READING: HOW TO READ THE QURAN

READING: HOW TO READ THE QURAN 

The following article by Ingrid Mattson will help you understand how the Quran functions as a text and shape your expectations as you come to this text, helping you to be as effective a reader of the Quran as possible.

Material from THE STUDY QURAN: A NEW TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY is used by permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins, copyright © 2015 by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

HOW TO READ THE QURAN

by Ingrid Mattson

The reading of scripture can be intimidating. At the very least, we know that the sacred texts of each of the world’s major religions are revered by millions of people. Authored books—novels, poetry, and plays—might also have coteries of passionate readers, but scriptural communities are invested more deeply and comprehensively in the meaning they ascribe to their texts than the most devoted readers of any secular book. When we open scripture, we realize we are entering a universe of meaning fraught with spiritual, emotional, historical, and even political dimensions. Knowing this, some might be tempted to stay away from such contested territory. But we also know that those who have not as yet delved into sacred texts will encounter new and challenging experiences through which they will grow, that travel and adventure beyond familiar territory are enriching, and that knowledge is the best antidote to fear and uncertainty.

All those who embark upon reading the Quran—Muslims and non-Muslims, religious and secular people—can learn something about the world and about themselves through engagement with it. Those who will learn the most are those who are prepared to explore three contexts that will allow them to go beyond a “naive” reading. The first is the context in which the Quran was revealed and has been transmitted, interpreted, and read over the centuries. The second is the reader’s own personal context—that is, one’s own background, assumptions, and prejudices, which will inevitably affect the “lens” through which one reads the text. What are you, the reader, bringing to the Quran as you open it now, perhaps for the first time or perhaps after many years of reading? And the third context is an understanding of the inner meaning of revealed terms.

Those who are new to the Quran surely realize that they cannot without preparation encounter this text “objectively,” even if they intend to adopt a laudable openness to learning about it. Moreover, today Islam and Muslims are too much in the news of the contemporary world and too enmeshed in world history for literate non-Muslims, even in the West, to be without at least a vague opinion about this religion and its followers. Before you approach the Quran, then, review what you “know” about Islam and Muslims and what the source of this knowledge is. Consider that your information might have originated with a prejudicial or deficient source. At least considering this possibility might help you identify potential cognitive and emotional barriers to having an authentic encounter with the Quran.

It is not only non-Muslims influenced by negative news about Islam and Muslims who will have to overcome assumptions and acquired biases about the Quran in order to be able to read it with an open mind. If you are a Muslim, you too have a cultural context and formative experiences that have shaped your understanding of the Quran. Indeed, some born into Muslim families and communities might have a more difficult time opening their hearts fully to the Quranic message than new readers, because they have been taught to understand verses in a particular narrow, sectarian way. This is not to say that this is the experience of most Muslims. Certainly, many Muslim parents, teachers, and religious leaders preach and teach a love for the Quran that allows for a continuing, engaged, and dynamic reading throughout one’s life. But this is not true for everyone.

It is important for all readers to examine their assumptions about the way the Quran should be read and understand the ways it is interpreted by those who believe it is God’s Word. It is true that Muslims believe that the original Arabic-language Quran is a record of the precise words enunciated by the Prophet Muhammad as he received them from God through the Archangel Gabriel. Many people express this Islamic theological belief by saying, “Muslims believe the Quran is the verbatim Word of God.” This is true. At the same time, this does not mean that the Quran is supposed to be read literally, if that means denying the historical meaning of terms and expressions, ignoring the social context of particular rulings, or neglecting its symbolic and inner meanings. To research the linguistic and historical dimensions of the Quran or to seek its inner meaning is not a modern innovation; rather, these kinds of interpretation began with the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions and continue today. Readers of the Quran must shed the notion that a literalist reading of the Quran is somehow more authentic or pious than an informed interpretation. Ironically, the minority of Muslims who apply a narrow “fundamentalist” hermeneutic to the Quran find as their allies a small group of anti-Muslim bigots who similarly take verses out of context to prove their hateful assertions.

