عبد الرحمن أبو المجد
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القرآن الذي غير العالم حوار مع بروس لورانس.
(إِنّ هَـَذَا الْقُرْآنَ يِهْدِي لِلّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ وَيُبَشّرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ الصّالِحَاتِ أَنّ لَهُمْ أَجْراً كَبِيراً) [سورة: الإسراء - الآية: 9]
الكتاب العظيم الذي : (لاّ يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلاَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ تَنزِيلٌ مّنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ) [سورة: فصلت - الآية: 42]
قال تعالى: (وَمَا كَانَ هَـَذَا الْقُرْآنُ أَن يُفْتَرَىَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَلَـَكِن تَصْدِيقَ الّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ الْكِتَابِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِن رّبّ الْعَالَمِينَ) [سورة: يونس - الآية: 37]
لدينا فرصة مثيرة حول دور القرآن الذي يغير العالم، خصوصاً أكثر حول دوره في المربعِ العام، في هذه النقطة البروفيسور بروس بي لورانس سيتكلم حول وجهات نظره حول القرآن الذي غير العالم.
بروس بي . لورانس
الدكتور بروس بي لورانس، أستاذ العلوم الإنسانية بجامعة دوقِ نانسي، و جيفري ماركوس، أستاذ الدراسات الإسلامية ، و مدير مركز الدراسات الإسلامية بجامعة دوقِ نانسي، أستاذ العلوم الإنسانية بمركز جيفري ماركوس للدينِ في جامعة دوك، خريج مدرسة فاي و جامعة برينستون، حصل على الماجستير من مدرسة كنيسة لاهوت كامبردج، و حصل على الدكتوراه في جامعة يايل في تاريخ الأديان، تدرب للعمل بغرب آسيا (المنطقة المعروفة بمنطقة الشرق الأوسط) و جنوب آسيا، بتركيز خاص على الثقافات واللغات ، و التاريخ، والممارسات الدينية في تلك المنطقة التي عادة ما يشار إليها بالمنطقة الإسلامية، لكنه أيضاً يهتم بالتقاليد الدينية غير الإسلامية في آسيا.
س: أنت مؤرخ بارز في الدين عرضت " القرآن - كتاب الإسلام المقدس - في سيرة ذاتيةَ" غير عاديةَ ، ووصفت في كل فصل بأن القرآن وجه على مدى تاريخه، لأكثر من أربعة عشر قرناَ ، إنه سحر، و عجائب مدهشة ، ووجه ملايين المسلمين، وغير المسلمين، أَتساءل كيف وجه القرآن الملايين من غير المسلمين؟
بروس بي لورانس: أَعتقد بأن القرآن شغل غير المسلمين لمختلف الأسباب.
أولاَ انفعالي جداً , لعالمية نصه، و عالمية مفاهيمه .
وبمعنى آخر: ... ، أما الشكاكون الذين يشككون في أي دين، أَو المتطرفون في إيمانهم تجاه الآخر، الذين يريدون ذبح صفحاته، و كلماته، و رسائله لدحض الرسالة، و إثارة الشك حول النبي محمد كرسول الله الموثوق به والأخير.
من ناحية أخرى، كان هناك أولئك الذين ظلوا خارج الإسلام، قَرأت حتى الآن، أحدهم يسمع، و يتأمل، و يرد على "القرآن"كتاب الإشارات، إنه ملئ بالسحر، كما قال الرومي ذات مرة، لكنه سحر أبيض، نوع من الطاقة الكونية الفائقة التي لا يمكن أن تجيء إلا من مصدر قدسي فقط، وجه إلى البشر بنية حسنة حميدة.
أَحسب نفسي من بين المحظوظين الذي يستطيعون قراءة اللغة العربية، و فهممها فهماّ جيد، بما فيه الكفاية لتقدير، وفهم، وتتبع أعاجيب إشارات "القرآن"، إنه أفضل كتاب ملهم: و هو الأكثر قراءة، و الأكثر دهشة، و الأكثر رغبة في الفهم، و الأكثر معرفة، كم واسع ذلك المحيط، وهكذا بضع قطرات منه شربت، أَو يمكن أَن يشرب أبداً.
س: وصفت تفسير القرآن بشكل رشيق، و أنه مستعمل من قبل الأفراد، و الزعماء، و الشعراء، و حتى على جدران المنازل، في كافة أنحاء الكتاب، تؤكد التنويع العريض للتفسيرات القرآنية حول العالم، و على مر العصور، هل يُمكن أَن تتوسع في توضيح ذلك؟
بروس بي لورانس: يثبت الكثير من الناس بأن القرآن إما كتاب للقراءة، أَو للرسالة الّتي ستقرأ. أَعتقد بأنه كلاهما، كتاب و رسالة، بل إنه أيضاً أكثر من ذلك، إنه رمز الشفقة القدسية التي تشتغل بما بعد الأحاسيس، أَو الفكر البشري.
عندما يستعمل الأفراد، و الزعماء، و الشعراء، و المصممين الآيات من كتاب الإشارات، هم يدخلون روعته، لكن دخول فقط، نقر في جزء من عمقه، و لغزه، وثقته.
