Interpretation of Islam: Tanwir al Miqbas Tafsir min Brett Gasper.
Reader comment on item: Guest Column: Muslims Combating Islamism

Submitted by Brett Gasper, Jul 11, 2012 23:46

I have spent about a decade studying Islam and the exegesis or tafsir.

I read the Qur'an and it was full of snippets and contradictions and not given to any real context - making it a very hard read.

I started reading Bukhari and read a passage attributed to Aisha, the wife of Muhammad. In book one, Aisha describes Muhammad's first visits to Mount Hira, outside Mecca - when the, angel, Gibreel, bade Muhammad, in the name of his lord "Recite" (Qur).

I remembered reading that passage in Chapter 96 and it suddenly dawned on me that the Recital (Qur'an) was not in chronological order.

Also, the original Qur'an has no tashkeel. Qur'anic Arabic (al fashah) and Arabic word etymology was necessary too.

Once arranging the Qur'an chronologically, I was able to construct a time frame and history in both Mecca and Medina.

The conflicting verses were then easy to sort out in their chronological appearance in a doctrine called "NSKh" or al nasikh w'al mansukh or the abrogated and the abrogator - which gets it's authority from verses like Qur'an 2:106.

I have long had the Qur'an memorized. The Taliban have mostly interpreted the Qur'an correctly. The history of the "salah fee al madhab" or "salafi" confirms their interpretation...

Islam was certainly spread by the sword and humiliation - refer to the Pact of Umar.

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