Intro to Quranic Sciences - by Sheikh Taha

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Intro to Quranic Sciences - by Sheikh Taha
bhaloo
02/09/01 at 01:58:32
slm

I thought I would post up the notes from a class taught by Sheikh Taha al-Alwani, entitled Introduction to Quranic Sciences.

Here is the 1st part:


Table of Contents

Table of Contents      1
Topics Covered in this Course      2
References for Course      3
Names of the Quran      5
Al-Quran      5
Al-Kitab      5
Characteristics of the Quran      6
Language of Revelation      6
Unity of the Text      7
Manual of the Universe and Equal to the Universe      7
Musadiq      8
Muhaymana      8


Topics Covered in this Course

·      How was the Quran recorded/written?
·      What were the methods/sunnah around protecting the Quran?
·      How were the surahs collected/reorganized/named?
·      How is the Quran protected? By Allah (preserved from corruption unlike previous books)
·      History of the revelation
·      Why is it revealed slowly?

So that it would sink into the hearts of people, and so it would be transferred to the people in the way that Allah directed

Each 5-10 verses of the quran are “stars”

The Ahkam and the shariah were revealed part by part. People were prepared psychologically.

An example is wine and gambling. The first the verse tells the people that there is some benefit in them but the bad impact is worse than the good. The next revelation tells people not to approach prayer after drinking because they would not understand what they were saying. The last ayahs state that it is very bad and is completely prohibited. We have a hadith of Ayesha stating that if the Quran had been revealed all at once people would not have been able to do it.

Even now, we can see the way people go through addiction rehab. They learn to cut back first, and slowly change their habits. It is

·      How many main themes are there in the Quran?
o      Tawheed
o      Laws of the universe
o      Hereafter
o      The World of the unseen
o      History of the prophets and prophethood
o      Ahkam and Rules of shariah
o      How to help people accept good and reject evil

·      Characteristics of Makki and Madani Surahs
89 surahs in Makkah, the rest in Madina. The first 89 surahs dealt with faith only. It helped the people accept Islam. The rest were revealed in Madinah and dealt with teaching people how to behave in society. There are different characteristics between the Makkan and Madinian surahs

·      Differences between the Quran and the Other Books
There are major difference in stories of the prophets between the Quran and the other books. We say that prophets do not commits sins, and they are protected by Allah. Every action that the prophets told people to avoid, they did not do themselves so that they would be good examples to lead the people.

·      Importance of the Prophetic Stories
·      Abrogation of Verses
·      The Miracle of Quran
·      Examples in the Quran
·      Variant Readings of the Quran (origins, and impacts)
·      Tafseer (Explanation)
o      Kinds of Tafseer
o      Old and New Tafseer
o      Classifications of Tafseer
·      Practice of Tadabur


References for Course
·      Uloom ul Quran by Deffner (English)
·      Series of Farahi (Urdu)- Journal of Quranic Sciences [Coherence in the Quran by Mustansir Mir– very brief summary of Farahi’s and Islahi’s work]
·      Al Burhan fi Uloom ul Quran by Az-Zarkashi (Arabic)  
·      Al Idkan fi Uloom ul Quran (Al-Suyuti)
·      Manahal ul Irfan fil uloom ul Quran by Zarhani
·      Subh Saleh
·      Joboori etc
·      Tafseer at Tahrir wat Tanveer by Tahir al Ashoor (Arabic – 20vol) main reference

10 chapters on Uloom ul Quran from Tafseer at Tahrir wat Tanveer cover:

