Articles
08/01/2024

The Lack of Quranic Culture

The Lack of Quranic Culture

A major problem in many parts of the Muslim world is the lack of a Quranic culture. This culture should be open to issues of faith, humanity, and life. Those in charge of spreading Islam have not focused on this culture. Instead, their major concern has been juristic studies. The religious seminaries (Hawza) [1] are overwhelmed with these studies. This prevents them from directing their Muslim communities to deepen their relationship with the Quran. Deep knowledge, interpretation, and analysis of the Quran are not among their academic concerns.

The problem may be that they are overwhelmed with traditions from the Prophet (p.) and the Imams (a.s.) without verifying their authenticity or checking their conceptual content. This creates an Islamic cultural chaos. Their concern with narrations about the virtues of certain figures, based on unreliable interpretations, outweighs their interest in the Islamic concepts that enable a Muslim to comprehend Quranic truths and its general concepts for life's journey.

Caring about sectarian personalities often far outweighs interest in Quranic culture, despite it being the basis of Islamic knowledge. Thus, they focus on the particular traits of these figures at the expense of the Quran. This problem is aggravated by the existence of several competing schools of Quranic interpretation.

It is also ironic that concern for the Quran has been reduced to the vocal aspect of its recitation. Some are good at reciting the Quran but are ignorant of its meanings. Some religious scholars even subject the Quran to Hadith without checking the validity of its sources, instead of subjecting the Hadith to the Quran. This has led to many negative results, including an incorrect understanding of the Quran, especially on issues related to sectarian particularities. They have also added attempts to clarify inner meanings of verses that are unrelated to their apparent meanings.

Thus, the original meanings of the Quran were dissociated from Islamic cultural mentalities due to this chaos of different trends. Traditions have turned the Quran into a book read to the dead, a book that cures illnesses, or one used for Istikhara [2]. It is no longer treated as a book of awareness, culture, and Islamic originality.

The Quran is the Light

The Quran is the light that illuminates Islamic truths for the Islamic mind, in faith, Sharia, life, and reality. Allah wanted people to study and comprehend it profoundly. He wanted them to draw inspiration from its verses regarding human issues and struggles. He wanted them to open up to its methodology of dialogue and preaching, since the mind is the basis for communicating with other minds. Thus, dialogue should be from one mind to another, not from a mind to an instinct!

In this respect, man should consider knowledge a human virtue that elevates him. It increases his understanding of the universe, the human soul, and life. It teaches him how to deal with human ambitions and the diversity of reality, using Islamic rules that identify right and wrong in the course of life and struggle, especially in political and social domains.

Quran is the Book of the Islamic Movement

The Quran, revealed to His Messenger (p.), is the book of the Islamic movement. It guided the Messenger and the Muslims with him in the course of the Call, in challenges, in struggle, in war, and in peace. Muslims in every time and place should draw inspiration from its general principles. These principles convey the Islamic experience in its various situations, challenges, and reactions. They should emulate the Messenger's (p.) missionary personality in his biography, relations, and private and public life. They should learn from the difficult experiences of the prophets with their peoples. They should revive the general concepts related to facing other trends and ideologies.

The Muslim community ought to be educated on all Islamic cultural elements. This creates a spiritual, practical, and ideological immunity to avoid being affected by non-Islamic currents. The influence of these currents is a product of the absence of an Islamic cultural methodology that clashes with other disbelieving and deviating methodologies. This vacuum speeds up man's deviation, aided by various means that address his feelings, financial ambitions, and instincts.

The Quran Creates Awareness

We believe that a profound study of the Quran and its original Islamic concepts—open to all issues of man, reality, and life—creates the awareness that protects Muslims from the hegemony of other currents over their doctrinal, juristic, and cultural resources.

