Quran: easy to understand?
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I was born in a muslim country and raised a muslim. I was taught traditional Islam up to my adulthood. Then one day I decided to teach myself as I was seeing too many inconsistencies in what the religious scholars were saying.
So there I was, reading through the hadith collections of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. But along the way, I found that I was not happy with the what I was reading in the hadiths. For one thing, many of the hadiths contradicted one another or even common sense. Second, they seemed to have an incredibly negative view towards women. From there on, I started looking into how the hadith collections came about, and finally disregarded all the hadiths when I found that the collections were compiled around 200 years after the death of the prophet.
I was glad to find that I was not alone in rejecting the hadiths, and found many online communities of muslims who had a Quran only belief of Islam, which included the free-minds group. For a long time, I truly believed that I had finally found the true path, and began studying the Quran translations above anything else. But eventually, I found that I could not ignore the fact that the Quran just did not strike me as the miraculous book with the divine message. The supposed scientific miracles claimed by the religous scholars appeared to be some vague descriptions which happened to coincide with an actual truth. Some of the miraculous statements have been actually proven false.
The book also claims to be easy to understand, but it is undeniable that its followers are always in conflict over its true message, which has often lead to massive confusion. It is also noteworthy that none of the translations of the Quran has been said to be fully accurate, which leaves non-arab-speaking muslims in a huge disadvantage.
Even the structure of the book is not that of a book that would be easy to understand. Instead of explaining each subject collectively, the verses regarding each subject are often scattered over the chapters. For example, if you want to learn about the laws of marriage you might find some verses in the middle of the second chapter, and another verse towards the end of the chapter, and another in the next chapter, etc... This is hard for the reader to grasp as each time they came upon the subject they would have to try and remember what was previously said about the subject, and try to make sense by putting everything together.
Even in this forum I have seen repeated and lengthy arguments over some of the subjects in Quran, and most of the time it just ends in a disagreement. I've also seen that a lot of the senior members in the forum are quick to blame faulty translations and misinterpretations when a doubt is raised against the Quran. This just proves my point that the Quran is by no means easy to understand.
I'd be surprised if there is a single person on this earth who can proudly say "I can fully understand the Quran and its divine message."
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I can fully understand Quran when I am done with the full reinterpretation. It is not so hard to understand, but you have to read it as the Author intended rather than as clerical pretenders twisted it.
Be well
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Agreed vagabond and welcome to the forum. Although I disagree where you say non native speakers of arabic are disadvantaged. I think it's the other way around. Modern arabic to me is the language of hadith, not the language of Quran.
Knowing modern arabic from birth when it comes down to understanding Quran is like knowing to drive a car the wrong way .... it is very difficult to 'unlearn' and remove the previous cognitive associations you have with those words.
Peace
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The book also claims to be easy to understand, but it is undeniable that its followers are always in conflict over its true message, which has often lead to massive confusion. It is also noteworthy that none of the translations of the Quran has been said to be fully accurate, which leaves non-arab-speaking muslims in a huge disadvantage.
Salaam brother,
Welcome to the forum welcome
Red Where did it say in alQuraan that it is easy to understand? Can you please quote me an aayat? As far as I know there is not aayat which says alQuraan is easy to understand but it is easy to remember.
I'd be surprised if there is a single person on this earth who can proudly say "I can fully understand the Quran and its divine message."
There CANNOT be any person on this earth who can say I can understand alQuraan in full. It is highly impossible that is because there are not fixed instructions in alQuraan. It's understanding changes always as you grow up in your levels towards Allah. Please take a look at this.
May Allah increase our knowledge and guide us on His path pr
mmKhan -
Peace Vagabond,
Whether the Quran is easy to understand or hard to understand, is not important in my opinion. I think the only thing which is important is "how to understand it". So how can we understand the Quran?
As far as I know, the Quran states that there are two criterias for understanding it
- Purity/Sincerity
- Knowledge
So it seems that one has to be pure/sincere and knowledgeable to understand the Quran.
Quran 5679 None can grasp it except those pure.
Quran 37 He is the One who sent down to you the Book, from which there are lawgiving revelations; they are the essence of the Book; and others which are of a similitude. As for those who have a disease in their hearts, they will follow that which is of a similitude, seeking to confuse, and seeking to derive an interpretation. But none know its interpretation except God, and those who are well founded in knowledge; they say "We believe in it, all is from our Lord." And none will remember except those who possess intelligence.