س: قال تعالى: (وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ القُرآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌ وَرَحمَةٌ لِّلمؤمِنِينَ وَلاَ يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إَلاَّ خَسَارًا سورة الإسراء) الآية 82
بعض الآيات مكتوبة داخل أقداح الشراب في اندونيسيا، ترشف من قبل من يُريدون الشفاء بالقرآن، قال بعض الناس: بأن القرآن يُمكن أَن يشفي حتى من الأمراض الخطيرة مثل السرطان والإيدز، عندما يتلو الناس آياته، ماذا ترى في هذه التجارب؟
بروس بي لورانس: بسم الله basmala لوحدها، من الكتاب، من الإشارات كنز لكل البشر، على مر العصور، و في كل الأماكن، و في مختلف الظروف.
قوة اسم الله في الإخلاص لا يمكن أن تقلل من تقدير، بسم الله، مليئة بالشفقة، عطوفة جداً تناشد صورةَ محيط بالموجة على الماءِ تنتظر أن تغسل شاطئ أرواحنا الجافّة، إذا تسقط أجسامنا أيضاً، كما في النهاية تعمل، وستجِد، لكل منا، ثم في تلك المرحلة المتوسطة، أَو البرزخ bazarkh، يُمكن الإغاثةَ من خلال الكلمات، أَو ماء الكلمات، من كتاب الإشارات لأولئك الذين ما عندهم عيون للرؤية، أو آذان للسمع، أَو عقول لفهم، هذه الكلمات ستبدو غبية، لكن في القرآن كتاب الإشارات (اقرأ سورة البقرة) أشارت بأن المرء يمكن أَن يتوقع، العديد من البشر يمكن أَن يرفضوا إشاراته المصنفةَ إلهياً، لكن رفضهم عابر؛ تظل قيمة القرآن دائمةَ.
س: كَيف تقيم تأثيره الكبير على المجتمعات و السياسة اليوم؟
بروس بي لورانس: لا أحد يمكن أَن ينظر إلى العالم، و لا يرى و لو قليلا من سورة الزلزلة، هل ذلك يعني بأن العالم كما نعرف بأنه، هل ينتهي غداً، أَو في هذه السنة, أو خلال عقد، أَو خلال قرن؟
اللَهُ أعلم، لكن المعيار لمُواجهة المستقبل، إن هذه السورة توجه هداية الإنسانية لكل يوم ، كل ساعة ، كل لحظة :
قال تعالى: فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ (7) وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ (8) سورة الزلزلة
أنا لا أعتقد بأن هناك كرة بلورية أفضل، أَو بؤرة في المستقبل مجهزة من قبل نوبل تحجز هذا القول المأثور، وهذا ما لا يفعله الآخرون .
لا توجد آيات أقوى من سورة الرحمن:
قال تعالى: هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانُ (60) فَبِأَيِّ آَلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (61) سورة الرحمن.
السبب لهاتين الإشارتين إلى الإحسان ihsan في القرآن المقدس، بسبب الحقيقة بأن الإحسان الأول مطلوب من قبل الرب، بينما الإحسان في الآية الأخيرة، الإحسان الأعظم، الإحسان النهائي، الإحسان في الحياة ما بعد هذه الحياة، وما بعد أي خيال لشخص ما يمكن أَن يتصوره للحياة الأخرى.
باختصار، إحسان الله القوي، الأبدي، رب الكونِ و ربنا.
س: عظيم ، قبة الصخرة في القدس لها تقديرات شاملة قَطعت إليها، تَأكيد على وحدانية الله الواحد الأحد، مكتوبة على الجدران * قوله تعالي: يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِنْهُ فَآَمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلَا تَقُولُوا ثَلَاثَةٌ انْتَهُوا خَيْرًا لَكُمْ إِنَّمَا اللَّهُ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ سُبْحَانَهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلًا (171)سورة النساء ."(4:171
و هنا للمرة الثانية الفخامة و لغز كتاب الإشارات ، إنه الحساب التاريخي للأديان الإبراهيمية - اليهودية ، و المسيحية ، و الإسلام - تقدم القيمة الحقيقيةَ في جبل الهيكل، أَو الحرم الشريف في القدس؟
أبلغني صديقي الفنان العالمي سعيد نسيبة في حديث مطول أن هذه الآية الكريمة "(4:171 مكتوبة على الجدار
بروس بي لورانس: لا، في الغرض نحو الله ،لا هيكل سليمان، و لا كنيسة القيامة، و لا قبّة الصخرة – كل منهم يمثل جزء من التوزيع الإبراهيمي، نعمة الانفتاح إلى الله، والشفقة القدسية التي جاءت منذ آدم، إلى إبراهيم ، إلى موسى، إلى السيد المسيح، إلى محمد"عليهم السلام".
ولذا فإنه ليس الأخيرين بأنهما أقل، لكن بالأحرى، فإن الأخيرين يُؤكدون، و يُوضحون كل الذي سبقهم.
بهذا فإن كلمة الله كما عُرِضت على قبة الصخرة، ُتصبح التعليق القدسي على معنى القدس، ومهمة كل الأنبياء الذين اعترفوا هناك، بأن محمدا سيكون معه الكلمة النهائية، كرحمة إلى البشر.