Going back to the Quran to achieve proximity between sects requires a deep understanding of Quranic facts. This requires a specialized culture based on authenticating the methodology, which is the basis for evaluating any idea. This in turn requires:

  • A thorough comprehension of Arabic grammar and meanings.
  • Authenticating the source and content of the Hadiths of the Prophet (p.) and Ahl Al-Bayt (a.s.).

By this methodology, we can formulate the criteria for the correct understanding of the Quran, its goals, and its baselines.

In this light, being more accurate in applying rules and criteria prevents deviated parties from accentuating thoughts they wrongly attribute to the Quran. This applies particularly to the Takfiris. They have failed to employ a sound interpreting and juristic methodology. They cannot rely on the Quran to assert their superficial criteria for differentiating between believers and disbelievers, which they use to stigmatize other Muslims. This is especially true regarding issues of God's oneness and ascribing partners to Him, for which they have no juristic or logical proof.

A New Understanding of the Quranic Text

Our quest to renew the understanding of the Quranic text is not a product of a cultural complex. It does not seek to renew our Islamic culture by canceling old understandings held by other interpreters. It is certainly not a product of an intellectual state that believes all previous scholars were wrong in their understanding and methodology.

However, to avoid being imprisoned by the previous judgments of scholars from various sects—whose work we appreciate and respect—we have tried to study the Quran with our own Islamic interpretative culture. We also use some new methodologies discovered by man, alongside our original understanding of the apparent meaning of the Quranic verses. We compare the results of our judgments, analysis, and inspirations to reach a decisive new understanding that may differ from others.

We do not believe in the sacredness of the old texts of fallible scholars. Just as they differed in their understanding of the Quran and in various juristic and doctrinal issues—without this being considered a religious or scholarly problem—we also have the right to differ with them if we discover something that does not conform with their views. The basis of this methodology is scholarly Islamic piety that relies on arguments and proof, not mood and passions.

 
A dialogue with Ar-Ramadaniya Bahraini Magazine 15-9-2007.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] educational institution which involves teaching religious ideas and educating religious students

[2]using a rosary or quran book or a prayer through a duaa to ask Allah if an action is good or bad.

A major problem in many parts of the Muslim world is the lack of a Quranic culture. This culture should be open to issues of faith, humanity, and life. Those in charge of spreading Islam have not focused on this culture. Instead, their major concern has been juristic studies. The religious seminaries (Hawza) [1] are overwhelmed with these studies. This prevents them from directing their Muslim communities to deepen their relationship with the Quran. Deep knowledge, interpretation, and analysis of the Quran are not among their academic concerns.

The problem may be that they are overwhelmed with traditions from the Prophet (p.) and the Imams (a.s.) without verifying their authenticity or checking their conceptual content. This creates an Islamic cultural chaos. Their concern with narrations about the virtues of certain figures, based on unreliable interpretations, outweighs their interest in the Islamic concepts that enable a Muslim to comprehend Quranic truths and its general concepts for life's journey.

Caring about sectarian personalities often far outweighs interest in Quranic culture, despite it being the basis of Islamic knowledge. Thus, they focus on the particular traits of these figures at the expense of the Quran. This problem is aggravated by the existence of several competing schools of Quranic interpretation.

It is also ironic that concern for the Quran has been reduced to the vocal aspect of its recitation. Some are good at reciting the Quran but are ignorant of its meanings. Some religious scholars even subject the Quran to Hadith without checking the validity of its sources, instead of subjecting the Hadith to the Quran. This has led to many negative results, including an incorrect understanding of the Quran, especially on issues related to sectarian particularities. They have also added attempts to clarify inner meanings of verses that are unrelated to their apparent meanings.

Thus, the original meanings of the Quran were dissociated from Islamic cultural mentalities due to this chaos of different trends. Traditions have turned the Quran into a book read to the dead, a book that cures illnesses, or one used for Istikhara [2]. It is no longer treated as a book of awareness, culture, and Islamic originality.

