APPLICATION OF THE QURAN

APPLICATION OF THE QURAN Purposeful Guidance S CHOLARS have expressed a range of opinions on what they think is the key to understanding the Quran. Some believe that one must know 15 different disciplines in order to understand the Quran. Some contend that for this purpose, the most important thing is to know the occasions of revelation of different verses. Others think that the best way to understand the Quran is through the Quran itself. Yet others think the most crucial thing to know in this regard is the order of the Quranic verses and chapters. According to them, knowledge of the connection between the verses of the Quran is the master-key to understanding the Quran. The fact, however, is that all these claims are only partially correct. There are two levels of Quranic comprehension—the first is the Quran, and the second is the applied Quran. The first level in understanding the Quran is to know how those who lived at the time when the Quran was being revealed understood it. The second level is to try to understand what its applied meaning is in the context of the changed conditions of today. These conditions for understanding the Quran can be helpful only at the first level of understanding. But, for the second level of Quranic comprehension—the understanding of its applied meaning in the contemporary context—these conditions are wholly insufficient. The only benefit of understanding the Quran at the basic level is that the Quran becomes an understandable book in the historical sense. But as far as the present age is concerned, the current generation will not gain any guidance from it. They may accept the Quran only as a matter of belief, but it will not be possible for them to make the Quran as a living guide, although the actual significance of the Quran is its guidance meant for all times and for all people. Consider, in this regard, Chapter Joseph (Surah Yusuf) the twelfth chapter in the Quran. God has referred to the story of Joseph recounted in this chapter as the ‘best story’. This indicates that this chapter narrates something exceptional. Quranic commentaries written in Arabic and other languages, feature considerable discussion about this chapter. But there is no clear guidance from any commentary on why the story of Prophet Joseph is the ‘best story’. Reason demands that if this story is the ‘best story’,