Reflections
on the Koran (Quran).
Earlier
this year (2016) I set myself the task of reading the Koran. My reasons for
doing so was simply to become better informed about it. Particularly,
there has been so much reference in the media to jihadists that I
wanted to know if the holy book of the Muslim world either encouraged
or even commanded Muslims to engage in jihad. Initially I committed
to producing a short essay on my impressions, mainly for personal
reference, but also with a view to contributing something to the
debates around the nature of Islam.
The
version of the Koran I used is a paperback edition published by the
Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-953595-8 and has a general
introduction of thirtysix pages plus a map and chronology.
This
short essay is about my initial perception of the Koran. In
committing to the project I remained faithful to my original aim but
in the process have discovered features of the Koran which have
raised questions for me which I will mention further on. The essay is
describing how I perceived the Koran as a reader who came to it
trying as far as possible to read it without any preconceived view. I
have read it without first reading any literature about it whatsoever
and I am writing without comparing my perceptions to any other, a
difficult task for an almost lifelong Christian with a full time
theological education. It’s not impossible that with time and
further study my views may modify but this is about my initial
perceptions prior to further reflection.
This is not an essay on Islam. It is about the Koran only. The study of Islam is beyond the scope of this essay with many connotations. While the two are far from unrelated this is a purely modular effort.
This is not an essay on Islam. It is about the Koran only. The study of Islam is beyond the scope of this essay with many connotations. While the two are far from unrelated this is a purely modular effort.
The
Koran as literature.
I
began with trying to read the Koran simply as a work of literature.
As
literature the overall impression I quickly gained and which
continued throughout my reading is that it is a very disjointed and
muddled text. The paragraphs flit from one point to another and at
times I have been tempted to wonder ‘what the writer was on’. My
perception is that there is no narrative. All the books I have
ever read have had a narrative. The narrative may have been to
explain how a computer works or how a fictional hero or heroine
prevailed or to describe a historical event or period, a biography or
autobiography but always the narrative has been there and it is
reasonably clear where the narrative is going. This was something
that I could not find in the Koran, I couldn’t tell where it was
going. Having read the Koran I couldn’t summarise it in any
meaningful way.
My
working life began as an apprentice with the (then) Midlands
Electricity Board. Attending day release technical college I had to
study, amongst other things, the rules of the Institute of Electrical
Engineers. While this was very necessary and important it wasn’t
the most stimulating literature but even this had a narrative. There
was clear guidance for the most common situations you were likely to
work in.
Most
of my reading of the Koran followed in the morning after my daily
readings of the Bible. Consequently I was reading the Koran and
making immediate comparisons. My reaction to the two forms of
literatures has left me with a greatly enhanced view of the Bible and
a sense of impoverishment in the literature of the Koran. I think
this is because the books of the Bible each have their own narrative
and the text of the books flows well.
The
Koran consists of One hundred and fourteen ‘suras’ each of which
are a sort of book claiming to be statements made by Allah and are of
varying lengths ranging from thirty pages and many to less than a
quarter of a page. The total length of the Koran is four hundred and
fourty six pages (compared to the Bible I mainly use which has one
thousand one hundred and thirty nine pages in a slightly smaller
type).
The
construction of each sura begins with a statement of respect to Allah
(sometimes named as God) and my perception is that the passages ‘go
all over the place’ rarely sticking to the stated theme of the
sura.
Much
of the great literature of the human race abounds with quotations
which are enriching to many cultures. From Plato to Luther, Benjamin
Franklin to Winston Churchill et al we can draw on a wealth of
quotations which are not necessarily religious but are nuggets of
thought which are relevant to human relations and enterprise. I found
little or nothing in the Koran which even begins to approach the
insights of great men and women both historical and contemporary.
In
both biographical and fictional literature there is a sense that you
have actually met a person. Books abound with characters and good
biographical and fictional writing can give a sense of sharing a
journey and experience with the characters in the books. Newhere in
the Koran do you ever meet a character or go on a journey. There are
names and references to characters and incidents but I never felt
that I met and journeyed with anyone.
The
authority of the koran.
I
can make only one comparison relating to the percieved authority of a
Holy book, which is to the Christian Bible.
