Ideas Inspired by the Qur'ān - Mont Redmond complete version
Mont Redmond2023, Ideas Inspired by the Qur'ān
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Abstract
The Qur'an is a dhikr - a reminder of our own true Mind and Minder. GOD is telling us, in a voice that we can almost remember from our primal past, that He loved us before He made us, that we belong to Him as surely as our thoughts belong to us, and that we know GOD better than we know ourselves.
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Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, Part 1
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, 2023
“We know GOD better than we know ourselves.” This is the first sentence of the book – a statement that poses a challenge to three types of readers. Muslim and Non-Muslim readers with an interest in philosophy may be surprised to learn how the Qur’ān can illuminate the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, the limits of science and religion, and the nature of reality. Where do the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Ghazzālī, Vico, Mill, and Spengler fit within the frame of Qur’ānic metaphysics? How were the modern demand to ‘see’ God and the persistent elevation of facts over values both anticipated and dismissed as moral and intellectual failures in the Qur’ān? Many Muslim readers will be nonplussed to learn how little of the Qur’ān they have digested fresh from its Source. As Islamic society faces accelerating cultural collapse, cognitive dissonance, and loss of self-confidence, where in the Qur’ān can they find the inspiration and courage to keep up the struggle? What are the ideas they need to defend their faith against scientism, secularism, and loss of the Divine? Has God become a distant father-figure for them, or is He still the heartfelt Reality of their lives? Most importantly, the Qur’ān challenges you. You may consider yourself free of all categories, but there is no exemption from one reality, namely that “You did not get to choose ‘you.’ But for the grace of GOD, ‘you’ might be someone else.” Whether you call yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a scientist, a believer, a scholar, or just an observer, you need to decide who and where you are vis-à-vis your personal Absolute … be that Truth, Love, Peace, or whatever you hold as your Highest Value. By what we see in ourselves as our ultimate meaning, purpose, or ideal, we are on our way to GOD. With Him in mind (and taken to heart), we need nothing else. And so we read, in closing, a statement that offers a lifetime of deep thoughts and high hopes: “If AL-LĀH is all you have, you have it all.”
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, Part 4
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, 2023
“We know GOD better than we know ourselves.” This is the first sentence of the book – a statement that poses a challenge to three types of readers. Muslim and Non-Muslim readers with an interest in philosophy may be surprised to learn how the Qur’ān can illuminate the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, the limits of science and religion, and the nature of reality. Where do the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Ghazzālī, Vico, Mill, and Spengler fit within the frame of Qur’ānic metaphysics? How were the modern demand to ‘see’ God and the persistent elevation of facts over values both anticipated and dismissed as moral and intellectual failures in the Qur’ān? Many Muslim readers will be nonplussed to learn how little of the Qur’ān they have digested fresh from its Source. As Islamic society faces accelerating cultural collapse, cognitive dissonance, and loss of self-confidence, where in the Qur’ān can they find the inspiration and courage to keep up the struggle? What are the ideas they need to defend their faith against scientism, secularism, and loss of the Divine? Has God become a distant father-figure for them, or is He still the heartfelt Reality of their lives? Most importantly, the Qur’ān challenges you. You may consider yourself free of all categories, but there is no exemption from one reality, namely that “You did not get to choose ‘you.’ But for the grace of GOD, ‘you’ might be someone else.” Whether you call yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a scientist, a believer, a scholar, or just an observer, you need to decide who and where you are vis-à-vis your personal Absolute … be that Truth, Love, Peace, or whatever you hold as your Highest Value. By what we see in ourselves as our ultimate meaning, purpose, or ideal, we are on our way to GOD. With Him in mind (and taken to heart), we need nothing else. And so we read, in closing, a statement that offers a lifetime of deep thoughts and high hopes: “If AL-LĀH is all you have, you have it all.”
