Indeed, the Qur’an is not an ordinary book. Its role is multi-faceted. The more one understands about life and all its aspects, including politics, the clearer the role of the Qur’an and its importance become, and the opposite is just as true – the more one is acquainted with the Qur’an and its terminology, the better the chance is to notice many things in life, including the politics itself.
In this regard, one of the names or functions of the Qur’an is al-Furqaan, which is translated as “the Standard.” Actually, there is a ‘surah’ named after it. If we were to ask a teenager, who is just being exposed to real life, about his or her understanding of law, politics, social norms, regulations, and rules, definitely one will not even fathom the importance of the question because he or she does not have a real taste or experience with the concept of terminology and the nature of language and words. In reference to a particular point in time, law and social norms and regulations do not reveal one of their major flaws, that is, political corruption.
If we make a longitudinal study of political changes, over a long period of time, we will notice that the political terminology, social norms, laws and regulations change drastically, and if we decide to look for the reason behind such changes, it will become clear that there is a sinister aspect behind, that is, politics – rather, the corrupt politics.
People think that the standardization of legal terms and political terminology change because we are told that the society changes, because we live in modern times, because that is ‘normal.’ That’s what politics propagates. In reality, political language, laws, regulations and the standardization change for political convenience.
It is more convenient for politics to change the meaning of words rather than reveal itself as oppressive. People don’t like to be controlled while politics is all about control. Therefore, it changes the meaning of the legal words and standards, and this is very dangerous. Politics is inclined to redefine everything: wage, salary, job, taxes, business freedom, marriage, age of maturity, inheritance, and laws about property, and everything changes for political convenience, which is temporary. If left alone, politics becomes so unscrupulous that it even changes the definition of gender, what is a woman and what is a man, something which is as natural as that.
And here the Qur’an demonstrates its importance, knowing that politics is inclined to do everything to control people, so it sets the standard and restricts the game of politics. Always there is room for change, but there must be a universal standard, which guarantees consistency and protection from this corrupt nature of humans.
Having the right to set the terms and define things constitutes power, but that power cannot be unlimited. That’s one of the roles of the Qur’an: to set the standard and limit the power of politics.
Sabri Lushi
