Overview
The Quran is
the unalterable word of God[i] and the final revelation
to the last Prophet[ii] Mohammed (PBUH), which affirms all
the earlier divine scriptures. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)
said that
"the best of you is who has learnt and then
taught the Quran" [iii].
The Quran deals with many subjects in classical
Arabic, in a highly moving language. It blends creeds,
morals, creation, laws, rituals, philosophy, life and
death, and history all in the form of a book. And it
does it with a unique literary style unlike any other
book. Much has been written about this unique style and
many scholars have dedicated their lives, over the
centuries, to this subject.
For the students of the Quran three points are
important here:
Firstly, subject or chronology does not arrange
the Quran, nor does it follow a logical sequence in
its arrangement. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH[iv])
received the divine revelations in a random order of
a few verses at a time, over a period of time and
arranged them into a pre-ordained sequence, which
became the final book. Under this arrangement, the
Quran moves from one topic to another in an
unexpected and abrupt manner. There is no clear
division of subjects into chapters and sections.
Readers often find this style difficult to follow.
Secondly, the Quran covers one subject in many
different chapters and to grasp the complete
picture, the reader must refer to all the passages
with their context.
Lastly, to fully understand the message the
reader also needs to relate the subject to the
central themes, which are the main unifying ideas of
the book, .
Thus, to understand the message of the Quran, it is
important that we clearly understand the main subjects,
their context ,and their relation to the unifying themes
of the book.
Our Approach
The Quran bears a remarkable degree of thematic
unity. This reflects the fundamental principle of ‘Tawheed’
or doctrine of unity in the Quran. The Quran also points
to this fact by saying that there is no inconsistency in
the book:
Do you not then
consider the Quran carefully? Had it been from other
than God, they would surely have found therein much
contradictions [4:82].
The use of thematic approach by synthesizing logical
themes, helps us to comprehend the Quran’s message by
avoiding pitfalls and misuse of phrases by picking them
out of context: it provides the complete picture of a
theme.
This approach organizes subject matter around major
or unifying themes, thus, building them into a whole and
enabling the readers to make important connections
between them. A thematic approach more closely
approximates the human experience of how things happen
than looking at information in isolation.
A thematic approach offers many advantages:
- It allows for a broad treatment of the subjects.
- It provides the focus for understanding by
giving a purpose and meaning.
- It creates a need to inquire, to do purposeful
research, to communicate, and to solve problems.
- It provides a stimulating approach to see
knowledge and concepts in larger contexts.
Therefore, in our study of the Quran we take a
thematic, rather than a chronological approach - which
examines the sequence of events approach to the study of
the Quran.
Our references
We refer to the works of a number of scholars
including:
- Dr. Fazlur Rahman (Major Themes
of the Quran, Bibliotheca Islamica, 1989)
- Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (Reconstruction of religious
thought in Islam)
- Mohammad Asad (The Message of the Quran, Dar-al-Andalus,
Gibraltor, 1980)
- Abdullah Yusuf Ali
- Dr. Hasanuddin Ahmad (Introducing the Quran,
Goodword Books, 2004)
- Ahmed M. Raba (Major Personalities in the Quran,
ASN, 2001)
- Ahmad Hasan Qurashi (Parables of the Quran,
Suhail Academy, 2002)
- Nazir Ahmad (Quranic and non-Quranic Islam,
Vanguard, 2001)
- Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (Usool at-Tafseer,
IIPH, 2005)
- Dictionary of Modern Arabic, Hans Wehr
- E.W. Lane Lexicon
Although these scholars represent different schools
of thoughts, ranging from orthodox to liberal, and some
of their work may reflect the same, however, we have
tried to remain neutral on controversial subjects and
present different points of view to our readers as food
for thought.
We would also like to acknowledge the works of
scholars from the new generation of Muslims which are
available on the Internet.
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Themes
Unity of God
Prophets
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Responsibility
World around us
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