Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Mohamad Jebara

Quote by Mohamad Jebara

Work

The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Mohamad Jebara

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Mohamad Jebara. more

You May Also Like

“While today the Qur’an is viewed in retrospect as the grand scripture of powerful and triumphant empires, virtually its entire unfolding was defined by corresponding experiences of persecution, banishment, slander, and other intense suffering endured by its followers. In many ways, the Qur’an is the product of pain and sorrow.”

Quran Clarification
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image

“The Qur’an works very hard to maintain a balance between uplifting inspirational rhetoric and the realistic awareness that the world can be a very dangerous place. As a responsible guardian, the Qur’an recognizes it cannot inspire without also warning. It sees potential for greatness in all people, while also cautiously acknowledging that human beings can abuse others. In the end, the Qur’an reminds its audience that there is only one fully trustworthy guide: the Divine.”

Quran Clarification
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image

“Even as flawed human beings inevitably corrupt and obscure the natural monotheistic order, all hope is not lost. Just as inevitably, prophets emerge to issue bold calls to restore a nurturing relationship with the Divine. As the Qur’an explains, “Humanity was of one faith, then they transgressed against each other, so the Loving Divine sends the prophets as guides” (2:213). The English term “prophet” suggests someone foretelling the future, yet Semitic prophets are more focused on recovering a precious heritage in order to chart a better future. The Nabi, the Semitic term for prophet, describes an unlikely source of water bubbling up in an unexpected location, like a desert spring. The Nabi is rarely a prominent elite, but rather an unlikely leader who selflessly connects with divine truth that inexorably bubbles up inside.”

Truth QuotesTruth Of LifeProphecyQuran ClarificationJebaraNabiProphethood
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image

“The translations presented in this book attempt to capture at least some of the Qur’an’s depth and uniquely compelling exploration of human psychology, emotions, and behaviors. Readers familiar with past translations are asked to keep an open mind as they explore the following pages. The Qur’anic translations presented here aim to convey an appreciation of the original text as traditional Islamic scholars understood it—and not necessarily as some ideologically motivated translators have at times sought to portray it.”

IslamIslamicScripturesQuranIslamic QuotesQuran ClarificationJebaraQuran Koran Islam PurposeQuranicQuranic Verses
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image

“At age ten, I set out to find a Qur’an teacher who could open a gateway into this unknown world. Every other day after school I would ride the bus for an hour to study with a young African scholar for two-hour sessions. He sat opposite me cross-legged on the floor, our knees touching. I was captivated by the huge bookcases behind him laden with decorated Arabic tomes. My teacher placed a large blue book between us and began guiding me to read the opening chapter of the Qur’an. In our first session, it took two hours just to limp through the first line as I struggled to precisely pronounce the letters.”

MemoryQuranMemories QuotesQuran QuotesQuran ClarificationMemorizationQuran Koran Islam Purpose
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image

“Blindly inheriting idols reflected how polytheism froze critical thinking. A stone statue might be designed to appear awe-inspiring, but its inherent lack of physical dynamism signified a stagnant worldview. The Qur’an repeatedly invokes the Arabic term for idol—sanam—literally, “frozen in time.”

Critical ThinkingIdolatryIdol WorshipQuran ClarificationJebaraIdols Of The Heart
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image

“In the Qur’an’s telling, Abraham after much reflection declares himself a Hanifam-Muslima (3:67). Typically translated as “a pure Muslim,” both words were archaic Arabic terms at the time of the Qur’an’s revelation and together constituted a dynamic new identity for young Abraham. The root Hanif (cited twelve times in the Qur’an) originally described a tree precariously balanced atop eroding soil in a volatile climate, forced to constantly adjust its roots and branches—and was also used to describe traversing a perilous lava formation. The term connoted the need to constantly rebalance in order to stay safe in unstable situations: remaining true to core roots while having the courage to confront reality. In essence, a Hanif is a healthy skeptic who honestly evaluates inherited traditions. In Abraham’s formula, the Hanif interrogates reality not as a cynic but as a healer, diagnosing injuries in order to repair them. Indeed, Muslim derived from the ancient Semitic root S-L-M, literally “to repair cracks in city walls.” As the integrity of monotheism erodes over time, repairers need to assess the damage and then get to work restoring the fractures.”

IslamAbrahamQuranQuran ClarificationJebaraAbrahamic Religions
Book:The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy
Create image