On my Q&A podcast over the years, I have talked with people from many walks of life: writers, politicians, athletes, comedians, businessmen, musicians, human-rights activists. Not until now have I had an Islamic scholar — and he is a writer and teacher of deep learning and stylistic clarity. His name is Mohamad Jebara, and our Q&A is here.
A few years ago, he wrote a book called “Muhammad the World-Changer.” His new book is The Life of the Qu’ran. (I grew up with “Koran,” and stick with it. Then again, my fingers still want to type “Teheran,” and even “Rumania,” occasionally.)
In addition to being an Islamic scholar, Mr. Jebara is a philologist, who knows a slew of languages, ancient and modern. He is an illustrator and a calligrapher (as you can see in his new book). He is a devourer of literature, especially of a religious or spiritual nature.
Via Zoom, he gave me glimpses of his library. On his shelves is a Bible that a local hospital was about to throw out. (Mr. Jebara is a chaplain there.) One reason he wanted to have it is that it was published in 1881, exactly a hundred years before he was born.
He grew up in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. His parents were Lebanese immigrants. The family was not especially religious, Mr. Jebara tells me: They were “cultural Muslims.” But at ten, Mohamad began to memorize the Koran. It took him a couple of years. “And how long does it take to recite the Koran?” I ask him. About a month, he says, if you take your time.
It’s still there, by the way — the Koran is still there, in his head. But he has to practice, he has to refresh. He does this while driving, exercising, etc.
In our Q&A, I ask him an assortment of questions: “How close are classical Arabic and today’s Arabic?” “Is the Koran to Muslims what the Bible is to Jews and Christians?” “Is ‘Allah’ simply the Arabic word for ‘God’?” I also ask him a cliché of a question, and a good one, I think: “What is the biggest misunderstanding among Muslims about the Koran? And what is the biggest misunderstanding among non-Muslims?” Mr. Jebara gives a general answer — which I will paraphrase and abbreviate:
I think that, to a large degree, Muslims and non-Muslims alike don’t understand the Koran. The Koran is a fascinating work of literature. But the understanding of it has been degraded. And the book has been turned into a talisman.
There are literally over a billion copies of the Koran circulating in the world. People have them in their car. They wear scriptures around their neck. They have tattoos — you name it.
But the Koran was not intended to be a talisman. It wasn’t intended to be a book of spells. It was intended to be a guidebook, like the Torah.
A lot of non-Muslims look at the Koran as dangerous or nonsensical. And, given bad translations and bad interpretations, you can see why.
Basically, my mission is to revive the original understanding of the Koran. I don’t believe in “reformation.” I don’t think the Koran needs to be reformed. Or modernized. We need to go back to how it was meant to be understood.
Obviously, Mohamad Jebara says a lot more, but I have typed enough. One can learn a lot from this man. He has a great love of learning, and makes others want to learn more too. Again, our Q&A is here.