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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Question -- first of many |
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| Dawn |
| 03/12/02 at 14:59:38 |
| Greetings all! I am finally nearly finished with reading the Qur'an (first time around) and am realizing that it would make more sense if I had some sort of clue what the more detailed historical context of the various revelations at the various stages of the Prophet's prophetic career was. The Yusuf Ali translation that I have been reading gives a bit of background, but I would prefer more detail and discussion. I would like to read the whole thing again, but this time with the help of context. Is there any particular book or author that anyone could recommend here? Should I be looking for a biography of the Prophet or an early history of Islam or something like that? Any help here would be appreciated! Peace, Dawn |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| eleanor |
| 03/12/02 at 15:07:21 |
| [slm] Hi Dawn! :) Congrat's on reading the Qur'an ..!!! I haven't managed to get through the whole thing yet, but Insha Allah... :) I'd definitely recommend Martin Ling's "Muhammad. His Life Based on the Earliest Sources". While it doesn't refer to all Surahs and when they were revealed, it's a great read and it really helps to get an insight into how they lived back then, and the historical background of Islam of course. I, myself, haven't read any Qur'an commentaries, but there are many available and I'm sure you just have to sit tight till someone recommends one to you :) wasalaam eleanor  :-* |
| 03/12/02 at 15:08:11 |
| eleanor |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| bhaloo |
| 03/12/02 at 15:39:09 |
| [slm] Dawn, I would recommend that you read Ibn Kathir's Tafsir (Explanation) of the Quran. Here is a site selling it. http://onlineislamicstore.com/tafibnkat10v.html It explains each verse in detail and in the proper context, maybe in more detail then you are looking for, but it will leave no doubt in your mind, and its a must have for anyone seriously interested in studying the Quran. |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| ahmer |
| 03/13/02 at 01:02:34 |
A good point to start is to read Syed Abu-Ala' Maududi's Chapter Introductions to the Qur'an available online at. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/ |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 03/13/02 at 01:42:46 |
| Hmm ... In my opinion, Ibn Kathir is tooooo detailed at this point! Ibn Kathir uses a *lot* of terminology that even most Muslims are not aware of! (hadith terminology such as Hasan, Sahih, Da'eef, isnaad, etc. ... and it also mentions names of scholars that can easily be mixed up with names of companions, etc.) If you really want to do a more detailed study of the Qur'an, I would suggest Maududi's tafseer (commentary of the Qur'an) at this point (Meaning of the Qur'an). It's written to explain the Qur'an to a layman, and to relate its meanings to the present days. Its introductions also give the background about each Surah (chapter) and summarize the various themes present in them. (if you have the money, buy the whole tafsir ... if not, then as ahmer said, start with the surah introductions). In any case, I would strongly suggest you to read a book on seerah (life of the prophet). The one that eleanor mentioned is good. A more detailed one (and more authentic, though more difficult to read) is Al-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar, by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri). May Allah guide you, and all of us, to the Truth and make us firm on it. Take care |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| Dawn |
| 03/17/02 at 15:52:45 |
| Thanks all of you for your suggestions. I have already started on the Maududi intros. Sounds like Kathir's tasfir will have to wait. I have effectively no knowledge of Arabic (I am learning a bit from this site though:)), so even liberal sprinklings of words are likely to be lost on me. :( I would be interested in something like the Maududi intros, in English, which go a bit more into the cultural background/context and history. I don't have my notes in front of me, but, for instance, when the Prophet and his followers were making a pilgrimage to the Kabba (sp?) and were turned away by the "locals" in spite of "Arabic religious tradition", what was that tradition? Were people before the Prophet making such pilgrimages? If the Kabba was being used for religious purposes, what were those purposes? This is just one example among many. I am just terribly ignorant of the history and culture and cultural history of that area. The Qur'an was clearly not revealed into a cultural void, and I think it would help me a lot if I knew some more about its cultural and historical setting. (I hope I am making sense here ???) Thanks again! Dawn |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| Mohja |
| 03/17/02 at 23:36:36 |
| Dawn, In addition to the maududi tafseer,you might want to check out these two books: 1-[url=http://www.islamicbookstore.com/b6209.html]Journey Through the Qur'an: The Content and Contexts of the Surahs [/url] 2-[url=http://store.yahoo.com/islamicbookstore-com/b6506.html]A Thematic Commentary on the Qur'an[/url] I haven’t read them yet, but I intend to buy them very soon insh’Allah. They were both authored by the late Shaikh Mohammad Al-Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on his soul, who was one of the most influential contemporary Islamic scholars (and my favorite). His primary fields of interest were Qur’anic sciences and Da’wah (educating people about islam). One thing that I liked about him is that he believed in the necessity of educating oneself on the natural and humanistic sciences in order to better understand the Qur’an and how it relates to the modern world in accordance with Allah’s [swt] words: [color=Blue] “We will soon show them Our signs in the Universe and in their own souls, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things?” (41:53) [/color] He was particularly interested in the thematic exegis of the Qur’an where one theme, which maybe dispersed across several surahs, is studied as an organic unit along with the contexts of the individual verses and surahs. This is extremely important for those of us who do not know the Qur’an by heart and thus are not able to link many different verses together to get the full picture about Islam’s stance on a certain issue or subject. I would definitely recommend the above two books merely judging from the quality of Shaikh Al-Ghazali’s other writings. I hope they can be of help to you. Peace :-) ps-if anyone else has read these books can they please comment on them? |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| BrKhalid |
| 03/19/02 at 08:52:49 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) [quote] I don't have my notes in front of me, but, for instance, when the Prophet and his followers were making a pilgrimage to the Kabba (sp?) and were turned away by the "locals" in spite of "Arabic religious tradition", what was that tradition? Were people before the Prophet making such pilgrimages? If the Kabba was being used for religious purposes, what were those purposes? [/quote] Dawn As for local Arab tradition at the time, the following article I found gives an idea of the practices that were being performed in pre Islamic times. [url]http://www.tohajj.com/eng/Display.asp?f=hu00003.htm [/url] In brief Ibrahim (as) made the call to pilgrimage when he built the Kaabah with his son Ishmael (as): Behold! We gave the site, to Abraham, of the (Sacred) House, (saying): "Associate not anything (in worship) with Me; and sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or stand up, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer). "And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;[22:26-27] Thus, in essence, people were making pilgrimage to Allah's House from that time on but over the years the practice degenerated into mere idolatry as the article states. [quote] The Qur'an was clearly not revealed into a cultural void, and I think it would help me a lot if I knew some more about its cultural and historical setting. (I hope I am making sense here) [/quote] Yep perfect sense Dawn ;-) |
| Re: Question -- first of many |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 03/28/02 at 12:56:57 |
| Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah, I've been really behind in my readings on the board for a while, so forgive me for replying to this so late! Dawn, if you start reading one of the Seerah books, especially something like Raheeq al-Makhtum, it will clear a *lot* of confusion! Like what you asked about cultural practicies would be explained in Seerah books with great details. Also, often times you will see the Seerah books discussing incidents that would happen and then certain verses of the Qur'an would be revealed to address those incidents. So read the seerah side by side with the Qur'an, and that should help. Once you collect enough money though, I strongly suggest that you try to get your hands on the entire tafsir of Maududi ("The Meaning of the Qur'an"). I think you'll find it very beneficial, insha Allah. Take care. |
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