Quran As the Ultimate Source of History

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the final messenger of Allah to mankind. His honorary and the operative title was the Seal of the Prophets. The Qur’an, which was given to him, was likewise the final revealed guidance of Allah to people.

As such, the Qur’an looks as much to the present and the future, as to the past. While it aims to diagnose the present, providing answers for it and paving the way for the future, it also, in equal measure, amends and remedies the past.This is so on account of the principle that one has to know his past in order to understand his present and to be able to build up his future. The past is the foundation of the future. The present brings the two poles together and gives each one life as well as a sense of purpose.

The Qur’an speaks not only about some of the critical episodes of mankind’s history, but also about the history of life in general, and even about some aspects of the history of the universe. It intends to provide man with a complete spiritual, together with intellectual, framework concerning existence as a whole. It knows that only such can give a man a firm foothold to deal with the present and confidently look forward to the future.What is special about the Qur’an is that its author is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and life in it. Allah vows in addition that He will preserve its integrity and authenticity until the end. It follows that everything in the Qur’an is accurate, trustworthy, undisputable, and normative.Hence, a historical dimension is one of the many dimensions of the Qur’an as the permanent miracle. 

It was given to the unlettered Prophet (pbuh), who in no way could have been familiar beforehand with the Qur’an’s content.For example, in various contexts and with diverse degrees of attention, the Qur’an speaks about the creation of the universe and life, the creation of man, the commencement and earliest episodes of man’s vicegerency mission on the earth, various Prophets and their holy missions, various nations and their civilizational successes and failures, etc.

The Qur’an also evidences and preserves some of the most significant chapters of Prophet Muhammad’s mission, which was destined to forever change the course of human history and civilization.The Qur’an does so by turning frequently its attention to extraordinary facts and minutest details. It occasionally addresses the Prophet (pbuh) to the effect that he was not around to witness a historical occurrence, and that neither he nor his people had any knowledge about it, implying thereby that the divine revelation was the only source of the knowledge in question.To the Qur’an, history is a compendium of infinite signs, lessons, admonitions, and approvals. History is a book, so to speak, to be read and a “school” to be “attended.” Islam’s greatest enemies, it can be inferred, are myths, forgeries, legends, and superstitions, i.e., untruths.

The case of the Ka’bahThe instance of the Ka’bah (al-Masjid al-Haram or the Holy Mosque) in Makkah serves as a perfect example of how serious Islam’s treatment of history is.The Ka’bah was first built by Prophet Adam and then rebuilt by Prophets Ibrahim and Isma’il. It was the first House of worship (House of God) appointed for mankind, “blessed and a guidance for the worlds” (Alu ‘Imran, 96).The structure and the metaphysical message it exemplified stood for the divine truth, the intent, and the story of existence, and for the human honourable destiny. It was a representation of micro-and macro-history. However, prior to the Prophet’s liberation (opening to Islam or fath) of Makkah, the Ka’bah was under the control of the polytheists of Makkah. As such, it was immersed in falsehood, darkness, fabrications, and other sorts of spiritual and physical impurities.It was filled and surrounded with 360 idols, symbolizing 360 wrong visions, ideas, and interpretations relating to myriads of historical and current things and events. Moreover, on the pillars and walls of the Ka’bah there were depictions of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus (as Son of God) seated on his mother’s lap, of Prophets Ibrahim and Isma’il holding divination arrows, and of angels as beautiful women.

These were extra confirmations that people either deliberately distorted, or simply misconstrued, history.  In the midst of both monotheistic and polytheistic tendencies, the Ka’bah’s status and role were meant to be universal. Before the Prophet’s purification of it, it testified that people’s worldviews and life standards were faulty and that their fundamental aspects of history were erroneously articulated.There was virtually no hope for optimism, and no faith left to fall back on. People lived in the darkness and ignorance of the present time because of the historical ubiquitous darkness-es and ignorance-s. The former was the effect, the latter the cause.

The mere presence of Christianity, Judaism, polytheism, and the primitive forms of hedonism and agnosticism, was proof of such spiritual, moral, and intellectual conundrums humanity had to put up with. The lack of their historicity was as debilitating as the lack of their ideological assurance.Thus, while he was ordering that those misrepresentations be obliterated, and the truth about history and Heaven restored, the Prophet (pbuh) said about Prophet Ibrahim and Isma’il: “By Allah, neither Ibrahim nor Isma’il practiced divination by arrows.”He additionally said about Ibrahim, the father of Prophets: “Accursed be the Makkans! They have made our ancestors an idolater and a diviner.

