The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour
civilisation its character also represents the main source of Islamic culture and its last resort. We need not analyse here the elements of culture, but we may say that the classification of these elements and the ranking of some elements above others,32 i.e. that which distinguishes cultures, are based on religion. In the case of Islamic culture, it is certainly founded on the religious values stated in the Qur’an. However, we agree with T.S. Eliot that all cultures and civilisations have religious bases. On this basis, Eliot considers that Europe has a single culture, despite the multiplicity of its languages, sects and nationalities. He further maintains that culture disappears when it loses its religious basis.33
31.Philip H. Phenix, Philosophy of Education, Arabic edition, p. 649.
32.Malek Bennabi, Mushkilat al-Thaqāfah ‘The Question of Culture’.
33.T.S. Eliot, Notes Towards the Definition of Culture.
The Authenticity of the
Qur’anic Text and the
Date of its Finalisation
The Qur’an and Earlier Divine Books
Revelation: The Source of the Qur’an
The Revelation of the Qur’an and Why it was Revealed in Parts
The Collation and Writing of the Qur’an
Verses, Surahs and their Arrangement
The Seven Pronunciations or Harfs
4
The Qur’an and Earlier Divine Books
1. Definition of the Qur’an and How it Differs from the Hadith
1.1 The Arabic term Qur’an is derived from a root, Qur’, which indicates putting together. It is said that it was given this name because it includes stories, commandments, prohibitions, promises and warnings; or because it puts together all surahs and verses.
It is also said that the term Qur’an is derived from qarā’in, which means pieces of information corroborating each other. This applies to its verses and surahs.
Al-Liḥyānī and other linguists maintain that the term Qur’an is itself a root indicating what is read. They cite various pieces of evidence including poetry and Qur’anic verses confirming this.
We support al-Liḥyāni’s argument and consider it accurate. However, regardless of the derivation of the word, the term Qur’an has become a proper noun for the inimitable Book revealed by God and vouchsafed to His final Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him). This proper noun refers to this book, just like the Torah is the name of the book revealed to Moses. God says: ‘Surely this Qur’an shows the way to that which is most upright’ (17: 9). Clearly, the use of the term ‘Qur’an’ in this verse refers to the entire book. Indeed, some scholars, including Imām al-Shāfi‘ī, maintain that the Arabic term Qur’an is not derived from any root. It is a name given to God’s words revealed to Muhammad, (peace be upon him).
1.2 The definitions used by scholars in terms of kinds and parts, which are normally used to define universal facts, are mainly intended to make it easier to understand and to distinguish something from whatever may be given a similar name, even falsely. All books revealed by God, sacred Hadiths and some of the Prophet’s Hadiths are, like the Qur’an, revelations by God. Someone may, on the basis of this fact, imagine that these may also be called by the same name, i.e. the Qur’an. Hence, scholars try to explain that the name applies only to it by highlighting its qualities and characteristics that distinguish it from all others. They may define the Qur’an as follows: ‘The Qur’an is the word of God, which He has sent down to Muhammad (peace be on him) and the recitation of which is a form of worship.’
When we analyse this definition we find that the term ‘the word’ refers to a type that includes all speech, but when it is attributed to God, it excludes the speech of everyone else, human, jinn or angels.
That this word of God is ‘sent down’ excludes all other words of God that He has kept to Himself or addressed to the angels to implement without imparting the same to any human being. Not every word of God has been revealed or sent down. Indeed, what has been sent down is only a small portion: ‘If all the sea were ink for my Lord’s words, the sea would indeed be exhausted before my Lord’s words are exhausted, even though We were to add to it sea upon sea’ (18: 109). ‘If all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea were ink, with seven more seas yet added to it, the words of God would not be exhausted’ (31: 27).
The definition makes a further exclusion by saying that it is ‘sent down to Muhammad’. This excludes what has been sent down to earlier prophets, such as the Torah revealed to Moses and the Gospel revealed to Jesus, and the Psalms revealed to David and the scrolls sent down to Abraham (peace be on them all).
The definition indicates a further exclusion by describing its recitation as a form of worship. This means that the Qur’an includes only the part of revelation that we are ordered to read in prayer and at other times as part of our worship. Thus, everything that we are not required to recite is excluded, such as the methods of recitation which have been transmitted by single narrators at a particular time, unlike the methods of recitation transmitted by large numbers of narrators in every generation. Also excluded are the sacred Hadiths, which are Hadiths quoting God Himself, if we take the view that their wording was revealed by God.
1.3 Ordinary Hadiths said by the Prophet (peace be upon him) may be divided into two categories according to their meanings: the first is ‘deduced’, which includes those Hadiths the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated on the basis of his understanding of God’s word or his contemplation of the universe. This category is certainly not part of the word of God. The second category is ‘received’. The import of such Hadiths is given to the Prophet (peace be upon him) through revelation and he has taught it to mankind in his own words. This means that in meaning and content, this second category is attributed to God, but in its phraseology, it should be attributed to the Prophet (peace be on him). Normally, speech is attributed to the speaker who constructs it in its style, even though the meaning it expresses may be one that is very familiar and has been transmitted from one person to another. Thus, the two categories of Hadith are excluded because the first qualification in the definition of the Qur’an is that it is ‘God’s word’.
Similarly excluded is the sacred, or qudsi, Hadith; that is, if we say that it is revealed in meaning only. This is the weightier view in our judgement. Had it been revealed in wording as well, it would have had the same sanctity as the Qur’an. In other words, there would be no grounds for distinguishing two types of revealed speech attributed to God. Had the case been so and the qudsi Hadith had been revealed in word and meaning, it would have been imperative to