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, Part 6
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, 2023
“We know GOD better than we know ourselves.” This is the first sentence of the book – a statement that poses a challenge to three types of readers. Muslim and Non-Muslim readers with an interest in philosophy may be surprised to learn how the Qur’ān can illuminate the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, the limits of science and religion, and the nature of reality. Where do the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Ghazzālī, Vico, Mill, and Spengler fit within the frame of Qur’ānic metaphysics? How were the modern demand to ‘see’ God and the persistent elevation of facts over values both anticipated and dismissed as moral and intellectual failures in the Qur’ān? Many Muslim readers will be nonplussed to learn how little of the Qur’ān they have digested fresh from its Source. As Islamic society faces accelerating cultural collapse, cognitive dissonance, and loss of self-confidence, where in the Qur’ān can they find the inspiration and courage to keep up the struggle? What are the ideas they need to defend their faith against scientism, secularism, and loss of the Divine? Has God become a distant father-figure for them, or is He still the heartfelt Reality of their lives? Most importantly, the Qur’ān challenges you. You may consider yourself free of all categories, but there is no exemption from one reality, namely that “You did not get to choose ‘you.’ But for the grace of GOD, ‘you’ might be someone else.” Whether you call yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a scientist, a believer, a scholar, or just an observer, you need to decide who and where you are vis-à-vis your personal Absolute … be that Truth, Love, Peace, or whatever you hold as your Highest Value. By what we see in ourselves as our ultimate meaning, purpose, or ideal, we are on our way to GOD. With Him in mind (and taken to heart), we need nothing else. And so we read, in closing, a statement that offers a lifetime of deep thoughts and high hopes: “If AL-LĀH is all you have, you have it all.”
Ideas Inspired by the Qur an Part 2
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, 2023
“We know GOD better than we know ourselves.” This is the first sentence of the book – a statement that poses a challenge to three types of readers. Muslim and Non-Muslim readers with an interest in philosophy may be surprised to learn how the Qur’ān can illuminate the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, the limits of science and religion, and the nature of reality. Where do the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Ghazzālī, Vico, Mill, and Spengler fit within the frame of Qur’ānic metaphysics? How were the modern demand to ‘see’ God and the persistent elevation of facts over values both anticipated and dismissed as moral and intellectual failures in the Qur’ān? Many Muslim readers will be nonplussed to learn how little of the Qur’ān they have digested fresh from its Source. As Islamic society faces accelerating cultural collapse, cognitive dissonance, and loss of self-confidence, where in the Qur’ān can they find the inspiration and courage to keep up the struggle? What are the ideas they need to defend their faith against scientism, secularism, and loss of the Divine? Has God become a distant father-figure for them, or is He still the heartfelt Reality of their lives? Most importantly, the Qur’ān challenges you. You may consider yourself free of all categories, but there is no exemption from one reality, namely that “You did not get to choose ‘you.’ But for the grace of GOD, ‘you’ might be someone else.” Whether you call yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a scientist, a believer, a scholar, or just an observer, you need to decide who and where you are vis-à-vis your personal Absolute … be that Truth, Love, Peace, or whatever you hold as your Highest Value. By what we see in ourselves as our ultimate meaning, purpose, or ideal, we are on our way to GOD. With Him in mind (and taken to heart), we need nothing else. And so we read, in closing, a statement that offers a lifetime of deep thoughts and high hopes: “If AL-LĀH is all you have, you have it all.