" قال تعالى : (وَمَا أَرسَلنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحمَةً لِّلعَالَمِينَ سورة الأنبياء) الآية 107
قال تعالى : (وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آَتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنْصُرُنَّهُ قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكُمْ إِصْرِي قَالُوا أَقْرَرْنَا قَالَ فَاشْهَدُوا وَأَنَا مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ) (81) سورة آل عمران."
س: أعتقد إن الكتاب"القرآن الذي غير العالم" كتاب مختصر جداً ، فقط أقل من 200 صفحة ، هل تَعتقد بأنه يكفي بما فيه الكفاية، أَو أنت ستضيف في الطبعات القادمةَ المزيد؟
بروس بي لورانس: أنا يمكن أَن أُضيف الكثير في الطبعة الأخرى، لكن لفتح أفق، أَشعر بأن اللهجات الرئيسيةَ لكتاب الإشارات فيها الكثير للآخرين، للرُؤية، و للملمس، و للقبضة، و للتربية.
س: ناقشت الخلفيةَ القرآنية للقضايا المعاصرة ، هل يمكن أَن تَتوسع في المساواة العرقية؟
بروس بي لورانس: يا صديقي العزيز ، ما قاله الراحل مقبول فدا حسين Maqbool Fida Husain ، أفضل مما يمكنني قوله، قال: عمل النبي محمد في العقد الأول من الإسلام - جعل رجل أسود - أثيوبي بلال بن رباح – أكبر شخصية إعلامية، مؤذن الصلاة الأول في الإسلام، لقد أَخذت الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية تعمل لسن الدستور الذي يقدس المساواةَ العرقيةَ 200 سنة، و مشروع الدفع بشخص ملون إلى الرتبة الأمامية لقيادة الجالية، هذا الحادث الوحيد حدث بانتخاب باراك أوباما في 2008م.
هل يعني ذلك بأنه ليس هناك تعصب عنصري بين المسلمين؟
بالطبع إطلاقاَ، ليس هناك تعصب عنصري بين المسلمين.
هل يعني بأن بعض المسلمين العرب يشعرون، في أغلب الأحيان كما لو أن القرآن الذي نزل عربياَ يعطيهم إدعاء خاص إلى منزلة، و امتياز ما، بأنهم فوق المسلمين الآخرين؟
بالطبع لا.
لكن كما و ضحه الإمام الراحل د. دي. محمد W. D.Muhammad ، المسلمين السود جزء من التراث العرقي، لا يحط ذلك من قدره الديني في الإسلام؛ و الإسلام له قاعدته العرقية الشاملة شملت كل العروق، و ساوت بينهم، بالإضافة إلى رسالته الشاملة.
س: بالرغم من أنك ذَكرت بأن الطبري ميز بين الإشارات الواضحة، و الإشارات الغامضة في القرآنِ، إلا إنني أَتساءل لماذا كررت ذكر الإشارات بالإشارة إلى القرآن ك "كتاب الإشارات"؟.
بروس بي لورانس: الآية Aya / Ayat ، و الآيات تعني الإشارات.
و للمرء يُمكن أَن يشير ببساطة إلى القرآن المقدس ككتاب الإشارات، أَو كتاب الآيات، لَكن ما أَعنيه أيضاً بمعنى أن عمل الطبري، وعلماء المسلمين البارزين الآخرين: كل آية إشارة.
و كل ال 6236 آية المجموعة في السور, حصاد، الكتاب (المقدس) إشارات.
أنا لا أَشترك، أو أشارك في تبني النظرية التي تؤكد بأن كل النقاط إلى الأسطوريينِ، قوة سحرية # 19، بالرغم من إنني أَعرف الناس، بعض منهم مسلمين مؤمنين، يشتركون معهم في مثل هذا النظرية.
بالنسبة لي، إن معجزة القرآن مصدرها بلا تقعر من الحقيقة، بصيرة، و يشفي لكل البشر؛
الأعداد فكرة متأخرةَ، 'معجزة' غير ضرورية *.
س: كيف تُقيم مستقبل العلاقات الإسلامية المسيحية؟
بروس بي لورانس: مشرق.
س: لمُواجهة التحديات التي تقف ضد مشروعية القرآن، مثل هذا المشروع البعيد المدى، استخدم الدكتور لورانس 39 مهارةَ ثقافيةَ، و حدسيةَ تشحذ الكثير من الأدلة العلمية ، هل يمكن أَن تتوسع في تبيان ذلك؟
بروس بي لورانس: أنا ما كنت أستطيع أن أكتب كتابي القرآن الذي غير العالم - بدون ارتباط استمر دهراَ مع الإسلام ، و المسلمين.
العديد من أصدقائي المسلمينِ طَلبوا مني اعتناق الإسلام، لكنني بعد محادثات مطولة حول القرآن، استنتجوا: " نعم ، يمكن أَن يكون هناك اعتقاد، و إيمان مع المؤمنين Iman and mu'minun الذين ليسوا من خارج هذه الأمة ummah .
ثم ربما أَنا أكون من تلك المجموعة."
