Muslims told to seek balance in interpreting the Qur'an

Jakarta, NU Online
The leader of Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, KH Nasaruddin Umar said the Qur'an as a guidance must be studied in addition to being practiced its teachings by all muslims to humanize their fellow human beings.

"The initial process of the Qur'an revelation is not easy, for three times the Prophet Muhammad said 'I am one who can not read' as the last generation of the Angel Gabriel in guiding the Prophet to read (iqra)," he explained at a scholarly forum held by Student Communication Tafsir Hadith Student Communication Forum (FKMTHI) in Sumenep on Sunday (24/9).

According to the Rector of the University of Quranic Sciences (PTIQ) Jakarta, because of the Quránic revelation, humans could use some wisdom and take lessons from the historical event.

"Why was the first revelation related to the iqra recitation?" he said, adding that the first 'iqra' contained an intellectual message in which humans are expected to be able to know their surrounding situations. While the second iqra contained the moral message of the Qur'an that should be interpreted with appreciation and imbued with the first iqra'.

Moreover, as an attempt to understand the message of the Qur'an today, an interpreter should be able to balance between text and context. Thus, the interpretive product has adequate contextual bases.

"Of course it can not be obtained through an easy and instant process, it is in need of a non partial scholarship instrument," he said. (Anwar Kurniawan / Masdar)