As I read the Quran, which parts should I ignore?

[Union]

As you read the Qur'an you should not ignore any part of it . Just take your time to read with an open mind and honest intention . I would recommend the following methods in achieving the right understanding of the Qur'an :

01. Try to understand the context of the verse . To comprehend that you have to read couple of preceding and proceeding verses with respect to the verse in question .

02. Try to glean all elements through out the whole Qur'an to get a total picture of the issue of interest . For example , if you want to know 'Jihad' , you must gather all verses of Qur'an related to 'Jihad' so that it can give a complete idea what 'Jihad' really means . If you just cherry pick , it may distort the meaning .

03. Knowing Arabic is another essential condition to comprehend Qur'an . Arabic is probably the most preserved Semitic language of the world, widely spoken by millions of people around the world with official language for dozens of countries . Hence to learn it is very easy and all the instruments to learn it are quite freely available in the cyber world .

 

[icehorse]

Hi Union,

At the end of the OP I asked: "What do Muslims value and believe?".

That question remains unanswered. That's the real question here. I want to understand what Muslims learn and believe from the Quran?

 

[muhammad_isa]

I want to understand what Muslims learn and believe from the Quran?

You've got a funny way of asking..
You bombard with criticism of many verses out of context, and then?

..try one point at a time .. you might get somewhere then..

 

[wizanda]

Would ignore all the additions, where they've added brackets throughout, with their own understanding of what was meant.

 

[Union]

Hi Union,

At the end of the OP I asked: "What do Muslims value and believe?".

That question remains unanswered. That's the real question here. I want to understand what Muslims learn and believe from the Quran?

Good day Icehorse . Frankly speaking my answer will be a choking one . Muslims believe Qur'an but don't learn from it . They follow Hadith created by their Imams for their respective sects , e.g., Bukhari for Sunni and Usoole Kafi for Shia .

Shia and Sunni follow so many laws from Hadith , which absolutely absent in Qur'an , e.g.,

- Stoning to for adultery
- Kill apostates
- Sex slaves
- Fight for differing faith
- Child marriage
- Raping the captives
- Women half of men
- Women stay at home
- women should cover from hair to toe etc.

What I want to say is Muslim don't learn from Qur'an , not at all . Only one verse in Qur'an could have perished these IS , Al-Qaeda , Boko Haram , Al-Sabab and all other f*** devils from the face of the earth if all Muslims would follow the Qur'an :


[2:256] There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in GOD has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.

 

[Union]

Would ignore all the additions, where they've added brackets throughout, with their own understanding of what was meant.

Quite right . Much appreciate for sharing such important point .

 

[Jumi]

- 9:29 - Fight and subdue non-believers, have them pay the jizyah
===> This is for the non-believers who are already engaged in fight - not applicable for peaceful civilians .

How do they make them pay taxes when they are fighting?

 

[LuisDantas]

As you read the Qur'an you should not ignore any part of it . Just take your time to read with an open mind and honest intention.

What would you advise for those of us who do that and decide that it is not a very inspirational book?

 

[LuisDantas]

Would ignore all the additions, where they've added brackets throughout, with their own understanding of what was meant.

Wouldn't it be better instead to add our own?

 

[wizanda]

Wouldn't it be better instead to add our own?

Some times words can miss so much, that is better left to the imagination.

 

[LuisDantas]

Some times words can miss so much, that is better left to the imagination.

So I take it that you disagree?

I fear Muslims may be hurting themselves and their faith a whole lot by insisting on literalism, infalibility, dogmatic completeness and incorruptbility of the Quran. The endlessness and strength of the controversies about how to correctly interpret it seem to support that impression.

 

[Sees]

The bracketed words are usually accurate and helpful considering it's pieced together fragments which are not articulated properly as a written work or a regular book. Sort of out of context by design.

The add-ons used by faithful Muslim scholars are only bad juju when dealing with inherently difficult parts. Better to blame the scholar or the reader....

 

[gsa]

So I take it that you disagree?

I fear Muslims may be hurting themselves and their faith a whole lot by insisting on literalism, infalibility, dogmatic completeness and incorruptbility of the Quran. The endlessness and strength of the controversies about how to correctly interpret it seem to support that impression.

It might be for the best. There are already signs that atheism, socialism and even anti-Islamic ideologies are growing in the Middle East. Sometime soon these groups may reach a critical mass, capable of taking power. Much the same had to happen in Europe in order to subdue Christianity; heterodox and liberalizing elements were only strengthened after the political capitulation of religious orthodoxy.

 

[LuisDantas]

The best for society, quite possibly. But most certainly not the best for Islam.

Although I must admit that this does not exactly keep me awake at night.

 

[wizanda]

So I take it that you disagree?

There are blatant contradictions followed by Muslims, that can be looked at alternatively to what is written.

• There were messengers sent to all nations ('only Israel and Medina').
• Prophets and messengers make no distinctions amongst the books ('only the Bible').
• Etc ('only')...

They've simplified what could be a world religion of peace, if it was to understand and share understanding with all.

 

[Union]

How do they make them pay taxes when they are fighting?

Sorry man if I was obscure to express what I wanted to say .I was saying that according to Qur'an jizyah is imposed on only the non-believers who engaged in war against Muslim . Hence after getting subdued its only them who has to pay this , not those non-believers who had not waged war .
Whatsoever , Jizyah is derived from the root Jim Zay Ya , which is used in Qur'an for more than 100 times [Ref.2.85,2.191,3.87,3.136,9.82,9.95 etc.] . The root meaning of Jizyah is recompense , reward . It never meant to be tax in Qur'an .
Having said its root meaning , we can now look into the verse where this law is imposed :
[009:029] Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth from the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

'Jizyah' was imposed upon the people whom the Muslim nation was fighting with . If we start from the first verse of chapter 09 , we see that the Pagans were oppressing the Muslim in different ways and was engaged in war . Hence Jiziyah , which we know from the Qur'an means recompense , is the amount for making up the the losses due to the war . It could be in the form of money , property , service etc. Hence logically there shouldn't be any fix rate of Jizyah rather it should as much as to recompense the loss of the Muslim victim .

 

[Union]

What would you advise for those of us who do that and decide that it is not a very inspirational book?

Different men different minds , what I can say !

 

[LuisDantas]

Different men different minds , what I can say !

I'm asking specifically for advice for one who is asked to read the Quran with an open mind and honest intent and nevertheless finds out that it does not resonate with his beliefs, his perception.

What would that imply? Perhaps that the specific person is not really ready to become a Muslim, I assume? Anything else?

 

[Union]

I'm asking specifically for advice for one who is asked to read the Quran with an open mind and honest intent and nevertheless finds out that it does not resonate with his beliefs, his perception.

What would that imply? Perhaps that the specific person is not really ready to become a Muslim, I assume? Anything else?

Not so sure if my answer is the right one you ask , even an honest reader of Qur'an won't accept the prohibition of alcohol if he is a drunker nor he will find it inspiring the decree of flogging for pre-marriage sex in Qur'an if he has a sexual relation with his girlfriend .

 

[icehorse]

What I want to say is Muslim don't learn from Qur'an , not at all . Only one verse in Qur'an could have perished these IS , Al-Qaeda , Boko Haram , Al-Sabab and all other f*** devils from the face of the earth if all Muslims would follow the Qur'an :

[2:256] There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in GOD has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.

This is a key idea to me (the bolded sentence). I've often suspected that this was largely true. If so, then we can't make much progress in understanding Islamic values by reading the Quran. In that case, how can we come to understand Islamic values?