Believers in scriptures other than the Quran will need to be careful not to automatically apply their hermeneutical traditions to the Quran, but some Muslim readers also need to explore the possibility that what they have been taught about the way the Quran should be interpreted might not be in accord with the understanding of many other Muslims. When you read other essays in this Study Quran about traditional exegesis or various approaches to deriving law, spiritual practices, or spiritual understandings from the Quran, you might be surprised by what you read. You may have been taught to relate to the Quran in a particular manner, for example, by using it as a proof text, that is, proving a particular legal judgment by citing a singular verse. Alternately, you may have been taught to minimize the import of verses with detailed legal content while prioritizing verses articulating general spiritual principles, such as There is no coercion in religion (2:256). Are these approaches to the Quran contradictory? If not, how have they been reconciled?

Take seriously your responsibility to identify the method you currently use for reading the Quran and evaluate this approach in light of the new knowledge you gain from the rich scholarly, spiritual, and juridical traditions of exegesis. Mature believers take upon themselves the responsibility for evaluating to the best of their ability what they have learned and accept those scholars’ opinions that are the most convincing, not simply the most expedient or convenient. Nonbelievers can also learn much by being open to the diverse traditional interpretations of the sacred scripture of Islam.

WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS THE QURAN?

In the world of modern publishing, books can look deceptively uniform. Most books are designed to be portable and manageable and to fit on a standard bookshelf. They are hardcover or paperback and mostly in rectangular form. The front cover displays the author and title; the back cover usually gives some information about the book’s contents. If a book deviates from these norms, for example, by having an octagonal shape or being excessively large or small, it is probably an art book or a children’s story; in any case, the appearance of a book can send a useful message about the unusual or challenging contents of the book. We might be better prepared to tackle the difficult style of James Joyce’s Ulysses or Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ecce Homo if their contents did not lie behind deceptively banal dime-store covers, but, rather, were edged in molting felt or encrusted with broken glass.

Today, publications of scripture often display some gilding on the title or on the edges of the pages. In a bookstore filled with dramatic cover art and design, this fact does not do much in itself to prepare us for an encounter with a radically different kind of text. We need to prepare ourselves, then, as we embark upon a reading of scripture, to engage with a different kind of book; we must open ourselves to being surprised, inspired, disturbed, and sometimes confused by the words and ideas we encounter. All scriptures, including the Quran, draw on themes, images, symbols, language, and literary styles that were not wholly unfamiliar to their initial audiences—that is, to the historical peoples who initially received and then transmitted the sacred words. But we are far away in time from those people who first heard or read the various books of the Bible or the Quran, and we need to understand something about those people and their societies, language, and worldview if we are to avoid misinterpreting much of the language and style of these holy texts. Even the category of “scripture” implies a uniformity of style among the world’s sacred texts that is far from being the case. As we approach the Quran, then, we need to take this book on its own terms and embrace its unique style and arrangement.

A distinctive aspect of the Quran is its assertion of its own identity as both an oral revelation and a written text. The Quran calls itself al-Qurʾān (“The Recitation”), a term that signifies an oral revelation, as well as a “book” (kitāb), a term that signifies a written revealed text. The verses most scholars believe to be the earliest revealed to the Prophet Muhammad include commands to recite (iqraʾ) in the Name of thy Lordand describe God as having taught humanity by the Pen (96:1–4). Other early verses tell believers to “chant” (rattil) the Quran at a measured pace and to “recite” as much of the Quran at a time as is easy and practical. The Quran itself, therefore, indicates that it is a book that should be recited as well as read.

What we see when we open a copy of the Quran is that it is divided into 114 sūrahs. The best translation of the word sūrah is probably “division” or “section,” although it is usually translated “chapter.” The latter can be especially misleading, because it sets up in the minds of some the expectation that the sūrahs of the Quran are organized systematically according to certain thematic or expository principles, which is not outwardly the case. Rather, with the exception of al-Fātiḥah (“The Opening”), the sūrahs are organized roughly according to length, with the longest at the beginning of the book and the shortest at the end. The second sūrah, “The Cow,” has 286 verses (āyāt), while the last sūrah,“Mankind,” has 6 verses. The verses themselves vary significantly in length; the shortest verses consist of only two words, while the longest verses are more than a hundred words.

