Quran & History

Quran & History
(Excerpted from Islam and Cultural Issues by Ebrahim Moosa)

One school of thought promises to reconnect contemporary Muslim society with its glorious past believes that this can only be possible if our understanding and cultural accretions, minus all past interpretations and elaborations. The credo of this group is to return to the Qur’an as well as the authentic prophetic tradition, which together will suffice for the recovery of a “true” Islam. This approach is devoid of history and culture, or rather has its own narrow view of both. This view fails to recognize that if anything, Islam as a religious tradition forcefully expresses itself within the womb of history. One of the things that Muslims have rarely done is disown history and the intellectual tradition that we call Islam does not make sense without a good dose of history.

In the very first revelation, Muslims are told to observe and understand the universe around them. The first message that the Prophet Muhammad (as) receives is the word iqra’, “Recite,” and Muhammad (as) asks the angel, “What must I recite?” to which the angel responds again with “Recite.” One interpretation of “recite” is that Muhammad must tell and retell the story of humanity. He must re-examine life around him and describe it with a particular urgency in his voice for the renewal of humanity. Gabriel tells all Muslims to “recite” the story, not as a series of random arbitrary events, but as a search to understand the ultimate meaning found in the narrative that was unfolding around the Prophet and his community in the 7^th century Arabian Peninsula. God, who is the Creator and who created the world, wants everyone to retell, “Recite,” the story. From the beginning of the first announcement, or revelation as Muslims understand it, there is a requirement to tell and retell the story within context of history.

In the opening verses of the Qur’an, and specifically in the first words that the Prophet Muhammad received, he was not only instructed to “recite” in the name of his Lord who created everything and who created all human beings from a lump of congealed blood, but he was also reminded that this was the God of knowledge and history speaking to them. Muhammad (as) reminded us that the God that spoke to him is the God of history; He teaches and speaks to humanity within the rhythms of human history, not outside. History is an important part of the knowledge of the Muslim revelation. For that reason the calls of those who urge us to disown history sound discordant to the ears of informed Muslims.

From the very beginning, Islam has been woven into Arabic culture. Within the context of this culture and language, the practice of Islam drew on the practices and language, the practice of Islam drew on the practices prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula and especially from the cities of Mecca and Medina. The peninsula, Arabic language, and Arab practices became the focus and a part of the founding experience of the first as well as subsequent Muslim communities. This experience offers incontrovertible proof and evidence that Islam and culture are inextricably intertwined. Muhammad’s (as) message was contained within the Arabic culture and did not advocate dissolving that culture. So, for example, if Islam were revealed in North America, it would take shape within the forms of North American culture, and if it were revealed in Africa, it would take the form of African culture.

(Excerpted from Islam and Cultural Issues by Ebrahim Moosa)