On the Journey Towards Understanding the Qur’an

“Do they not contemplate the Qurʾān, or are there locks on the hearts?” (47:24)

As a creature endowed with mind, man grapples with the meanings behind things. And as a being who acknowledges other minds besides himself, he attempts to interpret the communications of others. When the “other” happens to be the Absolute Himself, the nature, import and fidelity of this interpretation is of a fundamentally different order. This seminal work by Ayatullah Jawādī begins with the premise that God has made the Qurʾān a guide for all of humanity. It then must be able to speak to each and every individual regardless of his particular cultural, linguistic, historical, and geographical conditions. It does this by communicating in a lingua franca that goes to the very core of man’s being—what Islam refers to as his ‘origination’ or fiṭrah. Part of the task of understanding the Word of God, therefore, is predicated on man’s ability to pierce through the veils that prevent him from accessing his own fiṭrah. In so doing he embarks on a multi-layered and truly progressive journey of enlightenment towards understanding this Word—a journey that brings the soul back to its Origin and the Origin of all things.