Why the Quran is so vague? For example, the story of Adam and Satan is repeated in the Quran abt 7 times, every time the Quran says that “We ordered the angels to bow down, every one did except Iblees”. From this statement it is evident that Iblees must have been an angel. But then in ch18.v50, Allah says that Iblees was a Jinn. Why didn’t God tell this in the 2nd chapter of Quran where this story was first mentioned. Do you know how many people even today think that Iblees was an angel before he disobeyed and then became Satan? From the same verse another question arises that why is God blaming satan, a Jinn, for disobeying him when the order was given to the angels. I know that the answer to this question to you is the rule of “taghleeb”. I personally doubt these kind of answers, they make me feel that we are trying to justify a mistake by using mental gymnastics. It is similar to the attitude of the Christian scholars when Christians ask them that how can God be three in one? They say that if water can be in three states {ice, water and vapour} then why cant God be? In this way they quell the intellect of the Christians. I mean if God really wanted to guide the humankind he should have made His book so clear that the readers don’t get confused.
Another example is that you say that the killing of the kafirs was an act which was a direct commandment of God to his prophet and was confined to his era only. But I personally haven’t found any single statement in the Quran which clearly states that kafir is a person who despite of being fully convinced about the truth of Islam rejects it and therefore deserves to be killed and such an act can only be done by the prophet and no other person in this world should has the right to do that after the prophet’s death.
Even your teacher, Dr. Israr Ahmed doesn’t agree with Ghamidi’s concept of jihad carried by the sahabas after the demise of the prophet.
I mean everybody has different opinions, and I personally think it is because of the reason that Quran is not a clear book and it doesn’t mention the basic teachings in detail. Quran says that do not be divided and that “O prophet you have nothing to do with those who divide themselves into sects” and at the same time, the Quran doesn’t give detailed knowledge about its basic teachings which cause the Muslims to be divided into sects.
I have another question for you and I want you to reply to it with utmost honesty and without assuming that the Quran is the word of God. Do you really think that If God wanted to guide the humans, he couldn’t have sent any better guidance than the Quran? Don’t you think that the Quran could have been revealed in a much better and clearer manner?
I do not know if God wants me to believe in everything the Quran states but I do know that God wouldn’t want me to lie, and this is what i have decided that I am not going to lie even if it goes against my own religion.
I am not a critic of Islam. I just want to know the truth whether it goes with my desires or not. To tell you the truth, I am even scared of leaving Islam because i think that if Islam turned out to be a true religion after my death, I am going to be at the bottom of hell fire. But then i think that this fear is the only reason which has also restrained millions of Christians who are reluctant to abandon their religion despite of the fallacies they see because they fear that they can achieve salvation only through believing in the crucifixion of God’s only son Christ. Sometimes I even feel that my heart has been sealed due to some sin of mine, which I personally haven’t been able to figure out. I hope you can help me.
Answer
We have to be very honest in deciding our position in this existence. Is knowing the truth our personal need or is it the need of our Creator that we should know what the truth is? If it is our need, we should humbly and eagerly look for the evidences of truth, wherever they may be available. If it is primarily the Creator’s need that we should be looking for truth then we have the right to demand that He should show us the right path the way we expect the right path to be. While the first approach is that of an honest seeker after truth, the second approach is that of an arrogant person. Can we afford to be arrogant in this existence given our limitations and vulnerability? We know that we are weak, dependent on many things for our existence, and death can snatch our existence away from us any time. We, therefore, must be desperate in knowing what the truth is without demanding how it should be. We are being tested, first and foremost, for this attitude, more than anything else.
Viewing the Qur’anic teachings with this approach would lead us to respond to this question: Is the Qur’an the word of my Creator? One would read it with that single purpose in one’s mind. I have no doubt in my mind that if one reads the Qur’an with such humble eagerness, it gradually unfolds the fact that it is from God to its reader. It doesn’t happen all of a sudden normally. However, one’s questions get answered gradually. There is no need for one to accept anything that is unacceptable. However, there is also no need to deny anything simply because one doesn’t understand it.
One should not forget that the Qur’an is in classical Arabic. If one doesn’t know that language well, one should ask someone who does. The fact is that in the Arabic of the times when the Qur’an was revealed, like indeed it is in other languages, it was very much an accepted principle that you address a group by what the majority of it constitutes. Addressing a group of people “My dear Pakistani friends” when one or two of them are non-Pakistanis is very much an accepted principle of language. In fact, if the speaker would have said on such occasions “except you two” it would have appeared foolish.
You read the Qur’an with open eyes and you would see the book saying everywhere that a Kafir is a person who “rejects and belies” what the truth is. The Qur’an tells us that the people of the book knew the truth at the time of the revelation of Qur’an as they knew their own children. It says that when Musa, alaihissalaam, presented his miracles before Firaun and his men, they rejected it despite being convinced of its truthfulness simply because of arrogance and unfairness. It tells us that the people who rejected Ibrahim’s, alaihissalaam, message searched their souls and acknowledged from inside that they themselves were wrong and yet they denied his message. How else should the Qur’an clarify that a Kafir is the one who denies the truth despite knowing it full well.
The Qur’an is a book of God but it has to be interpreted by humans. Human limitations cause it to be interpreted differently. How could there be a book that everyone could understand clearly without making correct attempt to do so? Why should those who are biased be allowed the privilege to understand the Qur’an properly? If every Muslim, sincere or otherwise, could understand the Qur’an properly, what was the fault of the non-Muslims? The fact is that this life is a trial and everyone is being tested. The Qur’an is perfect but we humans are imperfect and we are going through the test of making earnest struggle to understand the Qur’an as best as we can. The Qur’an clarifies that the sects people make amongst themselves is not because they don’t understand things properly. Instead, it is because they have grudges against each other that lead them to differ and divide. Had the differences been because of not being able to understand, there wouldn’t have been any serious problems.
You can say the fact that you are a Muslim because of the fear factor but you can’t claim that everyone else is attached to Islam for the same reason. Islam is the message of God. This fact manifests itself gradually to those who continue to look for truth in an unbiased manner. As for those who don’t find truth in the Islam despite their best and sincere efforts, I hope that they are going to be forgiven because of the sincerity of their efforts.