Nimejaribu katika kitabu hiki kuwajulisha wasomaji wanaozungumza Kiingereza baadhi ya elimu za Qur-aan. Kadiri mtu anavyofahamu zaidi Qur-aan na kuitumia katika maisha yake, ndivyo anavyokaribia zaidi kwa Allaah. Natumaini kwamba Waislamu watashika njia ya kati kati ya misimamo miwili isiyopendeza. Ya kwanza ni kukata tamaa, kwa kudai kwamba elimu ya Kiislamu si jukumu la watu wa kawaida, na kwamba inapaswa kuachwa kwa wataalamu wa fani hiyo. Mtazamo huu umewaacha Waislamu wengi katika ujinga mkubwa kuhusu dini yao. Asiyejishughulisha kujifunza kuhusu Uislamu, huenda akajishughulisha na shughuli mbalimbali ambazo zitakuwa sababu ya majuto siku ya Kiyama. Mtazamo huu pia unaleta matokeo yaliyokosolewa vikali katika Suraat at-Tawbah. Mayahudi na Wakristo walichukua makuhani wao na marabi wao kuwa mabwana badala ya Mungu, kwa kuwafuata bila kufikiri pale walipokataza yale ambayo Mungu alikuwa amewahalalishia, na kuhalalisha yale ambayo Mungu alikuwa ameyakataza.135

I have attempted in this book to acquaint the English-speaking reader with some of the sciences of the Qur’aan. The more one understands of the Qur’aan and applies in one’s life, the closer one comes to Allaah. I hope that Muslims will steer the middle course between two unpleasant extremes. The first is to throw up one’s hands, claiming that Islaamic knowledge is not the business of the layperson, and that it should be left to specialists in the field. This attitude has left the Muslim masses in deep ignorance of their religion. Whoever is not busy learning about Islaam is likely to be busy in a wide variety of activities that will be a cause for regret on the Day of Judgment. This attitude also leads to a result that was severely criticized in Soorah at-Tawbah. The Jews and Christians took their priests and rabbis as lords in place of God by blindly following them when they prohibited what God had made lawful for them and made lawful that which God had prohibited.135

Uliokithiri wa pili ni kujiona kuwa mwenye elimu baada ya kusoma vitabu vichache kuhusu Uislamu. Watu kama hao hujiona wana wajibu wa kuwasahihisha "makosa" ya wale walio karibu nao wanapoona wanafanya jambo ambalo hawalifahamu, au pale wanaposikia mtu fulani mahali fulani akisema kwamba jambo fulani ni kosa, lakini wao wenyewe hawajasoma misimamo tofauti ya wanazuoni kuhusu suala hilo pamoja na hoja zao. Natumaini kwamba kitabu hiki kitawafanya watu kama hao waelewe ugumu wa elimu za Kiislamu, hasa kwa kuwa yale yaliyowasilishwa hapa ni sehemu ndogo sana ikilinganishwa na yale yaliyoandikwa kuhusu somo hilo kwa lugha ya Kiarabu.

The second extreme is to consider oneself learned after having read a couple of books on Islaam. Such persons feel duty-bound to correct the “mistakes” of those around them when they see them doing something they are unfamiliar with, or when they have heard somebody somewhere say that a certain practice is wrong, but they themselves have not studied the different positions of scholars on the issue along with their evidences. I hope that this book will impress upon such people the complexity of the Islaamic sciences, especially since that which has been presented here is the tiniest tip of an iceberg compared to what has been written on the subject in Arabic.

Natumaini kwamba, ikiwa msomaji atapata kitu kimoja tu kutoka kwenye kitabu hiki, basi ni kwamba ataondoka akiwa na kipimo cha kupima kauli za wale wanaotoa tafsiri za Qur'aan. Tunaishi katika wakati ambapo wasiokuwa Waislamu wana hamu kubwa kwamba Waislamu wafasiri upya vyanzo vya dini yetu. Msingi wa juhudi kama hizo ni kufasiri upya Qur'aan. Waislamu wana tahadhari kubwa dhidi ya tafsiri mpya zinazotolewa na wasiokuwa Waislamu, lakini kuna harakati nzima ya kufasiri upya inayopigiwa debe na Waislamu wenyewe. Harakati hii, ambayo ina nguvu hasa miongoni mwa Waislamu wanaoishi au waliosomea Magharibi, inachukulia dhana nyingi za ustaarabu wa viwanda wa Magharibi kama kweli dhahiri ambazo lazima zikubaliwe katika uelewa na utendaji wa Waislamu wa Uislamu.

I would hope that if the reader gets nothing else out of the book, that he or she will leave with a standard by which to measure the statements of those who are offering interpretations of the Qur’aan. We live in a time when non-Muslims are very eager for the Muslims to reinterpret the sources of our deen. Fundamental to such efforts is reinterpretation of the Qur’aan. Muslims are fairly wary of nonMuslim reinterpretations, but there is a whole reinterpretation movement being advocated by Muslims. This movement, which is especially strong among Muslims living or trained in the West, takes many assumptions of western industrial civilization as self-evident truths which must be accommodated in the Muslims’ understanding and practice of Islaam.

