Understanding the Qur'an

10:25 God calls to the Home of Peace, and leads men and women to the straight path. He does guide to the straight path him who wills to be guided.

When you read a book - whether in the original language or a translation - you have to observe what it says, think about what it means, and thereby gain an understanding of the text.

When you read an interpretation of a book, you don't need to think; the meaning is given to you by the interpreter, irrespective of your understanding. You may memorize the interpretation, but you will never be able to understand the book holistically. What you'll have is bits and pieces of the interpreter's understanding.

So it is with the Qur'an, but unfortunately, most Muslims nowadays follow the second method with respect to it.

But God Himself said in the Qur'an itself that it is easy to understand - in fact, a group of nomads merely happened to hear a recital and immediately became believers without any additional explanation (46:29-30, 72:1-2). So Arabic need not be an obstacle - a translation will suffice if one is sincere in wanting to understand.

Of course, in this case, you're dependent on the translator(s), but you can minimize the effect by reading a few translations, and if the overall picture is unclear, and checking with the word meanings in the lexicon and concordance.

This is not to say we totally ignore and reject the excellent efforts made by others who have translated and offered their interpretation of the Qur'an - especially if we know they did so exclusively from within the Qur'an itself, using its own definitions and contexts, and eschewing man-made text such as hadith, seerah (history of the Prophet), and asbabul nuzul (circumstances of revelation).

Here I would like to note and recommend the works of Dr. Shabbir Ahmed, Paigham Mustafa, Kassim Ahmad, Othman Ali, Ahmad Manan, Edip Yuksel, Mohammed Shaikh, Rashad Khalifa, G A Parvez, Arungzaib Yousufzai, Kashif Khan, Farooque Shaikh, Siraj Islam, Joseph Yaseen, and numerous others online who promote a purer Quranic understanding. The internet is truly God's greatest gift to mankind, whoever his agents in that effort were.

But we must be careful, investigate the veracity of their interpretations with the Qur'an itself, and not uphold one or other as the only legitimate or authorized translation or interpretation - the very thing which we are trying to avoid.

So how will you know?

I can only trust God what I understand is right - when it is consistent with my intellect and conscience, and it is all logically coherent - but it is not for me to give anyone else my understanding; that's God's domain.

Even the prophet was to only convey the message (2:119, he would not be asked about who did not believe, and many other verses reiterate the role of all the messengers throughout time). Guiding people would be up to the listener wanting to be guided.

Plus, I can't KNOW with any certainty I'm right. No one can, but the Quran reiterates "God knows who is rightly guided" (28:85). It only feels right to me. I can only have a conviction for myself. This is another reason why I think the Qur'an abhors religions. Everyone is only responsible for what they understand (17:36).

Maybe others else can read for themselves and come to a similar understanding on their own, but we cannot impose our understanding on others, nor adopt someone else's understanding without investigating i.e going through the process of understanding the original text. It is a human weakness we must recognize – our need for validation from others around us, and if things are simple, we can find similarities in understanding.

IF I came out and said "this is the right interpretation" and people followed me instead of reading for themselves, we're back at square 1. Worse, it could be the beginning of a new religion or a sect.

All we can do is say - these are the verses of the Qur'an... which is what the prophet did, and leave the teaching (55:1-2), explaining, (6:55, 6:97-98, 7:32, 9:11, 24:61, 75:19) and guiding (2:142, 5:16, 22:16) to God.

Having said that, I have penned some thoughts on what it means to me as an individual, perhaps people who read it can see that there is a different way of looking at things instead of following the majority (or someone), and think about the verses for themselves.

Result?

Can you imagine a world where everyone who is concerned about God's words read it for themselves, and do not impose their understanding on others, whatever the understanding may be?

That no one has the monopoly on what is right, because they are not God? And people do not associate anyone with God and follow them indiscriminately?

7:52 We have given them a Book of knowledge that explains the guidance in full detail. It is a mercy for those who accept it.