أَتمنى بأنهم على صواب.
س: ما الذي تعنيه بقولك "أَنا إنجليزي محمدي ", و " مسيحي يُؤمنُ بالقرآنِ." ؟
بروس بي لورانس: بالضبط.
صديقي الطيب ، فريد إسحاق Farid Esack ، في مقدمته الرائعة في القرآن، يتكلم عن الأنواع المختلفة من الأحباءِ – الذين اتجهوا بغرض علمي غير الغرض النقدي العلمي.
لست أعفى البحث من المصالح العلمية، والبعض يضمنون الغزوات بالملاحظات الحرجة، و بعض أبعاد كتاب الإشارات، لكن الذي لا يمنع، أَو يردعني من رد فعل رئيسي.
في الحقيقة إنني أكثر متعاطف، و مكرس كل جهدي لكتاب الإشارات.
أَستعمل أسماء الله الحسنى asmallahu husna لانعكاساتي اليومية الخاصة.
أَصيح : "الحمد لله hamdulillah "عندما يحدث شيء جيد .
وأنا أَهمس أيضاً: أعوذ بالله "A'udhu billah "عندما يحدث شئ مؤسف، أَو غير متوقّع.
على الموتى من الأصدقاءِ أَو الأقرباءِ ، ردي الأول دائماً : "إنا لله و إنا إليه راجعون lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un "
وأنا أَعتقد بأن ذلك المصير حقيقة لكل البشر في الكون.
س: ترى كيف يدور العمل في إعادة التفكير في الدراسات الإسلامية من نهاية الاستشراق ادوارد سعيد إلى الأبراج العاجية على الرمل لمارتن كرامر؟
بروس بي لورانس: تتعدد غرضية الاستشراق الأساسية التي تستهدف الإسلام ، تجاه رد الفعل القرآني كالنقد في المذاهب الأدبية، كتبت بالتفصيل حول هذا الموضوع، و أنوى أَن أركز على الموضوع في أحد كتبِي الثلاثة القادمة.
س: لماذا العقائد الجديدة، و المخاوف القديمة : المسلمون والمهاجرون الآسيويون الآخرون في تحديات الحياة الأمريكية القوية التي تواجه طلاب الهجرة، و تجارب المهاجرين؟
بروس بي لورانس: المهاجرون متَحدون في كل البلاد، لَكني أَشعر بقوة تجربةَ المسلمين كمهاجرين في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية فقط.
تَبدأُ بأَن تكون مُضخمة.
كتبت معتقدات جديدةَ، و المخاوف القديمة في ظل 9/11، والآن أثر الربيع العربي، أنا يمكن أَن أَتجاسر لأتمنى أن تجربة المواطَنة تفيد المهاجرين الأمريكيين المسلمين، و على نحو متزايد أيضاً .
أتمنى أن يوفر هذا إلى تلك الحياة المكبلة بالعسكرية، و الاستبداد، و المحسوبية في مناطقِ الأغلبية الإسلامية بآسيا، و أفريقيا.
كتاب الإشارات يُبشرُ بالخير لكل الإنسانية، و ليس فقط للنبي يوسف، عندما يقول أب يوسف، قال تعالى: " (يَا بَنِيَّ اذْهَبُوا فَتَحَسَّسُوا مِنْ يُوسُفَ وَأَخِيهِ وَلَا تَيْئَسُوا مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْئَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ (87) " سورة يوسف (12:87)
عبد الرحمن : شكراً جزيلاً، ردودك العظيمة ستدهش القراء بشكل رائع.
Bruce B. Lawrence and Abdur-Rahman Abou Almajd around The Qur'an that changed the World.
The Qur'an
No doubt the Quran is one of the most books that has been changing the world so fast and wonderfully. It is the central religious text of Islam which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God and the final divine revelation, Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Prophet Muhammad, the main proof of his prophethood and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity.
The Quran was verbally revealed through the angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) from God to Prophet Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death.
Shortly after Prophet Muhammad 's death The Quran was compiled into a single book by order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and at the suggestion of his future successor Umar. Hafsa, who was Prophet Muhammad 's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted with that Quran text after the second Caliph Umar died. When Uthman, the third Caliph, began to notice slight differences in Arabic dialect he asked Hafsa to allow him to use the text in her possession to be set as the standard dialect, the Quraish dialect now known as Fus'ha (Modern Standard Arabic). Before returning the text to Hafsa Uthman made several thousand copies of Abu Bakr's redaction and, to standardize the text, invalidated all other versions of the Quran. This process of formalization is known as the "Uthmanic recension".
Here is the image of 11th Century North African Quran in the British Museum.
We have a fresh opportunity to reflect about the role of The Qur'an that changed the World, more particularly its role in the public square. At this point Professor Bruce B. Lawrence is going to speak about his views on the Qur'an’s role in the world today.
Bruce B. Lawrence
Dr. Bruce B. Lawrence, Duke University’s Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor, professor of Islamic Studies and inaugural director of the Duke
Islamic Studies Center.
(at Duke since 1971) is the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of Religion at Duke University.
