subjects
including civics). If a verse was clearly against those
principles it was explained away. In this way the verses
describing metaphysical subjects, those explaining the genesis
and creation of the heavens and the earth, those concerned with
life after death and those about resurrection, paradise and hell
were distorted to conform with the said philosophy.
That philosophy
was admittedly only a set of conjectures - unencumbered with any
test or proof; but the Muslim philosophers felt no remorse in
treating its views on the system of skies, orbits, natural
elements and other related subjects as the absolute truth with
which the exegesis of the Qur'an had to conform. The Sufis kept
their eyes fixed on esoteric aspects of creation; they were too
occupied with their inner world to look at the outer one. Their
tunnel-like vision prevented them from looking at the things in
their true perspective. Their love of esoteric made them look
for inner interpretations of the verses; without any regard to
their manifest and clear meanings. It encouraged the people to
base their explanations on poetic expressions and to use
anything to prove anything.
The condition
became so bad that the verses were explained on the-basis of the
numerical values of their words; letters were divided into
bright and dark ones and the explanations were based on that
division. Building castle in the air, wasn't it? Obviously, the
Qur'an was not revealed to guide the Sufis only; nor had it ad-
dressed itself to only those who knew the numerical values of
the letters (with all its ramifications); nor were its realities
based on astrological calculations. Of course, there are
traditions narrated from the Prophet and the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt
(A.S.) saying for example:
"Verily the
Qur'an has an exterior and an interior, and its interior has an
interior upto seven (or according to a version, seventy)
interiors..".
But the Prophet
and the Imams gave importance to its exterior as much as to its
interior; they were as much concerned with its revelation as
they were with its interpretation. We shall explain in the
beginning of the third chapter, "The Family of 'Imran", that
"interpretation" is not a meaning against the manifest meaning
of the verse. Such an interpretation should more correctly be
called "misinterpretation". This meaning of the word,
"interpretation", came in vogue in the Muslim circles long after
the revelation of the Qur'an and the spread of Islam. What the
Qur'an means by the word, "interpretation", is some- thing other
than the meaning and the significance.
In recent
times, a new method of exegesis has become fashionable. Some
people, supposedly Muslims, who were deeply influenced by the
natural sciences (which are based on observations and tests) and
the social ones (that rely on induction), followed the
materialists of Europe or the pragmatists. Under the influence
of those anti-Islamic theories, they declared that the
religion's realities cannot go against scientific knowledge; one
should not believe except that which is perceived by any one of
the five senses; nothing exists except the matter and its
properties.
What the
religion claims to exist, but which the sciences reject-like The
Throne, The Chair, The Tablet and The Pen-should be interpreted
in a way that conforms with the science; as for those things
which the science is silent about, like the resurrection etc.,
they should be brought within the purview of the laws of matter;
the pillars upon which the divine religious laws are based-like
revelation, angel, Satan, prophet- hood, apostleship, imamah
(Imamate) etc.-are spiritual things, and the spirit is a
development of the matter, or let us say, a property of the
matter; legislation of those laws is manifestation of a special
social genius, who ordains them after healthy and fruitful
contemplations, in order to establish a good and pro- gressive
society.
They have
further said: One cannot have confidence in the traditions,
because many are spurious; only those traditions may be relied
upon which are in conformity with the Book. As for the Book
itself, one should not explain it in the light of the old
philosophy and theories, because they were not based on
observations and tests-they were just a sort of mental exercise
which has been totally discredited now by the modern science.
The best, rather the only, way is to explain the Qur'an with the
help of other Qur'anic verses-except where the science has
asserted something which is relevant to it. This, in short, is
what they have written, or what necessarily follows from their
total reliance on tests and observations.
We are not
concerned here with the question whether their scientific
principles and philosophic dicta can be accepted as the
foundation of the Qur'an's exegesis. But it should be pointed
out here that the objection which they have leveled against the
ancient exegetes -that theirs was only an adaptation and not the
explanation- is equally true about their own method; they too
say that the Qur'an and its realities must be made to conform
with the scientific theories. If not so, then why do they insist
that the academic theories should be treated as true foundations
of exegesis from which no deviation could be allowed? This
method improves nothing on the discredited method of the
ancients. If you look at all the above-mentioned ways of
exegesis, you will find that all of them suffer from a most
serious defect:
They impose the
results of academic or philosophic arguments on the Qur'anic
meanings; they make the Qur'an conform with an extraneous idea.