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, Part 3
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, 2023
“We know GOD better than we know ourselves.” This is the first sentence of the book – a statement that poses a challenge to three types of readers. Muslim and Non-Muslim readers with an interest in philosophy may be surprised to learn how the Qur’ān can illuminate the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, the limits of science and religion, and the nature of reality. Where do the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Ghazzālī, Vico, Mill, and Spengler fit within the frame of Qur’ānic metaphysics? How were the modern demand to ‘see’ God and the persistent elevation of facts over values both anticipated and dismissed as moral and intellectual failures in the Qur’ān? Many Muslim readers will be nonplussed to learn how little of the Qur’ān they have digested fresh from its Source. As Islamic society faces accelerating cultural collapse, cognitive dissonance, and loss of self-confidence, where in the Qur’ān can they find the inspiration and courage to keep up the struggle? What are the ideas they need to defend their faith against scientism, secularism, and loss of the Divine? Has God become a distant father-figure for them, or is He still the heartfelt Reality of their lives? Most importantly, the Qur’ān challenges you. You may consider yourself free of all categories, but there is no exemption from one reality, namely that “You did not get to choose ‘you.’ But for the grace of GOD, ‘you’ might be someone else.” Whether you call yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a scientist, a believer, a scholar, or just an observer, you need to decide who and where you are vis-à-vis your personal Absolute … be that Truth, Love, Peace, or whatever you hold as your Highest Value. By what we see in ourselves as our ultimate meaning, purpose, or ideal, we are on our way to GOD. With Him in mind (and taken to heart), we need nothing else. And so we read, in closing, a statement that offers a lifetime of deep thoughts and high hopes: “If AL-LĀH is all you have, you have it all.”
Let's Examine Our Relationship with the Qur'an
The Qur'an was revealed by Almighty Allah through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to mankind to bring them out of the disorienting and debilitating darkness of falsehood, ignorance and superstitions to the light and radiance of truth, guidance and proper erudition. The Qur'an is the only means available to man by which he can communicate directly with his Creator, Master and Sustainer. No other alternative is left as all the previous Scriptures have been tampered with, corrupted or utterly lost. This indeed is a hallmark of the Islamic message. Man needs no intermediaries of any kind-conceptual or physical-between him and his Master. The whole life affair is solely between man and Allah. Everything and everyone else stands for a secondary thing, playing second fiddle to that overwhelming relationship. Allah is only a Qur'anic verse (ayah), a contemplative thought, or a sincere supplication "away". Man has been created but to worship and serve Allah (al-Dhariyat, 56). However, this by no means implies that man is to engross himself fully and exclusively in sheer religious rituals and spend most of his terrestrial time mainly in mosques or some other religious institutions and establishments. Indeed, such would be impractical, uninspiring and dull an affair. Rather, that means that man in his capacity as Allah's vicegerent on earth is to live his life " to the fullest " but only according to the patterns and paradigms instituted by the Creator. Man is to live his life not according to his own will, but according to the will of the Creator and Cherisher of life. Each and every creation is to submit itself only to its Creator, rather than other creations. So imperfect, faulty and weak is man-and indeed every other creation-that he cannot be qualified for any of the tasks relating to the spiritual and existential lordship and self-sufficiency. That said, Islam is not a religion in the sense Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., are. Islam is a complete way of life. It is a comprehensive lifestyle, culture and civilization. It is a form of total submission to the will, knowledge and guidance of Allah. Islam is not a religion of mere words, slogans, or symbols. It is not a religion of an abstract philosophy, or a set of pure religious rituals. Islam knows no distinction between the spiritual and material spheres of existence along the ideological and ontological lines. To assert something like that is to distort the Islamic message and to live in the wrong. Due to the unity and oneness of Allah (tawhid), Islam likewise propagates the unity and oneness of truth and of the meaning, purpose and providence of life and man. Islam is a religion of sincere faith (iman), actions and deeds ('amal salih). It is a religion of life accomplishments. Islam is life, and life, the way Allah created and predetermined it, echoes the quintessence and ethos of Islam. The word " islam " which denotes a total submission to Allah through one's acts, words and thoughts, clearly attests to it. Hence, there is nothing more thrilling, spellbinding, wholesome and rewarding than living life in the name of and for the Creator of the universe. Submitting fully to and worshipping Allah alone means personal liberation, self-assertion and self-fulfillment in the truest senses of those words.
