The Need for Interpretation of the Qur'an - 2

16:27 - 2024/06/20

Why does the Qur'an, which is the book of guidance, need interpretation?!

The Qur'an's need for interpretation does not contradict its ability to be understood by the public and its guidance.

Quran, the book of guidance

The need for interpretation of the Quran

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It is for this reason that the Holy Qur'an orders all people to think carefully about this divine book and reprimands them for negligence in this matter. The Holy Quran says about this:

 “Do they not contemplate the Quran? Had it been from [someone] other than Allah, they would have surely found much discrepancy in it”.[1]

 If the Quran was not understandable for people, it would not make sense for God to ​blame them for not thinking about it. Because they can say in God's answer: How can we think about it when we don't understand it?

So far, it has been found that the basic understanding of the Qur'anic verses for the general public does not need interpretation. But there are aspects that make the Qur'an need to be interpreted in stages after its initial understanding. Those funds are as follows:

1. The audience of the Qur'an is not a person and a specific spectrum that are at the same level of knowledge and understanding.

2. The contents mentioned in this divine book are not all at the same level.

3. There are many layers of meaning in this heavenly book, which is known as the miracle of Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him). In such a way that according to some narrations of the Qur'an, it have seventy ventricle.[2]

4. God has revealed the Qur'an in such a way that the audience needs to refer to the family of revelation (Ahl al-Bayt) to understand some deep meanings, branches of belief, details of rulings, its conflicting meanings, etc. Because the Qur'an and Etrat (Ahl al-Bayt) are next to each other and complement each other.

5. It has not been possible to deal with all the details related to all the topics mentioned in the Qur'an. Otherwise the Qur'an should have been dozens of volumes, not one volume.

These and similar reasons have led to the existence of interpretations around the Qur'an that make it more accessible to the audiences who are thirsty for its knowledge in the layers after its initial understanding. With these explanations, it became clear that the Qur'an's need for interpretation does not conflict with its being a book of guidance and its comprehensibility for the public.[3]

 

[1] Quran [4–82] أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ ۚ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا

[2] Jawaharl al-Kalam, vol. 9, p. 295.

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