Khutbah #21 - 20/11/98

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Alhamdulillahi rabbil'alamin wa salaatu wa salaamu ala Rasulihi  

I often speak about forming a personal relationship in our understanding of Islam and the Qur'an, and finding a personal way to articulate it. But of course we all get most of our ideas from somewhere else, and there's no harm in quoting from someone you happen to agree with, or who you think expresses something in a particularly illuminating way.

For today's Khutbah, I wish to draw from another book about the Qur'an, written much more recently than Al-Ghazali this time, 'The Qur'anic Experience' by Malik Ben Nabi.

He starts his book with a discussion of religious thought and practice as a central aspect of man's communal behaviour throughout history from the dawn of time. The "…. metaphysical preoccupation …. which haunts human consciousness when it is seized by the enigma of the material world and its ultimately mysterious nature. Every reflective mind is preoccupied with the same questions…. Who knows this world? Who can talk of it? From where has it come into being? What is this creation?"

This would suggest that man can be characterized as 'an essentially religious animal.', in which case:

"a) Is man 'a religious animal' in an instinctive manner, as a consequence of an original disposition of his nature?

b) or has he acquired this quality through a sort of psychic osmosis given to all of humanity, begun by an initial cultural accident which occurred among a group of humans?

The …. two basic theses which arise out of the problem posed by the existence of religious phenomena. …. The debate …. between two religions: between theism and materialism, …. two philosophical systems: one which regards the religious sense of man as an original part of his nature …. And that which treats religion as a simple historical accident of human culture …. two systems, one essentially physical, for which everything is determined by matter, the other metaphysical, since it considers that matter itself is determined."

He explores these two philosophical systems, and discusses religious expression in terms of prophecy and revelation. And he particularly considers the distinction between the notion of the Prophet's "subjective consciousness, which arises out of his human knowledge, and that of Qur'anic consciousness, which is revealed to him".

The Prophet was limited in his worldly knowledge just like any man, but he was also the channel for the words of God, not limited in time or place or relevance.

Along with its characteristics of a Legal and Historical nature, and its relationship to the Bible, Malik Ben Nabi discusses various expressions of the Qur'an's timeless nature, such as coincidence of metaphor. Writing at the end of the second world war, with its bombs and shells, he uses the symbolism of the Qur'anic verse 'the flashes of fire and brass shall be sent on you like sparks, then you will not be able to defend yourselves' (55.35) as an example of a metaphorical coincidence of the Qur'an with modern day experience, not the life experience of the Companions.

Qur'anic universality is particularly manifested through Qur'anic Metaphor, with regard to which he points out the following:

"The peculiarity of a language is conditioned by the elements which form the source of its particular rhetoric. The topography of an area in which a language is formed, the sky and the climate, the fauna and flora - these are all generators of ideas and images which are the special patrimony of one language to the exclusion of another. Thus the source leaves its mark on the rhetorical apparatus. ….

The Qur'anic metaphor, however is not always, nor even often, the reflection of Bedouin life in the desert. On the contrary, it often appears to draw its elements and terms of comparison from the most diverse climates, surroundings, and landscapes. The rivers which run across the green land remind us of the fertile regions of the Nile, of the Euphrates, or of the Ganges, rather than of the deserts of Arabia. The clouds which the winds carry "to resurrect the dead earth" are not a daily spectacle of the Arabian sky, an inland desert sky, glowing like heated bronze and naked as the desert itself!"

And at the end of it all he draws his conclusion:

"In light of the Holy Qur'an, religion appears as a cosmic phenomenon, regulating the thought and the civilization of man, as gravity regulates matter and conditions its evolution. Thus, religion appears as part of the universal order, as both the original law of the soul, and the law of physical bodies. Islam, therefore, is the science of being human, and the Holy Qur'an, the Book of guidance for all men, contains the laws meant to help men to return to their Creator. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the vehicle of this guidance."

*****

When Malik Ben Nabi's book came out in 1946, Sheikh M. Diraz, a Professor at Al-Azhar wrote the following in his Preface.

"Indeed, the Holy Qur'an is a permanent miracle, and the signs of its truth do not lie exclusively in its literary value, but also in the physical and psychological realms, as the Holy Qur'an itself says:

'We will soon show them signs in the farthest regions and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that it is the Truth.' (41.53)

In light of this quotation, a duty is imposed on all believers familiar with scientific knowledge to reconcile the two domains of their souls, faith and knowledge, in confronting the revealed texts - I do not say with unconfirmed or inconfirmable hypotheses of scholars - but with the positive results of their own experiences, and to draw the lesson which can be derived from such a comparison. Now in the case of these two truths, they will not be known to contradict each other, but on the contrary should confirm and corroborate each other.

If, over and above this double quality of the educated believer, someone possesses the gift of literary ability, a second duty may befall him, namely that of exposing the fruit of his work in the language of his times, just as a prophet should employ, in his prediction, the language of the people whom he addresses. …. Thus, both moral and spiritual sciences will be able to rise above their present stagnation."

Sheikh Diraz then addresses young muslim intellectuals, stressing that the purpose of such work should not be sterile, but "serve as a living model of dialectical discussion, one which might stimulate the spiritual energy of any reader capable of reasoning methodically, in order that he might formulate for himself, in his turn, how best to approach the problem of discovering the truth."

If such work "can serve to remedy religious scepticism, so much the better; but it is meant primarily to combat indifference to this question of supreme truth. In any case, it is not intended to be imposed like dogma, which would be necessary to accept with eyes closed, without discussion. …. Nothing is more contrary to the principles of the holy Qur'an. …. Not only does the Holy Qur'an declare that faith was never known to be imposed from outside, but it also energetically condemns all blind conformity, which is open to being abused by an authority not supported by reason"

O God, forgive us, and have mercy on us, and guide us, and grant us security, and grant us sustenance.