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The Dual
Purpose of the Quran
By Imam Tammam Adi Ph.D., Director of the
Islamic Cultural Center of Eugene, Oregon.
I think using the term
"Islam" is misleading. It basically means "true faith." It
is defined as believing that there is no god but God (principle of liberty) and
that Muhammad is one more messenger of God (scripture-based pluralistic
justice). The Quran insists that true believers (Arabic: mu'min, muslim) believe
in all scriptures and make no distinction between messengers.
But the way Muslims present this
final scripture makes it sound "different," "foreign,"
"distinct," or "unique." "Not for everybody." Or
worse, "you need followers of Islam to understand it." These
suggestions are contrary to the Quran which constantly declares itself as
self-explaining, says it confirms previous scripture, and states that all
scriptures are "the Book."
Roughly speaking, the Quran tells
us that God sent one messenger after the other because their followers kept
dropping the ball. Jesus was sent because the Israelites dropped the ball.
Muhammad was sent because the followers of Jesus dropped the ball.
And finally, chapter (surah) 47
ends with a clear prophecy and a warning to Muslims:
"... and if you turn away, He
will replace you with a people other than you. And then they will never be the
likes of you."
We find more details in Quran
6:89-90. These two verses come after several verses mentioning all prophets
except Muhammad: "Those are the ones to whom we have given the scripture, judgment
and governance (hukm), and prophethood. It does not matter if these people
(Muhammad's people) reject these things, we have already entrusted them
(scripture, governance and prophethood) to a people that will never reject them.
These are the ones whom God has truly guided, so follow their guidance as a
model."
I believe the Quran was written
for two peoples: 1) For the Muslims who have already dropped the ball. And 2)
for the "other, very different people" (many hadiths refer to them as
"strangers" or "immigrants") who will take a fresh look at
the Quran and understand it in new ways.
I believe September 11 declared
the Quran open for reading by all its new people, the Americans, despite Muslims
and Islam. Muslims have nothing to do with this new reading. It is like a new
revelation without new prophet. The Quran has meanings and prophecies that only
non-Muslim Americans will understand. When they accept the Quran, we'd better
not call them Muslims. It's very confusing. Maybe "neo-Muslims," if we
have to use this term.
Abraham's leadership test was just
a threat to kill his son. Muhammad's test was being told in advance that his
sons will die young. America's leadership test was the unannounced murder of
thousands of sons and daughters.
Americans who are now positively
studying the Quran and who have not lost their fairness, have accepted the
leadership test and will hopefully lead the world to peace and justice. It looks
like they will do it, gradually, in due time.
As an old-style believer in the
Quran, I will just watch in respect and try to learn from the new believers. I
can teach Arabic, but I don't think I am as qualified to interpret the Quran as
somebody with a fresh mind.
I tried to teach my Midwestern
wife about the Quran. I think I confused her a bit. She taught me a lot about
liberty. But I am still partly confused by the unliberated old world
understanding of the Quran.
I am waiting for neo-Muslim
teachers to unconfuse me.
Tammam Adi Ph.D is the Director of the
Islamic Cultural Center of Eugene, Oregon, USA. Originally from Syria, he is a
computational linguist specializing in Arabic.
taadi@earthlink.net
Read other articles by Tammam Adi here.
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