Approach to the Quran

1. Pre-requisites for receiving Quranic guidance for Believers

a.

Your moral compass is still intact (fitrah) ,

b.

You are approaching it as a seeker not a critic

c.

You are willing to let go of your preconceived notions when convinced of its message
regardless of the consequences

2. What does it mean to pursue guidance?

a.

Modifying the way you think and thus perceive the world around you (the AYAH)

b.

Modifying what is most important and what is least important to you

c.

Seeking strength for your heart to withstand lifes tests

d.

Using a, b and c, changing your behavior and putting the book into practice

3. Appreciating the miraculous power and beauty of the Quran

a.

Each instance of appreciating its power and beauty strengthens your heart, reaffirms your
faith and thus facilitates your pursuit.

b.

The Qurans miracle cannot be limited or caged by the human mind. That would be
blasphemous.

c.

The miracle, in most cases, is not something to argue about but to appreciate and help
others appreciate.

4. Misconceptions about guidance:

a.

Knowledge is the same as guidance. Actually, you only seek knowledge to pursue
guidance.

b.

Every ayah must be put into practice. Actually, not every ayah calls to action. Some
ayaat call to reflection, others to a change in attitude and yet others to action etc.

c.

If the Quran is for everyone, why is it in Arabic?

In Depth Study of the Quran: Ustadh Noumans

Methodology

Step 1:

Coherence Within the Surah

Step 2:

Analysis, ayah by ayah

Step 3:

Coherence Between Surahs

Step 1:

Coherence within a surah

b.

Exploringthehistoricalcontextnarrationsifanyofthesurahthatmightlendaninsight
intotheoverarchingthemesandsubjectsofthesurah
Discoveringthebreakdownofdistinctpassagesinthesurah.

c.

Discoveringtherelationshipbetweendistinctpassageswhetherlinearornot.

d.

Discovering individual instances of intertextual relationships between sequential

a.

passages.
e.

Discovering individual instances of intertextual relationships between non sequential

related passages.

f.

Discovering the internal coherence of each passage.

g.

Finding the handful of binding themes for the surah

h.

Finding the relationship between beginning and ending of the surah.

Step 2:

Ayalysis, ayah by ayah with

a.

Thelinguisticsoftheayah

b.

Thehistoricalcommentaryontheayah(comparativetafasir)

c.

Thethematiccommentaryontheayah

Step 3:
a.

Coherence within Surahs

Its relationship with preceding surah
1.

Comparison of the structure

2.

Intertextual relationships

3.

Comparison of theme

b.

Its relationship with following surah

Comparison of the structure

a.

Intertextual relationships

a.

Comparison of theme

b.

Sources
For the Study of Coherence within and between surahs:
1. My own observations
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7. The Quran: A veiled Text by Neil Robinson
8. Consonance in the Quran by Adul Raouf
9. Textural Relations in the Quran by Aisha Al Awa
10.
For the Study of the ayah:
Tafsir: Thematic:
1.
2.
3.
4.

6.
7.

8.

5.

Tafsir: Narrations
Based

Linguistics: Grammar
and Rhetoric

1.

1.

2.

2.

3.

3.

5.

6.

4.

4.
5.

Linguistics: Root
Analysis
1.
2. Lanes Lexicon
3.
4.
5.
6. Verbal Idioms
7.
8.
9.