Mahal kita

Each time I hear someone ’singing’ the Quran, instinctively I think of this, so I shall express it fully:

Contrary to what some Islamic scholar may say, I think it is imperative to understand the meaning of the Quran, and those who ’sing’ the Quran without doing so are shortchanging themselves and their listeners.

The Quran was transmitted in the language of the people of its time of transmission. I think that is enough to suggest that its meaning should be understood. Even when God instructed people to listen to the Quran when it is being read, there is an implicit condition that the listeners understand what they hear. While some scholar may argue that some or most of the masses at that time were captivated simply because the sound of the Quran, I believe that the Quran was to them as poetry is to us: while we may not fully understand poetry, we may still like the rhymes and structure of poetry and, at a higher level, appreciate the layers of the meaning present due to a clever choice of words. Hence, I believe that indubitably, an element of understanding must be present when one reads the Quran.

The benefits of understanding, I suggest, could be seen in the light of other religions. While Islam, I believe, has the superiority of logic and rationality, I believe that Christianity as it is practised today has some strength in having its believers understand their word of God. I challenge you to ask, not the Arabic-speaking people who would likely understand the Quran, but contrariwise, the people who do not understand Arabic, whether they know how to say “I love God” of “I love my parents” in the language of the Quran: how many, do you estimate, would know? My point is, with the understanding of the language of the Quran, not only can we appreciate the meaning of the words of God, but there can also be expressions of faith and logical discussions on the words of God in attempt to strengthen our faith. I understand that this is being done in smaller circles under guidance of those who understand the Quran, and this is good. However, I do believe it should be extended to a larger circle of people, by emphasising tajwid (reading) with a weight equal to the emphasis on understanding the Quran.

History has also shown the importance of understanding the Quran. It was said that Islam spread like wildfire in the past because its believers lived by their creed. It would be radical to think that simply by reciting the Quran they are suddenly moved to behave well (but this is not impossible with the will of God), but more likely it must have taken careful scrutiny of the meaning of the Quran coupled with an admiration of the ways of Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). What this amounts to is understanding, that is, understanding the message of Islam.

I bring the case for understanding the Quran to its roots, which is, the importance of understanding what one hears. Is it not only human to do that? In the course of human history, words have been and still are the vehicles of thought. From words meanings come, and from meanings comes understanding. When the first words of God came to Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) in the form of Iqra’ (Read!), Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) did not know how to read, but at least he understood the instruction, which was asking him to read. From reading words, we identify meaning in order to achieve understanding.

As a side discussion, there is a group of people who advocate memorising the Quran at a young age, but what gives? We could imagine the enormous potential only if the common people can understand the meaning of the Quran and go into logical discussion of its interpretation, not when youths who memorise the Quran enter competitions to flaunt sheer memory power. The ultimate, noble aim remains to be understanding.

Before ending my discussion, I think it is worth mentioning that I am not against the recitation of the Quran (something which I admit to doing not very often) but I think we should not lose sight of the larger goal. After all, to recite is better than not to recite at all. But far too often, I see people merely ’singing’ the Quran i.e. with gusto on the sound by means of extended pronunciations, ’screaming’ etc. but without understanding. This is a situation I feel sad for and do not believe in.

Ramadhan Mubarak.