What does Ibrahim have to do with divination arrows? He was neither a Jew nor a Christian nor yet an associationist, but a hanif, and a Muslim.”The Prophet (pbuh) similarly denied that angels had any bodily forms as depicted in the pictures of the Ka’bah walls and that they were either male or female.While cleansing the Ka’bah and restoring it to its original purpose and character, the Prophet (pbuh) recited these Allah’s words: “Truth has (now) arrived, and falsehood perished, for falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish” (al-Isra’, 81).It was only after the past had been rectified - both theoretically and practically - that the present was able to be duly served and the future planned.History and the biggest problems people face todayThose who decline to follow the message of Islam, decline the prospect of knowing and following the historical truths as well. Their most consequential theories and assumptions are based – as the Qur’an verifies – on sheer conjectures and what their own souls desire, which however avail nothing against the truth (al-Najm, 28).Ignorance about history begets confusion about the present and uncertainty about the future. That spells a perfect storm for creating and then perpetuating some of the biggest predicaments of man. For instance, the painful scourges of modern times, such as racism, endless conflicts, nationalism, environmental destruction, and spiritual and moral decadence, are mainly due to the engrained ignorance of history – as well as the truth - of mankind, religion, life, and the earth as the home.

Racism, ceaseless and fluid forms of colonialism, and conflicts are rampant because some people think they have been created superior to others, and that they should rule over them either by a divine or an acquired right. Religious degeneracy is prevalent because the Prophets have been rejected and their teachings deformed, resulting in good being bartered for evil, and honesty for deceit.This is obviously an upshot of certain people’s misreading and outright distortions of history. The Qur’an, as an instance, brings the Jews and Christians to task over their tampering with and altering of Holy Scriptures and of the terms of their ancient covenants with Allah, “changing and displacing words from their right places.”Darwinism, as especially Western modernity’s state creed, is also a big culprit. Its main ideas that man evolved from apes (with Stephen Hawking saying that man is nothing more than an advanced breed of monkeys); that natural selection processes govern not only plants and animals but also individuals, groups, and societies; that only the fittest and strongest will survive, while the rest will grow weaker and will eventually go extinct – caused irreparable damage to human civilization.The fault of Darwinism was two-fold. 

It negated and blurred the true history, while, at the same time, helping inscribe a fraudulent one.Darwinism promoted imperialism, racism, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. It cemented the principle that might is – and makes - right. The powerful ones can do whatever they want unchallenged, even if what they do is unjustified. Such people believed that by virtue of being powerful (fittest), they have been mandated (selected) by the laws and forces of life (and history) to do what they do.Moreover, the bio-capacity of the earth is abused to the point that mankind is steadily approaching an environmental crisis of global proportions. The culprit, unsurprisingly, is a being – man – which is still in the dark about its origins, significance, purpose, and destiny (history), and which not only turned its back on spirituality and morality but as well declared war against them.As long as man does not show respect to himself and his authentic past, he will never be able to show genuine respect to anything else in the present as well as in the future. All the fancy talk about sustainability and conservation is only a cover-up. It is but a sign of panic rooted in embarrassing ignorance. 

The chickens are coming home to roost. All of a sudden, the fact that man’s whole existence is in jeopardy started to emerge. It is finally dawning upon man that for the sake of his venal, greedy, and muddled ends he will not be able to devour ad infinitum the capacities of the natural world. It is very little that is sincere in the sustainable development discourses. It is all about that confused and avaricious being that is trying to save his own skin.Clearly, those problems will refuse to go away. People do not have what it takes to properly diagnose - much less cure - them. As consequence, they will persist as long as the historical causes that produced and sustain them remain alive.Equally true is the verity that if man knew his existential history, and if he held on to it, things would be different. Such knowledge of history is a precondition for effectively tackling any menace that may rear its ugly head and trouble humanity. 

Things would be definitely different, furthermore, if man knew and subscribed to the truths that he was created by the Creator with a noble purpose and that he was fully accountable to Him; that the earth was created for man to be Allah’s vicegerent on it; that everything in the heavens and the earth has been subjected to man and his noble mission; that the natural world has been created as a realm of Allah’s faithful servants, boons and blessings to man, enlightening signs, and as part of a universal equilibrium and harmony; that Allah deliberately created people different in every way, and made the nations and tribes so that they could know and learn from each other (“Indeed, the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct” (al-Hujurat, 13)); and that Allah continuously sent His Prophets so as to make sure that mankind stayed the course and did not deviate into the abyss of ignorance and falsehood, etc.

Zakat

The expression "in the cause of Allah" or fi Sabil Allah was generally interpreted "Jihad fi Sabil Allah" and so many jurists restricted this Zakah expense for this purpose.Muslim jurists also say that in the Qur'an Allah used the word "Lil fuqara' wa Al-masakin or 'for the poor and the needy' and the 'lam' or (for)" here means 'tamlik' or possession. 

Thus they interpret the above verse to mean that the poor and needy should be made owners of this money or Tamlik Al-Zakah.Since in public and social welfare projects no one becomes the owner, so, according to their interpretation the Zakah should not be used for this purpose. Thus you will find in the books of Fiqh statements emphasizing that the money should not be used to build the Masajid, schools, hospitals, hostels etc. because this money belong to poor and it should be given to them. There are some jurists who still hold this strict opinion concerning Zakah.However, there are a number of jurists of this century, such as Sheikh Muhammad 'Abduh, Rashid Rida, Maulana Mawdudi, Amin Ahsan Islahi, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and some Fatwa organizations in Kuwait and Egypt, they are of the opinion that the phrase 'in the cause of Allah' covers a broad category. 

