Book

Critic:-

I would very much like to have a serious discussion about the centrality of the notion of Holy Scriptures/Kitab in Islam. Is Islam dependent on the written word? If it is then it is dependent on a human invention.

Comment:-

"Book" means a Record.

It requires (a) a Medium into which (b) a Message is (c) recorded (written) with (d) an instrument (e.g a Pen), and this can be (e) extracted (read), (f) reproduced and (g) it can have an affect or be applied.

All these do not necessarily refer to specific things but can be of any kind.

In the Quran it refers to the record of the Words of God. These are called Ayat, the signs of God. The Record can be on any medium.

The Quran is in a Record in Heaven. That is, it is part of the "Blue Print" or Principles from which the Universe evolved. It is part of the fabric of existence and its actualisation into the world was inevitable when the times were ripe.

It is inherent in the Spirit within man.

It is a Record in the hearts and minds of people.

The Universe is a Record.

Memory is a Record.

Genes made of DNA contain Records.

The Book of Paper and Ink is a Record.

Tapes and CD and DVD discs are records.

Critic:-

Islam without the WRITTEN Quran would not be Islam. Islam without the WRITTEN Hadith would have no fiqh. There would be no sira al-Rasool. There would be no calligraphy. The so-called extra-textual 'ayat' of Allah (as to be found in nature) are not really extra-textual at all as Muslims interpret them within the framework provided by their written texts. Without writing, there would also not be the notion central to Islam of previous scriptures corrupted by Jews and Christians and corrected by Allah in the Koran. Islam without writing would simply not have existed. Islam is ontologically dependent upon a human invention.

Comment:-

This is rather confused and naive.

Islam means Surrender to God which is a state of being or a teaching or a way of life. These things are not the same as either the spoken or written words. But Islam can use any technology as a medium through which it can be communicated or propagated. It can be propagated by word of mouth, or pictures or by example.

However, when times were ripe Islam came through a recitation and placed emphasis on recording, on the pen, on writing and reading, and on books, thereby promoting the coming age where these things assumed overwhelming central importance. This also creates a more permanent record and made the Word or Teaching, the knowledge, understanding and awareness more important than the personality through which it comes - Christianity focuses its attention on a mortal Messenger rather than what he taught. The cult of personality was the prevailing attitude in past ages. This is rectified in Islam.

However, there is still a problem in that some people make the letter of the written book or the recitation more important than understanding and awareness of the message it contains. This defect can only be overcome by following the discipline recommended in the scripture, which is best facilitated and usually requires a living guide and exemplar.

Apart from this it can be argued that writing is an inevitable development in the evolutionary process. Even if it uses human beings as medium, the abilities involved, and the need, as well as the enabling circumstances are all factors that are not under human control.

Critic:-

I grant that the 'personal' experience is not dependent on 'Text'. But I claim that "organized" ("institutionalized") religion requires 'Text', and that in turn requires 'Written words', and that requires human invention.

Comment:-

I was trying to point out that Religion IS personal experience, motivation and action and can also be transmitted by means other than writing. When it is transmitted from the Prophet to his followers, or from these to others it is still personal experience, motive and action. If it is not then it is not religion.

Apart from this, Islam can hardly be called an organised religion, not in the sense of Christianity that has hierarchies of Priests.

In Islam it also seems to be the case that it is the Quran that was to an extent a cause of the way Arabic is spoken and written.

Christian:-

You believe the Quran is the Word of God because the Quran says so. Do you not realise that his is a vicious circle. We do not believe that the Quran is the Word of God.

Comment:-

That is why you are not a Muslim. There is no vicious circle.

As Jesus said: "He that is of God hears God's Words: You therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of God." John 8:47

Do you not recognise the same teachings in the Quran as in the Old and New Testament?

The Quran tells us that only those understand it who read it with the right attitude and the right reading.

Christian:-

But this is a vicious circle.

Comment:-

No. It is only common sense that things are understood correctly only when they are read as they were written to be understood.

What do you understand by "God" and by "the Word of God"? Do you think of God as a man who has said certain things in a human language and written it down in a book? That is not the Islamic view. The Islamic view is that Allah is All-pervasive, the Fundamental Self-existing Reality, the Originator of all things. He is not a man. He creates by His Command or Word (symbolically) which is Truth. The written Quran is a record of certain fundamental truths about existence, that became manifest through the Prophet Muhammad (saw). That is to say, he discerned them through the Spirit, in a state of heightened consciousness that brought him in greater contact with Fundamental Reality.

The Quran, as the teachings brought by other Messengers, is, therefore, understood through the Spirit or heart, i.e. through consciousness, conscience and will and not through the intellect. The intellect as psychologists know well, is an instrument - it will take a person where ever his motives will lead it. Correct perception, understanding, action and living is, therefore, a question of having correct motives. But these also depend on correct perception and action.

There is a spiral here, not a circle, which might lead a person upwards or downwards, ascent or descent development or degeneration.

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