“I am convinced about the veracity of my opinions, but I do consider it likely that they may turn out to be incorrect. Likewise, I am convinced about the incorrectness of the views different from mine, but I do concede the possibility that they may turn out to be correct.” — Imam Shafa’i
The Holy Quran is a miracle from Allah Ta’aala Subhanahoo. This is an article of Faith for all of us, Muslims. This fact dwells on us repeatedly as we go through it. The arrangement and organization of the Holy Text is one them. The sequence of surahs and ayahs in the Book is entirely different from that of the actual revelation. To start with it sounds disjointed; different topics appear to follow each other in rapid succession devoid of any connection. There is an absence of a focus. To the uninitiated this is a great problem; to the scholar it presented a great challenge. But both were convinced that there has to be a great wisdom behind it as this is the Book of God Almighty and HE HIMSELF has designed the compilation through HIS Messenger. This confusion persisted for centuries. Very early in our history, fifth century Hijra the dominant scholarly opinion was that all that is to be known about Islam has been established. Hence there was nothing to research in the Quran. All scholarly efforts were directed to the study of Fiqh and Hadith. We had to wait till the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when an outstanding Islamic scholar Imam Hamiduddin Farahi (18 November 1863– 11 November 1930) of South Asia presented his historical concept of organization (nazm or cohesion) of the Quran. “He was instrumental in producing scholarly work on the theory that the verses of the Quran are interconnected in such a way that each surah or chapter of the Qu’ran forms a coherent structure, having its own central theme, which he called “umood”. He also started writing his own exegesis, or tafsir of the Quran which was left incomplete on his death in 1930. The muqaddimah, or introduction to this tafseer is an important work on the theory of Nazm-ul-Quran”.(Wikepedia) Scholars of the South Asia like Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, Maulana Shibli Noman and Maulana Syed Sulaiman Nadvi have acknowledged his outstanding work on the Quran and Islamic learning in general.
After fifty years of deep study of the Quran Imam Farahi came with his theory of coherence in the Quran hailed by his mentor Allaamaa Shibli Nomani as a “superhuman accomplishment”. He demonstrated that the Quran is not a haphazard collection. He achieved a single interpretation of the Holy Text “by taking into consideration, the three constituents of nazm (coherence): order, proportion and unity. Disregarding “thematic and structural coherence in the arrangement and mutual relationship of various Quranic verses and paragraphs” is responsible for different and conflicting interpretations, he maintained. Isolating a verse from its context can be very misleading. The coherence of Quran, properly applied is integral to the proper and balanced understanding of the Divine Message when it will clearly stand out as Meezan and Furqaan. In other words he guided us for the first time to have a holistic approach when collecting the pearls scattered in the Quran. Very briefly, Imam Hamiduddin Farahihas proposed and proved that the hundred and nineteen surahs of the Holy Quran are arranged in pairs; each on of the pair is complimentary and mirror image of the other sharing the same topic. Further, all these surahs are divided into seven groups; the first group has four long surahs in addition to Surah Fatiha and the last group has sixty five shorter surahs. Each group has a Central Theme expressed and explained from different angles. However, I feel one really needs an extensive knowledge of the Quran to appreciate the meaning and value of this cohesion. But even to us PPK Muslims, it is not difficult to appreciate that the ma’oozibitain (sura Falak and sure Naas) are obviously a pair.
The above scheme is very valuable and conducive to academically survey and research the Quran as a whole. The individual ayah, though is still the unit of the Quran to study our Deen, to decipher its message and philosophy and comprehend clearly its commandments and constraints.
A caveat is in order, however. On many occasions it turns out to be misleading to take out the ayah out of its context; it must be read with the ayahs preceding and following it.
On many occasions, not one but several consecutive ayahs are needed to convey a message properly and completely.
Yet again, the ayahs for a given subject may be spread all over the Quran; these need to be searched and scanned. For example there are eleven ayahs in the Quran for Riba: seven in Surah Al Baqaraa, one in Surah Imran, two in Surah Nisa and one in Surah Room. Similarly the ayahs for “hijab” are divided between Surah Noor and Surah Ahzaab. Additionally, the ayahs revealed earlier are placed in later Surah Ahzab no.33 whereas the ayahs revealed later are found in the earlier Surah Noor no. 24.
Lastly, the Quran was addressed directly to people of Hejaz of early seventh century CE. As a first and indispensable step therefore, one has to ascertain how they received and conceived the Message. (Ta’veele Khaas; Special understanding). This entails traveling back in time to that period and that region focussing on the prevalent life style: how they lived, how they ate, how they travelled, their cultural and social norms, the terrain and temperature, their economic activities and their faith. Once we have grasped fully the meaning and impact of an ayah on the Sahaabaa, we can then move on to apply it to us and our times. (Ta’veele Aam; the General Understanding).
