{"id":3418,"date":"2012-06-28T12:37:52","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T17:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/college.web.unc.edu\/?p=3418"},"modified":"2024-07-02T13:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T13:30:17","slug":"ernstqura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=3418","title":{"rendered":"People of the Book: Carl Ernst on reading the Qur\u2019an"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Carl Ernst (photo by Mark Derewicz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2002, UNC\u2019s summer reading committee asked Carl Ernst to recommend a translation of the Qur\u2019an that incoming students could comprehend and discuss at length. Ernst, a religious studies professor, could recommend only one \u2014 Michael Sells\u2019 Approaching the Qur\u2019an\u00ad <\/em>\u2014 because it included 30 short, poetic chapters that he felt would not overwhelm incoming students. The committee took his recommendation, and a lot of people were furious.<\/p>\n

Was UNC trying to convert students to Islam? Wasn\u2019t the book choice insensitive and arrogant in light of the 9\/11 attacks? Wasn\u2019t discussing the Qur\u2019an tantamount to teaching a specific religion to students?<\/p>\n

A controversy erupted. The national press swooped in. There was even a lawsuit to force UNC to abandon its selection. But the university stood firm. More than two thousand incoming students read and discussed Sells\u2019 book without incident. At one session, Ernst eyed reporters standing at the back of a room full of students and said he wished tomorrow\u2019s headline would be, \u201cStudents read books, discuss ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ernst was confused by the backlash. \u201cPeople assume that if something is being discussed at the university, then it\u2019s being endorsed,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s not what we\u2019re about. Having students read books is what we do<\/em> here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The summer-reading blowup got to him. \u201cIt showed me that misunderstanding the Qur\u2019an was a serious problem,\u201d he says. Radicals take a few lines out of context and promote the most extreme interpretation possible, which gets the most press. Ernst says Westerners are left uninformed and often antagonistic toward a book they know little about.<\/p>\n

When publishers approached him about writing a translation of his own, Ernst agreed. But it wouldn\u2019t be a straight translation or a theological introduction to the Qur\u2019an. His book would present the Qur\u2019an as a piece of literature steeped in historical context.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people want to know what the Qur\u2019an \u2018says\u2019 on particular issues, assuming it has a consistent position,\u201d Ernst says. \u201cThe reality is that the Qur\u2019an addresses different audiences and changes its method of communication over time.\u201d The Qur\u2019an \u2014 sometimes poetry, sometimes prose \u2014 was revealed over 23 years to pagans in Mecca and then to others, including Jews and Christians, in Medina. \u201cSo readers need to understand its historical context and the way it was constructed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>When Ernst started writing his book, titled How to Read the Qur\u2019an: A New Guide, with Select Translations<\/em>, he didn\u2019t set out to address any theological arguments, but in a way he\u2019s done just that. He says the Qur\u2019an is full of an ancient literary style that allows readers to pinpoint the central meaning of long and sometimes confusing passages. Using this tool, called ring composition, Ernst found a major theme of the Qur\u2019an that would surprise people who don\u2019t know much about Islam \u2014 and even some people who do.<\/p>\n

Confusing construction<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to just pick up the Qur\u2019an and start reading. \u201cAnyone who gets though the first 20 pages is very self-disciplined,\u201d Ernst says. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the Qur\u2019an isn\u2019t organized like other books, especially other religious texts. The Gospels, for instance, are chronological accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Book of Revelation is mystical prophecy. The Qur\u2019an, on the other hand, is presented as a series of 114 messages, or suras. And they were not put to paper in chronological order.<\/p>\n

The longest suras were revealed toward the end of Muhammad\u2019s life, but they appear at the beginning of the Qur\u2019an. The shortest suras, which are poetic and often cryptic, were revealed at the beginning of Muhammad\u2019s ministry. But they appear at the end of the Qur\u2019an.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you start reading the Qur\u2019an at the beginning, it\u2019s sort of like reading a mystery novel by starting with the last chapter,\u201d Ernst says. In How to Read the Qur\u2019an<\/em>, he sorts all that out.<\/p>\n