The Quran is arranged in this distinctive manner because the Prophet Muhammad did not “compose” the Quran and then teach it to his community. Rather, the Quran is a collection of the revelations the Prophet Muhammad received from God from the inception of his call to prophethood at age forty until his death at age sixty-three. It is as though the Prophet Muhammad had a mental notebook whose blank pages he filled in with the revelations he received over the twenty-three years of his prophetic calling. As long as the Prophet was alive, new verses were revealed and inserted before, after, or in between existing verses within any sūrah according to the instructions the Prophet received from the Source of the revelation. For this reason, the Quran cannot be arranged chronologically, because some sūrahs contain verses revealed later than other verses.

It was only the death of the Prophet that cut off any possibility of further revelations to be added to the Quran. At this point it was the responsibility of his Companions to preserve the revealed text. Muslims believe that the order of the verses within each sūrah was fixed by the revelation itself, while the order of the sūrahs relative to one another in the written Quran (known as the muṣḥaf) was determined by the Companions on the basis of the instructions the Prophet Muhammad received from the Archangel Gabriel. The arrangement according to length was also in accordance with the order given by the Prophet and reflected in the way in which the Prophet himself generally recited the sūrahs as well as his practice of beginning the canonical prayer with al-Fātiḥah and then reciting longer sūrahs before the shorter ones. Muslims believe that the order of the sūrahs of the Quran is Divinely revealed and that any written Quran must retain this original ordering. There are in fact no variations in the order of the sūrahs in any text of the Quran throughout the Islamic world. At the same time, Muslims are permitted to read or recite from any place in the Quran for worship or learning.

STYLISTIC HARMONY IN THE QURAN

The content of the Quranic revelations is as varied as the diversity of the worldly and transcendent concerns of humanity. Just as individuals are rarely concerned with only one aspect of their life at any time, but are constantly shifting their attention from one concern to another—from marital relations, to finances, to anxiety about a child’s defiance, to, on another level, spiritual pain or difficulty in making a moral decision—the Quran rarely focuses for an extended period on only one concern. Further, the Quran addresses both individuals and communities, and these communities changed internally and in relation to each other even over the course of the more than two decades during which the Quran was revealed. This multiplicity of audiences and topics that the Quran addresses, sometimes in quick succession with little “filler” to separate the units of meaning, can be disorienting to someone expecting a straightforward, linear narrative.

Readers of the Quran, therefore, need to be mentally and emotionally agile, ready to be moved quickly in a new direction. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, a class of Muslim scholars arose who combed through the Quran collecting and organizing verses that pertained to specific subjects, such as legal issues, theological matters, stories about the prophets, descriptions of how to pray, and directly spiritual and metaphysical teachings. Each of their books was carefully composed to allow readers to learn about the Quranic perspective on a particular topic. But the Quran itself, the source of these books, resists such a rigid imposition of external structure. Readers of the Quran, like each one of us in our daily lives, must be prepared to quickly shift attention to a new concern at any moment.

This is not to say that the Quran lacks overall unity or coherence. In fact, it possesses a remarkable inner unity and coherence. Unlike the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, whose various books were composed or collected by many people at different times, the Quran is the collection of revelations to only one man, the Prophet Muhammad, over a relatively short period of time. Thus, although the Quran addresses different topics in the various styles most fitting to convey the knowledge being imparted—parables woven through stories of the prophets, straight prose for legal injunctions, lyrical passages for praising God—it is all expressed in the same eloquent Arabic language.

In this respect, the Quran assumes great importance as recitation. The beauty of the language of the Quran has always deeply moved Arabs and even non-Arab Muslims from the time of its revelation and has been a topic of extensive study by scholars over the centuries. That the Quran employs apropos vocabulary and concise but powerful turns of phrase is something that necessarily escapes readers not familiar with Arabic, but the power of its recitation resulting from the spiritual presence contained in it transcends the world of those who know Arabic. The Quran’s use of rhyme and rhythm and other techniques to create aural harmony can be evident to anyone listening to its recitation.