Why? Why has Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo made the study of HIS Book so challenging? In my very humble and personal opinion, it is part of the over all strategy and purpose of our creation: test, try and assess humans for their Final Abode: Paradise or Hellfire.
With this background let us study the index ayah. It is a single short ayah but conveys several important precepts to us.
The ayah starts with describing a vital and valuable Sunnat-e-Ilahi. HE sends HIS Messengers with clear signs (The word used is “bayyinah” which means “clear” or “evident”. It could refer to clear injunctions. According to Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hayyan it implies miracles, clear proofs and evidences of Prophet-hood and Messenger-ship) and delivers with them the Book. Sayyid Qutb, the famous Islamic scholar and exegetist strikes here a telling nuance. The ayah declares that the Messengers (in the plural) were awarded “the Book” and not books indicating that “all divine revelations are one” and convey the same Divine Message all along. The two — Messenger and the Book — combined deliver you a Meezaan i.e an instrument or a criteria to weed out the right from wrong, the good from evil. The letter “وَ” in Arabic is usually taken to mean “and”. This is predominantly correct. However this letter has about sixteen meanings. The common second meaning is “i.e. or which means” as in this ayah. This ayah then reads as God has sent HIS Messengers and the Book i.e. the Meezaan. Many mufassirs have used it in its common meaning of “and”. According to this view God Almighty has sent three things: Rasool, Book and Meezaan. Different interpretations are then suggested for this Meezaan.
Next, another important principle in the Quran is manifested by the words “لِيَقومَ النّاسُ”—- that men may stand forth. Notice, men or humanity are addressed and not Muslims or Momins. The Quran addresses and is a guidance for the whole mankind, not just Muslims.
Yet another crucial point is expressed in the next word “بِالقِسطِ” — in justice. The whole scheme of sending Messenger and Book is “that men may stand forth in justice” in all the spheres of human activity, single an combined. This is one of the cardinal principle and objective of the message of Islam: the whole humanity should uphold justice, keep up justice , maintain justice, may conduct themselves with equity, may observe right measure and may maintain (their affairs) in justice. Of all the qualities (sifaat) of God Almighty, Justice is the only one which is expressed at every moment: HE is just when rewarding and HE is just in retribution. In view of its importance, there are ayahs in the Quran exhorting us about strict justice in our individual lives:
[3]“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for God can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily God is well- acquainted with all that ye do”.
as well as in our collective lives:
[4]“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for God, as witnesses1 to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others (hostility or enmity) to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God. For God is well-acquainted with all that ye do”.
Try and apply this ayah when judging America and Americans, “the enemy of Muslims” in our discussions! I tried it once in our weekly meeting of the Quran Study Group at the Aga Khan University Hospital. No sooner had I finished quoting this ayah there was a big and strong laughter in the room. I was shocked and dumb founded.
This ayah then moves away from lofty ideas to discriminate between right and wrong which are the innermost purpose of all divine revelations, to the mundane: HIS gifts for us in this world. This is the underlying beauty of the Quranic Text and its approach but is real puzzling to the amateur. Quran is an oration — and not a formalized written speech — where the Lecturer hops form one topic to another as he feels fit for the audience and the occasion. The ayah continues “وَأَنزَلنَا الحَديدَ” i.e. we have sent down iron and goes on to say “in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind”. “Sent down” obviously means created in the earth. Needless to say that iron is one of the greatest blessing of God for the needs and good (and bad) of mankind; equally helpful in warfare and peace. It is the most useful metal known to man for war as well as for peace. It is the emblem of Strength and Power. Iron and steel laid the foundation of the modern industrial revolution.
Very naturally, the scholar and mufassir interprets the Text in the light of his personality and his ideas of the Message and Philosophy of Islam. Often this gives rise to conflicting opinions floating around on very delicate and important issues. This presents a challenge to us, PPK Muslims who depend on others for correctly comprehending the Holy Text. The index ayah is a good example of this dilemma.
Dr. Israr Ahmed, an outstanding scholar with an enviable insight and grasp of the Holy Text regards this ayah as the most direct and naked (he begs our pardon for using the word “uryaan”) call for a violent revolution in all human literature. He interprets this ayah as a direct call and command for Muslims to rise in arms and enforce the rule of Islam — not Islam itself — all over the world. He mentions and immediately dismisses as secondary and insignificant the reference in the ayah to the peaceful uses of iron: “as well as many benefits for mankind”. He calls it a “shirk” to accept any non-Muslim rule on the earth — baatil kaa nizam. If we cannot overthrow it, we must accept it under protest with the only purpose of preparing ourselves to bring down the baatil nizam.(Al Bayaan, translation and short tafseer of the Quran). Add impulsiveness, shortsightedness, violence and brutality to this narrative to produce movements like Talibaan, Al Qaeeda, ISIS and their likes.
