Quran Philosophy

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Chapter 7

Philosophical Teachings of the Quran

Philosophical Teachings of the Quran by M.M Sharif

The Qur'an - Although the Scriptures revealed to the earlier

prophets, especially those of the Christians and the e!s, are

regarded by the Musli"s as holy, yet the #oo$ %al-Qur&an'revealed to the last Prophet, Muha""ad, is their chief

sacred #oo$. The doctrine propounded by the Qur&an is nota ne! doctrine, for it is si"ilar to the Scriptures of theearlier apostles.()*+t lays do!n the sa"e !ay of faith as

!as enoined on oah and Abraha". (*+t confir"s in the

Arabic tongue !hat !ent before it, the #oo$ of Moses andthe /ospel of esus-in being a guide to "an$ind,

ad"onishing the unust and giving glad tidings to the

righteous. (0*/od never abrogates or causes to be forgotten

any of 1is revelations, but according to the needs ande2igencies of the ti"es, 1e confir"s the" or substitutes for

the" so"ething si"ilar or better. (3*

The Qur&an is a boo$ essentially religious, not philosophical,but it deals !ith all those proble"s !hich religion and

philosophy have in co""on. #oth have to say so"ething

about proble"s related to the significance of such e2-pressions as /od, the !orld, the individual soul, and the

inter-relations of these4 good and evil, free-!ill, and life

after death. 5hile dealing !ith these proble"s it also

thro!s light on such conceptions as appearance and reality,

e2istence and attributes, hu"an origin and destiny, truth anderror, space and ti"e, per"anence and change, eternity and

i""ortality. The Qur&an clai"s to give an e2position ofuniversal truths !ith regard to these proble"s an e2position

couched in a language %and a ter"inology' !hich the people

i""ediately addressed, the Arabs, !ith the intellectualbac$ground they had at the ti"e of its revelation, could

easily understand, and !hich the people of other lands, and


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other ti"es, spea$ing other languages, !ith their o!n intel-

lectual bac$ground could easily interpret. +t "a$es free use

of si"ilitude to give a !or$able idea of !hat isinco"prehensible in its essence. +t is a boo$ of !isdo", (6*

parts of !hich relate to its basic principles, %umm al-kitab'and e2plain and illustrate the" in detail, others relate to"atters e2plained allegorically. +t !ould be a folly to ignore

the funda"entals and !rangle about the allegorical, for

none $no!s their hidden "eanings, e2cept /od.(7*+n !hat

follo!s, a brief account is given of the Qur&anic teaching!ith regard to the religio-philosophical proble"s "entioned

above.

Ultimate Beauty: God and His Attributes - The Ultimate#eing or 8eality is /od. (9*/od, as described by the Qur&an

for the understanding of "an, is the sole self-subsisting,

all-pervading, eternal, and Absolute 8eality. (:*1e is thefirst and the last, the seen and the unseen.(;*1e is

transcendent in the sense that 1e in 1is full glory cannot be

$no!n or e2perienced by us finite beings-beings that can

$no! only !hat can be e2perienced through the senses orother!ise and !hat is inherent in the nature of thought or is

i"plied by it. o vision can grasp 1i". 1e is above all

co"prehension.()is the light of the heavens and the

earth. The parable of 1is light is as if there !ere a niche and

!ithin it a la"p, the la"p enclosed in glass4 the glass as if it

!ere a brilliant star lit fro" a blessed tree, an olive, neitherof the east nor of the !est, !hose oil is !ell-nigh lu"inous,

though fire scarce touched it? light upon light @> ()*.i$e!ise for our understanding, 1e describes throughrevelation 1is attributes by si"ilitude fro" !hat is loftiest

in the heavens and the earth ()0*and in our o!n e2perience

()3*%our highest ideals'. This 1e does in a language and anidio" !hich the people addressed to "ay easily understand.

()6*These attributes are "any and are connoted by 1is

na"es, ()7*but they can all be su""ariBed under a fe!


