Sarah Khan

Professor William Graham

ISLAMCIV 158
3 February 2016
Response Paper 1: Historical Context
Mattsons reminder that Qurans readers should not be expecting either single unifying theme in one chapter or
a straightforward and linear narrative in the overall Quran, and that they must be prepared to quickly shift
attention to a new concern at any moment(p. 1591) was helpful in reading the first twenty Meccan surahs
which are marked by a myriad of themes including Gods favours upon humans, the Day of Judgment, rewards
for good deeds, avoidance of hypocrisy, punishment for bad deeds particularly slandering, greed, persecuting
and disbelieving the Prophet and so forth. Qurans resemblance to the human predisposition to not preoccupy
at length on one aspect of life but keep altering between various concerns turned out to be an important
reminder to read the Quran without getting impatient.
Apart from that, the historical context of Qurans language also proved to be very educative. A verse from the
Quran (9:111), often alluded to in certain mystical poetry, which refers to God purchasing human souls at the
Day of Judgment had often appeared baffling to me on account of it using such a mercantile expression chosen
to illustrate the relation between God and human, supposedly intimate and spiritual, at the time of the Return.
The readings for this week giving a detailed account of the geographical, political and socio-economic
background of Arabia and its surrounding regions come close to resolving this puzzle by tying the speech of
the Quran to the conditions prevalent in Arabia in the early seventh century. Undoubtedly then, it cannot be
overlooked while trying to understand Quranic discourse that socio-economic characteristics in Arabia had a
deep impact on Qurans language, symbolism, and imagery. Mecca is said to be a bustling commercial center
in Arabia, and Medina was also known to be rich in commerce to an extent, both cities where Quran was
revealed. Bell cites (p. 4) that since Quran was addressed to people avidly engaged in commerce, it is marked
by expressions such as account of deeds, balance is set up, and deeds are weighed. Hence, it is clear that
Qurans language exhibits an implicit desire to be resonated with people amid whom it is revealed so that its
message is understood more clearly, with metaphors picked directly out of the everyday life of the Arabs, or
Meccans in particular. In this context, the aforementioned verse 9:111 appears to be unsurprising by its

implying that if souls are refined by good deeds, God will purchase them at a higher price, and the addressees
would not find themselves at loss. This is certainly a clever didactic moralizing tool addressed to those whose
vocation and livelihood impinges directly on the importance of profits and the undesirability of losses. Quranic
language, thus, also makes references to cattle and tribes, because of the desert lifestyle prevalent in Arabia as
well the common form of tribal affiliations. Apart from having access to the historical conditions to somewhat
decipher the language of the Quran, knowledge of pre-Islamic life in Arabia is also crucial, according to
Hawting, to understand the asbab-al-nuzul (occasions of revelation) to understand the context of Quranic
verses. Mattson identifies certain tendencies while reading the Quran, for instance that of proving a particular
legal judgment by citing a single verse, or reiterating or prioritizing some verses to prioritize general spiritual
principles above legal content (p. 1588). Another tendency of de-contextualizing is seen when certain verses
from Quran are quoted out of context such as those revealed to motivate the Muslims during particular battle
and seen as calls to a universal military jihad against non-Muslims. This makes the knowledge of historical
conditions at the time of revelation extremely pivotal for interpretation or steering clear of misinterpretation;
and the source of this knowledge could be Islamic exegetical tradition or academic scholarship. Hawting
identifies a tendency, which can arguably be seen as distorting as per him, in Islamic exegetical tradition to
describe jahilliya in such a way that is not supported by the Quran, for instance ascribing a severe form of
idolatry to pre-Islamic Arabs who are described in Quran as considering themselves monotheists, albeit with an
imperfect form of monotheism by Quranic standards. This tendency of the tradition to be exaggerating the
vices of jahilliya can be seen, not in purely factual terms as authentic historical documentary but as a device
to enunciate a contrast between the norms of pre-Islamic Arabia, and the ideas of Islam. On the other hand,
scholarships occasional attempt (as cited by Hawting) to ascribe the spread of monotheism in Arabia to an
evolutionary process whereby the pre-Islamic Arabss beliefs evolved from idolatry to paganism to
monotheism as a natural development should be, in my opinion, approached with caution. Donners attribution
of paganism receding in Arabia as a consequence of the influence from Jews and Christians in and around
Arabia appears to be more concrete than the evolutionary explanation which discounts the possibility of
acknowledging the presence of an appeal inherent in a religion for a certain people and by extension the
attempts at understanding the living conditions that led to that appeal.

References

Ingrid Mattson, "How to Read the Qur'an", in The Study Qur'an, pp. 1587-1600

Watt/Bell, Introduction, ch. 1: "Historical Context", 1-16

Donner, "The Near East on the Eve of Islam", Muhammad and the Believers,1-24

Encyclopedia of the Quran article: G.R. Hawting, "Pre-Islamic Arabia and the Qur'an"