*3.3. The Centrality of the Religious Experience*

Another religious principle guides one's interpretation: the religious experience, the intimate relationship between the believer and God. The spiritual experience nourishes the reading of the text, which reciprocally raises the spiritual experience. The text should nourish and orient the religious experience, but it cannot take its place, as is affirmed in these verses:

This is truly a noble Qur" an, in a protected Record that only the purified can ¯ touch. (Q 56, 77–79)

The expression "only the purified can touch" is often written or stamped on the Qur" an's cover. It has been interpreted in liturgical terms to mean that the believer cannot ¯ touch the book of the Qur" an without performing the ritual purification, ¯ *wud. u¯* " . Paradoxically, when the verse was revealed, the Qur" an did not exist physically as a book. Therefore, ¯ it is impossible for the first meaning to be a condition of physical purification. The verse aims at another form of purification, in the figurative sense, that of the heart, purification from prejudices, vain thoughts, and personal or group motivations. It is an invitation to enter the text through the door of religious experience, not through political use or a justification of power. Cognitive humility means listening and understanding without prejudices, projections, or projects. One cannot listen to the Word of God disseminated throughout the text without emptying one's soul, leaving room for its reception, otherwise, we repeat ourselves, finding only the reflection of our sick souls and what we seek to obtain. In this case, reading is only an opportunistic selection and an alteration of the meaning.

However, the purity of the heart when facing the text remains relative. It is more a matter of a movement in progress than a final state obtained once and for all; it is a state of faith, and faith increases and decreases. Purity of the heart does not mean a loss of memory or approaching the text as a blank page. We carry all the questions of our time, its needs, and challenges. We have our worries, expectations, hopes, and frustrations. Our humanity has its brightness and misery, ups and downs, intelligence and stupidity. We cannot strip ourselves of our human condition. We need, instead, to be aware of these predispositions and how they influence us. These conditions are not necessarily harmful; they are sometimes essential for a renewed reading. Asking new questions affords new interpretations about which our predecessors had not thought, for the simple reason that they did not have the same provocations. The answers are new because the questions themselves were unknown before. In this way, the text remains alive and can surprise us, just as living beings surprise one another with what they do not expect: "The Lord said, Call me, and I will answer you" (Q 40, 60).

#### *3.4. The Text Exceeds Itself*

The text is not a goal in itself, it has a divine origin, but it is not God. It guides human beings in their journey to God, indicating the way and opening their eyes to the divine signs:

On Earth, there are signs for those with sure faith and in yourselves too, do you not see? (Q 51, 20–21)

The word "signs", *ay¯ at¯* (sing. *aya ¯* ), is applied to the Qur" anic verses, just as it is to the ¯ cosmic signs "on Earth", and to the psychological and human signs "in yourselves". It is a call to meditate on the exterior signs surrounding us, and the interior signs in the depths of our hearts, within and among us. The human being is an admirable sign. The role of the Scriptural signs is to open our eyes to see all the signs around us and engage in a dialogue with them, discovering their sense and message. The Qur" an helps to see God with the eye ¯ of the heart everywhere and in everything.

The concept of "sign" is linked to that of revelation, *wah. y*, which initially means a hidden communication and which leads to the meaning without ever exhausting it or putting it in a conceptual box. It is a movement towards an ever-renewed meaning. The believer is not a literalist scribe or bibliophile but a cosmic reader and a meditator in his/her soul. In this way, Qur" anic reading takes place in a vast spectrum of human knowledge, ¯ encompassing all creatures and cultures, engaging in dialogue with all, nourishing from each. Qur" anic hermeneutics is a part of cosmic and existential hermeneutics. The comple- ¯ mentarity and unity of the divine signs are well expressed in the prayer of the universal human being, *al-insan al-k ¯ amil ¯* , symbolically represented by David, called in verse (Q 38, 26) the representative of God, *h*" *al¯ıfat Allah¯* :

We graced David with Our favour. We said: "You mountains, echo God's praises together with him, and you birds, too". We softened iron for him. (Q 34, 10)

The universal human being prays with the mountains and the birds, making the iron malleable without harming creation. It is the best illustration of the believer's presence in the universe. The Qur" an is part of the infinite Words of God, and all creatures are God's ¯ Words:

Say, If the ocean were ink for the Words of my Lord, the ocean would run out, before the Words of my Lord run out, even if We were to bring the like of it in addition to it. (Q 18, 109)

If all the trees on earth were pens, filled by the ocean, with seven more oceans besides, the Words of God would not run out. God is Majestic and Wise. (Q 31, 27)

The Words of God cannot be locked away in a golden box or the pages of a book. They are overflowing with life, a life without limits that cannot be contained. Among the Words of God are the Qur" anic words. They are not dead letters; they are a permanent breath of ¯ life renewed in the souls of the believers and the movement of history.

#### *3.5. History as Revelation*

The historical signs are among the divine signs spread throughout creation. The Qur" an, on several occasions, calls to meditate and interpret them. The expression "Travel ¯ the Earth and observe" is repeated 13 times: (Q 3, 137), (6, 11), (12, 109), (16, 36), (22, 46), (27, 69), (29, 20), (30, 9, 42), (35, 44), (40, 21, 82), (47, 10). The term *sunan* (sing. *sunna*) is used to describe the movement of history (Q 3, 137), which is not chaotic or casual. *Sunan*, can be understood as norms and stable ways of doing or being, usually related to God's way of creating (Abdel Haleem and Badawi 2008, p. 460).

