Analytical Scholarship Vs Impressionistic Scholarship

By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam 13 August 2024 Kafir Has Been Used in The Quran Both in The Positive and Negative Sense. Since Any Rejecter Is A Kafir, One Who Rejects False Deities Is Also A Kafir, And It Is Used In This Manner In The Quran. Moses Rebelled Against the Pharaoh, Who, As His Foster Father, Had The Right to Be Obeyed. Moses Is Kafir for This Reason in A Verse. The Verb Form Is Used for Allah, Who Wipes Off Our Sins with Our Good Deeds or When We Seek His Forgiveness ------ Almost all Islamic scholarship is impressionistic, although logical analysis is used when convenient. My journey into logical analysis of the Quran’s text started when I came across Pickthall’s impressionistic meaning of “Kafir” in the Quran. Pickthall has translated the Quran as other scholars have before him but at the end of it, he came up with what he thought was the real meaning of Kafir. This is what he said: “In the Qur’an, I find two meanings (of a Kafir), which become one the moment that we try to realise the divine standpoint. The Kafir, in the first place, is not the follower of any religion. He is the opponent of Allah’s benevolent will and purpose for mankind - therefore, the disbeliever in the truth of all religions, the disbeliever in all Scriptures as of divine revelation, the disbeliever to the point of active opposition in all the Prophets whom the Muslims are bidden to regard, without distinction, as messengers of Allah.” The meaning is based on the impression he formed from its usage in the text, disregarding how the word is defined in the lexicon. When even a translator of the Quran wasn’t sure of the meaning of Kafir after studying the works of all the great scholars and translating the Quran and came to a different meaning based on the impression formed at the end of the work of translation, it was apparent that Islamic scholarship rested on shaky foundations. The word Kafir and its grammatical variations occur over 500 times in the Quran. Deriving the meaning of Kafir from a logical analysis of all the verses in which the word occurs is a simple matter. I carried out the exercise, which resulted in the following articles: What Is Kufr And Who Is A Kafir In The Quran? (Full and Revised Text of the New Age Islam Series on the Subject) Revisiting the Meaning of Kafir The surprising discovery was that although Yusuf Ali (and every other translator) translated this word as disbeliever/Unbeliever 160 times, it does not mean disbeliever in any verse. Bigotry and extremism flow from mistranslating this word as “disbeliever”. Pickthall’s impressionistic meaning turned out to be off the mark. A Kafir could be all that he says a Kafir is, but not necessarily. Kufr is the act of rejection and its synonyms, denial, cancel, cover-up, hide, wipe-off, obliterate, rebellion (rejection of legitimate authority or denial of the right to be obeyed), oppression and persecution (denial of rights of others). Kafir has been used in the Quran both in the positive and negative sense. Since any rejecter is a Kafir, one who rejects false deities is also a Kafir, and it is used in this manner in the Quran. Moses rebelled against the Pharaoh, who, as his foster father, had the right to be obeyed. Moses is Kafir for this reason in a verse. The verb form is used for Allah, who wipes off our sins with our good deeds or when we seek His forgiveness. Every disbeliever is not a rejecter. Non-Muslims may be disbelievers in Islam, but that does not mean that they reject it. They may not know enough to accept or may not care enough. The Quran, therefore, does not consider all the Mushrikin as Kafirin but only the hostile rejecters and opposers of Islam, such as Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl and a few more. The vast majority follow their leaders and don’t have an independent opinion. This is, however, difficult for the scholars to digest, and they have argued with me, saying if the Mushrikin of Mecca were not all Kafir, then who is a Kafir? This is a strange argument. Hazrat Abu Bakr, Umar, Osman, Bilal, and all those who accepted Islam during the Meccan period were people of sterling character even before becoming Muslim. And we shouldn’t forget that, barring a few, the rest accepted Islam eventually and took it to great heights. How Have The Scholars Conveyed That All The Mushrikin Are Kafirin If The Quran Does Not? The verses which alerted me to the fact that the Quran does not treat all the Mushrikin as Kafirin are 98:1 and 98:6 Consider the following verse: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمْ شَرُّ الْبَرِيَّةِ (98:6) Indeed, the Kafaru among (مِنْ) the People of the Book and the Polytheists, will be in Hell-Fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures. Does it mean “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and all the polytheists” Or “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and the Kafaru among the polytheists” To resolve