The Qurʾān in the Service of Contemporary Islamic Aspirations_2006 (original) (raw)

The use of sacred script for polemic purposes is a method as ancient as the script itself. Biblical citations, which are used as a vehicle to support an ideology at stake, can be traced easily in various texts throughout history. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam, from its earliest days, has integrated Qurʾānic verses into its writings, gradually turning the technique into a major form of expression. In the last few years, however, we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of Qurʾānic verses that are used as a source for the justification or sanction of specific current events. We often encounter citations of the divine word that are not limited to sacred texts or religious items, but are rather interwoven into the rhetoric of central figures and communicated through the general media. The present chapter is necessarily a preliminary study of this emerging and changing phenomenon. Islam regards the Qurʾān as the word of God that was gradually revealed to Muḥammad to answer the needs and changing circumstances of the developing nascent community. Although prophecy ended with Muḥammad's death, the idea of a perfect compatibility between the revelation and current events did not stop in the first/seventh century. Instead it expanded to the next generations and became a central part of the Qurʾānic sciences (ʿulūm al-Qurʾān), known as the " occasions of revelation " (asbāb al-nuzūl). This flexibility was facilitated by the general, sometimes vague, nature of the Qurʾānic text. Most Qurʾānic verses are phrased in a style that avoids specific details, and consequently can be understood to have more than one meaning within more than one context. Islamic scholars, therefore, could use these verses as recourse for instruction, whenever and wherever needed, thus taking these verses beyond the scope of the time in which they were revealed. This special Qurʾānic style underlies a major part of the Islamic dogma that deals with the miraculous nature of the Qurʾān (iʿjāz). The latter views the Qurʾān as a divine revelation that cannot be imitated by mortals, as an eternal and universal truth that can be adapted to changing circumstances, and as assistance and guidance that may be applied to any situation at any given time or place. The act of identifying a part of the Qurʾānic truth with a specific experience has always been accepted as an ultimate authorization. In other words, the ability to interpret a verse in a way that was relevant to a debatable issue always reinforced the confidence in the decisions taken.