“Why should I immerse myself in the ‘worlds’ of the Quran?

When I tell you that we need to do our best to immerse ourselves in the “worlds” which the Quran presents to us, I am only following exactly what numerous ayat call on us to do. To know about historical nations, and especially to take a lesson from what happened to the wrongdoers, the repeated refrain is سيروا – literally WALK through the land and gather that knowledge. We can extend this instruction to all available means of research.

“Have they not traveled throughout the land so their hearts may reason, and their ears may listen? Indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the chests that grow blind.” (Quran 22:46)

Indeed, we find the same kind of rebuke in these ayat as we find concerning those who refused to ponder the Quran (Quran 4:82, Quran 47:24). It’s as though the two go hand in hand: study the scripture alongside the world. Scholars have often talked about this as “reading the two books”, i.e. Revelation and Creation.

“How should I explore the world around me?”

Now we turn our focus more to this World, i.e. the physical world around us: all manifestations of nature from the smallest particles, through the animal kingdoms, to the vastness of the cosmos. Here again, there are so many ayat which mandate exploring the world and rebuking those who remain in their arrogant bubbles. Again there is the instruction to WALK, but more frequently this is about نظر – LOOK:

“Have they not then looked at the sky above them: how We built it and adorned it, leaving it flawless?” (Quran 50:6)

“What is the purpose of scientific study?”

The purpose of this scientific study mandated by the Quran is not limited to advancement in this world, but is more commonly linked to understanding ourselves and our Creator. It is amazing that Muslims typically don’t give attention to pondering creation as much as the Quran is calling us to do, and it doesn’t feature proportionately in our collective sense of what it means to be religious.

“It is amazing that Muslims typically don’t give attention to pondering creation as much as the Quran is calling us to do, and it doesn’t feature proportionately in our collective sense of what it means to be religious.” Dr. Sohaib Saeed

“What role does imagination play while exploring this ‘world?’”

The Quran is itself a guide to that reflection on the Ayat of Creation, but just now we are thinking about how pondering on creation helps us connect with the Ayat of Revelation. As with the other Worlds we described, the starting point is imagination: listening intently to the phenomena which Allah the Creator ﷻ describes, then pondering on their details. The more background information that we can bring to our reading and reflection, the better we can appreciate the subtleties of what is mentioned.

“Can we actually use science to understand the Quran?”

Now, there is a concern that some people will raise here: can we actually use science to understand the Quran, when science is human, changing and fallible? This is true, but the fact is also that our scholars have always interpreted the Quran in light of the knowledge of their day, and this is only natural. The problem would be to treat the current understanding and theories as though they were absolute, or to impose certain readings on the text that couldn’t have been intended.

“What about claims of ‘scientific miracles’ in the Quran?”

A form of this problem exists in much of what has become known as “scientific miracles”. The basic idea is not unreasonable: that there may be truths described in the Quran that weren’t known to people at the time, but are confirmed by scientific techniques developed much later. However, seeking such examples has often led to fundamental errors which contradict the methods and results of Tafsir.

People can clutch at straws, such as those who claimed that the white, red and black mountains in Surat Fatir (Quran 35:27) refer to “rainbow mountains” in China or Peru! The valid reaction to learning about those mountains – which weren’t known to the Arabs at the time of revelation – is to increase in our wonder at Allah’s creation. Also, since the ayah in context is making a point about diversity among human beings when it comes to knowledge, among other things, we can see this illustrated even more in those wondrous creations.

“Can you share examples that use this particular lens?”

I will conclude this Lens introduction with a couple of examples. One demonstrates how thinking about stars, from a modern astronomical perspective, can reveal layers of beauty and meaning in the divine oath taken in Surat al-Waqi’ah: quranreflect.com/posts/6769