Literacy that goes beyond the simple ability to read and write, that is connected with the ability to comprehend a text, involves hermeneutics. It involves decoding the symbol world of texts to gain access to the source meanings which underlie the text - of which there may be many, multiple, layered meanings.
Literacy, in this sense, invokes the reverse of the writing (creative) process. It is the means by which the words written by an author are decoded and understood so that the understanding leads one from mere words on a page, to comprehension and recognition of the thoughts and the “mental landscape” of the author. In a sense, the author, through carefully crafted words, creates a landscape within the readers mind. The author is like a programmer writing a series of interwoven, interacting instructions which run in the reader’s mind - like a software program that collaborates with the engine and variables of the reader’s imagination and perspicacity to create a world which can convey meaning and relevance. A well-crafted text may be understood simultaneously on many levels, from the simple to the subtle and complex. But the greater the skill of the author, the higher the level of literacy that is required within a reader in order for them to extract the full range of meanings coded within the text, though partial surface meanings may be easily accessible.
Literacy begins in children as an oral process. Teaching the skills involved in understanding texts can be done orally - through telling or reading stories to children and interacting with them (answering questions, chatting, discussing, opening up in a playful manner the possibility of multiple meanings, of depth - all very casually from the time when they are very young). Even when they are reading on their own, it is important that this oral interaction take place as they gradually acquire the skills and understanding which will let them achieve a greater grasp of the meaning of a text - and as they mature, the skills necessary to decipher texts, to distinguish subtle shades of meaning and to view texts as dynamic generators of enhanced mental perception instead of as static, inert containers of information. To do this requires both good skills and good source material - otherwise “literacy” will remain in a realm of superficial entertainment which operates primarily on a surface emotional or sensational level. A hermeneutical literacy goes deeper and produces a firmly rooted enjoyment that comes from grasping and comprehending meanings and unfolding the significance of their content - this in turn can lead to the meanings influencing and shaping one’s own internal world, imagination, and understanding - a process which can have a powerful and lasting impact. Cultivating deep levels of literacy is a first step, a beginning movement in the direction of opening a future path of access for emerging generations to the astonishing profoundity of the Qur’anic landscape.
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