Short Essay Islamic Thought and Practices

“Explain why Muslims on the one hand, believe that the Qur’an is the literal word of God, yet on the other hand, most Muslims do not understand the Qur’an in a purely literal fashion.”

Islamic belief about the holy book/books is different from the other beliefs and religions. The belief is concealed in the definition of the holy book. The Muslim scholar in this modern time stirred their understanding of the holy book with classical explanations. For example, Said Nursi dedicated a long part of his collection about the definition of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is, in the words of Said Nursi, “a Divine interpretation of the book of existence, it is the voice and breath of the laws of creation, the true interpreter of things and events that bear multifarious meanings, a candid expounder of this world and the world come, the revealer of the treasure of the Divine Names hidden in the heavens and on the earth, the mysterious key to the mysterious beyond all things, the plain language of the beyond manifested in this world; the sun, the foundation, and the geometry of the spiritual world of Islam, the sacred map that explicitly lays out the worlds of the Hereafter with clearly drawn lines, the voice and clearest interpreter of the Divine Essence, Attributes, and Names, the most reliable teacher of all humanity; the air, the water, and the light of the Islamic world, and the Word of the All-Exalted, All-Majestic Being, Who is the \creator and Lord of all worlds, and His decree and address.”

There are meanings both oral and written form of the Qur’an, expression and word usage creates patterns of meanings. ity to be understood and to be Muslims believe that, the words and the meanings of the Qur’an have its exact place in (Al-Aleem) All-Knowing’s knowledge. The Qur’an revealed the messenger of Allah according to His Divine Will. Therefore, any other book or text cannot be equivalent to the Qur’an and any individual cannot produce even a word like of it. Qur’an itself...