Quran 2943 Such are the examples We cite for the people, but none reason except the knowledgeable.
According to the Quran, we have to become knowledgeable and pure/sincere to understand it. So how can we become knowledgeable and how can we become pure/sincere? I think that these two questions are the most important questions to ponder upon, when it comes to understanding the Quran. Because knowledge and purity/sincerity seem to be the keys to understanding the scripture.
Perhaps the answer to how we can become pure/purified and knowledgeable is in the Quran.
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Peace vagabond.
If you say
I'd be surprised if there is a single person on this earth who can proudly say "I can fully understand the Quran and its divine message."
1- do you believe the message is "divine"?
2- What should one do with it then?
My suggestions
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Leave Qoran to those who want to study it and find out its message if you think it is difficult and "Asatiru al-awwaleen" i.e tales of the ancients.
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Study it properly from cover to cover and make it your business to try your best to understand it,then show clearly what is wrong with it and why or vice versa?
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Take/read what others explain /comment on it and believe what they tell you .
Remember each one of us has been given the ears,eyes and brain to analyse and check for themselves.
Best of luck with your choices.
GOD bless you.
Peace. -
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I'd be surprised if there is a single person on this earth who can proudly say "I can fully understand the Quran and its divine message."
Only a fool can make this tall claim; and it would be contrary to the verdict given in Qur'aan about knowledgeably of people.
Proclamation of Allah the Exalted Qur'aan is rendered facilitative for learning and comprehension by its transcription in Arabic the language of our guide lord Muhammad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam, and of Arabian Peninsula.
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Peace everyone,
As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, purity/sincerity and knowledge seem to be the keys to understanding the Quran. But there might be a third key also. I have a theory that the more one spreads the message of the Quran and true islam, the deeper ones knowledge/understanding of the Quran will become. The reason why I think this theory might be true, is because deeply knowledgeable muslim scholars like Muhammad Asad and Asma Barlas, devoted their lives, not only to study the Quran, but also to spread the message of the Quran. Perhaps spreading the message of the quran, was one of the secrets to their deep understanding of the Quran and true islam. It seems that "we get by giving." And it seems that "by teaching something to others we learn more about the subject ourselves."
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I think it is what you said, Taro, purity of heart and knowledge and where you speak about dawa there might be the question that one tries to answer to the concerns of those one explaining the Qur'an to, so it is also an attempt to go beyond may be the shallowest or most common understandings and getting through to the core of matters which moves the understanding deeper.
As to Arab and non Arab speaking, it is the same thing, it is purity of heartknowledge and the need to make the Qur'an understandable. There are Arabs as well as non Arabs who have had enourmous insights into the Qur'an. I do not hin it is a good idea to establish categories on that ground. Both are a help to each others.
Salaam
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Peace huruf,
I agree with your views )
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Salam and welcome,
But eventually, I found that I could not ignore the fact that the Quran just did not strike me as the miraculous book with the divine message. The supposed scientific miracles claimed by the religous scholars appeared to be some vague descriptions which happened to coincide with an actual truth. Some of the miraculous statements have been actually proven false.
Well, if the Quran does not strike you, you might just look for another book or other kind of guidance (signs in nature, in your own mind...), as the words of God are not limited (in itself, and not limited to the Quran).
The Quran is not the book of scientific miracles as some want to state - to me, it seems they don't really trust the value of the message itself, so they need some trick to convince themselves. To me, the message in itself is wonderful enough so I don't need any miracles, but as I said, others might prefer other signs. But if you decide that the Quran is your book, you should read it as the others said with sincerity in the heart and a clear mind as the best explanation. -
I would add something
We are under no obligation of understanding the Qur'an as others have understood it or to follow what this person or sect or school says as to its meaning. If it was so God would have established the person or the school or the sect and not bothered with revealing the Qur'an line after line. But He has and we have it, each one of us a jaalif and master of her or his own reding, understanding and following of the Qur?an.
We do not have to burden the Qur'an as a donkey dropping on top of it the whole lot of thoughts and ideas expressed by other people or sects or schools. That is what we have the whole book for, to avoid running arounb begging for knowledge without ever being able to stand up for ourselves.
Of course, we all benefit from sharing in study and it would be senseless to reject any human insight, but sharing is not the same thing as accepting somebody's words as authoritative and over and above what we may really and honestly think to be right.