1.      What is Tafseer and what are the sources?
2.      Should one practice Tafseer by reason alone or needs hadith and sunnah too?
3.      Goals of mufassir
4.      Relationship between the Quran and other sciences
§      One can find certain sciences in the Quran, stories, ethics, shariah, aqidah, nahu
§      Mufassir needs certain sciences to understand Quran: philosophy, social sciences, natural sciences
§      Indications to certain sciences in the Quran: logic, geology, creation, biology
§      Sciences that the Quran indicates are not good for you: magic
5.      Causes of events of revelation
6.      Readings of the Quran (al-qiraat)
7.      Stories of the Quran
8.      The name Quran, what does the name mean, the order of the surahs etc
9.      The meanings of the Quran- literal (zahir) and rhetorical (batin- hidden)
10.      The Miracle of the Quran (Ijaz ul Quran)





Further Reading
·      The Sword of Constantine
·      The Muhammadan Revelation
·      The Quran, the Bible and Modern Science





Names of the Quran

There are about 35 names of the Quran. Fakhruddin Ar-Razi (died in 6 AH) mentioned them in the introduction of his work. This Tafseer is a scientific Tafseer: Mafatihul Ghaib. He got them from the verse of the Quran e.g. Kitab um Mobin, Un Nur etc.

The most important names are Al-Quran and Al-Kitab.

Al-Quran
What does Quran mean? The root of the word is “qa ra aa” which means a collection. The Quran is a collection of the words of Allah. Allah collected the verses and surahs together in one book, thus it is called the Quran. Allah collected the teachings of all the prophets in this Book and it includes everything (main teachings) from the previous books.

This name thus indicates towards the characteristic of The Book. Allah has 99 names however there is no name like Allah as it does not pertain to His characteristics. Allah pertains to Allah, just like the Quran pertains to the Quran.

Al-Kitab
No book deserves to be named The Book except this one. It teaches everything. It has 34 or more different names that draw our attention to its different characteristics.



Characteristics of the Quran
Language of Revelation
The Quran is revealed in Arabic.

At first, the Children of Israel were the chosen ones. However, His message ended with them. They were supposed to be the Ummah of the book and were supposed to spread the message. However, they were arrogant. They felt that they were the chosen ones that were beloved by Allah, and were his sons. They were not humble enough to realize that it was the Mercy from Allah that they were the chosen ones. Their arrogance made them think that because they were so good, and His children, therefore they were chosen.

When Allah told them to invite the rest of the world to His message, they replied that they do not care about the ummiyeen (the illiterate people- those who had not received a message before). They felt that the ummiyeen sere inferior because they had not received a message before. They ignored the order of Allah as they felt the message was only for them.

Allah decided that He would give His mercy to the ummiyeen: Arabs, Kurds etc. because the Children of Israel refused to do their responsibility, Allah sent them a messenger among themselves.

The language Arabic was very thorough, very rich in expression, nuances of words (there are some 80,000 roots and each root gives about 25 derived words). The Arabs had not developed any science other than language (no philosophy, pyramids etc)- it was their source of pride and achievement. The meaning can be made clear in the Arabic language.

There were certain characteristics in the language itself and the people who were speaking the language that made it suitable for the revelation of the Quran. During the lifetime of the Prophet (saw), the Arab peninsula was covered, and by the end of the rule of Ali, even China had been touched.

There is a big difference between when humans use the language, and when Allah uses the language. Allah knows everything! He has the knowledge of everything when He speaks. There is the ability and the capability of including many levels of meaning in the text. Humans can have a certain number of meanings when they speak (like politicians), however they are limited. This book will be understood by every generation up to the Day of Judgment. This indicates the greatness of the book that it can be read at so many levels of knowledge. Each generation has a different ceiling of knowledge, and the Quran is capable of being relevant and true at all levels.

It is possible to collect a few volumes for each verse as each successive generation will add something to its understanding. This indicates that the verses are open to humans, and are open to the universe.

The Bible, Quran and Modern Science by Muarice Bucaille. This book deals with certain issues and the author discovered that the Bible had many contradictions with modern science, however the Quran does not. During the renaissance, the church had many scientists killed, and their works destroyed. The Quran however is different as it draws the attention towards nature to draw the attention towards the Creator. It avoids any details and leaves people to think about the creation and the Creator.

