Quranism: Difference between revisions

The concept "[[Five Pillars of Islam|5 pillars in Islam]]" is practiced and preached widely in the Muslim world and is a crucial part of the Muslim way of life. Yet this concept is not described or defined in the Qur'an in any way. It is only found in the hadith. Looking at the pillars individually, four out of five of Islam’s Pillarsfind their basis in the Hadith, and do not come (explicitly) from the Quran.

There are also characters supposedly contemporary to Muhammad such as [[Abu Lahab]] ({{Quran|111|1}} (and his wife {{Quran|111|4}})) and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayd_ibn_Haritha_al-Kalbi Zayd] ({{Quran|33|37}}), who have no equivalents in biblical literature to refer to, that are named but not introduced formally - so the meaning of the verses and who they are is highly obscure (if not impossible to understand fully) without secondary literature.

Scholars of Islam developed the principle of [[Naskh (Abrogation)]] which is used to reconcile seemingly contradictory commandments ''(e.g. see: [[List of Abrogations in the Qur'an]])'' in the Quran. This is where an earlier verse is 'abrogated' by new verses, and becomes no longer valid as the latest verse now applies.

The main issue specifically for Quranists is that the Quran itself does not come in [[:en:Chronological_Order_of_the_Qur'an|chronological order]] of the time of revelation, but mostly follows a pattern of longer Surahs at the beginning getting shorter as one goes through the book. Only by using extra-Quranic material from traditions is it possible to come up with an order to know which ruling would abrogate which.

But there is no obvious way to reconcile these on the basis of which time they were revealed in without the extra traditions.

Many verses lack any clear meaning without further context, a few (of many) are given below. For example it is impossible to know what the following verses are talking about by themselves (tafsirs generally link them to angels, though the third verse is sometimes also linked to humans reciting the Quran).<ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/37.1 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 31:1].'' Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.</ref><ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/37.1 Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Verse 37:1-5]''. Ibn Kathir d 1373.</ref>{{Quote|{{Quran|37|1-4}}|“By those ranged in ranks.  

As well as (see the expansive explanation in Tafsir Al-Jalalayn).<ref>[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/38.34 ''Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on Verse 34:38.''] Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864 ah / 1459 ce) and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 ah / 1505 ce)</ref>

..There are conversations reported between the Messenger and others and between believers and disbelievers, and there are often rapid switches between different conversations. ''There are even conversations where jinn speak to each other (Q72)...''</ref> beginning from verse 8 onwards, would not seem to be attributable to Allah without the tradition informing us that this is the case.Even the whole of Surah 105 (Surah of the Elephant) would be difficult to explain, as if Allah is speaking he's very strangely referring to himself in the 3rd person. The meaning of these verses are also very unclear without the tradition.<ref>E.g. ''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/105.1 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 105:1.]'' (Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.) summarises the general story.</ref>