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The Qur'an (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam.

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal word of God and culmination of God's revelation to mankind, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 22 years by the Arch-angel Gabriel. The Qur'an consists of 114 suras (chapters) with a total of 6,236 ayats (verses). The Qur'an retells stories of many of the people and events recounted in Jewish and Christian sacred books (Torah, Bible) and devotional literature (Apocrypha, Midrash), although it differs in many details. Well-known Biblical characters such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist are mentioned in the Qur'an as Prophets of Islam. (Note: For a complete list, see Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an).

Origin and development of the Qur'an

Muslims believe that the wording of the Qur'anic text that we have today is identical to that revealed to Muhammad himself; words of God delivered to Muhammad through Gabriel or Gabrielle.

Muhammad is supposed to have only delivered the Qur'an in spoken form during his lifetime (although his companions are said to have written it down piecemeal); the word Qur'an (repertoire) is suitably translated as "recital", indicating that it cannot exist as a mere text. To be able to perform salat (prayer), a religious obligation in Islam five times daily, a person is required to learn at least some suras of the Qur'an (typically starting with the shorter ones at the end); and the more of the Qur'an learned, the better. A person whose recital repertoire encompasses the whole Qur'an is called a Qari' (قَارٍئ) or Hafiz (which translates as "protector" or "memorizer".)

Muhammad's companions began recording all the suras in writing before Muhammad died in 632; written copies of various suras during his lifetime are frequently alluded to in the traditions. For instance, in the story of the conversion of Umar ibn al-Khattab (when Muhammad was still at Mecca), his sister is said to have been reading a text of surat Ta-Ha, and at Medina, about 65 Companions are said to have acted as scribes for him at one time or another, and he would regularly call upon them to write down revelations immediately after they came.

According to Islamic tradition, the first complete compilation of the Qur'an in one volume was made in the first Caliph Abu Bakr's time by Zayd ibn Thabit, who "gathered the Qur'an from various parchments and pieces of bone, and from the chests (ie memories) of men." This copy was kept in Hafsa bint Umar house. However, during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, a dispute developed about the use of various dialects (ahruf) that the Qur'an was being recited. Some were also alarmed by the reported divergences in the recitation of the revelation, especially among new Muslims. In response, Uthman made the decision of codifying and standardizing the text. According to conflicting Islamic traditions, he had a committee, that included Zayd and several prominent members of Quraysh, to produce a standard copy of the text, based on the compilation in the keeping of Hafsah.

When finished, Uthman sent out copies of it to the various corners of the Islamic empire, and ordered the destruction of all copies that differed from it. Several manuscripts, including the Samarkand manuscript, are claimed to be one of the original copies Uthman sent out; however, many scholars dispute that Samarkand is Uthmanic copy. Among the recently discovered Sanaa Qur'an manuscripts, at least three are dated to before 50 AH. Inscriptional evidence begins somewhat later; the earliest dated inscriptions containing portions of the Qur'an other than the basmala are dated to around 70 AH.

Beside the known earlier versions from Abdallah Ibn Masud and Ubay Ibn Ka'b, there exist also some reports about a Shiite version which was allegedly compiled by Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, which he gave up in favor of Uthman's collection. Muslim scholars assume that the differences between the versions consisted mostly of orthographical and lexical variants and differing count of verses. All three of the mentioned people (Ibn Masud, Ubay Ibn Ka'b & Ali) were in positions of authority that would allow them to oppose any variations that existed between their collection and that of Uthman's. But to the contrary they all supported Uthamic version and continued to serve under the Caliph's rule.

Since Uthman's version contained no diacritical marks, and could thus be read in various ways by those who had not memorised it, around the year 700 the development of a vocalized version started. Today the Qur'an is published in fully vocalized versions.

Today seven canonical readings of the Qur'an and several uncanonical exist. This sevener-system was laid down by Ibn Mujahid who tried to find the special characteristics of each reading and thus derived common rules by analogical reasoning (qiyas). They are:

  1. Nafi' of Madina (169/785), transmitted by Warsh (197/812)
  2. Ibn Kathir of Makka (120/737)
  3. Ibn 'Amir of Damascus (118/736)
  4. Abu 'Amr of Basra (148/770)
  5. 'Asim of Kufa (127/744), transmitted by Hafs (180/796)
  6. Hamza of Kufa (156/772)
  7. Al-Kisa'i of Kufa (189/804), transmitted by Duri (246/860)

These readings differ in the vocalization (tashkil تشكيل) of a few words. By far the two best-known readings of the Qur'an are the Warsh (ورش) and Hafs (حفص) readings; the others are almost never used.