A graduate of Fay School and Princeton University, with a Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge), he earned his doctorate at Yale University in History of Religions. There he was trained to engage West Asia (aka the Middle East) and South Asia, with particular reference to the cultures and languages, the history and religious practices marked as Muslim. But he also concerns himself with the non-Muslim religious traditions of Asia,
Q: You who are the distinguished historian of religion offered an unusual "biography" of the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book. and described in each chapter how the Qur'an has been experienced throughout its 1,400-year history, as it has fascinated, intrigued and guided millions of Muslims and non-Muslims, I wonder how the Qur'an guided millions of non-Muslims?
Bruce B. Lawrence: I believe that the Qur'an has been engaged by non-Muslims for a variety of reasons. One is certainly polemical, adverserial and contestatory, i.e., either skeptics of any religion or zealots for another faith want to cull its pages, its words, its messages to refute the message and cast doubt on the Prophet Muhammad as God's reliable and last messenger. On the other hand, there have been those who remain outside the fold of Islam yet read, hear, ponder and respond to the Book of Signs. It is full of magic, as Rumi once said, but it is white magic, the kind of surfeit cosmic energy that could only come from a divine source, visited on humankind with benign intent.
I count myself among the lucky few who can read and understand Arabic well enough to appreciate, applaud and trace the wonder of the Book of Signs. It is like the best of any inspired writing: the more you read it, the more you are amazed, the more you want to understand, the more you realize how vast is that ocean, and how few drops of it you have drunk, or can ever drink.
Q: You gracefully described the Qur'an's interpretation and use—by individuals, leaders, poets and even on building walls. Throughout, you emphasize the wide diversity of Qur'anic interpretations around the world and through the ages, could you elaborate on that?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Too many people fixate on the Qur'an either as a book to read, or a message to be recited. I believe that it is both a book and a message but also more. It is a symbol of Divine Compassion that operates beyond the senses, or the intellect, of humankind. When individuals, leaders, poets and architects use verses from the Book of Signs, they are admitting its magnificence, but only tapping in to a fraction of its depth, mystery and agency.
Q: Some verses are written inside drinking glasses in Indonesia, sipped by women seeking the healing powers of the Qur'an, Some people have even said that the Qur'an can heal from diseases such as cancer and AIDS when people chant its verses, what do you see in these experiments?
Bruce B. Lawrence : The basmala alone would make the Book of Signs a treasure for all humankind for all ages and all places in all circumstances. The power of invoking God's Name in sincerity can never be underestimated. In the Name of God, Full of Compassion, Ever Compassionate conjures the image of an ocean with wave upon wave of water waiting to wash on the shore of our parched souls. If our bodies also fail us, as in the end they do, and will, for all of us, then that intermediate stage, or bazarkh, can find relief through the words, or the water of words, from the Book of Signs.
For those who do not have eyes to see, ears to hear or minds to comprehend, these words will seem nonsensical, but then the Book of Signs (see Surat al-Baqara) has already indicated that one can/should expect many human beings to reject its Divinely Seeded Signs, but their rejection is transitory; its value remains permanent.
Q: How do you assess its tremendous influence on today’s societies and politics?
Bruce B. Lawrence : No one can look at the world and not see the portents of Surat al-Zalzal. Does that mean that the world as we know it will end tomorrow, or in a year, a decade, or a century? Only God knows, but the criterion for facing the future is the same that this Surat directs for each day, each hour, each moment of the gift of human existence:
So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (7)
And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (8)
I don't think that there is a better crystal ball or a sharper focus on the future than is provided by the Noble Book in this dictum, unless it is the other, equally powerful verse from Surat al-Rahman:
Is there any reward for good - other than Good? (60)
Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (61)
The reason I capitalize the second of these two references to ihsan in the Holy Qur'an is due to the fact that the first good is the one demanded by the Lord of His servants, while the second is the Good, the Greater Good, the Ultimate Good, the Good of a Life beyond this life and beyond any imagination one could have of another life, in short, the Good of God Almighty, the Everlasting, the Master of the Universe and of each of us.
Q: Well, The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem has extensive quotations carved into them, one emphasizing the oneness of God
And here again is the majesty and the mystery of the Book of Signs. Is it the historical reckoning of human religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - that gives the true value of the Temple Mount or Al-haram ash-sharif in al-Quds?
Bruce B. Lawrence: No, in God's eye, the Temple of Solomon, the Church of the Resurrection, and the Dome of the Rock - all are part of the Abrahamic dispensation, the grace of openness to God and Divine Compassion that came from Adam to Abraham to Moses to Jesus to Muhammad, and so it is not the last that it is the least but rather the last which confirms and explains all that precedes it.
By this reckoning the Word of God as displayed on the Dome of the Rock becomes the Divine Commentary on the meaning of Al-Quds and the mission of all the prophets recognized there, with Muhammad having the final word as a Mercy to Humankind.
Q: I think the book is very short, just less than 200 pages, do you think it's enough or you will add some more next editions?
Bruce B. Lawrence : I could/would add much more in another edition, but for an opener I feel that the major accents of the Book of Signs are there for others to see, feel, grasp and preserve.
Q: You discussed the Qur'anic background for contemporary issues, could you elaborate on racial equality?
