--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Qur’an sought to reform, not to…" description: "\"“The Qur’an sought to reform, not to destroy and start from scratch, to salvage what was useful and then to modify and build on it. The task was to get..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg" --- # The Qur’an sought to reform, not to destroy and start from… ![“The Qur’an sought to reform, not to destroy and start from scratch, to salvage what was useful and then to modify and build on it. The task was to get the Arabs to think about religion in a novel way, to inculcate in them a new conceptual frame of reference, to transfer them from one worldview to…” quote by Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg) > ““The Qur’an sought to reform, not to destroy and start from scratch, to salvage what was useful and then to modify and build on it. The task was to get the Arabs to think about religion in a novel way, to inculcate in them a new conceptual frame of reference, to transfer them from one worldview to another, and higher, one. This process of transformation took them from traditionalism to individualism, from impulsiveness to discipline, from supernaturalism to science, from intuition to conscious reasoning and, in the end, ideally, harmonized the whole.”” [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Quran aimed to improve existing beliefs, preserving useful parts while reshaping concepts toward rational, scientific thinking. **In simple terms:** Quran reformed, not destroyed, encouraging new rational worldview. Key Takeaway Embrace reform while honoring valuable traditions. Themes religion reform rationalism culture transformation Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - educational curricula - interfaith dialogue - personal belief reassessment - policy making Key Concepts Islamic theology cognitive shift civilizational change Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance preservation with progress? - What role does individual reasoning play in collective belief? A Different Perspective Reform may face resistance from entrenched traditionalists. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformation/) ## Related quotes > [The more I see of Arabs the less I think of them. By having studied them a good deal I have found out the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/the-more-i-see-of-arabs-the-less-i-think-of-them-by-having-studied/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [“... classical Arabic, being the language of the Qur'an, has not changed at all in fourteen centuries, making the writings of the early Islamic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-al-khalili/classical-arabic-being-the-language-of-the-qur-an-has-not-changed-at/) [Jim Al-Khalili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-al-khalili/) > [“They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/qur-an-2-30/they-said-will-you-place-upon-it-one-who-causes-corruption-therein/) Qur'an 2 30 > [“Arabic science throughout its golden age was inextricably linked to religion; indeed, it was driven by the need of early scholars to interpret the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-al-khalili/arabic-science-throughout-its-golden-age-was-inextricably-linked-to/) [Jim Al-Khalili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-al-khalili/) > [“Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/qur-an/do-you-order-righteousness-of-the-people-and-forget-yourselves-while/) Qur'an > [“The life of this world is but a sport and a pastime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-life-of-this-world-is-but-a-sport-and-a-pastime/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“...The Qur'an cannot be translated. ...The book is here rendered almost literally and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pickthall-m-marmaduke/the-qur-an-cannot-be-translated-the-book-is-here-rendered-almost/) Pickthall M. Marmaduke > [Overall, we think religion is a good thing. I mean, if we were godless society, we would have many other problems; the communists found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-hsien-loong/overall-we-think-religion-is-a-good-thing-i-mean-if-we-were-godless/) [Lee Hsien Loong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-hsien-loong/) > [Hmmm, completely a-religious - atheist. I find that people seem to think religion brings morals and appreciation of nature. I actually think it detracts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/hmmm-completely-a-religious-atheist-i-find-that-people-seem-to-think/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [I have no expertise of other religious traditions so I'm not going to opine on them, but in Islam the more you know about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haroon-moghul/i-have-no-expertise-of-other-religious-traditions-so-i-m-not-going-to/) [Haroon Moghul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haroon-moghul/) > [We grew up going to church, and I believe in God. I don't know that I have the ability to define what or who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzodinma-iweala/we-grew-up-going-to-church-and-i-believe-in-god-i-don-t-know-that-i/) [Uzodinma Iweala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzodinma-iweala/) > [We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think religion stops people from thinking. I think it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/we-are-a-nation-that-is-unenlightened-because-of-religion-i-do/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I think religion is a gateway for spiritual awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-bernstein/i-think-religion-is-a-gateway-for-spiritual-awakening/) [Gabrielle Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-bernstein/) > [I think religion is bad and drugs are good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-think-religion-is-bad-and-drugs-are-good/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I think religion is a funny thing because, when you see somebody who can really break it down, sometimes it feels foolish what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-costner/i-think-religion-is-a-funny-thing-because-when-you-see-somebody-who/) [Kevin Costner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-costner/) ## More by Jeffrey Lang > [The Qur'an does not ask for human perfection, but rather asks that we persevere in striving for self-improvement and that we never become complacent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/the-qur-an-does-not-ask-for-human-perfection-but-rather-asks-that-we/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [“The universe is kinder than any of us has any reason to expect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/the-universe-is-kinder-than-any-of-us-has-any-reason-to-expect/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [As I read the Qur'an and prayed the Islamic prayers, a door to my heart was unsealed and I was immersed in an overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/as-i-read-the-qur-an-and-prayed-the-islamic-prayers-a-door-to-my/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [“Personal ignorance should be admitted, but it should not be allowed to place limits and bounds on the ways 'and means of revelation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/personal-ignorance-should-be-admitted-but-it-should-not-be-allowed-to/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [“even