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Introduction:
Major Themes
of the Qur’an by Fazlur Rahman takes a comprehensive
look at many of the thematic concerns of the Holy Qur’an.
The last revealed Word of God. The Qur’an is more than
just a religious text; it is a Book emphasizing on the
social and moral conduct of man. Fazlur Rahman’s book
provides a useful insight into the principal notions and
beliefs discussed in the Qur’an. Unlike other religious
texts, for example the Torah or the Bible, the Qur’an
does not merely talk of sanctimonious experiences, it
also, according to Fazlur Rahman, discusses the order of
the world and the systemic scheme of things. It is not a
profound Book discussing only crime and punishment but
it is a Book that talks of God, His relationship with
man, man’s relationship with other men and man’s
relationship with nature. Thus, the Qur’an aspires to
show that the existence of God requires no theological
proof and that it is very much obvious. Secondly it
deals with man in two contexts; man as an individual and
man as a member of a society. According to Fazlur Rahman,
the Qur’an must be read with a spirit of wholeness and a
sincere attempt to seek guidance. It is a complete code
of life.
The Qur’an’s teachings are not for one particular nation
but for a global community. Fazlur Rahman elaborates on
this by explaining that the Qur’an provides guidance for
men in their daily, mundane lives. It accentuates the
importance of relationships between men – the
relationships based on trade and commercial activities
or the relationship between husband and wife. Not only
that, it can be read as a comprehensive piece of
legislation. This is because it includes legal as well
as moral principles and the creed to which Muslims must
subscribe. These are revolutionary ideas discussed in
the Qur’an, not having been surfaced before in previous
texts such as the Bible. The Qur’an is a very
progressive book, it also takes within its parameters
the concept of Eschatology and Satan and evil. The fact
that it deals with every aspect of human life and
after-life is proof of its totality and unity. Therein
lies the finality of the Qur’an because within its pages
rests the perfect code of life prescribed for man by
God. Fazlur Rahman, in his book ‘Major Themes of the
Qur’an’ seeks to illustrate all this and more by
explaining what the Word of God is saying to man.
/Chapter 1 – God
/Fazlur Rahman begins his book by discussing the
necessity of God, His Unity and its implications. This
chapter talks of the concept of/ tawhid /i.e. monotheism
as discussed in the Qur’an. The necessity of God’s
existence is one of the main thematic discussions. The
Qur’an calls the belief in God, ‘belief in and awareness
of the unseen.’1 <#_ftn1> (2:3).
It is this concrete belief that makes the ‘unseen’
‘seen’. This belief is not irrational and unreasonable;
instead it is a Master-Truth.
Everything is dependant upon God, who is All-Powerful
yet Most Merciful and this entails a relationship
between God and man, and amount men themselves. Therein
lies the centrality of God’s existence. The aim of the
Qur’an is to speak to the hearts of men, not provide man
with proofs as to the existence of God.
It is because of His Mercy that He ordained nature for
man. Thus His Power and Mercy are both intrinsically
linked qualities. He is with His creation, not detached.
Man’s purpose is to serve God, to use his superior
knowledge to differentiate between good and evil. To
help man, God inundates the doors of His Mercy by
sending Messengers and revealing Books. Thus, a causal
chain of mercy is constructed –
Creation-providence-guidance and judgement. Laws of
nature express the commands of God and these commands
are not disobeyed. Man on the other hand is given free
choice and is therefore provided with a unique
responsibility, which can only be faced through /taqwa/.
The path to God is thus only one.
*Chapter Two – Man As Individual *
The second chapter of Fazlur Rahman’s book deals with
man as an individual. The Qur’an does not accept Greek,
Christian and Hindu philosophies of body-mind dualism;
it considers them somewhat fused entities. The soul
being a mental state not entirely separate from the
mind. The Qur’an shows Satan to be more of an anti-man
force rather than anti-God. Man is naturally born for a
ceaseless moral struggle. Man has been endowed with the
bounty of free choice, which creates a moral social
order, as man recognizes his mission on Earth as God’s
vicegerent – therein lies the purpose of man’s
existence. One who realizes this and acts upon this
realization can be said to be exercising /taqwa/. The
only one who can fight Satan’s attack effectively is a
truly virtuous man for the obvious reason he realizes
their true primordial nature. The complication that
arises is that most men refuse to acknowledge and
realize their long-term moral goals. God does not seal
up the hearts of men capriciously but only because of
their actions. Men and women are individually
responsible for their deeds. The Qur’an does not believe
in absolute determinism of human conduct. The rationale
behind this is that it is easier to fall, but difficult
to attain the heights of purity.
God’s presence gives meaning to an individual’s life
both collective and personal/. /His absence means
removal of all meaning from human life.
