Knowing the Quran
My friend Farouk has a new post, “Do Muslims know the Quran well?” His whole blog is a must-read, this excerpt shows the kind of astute observations and reflections he always has:
Over the years, I have tried to acquire information about the Quran. I have asked about meanings of words, grammatical studies, the study of the Quran from various perspectives. The Muslims I speak to tend to focus on the history of the Prophet and find the Quran largely irrelevant to their own lives, because they consider the Quran to be the Prophet’s miracle (mujiza), as opposed to the source of his teachings. Therefore, to study the Quran to such a degree may be pointless to them. The Quran is also considered to be inaccessible, requiring 20 years of study before one can access its teachings.
The Qu’ran is still important to me these days, even post-Islam. At the risk of sounding trite, it’s more like an ancient, unfolded map to me than a holy book now. It’s kind of like the Bhagavad Gita, the works of Epictetus, the Dao De Jing…..A medicine for my soul. It’s just no longer the only or primary medicine.
Allah is closer than my jugular vein. That ayat still makes me shiver a little. What a simultaneously beautiful yet excruciating thing.
(Finally I have time to catch up on my RSS…)
Verily, his blog is interesting reading!
I suppose I’m lucky that I’ve not really had the experience he describes, though I’m sure it exists. In my studies of the Qur’ân I’ve striven for, well, I suppose just that, study of the Qur’ân.
Perhaps one thing I have encountered that could be considered to be along these lines is head-covering. I have discussed this with several sisters, and it is often explained to me that ‘There are several schools of thought, nothing, hijab, niqab, etc; which one do you choose?’ but the question is invariably (and disappointingly) left unanswered.
Another interesting discussion I fell upon–but did not participate in–dealing with the sunnah of Muhammed ﷺ was proper attire for a Muslim (man?): sandals. I don’t think I’m going to wear sandals outside when it’s -40° and snowing…nor do I see it as being particularly pious to do so. (Apologies for no longer having the citation; I certainly hope I faithfully reproduced the context of the discussion.)