of Nekounam, (Session 188)
The Noble Quran, as a radiant beacon on the path of guidance, in verse twenty-one of Surah Al-Baqarah, addresses all humanity with a universal appeal to worship the Lord. This verse introduces worship as a pathway towards piety. It explicates piety as an intermediate stage and salvation as the ultimate goal within the Quranic educational system. This work, employing a scientific and systematic approach, analyses this verse and, through refined metaphors, portrays piety as a bridge to salvation and salvation as the pinnacle of human perfection. The objective of this treatise is to offer a comprehensive and academic interpretation for researchers and learned audiences, using a dignified language appropriate to the scholarly milieu, examining the epistemological, ontological, and sociological dimensions of the verse.
Translation: O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you, that you may become pious.
This verse, with a comprehensive address, invites all human beings to worship the Creator and introduces piety as the ultimate purpose of this worship. The verse elucidates worship as a means to attain self-restraint and spiritual wellbeing.
This verse is akin to an invitation calling all humans to the pure spring of worship, from which they may quench their thirst for piety and spiritual health.
Piety, expressed in the verse by the phrase لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ, constitutes an intermediate aim in the Quranic pedagogical framework. Piety signifies self-restraint, spiritual health, and internal control, preparing the human being to attain ultimate perfection.
Like a steadfast bridge that guides travellers toward a loftier destination, piety directs humans towards salvation.
Salvation, mentioned with the phrase لَعَلَّكُمْ تَفْلَحُونَ in other verses of the Noble Quran such as
Translation: That you may be successful.
represents the ultimate goal and the essence of religion. Salvation is alignment with the Divine Truth and the attainment of existential perfection.
Like a summit that becomes visible after traversing arduous paths, salvation is the ultimate destination of human beings within the Quranic educational system.
Human history demonstrates that even when denying God, humans have turned towards various forms of spirituality. Historical attempts to negate spirituality, such as idol worship or the veneration of cows, manifest humanitys intrinsic need for spirituality; nonetheless, atheism has never been fully accepted.
Like a river that flows in many directions but originates from a single source, spirituality is an inherent human need that remains incomplete without God.
The secular approach accepts spirituality and ethics without any connection to God or the hereafter. This viewpoint, by severing spirituality from God, fails to attain human perfection and contradicts the Quranic educational system, which situates piety and salvation in relation to God.
Like a tree whose roots have been severed from the soil, secular spirituality is deprived of Divine Truth and fails to bear fruit.
Salvation is contingent upon refraining from oppression and harm to others. Verses such as
Translation: The oppressors will not be successful.
and
Translation: The disbelievers will not be successful.
indicate that oppression and disbelief hinder salvation.
Like fire that destroys a home, oppression and harm deprive a person of salvation.
The successful are those who adhere to the principles of enjoining good and forbidding evil. This principle highlights the social responsibility of believers in reforming society.
Like a gardener pruning plants to foster growth, enjoining good and forbidding evil directs society toward salvation.
The successful protect the weak and fear not the strong. Fear of the weak, due to Divine support for them, is a sign of true faith.
Like a shield that safeguards the vulnerable, the successful are those who stand against oppression of the weak.
The hadith:
المسلم من سلم المسلمون من یده و لسانه
Translation: A Muslim is one from whose hand and tongue the Muslims are safe.
This refers to refraining from harm within the group but should not be interpreted as permitting harm to non-believers.
Like a family whose members respect one another, believers must behave generously towards all humans, whether believers or non-believers.
Some believers are harsh towards the weak and kind to the wealthy, which contradicts salvation. This behaviour opposes the verse:
Translation: Fierce against the disbelievers and merciful amongst themselves.
which refers to harshness in battle and kindness among believers, not harm to the weak.
Like a judge who unjustly condemns the weak, harshness towards the vulnerable distances one from salvation.
A believer who causes harm is worse than a harmless disbeliever. The criterion for salvation is humane behaviour and abstention from harm, not mere religious belief.
Like a scale that measures conduct, ethics and harmlessness are the standards of human superiority.
Banking systems based on usury lead to oppression and harm to the weak and are incompatible with salvation. Such systems, like tyrants, drag society into misery.
Like a fire consuming the wealth of the weak, usurious systems impede societal salvation.
Religious knowledge, due to its focus on traditional teachings, has failed to address contemporary needs and to provide practical solutions for reforming social systems.
Like a dried-up spring, religious knowledge without transformation is unable to quench societys thirst.
In religious psychology, the believer should fear the weak because God supports them. Fear of the powerful and harming the weak signify weak faith.
Like a mountain steadfast against a storm, the true believer fears not the powerful but refrains from oppressing the weak.
If a person harms others, their worship is ineffective. Salvation depends on benevolent conduct and refraining from oppression.
Like a light extinguished in the darkness of oppression, worship without abstaining from harm does not lead to salvation.
The exegesis of verse twenty-one of Surah Al-Baqarah, with its universal call to worship, presents piety as an intermediate stage and salvation as the ultimate goal of the Quranic educational system. Piety brings self-restraint and spiritual health, while salvation is the attainment of Divine Truth and existential perfection. Critique of secular approaches reveals that spirituality without God is incomplete and cannot lead to perfection. The successful are those who abstain from oppression and harm, adhere to enjoining good and forbidding evil, and support the weak. Critiques of social behaviours of believers, such as harshness toward the weak and kindness to the wealthy, emphasise the necessity of benevolent conduct. Critiques of usurious systems and religious knowledge highlight the need for reform and transformation in these areas. In religious psychology, fear of the weak due to Divine support and the ineffectiveness of worship coupled with harm underscore the importance of humane behaviour. This exegesis, providing a scholarly and refined perspective, invites reflection on the Quranic educational system and progress towards salvation through worship, piety, and benevolent conduct.
Supervised by Sadegh Khademi
