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Is Quran An Incoherent Book?
he Qur’ān is an Incoherent Book?
It is generally believed that the Qur’ān is an incoherent book with haphazardly arranged verses.
Hamīd al-Dīn al-Farāhī’s Majmū‘ah-i tafāsīr, Amīn Ahsan Islāhī’s Tadabbur-i Qur’ān and Javed Ahmad Ghāmidī’s on-going exegesis al-Bayān have served to remove this misconception. These scholars are of the view that the Qur’ān was arranged and compiled by the Prophet (sws) under divine instruction. This final arrangement of the Qur’ān possesses coherence, both at the structural and at the thematic levels. It is not a haphazardly arranged book. At the structural level, the sūrahs of the Qur’ān are arranged in a very meaningful way by the Almighty Himself. This arrangement is closely related to the very theme of the Qur’ān. Similarly, at the thematic level the verses within a sūrah are arranged on divine bidding in a very meaningful way. This arrangement also is closely related to the theme of a particular sūrah.
Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:
Every person knows that it is the strong rope of the Qur’ān that holds together the fabric of this ummah , and all Muslims have been directed to hold steadfast to this rope and not divide themselves into factions. An obvious requirement of this directive is that we must turn to the Qur’ān to resolve all differences which arise among us; however, it is very unfortunate that all of us have different opinions regarding the Qur’ān. There are so many views in the interpretation of every verse, and most of these views are contradictory to one another and we do not have any reference point to decide which view is the correct one. If a difference of opinion arises in the interpretation of a discourse, the most satisfactory thing which can resolve this is the context and coherence of the discourse. Unfortunately, most people do not regard the Qur’ān to be a coherent book having a definite context. The result is that differences of opinions have become permanent. A lot of differences of opinion which have arisen in fiqh are because of disregarding the context of a verse. If this context is taken into consideration, one will find that on most occasions only one interpretation is possible.
As is evident from the foregoing discussion, what makes the Qur’ān a document having one definite meaning and one which resolves all differences of interpretation and thus verifies Al-Farāhī’s wordsالْقُرْآنُ لاَ يَحْتَمِلُ إِلاَّ تَاْوِيْلاً وَاحِداً about it, is the coherence it possesses.
The way the exponents of the Farāhī school of thought have revealed the coherence in the Qur’ān does not require any further discussion to prove that it does exist; however, what is the nature of this coherence? The following points will help in understanding it:
1. Each sūrah has a theme around which its contents revolve and make it into a unified whole. It is the most comprehensive statement of its contents. What the soul is to a body, the theme is to a sūrah.
2.Together with the main text of a sūrah, there is an introduction and a conclusion. The content of a sūrah in some cases can be divided into sections and paragraphs, and in other cases only in paragraphs. Paragraphs depict small shifts in the subject and sections depict greater shifts in it. The verses of the introduction and of the conclusion also may at times be divided into paragraphs as per the subject they discuss.
3. These paragraphs and these sections relate to each other not through a verse to verse linear connection but through various literary devices like parables, comparison or parallelism as well as through statements and passages which are conditional, parenthetical, inferential, modifying, cyclic or which signify corollaries, conclusions, questions or answers. This of course is not an exhaustive list.
4. The text of a sūrah progresses through these paragraphs and sections and gradually reaches its culmination. As a result, the sūrah assumes a distinct and unique form and shape, and becomes a complete and independent whole.
5. The sūrahs of the Qur’ān are not haphazardly compiled as is generally thought. They have been arranged in a specific order by the Almighty, and like the arrangement of the verses within a sūrah, the arrangement of the sūrahs within the Qur’ān is very apt and meaningful with relation to the topic they discuss. In a nutshell, as per this arrangement, the Qur’ān is divided into seven distinct groups and the sūrahs within each group occur in pairs. This pairing of the sūrahs is on the basis of the topics discussed, and each member of a pair has a complementary relation with the other. Some sūrahs are an exception to this scheme like Sūrah Fātihah, which is like an introduction to the whole Qur’ān. Some other sūrahs have come as a supplement or as a conclusion of a group. This scheme, with its seven sūrah-groups and pairing of the sūrahs, is stated by the Qur’ān in the following words:
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَاكَ سَبْعًا مِنَ الْمَثَانِي وَالْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِيمَ
And We have bestowed upon you seven mathani
which is this great Qur’ān. (15:87) -
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Is Quran An Incoherent Book?
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