It is probably easiest for new readers of the Quran to identify these techniques by first listening to the shorter sūrahs near the end of the Quran; or a number of well-known passages from the longer sūrahs, such as the Pedestal Verse (āyat al-kursī; 2:255) or the Light Verse (āyat al-nūr; 24:35); or the sūrahs al-Raḥmān, “The Compassionate” (55), Yā Sīn, “Yā Sīn” (36), or al-Wāqiʿah, “The Event” (56). Here we find successive verses ending in various kinds of rhymes. For example, in al-Māʿūn, “Small Kindnesses” (107), the verses follow two imperfect rhyming patterns in which the first four verses end in -īn (dīn, yatīm, miskīn, muṣallīn) and the final three verses end in -ūn (sāhūn, yurāʾūn, māʿūn; here the rhyming is even more sophisticated, as we note the consistent ā followed by a glottal sound before the final rhyming syllable). Similar blocks of various kinds of rhymes are also found in some of the longer sūrahs, where, in addition to creating aural harmony, they often signify a shift in semantic focus or emphasis.

Readers of the Quran need to pay attention not only to the way verses end, but to their beginnings as well. In recitation, rhythm and continuity in sūrahs is frequently established by the sentence connectors that begin the verses: interjections, interrogatories, conjunctions, or other short words that often rhyme. For example, in al-Balad, “The Land” (90), the first five verses begin with words sharing a similar sound: lā (“verily”), wa (“and”), wa (“and”), laqad (“indeed”), and a (an interrogatory); the rest of the sūrah continues in a similar fashion. Readers who do not know Arabic will probably need to listen to the recitation a few times in order to notice the pleasing rhythm created by these connectors, as they are less obvious than the effect created by the rhymed endings of verses.

All sūrahs of the Quran (except one) are preceded by the invocation In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful (bi’smi’Llāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm). Many sūrahs also conclude with a verse that includes a supplication, doxology, or exhortation such as Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, or Glory be to God, or Truly God is with the virtuous (e.g., 1:2; 23:91; 29:69). The sacred Attributes or Names of God often serve an epitomizing function at the end of sūrahs or at the end of a group of related verses in longer sūrahs. Examples of the way these Names of God are referenced include: Truly God is the Forgiving, the Merciful (al-Ghafūr, al-Raḥīm; 42:5); He is the Hearing, the Knowing(al-Samīʿ, al-ʿAlīm; 2:137); and He is the Wise, the Aware (al-Ḥakīm, al-Khabīr; 6:18). The Divine Names create both semantic and aural harmony, as many of the Names rhyme or are assonant. It is recommended that those new to the Quran read the last three verses of al-Ḥashr,“The Gathering” (59), which list a number of the Divine Names; this will make it easier to identify the Names later when they appear in other sūrahs. Beginners are also advised to read short sections at each sitting, not great numbers of pages at a time as if they were reading a novel or an ordinary nonfiction book.

UNIFYING THEMES OF THE QURAN

It is perhaps helpful, before beginning a reading of the Quran, to be familiar with some of its major themes, many of which are addressed from multiple perspectives throughout the scripture. Although the Quran addresses many diverse topics, it most commonly describes itself as a book of guidance (hidāyah). In fact, one of the traditional names of the Quran is al-Hudā, “The Guide.” All topics addressed in the Quran are ultimately linked to this goal of guiding people toward God. Spiritually, the Quran addresses our need for knowledge about God—to know that He is One, the Creator and Ruler of the universe—as well as our need to learn how to show our gratitude and obedience to God through prayer, other acts of worship, and other human actions that are to be carried out according to Divine injunctions.

With a few exceptions, most of the Prophet Muhammad’s contemporaries did not believe in life after death. Belief in the immortality of the soul, Resurrection, and an ultimate accounting of each soul before God is therefore identified and emphasized throughout the Quran, along with belief in God, as a necessary component of faith for all true religions. For example, after mentioning Christians, Jews, and Sabeans, the Quran says, Whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve (5:69). In order to guide humanity to do what is right and prepare for this accounting, the Quran entices human beings with descriptions of Paradise and the ultimate bliss of being in the Divine Presence, while warning them about the consequences of evil acts by describing in very vivid terms the pain and despair of those whose actions lead to Hellfire.

