INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS

 

CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE: THE  GOALS AND

METHODOLOGY OF THIS WORK

 

 

THE GOALS OF THIS WORK

 

God willing, we will attempt to achieve five goals in this work.

 

First Goal

The Holy Qur’an comes from God and is true, as God Almighty says:

 

The truth comes from your Lord; then be not among the doubters. (Al-Baqarah, 2:147)1

 

And say, ‘The truth  comes from your Lord… (Al-Kahf, 18:29)

 

It is not only true, it is the Truth, for He who revealed the Qur’an re- vealed it with the Truth:

 

That is because God has revealed the Book with the truth; and those that are at variance regarding  the Book are in schism, far removed. (Al-Baqarah, 2:176)

 

With the truth have We revealed it, and with the truth has it been revealed. (Al-Isra’, 17:105)

 

And since it is the Truth, it is must be the entire truth. God says:

 

And verily We have dispensed for people in this Qur’an every [kind of] similitude, but most people insist on disbe- lieving. (Al-Isra’, 17:89)

 

And verily We have dispensed for humankind in this Qur’an

 

[an example] of every kind of similitude. But man is most disputatious. (Al-Kahf, 18:54)

 

And verily We have struck for humankind  in this Qur’an

 

every [kind of] similitude. And if you were to bring them a [miraculous] sign, those who disbelieve will certainly say, ‘You are nothing but followers of falsehood’. (Al-Rum, 30:58)

 

And verily We have struck for humankind  in this Qur’an every [kind of] similitude, that perhaps they may remember/ an Arabic Qur’an without any deviation that perhaps they may guard themselves. (Al-Zumar, 39:27-28)

 

And the day [when] We shall raise up from every community a witness against  them from among themselves, and We shall bring you as a witness against these. And We have re- vealed to you the Book as a clarification of all things and as a guidance, and a mercy and good tidings to those who sub- mit. (Al-Nahl, 16:89)

 

And this Qur’an is not such as could ever be produced [by anyone] besides God; but it is a confirmation of what is be- fore it, and a detailing of the Book, wherein is no doubt from the Lord of the Worlds. (Yunus, 10:37)

 

And indeed We have brought them a Book, which We have detailed with knowledge, a guidance and a mercy for a peo- ple who believe. (Al-A’raf, 7:52)

 

Verily there is in their stories a lesson for people of cores. It is not a fabricated discourse but a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it, and the details for all things, and a guid- ance, and a mercy for a folk who believe. (Yusuf, 12:111)

 

There is no animal on the earth and no bird that flies with its wings, but they are communities like to you. We have neg- lected nothing in the Book; then to their Lord they shall be gathered. (Al-An’am, 6:38)

 

Thus God makes it clear that the Holy Qur’an is the entire truth; and indeed it is more than that, for God says that He has dispensed and struck in it every [kind of] similitude. Moreover, God says that the Holy Qur’an is: a clarification of all things; and that it contains the details for all things. Finally God says: We have neglected nothing in the Book.

The classical scholars of Islam have differed as to the meaning of these verses. From the words the details for all things, Tabari understands the following:

 

‘It is a detailing of all the clarification humankind could need of God’s commandments and prohibitions; what is lawful and what is unlawful, and His obedience and disobedience’.2

 

On the other hand, al-Razi (in his Great Commentary Al-Tafsir al- Kabir) understands ‘a clarification of all things’ to refer only to ‘all the fundamentals of religious knowledge’:

 

‘Some say that [what is meant by] the Qur’an being a clarifi- cation of all things is that all knowledge is either religious or non-religious; as for the non-religious forms of knowledge, this verse is not concerned with them, because it is plain that God would only praise the Qur’an for encompassing all reli- gious knowledge; and as for non-religious knowledge, it is ir- relevant. Now religious knowledge consists of roots and branches; the roots are found in their entirety in the Qur’an. As for the branches, [some say] that there is no law unless its basis has been detailed in this Qur’an. This would mean that God has issued no responsibilities to man save those found in this Qur’an. But if this were indeed the case, then all analogy would be prohibited, and the Qur’an would be enough to fully explain all laws. [Thus] the jurists say that the Qur’an is a clarification of all things in that it indicates that consensus, individual reports and analogy are all valid sources of law, such that when someone rules by any of these principles, his ruling may be supported by the Qur’an’.3

 

However, al-Zamakhshari (in Al-Kashshaf) understands God’s words a clarification  of all things to mean ‘all forms of religious knowledge’, saying:

 

‘This means that it clarifies all religious matters, explicitly in some cases and by referring them to the Sunnah in others, commanding us to follow and obey the Messenger of God !’.4

 

We ourselves believe, however—and hope to demonstrate over the course of this work—that God’s Book contains not only all forms of reli- gious knowledge but all the principles of the sciences of philosophy5  as well. This is one of the wondrous and miraculous features of the Holy Qur’an. Moreover, just as the Holy Qur’an contains linguistic and rhetorical miracles—and perhaps scientific miracles as well—it also contains philo- sophical miracles:

 

And if you are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to Our servant, then bring a surah like it; and call your wit- nesses besides God if you are truthful. / And if you do not, and you will not, then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men, and stones, prepared for disbelievers. (Al-Baqarah, 2:23-24)

 

Or do they say, ‘He has invented it?’ Say: ‘Then bring ten surahs the like thereof, invented, and call upon whom you can beside God if you are truthful’. / Then, if they do not answer you, know that it has been revealed only in God’s knowledge, and that there is no god save Him. Will you then submit? (Hud, 11:13-14)

 

And most of them follow nothing but conjecture; truly con- jecture avails nothing against truth. Surely God is Knower of what they do. / And this Qur’an is not such as could ever be produced [by anyone] besides God; but it is a confirma- tion of what is before it, and a detailing of the Book, wherein is no doubt from the Lord of the Worlds. / Or do they say, ‘He has invented it?’ Say: ‘Then bring a surah like it; and call upon whom you can besides God if you are truthful’. / Nay, but they denied that, the knowledge whereof they did not comprehend; and whereof the interpretation has not yet come to them, as those who were before them denied. Behold then what was the consequence for the evildoers! (Yunus, 10:36-39)

 

Or do they say, ‘He has improvised it?’ Rather they do not believe. Then let them bring a discourse like it, if they are truthful. (Al-Tur, 52:33-34)

 

Hence our first goal in this work is to show that everything that can be said in truth about love is contained in the Holy Qur’an, in detail and not only in a general way. We will therefore limit ourselves in this work to the subject of love in the Qur’an alone, and not love according to the Hadith (sayings of the Messenger of God !), the Sunnah (the example of the Messenger of God !), the wisdom of Islamic scholars, mystics or philosophers.

 

Second Goal

Our second goal is to summarise all that has been said before by others about love in the Holy Qur’an in a single volume. We also hope to add— God willing, and in so far as we are able—some of the secrets of love; se- crets that have been known in the past but have not been collected, as far as we know, in a single source, focusing on the topic of love in the Holy Qur’an. It is worth mentioning that in the past when certain Islamic philoso- phers discussed love, they did not cite even a single verse of the Qur’an. These include—regrettably—Ibn Sina (Avicenna) in his Treatise on Love. Other Muslim scholars, such as Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali in his Ihya ‘ulum al-din (in Chapter 36 on ‘Love, Desire, Familiarity and Pleasure’), Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi (in his Al-Futuhat al-makkiyyah, section 178, ‘Epistle on Love’), and Ibn Hazm (in Tawq al-hamamah), frequently cited the Qur’an and Hadith together or sometimes the Qur’an alone or sometimes the Ha- dith alone in the same work. However, our intention here, God willing, is to give a complete explanation of love using the Qur’an as our only refer- ence and systematically making it the foundation and logical proof of every single point we make. That is not to say, however, that we do not cite Ha- dith herein—we do frequently—but when we do so, we do it only to further strengthen and clarify the points we make.

 

Third  Goal

Our third goal is to give a full and adequate explanation of love and its secrets from the Holy Qur’an alone, although we cannot hope—nor could anyone—to say all that can be said about this subject. Indeed, how could God’s words ever be exhausted, when He says:

 

Say: ‘If the sea were ink for the Words of my Lord, the sea would be spent before the Words of my Lord were spent even though We brought the like of it as replenishment’. (Al-Kahf, 8:109) And:

And if all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea replenished with seven more seas, the Words of God would not be spent. Truly God is Mighty, Wise. (Luqman, 31:27)

 

Fourth Goal

The fourth goal of this work is to impart to the reader some of the mys- teries, secrets and wonders of love. Indeed, love may well be the greatest secret in the modern world, especially since most people’s acts and hopes are motivated by love and / or the desire for happiness. Moreover, happi- ness itself is born out of love—as, God willing, we will see—but since most people do not understand love, they do not know anything about what they are really doing. However, someone who understands love has the ability to cultivate a particular love, or bring it to an end. Therefore, God willing, this work could potentially be of great benefit to people by helping them to love what is good and avoid the love of vain passions. We have endeavoured to spread this subject over short, independent chapters, so that perhaps these chapters might be used as teaching resources in universities or elsewhere; and …my success is only with God. In Him I trust and to Him I turn. (Hud, 11:88)

 

Fifth Goal

Many non-Muslims share a common misperception about the subject of love in Islam and the Holy Qur’an: many non-Muslims—from respected intellectuals and thinkers to ordinary people—imagine that there is no men- tion or attention given to love in the Holy Qur’an. They believe that if Islam has any concern for love it is only because of the Sufis, or perhaps certain Hadiths (whose authenticity they doubt in any case), and not the Holy Qur’an itself. The fifth goal of this work, therefore, is to show that, contrary to non-Muslim misperceptions, not only does the Holy Qur’an treat of love repeatedly and extensively, but also all that one may know or understand about love is explained in the Book of God—the Holy Qur’an.

 

 THE METHODOLOGY OF THIS WORK

 

The methodology of this work is systematic logic based on two major principles of Qur’anic exegesis. The first major principle is that: ‘the Qur’an explains itself’, and the second major principle is that: ‘there is no self-contradiction in the Qur’an’. Concerning the first principle, Suyuti says in Al-Durr al-manthur:

 

‘Ibn Abi Hatim reported that Ibn ‘Abbas " said (with refer- ence to God’s words in coupled phrases [Al-Zumar, 39:23]): “The different parts of the Qur’an resemble one another, and refer to one another.”

 And Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir reported that Sa’id ibn Jubayr said (with reference to God’s word consimilar [Al-Zumar, 39:23]): “One part of it explains the other, and indicates the other”.’6

 

The second principle—namely, that ‘there is no contradiction in the Qur’an’—is derived from God’s own words:

 

What, do they not ponder the Qur’an?  If it had been from other than God, surely they would have found therein much inconsistency. (Al-Nisa’, 4:82)

 

[This is] a Book whose verses have been set clear, and then detailed from One [Who is] Wise, Informed. (Hud, 11:1)

 

Praise belongs to God [alone], Who has revealed to His ser- vant the Book, and has not placed it in any deviation, (Al- Kahf, 18:1)

 

An Arabic Qur’an without any deviation that perhaps they may guard themselves. (Al-Zumar, 39:28)

 

NOTE TO THE READER ABOUT THE ENGLISH  TRANSLATION

 

Throughout this book—with the exception perhaps of this paragraph— we deliberately rigorously maintain an impersonal and anonymous narra- tive voice. This of course is absolutely appropriate when discussing the Holy Qur’an. In the original Arabic, the incomparable beauty and mystery of the Arabic Qur’an itself—not to mention the Holy Qur’an’s own explicit injunctions which every reader of the Qur’an in Arabic will know—forces the reader into ‘contemplation’ (tadabbur—4:82; 23:68; 38:29; 47:24; see also 50:37) of the Holy Qur’an; ‘meditation’ (tafakkur fi—16:43-44; 59:21; 13:3; 3:190-192) upon God’s signs [ayat] in the Holy Qur’an (as well as in His other great work, creation), and consideration (nazhar—30:50; 50:6; 88:17-21 et al) of the nature of all things as described in the Holy Qur’an. In translation, however, the reader runs the risk of understanding this book merely as a harmonious philosophical theory about an important natural process, like, for example, photosynthesis. This may be valuable in itself, but it is not sufficient to fully comprehend love. Love—human love at any rate—is not mere photosynthesis. Therefore, we humbly suggest to the reader that during the course of reading this book, he or she periodically put it down and carefully consider its theories and conclusions, and then meditate upon his or her own experiences to see if and how they relate and bear out what we assert. Without such an introspective reflective process, the reader may attain herein only a theoretical understanding of love. That is obviously not the sole point of this book.

(to be continued)

Source: main.altafsir.com

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Book: Love in the Holy Qur’an (1)