Laws of Victory
There are laws for victory, those who seek victory on any dimension: you have to have patience and perseverance, you have to work towards that victory. You have to give victory to Allah so that Allah gives you victory.

You have to be united, not only in battlefield, but everywhere, in order for people to have access to success and victory and what the Quran calls Al Falah. They have to be united, they can’t destroy themselves from within through their differences and their conflicts. And this is a universal law.

The Law of Providence
When Allah talked about the laws of providence, He is also giving us a law that if we thank Him, He will provide for us. And if we reform and rectify earth, He will keep earth as nurturing and as providing as ever. But if we start to corrupt earth, then earth will retaliate with corruption because this is the corruption that we had planted the seeds of in the earth.

Therefore, the universal laws are an important theme of the Quran. And when we read the Quran, we should notice these conditional statements and these consequential statements and these facts that Allah had given us so that we have the bigger picture, the bigger universal laws in our minds.

And they are very important because aligning ourselves with them, aligning our rules, aligning our morality, aligning our planning, aligning our understanding with the universal laws of Allah is the Quranic wisdom behind that theme of universal laws.

Understanding the Theme of Values in the Quran
A Thematic Interpretation of the Quran - 6

Dr. Jasser Auda
18 June, 2020

The major theme of the Quran we are going to discuss in this episode is a theme that has an impact on our lives and our thinking and the way we should understand Islam. It is the theme of values (qiyam).

So turn your face to that valuable faith… (30:43)

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The Moral World of the Quran
What is valuable in your life? How do you assess value in your life?

Unfortunately, as we all know, the material assessment of value is overwhelming in our time. So it’s important that we go back to that theme of assessing values and understanding values, and seeing what does the Quran teach us. What does Allah intend to teach us in terms of values so that we can establish these values in our lives and in our actions.

If we analyze the Quran thematically looking for values, we will see three kinds of values:

– A value we could call in Arabic An-naf’ (utility)

– A value we could call Al-khuluq (morality or virtue)

– And a third value that we could call Al-jamal, or ihsan (beauty)

These three kinds of values integrate with each other.

1- There is utility in things, it’s true that the material benefit of what you do is important, even though the material benefit is not just accumulation; it could be a kind of happiness, it could be a kind of pleasure within what Allah allowed… but this is one side of values.

2- There is another side of values, which is moral values. Usually, they’re expressed in virtues, not necessarily in the Greek sense, but virtues in the Quran are expressed in a very unique way as well.

3- There is a value of beauty, the value that Allah has associated so much with the root word ihsan (excellence).

The Value of Utility
Now, if you look at utility, you will see that Allah said:

Your parents or your children – you know not which of them are nearest to you in benefit. (4:11)

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

Be keen to gain what benefits you.

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The benefit is something that we look for. But benefits are not just according to how pleasurable we find them to be, but they have to integrate with the other themes of the rules, of the universal laws, the objectives… Not everything that we feel is beneficial is actually a value in Islam, because some of these things that we find pleasurable are actually harmful and not beneficial.

How do you know? What balance you can use?

It is the balance of the word of Allah and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Therefore, the utility is a value, but it does not mean, on the other hand, that we exploit our natural resources. There is a concept that is called “At-Taskhir” or making the universe available, making it beneficial for us.

Allah talked about this many times in the Quran that He did this taskhir (make things beneficial for us): the sun, the moon, the mountains, the skies, water… all of this is made available for us. But this does not give us a carte blanche to kind of exploit or destroy what Allah made beneficial.

The animals are also beneficial for us, but it does not mean that we make their lives miserable or destroy the species but making this available according to the other rules that Allah told us He made.

The Value of Morality
The second dimension is morality. And in this case, there are certain moral values that Allah is teaching us in the Quran.

The way morality is presented in Islam is not through a philosophical argument, whatever that is, it is actually through the example of Prophets.

Also, through the example of pious people who were observing these values in their moral system and in their moral framework.

It was through the example of Yusuf (peace be upon him) and other examples that Allah mentioned in the Quran that we understand chastity for example. We can’t argue for chastity philosophically, otherwise, we end up with the relativistic kind of chastity, or a conditional kind of chastity based on our own minds and our own logic.

But Allah is giving us the example of chastity in particular stories and particular examples so that we know exactly what chastity means.

So, in the case of Yusuf (peace be upon him) when the wife of the minister tried to seduce him, and when he refused that kind of offer, he is showing us an example of chastity. And the rest of the story clarifies this value for us.

