The Koran and Spiderman

This article was previously published in Indonesian at 12/7/2004

All this time, the Muslim community has been paying more attention towards the law verses or “ayat al-ahkam” in studying the Koran. We notice thata thre is a tendency to see the Koran as merely a book of law, a document containing regulations such as the Criminal Code. The Koran is reduced to a collection of regulations about what is allowed (halal) and what is prohibited (haram).

I think such a tendency is negative, since it is a reduction and make our perspective about that Holy Book shallow. In the literature about “ulum al-tafsir” (Koranic science), there are a small number of legal verses in the Koran—only about 200 verses. Other verses talk about a very wide spectrum of things: the tales of previous prophets, the cosmic tale about the creation of Adam, social criticism of Arab society in the time of the Prophet, social ethics, natural phenomenon, the fauna and flora etc. The forgotten aspect of the Koran area the tales, or “qashash” in Koranic terms. The Koran contains many tales with multi thematic spectrums. Muslims tend to neglect this aspect. I find it the implicit view that the tale verses are less important as compared to the law verses or ayat al ahkam. We can check this through classical as well as through modern Islamic literatures. There are numerous literatures about ayat al ahkam. For the past, we recognize two classical ulama (Islamic scholar) whom are the authors of two books about law verses, Ibnu al-Arabi and Al-Kiya al-Harrasi. For the modern time, we recognize Muhammad Ali al-Shabuni who wrote “Rawa’iu al-Bayan”.

I have just watched “Spiderman 2” recently. This movie of course has nothing to do with Koranic studies. After watching it, I sent short messages to friends that humans need tales or legends. We assume that the main image of modern human is as a rational being hence underestimating “marginal” things like fiction. The entertainment industry, worth billion dollars, is built on tales. Million of people in the whole world visit the theater to watch tales such as legends like Superman, Batman, and Spiderman.

Indeed the role of tales in modern society is not more important than in pre-modern society. Legends, in modern society, might be observed as “entertainment” which is less serious, less important, at least as compared to science or technology. However, in fact, modern humans still need tales. Eventually legend is an indispensable thing we should not neglect. I think there are many explanations behind the significance of legends. Tales and legends give us “prototypes” about the ideal world we desire. Humans always live in a tension between the real and the ideal world. Tales provide models of dealing with both worlds in a narrative context as if it was real.

Legends also provide “models” about “the good” and “the bad”. We are less interested in the teaching about the good and the bad in the prescription form than in the list of “do’s and don’ts”. It is more interesting when conveyed in the form of narration or tale. The tale about Adam being expelled from heaven is the most popular example of the human struggle between “the good” and “the bad”. Similarly, the tale of Adam in the Koran conaveys positive concepts about humans and even though Adam commits sin, he repents and God accepts it. In that tale, there is a “cosmic model” about humans who are tempted by sin and are mislead, but eventually they return to the right path.

Hollywood legends, to me, are less interesting, since they emphasize much on the heroic aspect of humans. Superman, Batman and Spiderman are –using Iwan Fals’s term—a half god human who can solve the dilemma of evil and good easily. I think that the Koran gives a more realistic example about human frailty. Adam as a frail human turned out to be strong after he repented anda foreswore evil.

Hence, we must explore Koran broadly, and stop observing Koran as merely a book of law. The result will be that the Koran will be see as a rich form of literature anda as a creative inspiration for Muslims today. [Ulil Abshar-Abdalla]

(Translated by Lanny Octavia, edited by Jonathan Zilberg)