“By revealing this Qur’an to you, we will narrate to you the most beautiful page from the history full of lessons from the past.” Yusuf Surah-3
The narratives in the noble book, like many sections of the Qur’an – in my humble opinion – have not been given the close look they deserve to date, as if they are hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. Stories are important. According to Tabari, the narratives make up one-third of the Qur’an, while contemporary commentator M. Rashid Rida believes they constitute three-fourths.
The late Seyyid Qutb says about this: “The stories in the Qur’an are narrated in relation to various topics and occasions. The place of the story, the section being narrated, the method of narration, and the style are determined by the occasion that necessitates the narration of the story. Thus, harmony is achieved among the psychological, intellectual, and artistic atmospheres of the story. In this way, the story plays its objective role, achieves its psychological purpose, and produces the expected effect.” (Fi Zilal al-Qur’an, p21)
The late Qutb is quite upset that some commentators, unfortunately, do not take these stories seriously: “Some think that these stories are included merely for the sake of narrative beauty, by incorporating events that did not happen or arbitrarily deciding the flow of these events, in other words, resorting to a form of fabrication unrelated to reality found in literary works. However, anyone who examines the Qur’an carefully, without prejudice and with an open mind, will face the reality that the factor determining how much of each story will be narrated is the nature of the subject causing the narration. This nature also determines how the story will be told and what features the narration will include.” (p22)
Indeed, it’s clear that storytelling is both a narrative technique and choice. Assoc. Prof. Mustafa Kara explains this beautifully: “The primary goal of the Qur’an is to enlighten humanity to live a life of peace and serenity based on the belief in oneness. Accordingly, the Qur’an uses different methods to effectively convey its message to people. One of these methods is storytelling. Storytelling is one of the effective and successful means of education, which is why the Qur’an mentions many stories about past prophets and nations.”
In this introductory type of article, we will conceptually look at the term ‘story’, approach it etymologically, from the perspective of the Qur’an, and finally categorically. Then, we will focus on Prophet Joseph and his story, God willing.
Honorable Fethullah Gülen starts his latest book “YUSUF SURAH, The Magical Horizon of the Qur’an” naturally with this concept. The first point he highlights is the truthfulness of stories, meaning they possess a level of accuracy beyond reality.
Let’s see: “Qissa, a word of Arabic origin, derives from the verb قَصَّ and means to follow a trail, to follow something or someone step by step, and to report news to someone. Accordingly, in a story, the importance and complete truthfulness of the narrated event are emphasized.”
At this point, Mr. Gulen highlights a truth we emphasized in every conversation we had on this topic: “With its features, a story differs from a narrative. However, since there is no exact equivalent for ‘story’ in Turkish, the word ‘narrative’ is more commonly used.”
As we won’t delve into such detail later, we need to get a closer look at the word’s etymological structure. The plural of the word is kasas (قصَ ص ÙŽ ). The active participle form of the word, kâss, means “the person who narrates the story as it is, without any addition or omission.” Its plural is kussâs.
Kass/kısâs in the dictionary means “to show pregnancy in animals, to kill a murderer, to cut hair or beards, to settle scores, to exchange, to shorten.” The word kasas, meaning “story, trace, news, and narratives,” was initially used in the sense of “religious advice” and was chosen for news about ancient nations.
It’s fascinating; the root of Kısas, meaning “to follow something, to track someone’s steps,” also carries the meaning “to follow an idea.” And this pursuit is generally directed towards the past. It signifies using the social experiences of past nations as a guide for future planning by step-by-step following these experiences. In this context, it’s possible to say that storytelling is one of the best methods used by the Qur’an in teaching. For instance, the Qur’an uses the word in the sense of “They said, ‘This is what we were looking for.’ So they went back retracing their footsteps.” and “She (Moses’ sister) said, ‘Shall I guide you to a household that could rear him for you and take care of him?'”
To sum up, as a Qur’anic term, a story, referring to the meanings of “following, tracking, tracing,” can be defined as “events narrated in the Qur’an about previous prophets, nations, or past societies, mostly abstracted from time and space, to enlighten people and guide them to righteousness.”
This Hadith perfectly exemplifies our topic: “May God have mercy on Moses. We wished he had been patient so that (God) could have told us more about their (the traveler’s) story.”