In this way, explanation turns into adaptation, realities of the
Qur'an are explained away as allegories and its manifest
meanings are sacrificed for so-called "interpretations". As we
mentioned in the beginning, the Qur'an introduces itself as the
guidance for the worlds (3:96); the manifest light (4:174), and
the explanation of every thing (16:89). But these people,
contrary to those Qur'anic declarations, make it to be guided by
extraneous factors, to be illuminated by some outside theories,
and to be explained by something other than itself! What is that
"something else"? What authority has it got? And if there is any
difference in various explanations of a verse and indeed there
are most serious differences-which mediator should the Qur'an
refer to? What is the root-cause of the differences in the
Qur'an's explanations? It could not happen because of any
difference in the meaning of a word, phrase or sentence.
The Qur'an has
been sent down in plain Arabic; and no Arab (or Arabic-knowing
non-Arab) can experience any difficulty in understanding it.
Also, there is not a single verse (out of more than six
thousand) which is enigmatic, obscure or abstruse in its import;
nor is there a single sentence that keeps the mind wandering in
search of its meaning. After all, the Qur'an is admittedly the
most eloquent speech, and it is one of the essential ingredients
of eloquence that the talk should be free from obscurity and
abstruseness. Even those verses that are counted among the
"ambiguous" ones, have no ambiguity in their meanings; whatever
the ambiguity, it is in identification of the particular thing
or individual from among the group to which that meaning refers.
This statement needs some elaborations:- In this life we are
surrounded by matter; even our senses and faculties are closely
related to it. This familiarity with matter and material things
has influenced our mode of thinking. When we hear a word or a
sentence, our mind races to its material meaning.
When we hear,
for example, the words, life, knowledge, power, hearing, sight,
speech, will, pleasure, anger, creation and order, we at once
think of the material manifestations of their meanings.
Likewise, when we hear the words, heaven, earth, tablet, pen,
throne, chair, angel and his wings, and Satan and his tribe and
army, the first things that come into our minds are their
material manifestations. Likewise, when we hear the sentences,
"Allah created the universe", "Allah did this", "Allah knew it",
"Allah intended it" or "intends it", we look at these actions in
frame of "time", because we are used to connect every verb with
a tense. In the same way, when we hear the verses:
and with Us is
more yet (50:35), . . . We would have made it from before
Ourselves (21:17), . . . and that which is with Allah is best. .
. (62:11), . . . and to Him you shall be brought back (2:28,
etc.).
we attach with
the divine presence the concept of " place", because in our
minds the two ideas are inseparable. Also, on reading the
verses:
And when We
intend to destroy a town (17 :16), And We intend to bestow a
favour . . . (28: 5), And Allah intends ease for you (2:185),
we think that
the "intention" has the same meaning in every sentence, as is
the case with our own intention and will. In this way, we jump
to the familiar (which most often is material) meaning of every
word. And it is but natural. Man has made words to fulfill his
social need of mutual intercourse; and society in its turn was
established to fulfil the man's material needs. Not
unexpectedly, the words became symbols of the things which men
were connected with and which helped them in their material
progress. But we should not forget that the material things are
constantly changing and developing with the development of
expertise. Man gave the name, lamp, to a certain receptacle in
which he put a wick and a little fat that fed the lighted wick
which illuminated the place in darkness.
That apparatus
kept changing until now it has become the electric bulb of
various types; and except the name "lamp" not a single component
of the original lamp can be found in it. Likewise, there is no
resemblance in the balance of old times and the modern scales
-especially if we compare the old apparatus with the modern
equipment for weighing and measuring heat, electirc-current's
flow and blood-pressure. And the armaments of old days and the
ones invented within our own times have nothing in common,
except the name. The named things have changed so much that not
a single component of the original can be found in them; yet the
name has not changed. It shows that the basic element that
allows the use of a name for a thing is not the shape of that
thing, but its purpose and benefit. Man, imprisoned as he is
within his habitat and habit, often fails to see this reality.
