The ritual use, teachings and
interpretation of the Qur’an, some
Western criticsm
What is the Qur’an?

Actual words of God, in Arabic, brought to
Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel,

Not influenced by Muhammad's personality

"Say: It is not for me to change it. I follow only what is
revealed." (Qur’an 10:15)
Quoting the Qur’an, Muslims commonly say: "God
Almighty has said . . "
 We say: "The Qur'an says . . . " but not “Muhammad
said . . .”


Revealed in sections, usually in response to
various situations;

The present order is not the order in which they were
revealed:
What is the Qur’an? ctd
 Divided
into suras (chapters) and ayas (āyāt)
(verses)

Āya is also used for God's activity in creation,
e.g. lightning and rain, and in human events;
includes "miracles" (e.g. Zechariah's inability to
speak, 19:10)
 The


Qur'an is only the Qur'an in Arabic:
Translations are interpretations
e.g. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious
Qur'an
Preservation of the Qur’an
 God’s
promise "It is We who have revealed
the Reminder and We are its guardian."
(15:9)
Compilation of Qur’an: The most common traditional
view





At the end of Muhammad’s life it was scattered on
“pieces of papyrus, flat stones, palm-leaves,
shoulder-blades and ribs of animals, pieces of leather
and wooden boards, as well as [in] the hearts of
men”
Abu Bakr had a compilation made because many
Qur’an reciters had died in battle; eventually passed
into the hands of Hafsa, a widow of Muhammad and
daughter of ‘Umar
Official version compiled under ‘Uthman, taking into
account Hafsa’s, because variations had arise in
different places
Copies were made and sent to the main centres, such
as Kufa, Basra, Damascus.
Eventually seven variations (“readings”) came to be
accepted though only one is now widely used.
The following passage of the Qur’an is commonly taken
as a description of the first revelation:
“By the star when it plunges,
Your comrade is not astray nor misled,
Nor does he speak out of caprice.
This is no less than a revelation revealed,
Taught to him by one terrible in power,
Mighty, poised on the highest horizon.
Then he drew near and descended,
Two bows’ length away or nearer,
And revealed to his servant what he revealed.
His heart does not lie about what he saw.
Will you then dispute with him about what he saw?”
(53:1-12)
Content of the first revelation, according to
Muslim tradition
“Recite: In the Name of your Lord who
created,
Created humans from blood clotted,
Recite! Your Lord is the most generous,
Who taught by the Pen,
Taught humans what they did not know.”
(96:1-5)
On the modality of revelation
“God speaks to no human
Except by waḥy (inspiration, revelation)
Or from behind a veil
Or by sending a messenger who reveals what
God wills by His permission.
He is the most High, the Most Wise.” (42:5152)
Muhammad is the seal of the prophets:
“Muhammad is not the father of any one of
your men,
but the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the
Prophets;
God has knowledge of everything.” (33:40)
The Power of the Qur’an

Uncreated speech of God





"The Qur'an is the Uncreated Speech of God; it is written
in our volumes, preserved in our hearts, recited by our
tongues, heard by our ears, but is not located in them."
(Creed of Nasafi)
Thus in a sense the divine is present in worldly form; cf.
Christ for Christians
Baraka: e.g. use for amulets, healing
Purity: “a hidden book which none may touch except
the purified” (56:78-80)
Literary miracle (i‘jāz):


“The Qur'an which is the most beautiful of all works in
the Arabic language, a book whose eloquence is itself
the greatest miracle in Islam.” (S. H. Nasr)
There is a considerable literature about the Qur’an as
i‘jāz.
The Recitation of the Qur’an
Qur’an means “recitation”
 Muhammad was illiterate
 Many memorize and recite the Qur’an who
cannot read Arabic
 Recitation as performance: great reciters are
renowned
 The power of recitation:
“Suddenly the power of the phrase seizes the
scattered sensibility of the crowd, focusing it,
and carrying it forward like a great wave, setting
the listeners down gently after one phrase and
lifting them up in the rising of the next. The
recitation proceeds, the intensity grows.” (Kristina