Courage
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The values of courage that the Quran is talking about in terms of Prophets, especially Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in his life. The example of Prophet Muhammad that we read in the books of Hadith and the books of Seerah are part of this too, but the Quran is the best book of Hadith and the best book of Seerah.

We sometimes don’t give this fact due attention, but if you want to learn about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), it is the Quran first and under that you put the narrations of companions and followers who came after them and how they saw bits and pieces of his life, and tried to tell us about them. But the bigger picture is in the Quran.

This is how the Seerah should be “chaptirized” and understood in terms of events because it gives a different perspective from every human perspective that the narrators had given us, with all the respect to their integrity, especially the ones who are authentic.

I am talking about how the Quran is giving us the example of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) proper, and how we understand morality through his example.

The Value of Beauty
Beauty in Islam is not just material beauty, it’s not just the superficial beauty. The superficiality of knowledge or beauty are not only the kinds of beauty that the Quran is telling us to look for. It is actually telling us to look for beauty in many other things, not just how beautiful people are, but how beautiful animals are, for example:

And for you in them is [the enjoyment of] beauty when you bring them in [for the evening] and when you send them out [to pasture]. (16:6)

Allah is talking about beauty in nature, the different colors that you see, flowers, trees, the leaves, the fish… Allah is telling us a lot about how beautiful the universe is. This is very important for our well-being, and our faith, and our understanding of Islam.

Allah is also telling us about beauty in actions, like “beautiful patience”. Look at this expression how Allah is teaching us a dimension of beauty that has to do with our actions.

Even actions that could be unpleasant, or events in circumstances between people that could be unpleasant, Allah is telling us to keep it beautiful, like the case of divorce:

Divorce is twice. Then, either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment. (2:229)

Even though divorce is a painful event, it has to be beautiful. Allah is teaching us how to build your value system through the values of utility, the values of morality, and the values of beauty.

That is how a Muslim approaches the events that he sees in life. You approach big and small questions that you have through a value system that is a theme of the Quran, that is structured according to that theme, not according to our philosophical whims.

It’s important to give this theme due attention.

Understanding the Theme of Proofs in Quran
A Thematic Interpretation of the Quran - 7

Dr. Jasser Auda
26 June, 2020

The major theme of the Quran that we are going to talk about now is not a usual theme that people address. I thought though it is important to introduce so that we are aware of that theme of the Quran and internalize it, think about it, and study it further obviously. It’s the theme of proofs (hujaj or baraheen).

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How does the Quran prove something?

What is the logic?

What is the reasoning methodology of the Quran?

This is very important because often times we lack this kind of thinking; and we often times follow reasoning methodologies that are false, or what we call “logical fallacies”.

The Quran also addresses a number of those and is telling us what is a logical fallacy versus what is the sound and proper reasoning.

It is very important because the lack of reasoning and the lack of the reference to the logic of the Quran causes intellectual problems sometimes. Intellectual problems are not just philosophical; they have an impact on how people think and, therefore, how people act and react to what they see.

How to establish truth?

What kind of reasoning do you follow?

Usually, we follow the causal reasoning (or “al-asbab” in the Quran). The reason or cause is something that impacts reality and causes reality to change. Allah tells us a lot about that in the Quran: how the water He sent so that the plants could happen:

… and We produce thereby the growth of all things. (Quran 6:99)

Some Muslim philosophers thought that causality does not exist and that it is Allah who brings forth everything, and causes are separate from impacts. This is a kind of philosophical theory that is not really supported by the Quran because the Quran says:

“With it, We bring forth plantation”. And fire does cause burning.

The Quran though balances the causality thinking with teleological thinking, the teleology logic, or the purposefulness. So there is nothing in the Quran that Allah is telling us is a reason for something unless He tells us the purpose of that reason.

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Allah sent the water so that plantations could grow so that you could have benefits, and so that you could thank Allah, so that you might remember the sequence of events that brought you to where you are and so forth.

So, reality in the Quran is logically driven by two forces:

1- The force of causes from the past

2- The force of purpose in the future.

Obviously, people who are busy with logical philosophy debate teleology versus causality, and now of course, the status quo today is causality in science and so forth. But if we think about the universal laws, and these are purposes, they are ends; these major laws that Allah created the universe with are also ends that the universe is pushed towards.

Multidimensionality vs. Linear Thinking
In the logic of the Quran, Allah is teaching us what we call in today’s logical language “multidimensionality of logic”. Logic is not just linear cause and effect, but there are multiple causes and multiple effects.

This multidimensionality is very important when you look at anything. Allah is telling us about the historical events, for example, not just in a cause and effect manner, but the different dimensions of the historical event, the different dimensions of the natural events so that when we look at an event, we analyze it comprehensively and we don’t think linearly.

