Unlocking the Qur’an: The role of subject indexes |
“Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Qur’an, or are their hearts locked up by them?” (47:24).
THIS striking verse, from the forty-seventh chapter of the holy Qur’an, appears on the opening page of Zahid Malik’s monumental compilation Subjects of the Qur’an. It seems to have been an intentional choice. When a writer selects a particular passage to begin a work, it often reveals the inner impulse behind the project. Malik’s selection suggests that if hearts can be locked, they can also be opened, and that the Qur’an itself is the master key. His work attempts to provide smaller keys: subject entries that guide readers to the many themes dispersed throughout the scripture. The Qur’an begins with Surah al-Fatiha, literally “The Opening,” an invitation to enter a book meant not merely for recitation but for reflection. The spirit of openness embedded in this beginning finds an echo in the Latin motto of Heidelberg University, Semper Apertus, meaning “Always Open.” Founded in 1386, the university adopted this phrase to express intellectual openness and the idea that the book of learning is never closed.
Yet even an open book requires guidance. Without signposts a seeker can easily lose direction, and this is where indexes become indispensable. As Imam Ali is reported to have said, “The Qur’an is a deep ocean; its wonders never cease.” Such an immense ocean invites exploration, but it also requires tools that help readers navigate its depth and breadth. Indexes are among the most practical inventions in the history of scholarship. They transform large bodies of text from overwhelming volumes into navigable terrains. For students and researchers, an index is not simply a convenience but an intellectual map that points towards ideas, names, and themes scattered across a book. The development of indexing reflects humanity’s long effort to organise knowledge and make it accessible. The roots of indexing reach back to the medieval manuscript tradition. As texts in theology, law, and philosophy grew larger and more complex, readers began adding marginal notes, cross-references, and lists of topics to help locate passages. By the thirteenth century, scholars in European universities had started creating more systematic tools. A famous early example is the concordance of the Bible supervised around 1230 by the Dominican scholar Hugh of Saint-Cher. His work catalogued words appearing throughout the scripture and enabled scholars to locate specific passages with remarkable efficiency. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century dramatically expanded this practice. As printed books multiplied, the index became a standard feature of serious scholarship. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, works in law, theology, philosophy, and history often included carefully arranged alphabetical indexes.
Muslim scholarship had long developed its own systems for structuring texts. Classical scholars produced encyclopaedic compilations, thematic treatises, and concordances that allowed readers to trace legal rulings, prophetic traditions, or Qur’anic verses related to particular subjects. In Qur’anic studies, scholars frequently grouped verses according to themes such as law, morality, or theology. Although these arrangements did not always resemble modern alphabetical indexes, they served a similar purpose: helping readers explore the scripture’s thematic richness. The emergence of modern subject indexes of the Qur’an became more pronounced in the twentieth century with the spread of printing and the global expansion of Qur’anic scholarship. A subject index organises topics and directs readers to the verses where these ideas appear. One of the most influential tools in this field was produced by the Egyptian scholar Muhammad Fuad Abd al-Baqi. His celebrated concordance, Al-Mu‘jam al-Mufahras li-Alfaz al-Qur’an al-Karim, systematically catalogued the vocabulary of the Qur’an. By listing every occurrence of each word, it allowed scholars to trace patterns of language and meaning across the entire text. The work soon became an indispensable reference for researchers around the world. English-language readers also benefited from the inclusion of thematic references in major translations. Abdullah Yusuf Ali incorporated extensive explanatory notes and references in his widely read translation, enabling readers to explore Qur’anic themes more systematically and locate related passages across different chapters.
In South Asia, Urdu scholarship produced numerous subject indexes reflecting the region’s deep engagement with Qur’anic study. These works arranged topics alphabetically, allowing readers to locate verses related to ethics, family life, social justice, or governance. Similar efforts appeared in Persian, Turkish, and Malay, demonstrating the universal desire among Muslim communities to approach the Qur’an both devotionally and intellectually. Zahid Malik’s compilation belongs to this long tradition. By summarising the Qur’an’s themes into roughly eight hundred subjects, he attempted to create a practical guide for readers seeking pathways through the text. In his introduction, he wrote that the Qur’an was the pivot of his life and thought. At the end of the introduction, he expressed a simple hope: that the effort might become a source of spiritual blessing for his parents.
Today, digital databases and mobile applications allow instant searches through the Qur’an by keyword or theme. Yet these technologies rest upon the foundations laid by generations of scholars who painstakingly compiled concordances and subject indexes. Their work reminds us that understanding a great text requires both reverence and method. In that sense, the humble index performs a quiet but profound service. It bridges curiosity and comprehension, guiding readers through the vast ocean of meaning contained within the Qur’an. If the Qur’an is indeed a key to understanding life, then subject indexes, especially the one compiled by Zahid Malik, are among the tools that help turn that key.
—The writer is Chairman of the international think tank World Future Forum.