That is why al-Hashawiyyah
and those who believe that God has a body interpret the Qur'anic
verses and phrases within the fame-work of the matter and the
nature. But in fact they are stuck with their habit and usage,
and not to the exterior of the Qur'an and the traditions. Even
in the literal meanings of the Qur'an we find ample evidence
that relying on the habit and usage in explanation of the divine
speech would cause confusion and anomaly. For example, Allah
says:
Nothing is like
a likeness of Him (42:11); Visions comprehended Him not, and He
comprehends (all) visions; and He is the Knower of subtilities,
the Aware (6:73); glory be to Him above what they ascribe (to
Him) (23:91; 37:159).
These verses
manifestly show that what we are accustomed to cannot be
ascribed to Allah. It was this reality that convinced many
people that they should not explain the Qur'anic words by
identifying them with their usual and common meanings. Going a
step further, they sought the help of logical and philosophical
arguments to avoid wrong deductions. This gave a foot-hold to
academic reasoning in explaining the Qur'an and identifying the
individual person or thing meant by a word. Such discussions can
be of two kinds:
i) The exegete
takes a problem emanating from a Qur'anic statement, looks at it
from academic and philosophical point of view, weighs the pros
and cons and with the help of the philosophy, science and logic
decides what the true answer should be. Thereafter, he takes the
verse and fits it anyhow on that answer which, he thinks, is
right. The Muslim philosophers and theologians usually followed
this method; but, as mentioned earlier, the Qur'an does not
approve of it.
ii) The exegete
explains the verse with the help of other relevant verses,
meditating on them together-and meditation has been forcefully
urged upon by the Qur'an itself-and identifies the individual
person or thing by its particulars and attributes mentioned in
the verse. No doubt this is the only correct method of exegesis.
Allah has said:
and We have
revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything (16:89).
Is it possible
for such a book not to explain its own self? Also He has
described the Qur'an in these words:
a guidance for
mankind and clear evidence of guidance and discrimination
(between wrong) (2:185);
and He has also
said:
and We have
sent down to you a manifest light (4:174).
The Qur'an is,
accordingly, a guidance, an evidence, a discrimination between
right and wrong and a manifest light for the people to guide
them aright and help them in all their needs. Is it imaginable
that it would not guide them aright in its own matter, while it
is their most important need? Again Allah says:
And (as for)
those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them
onto Our ways (29:69).
Which striving
is greater than the endeavour to understand His Book? And which
way is more straight than the Qur'an? Verses of this meaning are
very numerous, and we shall discuss them in detail in the
beginning of the third chapter, The Family of 'Imran. Allah
taught the Qur'an to His Prophet and appointed him as the
teacher of the Book:
The Faithful
Spirit has descended with it upon your heart that you may be of
the warners, in plain Arabic language (26 :193-4);
and We have
revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what
has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect ( 16:
44);... an Apostle ... who recites to them His communications
and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom
(62:2).
And the Prophet
appointed his progeny to carry on this work after him. It is
clear from his unanimously accepted tradition:
I am leaving
behind among you two precious things; as long as you hold fast
to them you will never go astray after me: The Book of Allah and
my progeny, my family members; and these two shall never
separate from each other until they reach me (on) the reservoir.
And Allah has
confirmed, in the following two verses, this declaration of the
Prophet that his progeny had the real know- ledge of the Book:
Allah only
desires to keep away the uncleanliness from you, O people of the
House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying(33:33);
Most surely it
is an honoured Qur'an, in a Book that is hidden; None do touch
it save the purified ones (56 :77-79).
And the Prophet
and the Imams from his progeny always used this second method
for explaining the Qur'an, as may be seen in the traditions that
have been narrated from them on exegesis, some of which will be
quoted in this book in appropriate places. One cannot find a
single instance in their traditions where they might have taken
help of an academic theory or philosophical postulate for
explaining a verse.