The Qur'ān
The Islamic World, 2008
That Dr. Andrew Rippin would invite me to co-author an article on the Qur'an for the collection of articles he solicited and edited (Routledge 2008) is a sign of his generosity and ability to work with others from a wide range of personal beliefs. This essay is a bit of a handoff of valuable perspectives on a difficult topic, and has been foundational in my teaching and writing on the Qur'an culminating recently in the publication of my book, The Quran with Christian commentary, amazon.com/dp/0310534720
T. Azmat Quranic Hermeneutic of Irfan A Khan -TA 12-10-2016.pdf
The dissertation explores the Qur’anic hermeneutics of Irfan A. Khan (b. 1931), a significant contemporary scholar of the Qur’an and modern western philosophy. It demonstrates that Khan’s Qur’anic hermeneutic is a paradigm shift as compared to classical Qur’anic hermeneutic and provides a substantive theory and methodology of Qur’anic interpretation. For Khan, Qur’anic God is perpetually active in new creation and new guidance. Since the sum total of all current existences is new creation, therefore it requires fresh guidance. Therefore, Khan considers the Qur’an a primary guide for us, as if it were just revealed. Khan proposes that readers should exert themselves directly to understand the Qur’an with their own mind, developing a personal relationship with it. The readers must keep the Sunnah of the Prophet in front of them. The Prophet and his Companions read the Qur’an in their existing socio-historic situation, purified themselves, and changed their socio-historic reality. The current readers should also follow the Sunnah in this sense. Finally, for guidance Qur’anic God has been systematically guiding humankind through prophets. After the Prophet Muhammad we are in post-prophetic stage. Thus, the Prophetic Movement changed into the Qur’anic Movement. Therefore, the responsibility of interpretation rests squarely upon humankind in the absence of any prophet. philosophically speaking humankind’s understanding is limited by its epistemic system. The lower bound of our epistemic system is apprehending Reality, but we always fail to apprehend it as an organic whole. The upper limit of our epistemic system is what we can think. Understanding happens between these two bounds. When we understand texts we convert textual symbols into images, manipulate the images, and get insights about the world of the text in front of us. However, it is only when we act upon it that we find the truth of our textual insights. Since our epistemic capacities keep on increasing due to advances in science, technology and the arts, it is possible to understand the same text in a deeper way in future. Thus, Qur’anic understanding is a continuous process that requires its new concretization in each historic epoch.
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What the Quran Really Tells About God
World Religion News, 2018
The lead author discusses major points made in their book "Toward A Quranic Understanding of the Divine: Perspectives from Three Thinkers" jointly authored by him, Farouk A Peru, and Siraj Islam. The book starts with a premise that seeking and striving to know the Divine constitutes in itself a spiritual journey for humanity. With our sincere endeavor we can spiritually transform ourselves to be able to have an experience of meeting with God. God as described in the Quran is significantly different from what is believed by traditional Muslims. The book maintains that God is not a creator as literally conceived but One Who is immanent in the universe and in the very evolutionary process that has brought the universe and us into existence. He is one, most powerful, and independent. We're all equal before Him and He alone commands our submission and service. God does not predestine our fate regardless of our effort. He follows, and never violates, His own laws, i.e., the laws of nature. He never behaves capriciously. And He never directly intervenes in our affairs. He possesses numerous attributes that define the way we can evolve and transform ourselves.
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, Part 5
Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an, 2023
“We know GOD better than we know ourselves.” This is the first sentence of the book – a statement that poses a challenge to three types of readers. Muslim and Non-Muslim readers with an interest in philosophy may be surprised to learn how the Qur’ān can illuminate the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, the limits of science and religion, and the nature of reality. Where do the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Ghazzālī, Vico, Mill, and Spengler fit within the frame of Qur’ānic metaphysics? How were the modern demand to ‘see’ God and the persistent elevation of facts over values both anticipated and dismissed as moral and intellectual failures in the Qur’ān? Many Muslim readers will be nonplussed to learn how little of the Qur’ān they have digested fresh from its Source. As Islamic society faces accelerating cultural collapse, cognitive dissonance, and loss of self-confidence, where in the Qur’ān can they find the inspiration and courage to keep up the struggle? What are the ideas they need to defend their faith against scientism, secularism, and loss of the Divine? Has God become a distant father-figure for them, or is He still the heartfelt Reality of their lives? Most importantly, the Qur’ān challenges you. You may consider yourself free of all categories, but there is no exemption from one reality, namely that “You did not get to choose ‘you.’ But for the grace of GOD, ‘you’ might be someone else.” Whether you call yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a scientist, a believer, a scholar, or just an observer, you need to decide who and where you are vis-à-vis your personal Absolute … be that Truth, Love, Peace, or whatever you hold as your Highest Value. By what we see in ourselves as our ultimate meaning, purpose, or ideal, we are on our way to GOD. With Him in mind (and taken to heart), we need nothing else. And so we read, in closing, a statement that offers a lifetime of deep thoughts and high hopes: “If AL-LĀH is all you have, you have it all.”
