READING: THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT FOR INTERPRETING THE QURAN
As we will see during this course, the diverse approaches that Muslims have used to interpret the Quran and the corpus of hadiths (accounts of the actions and sayings) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, which together form core scriptural texts for most Muslims, are intricate and complicated.One source of these complexities is the question of the relationship between the Quran and the context in which it was revealed. On the one hand, the Quran is considered to contain a message for all of humanity, which will be valid for all subsequent times and places, and not simply for 7th-century Arabia. On the other hand, in many respects the Quran has a clear connection with that context. As preparation for our engagements with the Quran in the rest of this course, it is therefore important to consider the ways in which the context of the emergence of the Quran is relevant for the interpretation of this text, whilst also bearing in mind that there are other approaches to interpretation that are not so context related in this way.
1. The Arabic Quran: On several occasions the Quran refers to itself as ‘an Arabic Quran (recitation)’. The Quran is composed of the Arabic of 7th century Arabia, including turns of phrase that are specific to that period of the language. Muslim philologists from early in Islamic history devoted much attention to developing sciences of Quranic grammar, lexicography and rhetoric so that the literal meaning and emotional force of the Arabic of the Quran as it would have been heard by those to whom Muhammad taught it could be preserved. One often sees detailed linguistic and grammatical discussions in commentaries (tafsīr) on the Quran for this reason.
2. The Social Significance of Language – Poets and Prophets: From what we know about pre-Islamic Arabia, the importance of language can hardly be overestimated. Eloquence was deeply respected, and poets were respected professionals whose crafted words might make or break the reputation of an individual or a tribe. Battles always began with the recitation of war poetry, and there are even legends that bloodshed might be avoided if a poetic defeat was definitive. The most famous pre-Islamic poems are the ‘Hung Poems’ (mu‘allaqāt), which were hung in the most revered place of all, on the Kaaba itself. The Quranic clearly distinguishes itself from both poetry and the speech of soothsayers inspired by jinn; the scripture contains numerous claims that its language proves its divine origin, even challenging deniers to produce something like it. (We will look at the issue of the inimitability of the Quran in more detail in Day 5.) Distinguishing the Prophet Muhammad from these poets and soothsayers, the Quran speaks instead of prophecy, which seems to have been a concept that had significant currency in pre-Islamic Arabia. According to Muslim accounts of the Prophet’s biography (sīra), while a child Muhammad was travelling with a trade caravan to Syria. The caravan stopped at a hermitage of a Christian monk named Bahira, who upon seeing certain signs, including physical features of Muhammad, predicted that he was to become the awaited prophet. Such accounts give us some context as to how Muslims have conceived of the context in which the Quran was revealed, and illuminate many of the Quranic statements about its own, very particular, form of language.
3. The Walking Quran: As we have mentioned before, the most important aspect of contextualizing the Quran is the Prophet Muhammad himself, who came to be considered by Muslims to embody the message he revealed. Hence he came to referred to as “the Walking Quran” or “the Quran on Two Feet.” His sayings and actions (recorded in the hadith literature) are the most important resource for understanding the meaning of the Quran, and the imitation of the Prophet, the cultivation of his character traits, is considered by many Muslims to be the key to gaining access to the deeper meanings of the Quran.
4. ‘Occasions of Revelation’ (asbāb al-nuzūl): A significant number of Quranic verses respond directly to particular events in the life of the Prophet Muhammad or to questions posed to him. There are sometimes differing accounts of these occasions of revelation, and commentators may weigh them against each other or even question the extent to which they are relevant to interpretation. For example, regarding the verse “To God belong the East and the West, so wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God, verily God is All-Encompassing, Knowing,” (2:115) some commentators will interpret this verse as a legal pronouncement, arguing that the occasion of revelation was when a group of travelers, who had been unable to determine the direction of prayer at night time and in the morning realized they had got it wrong, asked the Prophet whether their prayer was invalid. However, other commentators, particularly Sufis in this case, have suggested that this verse is simply a statement of fact, a metaphysical truth, and the reported occasion of revelation is irrelevant, or that it is both a legal pronouncement regarding the status of mistakes in prayer and a metaphysical statement.