God creates a being and puts in it certain
potentialities. Whereas the cosmos surrenders to the
Will of God by following its ingrained laws, man is the
only exception to this universal law because of him
being endowed with free choice. This is a command of God
written upon man’s heart, which cannot be disobeyed. His
refusal to look beyond his actions demonstrates his
mental make-up described by the Qur’an. Man is hasty and
petty, he only remembers God when he is in suffering.
These extremities in his character show that there exist
within him certain moral tensions. There is to remain a
balance within this God-given framework for human action
to function with stability. Thus, these contradictory
extremities are not the problem here, as is keeping the
balance. Remembrance of God and this framework of moral
tensions work together. Thus Qur’an advocates a more
positive, integral human being.
This inimitable balance once achieved is what the Qur’an
calls /taqwa.
/Action rests with man but real and effective judgement
rests with God.
When a man is fully conscious of this he has achieved /taqwa./
Chapter Three – Man in Society
The Qur’an talks of man as part of a community. In
pre-Islamic Arabia two principal aspects of the Makkan
society are criticized heavily in the Qur’an; polytheism
and the despairing socio-economic conditions. The Qur’an
talks of the expenditure of wealth and how it is to be
circulated not only amongst the rich but also the poor
and the needy. Two very important steps, thus, taken to
counteract the ceaseless and purposeless collection of
wealth by the Makkans, were the banning of usury and
imposition of the /zakah/ tax. Usury was severely
prohibited by God in the Qur’an and creditors were asked
to recover only their capital sums, which proved to be
vital for public welfare. Secondly, the imposition of
the /zakah/ tax was with regard to distributive justice.
The circulation of wealth should not remain in a few
hands only. This laid down the basis for social justice.
The Qur’an aims to strengthen the basic family unit. By
laying down the principles of a just family system where
the parents are to be respected and obeyed. This
obedience, though, is not blind obedience and if the
parents say anything contrary to the Word of God they
are not to be obeyed. Justice is a prerequisite in every
action of man. Man is to be just to all members of
society, even his enemies as this brings him closer to /taqwa.
/The Muslim community is constituted by its ideology,
Islam. Thus, the Qur’an describes the ideal political
system, which, commands good and forbids evil. This
represents the social dimensions of /taqwa/. The Qur’an
prescribes, for a model state system, to have a /shura/
(committee) of learned men from amongst the people. The
Qur’an requires collective leadership and
responsibility. The Qur’an also advocates equality of
the entire human race, distinction arising due to the
quality of man’s deeds. Freedom of life, religion,
earning and owning property and personal honour and
dignity are rights that the state is duty bound to
protect. Man is ordered by the Qur’an to treat women
with respect. Where polygamy is concerned, the Qur’an
emphasizes on the man’s responsibility to treat his
wives justly. If he fails to do so, the wife has the
right to seek divorce. Thus the Qur’an urges the society
to move towards a moral ideal. Sins of omission are as
bad as sins of commission. This is why Muhammad (sws)
came to warn his people; his message, once delivered,
became universal. Awakening of consciences particularly
the collective conscience is extremely important. Here
again rises the theme of unity. Man and society are one,
working towards a higher goal.
Chapter Four – Nature
The cosmogony as discussed in the Qur’an is at a very
minimum level (i.e. God simply gave the command ‘Be’ and
it was done). Nature cannot disobey God’s commands; it
is therefore Muslim. Time for the Qur’an is relative
subject to the type of experience and status of being.
Nature is depicted in Qur’an in two ways. To illustrate
God’s Ultimate Power and His Infinite Mercy. Nature and
all things else are finite. Even if they realize these
potentialities ingrained in them by God, they can end up
into finitude but not infinity. Where a creature claims
complete self-sufficiency, it claims infinitude and a
share in divinity (/shirk/). Nature is a miracle of God.
The entire cosmos is a sign
(/ayah/) of God. Due to man’s short-sightedness, he
refuses to acknowledge this. Man’s obstinacy is so clear
that he rebels because he views nature as autonomous. He
ironically takes the suppression of nature as a miracle
of God. There are four kinds of signs described in this
chapter. /Bayyinah/ (supra-natural miracles) are those
that go against the course of nature. They support the
truth of the Messenger’s teaching. They can either be
perceived or misperceived. They are different from
magic. In order to realize their meaning, one must have
the capacity for faith (mental-cum-spiritual). The
verses of Qur’an are /ayat/ or signs because they come
from the same God who created the universe. A stronger
term is that of /burhan/ (a compellingly rational
demonstrative proof). The strongest type of /ayah/ is
/sultan/. It might cause those who were fairly
determined in their rejection of the truth to accept it
anyway.
God’s great sign is the nature and the universe. Man has
to discover this himself. Nature exists for man to
exploit for his own ends. That is its purpose. Man’s
purpose is to serve the Creator, therein lies the
difference between physical and moral law.
