In the Presence of the Sublime Qur’an:

A Commentary on Part 30 [chapters 78-114]

Abdolali Bazargan (trans. Mohammad Fani and Amir Douraghy;
ed. Hamid Mavani)

Laguna Hills, CA: Payam, 2016. 476 pages.

This volume represents an especially modern viewpoint with regard to un-
derstanding the Qur’an and its message, while also being firmly embedded in
traditional approaches and methods for its interpretation. The commentary
consists of a number of lectures originally given in Persian by Abdolali
Bazargan as a weekly lecture series in Irvine, CA. These lectures, a portion
of which have been translated and edited into this single volume, were initially
presented to groups of lay Muslims interested in the general theme of “be-
coming acquainted with the Qur’an” (p. xiv). 

The author, Abdolali Bazargan, is part of the laity himself: an architect
by profession. While not having been fully trained in the traditional sciences

98 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 34:2



of Qur’anic interpretation, his strong interest in Qur’anic exegesis (according
to the editor) has led him to spend “the last 55 years researching it and writing
20 books in the field of Qur’anic sciences” (p. xiv). This volume is thus a lay
commentary on the Qur’an’s “short surahs,” namely al-Fātiḥah and the last
juz’ (chapters 78-114). Although no specific argument or thesis holds the en-
tirety of the work together, it nevertheless stands as a representative sample
of modern (educated) Muslim engagement with the text of the Qur’an and its
ramifications for their lived religious tradition, particularly in the modern
world. 

Bazargan and his team take this engagement seriously, for this commen-
tary (as well as, apparently, the lectures of which it is a transcript) is intended
to be essentially devotional, evangelistic, and apologetic in nature. Both of
the translators and the editor highlight such a goal in their prefaces. One trans-
lator points out that the main purpose is “to bring the Holy Qur’an’s message
to those speakers of English who may not be familiar with Farsi, Arabic, or
Islamic history” (p. x). The other (in speaking of issues related to having two
translators) advises: “Let us dwell less on the differences and study the mes-
sage of the Qur’an for our guidance and believe in it as a divine glory to up-
hold. These lectures are not meant to sit on a shelf” (p. xi). Editor Hamid
Mavani notes that the volume, in part, is intended for Muslims who may feel
bewildered or unsure about how to engage the text of the Qur’an: 

[Bazargan’s] approach makes the Qur’anic text accessible, relevant, inter-
active, and dialogical for Muslims who have lost their connection with this
living text. This fresh and innovative commentary is meant for the general
public, for his style is straightforward and avoids polemics and doctrinal nit-
picking. After all, the Qur’an was meant for humanity at large, as opposed
to a privileged class of religious experts and jurisprudents. (p. xiv)

This quote represents a starting point for engagement with both this work’s
strengths and weaknesses, especially as many of its characteristics can be seen
either way, depending upon the reader’s perspective. The intentional highlight-
ing of the dichotomy between traditionally trained experts in the text and laity
stands as such an issue. To a certain audience, such an approach may be re-
garded as positive, as it represents a specific discursive orientation toward the
West and modernity, an acceptance of a historical narrative that something hap-
pened to propel western civilization to unforeseen advancement while the Mus-
lim world stagnated, and that this situation can be fixed by a reorientation to
modernity. Bazargan brings such a narrative to the fore both historically and
religiously (see pp. 311-12, 316, passim). But to other audiences, such an ori-

Book Reviews 99



entation could easily be seen as a betrayal of those aspects that have historically
formed the center of their religious world. Bazargan quite clearly wears his
discourse on his own sleeve, proudly displaying how and what he stands for.
It is up to the reader or audience to decide if this is a positive feature or not. 

Such an orientation, however, should not be characterized as a simplisti-
cally modern narrative or discourse, but rather as a complex balancing act.
Bazargan draws distinctly from both modernist and traditional forms and
norms of engagement with the Qur’an. In form, his approach follows tradi-
tional norms in being essentially atomistic, meaning that he largely focuses
on one verse at a time while progressing through the chapter under discussion.
Likewise, as he is very much concerned with interpreting the Qur’an by means
of the Qur’an, he utilizes many other pertinent Qur’anic verses to understand
the specific verse being analyzed. 

But while traditional in form, his approach to the text is more eclectic,
for it takes from many modern notions and perspectives rather than just from
the traditional Qur’anic sciences. One of these approaches is a scientific exe-
gesis – seeing in the Qur’an information or specific knowledge of a modern
scientific nature, whether astronomical, medical, or otherwise. Another one
can be described as contextualist, in that he views and interprets the Qur’an
(or at least certain portions of it) as contextually bound in seventh-century
Arabia and thus needing to be understood from a historical-critical perspective.
And yet this approach is not uniform throughout the commentary, for
Bazargan utilizes it mainly when it helps him make a devotional or apologetic
argument, while at other times he either provides no historical context or ig-
nores historical considerations in favor of more devotional or allegorical in-
terpretations. This devotional purpose or aim is bolstered by these allegorical
readings and interpretations, even though in some cases it actively militates
against traditional practices and considerations (e.g., interpreting the Qur’an
as being against common contemporary Muslim commemorative practices
[pp. 392-94]). 

The devotional purpose and the perspectives against certain traditional
practices are further complicated by the fact that Bazargan, being Iranian, is
coming from a Shi’ite viewpoint. This is readily apparent, as he frequently
leans upon interpretive notions from Ali or contained in the Nahj al-Balāghah.
Likewise, there are frequent references to Husayn, Karbala, Muharram, and
other elements commonly held to be mostly Shi’ite in orientation. But this
simply remains an artifact of Bazargan’s worldview and interpretive frame-
work, as it does not edge into any sectarian claims or polemics. The closest
he comes to polemics is in his political interpretations, which, given his self-

100 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 34:2



imposed exile from Iran (p. xiv), are hard to read in any way other than as
thinly veiled criticisms of a certain theo-political regime (e.g., pp. 192, 197-
98, 200-01, 233, 243, 290, passim), although they might apply to other polit-
ical climates as well. 

While the commentary’s target audience – educated, somewhat western-
ized, lay Muslims of the Shi’ite persuasion – will find great devotional and
apologetic value in this volume, from a scholarly perspective (either that of
traditional trained ulema or of critical western academic approaches), the work
itself presents more of a mixed bag. This volume (and any potential further
commentaries produced from the original lectures) is of considerable value to
the scholarly community in its nature as a representation of modern, moderate,
lay positions and understandings of the Qur’an, based in and bearing the hall-
mark of the reform movements of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth cen-
turies. Likewise, it is a valuable addition to the corpus of modern reception
history of the Qur’an, particularly in its melding of a modern worldview with
traditional methods and sources. 

However, western scholars (disclosure: this is the position from which I
am approaching this volume) may be put off by an apologetic approach that
is very methodologically eclectic and muddled, as it seems to be attempting
to do too much – and not doing much of it exceedingly well. While it is cer-
tainly a positive goal (from one perspective) to avoid the pitfalls of doctrinal,
linguistic, or historical “nitpicking,” doing so leads to an amateur aesthetic
beset by suspect etymologies or word definitions (e.g., rejecting the definition
of ‘ibādah as “worship” in favor of “filling in holes” or “making smooth” [p.
409], or claiming that tayr in Sūrat al-Fīl refers to lava ejected by a volcanic
eruption [p. 379]), false historical claims (e.g., that the Israelites built the pyr-
amids as Pharaoh’s slaves [p. 199]), and importing extreme readings into the
text (e.g., interpreting three usages of al-ladhī in one chapter to denote
monotheism, prophethood, and resurrection, respectively [p. 171]). 

And yet scholars could easily look past these issues in order to utilize this
volume as an important example of continued lay engagement with the Qur’an
in the modern era, an attempt to interpret it with modern and moderate eyes.
On certain counts it accomplishes this well, from advocating positive engage-
ment and viewpoints with regard to other religious traditions (pp. 83, 111,
passim) to rejecting compulsion in religious and political matters even within
Muslim-majority societies (pp. 84-85, passim). 

Andrew C. Smith
Adjunct Instructor, Religious Education and Middle Eastern Studies

Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

Book Reviews 101