The Basic Concepts in the Qur'an: Introduction

In reading the Qur’an, we often come across many concepts with which we are familiar in our daily lives. These concepts are the key to an understanding of the Qur’an. Wisdom, patience, loyalty, unbelief and the favours of Allah are some of these concepts, to name a few. The majority of the aforementioned concepts are, however, used with quite different connotations in the course of our daily lives. Should those somewhat conversant with the Qur’an establish their Qur’anic standpoint on the basis of these connotations, they will surely come to have a poor grasp of its content.

Let’s take “wisdom” as an example. “Wisdom” is randomly used to express intelligence, smartness etc. Yet, none of these meanings bear any similarity whatsoever to the word´s actual meaning in the Qur’an. In its real sense, wisdom is a favour granted exclusively to believers. Contrary to the prevalent conviction, it does not remain constant; it changes depending upon the strength of personal faith. Wisdom is a divine guide for the soul; displaying a righteous attitude and conduct to earn the pleasure of Allah, observing Allah’s limits, obeying the commandments of Allah, distinguishing good from evil, conducting oneself in the best possible way, giving the best decisions to attain the hereafter-all these become possible through wisdom. An unbeliever, albeit an intelligent one, can never employ wisdom. He can be very intelligent; yet, being unfaithful, he can never conceive what wisdom really is. Intelligence is often believed to be synonymous with wisdom. Some, on the other hand, construe wisdom as a kind of intelligence blended with some sort of dignity and maturity. In reality, however, an unbeliever, even a mature, experienced, intelligent and sober one, lacks wisdom. It is quite possible that someone with the aforementioned mentality may arrive at completely erroneous interpretations of the concepts in the Qur’an. At times, the dimensions of such a misinterpretation may be serious; they may become the source of bigoted or distorted beliefs. The same thing holds true for other concepts also.

That is why an accurate understanding of Qur’anic content and the meaning of these concepts is essential. It is necessary also to know the Qur’an by heart and to apply it to daily life.

In this booklet, some concepts frequently encountered in the Qur’an are explained in the light of the relevant verses; we have endeavoured to explain their hidden meanings as well as their general and special uses. Surely, Allah knows best.