The Quran is the Light

The Quran is the light that illuminates Islamic truths for the Islamic mind, in faith, Sharia, life, and reality. Allah wanted people to study and comprehend it profoundly. He wanted them to draw inspiration from its verses regarding human issues and struggles. He wanted them to open up to its methodology of dialogue and preaching, since the mind is the basis for communicating with other minds. Thus, dialogue should be from one mind to another, not from a mind to an instinct!

In this respect, man should consider knowledge a human virtue that elevates him. It increases his understanding of the universe, the human soul, and life. It teaches him how to deal with human ambitions and the diversity of reality, using Islamic rules that identify right and wrong in the course of life and struggle, especially in political and social domains.

Quran is the Book of the Islamic Movement

The Quran, revealed to His Messenger (p.), is the book of the Islamic movement. It guided the Messenger and the Muslims with him in the course of the Call, in challenges, in struggle, in war, and in peace. Muslims in every time and place should draw inspiration from its general principles. These principles convey the Islamic experience in its various situations, challenges, and reactions. They should emulate the Messenger's (p.) missionary personality in his biography, relations, and private and public life. They should learn from the difficult experiences of the prophets with their peoples. They should revive the general concepts related to facing other trends and ideologies.

The Muslim community ought to be educated on all Islamic cultural elements. This creates a spiritual, practical, and ideological immunity to avoid being affected by non-Islamic currents. The influence of these currents is a product of the absence of an Islamic cultural methodology that clashes with other disbelieving and deviating methodologies. This vacuum speeds up man's deviation, aided by various means that address his feelings, financial ambitions, and instincts.

The Quran Creates Awareness

We believe that a profound study of the Quran and its original Islamic concepts—open to all issues of man, reality, and life—creates the awareness that protects Muslims from the hegemony of other currents over their doctrinal, juristic, and cultural resources.

Going back to the Quran to achieve proximity between sects requires a deep understanding of Quranic facts. This requires a specialized culture based on authenticating the methodology, which is the basis for evaluating any idea. This in turn requires:

  • A thorough comprehension of Arabic grammar and meanings.
  • Authenticating the source and content of the Hadiths of the Prophet (p.) and Ahl Al-Bayt (a.s.).

By this methodology, we can formulate the criteria for the correct understanding of the Quran, its goals, and its baselines.

In this light, being more accurate in applying rules and criteria prevents deviated parties from accentuating thoughts they wrongly attribute to the Quran. This applies particularly to the Takfiris. They have failed to employ a sound interpreting and juristic methodology. They cannot rely on the Quran to assert their superficial criteria for differentiating between believers and disbelievers, which they use to stigmatize other Muslims. This is especially true regarding issues of God's oneness and ascribing partners to Him, for which they have no juristic or logical proof.

A New Understanding of the Quranic Text

Our quest to renew the understanding of the Quranic text is not a product of a cultural complex. It does not seek to renew our Islamic culture by canceling old understandings held by other interpreters. It is certainly not a product of an intellectual state that believes all previous scholars were wrong in their understanding and methodology.

However, to avoid being imprisoned by the previous judgments of scholars from various sects—whose work we appreciate and respect—we have tried to study the Quran with our own Islamic interpretative culture. We also use some new methodologies discovered by man, alongside our original understanding of the apparent meaning of the Quranic verses. We compare the results of our judgments, analysis, and inspirations to reach a decisive new understanding that may differ from others.

We do not believe in the sacredness of the old texts of fallible scholars. Just as they differed in their understanding of the Quran and in various juristic and doctrinal issues—without this being considered a religious or scholarly problem—we also have the right to differ with them if we discover something that does not conform with their views. The basis of this methodology is scholarly Islamic piety that relies on arguments and proof, not mood and passions.

 
A dialogue with Ar-Ramadaniya Bahraini Magazine 15-9-2007.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] educational institution which involves teaching religious ideas and educating religious students

[2]using a rosary or quran book or a prayer through a duaa to ask Allah if an action is good or bad.
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