I have been listening to Mr Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, and I am quiet inspired by his understanding of the religion. I have a couple of questions
1. As I started listening to Mr Ghamidi extensively, I felt as if now my mind cannot accept any other understanding of the religion. This made me feel that may be I am doing Taqleed. As a sincere student of Islam, I want to remain biasless and honest towards my quest for truth. Kindly advise me on how to remain unbiased and open towards other understandings.
2. I was reading a criticism on Mr Ghamidi’s understanding of the seven readings of the Qur’an. Then I read Mr Ghamidi’s point of view on this matter in his book Meezan. I personally believe that whichever qira’at was advised to the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and which he used should be used. But Mr Ghamidi wrote in his book that if we follow the other six qira’aat then it will make a difference in the understanding of the Qur’an. Can you explain what is Qira’at? Is it only recitation or the text as well? And how writing or reciting the Qur’an in other six qira’aat can make difference in the meanings of the Quran? Please illustrate your response with examples.
Answer
1. The best way to remain open minded is to always consider yourself a student of Islam. A student of Islam is always keen to learn from any teacher and does not close his ears when teachers other than his own are talking. A student of Islam always questions the opinions, and will not accept the arguments of a teacher merely because it has been put forward by that teacher, no matter how great the teacher is. He is always demanding reasons and evidences. A student of Islam will question every assumption and accepts that the whole truth might not be with one teacher or one approach to understanding Islam. A student of Islam does not consider himself obliged to have an understanding that is 100% the same as the understanding of his teacher. He allows himself to differ where he finds that his understanding is different. I suggest you keep comparing Mr. Ghamidi’s arguments with the arguments of other scholars with a view to critically analyse them and to form a personal opinion that might be or might not be in agreement with the opinions of Mr. Ghamidi. In fact, to always search for the truth is itself one of the teachings of Mr. Ghamidi.
2. Apparently the seven qira’aat have been developed under the influence and effect of different accents and dialects, combined by possible errors in hearing the original Qira’at (Qira’at-i Aamm). This has resulted in formation of other versions of the Qur’an that have slight differences in wordings. The differences are so slight and tiny that it does not make the two readings any different in terms of the message and overall meaning, however if we want to look at the meanings in detail (word by word) then it does make difference as Mr. Ghamidi pointed out. For instance in SurahFatihah the popular and correct qira’at is maaliki (مالك) yawmi al-deen (Master of the Day of Judgement), however according to a qira’at it is maliki (ملک) yawmi al-deen (King of the Day of Judgement). Another example is that in Surah al-Maa’ida (5:6). The popular qira’ah for the word that refers to “feet” in ablution is “arjulAkum” and this implies that the feet needs to be washed and fits well with the rest of the verse. However, according to a qira’ah the word is “arjulIkum” which then opens a window to argue for the possibility that the verse says the feet needs to be rubbed on rather than washed, an interpretation that does not fit quite well with the rest of the verse.
