THE CONCEPT OF RELIGION

cover various meanings, aside from certain exceptions, each meaning may indeed appear separately, but no single verse states the comprehensive meaning that is collectively presented from different references. In other words, it’s like finding in different places phrases such as: “Zaid has heartfelt love for Bakr,” “When Bakr met him, Zaid embraced him out of love,” and “When Bakr came to Zaid’s village, he gave Bakr a sincere invitation.” Yet nowhere in the entire book is there a sentence saying: “Love consists of three things—loving from the heartfelt love, embracing, and offering hospitality.” The verses cited to establish the comprehensive meaning will be examined in detail, word by word, in the following pages. The error goes even further. Alongside it, another common mistake appears, to a greater or lesser extent, in all four terms under discussion. When the mind failed to find satisfaction in placing the essence and its requirements on the same level, it turned the entire matter upside down. What should have remained merely a requirement was elevated to the status of the essence itself, while the true essence was reduced and made subordinate to it. This is akin to someone who favours hosting over genuine affection, he won’t be satisfied by giving equal weightage to hosting amongst the three aspects of love. Instead, he would like to keep it above the other two. They would say, “The essence