THE QUR'ĀN AS GOD'S SPEECH
2023
A discussion of the 'uncreatedness' of the Qur'an, showing how the Qur'an itself refutes this notion, and indicating why this cornerstone of Islamic orthodoxy may have been adopted and emphasized so readily by traditional scholars
The Language of God: Understanding the Qur'an
BYU Studies Quarterly, 2001
The Qur'ān. Translated into English
Die Welt des Islams, 2011
This volume, containing the English translation of the text of the Qurʾān, is half of an annotated translation of the sacred scripture of Islam. The second volume, including the bulk of the notes and commentary, has yet to appear. The translator, Alan Jones, recently retired from teaching Arabic at Oxford University, is a specialist in early Arabic and in the literature of Muslim Spain. He is known amongst other things for his publications on pre-Islamic poetry, and his familiarity with the contemporary context of the Qurʾānic revelation informs his translation. The volume has a brief introduction placing the revelation of the Qurʾān in its historical setting, presenting the form, content and style of the text and discussing the issue of evolution of the style. It notes the extreme variation in length of the āyāt, but points out that if "segments of meaning", that is, meaningful phrases which are not necessarily complete sentences, are regarded as the basic units of the text, changes in style are far less pronounced. Accordingly, the translation is printed not as continuous prose but with each segment of meaning on a separate line; in this it follows and takes to its logical conclusion an idea already present (for English translations) in Arberry's The Koran Interpreted. The layout thus mirrors the oral nature of the recitation, where long verses were broken up by pauses between clauses or significant rhetorical features. Each sūra is preceded by an indication of the period or periods (Meccan or Medinan) to which it belongs and sometimes by an outline of the contents or a short explanation of some salient points or difficulties. The translation itself emphasises the oral nature of the revelation by rendering the key injunction "iqraʾ" as "Recite!", rather than "Read!", as some translations do. Similarly, it provides English equivalents of the meanings of words as the earliest Muslims would have known them, not necessarily as they came to be understood later. "Ummīyūn", for instance, is translated "members of the community" (S. 2: 78) with a note giving the alternative "common people" and adding that "illiterate" or "uneducated", as it is normally translated, "cannot have been the original meaning" (p. 33; cf. Sebastian Günther, "Illiteracy", in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, vol. II). Another instance, it seems to me, of this going back to the original sense is the rendering of "Bi-smi llāhi l-raḥmāni l-raḥīm". The most usual version in English is "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" (e.g. Arberry) or a similar expression. This translation, which is perfectly defensible, parallels phrases more familiar to most English speakers, such as "In the name of God, the Father Almighty"; it refers to a God people already know something about. Jones, however, proposes "In the name of the Merciful and Compassionate God", the wording found in Palmer's translation (1880). This can be understood as a proclamation of the one God and an indication of his nature to people used to a number of gods probably endowed with other traits (for other explanations see William Graham, "Basmala", in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, vol. I). So indeed it must have come across to Muḥammad's first hearers.
Sublime Quran Preface Introduction
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Allah: God in the Qur’an, by Gabriel Said Reynolds
Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology
Allah: God in the Qur’an, by Gabriel Said Reynolds. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020. x + 344 pages. $11.70 US. ISBN 978 0300246582
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