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essential heads? ife, ()9*ternity, ():*Dnity, ();*Po!er,

(


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up are nothing but na"es of conectures and !hat their o!n

souls desire.(0;*They do blasphe"e !ho say, >/od is

Christ the son of Mary>4 for said Christ, >= children of+srael, !orship /od "y ord and your ord.> (3


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Supre"e, the ord of the da!n(7;*and all the !ays of

ascent. (9


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ordains la!s and grants guidance,()


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punishes !ith e2e"plary punish"ent. ();*1e co""ands

people to be ust ()0


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is also used to signify beauty. /od is the beauty %nur' of the

heavens and the earth ()39*and 1is na"es %attributes' are

also "ost beautiful %asma al-husna'. ()3:*1e is the creatorpossessed of the highest e2cellence.()3;*1e creates all

for"s and evolves the" stage by stage %al-barial-musair'. ()6


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suppliant !hen he calls on 1i". (


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observation, and %iii' the errors of intuition.

The first type of $no!ledge depends either on the truth ofits presupposition as in deduction, or it is only probable asin induction. There is greater certitude about our $no!ledge

based on actual e2perience %observation or e2peri"ent' of

pheno"ena.

The second type of $no!ledge is either scientific

$no!ledge based on e2perience %observation and

e2peri"ent' or historical $no!ledge based on reports and

descriptions of actual e2periences. ot all reports aretrust!orthy. Therefore, special attention should be paid to

the character of the reporter. +f he is a "an of shady

character, his report should be carefully chec$ed. ():*

Scientific $no!ledge co"es fro" the study of natural

pheno"ena. These natural pheno"ena are the signs of /od

();*sy"bols of the Dlti"ate 8eality or e2pressions of theTruth, as hu"an behaviour is the e2pression of the hu"an

"ind. atural la!s are the set !ays of /od in !hich there isno change. (


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o less i"portant for individuals and nations is the study of

history. There is a "easure and la! in hu"an society as

"uch as in the !hole cos"os. (;*The life of every nationas a collective body "oves in ti"e and passes through rises

and falls, successes and reverses, (0


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So "uch i"portance has been given to history that fifteen

chapters of the Qur&an have been given the titles bearing

historical significance. (9


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it !ith !hat is best %ahsan'.(:7* 1ence if a "an chooses

to do good, it is because in giving hi" these benefits /od

has !illed hi" to do so. 1e never changes the graciousbenefits !hich 1e has besto!ed on a people until they

change the"selves.(:9*Therefore, !hatever good co"efro" "an or to "an is ulti"ately fro" /od. (::*=n theother hand, his nature has a bias against evil, his reason is

opposed to it, and he has been given a !arning against it

through the revealed boo$s4 therefore, !hatever evil co"es

fro" hi" or to hi" is fro" his o!n soul. (:;*+f /od had!illed 1e !ould have destroyed evil or !ould not have

allo!ed it to e2ist, and if it !ere 1is !ill, the !hole of

"an$ind !ould have had faith, but that is not 1is planF(;


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then that he !ill have attained the goal of his life. As

co"pared to that life, the life of this !orld is only a life of

vainglory. (0


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turned upside do!n. (07*

A tru"pet shall be blo!n, (09*no "ore than a single"ighty blast, (0:*and there shall co"e forth everyindividual soul (0;*and rush forth to the ord(00


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People shall be sorted out into three classes.(06*%)' Those

!ho !ill be fore"ost and nearest to /od, !ith !ho" /od is

!ell-pleased and !ho are !ell pleased !ith /od. They shallhave no fear, no grief, no toil, no fatigue, no sense of inury,

(060*no vanity, and no untruth. (063*They shall enoy

honour and dignity, and, dressed in fine sil$s and brocadeand adorned !ith bracelets of gold and pearls,(066*shall

live for ever in carpeted places. They !ill recline on thrones

encrusted !ith gold and e!els facing one another fordiscourse. They !ill be served by youths of perpetual

freshness, handso"e as pearls, (067*!ith goblets, bea$ers,

and cups filled out of clear fountains of crystal !hite anddelicious drin$s free fro" into2ication and after-aches,

!hich they !ill e2change !ith one another free of frivolityand evil taint. (069*They shall be given fruit and flesh of

their o!n choice in dishes of gold to eat, and shall get "orethan all they desire. (06:*Their faces shall be bea"ing !ith

the brightness of bliss. (06;*They shall have as co"panions

chaste !o"en, their !ives,(07


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%0' Co"panions of the left hand !ho shall be in the "idst of

a fierce blast of fire !ith distorted faces and roasted s$in,

neither alive nor dead,(07;*under the shado!s of blac$s"o$e. They shall have only boiling and fetid !ater to drin$

(09


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(7*/bid., iii, 9.

(9*/bid., ii, ):74 222i, 0

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