The Need for an Additional Qualification

INTERPRETATION BASED ON PERSONAL INSIGHT come to their lips. This is the takbeer of the Lord that the Quran instructs. 2. At the beginning of the Quran, there is a verse: “Dhalika al-kitab la rayba fihi” (2:2), which means: “This is the Book (from God); there is no doubt in it,” or, “This is a Book in which there is no doubt.” There is some disagreement about the grammatical structure of this verse. However, every commentator has understood “al-kitab” here to mean an actual book. One person, however, has written that all commonly accepted translations that render “dhalika al-kitab” as “book” are incorrect. According to him, the Quran is a treasure of all knowledge. Therefore, the closest translation of “dhalika al-kitab” would be: “This is an encyclopedia.” This translation is clearly based on personal opinion rather than on factual knowledge. An encyclopedia is a book that compiles various kinds of information. However, the Quran is not an encyclopedic collection of facts. Instead, it is a compilation of knowledge and insight. It is certainly a treasure of wisdom but not, in the traditional sense of the word, a storehouse of facts. For example, the Islamic declaration of faith is La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah—”There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” Yet, this full statement does not appear in one place in the Quran. In Islam, five daily prayers are obligatory, but the Quran