*Chapter Five – Prophethood and Revelation
* This chapter discusses the indivisibility and
universality of Prophethood and the nature and mode of
Muhammad’s (sws) revelatory experience. The message of
the prophets is universal and is to be followed by the
entire humanity. It is the prophet’s responsibility to
get the message across under all circumstances. Muhammad
(sws) is the ‘Seal of the Prophets’2 <#_ftn1> (33:40)
and through him the evolutionary process of religion has
come to an end in the form of Islam – the most perfect
and adequate religion. Man’s moral condition is
dependant upon Divine Guidance. The essential teachings
of all the prophets are the same i.e. /tawhid
/(monotheism). Taking his cue from the earlier prophets,
Muhammad (sws) is a messenger in desperate hurry, for he
sees the despairing condition of his people. The miracle
of /mi‘raj/ (i.e. the Holy Ascension) is also talked of
in this chapter.
This experience was one of a spiritual nature. The
intensity of it was so great that came to be of a
quasi-concrete value. The Qur’an speaks of the Spirit of
Revelation for which the term angel is not accurate.
Revelation came upon the Prophet’s heart through a
Spirit on the Night of Power (/al-qadr). /It is vital to
bear in mind that God does not speak to men but through
a Spirit infused in the mind of the Prophet (sws). The
miraculous nature of the Qur’an is linked with its
linguistic style and expression. Within its simplicity
lies its beauty.
Chapter Six – Eschatology
The concept of Life after death is a recurrent theme in
the Qur’an. The Qur’an speaks of the Day of Judgement as
/al-akhirah/, the end. It is the moment of truth, when
all preoccupations of man will be lifted and he will be
so acutely aware of himself as he never was. He will
become totally transparent. He will stand alone before
God and what he did in the previous life would be in the
journal in his hand. No one will intercede on his behalf
except by the permission of God. This is why the Qur’an
constantly speaks of considering the consequences of
one’s acts.
Undoubtedly the verdict to be passed in the Hereafter
hinges upon the long-term endeavours of man’s life. The
Qur’an speaks of how the deed-records and even his
bodily organs will speak, as witnesses of that
particular man’s conduct on earth. This is what the
Qur’an wants man to realize and accordingly decide a
course of action on earth. The Qur’an describes the Last
Day in great vivid detail. The Qur’an is not talking of
annihilation of the present order of the universe.
Instead, it talks of the transformation or rearrangement
of the present order, demonstrating God’s absolute
power.
In the Qur’an the Day of Judgment holds imperative
thematic significance. Reality is made up of moral and
just conduct and so it is obvious that the quality of
this conduct be judged. All disputes and conflicts of
human beliefs and other orientations are to be resolved
and man’s blurry vision, thus, cleared – therein lies
the purpose of the Last Day.
Chapter Seven – Satan and Evil
/The Qur’an/ speaks of the principle of evil,
personified by Satan or /Iblis. /Satan is described as
being of the jinn and he disobeyed the command of his
Lord. The Jinn are considered as being creations
parallel to man, but more prone to do evil. Satan is an
anti-man force rather than anti-God. He is man’s rival
and is constantly trying to deceive man into disobeying
God. His activities rest in the human sphere, which is
why the Qur’an, time and again warns man to stay on his
guard. /Taqwa/ acts as a fortress against Satan’s
attempts to beguile man. The Devil’s attacks are more of
covert missions. Man’s weakness and lack of moral
courage play a vital role in allowing Satan to succeed.
Satan is symbolic for hopelessness. The Qur’an,
therefore, condemns hopelessness and utter despair.
Another aspect of the principle of evil is that the
wicked draw their strength from Satan. Except that this
strength is not based upon anything concrete is both
false and beatable.
Chapter Eight – Emergence of the Muslim Community / /
This chapter begins with an illustration of the classic
formulation of the emergence of the Muslim community at
the hands of Western writers. They lay down the theory
that Muhammad (sws), when in Madinah, claimed Abraham (sws)
exclusively for Islam, thus linking the Muslim community
directly with Abraham (sws) and that his message with
what earlier prophets had taught to their communities.
The facts upon which this theory rests are not false.
The Qur’an does not accept or claim some prophets while
denying others. It implies more that some Arabs were
desirous of a new religion of the Judeo-Christian type.
Therein lies the link; the Qur’an envelops all the
prophets. Also the change of /qiblah/ does not represent
a rupture in the Prophet’s religious thinking, nor is it
symbolic for its nationalization. Muhammad’s (sws)
message was guidance to those who would believe,
irrespective of whether they are Arabs or not. Stories
of the previous prophets such as Jesus (sws) and Moses (sws)
had been floating around the Arab community. Once they
came to the Prophet (sws) in the form of revelations,
they became more than just stories. Through this began
the cultivation of a direct, spiritual community and a
direct witness of the older prophets. Thus God is one,
His Message is one and hence surely mankind too must be
one. Here arose the Qur’anic concept of a Muslim /ummah.