The Quran is like a manual of the universe. Humans are the vicegerents and their duties are laid out. The text is open to receive any civilization and culture, and deal with the need of any time.

The prophet was trying to ask people to use water in an economic way. Do not squander water even if you are at the shores of a sea. People thought that the Prophet (saw) was telling the people because it was the Arab peninsula and they had a shortage of water. However now we see that even NYC has had the same water problems because they squandered water.

One of the major problematic issues that we face in this day is the environment. There are tremendous amounts of pollution. The seas are polluted and wildlife is dying. International summits are held to deal with the problems. The Prophet (saw) learned from the Quran that people should not spoil their environment.

Unity of the Text

It is very difficult to write one chapter and make it a coherent unit. In the Quran, the unity is conserved throughout the Book. Through tadabur one can find that every surah has one theme. The theme is like the pillar around which everything else revolves. There are sub-themes that relate to the main theme.

It is impossible for any human in any language to write in this manner. Each surah is like one verse. When one discovers the main theme, one can start to understand everything else.  Do not read the Quran with an absent mind just to recite. You must understand and practice tadabur.

There were 165 qura (readers) among the sahaba. They would spend days just on one verse to understand the meaning. This is different from now when people speed up the reading of the Quran during Ramadan to collect more reward!

Manual of the Universe and Equal to the Universe

The Quran is open to the generations and time. In the universe one looks at the sky, moon, stars etc. One can notice the difference between the things, however when you look at the laws of nature that Allah created, there is a unity amongst everything. All the different parts of the universe obey the same laws.

13: 2.  Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; is firmly established on the throne (of authority); He has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law)! Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. He doth regulate all affairs, explaining the signs in detail, that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord.  

13: 3.  And it is He who spread out the earth, and set thereon mountains standing firm and (flowing) rivers: and fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two: He draweth the night as a veil o'er the Day. Behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who consider!

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation


Every different reader will find a different meaning and lesson from the Quran. It is as though it was meant for every reader specifically, however it is for all and thus it is like the universe.

Musadiq
Musadiq refers to returning something to the truth. The previous books were left upto the rabbis ands scholars to protect however they lost them.

The first text of the Torah appeared 3 centuries after the death of Moses. The story of the death of Moses in the Torah is false. It even mentions where he was buried.  How could it have been the book revealed to Moses if it talks about his death?

The Zabur was revealed to David, the Torah to Moses and the Injeel to Jesus. The Quran brought all those books back to the truth, corrects their corruption, and are included in the Quran.

Tasdeeq is to criticize the false, and put the truth back in.

Muhaymana      
When you control something and it is under your hand. The Quran controls everything related to the message of Allah. The Quran tells us about the changes in the Torah in Surah Baqarah by the rabbis.

Ezra, a rabbi wrote the full Torah and wrote it in Babylonian. He included stories of Golgamesh (Babylonian mythology) as well. Thus, we find different editions of the Torah. The 2 main editions are the Babylonian edition (Ezra) and the Sameries Torah (the people in the West Bank who claim their Torah is the Torah of Moses)
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Re: Intro to Quranic Sciences - by Sheikh Taha
bhaloo
02/19/01 at 12:45:04
slm

ok, continuing off with lecture 2 from Sheikh Taha's class:


Characteristics of the Qur’an      
Two Readings      
Shariah      
The Last Book Revealed to Humans      
Protected and Impossible to Change      
Other Characteristics      
Sciences of the Quran- an Introduction      


Characteristics of the Qur’an

Two Readings
When we look at the characteristics of the Quran, we find that the text is absolute, not relative. The difference between relative and absolute are huge.

An absolute text like the Quran is one that includes and invites many meanings. This is not true of any other text.

Surah Al-Imran

O believers, practice taqwa as much as Allah deserves

However, this verse is very hard to implement. Even if we practice taqwa and pray to the best of our abilities, we cannot have as much taqwa as Allah deserves.