Textual Criticism and the Qur'an

Higher biblical criticism revolutionized Judaism and Christianity by calling into question long-held assumptions about the origins of the Bible; some ambitious textual critics are attempting to do the same for the Qur'an. They claim that parts of the Qur'an are based on stories of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), the New Testament of the Christian Bible, and other non-canonical Christian works; differences of the biblical to the Qur'anic versions indicate that these stories were not taken directly from written texts but seem rather to have been part of the oral traditions of the Arab peninsula at Muhammad's time. To Muslims, however, this explanation is topsy-turvy: the "non-canonical" Jewish and Christian stories are simply further textual corruptions of an otherwise nearly lost divine original reflected in the Qur'an.

These critics also seek to find evidence of text evolution and transcription disputes in early Islam; the results have been meager, but some have expressed hopes that recent discoveries of "Qur'an Graveyards" in Yemen will throw more light on the subject.

Interpretation of the Qur'an

The most important external aid used in interpreting the meanings of the Qur'an is the Hadith - the collection of Islamic traditions from which the details of early Islamic history are derived. An extensive science of isnad emerged in the early centuries of Islam, attempting to classify alleged sayings according to their reliability. The interpretation of the Qur'an soon developed into its own science, the ilm at-tafsir. Famous commentators include at-Tabari, az-Zamakhshari, at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Kathir. While these commentaries mention all common and accepted interpretations, modern fundamentalist commentaries like the one of Sayyed Qutb show tendencies to stick to only one possible interpretation.

Belief in the Qur'an's direct, uncorrupted divine origin is fundamental to Islam; this of course entails believing that the Qur'an has neither errors nor inconsistencies. ("This is the book in which there is no doubt, a guide to the believers": Surat al-Baqarah, verse 2.) However, it is well-known that certain chronologically later verses supersede earlier ones - the banning of wine, for instance, was accomplished gradually rather than immediately - and certain scholars have argued that some verses which discourage certain practices (for instance, polygamy) without banning them altogether should be understood as part of a similar process, though others argue that this contradicts "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen for you Islam as your religion" (5.3).

Note that, while certain Hadith - the Hadith Qudsi - are claimed to record noncanonical words spoken by God to Muhammad, or the gist of them, these are not considered to form any part of the Qur'an.

As to the basic message of the Qur'an, there are three fundamental points, repeated and restated throughout the work. They are as follows: this present physical life is a test; the afterlife is certain; our actions in this present life have consequences in the next.

'Created' vs. 'uncreated' Qur'an

The most widespread varieties of Muslim theology consider the Qur'an to be eternal and 'uncreated'. In this it was influenced by Greek philosophy, especially Plato's theories that all ultimate realities and truths had to be eternal and unchanging. Given that Muslims believe that Biblical figures such as Moses and Jesus all preached Islam, the doctrine of an unchanging, uncreated revelation implies that contradictions between their statements according to the Qur'an and the Bible must be the result of human corruption of the earlier divine revelations.

However, some, notably including the Mu'tazili and Ismaili sects, dispute this doctrine of the uncreated Qur'an. Various liberal movements within Islam implicitly or explicitly question the doctrine of the uncreated Qur'an when they question the continuing applicability and validity of Islamic law, as their justifications for doing so are often based on a belief that such laws were created by God to meet the particular needs and circumstances of Muhammad's community. A Qur'an created by God for a particular context might also account for differences between the Bible without requiring humans to have corrupted divine texts.

Stylistic attributes

The Qur'an often, although by no means always, uses loose rhyme between successive verses; for instance, at the beginning of surat al-Fajr:

Wal-fajr(i),
Wa layâlin `ashr(in),
Wash-shaf`i wal-watr(i)
Wal-layli 'idhâ yasr(î),
Hal fî dhâlika qasamun li-dhî ḥijr(in).

or, to give a less loose example, the whole of surat al-Fil:

'A-lam tara kayfa fa`ala rabbuka bi-'aṣḥâbi l-fîl(i),
'A-lam yaj`al kaydahum fî taḍlîl(in)
Wa-'arsala `alayhim ṭayran 'abâbîl(a)
Tarmîhim bi-ḥijâratin min sijjîl(in)
Fa-ja`alahum ka-`aṣfin ma'kûl(in).

Note that verse-final vowels are unpronounced when the verses are enunciated separately, a regular pausal phenomenon in classical Arabic. In these cases, î and û often rhyme, and there is some scope for variation in syllable-final consonants.

