The limits of method in understanding the Qur'an

Ramadan is the month in which the Quran, whose first verse is "Iqra" (Read), was revealed. That is why the best way to revive the month of Ramadan is reading. Reading the world we live in, reading nature, our surroundings, ourselves, our history... And of course, first of all, reading the Quran abundantly. Fusing the Quran with our souls and our horizons. So much so that we can look at all matters from the window of the Quran and try to see by the light the Quran holds.

A soul that Ramadan has purified, cleansed and trained, without doubt comes somewhat closer to reading the Quran. Of course, there is never any absolute guarantee of this closeness. One must also pray to God for a correct reading, understanding and action at all times. Otherwise, as we have said before, reading the Quran alone does not give any benefit. It is worth repeating. The Quran that we read with an unpurified mind and personality, with an instrumentalist approach far from wisdom, may serve no purpose other than making our unsatisfied ambitions more dangerous. It is somewhat strange, but this is the truth.

There is a profound wisdom in our approaching the reading of the Quran with preparation, unlike the reading of other books. For those who do not believe in the Quran, of course, the Quran is no different from an ordinary text. What one will understand from it when approaching it varies according to what one is looking for in it, one's level of intelligence, personality, intention, store of knowledge and lived experiences. Above all, the person who reads the book takes from it whatever his share is.

On the other hand, from the moment a believer begins to touch the Book in a state of ablution, he enters a process of understanding or being affected that is different from reading an ordinary book. The relationship between a book read in ablution and with propriety and the one who reads it forms an entirely different "hermeneutic circle." The awareness that the book is an address from God speaking to him, an advice guiding him to guidance, a guide, carries the process of understanding to an entirely different level from any other text. It is impossible to reduce the understanding that takes place here to the level of semantic analysis. Within the reader, beyond a text awaiting analysis, an address takes place that penetrates the reader, affects him, takes him in its charge.

The Quran is a book that itself decides how it is to be read, that regulates the act of reading (directly through verses or through the Messenger). Of course, this decision and these regulations of the Quran are valid for those who believe in it. Otherwise these regulations are not binding for those who do not believe that it is an address from God to humankind. Even so, this address of the Quran has a miraculous effect that finds those who have a share of it and penetrates their hearts.

Those who accept the Quran as the word and address of God also heed these regulations of the Quran on how it is to be read. For example, reading the Quran silently is of course also possible and permissible, but reading it aloud in particular has been recommended. One wisdom of reading in this way is that the reader also listens to it with his ears. Thus the person reading the Quran also addresses himself on behalf of God. The ear hears the sound that comes out of the mouth. The reader has also listened.

This kind of reading is of course also very different from the reading of an ordinary exegete or of an academic who carries out semantic analyses of the Quran. In this reading, by removing every kind of intermediary, a person becomes as if he has spoken directly with God.

There is a rather rich literature on methods of reading and understanding the Quran more accurately and soundly. The subject on which a significant majority of this literature focuses most is the semantic analysis of the meanings the Quran contains, the history of expressions (reasons of revelation), context, siyak-sibak (the preceding and following text), words, vocabulary, and so on. In short, all the interest is on the book itself. Yet in the process of reading and understanding, as much as the text read, and more important than it, is the reader. The reader's personality, age, gender, personal biography, social position, experience, capacity for understanding, intelligence, the reason for his interest in the book, his mood at the time of reading, his complexes, and so on. All of these are factors that enter into the process of understanding.

Method debates generally neglect the reader and his characteristics; they set the rules by presupposing, in advance and of course tacitly, a perfect, enlightened, self-sufficient subject who reads the book. Not only in readings of the Quran but in fact in all kinds of reading, method works in a vein in which the reader is neglected and all the focus is only on the text. At most, as a part of method again, emphasis is placed on the reader's needing to have the required equipment of knowledge, good knowledge of Arabic morphology and syntax, metaphor, logic, and so on. Yet having all the knowledge required for a semantic analysis is one thing, and being a reader in the kind of relationship with the Quran that the Quran wants is quite another.

That is why new hermeneutic debates, instead of giving a guarantee of understanding any text better, an effort it finds futile, accept that focusing on the person reading that text gives a deeper perspective. Despite this modest stance, some have been able to grasp hermeneutics as a methodological tool for understanding the Quran better.

Frankly, new hermeneutics makes no claim of understanding any text better than anyone else; on the contrary, it claims to try to understand the person who understands the text.

This claim is also an inquiry that serves in part for the reader to know himself. After all, one who knows himself knows others better too. One who knows himself knows his Lord. If we have come to this point, we have taken a serious step toward understanding the Quran as well.