Men bu kitobda ingliz tilida so‘zlashuvchi o‘quvchini Qur’oni karimning ba’zi ilmlari bilan tanishtirishga harakat qildim. Qur’onni qanchalik ko‘p tushunib, hayotda amal qilsa, inson Allohga shunchalik yaqinlashadi. Umid qilamanki, musulmonlar ikki noxush ifrot o‘rtasida o‘rta yo‘lni tutadilar. Birinchisi – qo‘llarini yuqoriga ko‘tarib, islom ilmi oddiy odamning ishi emas, uni faqat bu soha mutaxassislariga qoldirish kerak, deb da’vo qilishdir. Bunday munosabat musulmon ommasini o‘z dinlari haqidagi chuqur jaholatda qoldirdi. Islom haqida o‘rganish bilan band bo‘lmagan kishi, qiyomat kuni pushaymon bo‘ladigan turli-tuman ishlar bilan band bo‘lishi ehtimoldan xoli emas. Bunday munosabat yana shunga olib keladiki, bu at-Tavba surasida qattiq tanqid qilingan natijaga sabab bo‘ladi. Yahudiylar va nasroniylar o‘z ruhoniylari va ravvinlarini, Alloh ularga halol qilgan narsani man qilganlarida va Alloh harom qilgan narsani halol qilganlarida, ko‘r-ko‘rona ergashib, Alloh o‘rniga rab qilib oldilar.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

Ikkinchi chetga og'ish — Islom haqida bir-ikkita kitob o'qib, o'zini olim deb hisoblashdir. Bunday kishilar atrofidagilarning "xatolarini" to'g'rilashni o'zlariga burch deb biladilar: qachonki ular birovning begona bir amalni bajarayotganini ko'rsalar yoki qayerdadir birov bir amal noto'g'ri deganini eshitsalar-u, o'zlari esa bu masala bo'yicha ulamolarning turli qarashlarini va ularning dalillarini o'rganmagan bo'lsalar, shunday qiladilar. Umid qilamanki, bu kitob shunday kishilarga Islom ilmlarining murakkabligini anglatadi, ayniqsa, bu yerda taqdim etilgan narsa arab tilida bu mavzuda yozilganlarga nisbatan muzning uchidagi eng kichik qismi bo'lganligi sababli.

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.

Umid qilamanki, kitobni o‘qigan kishi boshqa hech narsa olmasa ham, Qur’on tafsiri haqida bayon qilayotganlarning so‘zlarini o‘lchaydigan mezonga ega bo‘lib chiqsa. Bizning zamonimizda norasolar Muslimlardan dinimiz manbalarini qayta talqin qilishni juda ko‘p talab qilmoqdalar. Bunday harakatlarning asosida Qur’onni qayta talqin qilish yotadi. Muslimlar nomuslim kishilarning qayta talqinlaridan ancha ehtiyot bo‘ladilar, ammo Muslimlar o‘zlari targ‘ib qilayotgan butun bir qayta talqin harakati mavjud. Bu harakat, ayniqsa G‘arbda yashayotgan yoki G‘arbda tahsil olgan Muslimlar orasida kuchli bo‘lib, G‘arb sanoat tsivilizatsiyasining ko‘plab taxminlarini o‘z-o‘zidan ayon haqiqatlar deb qabul qiladi va Muslimlarning Islomni tushunishi hamda amaliyotida ularga moslashtirilishi shart deb hisoblaydi.

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.

Ushbu harakatning asosiy usullaridan biri shuki, avval muayyan masalada pozitsiya olinadi, so'ng uni qo'llab-quvvatlash uchun dalil izlanadi. Ularning sevimli usullaridan biri shu masala bo'yicha muayyan oyatga tayanib bahslashish bo'lib, ko'pincha bu o'zlarining yangi, o'zlashtirilgan tafsiriga ko'ra bo'ladi, boshqa oyatlarni esa e'tiborsiz qoldiradilar, chunki o'sha oyatlar ularning tafsirini mumkin emas qilib qo'yadi. Buning klassik misoli Baqara surasining 62-oyatini buzib tafsir qilishdir.

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

Ular bu oyat Yahudiy va nasroniylarning mo'min ekanliklariga, hammamiz birodarmiz va jannatga kirishning yagona mezoni Allohga va Qiyomat kuniga iymon keltirish hamda yaxshi amallar ekanligiga aniq dalil, deydilar. Ammo musulmon ulamolari tarix davomida bu oyatni an-Niso surasining 150-151-oyatlari nuqtai nazaridan tafsir qilib kelganlar.

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’:

Ushbu parchada aniq Yahudiylar nazarda tutilgan, ular Iso va Muhammad ﷺ payg'ambar ekanliklarini inkor etadilar, shuningdek, Muhammad ﷺ ning payg'ambarligini inkor etuvchi nasroniylar ham.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

Qanday qilib Muhammad (r) haqida eshitgan, lekin uning payg'ambarligini rad etgan yahudiylar va nasroniylarga mukofot va'da qilinishi va ularning hech narsadan qo'rqmasliklari mumkin bo'lsin? Baqara surasidagi oyatni shunday tushuntirgan kishi Qur'onni o'ziga zid qilib ko'rsatadigan pozitsiyani egallagan bo'ladi, bu esa o'zi kufr pozitsiyasidir. Shuning uchun musulmon olimlarining ijmosi shuki, oyatning ikkita to'g'ri talqini bor. Birinchisi: Muso davridagi yahudiylar va Iso davridagi nasroniylar, ular Allohga ishonib, o'z zamonlarida yuborilgan payg'ambarga ergashgan bo'lsalar, ularga shu mukofot va'da qilingan. Ikkinchisi: Muhammad ﷺ payg'ambarlikdan keyin, turli diniy guruhlardan Allohga va Oxirat kuniga ishonadigan hamda yakuniy vahiyda belgilangan yaxshi amallarni qiladiganlar, Muhammad ﷺ ularga yuborilgan payg'ambar ekanligiga ishongan taqdirda, zikr qilingan mukofot ularga tegishlidir.137 Bu ikki talqin barcha dalillarni hisobga oladi (ularning faqat bir qismi qisqalik uchun zikr qilindi), birinchisi esa bunday qilmaydi.

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.

Yana bir keng tarqalgan usulga ehtiyot bo'lish kerak: Qur'on tafsirini faqat so'zlarning lug'aviy ma'nolariga tayangan holda berish. Bunday tafsirlar ishonchli ko'rinishi uchun Sunnat e'tibordan chetda qoldirilishi kerak. Ba'zilarning hadisni faqat bir necha sahobiy rivoyat qilgani uchun rad etayotganini ko'rasiz! Bu usul tarix davomida adashgan soxta islomiy guruhlarning odatiy xususiyati bo'lib kelgan.