Interpretation of the Quran

 

His Eminence, the Religious Authority Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah answered a few questions about: the Interpretation of the Quran, whether it is a divine or human.

An independent reading of the [Quranic] text

Q: Who are entitled to re-authenticate and develop the Ijtihad? Is it only the job of the religious scholars, or can the intellectually different secularists do that too…knowing that some of them have tried to reread the Quranic text; however, their attempts were forcefully confronted, as in the case of Dr. Nasr Hamed Abi Zaid and Dr. Muhammad Chahrour?

When the Quran was revealed, it reached out to all the people, meaning that it addressed every thought and opened up to all levels of awareness. Allah says: "Do they not then reflect on the Quran? Nay, on the hearts there are locks." (47:24), and: "Do they not then meditate on the Quran? And if it were from any other than Allah, they would have found in it many a discrepancy." (04:82). We deduce from these two verses that people are obliged to read the Quran and it is their right to understand it, reflect on it, and study the denotations and connotations of the words that formed it. The people who abide by the text or are addressed by it, whether the text was cultural or divine, ought to understand it and inquire about it. When the atheists raised certain questions about some issues related to belief and society, the Quran used to answer them through the Prophet. Moreover, people were free to ask the Prophet (p.) what they want, since the Quran did not prevent anyone from inquiring about what came in the Islamic legislation, but rather tried to explain it for them.

Based on this, we believe that every educated person who is well-acquainted with the basic sources of the religious knowledge and who is well-versed in the Arabic language, as well as the entire aspects of the religious knowledge… has the right to interpret the Quran in accordance with his culture, whether he was a Muslim or a non-Muslim, a man of religion or a secularist, because there is no clergy in Islam and the Quran was revealed to all the people. Moreover, the Quran is a Divine text; however, its interpretation is a human act, except if it was the Prophet (p.)'s interpretation or that of whom we believe are infallible. Actually, the Prophet (p.)'s role was not to recite the Quran, but rather to educate people on it, by education we mean explaining the idea and the meaning and not restricting it to the words.

This is what I discussed with Dr. Nasr Hamed Abi Zaid when he paid me a visit. I told him that he was not accurate when he considered the Prophet's interpretation to be a human act, because his role was to educate people on it and teach them. Therefore, the Prophet (p.) interprets what the Quran did not elaborate on, as well as the points that were not clear, so his (p.) interpretation was Divine, as much as his recitation was Divine. As for the interpretation of the infallible, it is natural that it can be criticized and subjected to the criteria of right and wrong.

We say that the human Quranic interpretation can be subjected to criticism, debate, and meditation. Therefore, we consider that the Quranic interpretations of the religious scholars do not represent the ultimate truth, for they might misinterpret the text, since interpretation is subjected to the cultural aspect of the interpreter's mentality that is affected by the environment in which he lived.

As for the way with which those who interpreted the Quran were confronted, we declare that we disapprove of the violent reactions of several religious scholars, who are required, based on their cultural and scientific position, to discuss the idea, just like I did when Dr. Nasr Hamed Abi Zaid. We sat down and discussed the idea scientifically, and he was positively interacting.    

Q: What if the religious institution considered the interpretation of the secularists to be crossing the line?

The Quran is a Divine text, and it is Allah's revelation, but at the same time, it is a cultural text that was revealed in Arabic, meaning that it conforms to the Arabic language in the way that words convey specific meanings.

In Islam, there is no religious institution, but rather religiously educated people i.e. there is no closed institution whose views represent the ultimate truth. Actually, the religious institutions, such as the scientific religious schools (Hawzas), are schools dedicated to teach religion according to the Quran and the Sunnah and the deductions of the jurisprudents at the level of the jurisprudent and theological rules. Therefore, the opinions of any scientific school, whether it was religious or not, are subjected to the criteria of right and wrong, thus, it is natural that they can be subjected to criticism. This is what we have noticed in the history of the so-called "religious institution", for we can see that the scholars, whether Sunnis or Shiites, are carrying out discussions among each other.

Thus, we find that there are several Quranic interpretations done by Sunni and Shiite religious scholars. Moreover, various religious scholars consider that a number of traditions (Hadiths) and stories is fabricated and is not compatible to what is understood from the Quranic text. This is because many have fabricated the traditions that support their different sectarian commitments. Therefore, we say that the interpretation, which is based on the fabricated traditions (Hadiths) of few Sunnis and Shiites, is questionable and cannot be fully trusted, because it does not conform to the Quranic atmosphere and conceptualization.