MODERN QURAN
Of the 114 Chapters of the Qur’an six of them are named after animals: the cow, the cattle, the bee, the spider, the ant, and the elephant. In these chapters, the animal named in the title is typically mentioned only briefly but in a way that carries a profound meaning.
Going back to the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), non-believers — who listened to the Qur’an only to criticize not to understand — would miss this deeper meaning and would make fun of these chapters named after animals.
The chapter of “The Spider” is one of these. The word spider occurs twice in verse 29:41 of this Chapter and nowhere else in the Qur’ān.
Verse 29:41
“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the spider, who takes a house (for itself); but truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider’s house — if only they knew.”
At first glance, the verse appears to make a straightforward comparison: just as a spider's web is fragile and weak, so too is the protection offered by those who seek guardians other than God. Yet beneath this surface reading lies a masterpiece of divine rhetoric that rewards deeper contemplation with profound insights.
Uncovering the Layers of meaning
While the average reader would be satisfied with the surface reading based on the apparent weakness of a spider’s web — which can be easily destroyed even by a child’s hand — in reality, the weakness is largely illusory because the spider web is also exceedingly thin and light.
Indeed, modern science has shown (a fact that was partially understood in some ancient cultures as well) that spider silk is one of nature’s most remarkable materials: it is stronger than high-grade alloy steel (by weight) and tougher than kevlar, and it can stretch several times its length without breaking. These properties spurred a range of commercial applications and continuing scientific research into its structure.
A reader who knows about these properties — which includes every child who grew up watching Spiderman! — is going to feel unease about the apparent contradiction: If the verse is describing physical weakness, it seems to contradict material reality.
In truth, this “contradiction” serves as an interpretative trigger, compelling the thoughtful reader to look beyond the physical properties of spider silk to discover what kind of weakness is actually being described.
Albert Einstein famously said that his greatest wish was to know “what God thinks”. So, if we were to wonder like that great genius: If God sends a 600-page book of guidance… to all humanity… that He intends to last for eternity… what would be the very first word of that book?
“All Gratitude and Praise be to Allah, the Lord (Cherisher and Sustainer) of the entire Universe.” (Al Fatiha, Verse 1)
The very first word God says as He starts to “speak”, and by extension, the most important lesson He wants humans to understand — in this mind-boggling mystery in which we all found ourselves that we call life — is to be grateful.
Such is the importance of these words that every Muslim is instructed to recite this sentence (at least) 17 times a day!
So, that’s it. That’s all! It is simply the realization of the immensity and beauty and perfection of all the gifts that God blessed us with by bringing us to life. In this wonderland, we call the Earth. In a much grander wonderland, called the Universe. And He does remind us that “He is the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Universe.”
But, how about praise?
The Quran is the Divine Book of Islam, and Muslims believe that it is the Word of God, unaltered. And Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said it will remain “his greatest miracle until the end of time.”
Clearly, these are bold claims, and a non-Muslim has every right to be skeptical about their truth. I will discuss these claims and the evidence put forward in detail in future posts.
For now though, what matters is that regardless of whether you believe this or not, these statements reflect how Muslims view the Quran.So, if you want to know what Islam is — as understood by Muslims — you start with the Quran.
First: A unique feature of the Quran is its hierarchical structure: that all the (600-page!) Quran is summarized in its first Chapter (1/3-page long!), and that the first chapter is summarized in the first Sentence.
(You may notice that this is precisely the format of modern scientific articles: “Article summarized in Introduction summarized in Abstract”, which I find pretty remarkable for a book that goes back 1500 years.)
So, what does that first sentence say? Here it is:
(IN TURKISH:)
Kur’ân’da Bakara dahil 6 surenin ilk ayeti olan Elif-Lâm-Mîm üzerine yazdigim görsel tefsirin en yeni versiyonunu bu sayfadan indirebilirsiniz.
As I was pondering a passage in the Qur’ān in which the word “al-Qamar” — the Arabic word for “the Moon” — appeared, I wondered if the word had any other meanings or metaphorical usage. When I looked at the (excellent) Quranic Arabic Corpus page, I noticed that it lists a total of 27 occurrences of al-Qamar in the Qur’an.
“Twenty-seven?” I thought to myself. “That’s only a few days shorter than the length of the lunar month.”
You see, this possible association — between 27 occurrences and the 29.5-day-long lunar month — popped up so naturally in my mind because as someone who has been reading the Qur’an since my childhood, it is impossible not to be overpowered by its never-ending wonders and miracles that greet you seemingly every time you open its pages.
Yes, miracles, some of which are so profound and comprehensive that it would take volumes to show them in all their glory; others that are “bite-size,” so to speak — delightful wonders that can potentially be noticed by anyone who reads the Qur’an with an open mind and a sincere heart, and it would increase their faith and warm their heart.
So, I had this nagging feeling because the Qur’an never has a near miss. Never. Anytime it dangles a “marvel” or a “sign” in front of us that looks close-but-not-exact, you can be sure that there is a twist that we missed. And when we finally figure it out, we realize that the connection is even more perfect and beautiful than we had initially suspected.
As I was pondering these, I remembered a verse that mentions the “new moon.” Because there is a separate word for “crescent” in Arabic — al-Hilāl (الهلال) — this verse was not in the list for al-Qamar I had just looked up. I found out that the verse I had was the singular appearance of al-Hilālin the Qur’an (Q2:189):
…يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِىَ مَوَٰقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَٱلْحَجِّ
They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about (the phases of) the crescent moons. Say, “They are a means for people to determine time and pilgrimage…
Notice that the verse actually mentions al-Hilāl in plural, “the crescent moons”, which refers to the gradual growth of the new moon in the days after its first appearance. We will return to this detail later.
This verse brought the total mentions of the moon to 28.
The discussion about the new moon made me think of the “full moon” but I didn’t remember it being mentioned in the Qur’an. My loyal friend chatGPT reminded me that the Arabic word for the full moon “Badr” is also the name of a location between Mecca and Madina, which happens to be where the most famous battle of the Islamic history was fought — the Battle of Badr. And this battle is mentioned by name in the Quran (Q3:123):
وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
Indeed, Allah made you victorious at Badr when you were ˹vastly˺ outnumbered. So be mindful of Allah, perhaps you will be grateful.
What is perhaps more surprising is that although this battle is recounted quite extensively in the Qur’an, the name Badr occurs only once in the Qur’an — just like the full moon appearing in only one single night!