However, we have another verse that tells us to practice Taqwa as much as you can. This is a characteristic of the Quran. It gives you the highest level that one can reach. It creates a desire to get to that goal even if there is a big difference between where you are and where you want to go. Thus, Allah tells us to do as much as we can so there is no tension between what you can do and what you want to do.

The sahaba came to the prophet and asked him because they felt they would all go to hell. He answered that Allah will not ask you to do anything that is beyond your capability.

If one comes to any law or constitution built by humans, it is very difficult to include everything without any contradictions.

Surah Muzammil
Allah asks the prophet to pray a lot- to pray through the night, however not all of it


73: 1.  O thou folded in garments!  
73: 2.  Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night,-  
73: 3.  Half of it,- or a little less,  
73: 4.  Or a little more; and recite the Qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones.  
73: 5.  Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty Message.  
73: 6.  Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the Word (of Prayer and Praise).  
73: 7.  True, there is for thee by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties:  
73: 8.  But keep in remembrance the name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him whole-heartedly.  
73: 9.  (He is) Lord of the East and the West: there is no god but He: take Him therefore for (thy) Disposer of Affairs.

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

It tells the highest level, the middle and the lowest level that is required.

When Allah told the people about jihad, they were told that the soldiers had no right to leave even if there were 10 times as many enemies. However, after that, He said it was 2-3 times, and after that, one has the right to avoid it.

In this way, in each case one is given the highest level that one can make, at the same time He also gives the lower level. However, every person has to decide based on his or her abilities, which level one has to practice. The Quran dislikes imposing something on you like the Torah or the Bible, or the previous Shariah.

When Allah gave the Torah to Moses, he was told to be strong and implement. The children of Israel said that they could not. Allah took the mountain and put it over their heads, “pray or I am going to destroy you to destroy you”. You cannot find any such verse in the Quran asking the Muslims to do their obligatory worship in the same manner, everywhere, the are given the range. In addition, each one has to try to do whatever they can do, and also the encouragement to strive for a higher level.

When some of the sahaba were outside in jihad, one of them was injured. The next morning he found that he needed to make ghusl for janaba. He asked the people around him, and no one was aware that tayamum was enough. They told him that he must make ghusl. He did, and he died because of it. When the prophet heard of this, he said they killed their brother, may Allah kill him. If they didn’t know the answer to the question, why didn’t they ask someone who knew better rather than give an uninformed judgment. In this manner, they killed him.

Once the prophet and sahaba were out and they didn’t wake for prayer. The prophet prayed late, and said it seems that there is shaytan in this place.

On another occasion, one man came to the prophet. His wife wanted to get divorced from him because he didn’t wake up for fajr. The prophet asked him why he didn’t pray. The man answered that it was the practice of him and his tribe and family and they were unable to wake up for fajr. The prophet told his wife that he is a believer and do not divorce him.

Thus, we see that Islam is always looking at the limits of your capability. We have the shariah, and our own responsibility towards implementing the shariah. We have to make our own decision to do a certain action to the best of our abilities.

We will insha’Allah cover the topic of abrogation in this course. It is part of the characteristic of the Quran that it asks us to do something at the highest level, and another verse that gives us permission to do the same thing according to our capabilities. Thus, we have to realize that the Quran is not contradictory; there is no absolute contradiction. If you think that there is contradiction, then ask something that knows more to explain it to you. There is no abrogation.

The reason that led previous scholars to saying that there is abrogation is based on that scaled approach to teaching us (the highest to the lowest level).

If we pick up any verse of the Quran and examine how it was understood by the previous generations, there will be volumes that can be collected. Each generation had a different understanding based on their capability.

Fakhruddin Razi who wrote a Tafseer said that if he wrote a full Tafseer a camel would not be able to carry it. There is one volume only for surah fatiha! He tried to link different things that he knew to the verse. We must understand that this text is open to include everything.