Bruce B. Lawrence : My dear friend, the late Maqbool Fida Husain, said it better than could I:
What the Prophet Muhammad did in the first decade of Islam - to make a black man - the Ethiopian Bilal ibn Rabah - the first prayer caller or muezzin in Islam, it took the USA, with a constitution that enshrines racial equality, 200 years to do: project a person of color into the front rank of leadership for the community. This only happened with the election of Barack Obama in 2008.
Does that mean there is no racial prejudice among Muslims?
Of course not.
Does it mean that some Arab Muslims do not feel, and often act, as though the Qur'an in Arabic gives them a special claim to status and privilege beyond other non-Arab Muslims?
Of course not, but as the late Imam W. D.Muhammad illustrated, the blackness of a Muslim is part of his ethnic heritage not his religious destiny; and Islam has at its base an inclusive racial as well as creedal message.
Q: Although you mentioned that Tabari had distinguished between Clear and Ambiguous Signs in the Qur'an, I wonder Why you repeated references to the Qur'an as a "Book of Signs".
Bruce B. Lawrence: Aya/Ayat means Sign(s). One could say that I am simply referring to the Holy Qur'an as a Book of Signs or Verses, but I also mean it in the sense that did Tabari and other distinguished Muslim scholars: each verse IS a sign. Together all 6236 verses are a collection, a harvest, a book of (Divine) Signs.
I do not subscribe to the theory that all points to the mythical, magical power of the # 19, though I do know people, some of them devout Muslims, who do subscribe to such a theory. To me, the miracle of the Qu'ran is its bottomless resource of Truth, Insight and Healing for all Humankind; numbers are an afterthought, an extra, unnecessary 'miracle'.
Q: How do you assess the future of Muslim-Christian relations?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Bright.
Q: To meet the challenge of such a far-reaching project, Dr. Lawrence employs 39 the intellectual and intuitive skills he has honed over many scholarly years, could you elaborate on that?
Bruce B. Lawrence: I could never have written THE QUR'AN - A BIOGRAPHY without a lifetime of engagement with Islam and Muslims. Many of my Muslim friends have asked me to convert to Islam, but then after prolonged conversations about the Qur'an, they have concluded: "Yes, if there can be Iman and mu'minun (belief and believers) outside the ummah, then perhaps I am of that group." I hope that they are rightl
Q: What do you mean by “I am an Anglo-Mohammedan,”, “a Christian who believes in the Qur’an.”?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Exactly. My good friend, Farid Esack, in his marvelous introduction to the Qur'an, speaks of different kinds of lovers - uncritical, scholarly, critical, irenic.
I am not exempt from scholarly interests, and some of them include forays into critical observation of some dimensions of the Book of Signs, but that does not preclude or deter me from my major reflex: irenic. Actually more than irenic, I am passionate and devoted to the Book of Signs. I use parts of asmallahu-husna for my own daily reflections. I exclaim: "Al-hamdulillah" when any good thing happens, and I also whisper: "A'udhu billah" when anything unfortunate or untoward occurs.
On the death of friends or relatives, my first response is always: "Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un" and I do believe that is the fate for all humankind, indeed, for the entire cosmos.
Q: How does Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism differ from Ivory Towers on Sand?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Cosmopolitanism is as intrinsic to Islam as fundamentalism, pluralism as much a Qur'anic reflex as literalism. I have written at length about this topic, and intend to make it the subject of one of my next three books.
Q: Why did New Faiths, Old Fears: Muslims and Other Asian Immigrants in American Religious Life hold strong challenges for students of immigration and immigrant experiences?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Immigrants are challenged in every country, but I feel strongly the experience of Muslims as immigrants to the USA is just beginning to be amplified. I wrote New Faiths, Old Fears in the shadow of 9/11, and now in the aftermath of the Arab spring, I can dare to hope that the citizenship benefits Muslim American immigrants increasingly experience will also be made available to those whose lives have been curtailed by militarism, despotism, and favoritism in Muslim majority regions of Asia and Africa. The Book of Signs augurs well for all humanity and not just for the Prophet Yusuf, when the Almighty says through the father of Yusuf: "O my sons, go and ask about Yusuf and his brother and do not despair of the Spirit of God. Surely no one despairs of the Spirit of God save the recalcitrant, the unbelievers."(Q 12:87)
Abdur-Rahman: Thank you very much, your great responses will astonish our reader wonderfully.
The Qur'an
No doubt the Quran is one of the most books that has been changing the world so fast and wonderfully. It is the central religious text of Islam which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God and the final divine revelation, Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Prophet Muhammad, the main proof of his prophethood and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity.
The Quran was verbally revealed through the angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) from God to Prophet Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death.
Shortly after Prophet Muhammad 's death The Quran was compiled into a single book by order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and at the suggestion of his future successor Umar. Hafsa, who was Prophet Muhammad 's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted with that Quran text after the second Caliph Umar died. When Uthman, the third Caliph, began to notice slight differences in Arabic dialect he asked Hafsa to allow him to use the text in her possession to be set as the standard dialect, the Quraish dialect now known as Fus'ha (Modern Standard Arabic). Before returning the text to Hafsa Uthman made several thousand copies of Abu Bakr's redaction and, to standardize the text, invalidated all other versions of the Quran. This process of formalization is known as the "Uthmanic recension".