The linear thinking is a very simplistic thinking that yes you can read in the Quran, but the reflection about the logic of the Quran would show you the multidimensionality we’re talking about.

The Quran, through multidimensionality balances those contradictions that philosophers always argue between universality and particularism, between causality and teleology, between all of these contradictory views and interpretations of the logical structure of the universe that the Quran beautifully integrates all in a holistic and integrative approach.

Networks vs. Lines
The logical relationships in the Quran are networks rather than lines. Every meaning, every story, every personality, every event in nature or socially is connected to a network of events and a network of meanings.

The structure of the logical framework of the Quran is really a network structure. Perhaps this is impacted by how networks are very powerful in today’s logical structures. This view of mine doesn’t come from nowhere, it comes from a background of science and philosophy and so forth.

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The networks relations in the Quran are very important. This is very important so that we sophisticate our interpretation a little bit. It is not just one verse or a half a verse, or this word or that word that will bring that rule or that understanding; it’s actually all the verses that are related.

And if you reflect deeply, you’ll find that all the Quran is related to any question that you mention because of this web of meanings that are connected and interconnected. It’s very important in the logical framework of reasoning.

Logical Fallacies
The Quran also teaches us about the logical fallacies so that we avoid them in our lives and that we understand them when we see them. They are usually taught through the

stories of the tyrants in human history and how they used these fallacies for power and for authority that they claim falsely based on the false logic or the false claims.

A false causality, for example, when the Pharaoh accused Moses (peace be upon him) of being the reason behind all the calamities that had befallen them. But the calamities had befallen them because of their injustice, and because of killing innocent children, and because of the corruption on earth that Allah told us about.

It’s not because of Moses. Moses came to change that reality, but they do this false causality fallacy.

Personal Attacks
The Pharaoh told Moses, “You don’t even speak in our accent, you can’t even speak well like the others.”

That is a personal attack through which the Pharaoh tried to establish a certain logic, a certain authority, therefore your message is not true, or therefore you’re a liar… But this is not a proper reasoning because personal attacks do not change the true arguments.

Fame of Ideas
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It is a fallacy that the Quran tells us in many contexts in which people say, “because our forefathers didn’t believe in that, then it’s false”. Or “because most people didn’t believe in it and don’t see it this way, then it is false.”

Allah is telling us that most people do not believe, most people are not true in faith, and most people will lead you astray if you follow them… Therefore, the majority here is a good idea perhaps in politics to make some choice of leadership without conflicts in the society.

But the truth is not a democratic practice. Truth is according to argument and the logic of the argument. And the logic of the argument has to be true and has to be coming out of faith in the core of it so that it’s true, and not in the fame of ideas kind of the logic of how many likes, and how many views…

Unfortunately, social media has caused us a lot of support for the fallacy of the fame of ideas; but the fame of ideas is not a proof in terms of the logical truth in the Quran.

Power of Authority
This is another fallacy that people because of the authority places they have, they claim that what they speak is truth. But truth could come from people who have no authority, people who have no wealth… but they bring truth because they have a logical argument that is based on truth.

And the core of all truths is Allah, and the arguments that He made in the Quran are the true arguments upon which we should evaluate other arguments, otherwise we are talking about fallacies.

We ask Allah to guide us and to forgive us.

Understanding the Theme of Commands in the Quran
A Thematic Interpretation of the Quran - 8

Dr. Jasser Auda
01 July, 2020

The Quranic theme that we’re going to discuss this time is the theme of commands, (al-awamir in Arabic). When Allah has ordered us for something or forbade us from something. The do’s and the do not’s in the Quran (awamir & nawahi).

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The do’s and the do not’s in the Quran sometimes come in these Arabic verbs that mean do or do not, and sometimes they come in various forms of commands through the essence of the story, or an event that happened in this life in our history, or in the after life as conversation…

So the do’s and the don’ts are not only the four hundred verses as some scholars claimed that are what they called “Ayat al Ahkam” (the verses of the commands, or verses of the rules). The rules are everywhere and the commands are everywhere in the Quran.

And it is a theme in a certain angle that you can look at the whole Quran, and, of course, the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) explaining it through so that you can see what Allah is ordering us to do as commands.

Two Different Rules
When we look at the commands, though, in the Quran, we have to look at the higher commands and the more detailed commands. If you wish, the maxims or the basic rules, the basic commands and the detailed commands. And these are two different rules.

