The ‘False Analogy Ahead’ sign ought to be put up everywhere: in schools, universities, barber shops and drawing rooms. For it is an extremely rare occasion when a faulty analogy fails to make its appearance within ten minutes from the commencement of any debate.
The other day I happened to mention to a Japanese acquaintance what I have always found curious: the fact that for all the reverence they have for the Quran, most Muslims have little clue regarding its contents. He wondered if translations were difficult to obtain. I told him that multiple translations could be found in every home but, with few exceptions, people were interested only in ‘blessings’ and were, therefore, content to blindly recite the Arabic text. He agreed that this attitude was strange to say the least.
At this point, somebody (Pakistani, Muslim, male) exclaimed that he failed to see what was so strange. ‘Why must every Muslim understand the Quran?’ he asked. For good measure, he pressed this analogy into service: ‘Nobody expects the average man to be an expert in medicine, law or operating systems. When in need of a professional opinion, we all defer to the experts. Why should religion be any different? Why should we not defer to the expert in religious matters?’
We all learn our religion from multiple sources: parents, maulvi sahab, friends, teachers, and experts. Hence, there is always a need for the wheat to be separated from the chaff. In the Quran, we have a ready and infallible source to ascertain which item belongs to which category.
This analogy leaves much to be desired on so many levels. For starters, there are many experts, offering differing (often clashing) opinions on an issue. Which one makes the most sense then comes down to one’s own good judgment. One would therefore be well-advised to develop at least a working understanding that allows one to make that judgment call reasonably competently. Else, one is very likely to be taken advantage of. To deliberately keep oneself ignorant of any subject is silly… much more so when it comes to something as critical as religion.
We all learn our religion from multiple sources: parents, maulvi sahab, friends, teachers, and experts. Hence, there is always a need for the wheat to be separated from the chaff. In the Quran, we have a ready and infallible source to ascertain which item belongs to which category. Of course, one does not become an ‘expert’ by weighing an opinion against what the Quran has to say on the subject. That is because one still relies on the expert (the translator or the exegete). The point is to keep one’s mind switched on. It is not easy to think of a polite word to describe the propensity of insisting on a mind switched off.
Where the above analogy really breaks down however is this: while it is true that there are many experts of the Quran, it is a book for all mankind – and not just for the expert. The same cannot be said about the Gray’s Anatomy or the Civil Procedures Code. Even the Bible, which was considered the property of the church and the priest and which if the layman owned was for long centuries a crime punishable by death, fits in this category. The Quran has always been the property of all Muslims. There is no professional ‘priest’ class in Islam. There are experts, yes, but it is not as if they know the secret meanings of its verses to the exclusion of all mankind. Any opinion on a verse by an expert or otherwise will be judged in the context of the verse and in the light of what the Quran says on the subject in other places. On a broader level, any Islamic position will be accepted or rejected depending on whether the Quran endorses it or not. So, the Quran is every Muslim’s business, not just that of the experts. If only they knew the contents of the Quran, Muslims would stop believing the fairy tales that they hold so dear, because they would know that the Quran explicitly condemns them and explains what is wrong with them.
There is another important aspect that sets religion apart from medicine, law, and the like. In the matter of health (for example), if you happen to stumble upon and adhere to the right recipe (diet, exercise plan, medication, etc) it will work for you regardless of how well you understand the why part – for action is what really matters. Religion – at any rate Islam – does not work that way. It is not merely a matter of dos and don’ts. Actions are no doubt important, but there is imaan as well. That is why anywhere the Quran mentions the formula for success it is always ‘aamanu‘ accompanied by ‘amilussaalihaat‘ – not the one, not the other, but both side by side. Unaccompanied by the corresponding actions, imaan is hypocrisy. On the other hand, actions without the consciousness of God could be anything from pretence to blind ritualism. Understanding the Quran is crucial for this imaan, as I propose to explain below.
Outside the domain of jurisprudence (fiqh) where a man (at any given moment) is either a believer or not, imaan, in its reality, is far from being a static item: it increases and decreases. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, even accepted and understood realities (God, death, afterlife) tend to retreat to the backwaters of the mind. Therefore, their consciousness needs to be refreshed – not just once or twice, but regularly. The Quran calls itself zikr (remembrance) for this reason. If its verses are understood, it washes away the dust of error and forgetfulness that tends to accumulate over the heart, while we tend to our various vocations and avocations. According to the Quran, when the believers hear its verses their imaan grows. No Muslim in his right mind would even think of depriving himself of this benefit.
The Muslims’ indifference to the contents of God’s Book is strange enough. What is even stranger is the fact that many of them resort to bizarre arguments to rationalize this indifference.
