As with other sacred texts, one of the most important subjects regarding the Qur'an concerns its interpretation or tafsir. As a matter of fact, its language and communicative style require interpretation even for legalistic verses. The fact that the Qur'an is the absolute authority for the Islamic faith increases the importance of its interpretation. Beginning from the early centuries, Muslims developed interpretation methods such as recording the circumstances or historical context of the revelation-known as asbab al-nuzul. Whereas for early scholars, the asbab al-nuzul comprised the most important exegesis of the text-critical explanation or interpretation, later scholars attempted to interpret each verse of the Qur'an by collecting what the Prophet, his companions, and the former scholars had said about each verse. This technique is known as tafsir bi al-riwaya. And finally, Qur'anic scholars began to use their own opinions and the philosophical ideas of their times in interpretation (tafsir bi al-diraya).

To grasp one of the major Qur'anic themes, I will attempt to analyze the beginning of the chapter, Al-Baqara (The Cow). I propose that the major purpose of the Qur'an is to draw the picture of the ideal person by proclaiming (a) what he/she needs to believe (b) how he/she should perform worship and (c) how he/she needs to act within a society. This ideal person is a "muttaqi"-a true believer (muttaqin is the plural form). By describing the ideal person, the first five verses of the Al-Baqara chapter best summarize the whole content of the Qur'an. This passage tells us what kind of society the Qur'an intends to establish by listing the important characteristics of individuals within an ideal society. These are the first five verses:

"Alif, lam, mim. This is the Book. There is no doubt in it. It is a guide to the muttaqin. Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend of that We have bestowed upon them. And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and are certain of the hereafter. These are on guidance from their Lord and these are the successful." 2:1-5

The chapter begins with the mysterious Arabic letters called al-huruf al-muqatta'a (isolated letters). Scholars have suggested many theories to explain such isolated letters which occur 29 times in the Qur'an. For our purposes here, it is sufficient to mention that chapters that being with al-huruf al-muqatta'a usually are followed by the verses about the Qur'an itself. 

Taqwa, according to the Qur'an and the related traditions, includes all good religious and moral qualities. If one asks "Who is the muttaqi according to the Qur'an?" the correct answer, regarding its overall exposition, would be the following: "The muttaqi is the ideal believer who has all inward and outward qualities celebrated by religion and lives a perfect godly life." Moreover, the first verses of Al-Baqara summarize all the characteristics of the muttaqin under the three titles: 

The third verse discusses the attributes of the muttaqin. Three different attributes can be easily noticed in the verse: 

In brief, the verse denotes the most perfect forms of the three categories-belief, worship, and social responsibilities. For example, belief in ghayb includes all the Islamic faith principles including the belief in God, his messengers, angels, revelations, the hereafter, and the divine decree. Meaning "certain faith," the notion "iqan" employed in the following verse, on the other hand, marks the highest level of belief. The preference of the word iqama of the prayer which means establishing the prayer "in conformity with its conditions" instead of the verb "salla" that has a simpler sense, points out the most perfect way in praying. In addition, the prayer, the most important and the most frequent form of worship in Islam, can be considered here as the representative of all the Islamic worships because those who are steadfast (iqama) in the daily prayers would be the ones who perfectly perform the other Islamic duties. The last part of the verse is even more interesting (They spend out of what We have given them as rizq). Many other Qur'anic verses use the expression "alms giving"-zakat. Instead, the word used here is more comprehensive- rizq or blessings from God. Rizq is not limited to zakat or sadaqa (obligatory and voluntary charity), but includes everything given to humans in this world such as wealth, knowledge, time, and power. Thus, the verse seems to call God's servants to share everything they possess with other people in the society in order to be counted among the muttaqin. The verse reminds Muslims of their social responsibilities which extends beyond their personal relationship with God. In summary, verse three provide us the picture of an ideal member of the Muslim society: he/she holds the highest rank in God's sight by having the strongest faith, perfectly performing worship, and carrying out social responsibilities.

This verse is so comprehensive that much of Islamic scholarship revolves around these three subjects-faith, worship, and social responsibilities. These subjects constitute the major Islamic disciplines: 

The wisdom of dealing with the three subjects under discussion separately seems crucial because to confuse them with each other has caused serious problems in the history of Islam. First of all, since one's faith cannot be known with certainty other than by God, no one has the right to denounce the faithfulness of a people or any individual unless they, themselves declare their disbelief. Not distinguishing faith from actions, some marginal groups, unlike the majority, tend to charge people with infidelity examining their actions. Secondly, it is important to distinguish between personal responsibilities in front of God (worship) and social responsibilities within a society. The former is between God and a person and affects each individual's afterlife, whereas the latter makes a person responsible before the society. In this sense, only the state has the rightful authority to punish violators of the rules related to social duties. Likewise, declaration of war for a purpose, as Muslim scholars have emphasized, is the exclusive authority of the state. Therefore, individuals or groups cannot start war nor kill people based on their own decisions or their own understandings.

When we consider this exposition of the first five verses of Al-Baqara, we can conclude that all the subjects of the Qur'an can be construed in the following three: faith, worship and social responsibility. Therefore, the main purpose of the Qur'an is to inform Muslims about these subjects. It is imperative not to confuse these three with each other. It is also important to remember that the muttaqi is the person who has all of them at the highest level.

Source: Fountain Magazine - Halim Calis

References
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