They are important so that the detailed commands revolve around the major commands. The maxims are hegemonic over the details; otherwise, if we only look at the details, which is the usual methodology when people read the Quran, they look at the details.

For example, when Allah divided the inheritance this way, or put laws and rules for the family law this way, or put rules and laws for trade this way, or for war and peace…

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Higher Rules vs. Detailed Rules
But the maxims or the higher level of commands are the guides through which we can understand the detailed commands properly.

It is through the higher objectives and the higher values of the family that we can understand the rules of the family; otherwise, if we took the rules of the family law away from the higher rules of the family law and the higher objectives of love and mercy, and the higher concepts of the family and relatives…

If we take the higher rules out of the picture and we are left with the detailed commands, then the detailed commands could be put in the wrong context and could be understood in a way that defies the purposes and defies the points behind the detailed commands.

If we understand the commands of trade and so on, superficially through just looking at the detailed verses without looking at the higher level of equity, the higher forbiddance of forbidding monopoly of wealth, then we are not able to put the detailed commands in the right context.

Therefore, the specific commands have to be integrated with the higher commands.

The Sunnah in Light of the Quran
When we look at the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as commands, we have to also find the integration between the commands that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave in the context of place and time of his time and the commands of the Quran.

So, he made judgeship according to particular rules and particular commands that he (peace be upon him) put that integrates the Quran. But they have to also be put in the context of the higher rules and the detailed rules of the Quran.

Because some of the rules he (peace be upon him) had judged are specific to his context to the kind of currency they dealt with, to the kind of land ownership and land-rentals they dealt with, to the kind of social culture when it comes to family, weddings, that he dealt with.

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Therefore, the commands in the Quran are higher. Not that the command of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) have any issue or any problem from an Islamic point of view, but they have a problem from a methodological point of view if we don’t integrate them with the higher commands of the Quran.

Integrating Rules
The approach to rules has to be also an approach that integrates the rules with all of the other themes that we talked about so far. It is not possible to look at the rule or the command without the objective of the command.

When I know that I am fasting so that I can acquire taqwa or heedfulness, then heedfulness will be my objective.

When I know that I am following the rules of the family so that we can achieve love and mercy, then love and mercy are hegemonic over the rules. The objectives of the rules are very important.

The concepts of the rules are very important too. It’s very important when we deal with rules related to knowledge, we go to the concept of knowledge in the Quran.

When we deal with rules related to the masjid, we go to that concept of the mosque: what is the mosque? What is the role of the mosque?

When we deal with rules related to certain groups, and this was one of the themes we discussed, we have to integrate the groups that Allah talked about according to the Quranic description of these groups with the rules that have to do with that.

The groups of poverty and richness, for example, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had dealt with that according to the currency of the time, and the poverty and richness of that time. But the poverty and richness today are different, and therefore, we have to go back to the Quran and integrate the meanings and try to understand what is

really the criteria upon which we can say that this is a person that belongs to the category of the poor or belongs to the category of the rich.

The Bigger Picture
Therefore, the categories in that theme is very important also to look at.

The theme of values that we discussed, there are no rules without values! And often times we understand rules in a partialistic way and we don’t integrate them with the moral value, or the beauty values that are associated with the rule, or the benefits and harms…

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So, we apply the rule without looking at the benefits and harms, or we apply the rule without looking at the moral value behind the rule, and that is a misguided application of the rules and the commands.

Therefore, the commands have to be put within the bigger picture.

Logic & Reason
The commands have to also be reasoned according to the reasoning in the Quran that has a particular way of defining logic and a particular way of defining fallacies.

Therefore, when Allah said:

And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. (35:18)

That is a higher rule that should govern our understanding of the commands, of responsibility, punishment, and anything that is related to that because nobody should carry the burden of another person.

When Allah said:

There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. (2:256)

This is a higher command that should govern all the other commands that we put under that so that we do not impose faith on anybody, but to educate, to advice, and to give a good example…

Real Freedom
That is how the commands are integrated with the rest of Islam. It is not possible to cut the ties between the commands in the book of Allah and the rest of the value system, the conceptual framework, and the objectives framework of Islam so that the commands are practiced properly and put in the right context.

Commands and forbiddences are very important theme of the Quran. When we read the Quran, we should look at the do’s and the don’ts that Allah has ordered us. And this is part of worship that we follow His commands.

This is not against our freedom or our interests as Muslims, but this is how we could be free by being slaves and submissive only to Allah.

When I am a slave only of Allah, this is freedom, because He created me, He knows what is best for me, so He commanded me to do, and He knows what harms me, so He forbade me from doing.