The Prophet has
said in a sermon: "Therefore, when mischiefs come to confuse you
like the segments of darkened night, then hold fast to the
Qur'an; as it is the intercessor whose intercession shall be
granted; and a credible advocate; and whoever keeps it before
him, it will lead him to the Garden; and whoever keeps it
behind, it will drive him to the Fire; and it is the guide that
guides to the best path; and it is a book in which there is
explanation, particularization and recapitulation; and it is a
decisive (world), and not a joke; and there is for it a manifest
(meaning) and an esoteric (one); thus its apparent (meaning) is
firm, and its esoteric (one) is knowledge; its exterior is
elegant and its interior deep; it has (many) boundaries, and its
boundaries have (many) boundaries; its wonders shall not cease,
and its (unexpected marvels shall not be old. There are in it
the lamps of guidance and the beacon of wisdom, and guide to
knowledge for him who knows the attributes.
Therefore, one
should extend his sight; and should let his eyes reach the
attribute; so that one who is in perdition may get deliverance,
and one who is entangled may get free; because meditation is the
life of the heart of the one who sees, as the one having a light
(easily) walks in darkness; therefore, you must seek good
deliverance and (that) with little waiting .
'Ali (a.s.)
said, inter alia, speaking about the Qur'an in a sermon: "Its
one part speaks with the other, and one portion testifies about
the other."
This is the
straight path and the right way which was used by the true
teachers of the-Qur'an and its guides, may Allah's blessings be
on them all! We shall write, under various headings, what Allah
has helped us to understand from the honoured verses, by the
above- mentioned method. We have not based the explanations on
any philosophical theory, academic idea or mystical revelation.
We have not put into it any outside matter except a fine
literary point on which depends the understanding of Arabic
eloquence, or a self-evident or practical premises which can be
understood by one and all. From the discussions, written
according to the above- mentioned method, the following subjects
have become crystal-clear:
1. The matters
concerning the names of Allah, and His attributes, like His
Life, Knowledge, Power, Hearing, Sight and Oneness etc. As for
the Person of Allah, you will find that the Qur'an believes that
He needs no description.
2. The matters
concerning the divine actions, like creation, order, will, wish,
guidance, leading astray, decree, measure, compulsion,
delegation (of Power), pleasure, displeasure and other similar
actions.
3. The matters
concerned with the intermediary links between Allah and man,
like the Curtain, the Tablet, the Pen, the Throne, the Chair,
the Inhabited House, the Heavens, the Earth, the Angels, the
Satans, and the Jinns etc.
4. The details
about man before he came to this world.
5. The matters
related to man in this life, like the history of mankind,
knowledge of his self, the foundation of society, the
prophethood and the apostleship, the revelation, the
inspiration, the book and the religion and law. The high status
of the prophets, shining through their stories, come under this
heading .
6. The
knowledge about man after he departs from this world, that is,
al-Barzakh.
7. The matters
about human character. Under this heading come the various
stages through which the friends of Allah pass in their
spiritual journey, like submission, faith, benevolence,
humility, purity of intention and other virtues. (We have not
gone into details of the verses of the law, as more
appropriately it is a subject for the books of jurisprudence.)
As a direct result of this method, we have never felt any need
to interpret a verse against its apparent meaning. As we have
said earlier, this type of interpretation is in fact
misinterpretation.
As for that
"interpretation" which the Qur'an has mentioned in various
verses, it is not a type of "meaning"; it is something else. At
the end of the commentaries, we have written some traditions of
the Prophet and the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt ( a.s.), narrated by the
Sunni and Shi`ah narrators. But we have not included the
opinions of the companions and their disciples, because, first,
there is too much confusion and contradiction in them; and
second, they are not vested with any authority in Islam. On
going through those traditions of the Prophet and the Imams
(peace be on them all!), you will notice that this "new" method
of exegesis (adopted in this book) is in reality the oldest and
the original method which was used by the Teachers of the Qur'an
(peace of Allah be on them all!).
Also, we have
written separately various topics - philosophical, academic,
historical, social and ethical- when there was a need for it. In
all such discussions, we have confined our talk to the basic
premises, without going in too much detail. We pray to Allah,
High is He, to guide us and keep our talk to the point; He is
the Best Helper and the Best Guide.
* * *
(Allamah Tabataba'i, Al-Mizan,
p. 3-16).
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