Nelson, xiii)
The Fātiḥa (Opening sūra of the Qur’ān)
Arabic
Arberry
A. Yusuf Ali
Bi-smi-llāhi-rraḥmāni-r-raḥīm
In the name of
God, the
Merciful, the
Compassionate
In the name of
God, Most
Gracious, Most
Merciful
Al-ḥamdu li-llāhi
rabbi-l-‘ālamīn
Praise belongs to
God, the Lord of
all Being
Praise be to God,
The Cherisher
and Sustainer of
the Worlds
Ar-raḥmāni-rraḥīm
The All-merciful,
the Allcompassionate
Most Gracious,
Most Merciful
Māliki-yawmiddīn
Master of the Day Master of the Day
of Doom
of Judgment
The Fātiḥa ctd
Arabic
Arberry
A. Yusuf Ali
Iyyāka na‘budu
Thee only we
serve;
Thee do we
worship
Wa-iyyāka
nasta‘īn
To Thee alone we
pray for succour
And Thine aid we
seek.
Ihdinā-ṣ-ṣirāṭi-lmustaqīm
Guide us in the
straight path
Show us the
straight way,
Ṣirāṭ-alladhīna
The path of those The way of those
an‘amta ‘alayhim whom Thou hast
on whom Thou
blest
hast bestowed
Thy Grace,
Ghayri-lmaghḍūbi
‘alayhim
Not of those
against whom
thou art wrathful
Those whose
portion is not
wrath,
Wa-la ḍāllīn
Nor of those who
are astray.
And who go not
astray.
Calligraphy of the Fatihah
Tawḥīd
Literally to make or consider something to be one;
 In this case: recognizing and asserting that God
is one; monotheism.
 The most important of all Qur’anic and Islamic
doctrines
Sura 112 “The Chapter of Tawhid” or “The Chapter
of Sincerity”:
“In the name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate,
Say: He is God, One, God the Everlasting Refuge,
Who has not begotten, and has not been begotten,
And none is equal to Him.”
God is Creator and Sustainer.
Evident in signs (āyāt) throughout the physical universe and in
human life. ( The verses of the Qur'an are also āyāt of God).
“Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth
and the alteration of night and day
and the ships that run in the sea with profit to men,
and the water God sends down from the heaven, thus reviving
the earth after it is dead
and His scattering abroad in it all kinds of beasts,
and the turning about of the winds and the clouds they drive
between heaven and earth-surely there are signs (āyāt) for a people can understand.” (2: 164)
Names of God
God has an infinite number of names but it is common to list (and
recite) ninety nine of them, drawn from the Quran. Here are a
few of them:
Al-Raḥmān
Al-Raḥīm
Al-Malik
Al-Quddūs
Al-Salām
Al-Jabbār
Al-Razzāq
Al-Khāfid
Al-Rāfi‘
Al-‘Adl
Al-Ghafūr
Al-Ḥaqq
Al-Muḥyī
Al-Mumīt
Al-Wāḥid
Merciful
The Compassionate
The King
The Holy
Peace
Compeller
The Provider
The Humbler
The Exalter
The Just
The Forgiving
The Truth (Reality)
The Life Giver
The Death Giver
The One
Prophets and Apostles
The Qur’an names about 24 before Muhammad
(Scriptures in brackets)
Adam
Idrīs
Nūḥ (Noah)
Hūd
Ṣāliḥ
Ibrāhīm (Abraham) [“Leaves”]
Ismā‘īl (Ishmael)
Lūṭ (Lot)
Isḥaq (Isaac)
Ya‘qūb (Jacob)
Yūsuf (Joseph)
Shu‘ayb (Jethro?)
Ayyūb (Job)
Dhū al-Kifl
Mūsā (Moses) [Tawrāt]
Hārūn (Aaron)
Dāūd (David) [Zubūr]
Sulaymān (Solomon)
Ilyās (Elijah)
Ilyasa‘ (Elisha?)
Yūnus (Jonah)
Zakariyya (Zechariah)
Yahyā (John the Baptist)
‘Īsā (Jesus) [Injīl]
Prophets and Apostles ctd
According to the Qur’an or later tradition,
these prophets
 All preached tawḥīd
 All preached messages relevant to their
times and places
 The messages of some were distorted by
their later followers
 The Qur’an completes their messages and
corrects the distortions, and is for all times.
The Qur’an on ‘Īsā (also referred to as al-Masīḥ)
A prophet to the people of Israel’
 Born of Maryam (Mary), a virgin
 Performed miracles, including healing the sick,
raising the dead, speaking from his crib as a
baby
 Made some things lawful that had been
forbidden
 Did not claim to be Son of God or the third
person of the Trinity
 God saved him from being crucified
 Foretold Muhammad