Here is the image of 11th Century North African Quran in the British Museum.
We have a fresh opportunity to reflect about the role of The Qur'an that changed the World, more particularly its role in the public square. At this point Professor Bruce B. Lawrence is going to speak about his views on the Qur'an’s role in the world today.
Bruce B. Lawrence
Dr. Bruce B. Lawrence, Duke University’s Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor, professor of Islamic Studies and inaugural director of the Duke
Islamic Studies Center.
(at Duke since 1971) is the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of Religion at Duke University.
A graduate of Fay School and Princeton University, with a Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge), he earned his doctorate at Yale University in History of Religions. There he was trained to engage West Asia (aka the Middle East) and South Asia, with particular reference to the cultures and languages, the history and religious practices marked as Muslim. But he also concerns himself with the non-Muslim religious traditions of Asia,
Q: You who are the distinguished historian of religion offered an unusual "biography" of the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book. and described in each chapter how the Qur'an has been experienced throughout its 1,400-year history, as it has fascinated, intrigued and guided millions of Muslims and non-Muslims, I wonder how the Qur'an guided millions of non-Muslims?
Bruce B. Lawrence: I believe that the Qur'an has been engaged by non-Muslims for a variety of reasons. One is certainly polemical, adverserial and contestatory, i.e., either skeptics of any religion or zealots for another faith want to cull its pages, its words, its messages to refute the message and cast doubt on the Prophet Muhammad as God's reliable and last messenger. On the other hand, there have been those who remain outside the fold of Islam yet read, hear, ponder and respond to the Book of Signs. It is full of magic, as Rumi once said, but it is white magic, the kind of surfeit cosmic energy that could only come from a divine source, visited on humankind with benign intent.
I count myself among the lucky few who can read and understand Arabic well enough to appreciate, applaud and trace the wonder of the Book of Signs. It is like the best of any inspired writing: the more you read it, the more you are amazed, the more you want to understand, the more you realize how vast is that ocean, and how few drops of it you have drunk, or can ever drink.
Q: You gracefully described the Qur'an's interpretation and use—by individuals, leaders, poets and even on building walls. Throughout, you emphasize the wide diversity of Qur'anic interpretations around the world and through the ages, could you elaborate on that?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Too many people fixate on the Qur'an either as a book to read, or a message to be recited. I believe that it is both a book and a message but also more. It is a symbol of Divine Compassion that operates beyond the senses, or the intellect, of humankind. When individuals, leaders, poets and architects use verses from the Book of Signs, they are admitting its magnificence, but only tapping in to a fraction of its depth, mystery and agency.
Q: Some verses are written inside drinking glasses in Indonesia, sipped by women seeking the healing powers of the Qur'an, Some people have even said that the Qur'an can heal from diseases such as cancer and AIDS when people chant its verses, what do you see in these experiments?
Bruce B. Lawrence : The basmala alone would make the Book of Signs a treasure for all humankind for all ages and all places in all circumstances. The power of invoking God's Name in sincerity can never be underestimated. In the Name of God, Full of Compassion, Ever Compassionate conjures the image of an ocean with wave upon wave of water waiting to wash on the shore of our parched souls. If our bodies also fail us, as in the end they do, and will, for all of us, then that intermediate stage, or bazarkh, can find relief through the words, or the water of words, from the Book of Signs.
For those who do not have eyes to see, ears to hear or minds to comprehend, these words will seem nonsensical, but then the Book of Signs (see Surat al-Baqara) has already indicated that one can/should expect many human beings to reject its Divinely Seeded Signs, but their rejection is transitory; its value remains permanent.
Q: How do you assess its tremendous influence on today’s societies and politics?
Bruce B. Lawrence : No one can look at the world and not see the portents of Surat al-Zalzal. Does that mean that the world as we know it will end tomorrow, or in a year, a decade, or a century? Only God knows, but the criterion for facing the future is the same that this Surat directs for each day, each hour, each moment of the gift of human existence:
So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (7)
And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (8)
I don't think that there is a better crystal ball or a sharper focus on the future than is provided by the Noble Book in this dictum, unless it is the other, equally powerful verse from Surat al-Rahman:
Is there any reward for good - other than Good? (60)
Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? (61)
The reason I capitalize the second of these two references to ihsan in the Holy Qur'an is due to the fact that the first good is the one demanded by the Lord of His servants, while the second is the Good, the Greater Good, the Ultimate Good, the Good of a Life beyond this life and beyond any imagination one could have of another life, in short, the Good of God Almighty, the Everlasting, the Master of the Universe and of each of us.
Q: Well, The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem has extensive quotations carved into them, one emphasizing the oneness of God
And here again is the majesty and the mystery of the Book of Signs. Is it the historical reckoning of human religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - that gives the true value of the Temple Mount or Al-haram ash-sharif in al-Quds?