/A collective existence of mankind with guidance from
the Qur’an. Diversity in religion was to be avoided at
all costs. Those who divide religion and construct sects
are called Ahzab in the Qur’an. The Qur’an talks of
Islam as being a religion of pure monotheism. The
earlier monotheistic religions (the “People of the
Book”) were unable to keep this line straight and
deviated from this. In Madinah a very important
development takes place.
There emerges in the Qur’an the concept of the
collective /ummah /or the collective term for the
‘People of the Book’3 <#_ftn1>,/ /including the Jews and
the Christians along with the Muslims. Nonetheless the
Muslim community remains the ideal. The position of the
/ka‘bah/ is that of a sanctimonious place, the
importance of which the Prophet never forgot.
The rites of pilgrimage to /ka‘bah/ were altered from
the pagan rituals preceding Islam. The break with the
Jews is not attributed to the change in the direction of
the /qiblah/; there is no specific event that marks this
break. The Qur’an continues to criticize them on
religious grounds.
Jews were disowned because they were not the true
representatives of their religion.
Gist of a Review by a Scholar
/ /According to Mr. Iftikhar there are two core ideas
stressed in ‘Major Themes of the Qur’an’, which are
methodology and Qur’anic worldview. Mr.
Iftikhar talks about the concept of double movement
described in the book, he critiques this by saying that
instead of looking at historical instances you should in
its place take the text of Qur’an and Hadith as more
authentic. In some places, Fazlur Rahman does impose his
views.
Contradicting this Mr. Iftikhar says that the Qur’an is
the final word of God and hence we can not change what
it says, instead we can use instances from the Qur’an as
analogies to infer certain things, like for example the
issue of polygamy4 <#_ftn1>.
Conclusion
Fazlur Rahman’s book, ‘Major Themes of the Qur’an’
discusses that the Qur’an is a unique book with a
supreme author, an eternal message of universal
relevance. It talks about a central idea and about
coherence in /the /Qur’an. Focus is on the idea of /nazm/.
In my opinion, Fazlur Rahman’s book displays the
underlying theme of the Qur’an – a unitary perspective
in all aspects of life. All degrees of celestial
manifestations too are governed by a single principle
and are unified by a common centre, the absoluteness of
God. Thus religion becomes the revelation sent by God to
man to guide him towards unity and to help him become
that which he always was, but has forgotten. I feel that
Fazlur Rahman discusses the Qur’an as an archetypal
account of the true reality. Understanding the Qur’an
means going beyond just informing oneself of the five
pillars or for that matter the laws of inheritance, for
example. It involves going beyond the surface. It is
important to realize that the source of the Qur’an is
the Divine Intellect. One must go beyond the book and
realize its Author. Fazlur Rahman’s book talks of the
thematic concerns of the Qur’an along with literary
connectives. It therefore attempts to discern a deeper
meaning of the Word of God. After reading his book I
feel that it is safe to draw the conclusion that God has
assigned to man the moral social order of this world as
a Trust. Man is the trustee as well as the beneficiary,
for it is he who will reap the rewards for faithfully
discharging his responsibilities as a trustee. The
method in which to fulfil or discharge this
responsibility is clearly stated in the Qur’an. There
exists a logic in all that is in the milieu of
existence. He illustrates a continuous chain of unity
not only in nature but also in every aspect of human
life and after-life.
Each chapter in the book seems to reiterate the fact
that God is one, His message is one, His Book is one and
hence communal life should be one also. I feel that
after a thorough reading of Fazlur Rahman’s book the
theory of pantheism can be dismissed fairly easily. God
does not exist in everything. In fact everything’s
existence points towards the existence of God Himself.
The Qur’an is aimed directly at man. Fazlur Rahman’s
book not only emphasizes this but also proves it beyond
any shadow of doubt.
Fazlur Rahman takes a functional look at the /Qur’an/;
he seems to sometimes have less regard or is likely to
forget its meditative and worshipful modes. I feel that
Fazlur Rahman’s attitude towards the Qur’an may be
summed up by his own apt words. He feels that it
‘inspires [an] irreducible attitude of the mind called
faith, which is both captivating and demanding.’ This
approach is illustrated throughout the book. Fazlur
Rahman’s interpretations are seen as following Modernist
Muslim exegesis. He is implying that the Qur’an is to be
studied as a whole not in bits or parts. His thought
process shows a holistic learning, as he discusses the
theme of the Qur’an keeping in mind its general nature
i.e. the word of god. It is only this that will help
Muslims in reaching moral maturity. The key human
response to the Qur’an must be a sense of deep
consciousness of God. |