The Style of the Quran

موضوع: The Style of the Quran السبت يونيو 01, 2013 3:19 pm

What topics does the Quran discuss?
It covers various subjects. Most importantly, it talks about the unity
of God and how to live a which accords to His Will. Other topics
include religious doctrine, creation, criminal and civil law, Judaism,
Christianity, polytheism, social values, morality, history, stories of
past prophets, and science.
The
Quran calls the great human exemplars of the past prophets and mentions
their great sacrifice in spreading the message of God, the most
important of them being Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The Quran
elaborates on the ways in which the followers of the prophets,
specifically the Jews and the Christians, have or have not lived up to
the prophetic messages. It also discusses the fate of past nations who
rejected their Prophets, such as Noah and Lot. It issues instructions
on how to live a life pleasing to God. It commands people that they
should pray, fast, and take care of the needy. It discusses matters of
human interrelationships, sometimes in great detail - such as laws of
inheritance and marriage - in a manner reminiscent of parts of the
Hebrew Bible but foreign to the New Testament. The Quran tells people
that they should observe God’s instructions purely for God’s sake, not
for any worldly aims. It warns those who deny God’s messages that they
will be thrown into the fire of Hell, and it promises those who accept
the messages that they will be given the bliss of Paradise.
The
Quran retells in their original many of the stories from the Biblical
heritage, especially that of Moses (mentioned by name more than any
other person, followed by Pharaoh, his great enemy, who is the Quranic
archetype of human evil). However, it does not offer a sustained
narrative of the kind found in the Book of Exodus. It has much to say
about the moral and legal duties of believers, but contains nothing like
the law-code which is the centerpiece of the Book of Deuteronomy. Many
Quranic passages could aptly be described as preaching; but where the
voice of the preacher in the Gospels is that of Jesus during his
ministry on earth, in the Quran it is that of the ever-living God.
Also,
the Quran repeats certain verses and themes at times, shifts topics,
and often relates narratives in summarized form. We can see two reasons
for this characteristic. First, it serves a linguistic purpose and is
one of the powerful rhetorical techniques of classical Arabic. Second,
all themes of the Quran, no matter how varied, are wrapped around one
common thread running through the entire book: that all types of worship
rendered to others besides or alongside God is false, and that
obedience to Him and His prophets, Muhammad being one of them, is a
must. The Quran, unlike the Bible, does not mention genealogies,
chronological events, or minute historical details, but rather uses
events from both past and present to illustrate its central message.
So, when the Quran is discussing the healing properties of honey or the
life of Jesus, neither topic is an end in itself, but each is related in
one way or another to the central message – unity of God and unity of
the prophetic message. No matter what the topic may be, it finds
occasion to refer the discussion back to this central theme.
Another
important point to keep in mind is that the Quran was not revealed in
one sitting, but was revealed in parts over a span of 23 years. Like
the previous scriptures, many passages were revealed in response to
specific events. Often, Quranic revelation would come from the angel
Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad as a response to questions raised by those
around him, whether believers or unbelievers. The Quran addresses the
People of the Scripture (a term used by the Quran for Jews and
Christians), humanity at large, believers, and, finally, it addresses
the Prophet himself, commanding him what to do in certain situations or
supporting him and giving him solace in the face of ridicule and
rejection. Knowing the historical and social context clarifies the
text.

Some other notable features of Quran’s style are the following:
(1) The use of parables to stir curiosity of the reader and explain deep truths.

(2)
More than two hundred passages begin with the Arabic word Qul - ‘Say’ -
addressing Prophet Muhammad to say what follows in reply to a question,
to explain a matter of faith, or to announce a legal ruling. For
example,
“Say: ‘O People of the
Scripture! Do you disapprove of us for no other reason than that we
believe in God, and the revelation that has come to us and that which
came before (us), and because most of you are rebellious and
disobedient?’” (Quran 5:59)

(3)
In some passages of the Quran, God takes oaths by His marvelous
creation to strengthen an argument or to dispel doubts in the mind of
the listener,
“By the sun and its
brightness, by the moon when it follows it, by the day when it displays
it, by the night when it covers it, by the sky and He who constructed
it, by the earth and He who spread it, by the soul and He who
proportioned it…” (Quran 91:1-7)

Sometimes God takes an oath by Himself:
“But
no, by your Lord, they will not (truly) believe until they make you, (O
Muhammad), judge concerning that over which they dispute among
themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you
have judged and submit in (full, willing) submission.” (Quran 4:65)

(4)
Lastly, the Quran has what is called ‘the disjointed letters,’ composed
of letters of the Arabic alphabet which taken together do not have a
known meaning in the Arabic lexicon. Their meaning is only known to
God. They appear at the beginning of twenty nine surahs, and upon
recital, each letter is pronounced and not the words they form For
example, the first aayah of Surat-ul-Baqara appears as Alif-Lam-Mim,
three letters of the Arabic alphabet pronounced individually.
A
person unfamiliar with the Quran may find it a little difficult to
read, especially at start, but if they keep these points in mind, they
will become more accustomed to it, and they will indeed find that even
though it is a translation, it is truly profound book incomparable to
any other.

» What is the Quran
» Way to Quran
» The Origin of the Quran
» Preservation of the Quran
» Fasting According to the Quran