Quran’s Integrity in Conveying Meaning
When reciting the Quran, a question may arise in our minds about the purpose of all these verses. Some people think that Quranic verses lack coherence as one verse talks about a ban on an action, another about the compulsory nature of another act, the next one about a story, and the other about belief in God.
An answer to this question has been mentioned in verse 51 of Surah Al-Qasas: “We have brought them the Word in order that they remember.”
But how can one understand this coherence and integrity? According to the Quran, the key here is to “contemplate” upon the verses. “Will they not contemplate upon the Quran?” (Surah An-Nisa, verse 82)
Now if the Quran enjoys integrity, it should also have a goal. What is the ultimate purpose of all these commands, obligations, prohibitions, proverbs, stories, and sermons? When we say the Book has coherence, it needs to have a clear purpose.
When we read Surah Adh-Dhariyat and study the stories of prophets such as Ibrahim (AS), Noah (AS), Salih (AS), and Hud (AS), we see that the aim of their invitation can be summarized in three words: “flee to Allah.” (Surah Adh-Dhariyat, verse 50)
Every prophet that introduced himself as a “clear warner” sought only to convey one point: “flee to God”. Everything except Allah is a source of danger. “Fleeing” becomes meaningful when dangers lie in the surrounding. If there was no danger, God Almighty would have never advised us to flee to Him.
Our duty based on what is obligatory for us and what the Quran invites us to do is to keep this point in mind at every point, every thought, every decision and every path we choose in life. We should always see if we are fleeing to God or moving towards anything other than Him.
* This article has been derived from remarks of Mohammad Mahdi Haqgouyan, a Quran memorizer and a lecturer on Quranic concepts.
