01 Jul Perspectives from the Qur’an by Abdel Haleem Reading
oxford world ’s classics THE QUR AN The Qur an is the supreme authority in Islam. It is the fundamental and paramount source of the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. This supreme status stems from the belief that the Qur an is the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places. The Qur an was the starting point for all the Islamic sciences, which were developed in order to study its grammar, pronunciation, and style, and it is the basis of Islamic law and theology; indeed, as the celebrated fifteenth-century scholar and author Suyuti said, ‘Everything is based on the Qur an’. The entire religious life of the Muslim world is built around the text of the Qur an. As a consequence of the Qur an, the Arabic language moved far beyond the Arabian peninsula, deeply penetrating many other languages within the Muslim lands––Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, and others. The first sura (or section) of the Qur an, al-Fatiha, which is an essential part of the ritual prayers, is learned and read in Arabic by Muslims in all parts of the world, and many other verses and phrases in Arabic are also incorporated into the lives of non-Arabic-speaking Muslims. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem was born in Egypt, and learned the Qur an by heart from childhood. Educated at al-Azhar, Cairo, and Cambridge Universities, he has taught Arabic at Cambridge and London Universities since 1966, including courses in advanced practical translation and the Qur an. He is now Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His most recent publications are Understanding the Qur an: Themes and Style (2001) and English Translations of the Qur an: The Making of an Image (2004). He is also working on An Arabic–English Dictionary of Qur anic Usage, with El-Said Badawi. He is the editor of the Journal of Qur anic Studies and the London Qur anic Studies series. 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan South Korea Poland Portugal Singapore Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © M. A. S. Abdel Haleem 2004, 2005 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2004 First published, with corrections, as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Koran. English. The Qur an / a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem. p. cm. –– (Oxford world’s classics) Originally published: 2004. Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Abdel Haleem, M. A. II. Title. III. Oxford world’s classics (Oxford University Press) BP109 2005 297.1′22521––dc22 2004030574 ISBN 0–19–283193–3 1 Typeset in Ehrhardt by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc I N T RO D U C T I O N The Qur an is the supreme authority in Islam. It is the fundamental and paramount source of the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. It is the book that ‘differentiates’ between right and wrong, so that nowadays, when the Muslim world is dealing with such universal issues as globalization, the environment, combating terrorism and drugs, issues of medical ethics, and feminism, evidence to support the various arguments is sought in the Qur an. This supreme status stems from the belief that the Qur an is the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places. The Qur an was the starting point for all the Islamic sciences: Arabic grammar was developed to serve the Qur an, the study of Arabic phonetics was pursued in order to determine the exact pronunciation of Qur anic words, the science of Arabic rhetoric was developed in order to describe the features of the inimitable style of the Qur an, the art of Arabic calligraphy was cultivated through writing down the Qur an, the Qur an is the basis of Islamic law and theology; indeed, as the celebrated fifteenth-century scholar and author Suyuti said, ‘Everything is based on the Qur an’. The entire religious life of the Muslim world is built around the text of the Qur an. As a consequence of the Qur an, the Arabic language moved far beyond the Arabian peninsula, deeply penetrating many other languages within the Muslim lands––Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, and others. The first sura (or section) of the Qur an, al-Fatiha, which is an essential part of the ritual prayers, is learned and read in Arabic by Muslims in all parts of the world, and many other verses and phrases in Arabic are also incorporated into the lives of non-Arabic-speaking Muslims. Muslim children start to learn portions of the Qur an by heart in their normal schooling: the tradition of learning the entire Qur an by heart started during the lifetime of the Prophet and continues to the present day. A person attaining this distinction becomes known as a hafiz, and this is still a prerequisite for admission to certain religious schools in Muslim countries. Nowadays the Qur an is recited a number of times daily on the radio and television in the Muslim x Introduction world, and some Muslim countries devote a broadcasting channel for long hours daily exclusively to the recitation and study of the Qur an. Muslims swear on the Qur an for solemn oaths in the lawcourts and in everyday life. The Life of Muhammad and the Historical Background Muhammad was born in Mecca in about the year 570 ce. The religion of most people in Mecca and Arabia at the beginning of Muhammad’s lifetime was polytheism. Christianity was found in places, notably in Yemen, and among the Arab tribes in the north under Byzantine rule; Judaism too was practised in Yemen, and in and around Yathrib, later renamed Madina (Medina), but the vast majority of the population of Arabia were polytheists. They believed in a chief god Allah, but saw other deities as mediators between them and him: the Qur an mentions in particular the worship of idols, angels, the sun, and the moon as ‘lesser’ gods. The Hajj pilgrimage to the Ka ba in Mecca, built, the Qur an tells us, by Abraham for the worship of the one God, was practised but that too had become corrupted with polytheism. Mecca was thus an