Does Quran Support Islamic Fundamentalism?

   It is no secret that religious fundamentalism is the result of coming to a belief that one has found the truth and the whole truth, so to get closer to God and serve him he/she is going to do whatever he can to make others believe as he does.  In other words, when a faithful person feels the obligation to enforce his views to others by any means, he/she will be walking the path of religious extremism.  

   The Middle East seems to have been the birth place for the main religions of the world including Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Not surprisingly, after a few thousand years Middle East continues to be the place where religion is the cornerstone of daily life, with a major difference though.  At this time it is not the believers and disbelievers who are foe, but strangely, all the fights are among the believers themselves one way or another.  The most interesting point however, is the fact that it is the extremists of different faith, or even of same religion but different denominations, who are most hostile and brutal toward each other.  On a closer inspection, the closer they are in denominations the harsher they become to one another.  I refrain from providing examples or names to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings.  Yet it is extremely sad for all true believers to witness these conflicts.

  Since the Middle East is the cradle of many ancient civilizations, it also has made it a potential treasure land for archaeologist as well as for treasure smuggler.  For example, ironically enough, a commonly believed sign of treasure is a large snake nesting on buried gold.  Nevertheless, a real treasure hunter would not be scared away by the snake.  Instead he would become more curious and more interested. There are video clips on the Internet from the real cases. Perhaps religious fundamentalism or ,in particular, Islamic extremism at our time could be considered the snake on a hidden treasure within this area which has a proven record of carrying precious gems such as Oil.   So one may ask "what could be the real mysterious treasure in this part of the world?"

   Quran, much to extremists’ disappointment, includes verses that teach us quite contrary to a fundamentalist’s views.  Below are a few examples which verify Quran’s stand on this matter.  

1                1- Chapter 88 “Al-Ghaashya”, verses 21 to 26 God says:

“فذَكِّرۡ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَڪِّرٌ۬ (٢١) لَّسۡتَ عَلَيۡهِم بِمُصَيۡطِرٍ (٢٢) إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ (٢٣) فَيُعَذِّبُهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡعَذَابَ ٱلۡأَكۡبَرَ (٢٤)

 إِنَّ إِلَيۡنَآ إِيَابَہُمۡ (٢٥) ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيۡنَا حِسَابَہُم (٢٦)”

      “So remind, you are only a reminder (21) you do not have control over them (22) but whoever turns away and disbelieves (23) Allah will punish them (with) greatest punishment (24) In deed, their return (will) be to us. (25) Then, indeed their account (is) upon us. (26) “  

        Translation quoted from www.globalquran.com 

What is very interesting is according to these verses even if a believer infers someone as a disbeliever, Gods explicitly commands him (any potential believer in fact) that he is  not supposed to do anything except for inviting and reminding.

2               2- Chapter 2 “Al-Baqara”, Verse 256:

"لَآ إِكۡرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِ‌ ......."

           There is no compulsion in religion…..

           3- Chapter 6 “Al-Anaam”, Verse 69:

"وَمَا عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ مِنۡ حِسَابِهِم مِّن شَىۡءٍ۬ وَلَـٰڪِن ذِڪۡرَىٰ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَّقُونَ (٦٩)"

            On their account no responsibility falls on the righteous, but (their duty) is to remind them, that they may (learn to) fear Allah (and stop ridiculing). (69)” Quoted from Yusuf Ali’s Translation 

        

This verse is of particular importance as it is talking about the disbelievers who ridicule God’s revelations.   As evident in these verses God has clarified unequivocally to the believers that they have no duty toward disbelievers but to remind them of the truth peacefully.  

    More importantly, what can settle all the conflicts over whose understanding of the scripture is the right one and must be obeyed by others, is the fact that according to the Quran all our interpretations of its verses and concepts are absolutely relative and subject to mistake.  It is only God who knows the right meaning of some verses of the Quran whose meaning is controversial and subjective.  This in fact, implies that it is only God who knows the ultimate meaning of some Quranic verses whose interpretation is controversial and subjective.  All human understanding of the scripture is limited and subject to change just like human knowledge in all other aspects of life.  

   In Chapter 3,"Al-Omraan", in part of Verse 7 categorizes all verses into two groups:  the “Mohkamat”, which are the foundation of Quran and the “Moteshabehat“ which are verses that can be interpreted in different ways.  God say :

"......  وَمَا يَعۡلَمُ تَأۡوِيلَهُ ۥۤ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ‌ۗ وَٱلرَّٲسِخُونَ فِى ٱلۡعِلۡمِ....." 

“… no one knows its true meanings except Allah and those who are keen to understand … .”   

    These words assert that there is no absolute reading of the Quran except for God. That is to say, no one regardless of educational background, religious status or authority has an inherent advantage over another to find out the truth.  The ones that are more likely to know the truth are those who sincerely long for it.  Actually, it is more or less the same in all other aspects of human knowledge be it natural sciences or the arts.  Rumi, the mystic Persian poet, illustrates this by describing reality as being like an elephant in a dark room.  anyone who enters the room and touches one part of the huge elephant, conceives reality as a long pipe or as a bed depending on whether he/she has reached the nose of elephant or its back.  This is an extraordinary analogy which helps us see the historical struggle of humanity to comprehend the reality of the world when each can see only a part and must infer the whole.

   That being said, the current religious confrontations in the Middle East, which is essentially over imposing one reading of Islam over others, is destined to settle in a general consensus that we all have an equal right to understand the scriptures in our own unique way, which will inevitably result in recognizing the holy texts as an indispensable source of personal inspiration rather than a book of holy laws that can directly govern all aspects of life.

    Back to the question, does Quran support Islamic fundamentalism?   My answer is, not only does the Quran not provide any ground for the use of violence to enforce Islam over others but it also clarifies that there is no perfect reading of the ultimate reality.  Practically speaking, this means everyone has the same chance of finding the truth, and consequently, all have an equal voice and vote.