Mr. Fethullah Gülen explains that every detail of the stories in the holy book has a purpose: “We have said that Qur’an stories should not be confused with tales and fables. Because tales and fables can sometimes include aimless narratives filled with adventures. Incidents happening to people can be narrated randomly. However, in Qur’an stories, adventures are not narrated in the known sense; lived events are narrated with specific goals. A fluid style that does not tire the listener is used in their narration. Moreover, there is no waste of words in them; everything is said in its place.”
Prophet Joseph’s story is precisely such a tale!
Gülen categorizes the objectives of Qur’an stories into seven main headings:
One: Firstly, to prove the prophethood of God’s Messenger… This purpose is very important because even today in the West, there are irrational claims like “Muhammad (PBUH) took the Qur’an and its contents from previous scriptures.” Yet, the Qur’an itself refutes and proves this claim: “These are from the unseen news that We reveal to you. You were not with them when they cast their pens to decide which of them should be charged with Mary; nor were you with them when they disputed.” (Al-i Imran, 44) “These stories of the unseen We reveal to you. You and your people did not know them before this. So be patient; the end is for those who are righteous.” (Hud, 49) “This is part of the news of the unseen which We reveal to you. You were not with them when they conspired together.” (Yusuf, 102)
Two: The second objective of Qur’an stories is to console and support both the believers of the Prophet’s time and all believers until the Day of Judgment, providing them with lessons and warnings. (p13)
Three: Another objective of Qur’an stories is to point to the truth of guidance.
Four: Qur’an stories offer new messages related to events of every era. This feature arises from the stories’ universal language and style, more accurately, from being the word of God, which is timeless and universal.
Five: Similarity… An important goal of Qur’an stories is to show that the core message brought by all prophets to humanity is the same.
Six: One of the objectives of Qur’an stories is to explain the characteristics of nations and the reasons for their destruction or salvation while highlighting the blessings bestowed upon prophets and believers.
Seventh and last objective: Another aspect that can be considered among the goals of stories is to expose the characteristic features of those who were hostile to believers in the past and thus inform about the points at which Satan and his followers can afflict believers. This warns believers about how to act and what methods to use while living their religion and preaching it to others.
At this point, with a focus on a term highlighted by Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi, we must take a closer look at the word “Tasrif”.
“Tasrif” is a word of Arabic origin and refers to conjugation, changing forms, or the different shapes and structures of a word in linguistics. Especially in Arabic grammar, it is used to indicate the various suffixes and changes verbs undergo according to their tense, person, and mood. Considering the rich use of Arabic in the Qur’an, the concept of “tasrif” in the Qur’an can give an idea of how words and expressions can be used differently in various contexts. However, discussing a specific meaning of the use of “tasrif” within the Qur’an itself might be challenging because it is primarily a linguistic concept.
In general, Tasrif means to turn something around and put it into different forms. In the Qur’an, tasrif could be described as explaining a truth or an event from different angles in different places with different styles due to various relations. Tasrif is used as a method of innovation, especially to avoid repetition and boredom.
For this, we need to look at Mr. Gulen’s book “A Call for Revival”.
Question: “What is tasrif; how can the style of tasrif be used to avoid monotony in the service of faith and the Qur’an?”
Answer: Those who interpret the truths of faith and narrate religious values should constantly review the style they use while performing this duty; they should wriggle with the pains of a different birth every day, develop new methods, and try to surprise their audience with new arguments. While preserving the purity at the core of the issue, they should interpret the matters from the perspective of the current thought and wisdom horizon and present the values that have filtered through the past in a newer, clearer, and more attractive way.” (p59)
Gülen describes Tasrif with a fantastic characterization: Turn it around, narrate it anew but with its originality!
This situation allows us to see the events in the Qur’an stories that seem repetitive at first glance differentiate as we look closer.
