Knowledge of the Quran

The Importance of learning Ulum Al-Quran

(Knowledge of the Quran)

By Wan Muhammad Aliff Bin Rahmat

بِسْــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِالرَّحْمَنِ اارَّحِيم .‎

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Introduction

In the turn of the century, modern reformists have perceived that the huge gap between the Quran and our everyday lives are reduced to the holy book being merely a set of legal codes of conduct. The distance between the Quran and the youth today have become increasingly bigger especially in secular states like Singapore. Secular or ‘non-religious’ meant that any essence of any religion must have nothing to do with how the country is run, that is, religion must NEVER mix with politics. However, a problem that I have noticed due to our secular system is that under the banner of “civil laws” that supposedly promotes human rights based on the Judeo-Christian and Western ideology of how a civilised country should be like, the Quran’s code of conduct is given a back seat. Thus, it has dawned upon me that I should cover the importance of learning the Quran on the part where learning the knowledge of the Quran can help us inshallah in this capitalist and secular-driven state without invoking the wrath of Allah سبحانه و تعالى. However, being not an Islamic expert (ulama) there are ideas that I claim my own and may not be the true accepted piece and hence, please forgive me for such misguided attempts.

I will be covering a main aspect on the importance of knowing Ulumul Al-Quran (Knowledge on the Quran): The wide interpretation views of the Quran.

Interpretation of the Quran

I would like to begin by organizing my essay into 2 further subtopics: interpretation on reason and flexibility in reading.

Interpretation on reason

After the Prophet’s passing, multiple fragments of Islam emerged and each may have varying views on the way in which the Quran is interpreted. Examples of such theological fragments are the Mu’tazilah, Khawarij, Qadari, Jabri, Shiites and numerous more. One main contributing factor to such disunity is attributed to the way the Quran is interpreted. During the Battle of Siffin (657 AD) between the supporters of Sayidina Ali r.a, the Fourth Caliph Ar-Rashidin, against Governor Mu’awiyah, Ali r.a agreed to a tahkim, arbitration or peace talk, between the two camps but a group of his supporters (Khawarijs) rebelled and protested saying that

“La Hukma Illa Li-llahi”

Judgement belongs to God alone.

The Khawarij’s view on Allah سبحانه و تعالى judgeship is based on an interpretation on reason alone. As the story goes, these rebels were finally responsible for the assassination of Sayidina Ali r.a and led directly to the birth of the Umayyad Caliphate as Muawiyah survived the rebel’s assassination attempt on him. Hence, the moral of the story I would like to bring forward here is that the interpretation of the Quran is a touchy issue and that these minor details could actually represent a huge difference in history.

Similarly, with the rise of the Qadaris, the issue of predestination and free will becomes a hotly debated topic in Muslim context. The Qadaris represents an early theological school, whose representatives, such as al-Hasan al-Basri, advocates the idea of free will to choose actions instead of the widely accepted predestination by Allah s.w.t. This is a result of interpretation by reason once again. 

      

Say: "Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector': and on Allah let the Believers put their trust." At-Taubah 9:51

The Qadaris firmly believe based on reason that how we act, how we go about doing good and bad to others are the works of our own will and is not determined by Allah s.w.t. This goes by the logic in modern times “we do what we do things the way it is because we WANT to do them”. However, be forewarned that these interpretation by reason is very dangerous as supported by the following hadith by Ibnu Abbas r.a,

“The messenger of God said: ‘he who interprets the Quran according to his opinions should have his place prepared in the fire of hell’ “.

This is further supported by –

It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah . But those firm in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding Surah Ali-Imran 3:7

Hence, the importance of studying Ulumul Quran in this case is that we cannot merely pluck out the words of the Quran and use our brains to determine the meaning. There are dire consequences to our feeble interpretation without the consultation of responsible ulamas. Some matters in the Quran are purposely made not very clear in the Quran to test the faith in us and are only known to Allah s.w.t. The father of all interpretation by reason would have to be the Muktazilahs of whom we should be wary of when looking through their works.

Some may say that tafsir by reason is essential in communicating the good message of the Quran as said by the philosopher Ibn Rushd( died  1198 AD) and that it is the duty of Muslims to contemplate and reflect on the messages in the Quran. Thereby, my dear brothers and sisters, if we do not want to be led astray, seek knowledge in the right place and with the right people. This is especially important for us Singaporeans whereby all forms of religion and the deviated forms of religion are accepted to live cohesively in this small island. More often than so, these deviations may interlink with one another, influencing the masses and may divert us from the one true path. Subhanallah.

