National

'Iqra is symbol of refreshing intellectual development'

Ahad, 1 Desember 2013 | 00:28 WIB

Surabaya, NU Online
Member of the Nahdlatul Ulama Scholars Association (ISNU) Dr. Abdul Kadir Riyadi said that though Iqra, the first word revealed in the Qur'an, was sometimes translated as 'read' or 'recite', it 'holds a broad scope of meanings'.<>

"The first word of the Qur'an (iqra') revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) could be considered a symbol of intellectual breakthrough for being littered fully with messages that describe intellectual values," he told NU Online here recently.

The lecturer at the Surabaya's Sunan Ampel State Islamic University said that the Quran created a rational mind urging the faithful to reflect on anything in the universe. 

According to Riyadi, the concept of iqra' is such a Quranic paradigm of knowledge for calling on all Muslims to also remain involved in any scientific investigations.

"The Quran is an open invitation to think, ponder and reflect on the signs of God found everywhere in the natural world," he said, adding that both revelation and reason were a perfect equilibrium.

"There is an interesting example in terms of iqra as the symbol of intellectuality. It was narrated in a hadist that if a fly falls into the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it (in the vessel) and then throw it away [and use the material in the vessel], for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is a healing," he said. 

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq