The Bases of Islamic L (The Qur'an as the Main Source of all Islamic Teachings) Section �

The Bases of Islamic Law

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10. The Qur'an as the Main Source

of all Islamic Teachings

1 0. 1 .
The Qur'an
and its Method of I nterpreting its Teach i ngs { Tafseer)

The fi rst and foremost source of a l l teac h i ng s i n Islam or of Islamic Law

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is the Glorious Q u r a n . The Qur a n is the Book of Allah sent down to Prophet
M uha m mad �� the last of the prophets. It conta ins knowledge imparted by
Allah � for the g u ida nce of h u ma n kind and provides a code of cond uct for every

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o<§;fJ Section The Bases of Islamic
believer. It is a com m a n d m e nt a n d a uthority
for the bel i evers, provi ding sol utions to
eve ry situation that they may encounter
u ntil the Day of J u d g me nt. It is the 'ro pe'
of A l l a h thro ug h which i n d ivid u a l s
and nations can achieve
su ccess if they hold on to it. I t
is the rem edy fo r a l l the h u m a n
spiritual a i l m ents a n d a cts a s the
criterion to ch oose between truth
and fa lsehood. Its inj u nctions a re
clear, s u b l i m e and blessed.
The Co m pa n ions of the
Prophet � saw the Qu r'an as a rich
source of g u ida nce and d ivine
wisd om a n d spent their l ives
in sea rch of the treasu res lying
bu ried i n it. The wo rd tafseer is
d erived fro m the Ara bic word
fassara, which means 'to m a ke
clear: 'to show the o bj ective' or
'to l ift the c u rta i n'.
I
L (The Qur'an as the Main Source of all Islamic Teachings)
Tafseer (co m m o n l y tra n s lated as
exegesis or commenta ry), therefore, wo u l d
sign ify t h e science thro u g h w h i c h the Book
of A l l a h ca n be understood. I t means the
science which clarifies the meaning of the
Q u r'a n i c i nj u n ctions and causes of their
reve lation.
The Qur'an Explains itself,
Being its own Tafseer
The fi rst a nd foremost tafseer or
com menta ry on the Qu r'a n is the Qu r'a n
itself. The Qu r'a n repeated ly says that Allah
� has explai ned His verses and messages
of wisdom i n d iverse forms and manners.
To describe the featu re, the Qu r'a n uses the
term tas_reef, which means 'moving a round:
Th u s the Qu r'a n makes its verses distinct in
their mean ing by repeating them.
On studying the Qu r'an, one fi nds the
sa m e subject repeated in va riou s soorahs. A
novice mista kes this as a m ere repetition of
the same subject. But those who have studied
the Qu r'an closely and critica l ly know that
it is free from such superfl uous repetition.
Sometimes a n aspect wh ich
may be obscure i n one
The Bases of Islamic La (The Qur'an as the Main Source of a l l Islamic Teachings) Section �
place becomes q u ite clear in a nother context, or
the th rust of the text which is not obvious in one
place is q u ite appa re nt i n a n other, when put i n a
different context. To i l l ustrate, Allah says:
Lawful for you as food are grazing animals, except that
which is now recited to you. (Soorat a/-Maa'idah, 5:1 )

Th e pu rpose of this statement becomes

comprehensible in the l i g ht of a nother verse of
the sa me chapter:
Prohibited to you a re dead a nimals, blood, the flesh
of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other
than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling
or by a violent blow or by a head-long fal l or by the
goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal
has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter
[before its death], and those which a re sacrificed on
stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision
through divining a rrows. That is grave disobedience.
This day those who disbelieve have despaired of
[defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear
Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and
completed My favour upon you and have approved
for you Islam as your religion. But whoever is forced by
severe hunger with no inclination to sin, then indeed
Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Soorat ai-Maa'idah, 5:3)

Therefore, when com mentators explain

some verse, they fi rst check to see if an
expla nation of this verse is a l ready there
elsewhere in the Qu r'a n itself. If it is there, they
adopt it as their fi rst choice. Sometimes the
significa nce of a word is vag u e in one verse but
q u ite clea r i n a nother verse placed i n a different
setti ng. An arg u ment which is u n clea r in one
place is l ucidly clear i n a nother place. Obviou sly
the wisdom behind this Q u r'a n i c styl e is to make
its message accessible to a l l seekers of truth. I n
fact, the Qur'a n · is one entire whole with pa rts
of it explaining its other pa rts. What is stated
genera l ly in one place in the Q u r'a n is explained
i n another, and what is briefly mentioned in one
place is presented i n deta i l i n another.

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