Maulana Maudoodi, more or less endorses this view. He postulates that the reference to iron immediately after proclaiming the mission of the Prophets for justice “indicates that by iron here is meant political and military power. Thus the verse means: Allah did not raise His Prophets in the world just to present a scheme for the establishment of justice, but it was also a part of their mission to endeavor to enforce it practically….”. Apparently this interpretation runs contrary to some very vital dictums of Islam. An important rule in studying the Quran needs a mention here. The ayah says “that men may stand forth in justice” or “uphold justice” or “conduct themselves with equity”. This is mandatory for every Muslim to accept as these are the words of Allah Ta’aala Subhaanahoo. Denying this can be designated as Kufr. Maulana has added his own personal reading and elucidation of the ayah. Outstanding scholar as he is, it remains a human opinion and therefore not binding on us. One can differ, as I do based on reason and other scholarly opinions.
As against this Dr.Mohammed Asad has an entirely different approach. I have to allow him to express his interpretation of this ayah. “God has endowed him with the ability to convert to his use the natural resources of his earthly environment. An outstanding symbol of this ability is man’s skill, unique among all animated beings, in making tools; and the primary material for all tool-making – and, indeed, for all human technology – is iron: the one metal which is found abundantly on earth, and which can be utilized for beneficial as well as destructive ends. The “awesome power” (ba’s shadid) inherent in iron manifests itself not merely in the manufacture of weapons of war but also, more subtly, in man’s every-growing tendency to foster the development of an increasingly complicated technology which places the machine in the foreground of all human existence and which, by its inherent – almost irresistible – dynamism, gradually estranges man from all inner connection with nature. This process of growing mechanization, so
evident in our modern life, jeopardizes the very structure of human society and, thus, contributes to a gradual dissolution of all moral and spiritual perceptions epitomized in the concept of “divine guidance”. It is to warn man of this danger that the Qur’an stresses – symbolically and metonymically – the potential evil (ba’s) of “iron” if it is put to wrong use: in other words, the danger of man’s allowing his technological ingenuity to run wild and thus to overwhelm his spiritual consciousness and, ultimately, to destroy all possibility of individual and social happiness”.
As pointed by Mufti Mohammed Shafi, the goal of establishing justice is to assist the society in “intellectual development and growth”. He then adds “The government may not exert its might and power to achieve the purpose of developing them intellectually. It may use it, only as the ultimate option, if they stand in the way of justice. The main thing is to cultivate the minds of the people by educating them.
Nasr Seyyed Hossein et al in their modern exegesis “The Study Quran” propose an elucidation for the reference of iron in this ayah which reflects the message and mood of Islam: “Iron containing great might is the means of fashioning weapons with which to defend the truth and to oppose those who revolt against justice”.
The Quran repeatedly and clearly demonstrates the Sunnat-e-Ilahi regarding the mission of HIS prophets. Once they have completed their teachings and arguments (itmaam-e-hujjat) the rejectors and deniers are annihilated by some Divine calamity like a cyclone or by the might of the Believers. Imam Amin Hasan Islahi and the research scholar and mentor Javed Ahmed Ghamdi have explained that the iron in the ayah gives sanction to the swords of the Faithful which have to be used for execution of this Sunnat-e-Ilahi on completion of the Prophetic mission against those who have refused and rejected him.
Why Allah has described whatever HE has in this ayah? The ayah replies “ وَلِيَعلَمَ اللَّهُ” and that Allah may know. This is the literal meaning but probably inappropriate for God Almighty is All-Knowing. Hence it has also been translated as Allah may “test” or “make it evident”. What does Allah want to know or test? “Who is going to help HIM and HIS Rasool” answers the ayah? Obviously HE does not need our help. We are required to stand up for the cause of Allah and HIS Rasool in peace and war. And how do we do that? Use the spiritual and material gifts from Allah mentioned in this ayah in the proper and balanced way. This will make us true Muslims.
The ayah stipulates that this act of “assisting” Allah is done “بِالغَيبِ” i.e. unseen. They do not do this act to be seen by others; that they work for religion “even though they have not seen one of God’s messengers”. They do it even though God is beyond their perception.
The ayah ends by declaring “For God is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might” to remind us, not withstanding what has transpired above our Lord Creator is powerful enough to implement HIS Will completely, free of any help from any one.
……..and Allah knows best.
May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding–“fahm”–of our Deen, Aameen.
Dr. Khalid Mitha
