Q. Some newspapers and websites have
been saying recently that Dr Soroush has officially denied that the
Koran was revealed by God and has said that it is the earthly word
of Muhammad. Is this true?
A. Maybe they’re joking or, God forbid, they have political or
personal motives.
Q. So, what’s your view and your explanation?
A. God willing, they’re well-intentioned and have simply
misunderstood things. Otherwise, anyone who is acquainted with the
divinity’s dominion and with the closeness of God’s saints to God -
and knows about the experience of union - would not speak in such a
repudiatory manner. God’s saints are so close to God and they so
lose themselves in God that their word is the same as the word of
God, and their commands and prohibitions and their likes and
dislikes are the same as God’s commands and prohibitions and likes
and dislikes. The beloved Prophet of Islam was a human being and he
acknowledged and was conscious of his humanity, but this human being
had, at the same time, acquired such a divine hue and quality - and
the intermediaries (even Gabriel) had so fallen away from between
him and God - that whatever he said was both earthly and divine;
these two things were inseparable.
“Like a stone that’s turned into a dazzling ruby / it’s brimming
with the traits of the sun.”
God willing, if people reflect on this fine, mystical point, the
problem will be solved and the key to what is being said will be
discovered.
Q. So what about Gabriel descending to bring down revelation?
A. Mystics are of the view that Gabriel isn’t closer to God than
Muhammad is; in fact, it is Gabriel who complies with the Prophet.
Do we not have it in the story of the Prophet’s ascension to heaven
that Gabriel was unable to accompany the Prophet and was afraid that
his wings would be singed and burn? What does this story tell us?
Didn’t the late Khomeini say: “It was the spirituality of God’s
Prophet that brought down revelation to us… In other words, the Holy
Prophet brought truthful Gabriel into this world.” (Sahifeh-ye Nur,
Vol 20, speech dated 14 April 1987) Does this mean that it wasn’t
God who sent down Gabriel? Or does it mean, in Mowlana Jalal-al-Din
Rumi’s words, that “I need no intermediary or wet nurse to give me
the kindness of God / for, Moses-like, my wet nurse and my mother
are one and the same.”
To say that the Koran is Muhammad’s word is exactly like saying the
Koran is Muhammad’s miracle. Underlining one is not a negation of
the other. Anything that happens in the world happens in accordance
with God’s knowledge, permission and will. A monotheist has no doubt
about this. Be that as it may, we say that the cherry is the fruit
of the cherry tree. Do we have to say that the cherry is the fruit
of God in order to be a monotheist? Let’s not wrap the old Ash’arism
in the garb of modern sanctity. Let’s speak in a righteous way and
strive to understand the meaning of delicate and subtle points. The
Koran was the product of a virtuous tree - the Prophet’s persona -
which bore fruit by God’s permission, and this is identical to
revelation being sent down to us and an act of God.
My advice to the fair-minded (I don’t know what to say to the
ill-intentioned) is exactly the same as Rumi’s advice: They must set
aside any suspicion of God’s saints and not view them as separate
from God. They mustn’t dislodge and bring down these beloved,
revered figures from God’s presence, proximity and dominion.
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