The Quran does not teach that people should be detached from worldly affairs in order to attain this spiritual state. Rather, it is opposed to otherworldliness. It is by struggling to do what is right and good in our lives on this earth that we develop our spiritual depth and awareness. It is for this reason that the Quran addresses our closest and sometimes most contentious relationships—with family, neighbors, and business partners—emphasizing the need for integrity and honesty. The Quran also addresses the stresses that can emerge within the faith community. Al-Ḥujarāt, “The Private Apartments” (Sūrah 49), for example, discusses the corrosive effects of gossip, backbiting, and social marginalizing and emphasizes the need for a sense of community among Muslims.

The Quran stresses both the individual moral responsibility of adults (e.g., None shall bear the burden of another; 6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 39:7; 53:38) and the need for individuals to work collectively to establish communities and cultures where such morality is nurtured. The Quran calls upon people to work together to implement the teachings of the prophets throughout the ages that foster ethical and righteous living.

Those acquainted with the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Gospels will meet many familiar figures in the Quran. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Isaac, Mary, John the Baptist, Jesus, and many other prophets and righteous guides appear throughout the Quran. Christians and Jews think of these men and women as “Biblical” figures, and it can be jarring to them to read their stories, which sometimes differ from those in the Bible, in the Quran.

What is important to understand is that the Biblical stories themselves drew upon a much older oral tradition that did not disappear when the various books of the Bible were written. The pre-Islamic Arabs, for example, were well aware that they were descendants of Abraham through his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) and his mother, Hājar (Hagar). Further, the history of the prophets was known not just through written and oral literature, but through the existence of holy sites throughout the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East. The burial place of Abraham, the baptism site of Jesus, Mt. Sinai, Jerusalem, and the Kaʿbah in Makkah—all these sites and many others served as epicenters of religious education and formation, often across parochial boundaries. Readers of the Quran who realize that the Biblical figures had a much richer and wider presence among Near Eastern monotheists outside the Bible will perhaps be better prepared to encounter new perspectives and previously unknown stories about them. But such readers must also remember that, for Muslims, accounts of earlier prophets are not based on stories that were prevalent in Arabia, but on Divine Revelation about these prophets and are therefore completely independent of historical sources.

MUHAMMAD: MESSENGER OF GOD AND BRINGER OF THE QURAN

The Quran stresses the important role of Muhammad as Messenger—the one who transmitted the message from God to humanity. The Prophet was a perfect receptor of the Word of God, which he transmitted faithfully without adding or subtracting anything of his own. Moreover, he was also the person most familiar with the Quran and interpreted it according to the needs of his community as well as for later generations of Muslims. In fact, he can be said to be the first commentator on the Quran.

After the Prophet died, his sayings (aḥādīth) were assembled in various collections, which differ in some matters, but are in agreement concerning the authenticity of the vast majority of the sayings. This body of literature, the Ḥadīth, traditionally accepted as canonical by both the Sunni and Shiite communities, has been revered over the ages as a key for the elucidation of the meaning of the Quran, sources of Law after the Quran, and along with the Quran the source of everything Islamic. Over the ages scholars of Ḥadīth have discussed and sometimes disputed the meaning of certain sayings and actions of the Prophet; some distinguish between those of enduring religious and spiritual significance to Muslims and those that were related to passing social or political situations. In any case, the study of Ḥadīth became a major Islamic science, and this body of literature plays a very important role in the understanding of the Quran.

All Muslims agree that the context of the initial revelation to the Prophet Muhammad is of great significance. Much traditional Quranic interpretation in fact involves an examination of the linguistic, social, moral, and political context of the initial conditions of the revelation of a particular verse or set of verses of the Quran, or what is called shaʾn (or asbāb) al-nuzūl of the Quran, in addition to an analysis of the relationship of various Quranic verses to each other. The primary teachings of Islam found in the Quran—witnessing to the reality that is God, the dependence of creation upon Him, and belief that human beings will answer to God for their actions on the Day of Judgment—are clear and need little explanation. But to ignore the conditions of the Prophet’s community when verses treating such topics as gender relations, religious diversity, and political authority were revealed is to risk misunderstanding the Quran. For this reason, one must not be hasty in drawing conclusions about legal judgments and other norms on the basis of a surface reading of a few verses from the Quran. As is explained in the essay “The Quran as Source of Islamic Law,” the Quran is a source of law; it is not a book of law. Even apparently unambiguous declarations might, in fact, be limited in application or scope.