Ernst shows how the suras evolved over 23 years into long passages of prose full of allusions to the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Talmud, and even the apocryphal writings of Christianity.<\/p>\n

Those references can confuse modern readers, Ernst says. For instance, sura 5 mentions the Israelites seeking the Promised Land after fleeing captivity in Egypt. Only two of them enter Canaan \u2014 Caleb and Joshua. \u201cBut the Qur\u2019an doesn\u2019t mention them by name,\u201d Ernst says. \u201cIt only mentions \u2018the two.\u2019 This leads me to believe that the initial audience of this sura knew the text of the Hebrew Bible very well.\u201d And that audience, he says, likely included Jews and Christians. Today\u2019s more secular readers, though, might not understand the reference to \u201cthe two.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his book, Ernst makes sense of such references for readers and shows how the Qur\u2019an would\u2019ve been understood by the people of seventh-century Arabia. This approach is not typical.<\/p>\n

For centuries, scholars and theologians have organized the central points of Qur\u2019an according to theme. This way, they can tell readers what the Qur\u2019an \u201csays\u201d about specific issues. But that can be difficult because the Qur\u2019an \u2014 if viewed as a single piece of revelation \u2014 is full of contradictions and paradoxes. Interpreters had to concoct the so-called doctrine of abrogation to pinpoint what the Qur\u2019an really<\/em> says about a particular issue.<\/p>\n

Abrogation essentially boils down to one verse trumping the validity of another. This, Ernst says, is problematic for several reasons.<\/p>\n

In sura 9, for instance, there\u2019s a command for warfare against unbelievers. Today, \u201cunbelievers\u201d could mean anyone who\u2019s not a Muslim. But Ernst and most scholars say Muhammad was referring to war against Meccan pagans who were tormenting Muhammad\u2019s first followers. Muhammad clearly considered Jews and Christians to be believers. He even referred to them as \u201cPeople of the Book.\u201d Modern-day Islamist radicals don\u2019t make that distinction, and neither do people antagonistic toward Islam.<\/p>\n

Through the centuries, many Qur\u2019anic commentators have said this so-called \u201csword verse\u201d in sura 9 trumps the many verses pertaining to forgiveness for pagan unbelievers and acceptance of Jews and Christians. \u201cSome legal scholars argue that the sword verse abrogates over 100 verses that contain peace treaties and counsels of tolerance,\u201d Ernst says. \u201cI find it rather unsatisfactory that such an extreme reading requires one to disregard large chunks of text.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making matters worse, sometimes contradictory statements appear within the same passage. Sura 60, for example, advises believers to avoid becoming allies with those who make war against them. But then it mentions how believers and disbelievers can establish friendships.<\/p>\n

How are readers to make sense of this? Some scholars suggest we\u2019re not supposed to. Some say sura 60 is composed of fragments from two different sets of revelation. But the contradictions within one passage force believers to pick which verse to take to heart.<\/p>\n

Ernst\u2019s research reveals another explanation for sura 60 and how to approach seemingly contradictory verses. Readers have to understand how the text was structured before interpreting its meaning.<\/p>\n

To read the rest of the story, visit http:\/\/endeavors.unc.edu\/people_of_the_book<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carl Ernst is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. <\/em>How to Read the Qur\u2019an: A New Guide, with Select Translations was published by the University of North Carolina Press. Ernst\u2019s other books include <\/em>Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World.<\/p>\n

Story by Mark Derewicz, <\/em>Endeavors<\/a> magazine<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For centuries scholars and theologians have debated the Qur\u2019an\u2019s confusing passages. But Carl Ernst says they\u2019ve missed out on a key method for unlocking the book\u2019s secrets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fine-arts-humanities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3418"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45357,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions\/45357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}