#### 3.5.1. The Gandhian Moment

The contemporary Syrian theologian Jawdat Sa " ¯ıd (d. 2022) considers history a criterion of truth, citing the following verse:

In this way does God set forth the parable of truth and falsehood: the scum disappears; but what is of benefit to man abides on Earth. In this way does God set forth the parables. (Q 13, 17)

Sa " ¯ıd defines this verse as "the law of abrogation", *qan¯ un al-nash ¯* " , and "the law of history", shifting the concept of abrogation from the Qur" anic signs to the historical ones: ¯

This is the law of history. The goal that history has never ceased pursuing: what is of benefit to the humans, and not only to some of them, must remain on earth. This law is the decisive and categorical authority with no mercy towards what does not progress: it will abolish it and turn it into useless garbage, whether technology or mental representations. What benefits humans abrogates the least useful. It is a law that the Qur" an reiterates when it states: "As soon as we ¯ abrogate a sign or make it oblivious, we replace it with a better or similar one" (Q 2, 106) (Sa " ¯ıd 1998, p. 70).3

Today, after so much history, the signs of God in the world and souls are beginning to show that the position of the son of Adam is correct, even if it would lead to death ... [Abel, the son of Adam, is saying] "If you raise your hand to kill me, I will not raise mine to kill you" [Q 5, 28]. Indeed, the force of arms has reached such a level that, by using them, neither of the opposing parties would be saved" (Sa " ¯ıd 1997b, p. 184).<sup>4</sup>

History is oriented towards [the method of the son of Adam]; the whole creation will get there! (Sa " ¯ıd 1997a, p. 290)

This modern awareness of the absurdity and cruelty of war is not possible without the "Gandhian moment" in the twentieth century. Previously, humanity had known nonviolent precursors, exemplified by the behavior of individuals and groups who favored nonviolence as a way of life; however, modernity has given the issue a systematic and political character. The "peaceful resistance", *satyagraha*, of Mahatma Gandhi (d. 1948), was rooted in ancient beliefs, such as the principle of *ahimsa* in Hinduism and Jainism. Nevertheless, the new dimension that this idea took on in the twentieth century would not have been possible without a series of circumstances that enriched human awareness with a radical and inclusive nonviolent vision.

The meaning of war today is different, despite the use of the same word. Modern technology has made war more destructive than any previous war. The emergence of weapons of mass destruction, and even conventional weapons, have become so deadly that so-called "collateral damage" cannot be avoided. Large numbers of victims are often unarmed civilians. The ferocious and criminal aspect of war is more evident than ever, and for the first time in history it is actually possible to destroy our planet.

One cannot but note that the semantic shift caused by the movement of history is a well-known phenomenon that can cause significant damage on the theological and practical levels. I mentioned earlier the term "war," but one can also add the word "state". The modern state is very different from the institution that bore the same name in the past. They are incomparable at the level of structure and the control of society. This observation is also valid at the Qur" anic semantic level. A term like ¯ *islam¯* has an inclusive sense in the Qur" an as a religious attitude of submission to the divine Will, which is the message of all ¯ the Prophets, but even at the cosmic level, all creatures submit themselves to God. This term later, especially with the emergence of Islamic theology, *Kalam¯* , assumed the meaning of an identity designating the community of Muh. ammad, considered distinct and superior. Modern Muslim theologians of religious pluralism, aware of this semantic shift, seek to return to the original Qur" anic meaning in order to overcome theological exclusivism. ¯ <sup>5</sup> The

history factor is crucial in theological criticism and reform, without reducing theology to history.

#### 3.5.2. De-Dogmatizing History

Considering history as a source of religious knowledge does not transform it into a myth or a hagiography. The theological reading of history is different from the "secular" one. The religious view is oriented towards the future, learning from history the "lesson" whereon a reform project may be built or from which some ethical, even doctrinal, conclusions and revisions can be drawn.

The founding moment in Islamic historical narratives is the biography of the Prophet Muh. ammad, *S¯ıra*, and his Tradition, *Sunna*, as found in classical sources. They are an essential reference in order to understand Islam as a religion and to verify the application of Qur" anic principles and values based on historical reality, or what is thought to be real. ¯ History includes what factually happened in the past and what we think happened, as a collective historical *imaginaire*. In this context, it is necessary to equip oneself with a critical vision to identify the narratives that contradict and betray the Qur" anic principles and ¯ values. The Qur" an represents the supreme reference on the theological level. ¯

Partly, but significantly, the history of Islam is forged and modelled by empires, conquests, and expansions. Classical theology and Islamic knowledge still bear traces of past imperialism, even after the last empire's fall. The Islamic theology of nonviolence, just like theologies of women and pluralism, are an opportunity to purify theology from ideologies and justifications of power.

Criticizing the past is not complete without criticizing the present. The critique of modernity and its ideologies prevents reform from being a mere adaptation of, or even worse, surrendering to the dictates of globalization. An old dogmatism cannot be replaced by a new one, even if it is masked by a secular appearance. This critical character of the new theologies makes them a prophetic voice in a time of crisis.