HOW THE QURAN IS READ IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES

Quranic literacy varies widely in Muslim societies and does not necessarily correlate with general literacy and educational achievement. Quranic education formed the foundation of literacy in traditional Muslim societies, but modernity has severed that connection in many places, although this is not true everywhere. Muslims should acquire four skills in order to employ the Quran themselves in religious and moral life and derive benefit from it as a source of guidance. The first skill is the ability to read the Arabic script, since the original language of the Quran is Arabic. The beginning of religious education for most Muslim children and for non-Arab converts has always been to learn the Arabic alphabet and then how to string the letters together to sound out words and sentences.

The second skill is learning Quranic Arabic well enough to be able to understand the meaning of the words and sentences. For Arabic-speaking children, an understanding of the meaning of the words comes at first as a consequence of their general knowledge of the Arabic language, which is then supplemented by their teachers. The majority of Muslims throughout history, however, have not been Arabs, although most Muslim peoples, like the Persians, the Turks, the Indian Muslims, and the Malays, adopted the Arabic script for their various languages. To understand the Quran, non-Arab Muslims need extra preparatory education consisting of either learning basic Arabic vocabulary and grammar or having access to translations in their native language. For both Arabs and non-Arabs, a scholarly grasp of the Quran requires years of advanced study—and non-Arabs have excelled in this alongside Arabs since the early days of Islamic civilization. In fact, most classical works of Arabic grammar were written by Persians.

The third skill, which helps a great deal in grasping the spiritual presence of the text, is the ability to recite the Quran in a proper manner. Parts of the Quran are recited orally in the daily ritual prayers that all Muslims are required to perform; so every Muslim needs some basic recitation skills. The art of tajwīd (“good” or “beautiful” recitation) includes pronouncing the letters correctly, knowing which sounds should be elided, emphasized, or elongated, and using the proper tone. Proper recitation should be melodic, so that it is pleasant to hear, but not musical in the usual sense of the word, lest the recitation turn into a performance of personal artistry. Apart from their own recitation, most Muslims experience the Quran through hearing its recitation by accomplished reciters, who can be found throughout the Islamic world in non-Arab countries as well as in Arab ones. In fact, many of the best reciters are not Arabs, and some reciters are men and others women. Also, accomplished scholars of the Quran, not all of whom are reciters, can be found in every Islamic country.

The fourth skill, which makes a person intimate with the Quran, is memorization of at least a few verses and sūrahs. In each ritual prayer, the sūrah al-Fātiḥah must be recited, followed by a sūrah or group of verses chosen by the worshipper. These portions of the Quran are not recited from the text; so they need to be memorized. Someone who memorizes the complete Quran is known as a ḥāfiẓ, a “memorizer” or “preserver” of the Quran. Implicit in this title is the understanding that the ḥāfiẓ not only acquires personal spiritual benefits by knowing by heart the Word of God, but also benefits society by serving as a vessel for the preservation and propagation of the Sacred Text.

Muslims have taught these skills for experiencing the Quran through a variety of ways, according to the means and abilities of each community. Institutions for religious education in which Quranic studies are pursued run the gamut from one-room neighborhood schools for small children (maktabs) to enormous seminaries (usually known as madrasahs) serving an often cosmopolitan student body. For most of Islamic civilization, learning to read and recite the Quran was the beginning of education and an incentive to literacy.

The Quran is also widely read and recited outside of ritual prayers by ordinary Muslims across the world. Some try to read a small portion of the Quran each day, while others might devote time to reading particular sūrahs on Fridays, the holiest day of the week, but also on special occasions such as religious holidays, weddings, and funerals. Quranic recitation is especially intense during the month of Ramadan, the time when the Quran was first revealed. It was probably to facilitate the reading of the whole Quran during this month that scribes first inserted marks in the text to make clear the division of the Quran into thirty parts (ajzāʾ). In this way, someone wanting to complete a reading of the Quran in one month can read one part, or juzʾ, each day.

