THE PROBLEMS
OF TAFSIR:
MISUNDERSTANDING,
MISREPRESENTATION, AND DIFFICULTIES
IN CLASSICAL
AND MODERN WORKS –
A SHORT NOTE
By: Kassim Ahmad
18 May, 2011
1. Is the Quran easy or
difficult?
The
Egyptian Muslim scholar, Dr. Rashad Khalifa, translated verse 17 of Surah 54 (Al-Qamar) as followes: “We have made the Quran easy to
learn . Does anyone of you wish to learn?” (Quran:
The Final Testament, 2000)
This verse is repeated four times
time in this Surah, but it does not occur in any other Surah. Of course, there are many verses pointing to
the straightforwardness and unimbiguity of the teachings of the Quran. [1]
Other translators translate the same
verse thus:-
“And We have indeed made the Quran easy to
understand and remember ...” (Abdullah Yusof Ali: 1989).
“And in truth, We have made the Quran easy to remember
...”(Marmaduke Pickthall: The Meaning of
the Glorious Quran: 1930).
“And certainly We have made the Quran
easy to remember ...” (Maulana Muhammad Ali: The Holy Quran: 1st Ed. 1917: New 2002 Ed. revised).
“Hence, indeed, We have made this
Quran easy to bear in mind ...” (Muhammad Asad: The Message of the Quran: 1980).
“And We have made the Quran easy to
understand and to remember ...” (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: The Holy Quran: 1988 ).
“We have made the Quran easy to learn
...” (Edip Yuksel et all, Quran: A
Reformist Traslation: 2007).
The Arabic word yassarna does mean “to make easy”, but the verb lilzikr means “to remember”, not “to
learn”. Thus, one alternative is to conclude that the Quran is easy to remember
(because of its style) , but not to learn (since it contains the profoundest
thoughts). This understanding is in line with the meaning of verse 7 of Surah 3
(Ali-‘Imran) where the verse
stipulates two types of verses: the muhkamat
verses that are clear in themselves, and the mutasyabihat verses that are allegorical, whose meanings are known
only to God and the experts, or the elect.
Yet, it stands to reason that the
teachings of the Quran should be easily understood, as they are a guide to the
whole of mankind.
Thus, we must conclude that the Quran
is both easy and difficult to undersand. It is easy because it contains
important teachings that must be accessible to all. It is also difficult
because it also contains profound teachings that are inaccessible to the
ordinary person. The attitude of the
believer, as is stated in verse 7 of Surah 3, is that: “They say, ‘We believe
in this – all of it comes from our Lord.’” The beliver or rather the Muslim
submits to those teachings, although he is not able to logically reason them
out.
Therefore, it must be concuded here
that there is no a perfect translation of the Quran. It is not possible. It
must be translated anew by every generation.
Every generation must understand and interpret the Quran in terms of the
available knowledge. Since knowledge increases with time, so will men’s
understanding of the Quran. The Quran itself states that it contains 90% more
content than previous scriptures. [2]
2. Misrepresentation of its
meanings
The best modern English translation
is by the Egyption scholar, Dr Rashad Khalifa, that I have quoted above. Not only is the language modern and simple;
the translation has many other merits absent from most traditional tafsir. He avoids putting his subjective
arbitrary thoughts into the text, the most obvious example is verse 59 of Surah
4 where traditional tafsir states
obedience to God means holding on to the Quran, while obedience to the
messenger means holding on to the so-called Hadith/Sunnah. While the phrase
“those in authority among you” is usually interepreted to mean obediece to a
so-called clerical class (ulema) that
actually does not exist in Islam. The bifurcation of knowledge into the so-called
secular and religious came with the influence of Christianity.