Bruce B. Lawrence: No, in God's eye, the Temple of Solomon, the Church of the Resurrection, and the Dome of the Rock - all are part of the Abrahamic dispensation, the grace of openness to God and Divine Compassion that came from Adam to Abraham to Moses to Jesus to Muhammad, and so it is not the last that it is the least but rather the last which confirms and explains all that precedes it.
By this reckoning the Word of God as displayed on the Dome of the Rock becomes the Divine Commentary on the meaning of Al-Quds and the mission of all the prophets recognized there, with Muhammad having the final word as a Mercy to Humankind.
Q: I think the book is very short, just less than 200 pages, do you think it's enough or you will add some more next editions?
Bruce B. Lawrence : I could/would add much more in another edition, but for an opener I feel that the major accents of the Book of Signs are there for others to see, feel, grasp and preserve.
Q: You discussed the Qur'anic background for contemporary issues, could you elaborate on racial equality?
Bruce B. Lawrence : My dear friend, the late Maqbool Fida Husain, said it better than could I:
What the Prophet Muhammad did in the first decade of Islam - to make a black man - the Ethiopian Bilal ibn Rabah - the first prayer caller or muezzin in Islam, it took the USA, with a constitution that enshrines racial equality, 200 years to do: project a person of color into the front rank of leadership for the community. This only happened with the election of Barack Obama in 2008.
Does that mean there is no racial prejudice among Muslims?
Of course not.
Does it mean that some Arab Muslims do not feel, and often act, as though the Qur'an in Arabic gives them a special claim to status and privilege beyond other non-Arab Muslims?
Of course not, but as the late Imam W. D.Muhammad illustrated, the blackness of a Muslim is part of his ethnic heritage not his religious destiny; and Islam has at its base an inclusive racial as well as creedal message.
Q: Although you mentioned that Tabari had distinguished between Clear and Ambiguous Signs in the Qur'an, I wonder Why you repeated references to the Qur'an as a "Book of Signs".
Bruce B. Lawrence: Aya/Ayat means Sign(s). One could say that I am simply referring to the Holy Qur'an as a Book of Signs or Verses, but I also mean it in the sense that did Tabari and other distinguished Muslim scholars: each verse IS a sign. Together all 6236 verses are a collection, a harvest, a book of (Divine) Signs.
I do not subscribe to the theory that all points to the mythical, magical power of the # 19, though I do know people, some of them devout Muslims, who do subscribe to such a theory. To me, the miracle of the Qu'ran is its bottomless resource of Truth, Insight and Healing for all Humankind; numbers are an afterthought, an extra, unnecessary 'miracle'.
Q: How do you assess the future of Muslim-Christian relations?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Bright.
Q: To meet the challenge of such a far-reaching project, Dr. Lawrence employs 39 the intellectual and intuitive skills he has honed over many scholarly years, could you elaborate on that?
Bruce B. Lawrence: I could never have written THE QUR'AN - A BIOGRAPHY without a lifetime of engagement with Islam and Muslims. Many of my Muslim friends have asked me to convert to Islam, but then after prolonged conversations about the Qur'an, they have concluded: "Yes, if there can be Iman and mu'minun (belief and believers) outside the ummah, then perhaps I am of that group." I hope that they are rightl
Q: What do you mean by “I am an Anglo-Mohammedan,”, “a Christian who believes in the Qur’an.”?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Exactly. My good friend, Farid Esack, in his marvelous introduction to the Qur'an, speaks of different kinds of lovers - uncritical, scholarly, critical, irenic.
I am not exempt from scholarly interests, and some of them include forays into critical observation of some dimensions of the Book of Signs, but that does not preclude or deter me from my major reflex: irenic. Actually more than irenic, I am passionate and devoted to the Book of Signs. I use parts of asmallahu-husna for my own daily reflections. I exclaim: "Al-hamdulillah" when any good thing happens, and I also whisper: "A'udhu billah" when anything unfortunate or untoward occurs.
On the death of friends or relatives, my first response is always: "Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un" and I do believe that is the fate for all humankind, indeed, for the entire cosmos.
Q: How does Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism differ from Ivory Towers on Sand?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Cosmopolitanism is as intrinsic to Islam as fundamentalism, pluralism as much a Qur'anic reflex as literalism. I have written at length about this topic, and intend to make it the subject of one of my next three books.
Q: Why did New Faiths, Old Fears: Muslims and Other Asian Immigrants in American Religious Life hold strong challenges for students of immigration and immigrant experiences?
Bruce B. Lawrence: Immigrants are challenged in every country, but I feel strongly the experience of Muslims as immigrants to the USA is just beginning to be amplified. I wrote New Faiths, Old Fears in the shadow of 9/11, and now in the aftermath of the Arab spring, I can dare to hope that the citizenship benefits Muslim American immigrants increasingly experience will also be made available to those whose lives have been curtailed by militarism, despotism, and favoritism in Muslim majority regions of Asia and Africa. The Book of Signs augurs well for all humanity and not just for the Prophet Yusuf, when the Almighty says through the father of Yusuf: "O my sons, go and ask about Yusuf and his brother and do not despair of the Spirit of God. Surely no one despairs of the Spirit of God save the recalcitrant, the unbelievers."(Q 12:87)
Abdur-Rahman: Thank you very much, your great responses will astonish our reader wonderfully.