The Quran describes itself as a blessed Book (6:92), and even gatherings with an apparently nonreligious purpose are often opened with Quranic recitation in order to bless the event. Muslims believe that the Quran is the Word of God, and God is always present, saying of the human being in one verse, We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (50:16). Bringing the Quran into a space or occasion is a way to be reminded of that Divine Presence. The Arabic word for a “verse” of the Quran (āyah) literally means “sign” or “portent,” a term often also used in the Quran to refer to phenomena in the world of creation and also within human beings that function as signs pointing to the Creator. This is one of the reasons Islamic ritual spaces, such as mosques, are embellished with Quranic calligraphy along with decorative patterns derived from those found in nature. Both the “beautiful script” (the literal meaning of “calligraphy”) and the beautiful recitation (tajwīd) of the Quran remind those gathered for happy or mournful occasions of God’s Mercy, Beauty, Power, and Presence.

WHERE TO BEGIN IF THE QURAN IS NEW TO YOU

Probably the biggest mistake new readers of the Quran make is to try to read it from “beginning to end.” As explained previously, there is no need to read the Quran this way, because in their totality the sūrahs are ordered neither topically nor chronologically. More problematically, those who first encounter the Quran by way of the sūrahs at the beginning (except for al-Fātiḥah) are likely to become quickly overwhelmed by their length and difficult legal and historical content.

It is perhaps a better strategy to first encounter the Quran the same way the Prophet Muhammad’s community received the revelations, that is, with the first sūrahs revealed in Makkah. These sūrahs are short, comprising anywhere from a few to a few dozen verses. By reading (and perhaps listening to) a small selection of these sūrahs, one can become accustomed to the style and rhythm of the language and the overwhelming content of their message. Just as important, these sūrahs focus for the most part on the fundamental, universal, and enduring spiritual message of the Quran: the affirmation that there is only one God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who holds human beings accountable for their actions.

One might begin, then, by reading the last two sections of the Quran (i.e., parts 29 and 30, beginning with Sūrah 67) and reflecting on the themes and lessons found there. In an age of speed-reading and skimming, in which we are taught to quickly “find the basic point” in a text, it is necessary to consciously slow down when reading the Quran. One needs to take time to reflect upon every word and phrase and also upon one’s own reactions and instincts as one encounters verses that address the deepest existential concerns of humanity.

After spending some time with the early revelations and other passages mentioned above, new readers can move on to other sections of the Quran. As one encounters legal content, references to particular historical individuals or communities, and relationships between various social groups (e.g., men and women, or nomads and the Madinans), it becomes more important to consult the commentaries, scholarly notes, and essays explaining their context and implications.

Aside from having diverse religious orientations or worldviews, readers of the Quran differ in their mental makeup, spiritual and intellectual aptitudes, interests, and passions. The person who is passionate about environmental protection will naturally pay close attention to Quranic verses related to the value of creation, nature as a locus of God’s Wisdom and Mercy, and the rights of animal communities, while the ardent advocate of women’s rights will hone in on verses related to gender relations. Muslims believe that one of the basic features of the Quran is its multiplicity of messages addressing the whole gamut of human conditions and circumstances. There is certainly nothing wrong with using an index or search engine to find verses related to one topic or another. Indeed, in trying to understand the meaning of any particular verse, scholars of the Quran usually first look within the Quran itself to see if there are other verses related to the same topic (referred to as “tafsīr of the Quran by the Quran,” for which see the essay “Quranic Commentaries”). Nevertheless, there are a few precautions to be noted in this regard.

First, we should never reduce the Quran to its articulations about particular issues or aspects of human life. The Quran is more than a sum of its parts. As discussed, the total “linguistic field” created by the Quran is an essential part of its message; an index of topics the Quran addresses misses this point. Just as an anatomy book lists and describes all the individual parts and systems that comprise a human body but tells us nothing about the experience of being human, a list of issues the Quran addresses tells us nothing about what it means for believers to have the living Word of God present in the world.

