CLARIFYING THE QUR'ANIC TERMINOLOGY VOLUME 3

Volume 3 Description

Based on the introduction and attached index, the following description can be provided for Volume 3 of "Clarifying Qur'anic Terminology: An Applied Study in Qur'anic Language Jurisprudence" by engineer and researcher Nasser Ibn Dawood:

Building the Cognitive and Civilizational Model

• The Human Vicegerency Project: The volume begins with a comprehensive vision that considers "Khilafah" (vicegerency) as the ultimate purpose of human existence, with the Qur'an as the tool to achieve it. It reinterprets religious rituals as functional tools serving this project.
• Redefining Human Identity: Presents a detailed map of the human entity (spirit, heart, inner heart, self, chest), distinguishing between "human being" and "human" in the journey of consciousness, establishing a deeper understanding of human behavior.

Deconstructing and Rebuilding Social and Family Systems

• Gender Relations: Offers a functional perspective on concepts of "men" and "women" that transcends biological division.
• Marriage and Divorce: Redefines "marriage" and "nikah" as functional partnerships, presents divorce as an organized institutional process, and offers a new reading of verses considered the basis for polygamy and the story of Zaid and Zainab.

Restructuring Economic and Ethical Concepts

• Concept of Provision (Rizq): Expands the concept of "provision" from material giving to spiritual and intellectual abundance.
• Balance of Life: Considers "balance" a central concept, redefines "riba" not as financial interest but as a crime disrupting this cosmic balance, and links "zina" to disorder in the system of life.

Existential Reading of Unseen and Afterlife Concepts

• Paradise and Hell: Presents them as existential and psychological states experienced by humans now, not merely as deferred rewards.
• Death and Life: Interprets "the dead" as spiritual and intellectual death, and offers a symbolic understanding of creation stories and resurrection of the dead.

Deepening Linguistic and Contemplative Methodology

• Qur'anic Codes: Delves into meanings of disconnected letters like "Kaf Ha Ya Ain Sad", precise terms like "abrogation" (meaning clarification rather than cancellation), "revelation" and "gradual revelation", and the difference between "interpretation, explanation and contemplation".
• Call for Intellectual Liberation: Repeatedly emphasizes the need for intellectual independence, rejection of blind imitation and following the majority, and advocates the "remove your sandals" methodology for detachment when contemplating the Qur'an.

At its core, Volume 3 is the culmination of the journey, going beyond merely correcting concepts to using them to build an integrated and interconnected intellectual and life system. It presents readers with a comprehensive Qur'anic framework for understanding themselves and their relationship with the universe, the Creator, and society. The project concludes with a practical call for digitizing manuscripts as a tool to enable this authentic understanding.