The length of verses (ayat) varies notably from sura to sura; in general, the earlier Makkan suras tend to have shorter verses than the later Madinan suras, with legal verses being particularly long. Contrast the Makkan verses above with a verse such as al-Baqara 229:

Divorce must be pronounced twice and then (a woman) must be retained in honour or released in kindness. And it is not lawful for you that ye take from women aught of that which ye have given them; except (in the case) when both fear that they may not be able to keep within the limits (imposed by) Allah. And if ye fear that they may not be able to keep the limits of Allah, in that case it is no sin for either of them if the woman ransom herself. These are the limits (imposed by) Allah. Transgress them not. For whoso transgresseth Allah's limits: such are wrong-doers.

Similarly, the Madinan suras tend to be longer, including the longest sura of the Qur'an, al-Baqara.

Every chapter but one is preceded by the words Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim, "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate". Several suras begin with letters taken from a restricted subset of the Arabic alphabet; thus, for instance, surat Maryam begins "Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ain. Sad. A mention of the mercy of thy Lord unto His servant Zachariah." While there has been some speculation on the meaning of these letters - for instance, the letters Alif Lam Mim seem to be normally followed by mention of the Qur'an itself - the consensus of Muslim scholars is that these letters' meaning is beyond our understanding. Western scholars' efforts have been equally tentative; one proposal, for instance, was that they were initials or monograms of the scribes that had originally written the sura down. See Qur'anic initial letters for a fuller discussion.

A notable feature of the Qur'an is its rather frequent partial repetition, ranging from brief epithets (eg "Lord of the heavens and the earth") to sentences. For instance, in the story of Adam, the words "And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis", are repeated verbatim in suras al-Baqarah, al-Isra, al-Kahf, and Ta-Ha, and with only slight change in al-A`raf. Similarly, "Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength" is found both in al-An'am 152 and in al-Isra 34. These repetitions sometimes serve to emphasise an important point, and sometimes are repeated in different contexts to illustrate different points. They often prove difficult for memorisers of the Qur'an, since, whereas most verses can only have one possible verse following them, these can have several.

Less literally, thematic repetition is also found; the stories of Thamud or Adam, for instance, is narrated in several places to about the same level of detail each time. One reason for this is that the Qur'an is not a narrative; rather than having a single centralized place for a given account, it generally tells the account whenever it serves to illustrate the appropriate point, typically recounting those portions of it that are most relevant.

Traditionally, the Arabic grammarians consider the Qur'an to be a genre unique unto itself, neither poetry (defined as speech with metre and rhyme) nor prose (defined as normal speech or rhymed but non-metrical speech, saj'.)

The Qur'an and Islamic culture

Before touching a copy of the Qur'an, or mushaf, a Muslim performs wudu (washing for prayer.) This is based on a literal interpretation of sura 56:77-79: "Most surely it is an honored Qur'an, in a book that is protected; none shall touch it save the purified ones."

Cantillation (tilawa تلاوة) of the Qur'an is a fine art in the Muslim world, and allows for several variations of pronunciation of, for instance, pausal vowels and ta marbutah.

The traditions governing the translation and publication of the Qur'an state that when the book is published, it must never simply be entitled "The Qur'an." The title must always include a defining adjective (avoiding conceivable confusion with other "recitations", in the Arabic meaning), which is why all available editions of the Qur'an are titled The Glorious Qur'an, The Noble Qur'an, and other similar titles.

Translation of the Qur'an

The Qur'an has been translated into many languages, but translations of the Qur'an from Arabic to other languages are not considered by Muslims to be actual copies of the Qur'an, but rather are considered to be interpretive translations of the Qur'an; they are thus not given much weight in debates upon the Qur'an's meaning.

Robert of Ketton was the first to translate the Qur'an into Latin, in 1143.

See also

Literature

  • A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted, Touchstone Books, 1996. ISBN 0684825074
  • M. M. Al-Azami, The History of the Qur'anic Text from Revelation to Compilation, UK Islamic Academy: Leicester 2003.
  • Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes in the Qur'an, Bibliotheca Islamica, 1989. ISBN 0882970461
  • W. M. Watt and R. Bell, Introduction to the Qur'an, Edinburgh University Press, 2001. ISBN 0748605975
  • J. D. McAuliffe (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an, Brill, 2002-2004.
  • Don Richardson, Secrets of the Koran, Regal Books, 2003. ISBN 0830731245
  • Dr Maurice Bucaille, The Bible and The Qu'ran and Science, The Holy Scriptures examined in the light of modern knowledge. 1986, Seghers ISBN; 2-221-01211-9 in English; 2-221-501503-5 in French, and about 10+ other languages.
  • Ibn Warraq (ed.), The Origins of the Koran, Prometheus Books, 1998. ISBN 157392198X
  • Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari, Jami al-bayan `an ta'wil al-Qur'an, Cairo 1955-69, transl. J. Cooper (ed.), The Commentary on the Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0199201420

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