I’m
not sure if discussing the reasons which Christians have for
accepting the authority (and hence the inspiration) of the Bible is
the best approach but very briefly my understanding of why Christians
give the Bible authority may be helpful.
The
Bible consists of sixty six books which contain a variety of
literature. History, poetry, proverbs, letters, apocalyptic, laws and
reflections. Within each of these there are passages which are
literal in meaning and others which use metaphor and other figures of
speech many which are in the context of the culture of the times when
the books were written. Much of the history has been subjected to
rigorous analysis and all the Bible has been minutely examined to
establish genre and meaning. Some Biblical history has been checked
alongside references to events which are external to the Bible. The
Bible itself was not finalised in it’s present form until around
400AD (with some disputes about it’s final form) and many possible
books were eliminated from the canon.
The
individual books make no claim to be an inspired writing themselves
(although many sayings are attributed to God and Paul writing to
Timothy does say all scripture is God breathed but doesn’t make any
specific references).
Many
of the Biblical books teach through the stories which are told. Even
though scholars sometimes dispute how literal some stories actually
are, none the less the feel of the Bible is that there is an
authenticity which is as much discerned as proclaimed. The nature of
the message being in stories makes the message as well as the stories
memorable.
Above all, the authority of the Bible rests on the well testified historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus.
Above all, the authority of the Bible rests on the well testified historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus.
None
of this can be said about the Koran. I would be pushed to say what
kind of literature the Koran actually is other than a set of jumbled
sayings and rules. References to obscure events are made but the
references throw no light on anything resembling a coherent message.
I note also that the Koran has only ONE author, Mohammed. This should set warning bells ringing very loud. This means that we only have Mohammed's take on matters. Research into Mohammed's whole life throws up some very questionable activity in several areas.
I note also that the Koran has only ONE author, Mohammed. This should set warning bells ringing very loud. This means that we only have Mohammed's take on matters. Research into Mohammed's whole life throws up some very questionable activity in several areas.
What
for me finally throws doubt on the claim that the Koran is inspired
by God (and hence authoritive) is the sura relating to women.
The
Bible, understood in it’s historical context, elevates and
liberates women (beyond which many contemporaries would be
comfortable with).
By
contrast the sura on women seems to have been written for the purpose
of subjugating and oppressing women. Here are a few quotations in that
section (I am aware of the necessity to quote within context but my
reading of the Koran is that most quotations don’t demand context).
(11)
“Concerning your children, God commands you that a son should have
the equivalent share of two daughters ………..”
(34)
“If you fear high handedness from your wives, remind them (of the
teachings of God), then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit
them.”
(170)
“The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger
of God ….. do not speak of a Trinity”.
(176)
“…. if there are surviving brothers and sisters, the male is
entitled to twice the share of the female.”
(In
fairness, there are sections of this sura which make provision for
orphans and specify the forbidden boundaries of marriage but the
contrasting quotations indicate something of the lack of narrative).
The
Koran is self referencing. It names itself as the Koran and claims to
be from God and it does so frequently. It claims to be from God so
often it gives the impression that the writer(s) weren’t fully
convinced of the claim that is made. When in college I well remember
the words of Revd Dr Keith Clements commenting on Biblical
inspiration who said, “Read the Bible to discover it’s
inspiration”.
The
Koran and the Bible.
Because
this could potentially be a long section I’ll limit my comments.
My
first reaction to the Koran is to feel a sense of pity for those who
regard it as their holy book. By comparison to the Bible it is
impoverished, narrow and rather boring.
Reading
the Koran was, for me, a work of resolve and determination. The one
redeeming feature of the task, if you can call it that, is that it’s
much shorter than the Bible. Each sura reads like a random set of
rules with a monotonous repetitive style.
By
comparison the Bible is a collection of different forms of
literature, each fascinating in it’s own way. There is history,
poetry, apocalyptic, metaphor, advice, stories of dynasties and
stories of ordinary people. There are examples of human frailty and
weakness and stories of achievement, laws, prayers, covenant,
parables, letters and principles.
The
Koran majors on rules. The Bible majors on character, the character
of God being slowly unveiled and the character of the people of God.
The Bible illustrates. The Koran only repeats rules in a rather
unstructured way. We learn in the Bible about how the people of God understood and
misunderstood their relationship with God. We see the way God
gradually reveals Himself over centuries. We see the despair of
people in exile and the search for meaning in the experience of
suffering. The Bible teaches through stories and enriches the human
spirit whereas the Koran regulates it.