Flexibility in reading

According to a hadith, the Quran was revealed in seven ahruf or ‘ways’ and ‘dialect’. This is very much debated among Muslim scholars till today. (Source: Interpreting the Quran by Abdullah Saeed pg 69-pg76) An interpretation of this hadith was that the seven ahruf is a reference to the 7 Arabic dialects present during the Prophet’s time as supported by As-Suyuti. The dialects are from these respective tribes: Quraish, Hudhayl, Thaqif, Hawazin, Kinanah, tamim and al-Yaman. The best and clearest example of the dialects can be seen when reading the surah Duha. Other interpretation includes a reference to qiraat or ‘readings’ of the Quran and an even higher order interpretation of the number “7” or sab’ah which figuratively meant “many” according to Qadi Iyad.

However, it is widely accepted that ALL these dialects are acceptable as long as the meaning does not change. Not only in Arabia do dialects differ. Take for example the Malay Peninsula. Due to the widespread use of the Malay language, bolstered by the rise of the maritime Malaccan empire in the 15^th century, people from the Philippines speaks Tagalog which bears a close resemblance to the Malay language, people in Kelantan also has a distinctive dialect and even up to the coasts of Madagascar. Language has no barriers and place plays a major role in determining the form of dialect.

A good example of distinguishable but acceptable dialect reading in the Quran would be

Indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as a quark's weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward. An-Nisa 4:40

The first sentence is read ‘inna allaha la yazlimu mithqala dharrah’. However, Ibnu Mas’ud reads this part as ‘inna allaha la yazlimu mithqala namlah’. Thus, he uses the synonym namlah instead of dharrah. According to Manna al-Qattan, such dialetical differences are cited as the most acceptable interpretation of ahruf.

Umar al-Kattab, the 2^nd Caliph Ar-rashidin, reports, “I heard Hisham bin Hakam reciting Surah al-Furqan during Rasulullah’s lifetime and I listened to his recitation and noticed that it was recited in a way different from what Rasulullah had taught me.... When he had completed his prayers, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, “Who taught you this surah?” He replied, “Rasulullah taught me.” “You lie, for Rasulullah have taught me in a different way from yours”. So I dragged him to Rasulullah and said, “I heard this man recite al-Furqan in a way which you have not taught me,” On that, the Prophet said, “Release him O Umar. Recite Hisham!” Then he recited in the same way I heard him reciting before and the prophet said that al-Furqan was revealed in this way. “Recite, o Umar!” So I recited the way I was taught and the prophet says the same thing. Rasulullah continued, “... This Quran has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever is easier for you.”

This hadith showed that Islam does not forbid and restrict the way the Quran can be read. It is flexible. When the people of Arabia converted to Islam, most were from different tribes and each had different ways to pronounce the Arabic words. Islam does not force you or cause you burden by changing your dialect. No, this shows the greatness of the Quran as all the different dialects can be accepted. It showed that even when the Quran is first revealed in Qurayshi dialect, then the centre of commerce due to the pagan pilgrimage during pre-Islamic times and that the Qurayshi are a proud and strong race, it brought everyone to the same level.

We can take this as an example to modern context that Islam is not superior to a certain race. A major flaw in Singapore’s society would have to be the great distinctive divide between the Malay Muslim community and the “Other” Muslim community. Malays have been given a priority and stronger support when it comes to religious perspective or financial backing. Recent reports in the newspapers have shown some dissatisfaction to this exclusiveness.  Most Islamic books here are written in Malay or English and hardly any in Tamil, Hindi or Chinese. Are we an exclusive society? No, we are not like the Jews. The flexibility of the Quran serves as a moral to us that we should cater to the other races equally! Only then can people embrace and see us Muslims in a better light. To reach out to the masses, there must be wide acceptance that Islam is not reserved for Malays or Arabs or Turks.

The moral of the story I would like to put forth here is this: The era have changed over the centuries and we have to adapt to this change. Accept this change and integrate into this modern society while having our faiths strong in heart. Only then can we continue our Da’wah when they see us as a friend not a stranger with an obsessed desire for spiritual enlightenment. Only then can the face of terrorism and the Western view of “Islamophobia” be vanquished inshallah.

Thank you very much.

والله أعلم بالصواب