Since other bloggers have been sharing their thoughts on the Qur’an for the Let’s Read the Quran initiative started by Marina Mahathir and a few others, I suppose I should get off my proverbial butt and actually write something about it. So here goes…
My experience with the Qur’an has been quite different from that of the average Malaysian Muslim, because I am a convert – or, as many Muslims prefer to say, a revert.
The Qur’an wasn’t the first book I read about Islam, nor would it be the one which really drew me to the faith in those early days. However, years of searching and examinations of various belief systems led me in a roundabout way to become interested in Islam; when one develops such an interest, it seems only natural that one would go straight to the source. So I bought an English translation of the Qur’an from the used bookstore near my place and dove in.
I think my initial reaction to the Qur’an was probably similar to that of many non-Muslims who read it, regardless of their motives. To me it seemed like nothing more than one long scolding by a selfish God. It seemed to have a very negative tone throughout; worse, there were several verses which made me doubt whether it could really be the word of the one true God.
It would have been easy at that time to just think Okay, NEXT. But despite my initial misgivings, I remained interested in Islam for various reasons and continued to read as much as I could about the religion. It didn’t take long to realize that I’d had such a negative reaction to the book because I lacked a sufficient basic understanding of the context in which each verse was revealed. I came to the conclusion that one should not dive into the Qur’an without first reading about the history of Islam and the life of Muhammad. Once the verses are placed in their proper contexts, it’s an entirely different book.
It seems to me that those who point out the violence and hatred they see in the Qur’an simply never ventured beyond that initial, superficial reading. There are many people out there who use verses from the Qur’an in their mission to prove that Islam is a violent, backwards, hateful religion. Such people are really no better – in their understanding of the religion and in their motives – than the extremist minority among Muslims whose ideas, words and actions are poorly informed by a literal reading of the Qur’an.
The verses of the Qur’an won over the hearts of Arabs and surpassed, to them, any Arabic poetry they had ever known. But for me, and surely many others, the process was more of a gradual warming-up largely because the Qur’an, while certainly a book for all times, was addressed to people who lived in a particular place at a particular time. The verses came out of Muhammad’s mouth in a language his people would understand; here I refer not only to the basic fact that he spoke in Arabic, but the general tone of the verses, the imagery used, etc. Their world was very different from mine. The book didn’t speak to me the way it had spoken to them. To know what it’s really saying takes a bit of work.
But there is another major hurdle placed before many people interested in the Qur’an, even if they learn as much as they can about Islam; again, it involves the fact that the book was revealed in a language specific to a particular culture. Reading the Qur’an in translation is usually the only option available to converts and potential converts at first. One can definitely get a good sense of what the book is saying through a translation, but the fact remains that in order to truly understand the text one must attain an understanding of the language.
That’s a tough one. I remember one evening, watching the woman who would later become my wife praying. Afterwards I asked her what the verses she had been reciting meant. She didn’t know. She could recite them well, but had simply memorized them. In fact, most of the Malaysian Muslims I knew would tell me the same thing. Some of them could recite the Qur’an beautifully, but they had no idea what they were saying, sometimes (often, in fact) not even a basic idea what the verse in question was about.
The experience of the average Malaysian, in my view anyway, is exactly opposite to my own. Malaysian Muslims grow up learning how to read and recite the verses of the Qur’an, know all of the things they can and cannot do, and are quite well-versed in matters of worship – down to the little technical details – but they generally don’t know what it all means. Basically, they’ve been conditioned to accept what they’re taught without asking why it is so (or even whether it is correct in the first place).
In a way, approaching Islam and its texts from a Western perspective was a good thing for me. Asking questions – about life, the world, God and myself – was what led me to Islam in the first place. My readings, including my readings of the Qur’an, have all been about wanting to know why, to dig deeper, to uncover something. Had I been someone who accepted everything I was taught, I’d be a devout member of the United Church of Canada now.
However, there is something to be said for the Malaysian Muslim experience. I would regard the average Malaysian Muslim’s knowledge of their religion as incomplete because they can merely read and recite the words without understanding a lot about their religion, but in the average Malaysian Muslim’s eyes perhaps I would be the disadvantaged one when it comes to Islam, not them. After all, it’s still all Greek to me. I can talk about the meaning of this verse and that verse all I want, but being a relative newcomer to the faith means I lack what most people here would deem to be basic, essential knowledge. Getting it will take a lot of time and effort. Right now, thanks to some good books (and a very patient, supportive wife), I’m in the embryonic stages of attaining something like a good basic knowledge of the language. I’ve got a long way to go.