Dr Khalifa’s researches also unveiled
what has come to be known as Code 19. [3]
This Code has shown the awesome mathematical complexity of the composition of
the Quran that puts its authorship to be beyond the ability of any human or
group of humans. [4]
There are many other firsts by Dr
Khalifa. These are (a) the extremely important discovery of the Code 19 that I
have mentioned above, (b) the correct
translation of verse 87 of Surh 15 regarding the so-called “seven-oft-repeated
verses” of traditional tafsir. Rashad correctly translated it as “the seven
pairs and the great Quran.”, the “seven pairs referring to the 14 sets of muqattat letters standing at the head of several chapters in
the Quran, and (c) the correct translation of the Quranic phase dabbat’ul min’al-ard (“a creature made of earthly materials”) and pointing
to the creation of the computer. [5]
He also has 38 appendices that are informative and useful.
3. Errors in Rashad’s
Translation
Having said these, the translation suffers
from many errors. The most glaring is Rashad’s claim that verse 81 of Surah 3 on
the “Messenger of the Covenant” refers to him. The word covenant (Ar. ‘ahdan or mithaq) refers to three types of covenants to God: by mankind as a
whole, [6]
by prophets, [7] and by
believers. [8] The
verse in question (3: 81) refers to the covenant of the People of the Book,
specifically the Jews and the Christians (for generally it includes all
previous prophets), to believe in the last prophet, i.e. Muhammad. The advent
of Prophet Muhammad is foretold in both the Old and the New Testmants,[9]
, in fact, in all previous scriptures.
Rashad’s argument that “The main
function of God’s Messenger of the Covenant is to purify the scriptures and
unify them into one universal message to this world from the Creator and
Sustainer of this world.” cannot be accepted, simply because that has already
been done, explicitly as well as implicitly (in the case of Code 19), by the
Quran that Muhammad brought. As the
Quran itself beautifully and succictly puts it, it “confirms and supersedes”
all previous secriptures. [10]
There is no doubt that Rashad’s
discovery of Code 19 is a major breakthrough in the interpretation of the
Quran. As I have stated above, the Quran has to be interpreted anew by every
generation. As knowledge increases, every generation will increase its understanding
of the Quran. After all, the Quran with its first command to mankind “to read
in the name of the Lord, Who creates,” wrought a major revolution in man’s
thinking. Before the Quran, men lived
in a Pre-scientific Age – the Childhood of Mankind, we may say. After it, the
Scientific Age began – the Adulthood of Mankind. Such is the revolution wrought
by the Quran!
4. Two sources of authority
Rashad is responsible for the
so-called “Quran Alone” movement because of his book debunking the totality of Hadith. [11]
While many hadiths are fabrications
foisted on the great name of Prophet Muhammad, many are also in line with the
teachings of the Quran. [12]
The word ‘hadith’ is used in the Quran to mean
three things: (a) ‘news’ or
‘matter’, (b) ‘message’, and (c) ‘story’. In verse 3 of Surah 66, the
Prophet trusted some of his wives with a matter (hadithan). The Prophet wrote the great Medina Charter, the
Hudaibiyyah Agreement and many letters to Kings of that time. There were all
done by him as leader of the then Muslim community.
Moreover, the Quran itself stipulates two sources in
the famous verse 59 of Surah 4. It is strange that a man of Rashad’s intelligence
should have missed this point!
5. The Quran has two contexts
The Quran has two contexts:
historical and universal. This very important truth was discovered by the Sudanese founder of the
Republican Brotherhood, Mahmood Mohamad Taha, (d. (executed) 1985), in his
booklet, The Second Message of Islam,
first published in 1967, and published in an English translation by Abdullahi
An Na’im in 1987. [13]
Actually, it is wrong to
attribute two messages to the Quran. The Quran is a single unified scripture,
but it has two contexts: the historical and the universal. Take this verse on
punishment for thievery: “As for the man and the woman addicted to theft, cut
of their hands as a punishment for what they have earned ... But whoever
repents after his wrongdoing and reforms. Allah will turn to him (mercifully).
Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (5: 38-39). In all cultural areas of the
world in those times, punishment was very severe. The verse immediately
following indicate the universality of Islam when the principles of punishment given
are (a) justice, and (b) compassion.