It is a general term and it should be applied in all those situations where there is a need to serve Islam and Muslims.Those scholars consider it permissible to use the Zakah money to finance the Da'wah and public welfare programs. They say that the expression 'for the poor and needy' can also mean 'for the benefit of the poor and needy'.The modern jurists also argue that in the past Muslim governments used to build Mosques, schools and used to finance public welfare projects. Now many governments are negligent in this matter. 

Many Muslims are living in areas where there are no Muslim governments.Furthermore the financial needs of the people have become so enormous and diverse that earlier rules and restrictions cannot be fully applied and may not be very useful in every place.In his famous book Fiqh Az-Zakah, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, has thoroughly discussed this subject. His Fatwa is that in non-Muslim countries it is permissible to use Zakah funds to build the Masajid, Schools and hospitals.Muslims from all over the world go to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates etc. to solicit funds for the building of their Mosques and schools. Most of the business people in those countries give their Zakah for this purpose. Many people from all over the world use this money for building projects without any question.Now, there are many people who come to North America to solicit funds for their Mosques and schools in some poor countries. American Muslims are also giving their Zakah to build Masajid and schools in other countries.It is the concept of 'fi Sabil Allah' and helping the Islamic cause in many lands where it has made it possible to establish Islamic institutions and Mosques.

Zakah is basically for the poor and needy and most of it should be used to take care of their needs. I believe that for the Mosque constructions Muslims should make extra charity and should give from funds other than Zakah. However, it is not forbidden for Muslims to give their Zakah money for the building of Mosques and schools, especially in non-Muslim countries.Islamic centers should have a separate Zakah fund. Those who do not want their Zakah to be used in building projects, should give their money to the Zakah fund. But those who want to give their Zakah for the Masjid construction they should donate directly to that project."

What is Islamic studies?

  Islam is practised not only from west to east in a line stretching from Morocco to Indonesia and across every country in between, but also in much of Africa and more recently in Europe and America. There are communities of Lebanese Muslims living in Brazil and Gaelic-speaking Pakistanis in north-west Scotland. And Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. One in five people on this planet are Muslims, so it seems reasonable to try to learn much more about them.

Islamic studies, as taught in the west, is a discipline that seeks to explain what the Islamic world has achieved in the past and what the future holds for it. Its past is indeed rich. In 732, a hundred years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the Arab conquests had created the greatest empire that the world had yet seen, stretching from central France to the borders of China. It was held together by the Islamic faith and by Arabic, the language of the Qur’an. The gilded world of the ninth-century Abbasid court – whose capital, Baghdad, rivalled Rome – is evoked in the stories of the Thousand and One Nights. Here the caliphs established an academy, the House of Wisdom, which served as a translation centre where Arabic versions (later produced also in Toledo, in Spain) were made of the masterpieces of Graeco-Roman, Persian and Indian culture in philosophy, literature, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and other fields of scientific learning. These works, saved from oblivion by the Arabs, reached the west, were translated into Latin and ultimately made the Renaissance possible. Muslim Spain, for example, was centuries ahead of the rest of Europe in its lifestyle; its capital, Cordoba, had street lighting, underground sewage, hot and cold running water, public baths and other amenities while other European cities were sunk in squalor. Moorish expertise in irrigation and agriculture made the gardens of Spain a byword for the arts of leisure.

At the heart of the discipline of Islamic studies are the languages of that world and the investigation of Islam as a faith and a practical guide for everyday life. This involves close study of the Qur’an and the sayings of Muhammad. Beyond that, wide perspectives beckon, such as the workings of Islamic law, Sufism (Islamic mysticism), political thought, the major divisions of the faith (Sunnis and Shi‘ites), Arab, Persian and Turkish literature and the role of women. Islamic art produced carpets, luxury ceramics, precious miniature paintings and buildings of world renown like the Alhambra and the Taj Mahal. The grand sweep of Islamic history ,told by its own chroniclers, takes students from the rise of Islam and the life of the Prophet Muhammad, through to the first Arab dynasties and then further afield; to the later interplay between Arabs, Turks and Persians, to the Crusades, in which Muslims (here Saladin is the charismatic figure) and Crusaders co-existed, often harmoniously, and learned from each other in unexpected ways, and to the gunpowder empires of the early modern period – the Turkish Ottomans, the Persian Safavids and the Indian Mughals. The story is taken into modern times by studying how Muslims responded to the military and cultural encroachment of the West, achieving independence, and the roles they play in today’s globally interconnected world.

The British Academy sponsors research wherever it is carried out – in universities, museums and other institutions – into all of the topics mentioned above and many more. This Muslim culture left its imprint on the languages of Europe, with words of Arabic origin like admiral, mattress, alcohol, coffee, sugar, oranges and lemons, algebra, logarithm, cotton, magazine, kebab. There are over a hundred stars in the sky with Arabic names. We urgently need to get to know Muslims, including their faith and their civilisation, better.