Re: How to interpret Qur'anic terms

Question:
My apologies for offending you to an extent that you could not help comparing the Most Honorable Reading (Al-Qur’an) with a product such as TV, whereas a person like me was expecting your reply with a quote or two from The Book (Al-Qur’an).

In Sura Al-Naml (27:75), Allah says: Nor is there aught of the unseen, in skies or earth, but is in a clear book.

Also in Sura Al-Kahaf (18:54), Allah says: We have explained in detail in this Qur'an, for the benefit of mankind, every kind of similitude: but man is, in most things, contentious.

Sura Al-An'aam (6:38), Allah says: There is not an animal on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but are communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from The Book, and they shall be gathered to their Lord in the end.

As for the SO CALLED language issue, Sura As-Sajda (41:44), Allah says: Had We sent this as a Qur'an other than Arabic, they would have said: "Why are not its verses explained in detail? What! not in Arabic (Aajami/ In-comprehensive) and Arabic?" Say: "It is a Guide and a Healing to those who believe; and for those who believe not, there is a deafness in their ears, and they are in blindness over it: They are like being called from a place far distant!"

Never had it been that your kind self answered, on air or off air, from The Book.

Hope one of us is not being a perfect fit in Sura Al-Momin (40: 56), where Allah says: Those who debate about the signs (Aayaat) of Allah without any authority (Sultan) bestowed on them, there is nothing in their breasts but (the quest of) greatness, which they shall never attain to: seek refuge, then, in Allah. It is He Who hears and sees.

Now, the question remains that when Allah says that even the UNSEEN of the skies & earth is mentioned in The Book, and the day to day problems and issues relating to all of us remains yet in the very SEEN/PRESENT of the EARTH, not even close to the SEEN/PRESENT of the skies (Leave aside the UNSEEN of theirs) and it does not seem to be mentioned in The Book? As per your way of dealing with the others issues.

Don’t you think that it’s high time for us to get out of the Time Trap in which we have been since ages?

For reference: see Sura Al-Qalam (68:15), Allah says: When to him are rehearsed Our Signs (Aayaats), "Tales of the ancients", he cries!

In the end, Sura Al-Baqarah (2:242), Allah says: Thus doth Allah Make clear His Signs (Aayaats) to you: In order that you may understand.

ALHAMDOLILLAH! No offense meant in any of my mails, it’s only Aayaat that I wanted to share with a person like your kind self, only if writings had expressions too.

Response:
I assure you that you have not offended me. In fact, there is a misunderstanding that has been caused by your strong attachment to your views which doesn’t allow you to understand my point of view. You keep quoting verses after verses without clarifying what they mean in the context in which they have appeared. For example, you have quoted the following verse: “We have explained in detail in this Qur'an, for the benefit of mankind, every kind of similitude: but man is, in most things, contentious.” There could be two meanings of this verse. It could either mean that Qur’an has mentioned all examples, all details, and explanation to everything one can think of in this world. If that is the correct understanding of this verse, then we must look for guidance from Qur’an when using our computers, making nuclear bombs, eating meals, making our dresses, playing cricket etc. Or it could be meaning that the Almighty revealed all important details in it about the necessary religious guidance man needed in order to practice religion properly. If the latter meanings of the verse are correct, then we don’t need to expect from Qur’an that it would simultaneously function as a dictionary, a book of engineering, astronomy, economics, history etc. It would simply do what it is meant to do: Guide mankind in the religious matters where he needed guidance the most.

I will give you another example. There are some people who after reading Qur’an saying “And kill the polytheists where ever you find them” conclude that we must kill all polytheists. I am sure you would agree, it would be a gross misinterpretation of the book if one does so. Such misinterpretations happen when one doesn’t care to look at the context and the language of the book.

Your disdain for the example of TV is not understandable. Qur’an says some people were offended by the mention of a mosquito and said why should God quote such examples? (Qur’an; 2:26). The idea in the example of TV was not to compare it with, God forbid, Qur’an. The idea was to help you understand how languages work. Qur’an is also a book that has been expressed in a language. We ought to know how its words are to be understood and interpreted.

The verses you have mentioned carry meanings different from what you have understood. In order to have a meaningful exchange you will first have to decide that you want to understand what I am saying. After properly understanding my message, you then have a right to disagree. It seems that you are not doing that. Like many other religious people, you have an understanding in your mind which blocks the possibility of any other meanings influencing you.

You have not responded to my basic claim. The word ‘riba’ in Arabic word was well known to the people when Qur’an was being revealed. There wasn’t any need for it to be explained. The word belongs to the same category as zina, qatl, fasad, ilm, amal etc. In all such words used in Qur’an, we have to see in what sense they were used at the time when Qur’an was getting revealed. The book had come to invite and guide people of the time when it was first revealed. If its contents were to be expressed in a language which was to be defined for the very first time by the book itself then it couldn’t have done its primary job of warning, inviting, and educating the Arabs.

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