A Brief Study of the Koran
All the verses in the Koran which regard the Koran and religion as the factor providing light with illumination definitely mean that the light is the result of obeying them, for the abstract words uttered by the Holy Prophet and other religious leaders, and the written aspect of the Koran are but physical phenomena. The shining light arising from them, therefore, can be considered from two aspects:
1-Arising from God.
2-Obeying them is what creates light in man's mind and soul.
The Koran categorizes life in this world into two groups:
a)Worldly life: A purely natural, physical life which includes nothing but desires and pleasures.
b)Life based on reason (intelligible life): Such pessimistic nihilists are lower than even the starting point of the path toward positive mystic development and becoming a perfect human being, for they have not yet gained the awareness that may prove to them that the universe and their existence is serious and objective.
Such a starting point is not a fixed part of man's life that man passes and moves on; the start of awareness and awakening should always be with man and light up his path during his whole life. The awareness and awakening should increase both qualitatively and quantitatively as he ages.
The Koran and sunnat is also a very considerable issue. The Koran and the itrat (the Holy Prophet's family) are always connected; in fact, their association (as the bigger weight and the smaller weight) forms one of the most important hadith both Shiites and Sunnites believe in:
اني تارك فيکم الثقلين كتاب الله و عترتي ما ان تمسكتم بهما لن تضلوا ابدا
"I leave you two great things: the Book of God and my progeny. Follow them, and you will never fall astray from the right path."
Here, the word saqal has been interpreted differently, based on how "the book of God and progeny" is interpreted. The most suitable meaning of the word seems to be "weight," for the book of God and the Prophet's progeny are what Islam and Muslims depend upon.
What we mean by sunnat is the way of the Holy Prophet of Islam, which was presenting the good and evil about man in two dimensions – physical and mental. As we know, sunnat is Islam's second most important reference, and obeying it is every Muslim's duty. There are three forms of sunnat: the words, the actions and the writings of an infallible holy person. Since the knowledge our Imams had was based upon the Koran and the Holy Prophet of Islam, sunnat generally means what the Imams said, did and wrote.
On the other hand, sunnat interprets the Koran; it is impossible to make full use of the Koran without it. Those who believe that the Koran already includes all the beliefs, laws and duties man needs to know are either too stubborn or too ignorant, for as we know, the Koran does not include all beliefs, laws, duties and basics, and the minds of the public are naturally unable to find or realize them, too. Omit sunnat from Islamic references and all that remains is a series of basic, general beliefs, duties, decrees and moral ethics plus interesting stories in the Koran and some general mental issues that cannot explain or interpret all Islamic laws or duties alone.
It is itrat, the Prophet's progeny, who can interpret sunnat and the Koran, and indeed, if the Koran and the itrat were not enough, the hadith mentioned above would be useless. Furthermore, if the Koran alone were enough and everyone were able to use it in all circumstances, the history of the Shiites and the Sunnites would not be so full of jurisprudential research. Even those who do not refer to the above hadith, admit the necessity of obeying the Holy Prophet's way of life, and have in fact done so.
All experts on Islamic studies agree that Imam Ali was a statue of the Koran; he had complete knowledge of the Koran and absolute faith in its content, which showed in his words. Indeed, he must have believed that he was close to God according to these verses:
و نحن اقرب اليه من حبل الوريد
"… and We are nearer to him [man] than his jugular." (Qaf, 50:16)
و هو معكم اينما كنتم
"… and He is with you, wherever you are." (Iron, 57:4)
and had found out about it through intuition. He has also mentioned his direct contact with God in several parts of the Nahj-ul-balaghah.
Sunnat has been mentioned many times meaning 'way, law or principle' in the Koran and the Nahj-ul-balaghah, which shows how important it is to learn from the ways of life man has had throughout history; otherwise, not only would our study of the history of man and the laws of history prove incomplete, but also we must say that our knowledge of man's identity, his stable qualities – good or bad – would be helplessly inconsiderable.
However, contrary to what some ignorant people claim about Islam's lack of attention to the history of mankind, the Koran includes many stories that show how man has been in the domains of "man as he is" and "man as he should be," and provided special emphasis upon traditions that have been followed or should have been followed, which shows how wrong such unaware or stubborn people are.
Traditions and ways of life sometimes arise in the form of the law of causality and the law of actions and reactions:
قل للذين كفروا ان ينتهوا يغفر لهم ما قد سلف و ان يعودوا فقد مضت سنة الاولين
"Say to the unbelievers, if they give over He will forgive them what is past; but if they return, the wont of the ancient is already gone!"
(The Spoils, 8:38)
Actions and reactions dominate all aspects of man's life, whether individual or social; there is a sign of the law of causality in every corner of both mankind and the universe. In the philosophy of history as Islam sees it, there must be a law of action and reaction based on a fixed order and harmony in the domain of man's life, for without accepting such a basic principle, historical analysis would be impossible.