the question, consider another verse of identical grammatical structure where there is no confusion as to whether the preposition “among” or the Arabic مِنْ connects all the nouns that follow “among” or only the noun immediately following among. رَبَّنَا وَأَدْخِلْهُمْ جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ الَّتِي وَعَدتَّهُمْ وَمَن صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَككِيمُ (40:8) "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. Clearly “the righteous among” is a description that applies to all the nouns that follow it and the verse means: 40:8) "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, the righteous among their wives, and the righteous among their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. And not (40:8) "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, all their wives, and all their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. The rule for the preposition must apply in all possible worlds and under all interpretations of the verse’s other parts of speech therefore, the correct translation of verse 98:6 is: “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and the Kafaru among the polytheists” This implies that not all polytheists are considered Kafir by Allah. Moreover, whether in Arabic or any other language, if the intention were to include all polytheists and only the Kafaru among the people of the Book, the verse would have read: “The polytheists and the Kafaru among the People of the Book”. Who those Kafaru among the people are is defined in the Surah and explained in my articles: Who Are The Worst Of Creatures In The Quran? The Mufassirin Who Render the Quran A Book of Foolish Nonsense This finding was sought to be countered in this forum by a scholar of Arabic who came up with Quranic grammar to say that in verses 98:1 and 98:6, we must take “min” or “among” to qualify only the immediately following noun and not the next one. In contrast, in 40:8, it qualifies all the nouns that follow it! Has anyone come across such nonsense where the rules of grammar change with every sentence? And who decides which rule to use when? The Scholars, of course! Quranic grammar has been developed to take meanings that the scholars wanted to take or the meaning forced on them by the ahadith and is an unreliable guide. If all polytheists were meant, the verse would have been worded “The polytheists and the kafaru among the people of the Book…” The fact that not all Mushrikin are considered as Kafirin is reinforced by Surah Al-Kafirun and verses of Surah Taubah in which both terms are used in the same verses 9:2 and 3 to mean a set of people (Mushrikin) and a sub-set (Kafirin among them). Surah Al-Kafirun defines the Kafirun as those “who do not worship what you (Muhammad) worship and will never worship what you worship.” Only a few fell into this category, and most eventually accepted Islam. Besides, the Surah ends with “Unto you be your religion and unto me mine”. If the addressees were not just the Kafirun but all the Mushrikun, then it becomes a declaration of an end to preaching Islam to the Mushrikun. The Surah was revealed eight years before Hijra, and the Prophet continued to preach to the Mushrikun but not to the Kafirun among them. When Does Allah Refer To The Believers As Kafir? In the verses that exhort mankind to do or avoid doing something, the word Kafirin means those who disobey what the verse commands. It is also used in a group of verses addressed to the believers exhorting zakat, and in these verses, the word kafirin is used to mean those who do not give charity as commanded. Many verses are addressed to the believers, and the word Kafirin is not used elsewhere but in every verse where the subject matter is zakat. This underscores the importance of charity and duty to mankind that the disobedient are being warned of being treated as Kafirin deserving severe punishment. Hell is the place in the Hereafter for the Kufr of disobedience of Allah’s commands. However, even in verses addressed to the believers exhorting charity, Kafirin is mistranslated as a disbeliever and explained away as the Quran’s unique style of switching subjects within a verse! The scholars are unable to digest that believers could be kafirin. For example: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَ يَوْمٌ لَّا بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلَا خُلَّةٌ وَلَا شَفَاعَةٌ ۗ وَالْكَافِرُونَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ (2:254) O ye who believe! Spend out of (the bounties) We have provided for you, before the Day comes when no bargaining (Will avail), nor friendship nor intercession. And the Kafirun, they are the Zalimun. Who are the Kafirun and the Zalimunin in this verse? Those who do not spend out of the bounties provided by Allah. The Kafirun and Zalimun refers to the addressees of the verse who are the believers who show their ingratitude to Allah for the bounties provided to them by not spending. They are ingrate rebels. The verse is, however, mistranslated as follows: O ye who believe! spend of that wherewith We have provided you before a day come when there will be no trafficking, nor friendship, nor intercession. The disbelievers, they are the wrong-doers. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُم بِالْمَنِّ وَالْأَذَىٰ كَالَّذِي يُنفِقُ مَالَهُ رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ۖ فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌ فَأَصَابَهُ وَابِلٌ فَتَرَكَهُ صَلْدًا ۖ لَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ (2:264) O ye who believe! cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury,- like those who spend their substance to be seen of men, but believe neither in Allah nor in the Last Day. They are in parable like a hard, barren rock, on which is a little soil: on it falls heavy rain, which leaves it (Just) a bare stone. They will be able to do nothing with aught they have earned. And Allah guideth not the Kafirin. The Kafirin in this verse are otherwise believers, but those who spend their substance to be seen of men. Such men will not be guided الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ وَيَكْتُمُونَ مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ ۗ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا An-Nisa 37 (4:37) (Allah loves not) those who are niggardly or enjoin niggardliness on others, or hide the bounties which Allah hath bestowed on them; for We have prepared, for the Kafirin a grievous punishment. Verse 4:29 begins by addressing the believers; the same addressees are covered in verse 4:37. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَأْكُلُوا الرِّبَا أَضْعَافًا مُّضَاعَفَةً ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ Al-Imran 130, 131 وَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ الَّتِي أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ (3:130) O ye who believe! Devour not usury, doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah; that ye may (really) prosper. (131) Fear the Fire, which is prepared for the Kafirin: It is the believers who devour usury who are asked to fear the fire, and such believers who devour usury are the Kafirin. In all the verses above, most translators translate Kafirin as “those who reject faith” or as “disbelievers” which is incorrect because the addressee is the believer. He cannot be both a believer and one who rejects faith or disbelievers! The fact of the matter is that, since the addressee of the verse is the believer, Usury, etc is Kufr for him but not for the disbeliever. Otherwise, the addressee would have been all of mankind or “the Children of Adam”. What Does Kafaru Mean in The War Verses? Oppression and religious persecution are denial of the rights of others and are kufr by definition. The only justification for war in the Quran is oppression or religious persecution. There is no command to fight against the disbelief of the disbelievers. Islam, on the contrary, stands against compulsion in religion. Therefore, the Kafaru in the war verses means an oppressor or religious persecutor. He could be a believer or a disbeliever. His faith is immaterial. However, it is mistranslated as disbelievers, which creates the impression that the Quran is commanding war against the disbelievers for their disbelief or that the Kafaru cannot be a believer justifying fighting against his oppression. Translated and read correctly, these verses justify war against any oppressor, whether believer or disbeliever, to protect the oppressed who could be disbelievers. The Quran’s Message is inherently and fundamentally non-coercive. The war is against the oppressors, believers or disbelievers, to end oppression and establish justice and peace for all. The Methodology The methodology I have used is called "Qur'an bil Qur'an tafsir", which is what the Quran says is the correct approach to understanding its Muhkamat verses. The Quran says that the verses covering Islam are the foundation of the Book, and these are Muhkamat, meaning precise and clear. What makes them precise and clear is that their precise meaning can be determined from the Quran without recourse to external resources such as lexicons, ahadith, opinions of scholars, etc. Why do scholars then struggle with the meanings of words like Kafir, Muslim, Islam, Taqwa, etc., which are keywords defining the religion? Where does the problem lie? The ahadith guides the scholars, and these are inconsistent with the Quran. Their deviations are, therefore, by choice. They choose to be (mis)guided by the ahadith rather than be guided by the Quran. I have said that any competent logician will come up with the same conclusions as I have. Even Artificial Intelligence tools will be able to do what I did in the coming years. AI is not yet good enough for it, or maybe it is. I have not yet tried using it for this purpose. ----- A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/debating-islam/analytical-impressionistic-scholarship-/d/132929 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism