How to relate to the Quran is always an important matter for Muslims, particularly those living in the West. The Quran is supposed to be our constitution, our guidance, and our user manual in life. The last few centuries of mental stagnation, deterioration, and fatigue have taken us away from the original premise to some strange understanding of the way we should relate to "The Book."
Most Muslims today approach the Quran in ways that are contrary to common sense and the purpose of the revelation. For example, most Muslims only stress the proper way of recitation (the science called "Tajweed"), while neglecting the proper understanding of the Quran's meanings. Others read the text superficially by tongue, but without heart and mind. Others focus on memorization, while overlooking the Book's guidance. Some even hang Quranic verses on their walls, or under their pillows, and in their cars for "protection" to the point of superstition.
So what are the proper ways to relate to the Quran, to connect with it, be fully involved, and sense its total relevance and timeless guidance? The Companions of the Prophet (God be pleased with them) were the first group of people who followed the Quran. The Quran transformed them, and in return, they transformed the society around them, and in fact, the whole world.
"After them came their successors who deserted the Quran," says Sheikh Yousuf Qardawi in his book, "How Should We Interact with the Magnificent Quran?" (title translated). "They preserved its words but lost its injunctions. They understood it poorly. They did not put first what the Book puts first. They did not put last what the Book puts last [stressing on priorities]. They did not give eminence to what the Book gives eminence to. They did not belittle what this Book belittles. There is no deliverance for this Ummah from its loss, backwardness, and ruin except by turning back to this Quran. We must make the Quran as the guide and the leader."
When relating to the Quran we need to understand that the message of the Quran is both simple and complex. Its simplicity is rooted in its ability to individually address the believing heart. Open any page of the Quran and read in your own language, and you can understand the general message and feel what is relevant to you in that message. At this level, the Quran is simple and universally accessible. Each person finds in its message, filtered through the prism of his or her personal experiences, through their own eyes, knowledge, joy, pain, triumphs, and setbacks. At this level, the message requires "no intermediary." It is like dialogue that exists between the Quran and its reader.
However, the Quran can be also quite complex at another level, especially when we need to properly understand the legal, social, and moral implications of the message. Here, the challenge is "to derive the Islamic prescriptions that govern matters of faith, of religious practice, and of its fundamental precepts," as Dr. Tariq Ramadan says in one his essays.
What is needed is a deeper understanding of the whole message, the circumstances of revelation, a deep knowledge of Arabic language (including its early poetry), grammar, rhetoric, logic, and knowledge of the Meccan and Medinan verses. We need to know when the Quran speaks in general and when it is detailed and specific. It's vital to learn how the Prophet and the Companions understood its message and applied it, as well as the ways early scholars understood the text and reconciled it with reason and the Sunnah.
But all of this requires a final, critical tool: sincerity, deep belief, and profound spirituality that connects between the heart and the mind. This connection opens the door to a faithful and deep understanding of the Quran's guidance.
In our day, the need for a deeper reading of the Quran has perhaps never been greater, for there has never been a greater discrepancy between our society now and the society that witnessed the original revelation. There is a tremendous need to harmonize between the text and our context.
If we Muslims are able to reconnect to the Quran, relate to it, understand it properly with open hearts and open minds, understand our times and our societies, and are able to apply the right medicine to the right symptoms, then we will succeed in relating to our Divine message. Our lives, our communities, and society will be transformed.
Dr. M. Zaher Sahloul