It is strange that lawyers of
those days failed to realize the significance of the verse immediately
following. This has given rise to what is known as fixed (so-called had) punishments. There are no such
thing as fixed punishments, as punishements must vary according the crimes as
well as to the times.
6. The question of the “end of
the world”
Another doubtful thing about Rashad’s
interpretation is his claim that the muqataat
letters gave him the date for the
“end of the world” in 2280 (1710 AH). This matter is connected to what is
called the Resurrection. Is the word to be understood literally, or as a
metaphor for a major change in the world system? Although God is Power Absolute,
He does not act illogically. The literal physical rising of billions of
individual humans from the graves is a messy thing that cannot be attributed to
a Wise Creator. It is stated in the
Quran that man will, at the right time, live in outer space, [14]
and that in Paradise , he will ascend
yet higher and higher. Therefore, it is not likely that the world will end in
269 years’ time, counting from today (2011). Furthermore, accoding to the
computation of scientists, the universe will last another 100 billion years
from now. [15]
The event called resurrection is
closely connected to God’s judgement. The concept of God’s judgement is also
referred to in the Quran as man’s own judgement of himself. [16]
Also the billions of individual men and
women of the present, past and the future are actually of one self (Ar. nafsun wahidah), according to the Quran.
[17]
Therefore, concepts of the “Last Day”, “Resurrection”, Divine judgement, “Hereafter”
must be understood metaphorically, not literally. The “Last Day” or the
“Hereafter” is the period after the present time (future generations),
“Resurrection” is a new beginning, although continuous from the old being, and
Divine judgement, as I have already stated, is men’s own judgement of
themselves. Such an understanding of these related concepts would reveal their
beauty, order and harmony, that can logically be attributed to the activity of
an Ever-active and Perfect Creator.
7. The false doctrine of
abrogation
It is not necessary to say
much on the so-called doctrine of abrogation, when certain verses of the Quran
are said to be abrogated by others. It is a misreading of the Arabic word ayat which here means ‘message’. [18]
8. The missing ‘Basmallah’ in
Surah 9
Dr Rashad Khalifa has given
an excellent explanation of this strange phomenon of the missing ‘Basmallah’ in
Surah 9. [19] It is
God’s sign that He witholds His authority for this Surah because it has been
tempered with. This tempering is proved by many sources, including the hadith!
Moreover, it proves that the Quran is forever divinely- protected from
corruption by an inernal mechanism! It
is truly awesome! [20]
9. What is man?
Reflect on this verse: “How can you
disbelieve in God when you were dead and He gave you life, then He puts you to
death, then He brings you back to life, then to him you ultimately return?”
(2:28). A son ‘A’ was potential in a
newly-married couple. The verse calls him “dead”. Then he came to life. Then he
died. Then he came to life again (was resurrected). Finally, ‘A’ returned to
God.
The Quran also likens death to sleep,
when a man has no consciousness. [21]
He resurrects him when he wakes up. Thus life and death, death and life is the
natural cycle of an ever-recurring event in the Universe. It does not stop
until the Universe exhausts itself and collapses into ruin for loss of energy.
At that time, in the far, very far, future, olny God remains. [22]
It is clear that what returned to God
is the spark of the Divine Spirit that was infused into the man when he was
born, i.e. the min ruhi of the Quran.
[23]
The life, the nafs of the Quran not
only dies, but is a single one for the whole of humankind. Therefore, a human
being is mortal, dying when his time comes, but humankind is immortal,
partaking in the Divine Spirit.
Therefore, the human being is simultaneously mortal and immortal.
Rashad also errs when he refers to
God’s creation of the Homo sapiens,
the khalifah of the Quran as a
“temporary god”. [24]
The creation of this new being is described by on historian as a momentous
event. [25]
It was strongly objected to by the angels, the angles’ knowledge being limited
to animals. God’s reply to the angles was that He knows better. Of course, God
knows better; He gave man the ability to know the Universe, and challenges the
angels to prove that they have that ability. The angels’ failure prompted God
to ask the angles to do what He prohibits all created orders from ever doing:
bowing down to other than to Him! [26]
This beautiful allegory shows the
All-Knowing nature of God, as well as man’s elevated position in the Universe.