5. Meccan and Medinan Periods: Given the connections of many Quranic verses with particular occasions of revelation, scholars have endeavored to associate various parts of the Quran with different periods of the 23 years during which Muslims believe that the Prophet received revelation. The most important categorization here is between verses (or whole chapters/suras) that were revealed in Mecca, and those revealed in Medina, after the Hijra ( his emigration from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 CE). The social situation of the Prophet and his followers while in Mecca as opposed to the period in Medina were quite different. For example, the Meccan chapters, which, despite being earlier, are mainly located at the end of the Quran, contain a striking lyricism and intensity, instructing the oppressed and deeply committed group on the spiritual truths of the meeting with God and the urgency of turning toward Him. During the Medinan period on the other hand, the community had become an established social and political entity, and in these passages, to give just a few examples, the Quran lays down regulations for communal life, whilst also warning of those who have joined the community simply for material and social benefit. An interesting illustration of this difference is seen in Sura 73, which begins by addressing the Prophet (and his committed Meccan following) “O thou enwrapped! Stand vigil at night, save a little, half of it or reduce it a little, or add to it; and recite the Quran in a measured pace. Truly We shall soon cast upon thee a weighty Word. Truly the vigil of the night is firmest in tread and most upright for speech.” (73:1-6, Trans. The Study Quran, SQ) But it ends with verses added later, said by some to date from the Medinan period, which lightens the burden of worship for the believers for a community that was now less elite: “Truly thy Lord knows that thou dost stand vigil well-nigh two-thirds of the night, or a half of it, or a third of it, as do a group of those who are with thee; and God measures out the night and the day. He knows that you will not keep count of it and has relented unto you; so recite that which is easy for you of the Quran…” (73:20, SQ) At this juncture, it should also be noted that the modern editions of the Quran, whether in the Arabic or any other language, have arranged the chapters/suras roughly in order of verse length: the longer suras are placed in the beginning (save the first one, the Fātiha), and the shorter suras are placed at the end.
6. Abrogation: Given that the verses of the Quran are believed to have been revealed over a 23-year period, in which the social conditions of the Muslims were constanlty changing, one finds within the Quran certain verses that provide differing instructions on a single issue. Perhaps the majority of interpreters hold that later verses have the capacity to abrogate, or invalidate, the legal rulings contained within previously revealed verses. This, they would maintain, is not to say that ‘God has changed His mind’, but rather that differing social conditions necessitate differing causes of action. One example of this is the gradual prohibition of wine (and hence other intoxicating beverages) that one can trace in different Quranic verses. For example, the verse “O you who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken until you know what you are uttering,” (4:43 SQ) obviously contains instructions that are less restrictive than the verse, “O you who believe! Wine, and gambling, and idols, and divining arrows are but a means of defilement, of Satan’s doing. So avoid it, that haply you may prosper,” (5:90 SQ) which is considered the last verse revealed regarding wine.
7. Reactions to Pre-Islamic Practices: The Quran contains a range of responses to different pre-Islamic practices, from confirmation of certain types of practice, such as fasting and pilgrimage, which were given new forms, to outright rejection, such as the harsh criticisms of pre-Islamic Arabs for idolatry and burying alive female new-borns. Many commentators in the modern period have argued that the social message of the Quran should be understood in the light of pre-Islamic practices. For example, some argue that slavery was a social institution in pre-Islamic Arabia that was so entrenched that it would have been impossible to ban it outright, so instead the Quran places great emphasis on the virtues and rewards associated with freeing slaves.
These considerations already suggest some of the complexities associated with interpreting the Quran, complexities that will only become more apparent as we turn to other aspects and genres of Quranic interpretation. However, this complexity should not be discouraging. While it seems practically impossible to say once and for all that one has ‘understood’ a particular Quranic verse, it is more helpful to think of understanding as possessing degrees of intensity, like a spectrum of light. Although, many Muslims believe that complete understanding belongs only to God, or to the Prophet, or to Prophet and the Imams, depending on the group, all Muslim scholars, indeed all Muslims have been engaged in the attempt to gradually deepen their understanding of the meaning of the verses of the Quran. Throughout the tradition, and especially in the pre-modern period, one repeatedly comes across the sentiment ‘and God knows best’, as the author endeavors to present the best interpretation possible given their means. Likewise, although one may not know Arabic and may not have mastered the body of knowledge associated with Quranic interpretation, one can continuously increase in knowledge by becoming acquainted with diverse Muslim interpretations of the Quran and gaining understanding of the methods by which these interpretations were attained, the contexts that shaped them, and the reasons for their diversity.
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