Some passages relating to Jesus:
Then we sent Our Messengers, following in
their [Noah’s and Abraham’s] footsteps,
And we sent Jesus the son of Mary
And gave him the Gospel.
And we set in the hearts of those who followed
him
Tenderness and mercy. (57:27)
Some passages relating to Jesus, ctd
Truly, Jesus in God’s sight is like Adam,
He created him of dust and said to him, “Be!”,
and he was. (3:59)
They are unbelievers who say, “God is the
Third of Three.”
No God is there but one God.
If they do not refrain from what they say,
those who disbelieve will suffer a painful
punishment. (5:72)
Some passages relating to Jesus, ctd
Jesus was not crucified:
[So . . .] for their unbelief, and their uttering against Mary a mighty
calumny,
and for their saying,
“We killed the Messiah, Jesus the Son of Mary, the Messenger of
God”
Yet they did not kill him,
They did not crucify him,
It was only made to appear so to them.
Those who differ concerning him surely are in doubt;
They have no knowledge of him but follow what they only guess at.
It is certain that they did not kill him No, God raised him up to Himself; God is All-Mighty and All-Wise.
There is not one of the People of the Book but will believe in him
before his death,
and on the day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.
(4:157-9, emphasis supplied)
The Last Day: Heaven and Hell
When the sun shall be darkened
When the stars shall be thrown down,
When the mountains shall be set moving,
When the pregnant camels shall be neglected,
When the savage beasts shall be mustered,
When the seas shall be set boiling,
When the souls shall be coupled,
When the buried infant shall be asked for what sin she was
slain,
When the scrolls shall be unrolled,
When the sky shall be stripped away,
When Hell shall be set blazing,
When Paradise shall be brought near,
Then shall a soul know what it has produced. (81:1-14)
The proper response:
Serve God and associate nothing with Him.
Be kind to parents and kinfolk,
And to orphans and the needy,
Neighbours who are near and neighbours who
are strangers,
Companions beside you and travellers,
And your slaves.
God does not love the proud and boastful . . .
(4:36)
The wrong response: Shirk and Kufr.
Shirk means 'to associate', viz. with God
Kufr is the attitude underlying shirk; usually translated “unbelief”
but also connoting ingratitude.
“When they embark on ships
they all upon God
directing their devotion exclusively to Him,
but when he brings them safe to shore,
then they associate (shirk) others with Him ,
disdaining ungratefully (kufr) what We have given them ,
taking their enjoyment.
They will find out!
Have they not seen that We have appointed a sanctuary secure,
While all about them people are being snatched away?
What, do they believe in vanity,
and reject (kufr) Allah's blessing?” (29: 65-67)
The following is the passage connected with the infamous
“Satanic verses”. The lines in brackets and italics are the
ones Satan is supposed to have inspired.
Have you considered al-Lāt and al-'Uzza,
and that other, Manāt, the third?
[They are the exalted swans
whose intercession is to be desired]
Are you to have sons, and He only daughters?
That would be a most unfair division!
They are naught but names you have named,
you and your fathers.
Allah has sent no warrant for them.
They follow only their own ideas and desires,
Even though sound guidance
has come to them from their Lord. (53: 19-23)
The Qur’an on alcohol:
And of the fruits of the date palm and the vine
You derive strong drink (sakar) and good
nourishment,
Surely in that is a sign (āya) for people who
reflect. (16:67)
They ask you about wine (khamr) and
gambling. Say: There is sin in both and some
benefit for people, but the sin is greater
than the benefit. (2:219)
The Qur’an on alcohol ctd
O you who believe, do not draw near to prayer
when you are drunk,
Until you know what you are saying . . . .
(4:43)
O you who believe, wine (khamr) and
gambling, idols and divining arrows are an
abomination, some of Satan’s work, so avoid
them, so that you may prosper. Satan only
wants to cause enmity and hatred among you
by khamr and gambling, and deter from
thinking of God and from prayer. Will you not
abstain? (5:90-1)
Some passages relating to Gender
But for him who fears the standing before his Lord,
for them are two gardens.
O which of your Lord's bounties will you deny? . . .
Therein are maidens restraining their glances,
untouched before them by man or jinn.
O which of your Lord's bounties will you deny?
Lovely as rubies, beautiful as coral.
O which of your Lord's bounties will you deny?
Shall the recompense of goodness be other than
goodness?
O which of your Lord's bounties will you deny? [55:
46-47, 56-61]
Gender ctd
Men and women who have submitted (muslimūn
wa-muslimāt ),