Salaam
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Thank you brothers and sisters for your valuable feedback.
For those who have asked where it is said the Quran is easy to understand
5417 And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember then is there any that will receive admonition? (YA translation)For those who say it can only be understood by those who are sincere and pure of the heart; there are many people in other religions who are also studying there scriptures, who are trying acheive that purity of the heart to grasp the message. What different, then, is islam from other religions? Most of us are raised in a certain religion with certain beliefs, and carry those beliefs into our adult lives. We all believe in the divinity of our holy books, and believe that our God(s) to be the true God(s). And we continue to believe so until we find a reason to question our beliefs, but most of us are too afraid to question our religion and choose to bury our doubts.
I have asked myself many times. What sets Islam apart from the other religions? How do we know the Quran is divine? How do we know Islam is the true religion? The thing that I have realized is that I am only a muslim because I was raised a muslim by a muslim family. Whether that is enough reason to keep holding on to my religion is the next biggest question I have asked myself. Without finding an answer to my doubts, I know I cannot continue to be a true muslim in my heart.
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Thank you brothers and sisters for your valuable feedback.
For those who have asked where it is said the Quran is easy to understand
5417 And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember then is there any that will receive admonition? (YA translation)For those who say it can only be understood by those who are sincere and pure of the heart; there are many people in other religions who are also studying there scriptures, who are trying acheive that purity of the heart to grasp the message. What different, then, is islam from other religions? Most of us are raised in a certain religion with certain beliefs, and carry those beliefs into our adult lives. We all believe in the divinity of our holy books, and believe that our God(s) to be the true God(s). And we continue to believe so until we find a reason to question our beliefs, but most of us are too afraid to question our religion and choose to bury our doubts.
I have asked myself many times. What sets Islam apart from the other religions? How do we know the Quran is divine? How do we know Islam is the true religion? The thing that I have realized is that I am only a muslim because I was raised a muslim by a muslim family. Whether that is enough reason to keep holding on to my religion is the next biggest question I have asked myself. Without finding an answer to my doubts, I know I cannot continue to be a true muslim in my heart.
Peace,
That is not the only aayat which you have quoted but there are three more in the same sura. But it does not say the translation as you quoted. Please click here to see other translations where the word "understanding" is missing.
You have very valid questions, inshaAllah Allah will guide you to the correct answers when you seek His help for the same.
May Allah increase our knowledge and guide us on His path pr
mmKhan -
How can a person with a covering on their eyes and a deafness in their ears and a block to their understanding, with a diseased mind, possibly understand anything? No, the Qur'an is not easy to understand for such people, it is incredibly difficult to understand for such
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Lo! Allah disdaineth not to coin the similitude even of a gnat. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord; but those who disbelieve say What doth Allah wish (to teach) by such a similitude? He misleadeth many thereby, and He guideth many thereby; and He misleadeth thereby only miscreants; -
quran will be made easy to understand
92.7 - to him We make easy that is simple
this him is
92.5 - so, who distribute, live humble
92.6 - upholds the good
quran will be made easy to, not to understand
92.10 - to him We make easy the path of hardship
this him is
92.8 - but, who withholds and find him needless
92.9 - and deceive the good
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Thank you brothers and sisters for your valuable feedback.
For those who have asked where it is said the Quran is easy to understand
5417 And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember then is there any that will receive admonition? (YA translation)Peace -- understand not in verse rather it's easy to remember if something is or not in the book like what you quoted.
4458 so only yassarnhu/made easy we it in tongue your that may they yatadhakkarna/those remembering/taking heed
5417 and indeed yassarn/made easy we the Qur?an lildhik'ri/to the remembrance so shall/is there min/from/any muddakirin/remembereth/receive admonition?
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I have asked myself many times. What sets Islam apart from the other religions? How do we know the Quran is divine? How do we know Islam is the true religion? The thing that I have realized is that I am only a muslim because I was raised a muslim by a muslim family. Whether that is enough reason to keep holding on to my religion is the next biggest question I have asked myself. Without finding an answer to my doubts, I know I cannot continue to be a true muslim in my heart.
All reasonable thoughts and questions.
I shall try and help with your first Q
What sets Islam apart from the other religions?Firstly, stop thinking of "Islam" with a capital "I" and a religion. It is simply an Arabic word (like thousands of others) that has an actual meaning. See here
http//www.misconceptions-about-islam.com/more.htmLet me know your thoughts.
