SOURCE: J. M. S. Baljon, "Theological Issues," in Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation (1880-1960), E. J. Brill, 1961, pp. 55-87.

In the following essay, Baljon surveys the theological issues dealt with in the Koran from the standpoint of mid-nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Koran interpreters and commentators.

The Idea of God

When [Abu'l-Kalam] Azad in the letters, written during his imprisonment in fort Ahmadnagar, reveals his innermost thought on life, he confesses at a given moment to be not very pleased with the notion of a Personal God. Owing to this conception, "at every turn a hood of one or another expression has to be put on the face (of the Godhead). Now it is a gloomy one, then an affable one, here it frightens, there it attracts, but never can the hood be taken off the face. Hence in the end one becomes tired of seeing only the outside"¹. Apart...