Second, readers must always keep in mind that the Quran is concerned with all the aspects of human life and humanity’s relationship with the Divine; therefore, it does not separate temporal and eternal concerns. The purpose of the revelation is to show how we should live in the world of created things in a way that ensures an enduring and at the same time positive connection with God in this life and the next. The Quran’s passionate call for justice in human relationships combined with mercy is intimately related to its generous invitation to every person to enjoy eternity in the presence of the Divine.

This message presents a particular challenge for readers of the Quran who deny a Transcendent Reality or a Divine Creator. Certainly some of the ethical pronouncements in the Quran might still have some resonance for these readers. Nonbelievers, however, often see the notion of giving up certain activities, being generous to the needy, or disciplining oneself through worship for the sake of a deeper relationship with God through reductionist eyes as being devoid of spiritual significance. An example of reductionist thinking is when one, upon encountering Quranic verses instructing men and women to restrict their sexual activity to marriage, concludes that religious language is being “used” here as a mechanism of social control. One of the many points this kind of reader misses in this case is how intimacy itself can be enhanced and made even more fulfilling when it has a spiritual dimension. If nonbelievers cannot relate to the transcendental aspect of apparently worldly concerns of the Quran, they might at least be able to analogize other spheres of human experience where individuals exercise discipline and make sacrifices for what they consider a higher good.

RESPECTING THE QURAN

It is appropriate, perhaps, to close this introduction to reading the Quran by discussing briefly the respect Muslims accord to the physical text of the Quran, the muṣḥaf, as well as the sound of its recitation, which often moves believers to tears. We should recall that in premodern societies, books of scripture were not as easily available as they are today, and they were not treated like other books. Whether it was the Bible, the Torah, or the Quran, scriptures were approached with awe. The ontological distinctness of scriptures from other books (i.e., the fact that they are a different kind of book in their very being) was signaled by their being placed on high lecterns, lovingly guarded in special locked cabinets, or wrapped in distinctive coverings.

Muslims today continue to demonstrate their respect for the contents of the Quran by treating any written manifestation of it with deference. Symbolic acts of respect, such as handling papers with Quranic verses written upon them with special care and refraining from placing the muṣḥaf on the floor, are widespread. Islamic Law directs Muslims to touch the muṣḥaf only when in a state of ritual purity (56:77–79). This is achieved by performing ablutions before handling the Quran in accordance with Quranic directives and the practice of the Prophet Muhammad. Sufis add that one must be also inwardly pure in order to be able to “touch” the inner meaning of the Sacred Text. Although these rules do not strictly apply to translations of the Quran or to nontextual copies of the muṣḥaf, such as electronic books, a general attitude of respect for any reproduction of the contents of the Quran is recommended and widely practiced throughout the Islamic world.

Today, anyone can own a copy of the Quran, in its original language or in translation. In most respects, this is a positive development, for it allows more widespread knowledge of the Quran and communication about its message among diverse peoples across the world. Indeed, the Quran directs its message mostly to “humanity” and to “believers”—not only to Muslims—so it is fitting that it is accessible to all who wish to hear or read it.

Yet Muslims sometimes have ambivalent feelings about this easy availability of the Quran today. On the one hand, most Muslims want what they consider to be the Word of the living God available to all people. On the other hand, the painful reality is that some hateful people now have a greater ability to deliberately desecrate the Quran to hurt and vilify Muslims. It is to prevent the desecration of the Quran, in fact, that premodern scholars generally advised Muslims not to carry the Quran into hostile territory.

The hard division between “Muslim” and “non-Muslim” lands does not reflect the religious diversity found in most nation-states today (if it ever did), so this medieval legal opinion is now moot. Instead, Muslims usually collaborate with other peoples of faith to cultivate an ethic of mutual respect for religious symbols, artifacts, and sacred texts. Although some nations have laws restricting “hate speech” toward religious communities or grant special protection to religious books and symbols, the need for robust laws protecting freedom of speech in many countries, especially in the West, prevents such restrictions from being widely adopted especially as far as Islam is concerned, and in any case no law is effective without an underlying ethic that is broadly supported. Inculcating values of kindness, mutual respect, and neighborliness in our diverse communities is the best way to prevent religious differences from being used to harm one another, and this begins and ends with respect for the sacred scriptures and religious beliefs and practices of others.