To this order of God, one of the angels disobeyed and that angle automatically
became Satan, the Rebel-in-Chief! This shows that disobedience to God makes a
disbeliver, bound for Hell. God put Adam and Eve in Paradise and warned them
against going near the tree of moral knowlege. But they were duped by the devil
to disobey God and God punished them by banishing them to the Earth, a
temporary habitation for all human beings. The Tree of Moral Knowledge is
dangerous because man may make the wrong choice, in which case he invites
destruction upon himself. This is proved by the many wars that men have
inflicted upon themselves, especially the two World Wars. God forbid a Third
Word War! In this war, nuclear weapons
would surely be used, inviting near-total destruction of modern civilization!
10. Was Abraham the original
messenger of Islam?
I want to mention a last point
regarding Rashad’s statement that Abraham was the original messenger of Islam. [27]
Is this true? What is clear is that all God’s messengers from the time of Adam
through Idris (Enoch), Noah and others before Abraham brought to their national
communities the religion of submission, i.e. Islam of that stage of human
development. When Abraham came, God gave him the rituals of Islam (prayers,
fasting, obligotary charity (zakat) and pilgrimage to Mecca). Abraham also
prayed for the sending of Prophet Muhammad, the last prophet, to complete the
message of Islam. [28]
11. Man’s limited knowledge
within his potential ability to know the world
Although I consider Dr Rashad
Khalifah as one of my many teachers, and a friend as well, I practise critical
reading, in line with the divine command “to read in the name of your Lord who
creates.” So I do not dismiss Rashad’s many contributions to tafsir just because he made one serious
error about the Messenger of the Covenant.
As I said above, the Quran contains
the most profound thoughts. None knows the meanings of the allegorical verses
except God and those who have made a profound study of them. [29]
I have already pointed to some of Rashad’s erros in these matters. I shall go
no further, except to state that there are many things in the Quran that we
still do not understand or fully understand. God’s creativity is indescribably
vast. It is limitless. The Quran states that if the oceans were ink, it would
not be able to write down God’s words, even if the ink supply were doubled! [30] We have to be patient; if we sincerely persevere
to understand, God will surely help us. Moreover, the methodology of
traditional tafsir (“the hadith interprets the Quran”) is neither adequate, nor
logical. Muhammad’s mission was to receive and deliver the message to mankind.
Its explanation is God’s task. [31]
We need a scientific methodology to
interprete thew Quran. I have worked
this out and submitted it for comment and criticism in my book, Hadis – Jawapan kepada Pengkritik. [32]
[1] For examples, “H. M. And
this enlightening scripture. We have
sent it down in a blessed night, for We are to warn. In it every matter of
wisdom is clarified.” (44: 1-4). “An Arabic Quran, without any ambiguity …” (39:
28)
[2] Quran, 34: 45. That previous scriptures
only contained a bit of what was to be revealed in the Quran was corroborated
by Jesus Christ, who said : “I still have many things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will
guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but
whatever he hears, he will speak; and he will tell you things to come. He will
glorify me, for he will take what is
mine and declare it to you.” (John, 16: 12-14)
[9] There are several prophecies about the coming
of Prophet Muhammad in both the Old and the New Testaments. Here we give two.
“So the Lord said to me (i.e. Moses), ‘I will send them a prophet like you from
among their own people; I will tell him what to say, and he will tell the
people everything I command. He will speak in My name and I will punish anyone
who refuses to obey him.’” (Deutronomy,
18: 17-19) “(Jesus said): ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will
guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but
whatever he hears, he will speak; and he will tell you things to come. He will
glorify me, foe he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’” (John, 16: 12-14)
[32] This book was published
in Malaysia in 1992. See Kassim Ahmad, Hadith:
A Re-evaluation (U.S.A.: 1997); pp 126 ff.
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