The Quran: Its Status and Civilizational Role
The Quran represents the key to the desired civilizational development, as evidenced by the changes it brought about in the initial Arab environment where it was revealed, and the vast psychological and social transformations it induced in that environment and in other connected environments and psychologies. The Quran succeeded in reshaping the human being of civilization, or the new human capable of carrying the message of stewardship on earth through this upright and valuable methodology.
The status and civilizational role of the Quran are also evident in its immense ability to organize the vital energy of both society and the individual within a prominent framework of social and ethical features, linking earthly and heavenly objectives. This was evident in the first Islamic society (the real/experimental witness), where the Quranic revelation provided the temporal and psychological conditions for civilizational development, subjecting both the individual and society to perform their activities with great success. The Quranic message also subjected the simple Bedouin to its precise system, transforming them into civilized and civilizing individuals, demonstrating its effectiveness in reorganizing and directing the vital energy of this ignorant society.
The foundation from which we approach the Quran in this article is Allah's statement to the Muslims: "And this is a Book We have revealed [which is] blessed, so follow it and fear Allah that you may receive mercy" (Surah Al-An'am, 6:155). This verse indicates both a command and a warning; the first: a command to follow, where the form of following here is to act upon the Quran and its commands and prohibitions, through tracing the Quran with knowledge and understanding. This following achieves, as per the Quran, guidance for people to both worldly and hereafter truths, presenting them with clear indications of their situations, clarifying their questions, and distinguishing between truth and falsehood. Or collectively, the Quran's guidance includes guidance for intellect and knowledge, emotions and feelings, behavior and actions, society and systems. Muslims are legally and rationally obliged to follow and act upon these guidances, as they are essential for their worldly life and hereafter.
The warning is: "and fear Allah," which means a warning against distorting the Quran. Distortion in words is not feasible according to the Quran: "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian" (Surah Al-Hijr, 15:9). Thus, the second meaning of distortion remains, which is to disable the Quran from being practiced in the reality of Muslims, falsify its intended meanings, or mislead people from its function among them, which we meant here by the term "neglecting the Quran;" i.e., removing it from the reality of Muslims and their social and emotional lives.
This concept is the essence of this series of articles titled "What Has the Ummah Lost by Neglecting the Quran?"
The Concept of "Neglecting the Quran"
Neglecting: is the lifting and removal; it is usually used in contracts that are annulled by mutual consent, meaning the removal of what was agreed upon and its consequences. In the Hadith: " If anyone rescinds a sale with a Muslim, God will cancel his slip on the day of resurrection" (1). Therefore, by neglecting the Quran, we mean removing the effects of the Quran from people's lives and disabling its goodness and benefit in their livelihood, not removing or erasing the Quran itself, as it will not be erased from existence by the will of Allah who promised to preserve it.
Neglecting the Quran here is intended as the Prophet's complaint to Allah about the abandonment of the Quran; "And the Messenger has said, 'O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur'an as [a thing] abandoned'" (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:30). Although the Muslim Ummah did not claim that the Quran is magic or falsehood as the disbelievers of Quraysh did, their abandonment occurred knowingly after it became clear to them that it is the truth, they experienced it and acted upon it, but they returned and lifted it from their lives and systems. The role of the Quran in people's livelihood and their witnessed world was obscured.
More than abandoning the recitation of the Quran, the greater neglect is the lack of awareness of the Quran's social guidance role and its role in the movement of the individual and the Muslim society. The Quran is not considered a reference for solving social problems, guiding developmental, educational, political, and economic issues, or guiding the ethics of leaders and the community in general, nor as legislation for its systems and laws. This is the true neglect of the Quran in the reality of the Ummah. Initially, it was a silent neglect, and then its effects were seen in the Islamic life in general and the social movement in particular. This absence of that book, which should always be present in the movement and life of Muslims, was noted.
Neglecting the Quran occurred sometimes knowingly through responding to the Western project that separated Muslims' lives and systems from religion, and sometimes ignorantly by Muslims' response to this separation which was followed by a weak care for the Quran; in studying, practicing, and conveying, contenting themselves with the sound and body of the Quran in the reality of the Ummah over its spirit, energy, vitality, and reality. Sometimes it happened through temptation by ornamentation and coloring to distract hearts and minds from its guidance, fertility, responses, and answers, sometimes through intimidation and misleading by frightening people from approaching its aspects, rulings, and legislations, claiming that it hinders movement and the speed of life, and sometimes through misleading by trivializing its ideas and objectives through nonsense about it; "And those who disbelieve say, 'Do not listen to this Qur'an and speak noisily during [the recitation of] it that perhaps you will overcome'" (Surah Fussilat, 41:26). It was said about how to make noise here: by shouting, clapping, and mixing... so that it becomes noise that does not attract hearts or appears (i.e., does not have a standing among people), and its truth is not known, nor is its acquisition achieved.
Muslims in this era have excelled in making noise about the Quran and turning away from its truths; by embedding advertisements in its recitation, exploiting it in so-called charitable works, preventing the people of the Quran from connecting with people, promoting trivial matters with Quran slogans, making the recitation of scholars (members) only and excluding the general people (non-members) for fear that the Quran might infiltrate the souls of Muslims, focusing on the Quran's script, ornamentation, and colors while constraining the real Quran, and giving space for people of whims to exploit it in the worst way.
Points of Neglecting the Quran
Several points can be noted where the Quran was neglected, including:
1. The decline of Quranic studies in the Arab-Islamic educational system - mostly - in so-called religious institutions like Al-Azhar in Egypt, Al-Qayrawan in Tunisia, the Islamic University in Algeria, or similar institutions in other Islamic countries, and the absence of a clear methodology for Quranic studies in the general educational system or what is called civil education.
2. The decline of Quranic studies in their traditional inherited aspects; i.e., in linguistic, rhetorical, and interpretative aspects, excluding the Quran from social, psychological, cultural, and media studies, and others that are part of human development and achieving the Quran's relevance to changes and developments.
3. Weakening the role of the Quranic mosque, as the mosque represents a haven for studying and teaching the Quran. This role has clearly weakened in recent decades in all Arab countries, and mosques, Quranic schools, and kuttabs face serious existential challenges in the recent period in particular.
4. The weak role of the community in general towards its individuals regarding Quranic studies and teaching, unlike the commercial role that has spread in the outward dealing with the Quran.
5. This led to the expansion of Quranic illiteracy among Muslims, from illiteracy in recitation to illiteracy in dealing and relating to Quranic study and understanding, to illiteracy in benefiting and applying, to illiteracy in conveying and practicing.
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(1) Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu'jam Al-Awsat (1/272).
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