The
Bible doesn’t duck the difficult bits. There are passages which
scholars have grappled with which are difficult to comprehend. Jesus
proclaims the love of God yet God commands that the Israelites
exterminate the Amalekites and other passages are equally as challenging.
What
for me was striking about the Koran is that it conveys no sense of
the love of God. The Bible rises to dizzying heights to proclaim the
love of God and the nature of love itself. Even 1Corinthians 13 is
sometimes read at secular weddings and it’s almost impossible to read the
words without recognising their inspiration. There is nothing in the
Koran that conveys a hint that God is a God of love (although it does
say God is most forgiving).
Miscellaneous
thoughts.
My
motive for reading the Koran was so that I would be better informed
on where it stood in respect of jihad (which I have taken to mean
holy war, although I suspect it could have more than one
understanding). The word ’jihad’ never appeared in the version I
was using so in that sense I found no imperative to jihad. The Koran
is uncompromising in that it gives a green light to vigorous self
defence. Like the Bible, it’s very easy to construe the vigour
allowed in self defence to be the imperative to wage war. It is
easier for those with extremist views to to make reference to
passages in the Koran to justify atrocities than it is to justify
atrocities from the Bible because the Koran is more a set of rules
whereas the Bible’s dealings with violence is more contextual and
in narrative form. In other words, the Koran regulates whereas the
Bible tells what happened.
My
biggest question by far is, what place does the Koran have in the
life of a muslim? I appreciate that different forms of literature
appeal to different people but I suspect that most people don’t
spend too much time reading rule books unless they have an innate
tendency to be barrack room lawyers. Most people aspire to read works
which have a narrative; fiction, biography, travel, history, nature,
adventure, exploration, invention and the like. I would be hard put
to quote offhand which chapter and verse in Genesis tells the story
of Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers when they meet him
in Egypt but I know the story like the back of my hand and I can draw
lessons from it. The Koran offers nothing like this. I wonder, do
muslims meet together to read it daily? Do individual muslims read it
regularly? How can a set of rules be inspirational? I am inspired by
the stories of the people in the Bible. Ruth’s loyalty to her
mother in law, David’s friendship with Jonothan, Peter’s
impetuosity and restoration, Paul’s conversion and adventures to
quote just a few. I’m inspired by the poetry of the Psalms but
sadly there isn’t one piece of poetry anywhere in the Koran.
Following
on from this my next question is how do muslim women see themselves?
The Koran came about a couple of hundred years after the canon of the
Bible was finalised and clearly the writer(s) knew something of the
canon because they make references to some parts of the Bible.
Because of the narrative genre of parts of the Bible many theologians
have realised that the Bible honours and exalts womanhood beyond and
above most of the surrounding cultures. By comparison to this there is a
strand of the Koran which is both an explicit and sometimes thinly
veiled attempt to create male dominance. Therefore I have to ask, how
do muslim women see themselves? I see news reports of muslim women
seeking political office, career advancement and they are clearly
quite vocal about many things, yet it seems to me that there is an
element of female subservience present in the Koran.
I
wonder when I hear that many muslim children are raised to learn the
Koran off by heart. I would never say this is impossible but given
the type of literature the Koran is, I do wonder how plausible this
really is.
My
perception of the practice of Islam is that there is considerable
Koranic illiteracy.
For
instance when we hear about atrocities done in the name of Islam they
are clearly carried out by those who are unaware of this text found
on page 21 of my edition in the sura titled The Cow, “Fight in
God’s good cause against those who fight you, but do not overstep
the limits ….”. While this gives permission for vigorous violence
it also suggests limits, although these are undefined.
Another
instance of this is on page 29 of The Cow, “There is no compulsion
in religion ...”, yet we hear of extremists such as daesh beheading
those who will not convert to Islam.
Having said all this, I appreciate and affirm that there are many Muslims who are peace loving and have even read reports of Muslims defending Christians in places like Egypt.
Having said all this, I appreciate and affirm that there are many Muslims who are peace loving and have even read reports of Muslims defending Christians in places like Egypt.
I've been intending to post this for some time and may add to it later.