important centre for religion, and for trade, with the caravans that travelled via Mecca between Yemen in the south and Syria in the north providing an important source of income. There was no central government. The harsh desert conditions brought competition for scarce resources, and enforced solidarity within each tribe, but there was frequent fighting between tribes. Injustices were practised against the weaker classes, particularly women, children, slaves, and the poor. Few hard facts are known about Muhammad’s childhood. It is known that his father Abdullah died before he was born and his mother Amina when he was 6 years old; that his grandfather Abdul Muttalib then looked after him until, two years later, he too died. At the age of 8, Muhammad entered the guardianship of his uncle Abu Talib, who took him on a trade journey to the north when he was 12 years old. In his twenties, Muhammad was employed as a trader by a wealthy and well-respected widow fifteen years his senior named Khadija. Impressed by his honesty and good character, she proposed marriage to him. They were married for over twenty-five years until Khadija’s death when Muhammad was some 49 years old. Khadija Introduction xi was a great support to her husband. After his marriage, Muhammad lived in Mecca, where he was a respected businessman and peacemaker. Muhammad was in the habit of taking regular periods of retreat and reflection in the Cave of Hira outside Mecca. This is where the first revelation of the Qur an came to him in 610 ce, when he was 40 years old. This initiated his prophethood. The Prophet was instructed to spread the teachings of the revelations he received to his larger family and beyond. However, although a few believed in him, the majority, especially the powerful, resented his calling them to abandon their gods. After all, many polytheist tribes came to Mecca on the pilgrimage, and the leaders feared that the new religion would threaten their own prestige and economic prosperity. They also felt it would disturb the social order, as it was quite outspoken in its preaching of equality between all people and its condemnation of the injustices done to the weaker members of the society. The hostility of the Meccans soon graduated from gentle ridicule to open conflict and the persecution of Muhammad’s followers, many of whom Muhammad sent, from the fifth year of his preaching, to seek refuge with the Christian king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The remaining Muslims continued to be pressurized by the Meccans, who instituted a total boycott against the Prophet’s clan, refusing to allow any social or economic dealings with them. In the middle of this hardship, Muhammad’s wife, Khadija, and his uncle, Abu Talib, died, so depriving the Prophet of their great support. This year became known as the Year of Grief. However, events were soon to take a change for the better. The Prophet experienced the event known as the Night Journey and Ascension to Heaven, during which Muhammad was accompanied by Gabriel from the sanctuary of Mecca first to Jerusalem and then to Heaven. Soon afterwards, some people from Yathrib, a town some 400 km north of Mecca, met Muhammad when they came to make the pilgrimage and some of these accepted his faith; the following year more returned from Yathrib, pledged to support him, and invited him and his community to seek sanctuary in Yathrib. The Muslims began to migrate there, soon followed by the Prophet himself, narrowly escaping an attempt to assassinate him. This move to Yathrib, known as the Migration (Hijra), was later adopted as the start of the Muslim xii Introduction calendar. Upon arrival in Yathrib, Muhammad built the first mosque in Islam, and he spent most of his time there, teaching and remoulding the characters of the new Muslims from unruly tribesmen into a brotherhood of believers. Guided by the Qur an, he acted as teacher, judge, arbitrator, adviser, consoler, and father-figure to the new community. One of the reasons the people of Yathrib invited the Prophet to migrate there was the hope that he would be a good arbitrator between their warring tribes, as indeed proved to be the case. Settled in Yathrib, Muhammad made a pact of mutual solidarity between the immigrants (muhajirun) and the Muslims of Yathrib, known as the ansar––helpers. This alliance, based not on tribal but on religious solidarity, was a departure from previous social norms. Muhammad also made a larger pact between all the tribes of Yathrib, that they would all support one another in defending the city against attack. Each tribe would be equal under this arrangement, including the Jews, and free to practise their own religions. Islam spread quickly in Yathrib, which became known as Madinat al-Nabi (the City of the Prophet) or simply Medina (city). This was the period in which the revelations began to contain legislation on all aspects of individual and communal life, as for the first time the Muslims had their own state. In the second year at Medina (ah 2) a Qur anic revelation came allowing the Muslims to defend themselves militarily (22: 38–41) and a number of battles against the Meccan disbelievers and their allies took place near Medina, starting with Badr shortly after this revelation, Uhud the following year, and the Battle of the Trench in ah 5. The Qur an comments on these events. In ah 6 the Meccans prevented the Muslims from undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca. Negotiations followed, where the Muslims accepted that they would return to Medina for the time being but come back the following year to finish the pilgrimage. A truce was agreed for ten years. However, in ah 8 a Meccan ally broke the truce. The Muslims advanced to attack Mecca, but its leaders accepted Islam and surrendered without a fight. From this point onwards, delegations started coming from all areas of Arabia to meet the Prophet and make peace with him. In ah 10 the Prophet made his last pilgrimage to Mecca and gave a farewell speech on the Mount of Mercy, declaring equality and Introduction xiii solidarity