The Grand Objectives of the Qur'an and the Goal of Objective-Based Tafsīr

By Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali Abouseif, President of the American Imams Academy.

If objective-based tafsīr reads the verse in light of its goals, we must first discern the grand objectives for which the whole Qur'an was sent down; for they are the compass that orients the understanding of the particulars. The Qur'an declared its greatest objective in more than one place:

"Alif, Lām, Rā. A Book which We have revealed to you that you might bring people out of darknesses into the light." [Ibrāhīm: 1]

The comprehensive goal is bringing people out of the darknesses of ignorance, polytheism, injustice, and vice into the light of knowledge, monotheism, justice, and virtue. Reflect that the Qur'an made misguidance "darknesses" in the plural, and guidance "light" in the singular; for the paths of falsehood are many and branching, while the path of truth is one and straight. Under this grand goal fall branching grand objectives, most of which Ibn ʿĀshūr confined to the reform of individuals, communities, and civilization — one of the most famous classifications, not the only one — and they may be detailed as follows.

The Most Prominent Grand Objectives

The first: rectifying belief and affirming monotheism, for it is the foundation of every reform; the Qur'an begins by building the correct conception of God, the cosmos, the human being, and the final destiny, for deeds are not sound upon a corrupt conception. Hence the Meccan sūras attended first to grounding monotheism before detailing the rulings.

The second: purifying the soul and refining character, for the Qur'an nurtures the heart and purifies it, as He said: "He has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who corrupts it" [al-Shams: 9–10], and made purification one of the greatest functions of the Message. The third: establishing justice and preserving people's rights, for it is the balance upon which societies stand, and God made it the goal of sending the messengers and revealing the books: "that people may uphold justice" [al-Ḥadīd: 25].

The fourth: building civilization and reforming human society upon good and cooperation, for the Qur'an calls to the cultivation of the earth with what is beneficial and the preservation of the five universals upon which life's subsistence rests. The fifth: mercy, facilitation, and the lifting of hardship, for no ruling came except that behind it is a mercy and an interest, as He said: "God intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship" [al-Baqara: 185]. All these objectives serve the comprehensive goal: guidance to the straight path.

The Goal of Objective-Based Tafsīr

Once the grand objectives are discerned, the goal of reading the Qur'an upon their basis appears, and it is threefold and intertwined. The first: transforming the text from a report recited into a guidance intended and lived; so the Qur'an does not remain information preserved in memory, but becomes a way of life that governs conduct and decision. The second: linking the particulars to the universals, so that a single ruling is not understood in isolation from the comprehensive objectives of the Qur'an, thereby securing against deviance in understanding and contradiction in application.

The third: preserving the Ummah from two opposing afflictions that perpetually pull at it: rigidity, which stops at the letter and so empties religion of its spirit and turns it into rites without effect; and dissolution, which uses objectives as a pretext to break free from rulings and dissolve the constants. Objective-based tafsīr is a straight path between two extremes, joining reverence for the text with understanding its goal.

An Applied Example

Reflect on His saying: "Indeed, God orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives, and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression." [al-Naḥl: 90]. Ibn Masʿūd (may God be pleased with him) even said it is the most comprehensive verse in the Qur'an for good and evil. The objective-based reading sees in it a summary of the Qur'an's objectives in reforming society: justice that regulates rights so that no one is wronged; benevolence that surpasses justice to grace and so dissolves rancor; kinship that builds family ties; then a prohibition of three things that demolish society: immorality in character, wrongdoing in deeds, and oppression in relationships. So the verse is transformed from a command recited into an integrated program for building the individual, the family, and society.

This is followed by the fifth article: "The Figures and Scholars of Objective-Based Tafsīr."

| A takeaway for life: Make for yourself an "objective-based compass": whenever you read a verse, ask which of the grand objectives it returns to — to rectifying belief, purifying the soul, establishing justice, or mercy and facilitation? This linking grants you unity in understanding, and makes every verse illuminate a part of the grand picture of guidance. | |---|