At the same time, we must respect our heritage, our legacy and the scholars before us. However, we must understand that we have something else to deal with in this day and age.

We can ask how should we get the answer to different situations for the Quran. How should the Quran open itself to give solutions? Here, we must understand the different readings.

The first revelation:

96: 1.  Read! in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created-  
96: 2.  Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood:  
Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

Here we are told to know your-selves. We should know that wherever we reach in this universe it is through Him. We were nothing, and could not have gotten anywhere without Him. Read the creation, read your-self, nature, read about the creation of Allah by His Name. There is no repetition in the Quran. Everything has it’s own meaning.

96: 3.  Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,-  
96: 4.  He Who taught (the use of) the pen,-  
96: 5.  Taught man that which he knew not.

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

Here we have an indication towards the accumulation of knowledge. Read by pens, books. Allah is the source of all knowledge. We have to link ourselves to Him.


In another surah, Allah swears by the Pen. In another Allah directs the discourse to the two readings.

The main characteristic of the Quran is to combine and collect the two readings. Collect the readings from the past, and read the revelation. People who neglect the creation do not have enough knowledge and do not understand the Quran in a proper way.

Shariah
The Quran also includes the Shariah among its characteristics. This shariah is the shariah of ease and mercy.

The shariah of the children of Israel before us were hard. If we take the cow alone. There are parts of the cow that are allowed, some are not (some bones, some fat, some areas of meat etc.). You need a map just to eat a cow! For this reason, they gave the responsibility of slaughtering to the rabbis, and only to some of them.

This shariah however is very different. It is acceptable for everyone in every generation

Surah Araf
7:157.  "Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure-Maruf) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure-Munkar); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honor him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper."

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

     
Al maruf an Al Munkar are very specific words. Al-maruf is something that the fitra would accept. It does not alienate one from his environment. The munkar is something that the fitra would reject.

On the other hand, when one goes to the Shariah of the Children of Israel one finds hardship and discipline.

Some jurists have said that the old shariah is our shariah unless there is something abrogated. No, we cannot adopt previous shariah because of the big differences.

The Last Book Revealed to Humans

Unlike Jesus and Moses, there is no Prophet or book after the Quran. This implies that the understanding and interpretation will be by humans. We do not need another prophet or messenger to tell us how to interpret it. Even the prophet did not interpret the Quran for us- he did not leave a Tafseer, he left his sunnah. He left an “interpretation” based on actions, not as a written Tafseer. Why not? Because then people would not be able to change anything from what he said. People would not be allowed to have different understandings of the verses. The text needs to be open for interpretation.

Specialists need to interpret the Quran, (like the Supreme Court and the constitution), however everyone must try to understand it, and practice tadabur and taammul. You should be open to corrections from knowledgeable sources.

Countries nowadays say that they need to provide wine and alcohol for the tourist industry. However, what does the Quran say about it? It gives us Surah Quraish that tells us what is needed: accessible food and safety.

106: 1.  For the covenants (of security and safeguard enjoyed) by the Quraish,  
106: 2.  Their covenants (covering) journeys by winter and summer,-  
106: 3.  Let them adore the Lord of this House,  
106: 4.  Who provides them with food against hunger, and with security against fear (of danger).  

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation


Tourists need a cheap good safe place, they do not need anything else.

Everyone can get something from the Quran. The range of people from illiterate to philosophers can gain something, based on each of our capacity.  However, when we read the other old books (Torah, Bible), we do not have the authority to interpret them. The Quran on the other hand is the one telling the people to read it and to use all of their senses to understand it.

Protected and Impossible to Change
The Quran is also the text that cannot be changed. It is impossible to change it. The structure of the Quran is unique. It is protected by Allah, through the system of the words, letters and verses.

If we look at poetry, there is also a system. There is rhythm, rhyme, meter etc. It shows us if something doesn’t fit. The internal structure of the Quran is similar, and does not allow for change.

