Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyyah, LNS 6 MS Qur’an Manuscript, Iran 11th century

The Qur’an is a remarkable work. It contains divine laws, moral principles, parables, and narratives touching on every facet of existence — personal, communal, and metaphysical. Scholars often point out what a linguistic masterpiece of poetry and prose it is, though Muhammad could neither read nor write and had no scholarly background. The Arabic in the Qur’an is the classical standard to which all subsequent Arabic literature has aspired. The faithful also note that it contains many irrefutable scientific truths that were not “discovered” by secular scientists for centuries. To Muslims it is, quite simply, the Word of God.

The Qur’an covers all social, economic, and judicial aspects of how people should live their lives. As such, it is the foundation of Muslim society. Together with the Hadith (the recorded sayings of Muhammad), consensus and precedents laid down over the ages, and induction and reasoning based on the Qur’an and Hadith, it forms the basis for shar’ia, or Islamic jurisprudence.

Some Islamic nations try to use the Qur’an directly as a constitution. Others, in a more or less Western humanist tradition, try to separate religion and state. In Kuwait, human freedom is respected and a constitutional monarchy prevails, but the people and leaders are devoutly Muslim. The affairs of government and state are thus secular, but undertaken with Islamic guidance and reference to shar’ia.

Boiled down to its essence, Islam requires that the faithful embrace the often-cited “Five Pillars of Islam”. Each of these is central to Muslim life, and each has its effects on the flow of life in Kuwait.