between all Muslims. By this time the whole Arabian peninsula had accepted Islam and all the warring tribes were united in one state under one head. Soon after his return to Medina in the year 632 ce (ah 10), the Prophet received the last revelation of the Qur an and, shortly thereafter, died. His role as leader of the Islamic state was taken over by Abu Bakr (632–4 ce), followed by Umar (634–44) and Uthman (644–56), who oversaw the phenomenal spread of Islam beyond Arabia. They were followed by Ali (656–61). These four leaders are called the Rightly Guided Caliphs. After Ali, the first political dynasty of Islam, the Umayyads (661–750), came into power. There had, however, been some friction within the Muslim community on the question of succession to the Prophet after his death: the Shi is, or supporters of Ali, felt that Ali and not Abu Bakr was the appropriate person to take on the mantle of head of the community. They believed that the leadership should then follow the line of descendants of the Prophet, through the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali. After Ali’s death, they adopted his sons Hasan and then Husayn as their leader or imam. After the latter’s death in the Battle of Karbala in Iraq (680 ce/ah 61), Husayn took on a special significance for the Shi i community: he is mourned every year on the Day of Ashura. Some Shi i believe that the Prophet’s line ended with the seventh imam Isma il (d. 762 ce/ah 145); others believe that the line continued as far as a twelfth imam in the ninth century. The Islamic state stretched by the end of its first century from Spain, across North Africa, to Sind in north-west India. In later centuries it expanded further still to include large parts of East and West Africa, India, Central and South-East Asia, and parts of China and southern Europe. Muslim migrants like the Turks and Tartars also spread into parts of northern Europe, such as Kazan and Poland. After the Second World War there was another major influx of Muslims into all areas of the world, including Europe, America, and Australia, and many people from these continents converted to the new faith. The total population of Muslims is now estimated at more than one billion (of which the great majority are Sunni), about one-fifth of the entire population of the world,1 and Islam is said to be the fastest-growing religion in the world. 1 See http://www.iiie.net/Intl/PopStats.html. xiv Introduction The Revelation of the Qur an Muhammad’s own account survives of the extraordinary circumstances of the revelation, of being approached by an angel who commanded him: ‘Read in the name of your Lord.’ 2 When he explained that he could not read,3 the angel squeezed him strongly, repeating the request twice, and then recited to him the first two lines of the Qur an.4 For the first experience of revelation Muhammad was alone in the cave, but after that the circumstances in which he received revelations were witnessed by others and recorded. When he experienced the ‘state of revelation’, those around him were able to observe his visible, audible, and sensory reactions. His face would become flushed and he would fall silent and appear as if his thoughts were far away, his body would become limp as if he were asleep, a humming sound would be heard about him, and sweat would appear on his face, even on winter days. This state would last for a brief period and as it passed the Prophet would immediately recite new verses of the Qur an. The revelation could descend on him as he was walking, sitting, riding, or giving a sermon, and there were occasions when he waited anxiously for it for over a month in answer to a question he was asked, or in comment on an event: the state was clearly not the Prophet’s to command. The Prophet and his followers understood these signs as the experience accompanying the communication of Qur anic verses by the Angel of Revelation (Gabriel), while the Prophet’s adversaries explained them as magic or as a sign of his ‘being possessed’. It is worth noting that the Qur an has itself recorded all claims and attacks made against it and against the Prophet in his lifetime, but for many of Muhammad’s contemporaries the fact that the first word of the Qur an was an imperative addressed to the Prophet (‘Read’) These words appear at the beginning of Sura 96 of the Qur an. Moreover, until the first revelation came to him in the cave, Muhammad was not known to have composed any poem or given any speech. The Qur an employs this fact in arguing with the unbelievers: ‘If God had so willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. I lived a whole lifetime among you before it came to me. How can you not use your reason?’ (10: 16). Among other things this is taken by Muslims as proof of the Qur an’s divine source. 4 The concepts of ‘reading’, ‘learning/knowing’, and ‘the pen’ occur six times in these two lines. As Muslim writers on education point out (e.g. S. Qutb, Fi Dhilal al-Qur an (Cairo, 1985), vi. 3939), the revelation of the Qur an began by talking about reading, teaching, knowing, and writing. 2 3 Introduction xv linguistically made the authorship of the text outside Muhammad. Indeed, this mode is maintained throughout the Qur an: it talks to the Prophet or talks about him; never does the Prophet pass comment or speak for himself. The Qur an describes itself as a scripture that God ‘sent down’ to the Prophet (the expression ‘sent down’, in its various forms, is used in the Qur an well over 200 times) and, in Arabic, this word conveys immediately, and in itself, the concept that the origin of the Qur an is from above and that Muhammad is merely a recipient. God is the one to speak in the Qur an: Muhammad is addressed, ‘Prophet’, ‘Messenger’, ‘Do’, ‘Do not do’, ‘They ask you . . .’, ‘Say’ (the word ‘say’ is used in the Qur an well over 300 times). Moreover, the Prophet is sometimes even censured in the Qur an.5 His status is unequivocally defined as ‘Messenger’ (rasul). The first revelation consisted of the two lines wh …
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