in our most intense worship, we should not forget that our relationship to god is tied to our relationship with others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/even-in-our-most-intense-worship-we-should-not-forget-that-our/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [Abdur Rab offers a comprehensive vision of Islam using the Quran as his sole religious textual source. He intentionally avoids the hadith literature, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/abdur-rab-offers-a-comprehensive-vision-of-islam-using-the-quran-as/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [“I told her that we go to work to provide for our families, attend school functions that our children are involved in, take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/i-told-her-that-we-go-to-work-to-provide-for-our-families-attend/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [No one knows loneliness like an atheist. When an average person feels isolated, he can call through the depths of his soul to One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/no-one-knows-loneliness-like-an-atheist-when-an-average-person-feels/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [“You can’t battle life,’ she said. ‘You have to learn to treat it like a waltz and your problems are your partner. Step lightly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/you-can-t-battle-life-she-said-you-have-to-learn-to-treat-it-like-a/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) > [You cannot simply read the Quran,not if you take it seriously.You either have surrendered to it already or you fight it. It attacks tenaciously,directly,personally;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/you-cannot-simply-read-the-quran-not-if-you-take-it-seriously-you/) [Jeffrey Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) [Explore all 11 Jeffrey Lang quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/) ## More Islam quotes > [ Ben Carson also denounced \[Donald\] Trump's ban all Muslims proposal saying we do not and would not advocate being selective on one's religion. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/ben-carson-also-denounced-donald-trump-s-ban-all-muslims-proposal/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [ \[Islam\] Leaves no room of human legislation in an Islamic state, because herein all legislative functions vest in God and the only function left… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abul-a-la-maududi/islam-leaves-no-room-of-human-legislation-in-an-islamic-state-because/) [Abul A'la Maududi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abul-a-la-maududi/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [Failure to find a way to incorporate political Islam in democracy, however uncomfortable its ideology is for secular liberals, will mean we have given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-blunt/failure-to-find-a-way-to-incorporate-political-islam-in-democracy/) [Crispin Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-blunt/) > [“God delights in beauty, Islam teaches at its core, and is beauty. Beauty is in creation, not destruction, and in balance. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krista-tippett/god-delights-in-beauty-islam-teaches-at-its-core-and-is-beauty-beauty/) [Krista Tippett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krista-tippett/) > [Allah will never humiliate the one who takes his Lord as friend and patron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/allah-will-never-humiliate-the-one-who-takes-his-lord-as-friend-and/) [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [ “\[T\]he people who are close to Allah worry so much about wasting time that they call themselves to account for every breath they spend… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethar-el-katatney/t-he-people-who-are-close-to-allah-worry-so-much-about-wasting-time/) Ethar El- Katatney > [My mom and my aunties are really devout Christians. My mom married a Muslim when I was 12, so I got teachings from both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tech-n9ne/my-mom-and-my-aunties-are-really-devout-christians-my-mom-married-a/) [Tech N9ne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tech-n9ne/) > [The plight of the Baha'i community in Iran has served as a backdrop to my life growing up in London, particularly since the Islamic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omid-djalili/the-plight-of-the-baha-i-community-in-iran-has-served-as-a-backdrop/) [Omid Djalili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omid-djalili/) > [I am a woman, and as such, I experience the ever-increasing restrictions on our liberty in our country through the development of Islamic fundamentalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/i-am-a-woman-and-as-such-i-experience-the-ever-increasing/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/i-saw-islam-as-the-correct-way-to-live-and-i-chose-to-try-to-live/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [There is an idea that you can take the spiritual teachings of a religion outside of a religion and practice them; these ideas are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seyyed-hossein-nasr/there-is-an-idea-that-you-can-take-the-spiritual-teachings-of-a/) [Seyyed Hossein Nasr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seyyed-hossein-nasr/) > [“No Hate Speech Online is a social media netiquette rule. Return hate in kind (ness) for proper netiquette. Love Muslims alike.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chiles/no-hate-speech-online-is-a-social-media-netiquette-rule-return-hate/) [David Chiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chiles/) [Browse all 6,032 Islam quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Qur’an sought to reform, not to destroy and start from scratch, to salvage what was useful and then to modify and build on it. The task was to get the Arabs to think about religion in a novel way, to inculcate in them a new conceptual frame of reference, to transfer them from one worldview to another, and higher, one. This process of transformation took them from traditionalism to individualism, from impulsiveness to discipline, from supernaturalism to science, from intuition to conscious reasoning and, in the end, ideally, harmonized the whole.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeffrey Lang" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destroy-and-start-from-scratch-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Islam" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destroy-and-start-from-scratch-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/jeffrey-lang-40434_islam_the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destr_220222.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Qur’an sought to reform, not to destroy and start from scratch, to salvage what was useful and then to…” — Jeffrey Lang", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jeffrey Lang", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lang/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The Qur’an sought to reform, not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destroy-and-start-from-scratch-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lang/the-qur-an-sought-to-reform-not-to-destroy-and-start-from-scratch-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```