Guest Editorial: There are many ways to read the Quran

Azly Rahman

To each his/her own interpretation

READING the MUSLIM "BOOK of SIGNS"

Yesterday when all my troubles seem far far away, I had a conversation at a Winter Holiday and Christmas luncheon with a good friend, a Turkish journalist in exile (and author of twelve books) on the subject of the Quran. He asked me if I had read the book. I said yes; I finished reciting it at the age of ten, developed a nice reading voice, and read it often over the years. I told him that I read the book literally, semiotically, hermeneutically, and philosophically, not looking for meanings but enjoying some of the advice, cultural allusions, and the Middle-Eastern (Arabian) setting of the constant fight between this and that tribe.

I also enjoy the "magical realism" aspect of the compendium of stories in a text that seems to be haphazardly arranged, yet makes you think about where the synopsis, thesis statements, and recurring tensions between good and evil lie, as well as the dialectical materialism in the spirit of the text.

I told my friend that I like the story of the attack on Mekkah by an army of elephants led by a man named Abrahah and how his army was decimated by a flock of flying objects (perhaps drones) that dropped what seemed, as explained, to be micro-mini-midget nuclear smart bombs—AI-developed, perhaps? Time and space collapse every time I read any religious scriptures these days, whether it be the Quran, the Old and New Testaments, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, or one of my favorites, the Bhagavad Gita, or Lao Tzu's Dao De Ching (The Way), or even a great ancient Chinese novel such as the Dream of the Red Chamber. Hermeneutic-cultural-dialogical-metaphorical-personal-philosophical readings shape how I let my mind conjure meaning and images.

The beauty of multiple stories, and not just a single one. I have therefore resigned myself to the fact that I cannot sit even for five minutes listening to a preacher of any religion. The self reads me, and I read the self. No intermediaries; too much power is given to mullahs, some of whom drive Lamborghinis and Bentleys, and some have private jets, profiting from human gullibility and a lack of interest in exploring and crafting meaning in their lives. -ar

Dr Azly Rahman

Chair of Social Studies, Author, Academic, International columnist, curriculum designer, Author with Penguin Random House and Gerakbudaya. A doctorate in International Education Development (Columbia U.) and Masters in six areas: Education (Ohio U.), International Affairs (Ohio U), Communication (Columbia U), Peace Studies (Columbia U), and a double concentration MFA in Creative Non-Fiction Writing (2018) and Fiction Writing (2019).

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