Mojawapo ya mbinu kuu za harakati hii ni kwamba msimamo kuhusu suala fulani huchukuliwa kwanza, kisha ushahidi hutafutwa ili kuuunga mkono. Mojawapo ya mbinu zao wanazozipenda ni kujadili kwa kutegemea aya fulani kuhusu suala, mara nyingi kwa kufuata tafsiri yao mpya wenyewe, huku wakipuuza aya nyingine zinazofanya tafsiri yao isiwezekane. Mfano wa kawaida wa jambo hili ni tafsiri potofu ya aya ya 62 ya Suratu al-Baqarah.

One of the main methods of this movement is that a position on a given issue is taken, then evidence is sought to support it. One of their favorite tactics is to argue on the basis of a particular verse on an issue, often according to their own new interpretation, while ignoring other verses which make their interpretation impossible. A classic example of this is the distorted tafseer of verse 62 of Soorah al-Baqarah

Wanasema kwamba aya hii ni ushahidi wazi kwamba Mayahudi na Wakristo ni waumini, kwamba sisi sote ni ndugu, na kwamba vigezo pekee vya kuingia peponi ni imani kwa Allaah na Siku ya Mwisho pamoja na matendo mema. Hata hivyo, wanazuoni wa Kiislamu katika historia yote wameifasiri aya hii kwa kuzingatia aya 150-151 za Suratu An-Nisaa’:

They say this verse is clear proof that Jews and Christians are believers, that we are all brothers and that the only criteria for entry into paradise are belief in Allaah and the Day of Judgment along with good deeds. However, Muslim scholars throughout history have interpreted this verse in light of verses 150-1 of Soorah an-Nisaa’:

Kifungu hiki kinawarejelea wazi Mayahudi, ambao wanakataa kwamba Isa na Muhammad (amani iwe juu yao wote wawili) walikuwa manabii, na Wakristo, ambao wanakataa unabii wa Muhammad ﷺ.136

This passage clearly refers to the Jews, who deny that Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them both) were prophets, and the Christians, who deny Muhammad’s prophethood.136

Basi Mayahudi na Wakristo waliosikia kuhusu Muhammad (r) na kukataa unabii wake wangeahidiwa vipi kwamba watapata thawabu na kwamba hawana cha kuogopa? Mtu anayefasiri aya ya Suratul-Baqarah kwa namna hiyo amechukua msimamo unaolazimu Qur'ani kujipinga yenyewe, jambo ambalo lenyewe ni msimamo wa kukufuru. Kwa hiyo, makubaliano ya wanazuoni wa Kiislamu ni kwamba aya hiyo ina tafsiri mbili zinazokubalika. Ya kwanza ni kwamba Mayahudi wa wakati wa Musa na Wakristo wa wakati wa Isa waliomwamini Mwenyezi Mungu na kufuata nabii aliyetumwa kwao, ndio walioahidiwa thawabu hii. Ya pili ni kwamba baada ya kutumwa Nabii Muhammad ﷺ, thawabu iliyotajwa ni kwa wale miongoni mwa makundi mbalimbali ya kidini wanaomwamini Mwenyezi Mungu na Siku ya Mwisho na kutenda mema kama yalivyofafanuliwa katika wahyi wa mwisho, wakiwa wamemwamini Muhammad ﷺ kama nabii aliyetumwa kwao.137 Tafsiri hizi mbili zinazingatia ushahidi wote (ambao ni sehemu ndogo tu imetajwa kwa ufupi), wakati ya kwanza haizingatii.

How then could Jews and Christians who heard about Muhammad (r) and rejected his prophethood be promised that they would get a reward and have nothing to fear? A person who interprets the verse from Soorah al-Baqarah in that way has taken a position that requires the Qur’aan to contradict itself, which is in itself a position of disbelief. Therefore, the consensus of Muslim scholars is that there are two valid possible interpretations of the verse. The first is that Jews at the time of Moses and Christians at the time of Jesus who believed in Allaah and followed the prophet sent to them have been promised this reward. The other is that after the mission of Prophet Muhammad (r), the stated reward is for those among the various religious groups who believe in Allaah and the Last Day and do good as defined in the final revelation, having believed in Muhammad (r) as a prophet sent to them.137 These two interpretations take into account all of the evidence (of which only a fraction has been mentioned for the sake of brevity), while the first does not.

Mbinu nyingine ya kawaida ambayo inapaswa kuangaliwa kwa tahadhari ni ufafanuzi (tafsiri) wa Qur'ani unaotegemea tu maana za kiisimu za maneno. Ili tafsiri za aina hii zionekane za kuaminika, Sunnah lazima ipuuzwe. Unawaona baadhi yao wakikataa hadithi kwa sababu imepokewa na sahaba wachache tu! Mbinu hii imekuwa ni sifa ya kawaida ya makundi potofu ya kidini yanayojinasibu kuwa ya Kiislamu katika historia yote.