“Yes, the Holy Qur’an sometimes instills fear and awe in hearts with different warnings and admonitions; sometimes, it fills hearts with hope through compliments and glad tidings; sometimes, it takes man through the vastness of space, and sometimes it directs his gaze to his own heart and conscience; it speaks to reason and logic while simultaneously addressing the heart and emotions. For example, it reminds us of certain events in the life of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) multiple times; however, it narrates each event in a different style almost every time, using a different language according to the overall mood of the surahs and the content of other verses where that event is mentioned. By considering the context (siyak) and follow-up (sibak) of the verse, it presents issues with different words. Thus, by expressing the same meanings and contents in different forms, it makes its word heard to both reason and heart; it brings both the believer and the disbeliever to their knees; it imparts its lessons to both a well-read scholar and someone who has never seen school.
God Almighty says, “In this Qur’an, we have presented every kind of example to mankind. But, most people have refused to accept anything except disbelief.” (Kehf, 18/54), drawing attention to such a tasrif.” (A Call for Revival, p62)
Let’s return to our main topic.
Because of this concept of tasrif, issues in the Qur’an are approached from different angles and narrated in different styles each time. Sometimes truths are directly stated, and sometimes metaphors, similes, and allegories are used. Sometimes, narrative storytelling is preferred.
The story of Prophet Joseph is a wonderful example of what we’ve discussed.
From the book: “It is not just a story to be read or listened to for comfort and consolation. Although stories facilitate relaxation in hearts and minds, the main purpose is to convey certain truths through the language of stories, hint at the mysteries of existence, and open doors to new ideas. Even though it is essentially a story being told, it presents scenes from a life model that sends messages to different aspects and units of life, one after another like frames of a film. And none of these presentations contradicts realities and truths.” (The Magical Horizon of the Qur’an, p15)
Fethullah Gülen, while discussing the surah that narrates the story of Prophet Joseph, also touches on a very interesting point:
“Here, I want to express my opinion on a matter that I think is related to our topic in a way: Just as in stories, scenarios, and novels should be truthful. That is, just like in biographies, events should be narrated as they are, without constructing a fiction contrary to the truth. For this, either symbolic metaphors reflecting the truth should be used, or the event’s duplicate should be presented with some annotations and explanations, or at least narratives connected to realities and truths of life in one way or another should be created. On the other hand, exaggerations should be avoided in narratives, sinful and false things should not be depicted, and details that could cloud pure minds should not be entered. Once these measures are preserved, not only can novels be written, but beyond that, movies and even science fiction movies can be filmed.”
Here’s a measure of art.
Let’s not overlook a concept here: Allegory…
The exact counterpart of this composite term is “Allegory.”
So, what is an allegory?
An allegory is a symbolic form of expression in stories, poems, paintings, films, or other artistic works, where the surface story carries a deeper, abstract meaning or message beyond itself. Such works typically represent ideas, moral lessons, or political critiques through characters, events, and details. Allegorical expression establishes a parallel between the story on the surface and the underlying message.
The use of allegory encourages the reader or viewer to think more deeply and adds multiple layers of interpretation to the work. The symbolic characters and events of the work often explore broader themes related to universal human experiences, moral or ethical issues, social concerns, or philosophical concepts.
Allegory has been used across various periods of history and in many different cultures. For instance, Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” prompts reflections on the nature of knowledge and the limits of perception, while religious artworks during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance frequently employed allegorical elements to convey moral and spiritual lessons. In the modern era, allegory continues to be used in literature, cinema, and other art forms, often to present societal and political critiques.
However, in Islamic terminology, this concept occupies a delicate position between two extremes.
Let’s see: Allegory is divided into singular and compound. The compound form of allegory is called “allegorical representation.” Here, not just a word but a phrase is used beyond its literal meaning. In this type of allegory, the resembling is not mentioned, but multiple characteristics of the likened are described. Thus, different aspects and features of something become the subject of comparison. Saying about someone who hesitates, “He takes one step forward and one back,” or about someone who does clandestine activities, “He runs water under the straw,” are examples of this kind of allegory.
Fethullah Gülen, while highlighting the cinematographic aspect of the story of Prophet Joseph, concludes: “Scenarios and novels written with attention to these intricacies and sensitivities can take the surah of Joseph as a guide and tell writers: Take and process your materials directly from life so that they are not alien to humans. Let there be nothing below or above human norms in it. That is, it should not drag a person below his limits, nor should it wander him in unreachable places, and it should always stay within human realities.” (p16)
