The Qur’an’s Message on Spirituality and Martyrdom: A Literary and Rhetorical Analysis

Abstract

Is the Qur'an a spiritual text that links human existence to divine benevolence? Or does the Qur'an advocate martyrdom and justify violence against non-believers? This debate acquired new urgency with the rise of terrorism perpetrated in the name of Islam in the later decades of the twentieth century. On the one hand, the Qur'an provides spiritual guidance to millions of Muslims around the world. On the other, Islamic terrorist organizations draw inspiration from the Qur'an. Some Western experts also cite Qur'anic passages as supporting violence and terrorism. This paper interprets the Qur'an in the tradition of Arab scholars of the early medieval period (eighth century CE) who began al-balāgha, a study of literary devices used in the rhetorical expression of the Qur'an. The paper analyzes how literary and rhetorical elements in the Qur'an have shaped its message on man's relationship with the divine, as well as two key theological concepts in Islam: requital and final judgment. The paper demonstrates how an appreciation of the Qur'an's literary and rhetorical elements is critical to understanding its spiritual message, as well as its stance on violence and martyrdom.

Why educated youth inclined toward extremism: A case of higher education institutes of Pakistan

“…They misinterpret the religion, and the promise of paradise and martyrdom pulls them to join ISIS. Arya (2017) concluded that the youth’s lack of understanding of the Quranic teachings causes them to join extremist organizations to kill innocent masses and to get jannah through martyrdom.…”

Fostering Islamic Morality through Tahfidz Learning: Islamic Law

“…Santriwan and santriwati learn to memorize Qur'anic verses called Tahfidz Learning, which is a lesson that contains memorizing Qur'anic verses without seeing the Qur'an and learning Tahfiz by murojaah so that they are more fluent in reciting the memorized verses. (Arya, 2017). Educators work as teaching children who want to learn in any aspect, teachers need to have a good attitude and be exemplary by students where a teacher must be able to guide children who want to learn from an early age from 5 years old to adulthood and regardless of age, as for IJEN | Vol.…”

The education of Muslim women in Daesh’s and Al Qaeda’s online magazines

“…Literally meaning 'effort' (Shah, 2014), it is a complex word that by no mean refers exclusively to armed struggle. As with any sacred text written in a previous age, to understand this and other concepts appearing in the Qur'an it is essential to take into account the historical context of the verses in CONTACT Verónica Cobano-Delgado Palma cobano@us.es © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group question (Arya, 2017). An aspect that is usually ignored by specific groups so as to make an interpretation that legitimises their ideology (Frissen, Toguslu, Van Ostaeyen, & d'Haenens, 2018).…”