Guidelines forUnderstanding the Qur`aan
Whether a person studies the Qur-aan directly without placing much reliance on the existing translations, Tafaaseer and commentaries or studies with the help of existing scholarly works, the following principles must be employed for understanding or deriving conclusions, evaluating which translations and commentaries to rely upon, and which opinions to accept or reject:
The Qur-aan is in the Language of the Quraish
The Holy Qur-aan was revealed in the Arabic language considered authentic by the literary authorities of the Quraish at the time of the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam. To understand its message as it was meant to be understood, naturally, the first prerequisite is the knowledge of the language of that era.
Every language has its nuances of style, idioms and usage, all of which change with time. To appreciate a literary work and to fully comprehend its compositional impact and its literary subtleties, a reader must be knowledgeable about those nuances of style, idiom and usage of the time when the literature was produced, not merely the contemporary language; e.g. Chaucer's or Shakespeare's English as compared to contemporary English. The same is true for the Qur-aan. One cannot pick up contemporary dictionaries and lexicons and try to decipher the meaning of the Qur-aan. The reader of the Qur-aan or the author who translates or explains the Qur-aan must be well-versed in the literary (Faseeh) Arabic of the time of the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam. He should be able to discern the subtleties of the idioms and usage of that period. To be able to do so, he should have a command of the poetry of the celebrated poets and speeches of the eloquent orators of that era such as: Qis bin Saaidah, Labeed, Imra-ul-Qais, Amr bin Kulthoom, and Zuahir. Only such a person will be able to understand the wisdom and beauty of the choice of the words used by Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala in a particular context or to express a particular idea. It was that literary language in which the Qur-aan was revealed. It was those authorities on Arabic language who were stunned by the miraculous beauty and elegance of Qur-aanic prose. To understand the Qur-aanic message and the nuances of its text, knowledge of their language and culture is an absolute necessity.
It is not the colloquial Arabic, dictionaries compiled by non-Muslim orientalists or modern dictionaries that determines the meanings of the Qur-aan, but the Arabic usage and idiom of the time of the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam as documented by the works of the early scholars of Islam. For that purpose, mastery of the language and the poetry of that time is critically essential for which we must rely on those linguistic authorities who have dedicated their live in acquiring and retaining that knowledge. Those who know only the contemporary Arabic used in the modern Arabic magazines and newspapers or those who try to translate with the help of orientalists' dictionaries may end up deducing wrong conclusions.
Some commentators of the Holy Qur-aan tend to rely on contemporary dictionaries and search for meanings of the words that suit their mindset instead of taking the meanings established in the literature of the Prophet Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam's time. Naturally, as noted above, such authors may misunderstand or totally miss the point of the Qur-aanic text. Many non-Arabic people assume that Arabic speaking people have a better understanding of Qur-aan and its language. That is mostly not true. Unless an Arab Muslim has given special time and attention to learn the language of the Qur-aan (Language of the Quraish at the time of the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam), he is as much prone to the danger of deriving wrong conclusions from the Qur-aan as any non-Arabic speaking person.
A Tafseer written by a person well versed in literary Arabic will have quotations and references to indicate the usage during the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam's time. Hence, when reflecting on the Qur-aan in order to understand it properly, the readers must rely on the commentaries of the Qur-aan written by those who have acquired expertise in the Arabic language and usage of the time of the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam. Such scholars will give examples of usage from literary giants of Makkah in support of a meaning they take for a word that is different from its commonly understood meaning.
Some people may think that if we do not resort to the new meanings given in the contemporary dictionaries, the miraculous nature of the words of the Qur-aan, as are being discovered through modern scientific research, will not be possible. Far from it, in fact, all the miracles of the Qur-aan that have been brought to light through scientific discoveries have been possible only by referring to the original meanings of the words at the time of the Prophet, Ŝall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam.
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