I suppose we each have our own path to the place we want to go. And getting there, as someone once said, is half the fun.
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9 Comments
i like this jordan
Lovely, Jordan. May I link to it when I update our campaign?
I would like to give a shout out to my regularly visited website;
http://christianforums.com/
Don’t let the name put any of you non xtians off.
I usually hang out in the Non-Christian Religion section.
You’ll find plenty of xtians, Muslims and atheists & agnostics. Not to mention a few Jews, Hindus, Buddists, Hindus & even Wiccans & pagans.
It’s moderated, so there’s no spam & profanities.
It’s pretty lively and heated in there, so come & visit!
As a Malaysian born muslim, I too struggle with understanding the context of various verses in the Qur’an. Eventually I realize what faith means. It takes faith to accept and to trust the Creator. Understanding and truth will reveal itself, whatever it is . The key is to have an open mind and let life lessons and the Creator teach you in those “teachable moments”, understanding than will come naturally. It will take some time but that is what life is all about.
Aslm’kum,
Jordan,I would very much like to know what you mean by “essential knowledge” in your last but one para.It sounds important.I dare not guess what it means as I’m pretty sure it will not be what you mean.
I agree with you… each one of us have our own special journey…indeed even our professed destination is not neccessarily the same.Regardless,to me the key to reaching our personal destination is to be completely sincere and ‘yakin’(can’t seem to find an appropriate English translation)that Allah loves us and will guide us even if along the way we commit mistakes as He forgives again and again.
Perhaps the Malay word used verifies your observation. Rightfully, we are supposed to ‘mengkaji’ (recite and research); instead of merely ‘mengaji’ (recite).
Growing up as Malay Muslim, mengaji is the word used and you are expected to learn the tajwid and the lagu (melodious way of reading the Quran text). The KBSM (new high-school curriculum) syllabus does teach translation/tafsir, but perhaps it is not strong enough without the teaching of Arabic at schools.
It is no wonder, the nation has produced lots of winners at the Tilawah Al-Quran from year to year.
It is a good idea to learn Arabic and Tafsir so you can understand word by word translation; whole verse meaning and context, and importantly the history/reason behind every verses.
I like the phrase “I have a long journey to go” as it applies to everyone seeking to reach the “Peacefulness of life” and that is what I understand about the words of the Quran in Chapter 3 Verse 19 (if and when these words are translated correctly).
Like most Malays I was born a Muslim deeply ingrained with a religious belief and rituals without understanding a single word of the Quran except reciting them in Arabic. Although I should have admitted I was stupid to believe a book I did not understand but my natural instinct tells me there is something in the book that makes it very special.
I had my first translation when I was 30 and I gave up reading it on the second day because it was too difficult for me to even understand the first 40 verses. It was only 8 years later when I decided to try reading it again and this time the message was crystal clear and my perception about my belief started to change as soon as I used the Quran as the “Criterion” or a benchmark to measure the distinction between “Truth” and “Falsehood” as espoused in Chapter 2 Verse 185.
I will not reveal what are the changes I made in my personal belief about God because it will offend the rest of the Muslims who do not understand what the message of the Quran is about. One thing for sure when God created the humans He expects them to be free from any form of “Mental Bondage” especially in His Name. The Quran gave me that freedom and a big victory for me in subscribing to “The way of life of Peacefulness” as ordained by Him in the Quran.
My experience teaches me those who are sincere about taking the “long journey” to find the “path of God” - they will definately find it. According to the Quran God will auger us to the directions we choose - be it bad or good and He knows what is in our hearts.
Salam Jordan,
I don’t really know whether you are really the ‘disadvantaged’ one compared to born Muslims such as myself. Being born Muslim is nothing if one does not practise Islam..and worse still if one does not understand Islam.
Many Muslims practise Islam..solat, fasting, etc etc without ever understanding why they do it because many of us have been taught not to question the religion. But somewhere along my life, I started asking a lot of questions and that questioning nature has Alhamdulillah led me to many answers which had strengthened my faith.
It’s great to ask questions..as long as you ask them to the right people who know enough to give you the right answers..
Nice post, this…
Hi
Good Day to you! A bit on me. I’m a green-on, interested to be a Muslim but at crossroads on obtaining information on the religion. Wonder if you could assist in listing down book titles for my reference. I had tried asking around my Muslim colleagues but very often given a blunt answer, read the Koran of which I can’t as it is in Arabic. To add, I too have had answers like, for a man it would be difficult to convert as and marry a Muslimah as I am not fit to guide her and stuff.
Hope to hear from you. Thank you!