Understanding the Qur'aan - Part 5: The Holy Qur'aan Explains Itself

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Guidelines for Understanding the Qur`aan

Part 5

The Holy Qur`aan Explains Itself

By Ayub A. Hamid

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The Holy Qur-aan uses as few words as possible to make a statement, give an order or narrate an incident. A lot is left unsaid that can be determined by other means within the Holy Qur-aan. This brevity is one of the most outstanding beauties and miracles of the Holy Qur-aan.

The Holy Qur-aan wisely and effectively repeats many of its themes, messages and teachings throughout its text to inculcate the message in the minds of a variety of people of different levels of intellect and to highlight different points from the same anecdote.

Naturally, a term, concept or an idea would not be fully explained at every place it is mentioned. At least at one place, it would be explained fully. At some places it may just be hinted at; and at others, it may be described partially only to the extent required for the point under discussion at that moment. Explaining every point everywhere will be a very defective style of communication because it would make the text unnecessarily voluminous, distract the attention from the main point under discussion, confuse the readers and annoy them with repetition.  Thus, when studying the Qur-aan, we must always remember that a word or idea or concept used in the verse under consideration may have been only alluded to briefly or partially because the context did not require the rest of the details and that it probably has been fully and completely described at some other place (or places) in the Holy Qur-aan. Hence, the meaning of any Qur-aanic term, phrase or verse must be determined in conjunction with all its occurrences in the Holy Qur-aan and the contexts where they appear. That is why the first and foremost principle of the exegesis (Tafseer) or explanation of the Holy Qur-aan is that the Qur-aan explains itself and determines the meanings of its own contents. It is also the reason that anyone who does not have the knowledge of the whole Qur-aan should not try to determine the meanings of its words, phrases or verses on one's own without referring to Tafseer written by knowledgeable writers who honour this principle.

A very simple example is that of term 'faith' or 'Eemaan'. The Holy Qur-aan frequently describes that salvation and success of people depends on faith and good deeds. But not everywhere is the full list of articles of faith given. Mostly just the word 'faith' is used to represent the complete concept of Islamic faith that includes all its articles. However, in An-Nisaa 4:136, Islamic faith has been fully described as containing belief in Allaah, His angels, His messengers, His books and the Hereafter. At some places, that basic Islamic faith is described by two of its articles because other articles are corollaries of these two articles. Belief in Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala and Hereafter automatically implies the belief in messengers, books and angels, because books and messengers are what tell us about Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala and Hereafter and guide us about what to do to be successful in accountability to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala in the Hereafter; while angels are the means Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala has used to convey the guidance and they will be the workers in the affairs of the Hereafter. At some other occasions, only belief in Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala and His Messenger, Sall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam is mentioned because of the need for emphasis on those aspects. The point is that regardless of how many words or articles are used to describe 'faith' at a certain point in the Qur-aan (for varying needs of highlighting or emphasis), wherever the term faith is mentioned, full Islamic faith will be implied.

Another familiar example is the last part of Soorah Al-Faatihah. The straight path has been qualified to be the path of people who are bestowed Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala's favours. In Soorah An-Nisaa 4:69, the Qur-aan explained that the people who are bestowed Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala's favours are the prophets`alayhimussalaam their most sincere and truly dedicated followers, those who give their lives in witnessing the truth of Islam and pious people. Ignoring the definition given by the Qur-aan itself, someone could have concluded that if a nation is prosperous, strong and glorious in this world, perhaps they are the people who have been bestowed Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala's favours whose path we should all follow.  While the reality is that the bounties and favours Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala is talking about are: faith and piety and dedication to Islam, not the prosperity and power. About prosperity and power without faith and Islamic practices, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala says:

"The hustle-bustle of the Kuffaar throughout the land should not deceive you. That is a temporary enjoyment after which their destiny is the Hell - and what a wretched abode." (Aali-'Imraan 3:196-197)

A good commentator or translator of the Qur-aan would strongly believe in explaining the Qur-aan with the Qur-aan.  Such an author will ensure that he does not translate or explain a word or verse in isolation but does so in the light of all uses of that word or coverage of that subject matter throughout the Qur-aan as explained within the context of each occurrence. He will also ensure that meanings are determined consistently.

One can determine whether the author had done so or not by looking at the kind of examples the author has given in explaining any subject matter or word. A good Tafseer will refer to the mention of that word, point or subject matter in other places in the Qur-aan and show the consistency of their meaning, every where taken within context, as a support of the explanation given by the author.



Next: The Significance of the Timing of the Revelation

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Copyright © 2004-2006 Ayub A. Hamid
All rights reserved

This document may be used only with this copyright notice included. Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on internet forums, and include in not-for-profit publications subject to the following conditions: (1) Material used must be produced faithfully in full, without alteration or omission; (2) The author's subject title must remain unchanged, in whole or in part; (3) Material must be attributed to the author Ustaadz Ayub A. Hamid.
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Note: The quotations of the Qur-aan provided in the above article is not a literal translation. Instead of  literal translation, it gives interpretive meanings of the verses, along with their contextual details. Please remember that any translation of the Holy Qur-aan is in fact only an expression of the translator's understanding of  the Word of Allaah
Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala, and hence cannot be equated with the Qur-aan itself. Only the original Arabic text can be called the Holy Qur`aan.
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Group members can access the previous installments of  'Guidelines for Understanding the Qur`aan' series at this link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DDN/files/Understanding%20the%20Qur%60aan%20by%20Ayub%20A.%20Hamid/

Part 1:      Prologue
Part 2:      Approaching the Qur`aan
Part 3-1:  The Qur`aan is in the Language of the Quraish
Part 3-2:  The Basic Rules of Grammar and Literature
Part 3-3:  The Context is Crucial
Part 4:      The Qur`aanic Guidance Must be Accepted as One Complete Package
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