Surah Qiyama
75:16.  Move not thy tongue concerning the (Qur'an) to make haste therewith.
75:17.  It is for Us to collect it and to promulgate it:  
75:18. But when We have promulgated it, follow thou its recital (as promulgated):  
75:19.  Nay more, it is for Us to explain it (and make it clear):

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

It is not even the Prophet who protects it, It is Allah himself- this is the difference between the Quran and the previous books.

Other Characteristics
There are many other characteristics however we will not go into those at this time, and will continue onto the other topics.


Sciences of the Quran- an Introduction
Al Burhan fi Uloom ul Quran by Badruddin az Zarkashi (d. 794AH)
4 volumes. These four volumes were written to explain the Quranic sciences. He mentioned some 47 diff sciences in vol. 1 and 34 in vol.

He mentioned in a chapter, narrated from Abu Bakr ibnul Arabi- a famous sholar in Andalusia (d. 554 AH). He wrote Qanoon al taweel as a Tafseer. We do not have this book any more, however we have ahkam ul quran. The qanoon book mentions 450, the  later he mentioned that there are 7000 different kinds of sciences, then he mentioned 70,000 different uloom!

In the beginning, he was thinking about juz and developing sciences from them individually. After that, he discovered that each verse lends itself to a certain ilm. After that, he went to the words and found that each word is not merely a word, it is a concept. If you try and explain each word, you discover different things, and can be linked to other terms and can be used to discover different concepts that include all those terms.

He felt that each word has a simple meaning that can be taken from the format of the word. But when you try and go beyond you find another meaning. Each word/s has something that indicates to a specific meaning, and when you think about it, it has other meanings.

If you go to Tafseer al Qurtubi, he mentions that in certain verses he finds some 45 issues! Ibn us Saba (famous mufassireen) could found upto 400 issues within some verses. These people do not talk like this because they believe in the quran, but because it is real.

According to your knowledge and your way of understanding, you can get some meanings. A common man would have fewer meanings that philosophers and scholars.

When we come to certain dimensions of the Quran, scholars say there are 3 meanings of the Quran

1.      Tawheed- Oneness of Allah. Everything related to the attributes of the Creator fall under it
2.      Tazkeer- to remind people, give advice, everything related to heaven and hell, purification
3.      Al-Ahkam- the rules, the shariah. Everything that Allah has asked us to do and avoid. The benefits, the impacts.

The prophet talked about Surah Iklas and said it is one third of the Quran

112: 1.  Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
112: 2.  Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;  
112: 3.  He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;  
112: 4.  And there is none like unto Him.

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

Another Scholar Ibn Barragan wrote Al-Irshhad …
He mentioned three sciences

1.      The names of Allah and His Attributes
2.      Everything related to the Prophets and Messengers, proof
3.      Ilm ul Takleef- the things one should or should not do


With these people tried to combine the different types of sciences under a few titles. People like Zarkashi (8AH) and Suyuti (10 AH), Zurkani (our times) mentioned many sciences, and called them Uloom al Quran.

Suyuti in Arkam mentioned about 80 sciences. He said that he wanted to mention everything he got about the sciences from the Quran or those related to the Quran itself. This does not mean that there are no other sciences. Each subsequent generation would discover something more.


Each of those sciences does not contain everything in each. Each science is limited in scope (e.g. science of Makki vs. Madinian surahs). This emphasizes the importance of everything related to the Quran. We can reach many thousands (perhaps a million) sciences. Each generation tried to find new sciences, and talks about different aspects (e.g. Tafseer, calligraphy, collection etc).

What do we need to deal with in our class? We will concentrate on the 10 sciences that are mentioned by Al-Ashur in the introduction of his Tafseer as we have a limited amount of time. Tafseer will cover Tafseer and Taweel, how many kinds, the famous mufassireen, the famous books from the past etc.

Next Class: Tafseer, Taweel, Israeliyat
Some authors: Maududi, Ishaq Ansari, Deffner



NS


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