Believing men and believing women,
obedient men and obedient women,
truthful men and truthful women,
persevering men and persevering women,
humble men and humble women,
men and women who give in charity,
men who fast and women who fast,
men and women who guard their private parts,
men and women who remember God often for them God has prepared forgiveness and a
mighty wage. (33:35)
Gender ctd
Men are managers of the affairs (qawwāmūn) of women
In that God has given one more strength (faḍḍala) than the
other,
and since they have expended of their property.
Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding what God
has made private.
And admonish those you fear may be rebellious;
Banish them to separate beds, and beat them.
If they then obey you, do not look for any way against them;
God is All-High, All-Great.
And if you fear a breach between the two, bring an arbiter
from his people and one from her people, if they desire to
set things right.
God will compose their differences;
Surely God is All-knowing, All-aware. (4:34-35)
Gender ctd
Tell the believing men, to cast down their eyes and
guard their private parts;
that is purer for them.
God is aware of what they do.
And tell the believing women, to cast down their eyes
and guard their private parts,
and reveal not their adornment save such as appears;
and let them cast their veils over their bosoms,
and not reveal their adornments except to their
husbands, or their fathers, or . . . [other relatives,
etc.]
nor let them stamp their feet so that their hidden
ornaments may be known.
And turn all together to God, O you believers; so that
you may prosper. (24:30-31)
Gender ctd
If you fear that you will not act justly towards the
orphans,
marry such women as seem good to you, two,
three, four;
but if you fear you will not be equitable, then only
one, or what your right hands own;
so it is likelier you will not be partial. [4:3]
You will not be able to be equitable between your
wives, be you ever so eager; yet do not be
altogether partial so that you leave her as it
were suspended. If you set things right and are
God-fearing, surely God is All-Forgiving, Allcompassionate. [4:129]
On force and violence
And therein [the Torah] We prescribed for them:
'A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a
nose, an ear for an ear,
a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation';
but whosoever forgoes it as a freewill offering,
that shall be for him an expiation.
Whoso judges not according to what God has sent
down they are the evildoers. (5:45)
Fighting is prescribed for you, though you hate it.
You may hate something, though it is better for
you,
And you may hate something, though it is worse
for you.
God knows; you do not know. (2:216)
On force and violence ctd
Leave is given to those who fight because they were
wronged
-surely God is able to help themWho were unjustly expelled from their homes,
Only because they say 'Our Lord is God.'
Had God not driven back people, some by the means of
others,
cloisters and churches, oratories and mosques,
in which God's Name is regularly mentioned, would
have been destroyed.
Assuredly God will help him who helps His cause.
God is indeed All-strong, All-mighty. (22: 39-40)
On force and violence ctd
Then, when the sacred months are finished, slay the
idolaters wherever you find them,
take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them
everywhere.
But if they repent, and perform the prayer and pay the alms,
then let them be.
God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate,
And if any of the idolaters seeks your protection,
grant him protection till he hears the Word of God;
then take him to a place of security
For they are a people who do not know.
How should the idolaters have a treaty with God and His
Messenger?- except those with whom you made a treaty at the Holy
Mosque So long as they deal truly with you, deal truly with them.
God indeed loves the godfearing.
(9: 4-7)
Tolerance of other religious groups
No compulsion is there in religion.
Right guidance has become clear from error.
So whoever rejects idols and puts faith in God,
has grasped the firmest handle, one that will not
break;
God is All-hearing, All-knowing (2: 256)
Surely those who believe, and the Jews, and the
Christians, and the Sabeans,
whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and
does righteous deeds,
their wage awaits them with their Lord,
and no fear shall be on them, neither shall they
sorrow. (2:62; cf. 5:69)
Tolerance of other religious groups, ctd.
Fight those who do not believe in God and the
Last Day,
And do not forbid what God and His Messenger
have forbidden,
And do not follow the religion of Truth,
Such as are of the people who have received
the Scripture,
Until they pay the jizya out of hand,
And are humbled. (9:29)