The SPIRIT Of The KORAN

As an outcome of their failure to READ the SPIRIT of our holy book Koran al-Karim, some people, who are against the Religion of Islam informed by Mohammed (peace be upon him) as a "Rasul of Allah"…, often ask the following criticizing question:

"Hazrat Mohammed came some 14 hundred years ago as a prophet to a society of about five thousand people, the majority of which consisted of people with a primitive level of understanding. According to their custom, daughters were buried alive and killed in the sand at their early ages because the men believed they would cause shame for their fathers when they grew up. Women could be sold and bought like a commodity countless times, as they were not considered as humans and they had no rights. Of course in such a society the questions and the problems had taken form according to the prevailing level of understanding of the people and the solution for those questions and problems were the means for the formation of the Koran.

If Hazrat Mohammed had come to the world in the Poles instead of his area of birth, the book he was going to communicate at his time of prophethood, would take form according to the questions and problems regarding the social conditions, customs and traditions of Eskimos.

In this case, as no other prophet nor a book will come as informed by that Book itself, then how can the people of our age, be controlled with those rules set up for such a community with an obvious level of understanding?.. Wouldn’t those rules make this book invalid even for yesterday or today, let alone reach beyond the coming centuries. How can it be possible to speak to the countless societies living all over the world today with the rules that have been formed according to the prevailing understanding of some 14 hundred years ago? Is the Koran going to let people into heaven by taking them back to 1400 years?"

Yes, this is the question that atheists and non-believers put forth from their perspective and based on their level of understanding!.

It may be true or false, but, in my humble opinion, here is the answer to them…

Considering those who understand the "SPIRIT" of the Koran al-Karim, it is a Book that includes all of the information needed to enlighten people and to provide them with the bliss of Hereafter (akhirat), as long as humanity exists!..

Moreover, in most parts it explains to people the information and life requirements that will benefit them forever including even the dimensions of hell and heaven… It explains the truth of humanity and what the name "ALLAH" refers to!

In my previous discussions, I have made it clear that the information in the Koran in some parts originates from the perfect spiritual wisdom (kamalat) of "nubuwwa" while the other parts from the perfect spiritual wisdom of "risalat"; and that information originated from the perfection of risalat will eternally rule and will be able to make people gain new unfoldments (developments)… They are like the Chapters of "ikhlas" and "Fatiha" communicated through the spiritual perfection of "Risalat".

Such themes as marriage, inheritance, right of testimony and retaliation that originate from the perfect spiritual wisdom of Nubuwwa and that guide people’s social life within a community, are statements (hukm) that carry weight as long as a person lives in this world and they disappear with person’s death.

Let us now try to perceive and understand the SPIRIT of the Koran aI-Karim….

Is the Koran a book which has been communicated to us with an aim of taking people backwards, towards the primitive life of centuries ago, to fix and lock them into that reverted way of life?.. Or else… Does it guide people in preparation for the future and show them the way to advancement - perfection and turn them towards what is the most perfect?..

Hazrat Ali whom I believe to be one of the leading figures among those who have understood that great book best, has said the following as a result of that understanding:

"Bring up your children not for the time that you live, but for the time that they will live!."

Such a (futuristic) life style and the point of view ahead of its time belongs to a Person who had spent all his boyhood and young years with Hazrat Mohammed (peace be upon him) and who has obtained the SPIRIT of the Koran from Him…

Considering the statements that nourish societies through the spring of nubuwwa… All of them are aimed to verify the rights of womanhood for females, who had from early times until then been ignored as humans and treated as commercial sex materials. Treating them as commercial goods has been disallowed, they are provided with certain rights as a spouse and their right of "testifying" as witnesses has been admitted while they had no voice in society at that time and also their rights to take share from the inheritance have been established!..

Now, please, try to grasp the following fact with understanding and insight:

Regarding its SPIRIT, the Koran has brought commands (statements) aimed to prevent us from getting stuck in the past, to stop us going backwards, to eliminate injustice (unfairness) and to encourage people always to consider matters with respect to future conditions!..

BESIDES… Believing that it may help to understand the Koran more realistically, I should point out the following as my personal opinion, without obligation…

While bringing those commands, the Koran does not say that you should not establish an equality by means of increasing those rights and you should not move forward but should standstill without advancement where you are and let woman remain as a second class!.

While confining the right of possessing numerous women up to four as a progress, it warns however that it is much more beneficial to live with a single wife and this is set as a goal…

While we are informed that Zakat (one fourtieth of possessions to give as charity) is a minimum right for other people, it is besides considered exemplary to share what is in your possession as much as possible in terms of charity.

I mean, these rights acknowledged for woman are not their ultimate rights and are not limited there, but they are the basics for the system of rights that should be developed in proportion with the evolution of the society, the men and the women…

If the woman who had no right of voice has been given the right to give testimony in company with another woman (in a lawsuit), it does not mean that this practice will remain the same forever. In my opinion, it means that the woman may have equal rights with men proportional to their advancement! At least it has then been made possible for "women who had no right of voice," to live as a human and to "give their testimony" together with another woman. That means, in time, when you, as the members of the society come to appreciate the value of women; when you start noticing that she too is a servant of Allah like yourselves, that she has a place on earth as a human and a "KHALIPH", you should not hinder her from having equal rights with man.

If a society recognizes the right of testifying for one woman having equal rights with a man, it will never contradict with the "SPIRIT" of the Koran in my understanding; and furthermore, this is more appropriate…

While a woman, who had no share in a heritage, is provided with the right of having at least half as much as that of a man according to the conditions in those days, it does not mean that, mind you, that a larger inheritance should be avoided!.. On the contrary, it is a sign of a society’s advancement in accordance with the "SPIRIT" of the Koran to give woman equal shares with man…

In other words, the SPIRIT of the Koran has determined the bottom limits with those commands to prevent going backwards, but it has never put a limit for progressive practices, according to my understanding…

It is therefore that there is no need for another book to come after the Koran, and in this respect, Hazrat Mohammed (peace be upon him) has been the last of all the prophets (khatamun nabii), since he explained human rights without requiring any limitation for progress and because it is open for future advancement of understanding.

The Koran that reveals the system in terms of afterlife conditions and of knowing Allah, through [the medium of] risalat, has improved, developed human rights as much as possible within the existing conditions of that day, and determined them as the bottom limits without forbidding further advancement in due course of time, through [the medium of] "nubuwwa".

That basic principle is the "SPIRIT of the Koran" as far as I understand, which provides that Aziz (Magnificent) Book with eternal validity without any necessity for another book to come.