Religions vary on the degree to which god (of whatever type) is involved. Even atheism, a world view where there is no god, has a way to explain how things got to be where they are now. Their explanation is that evolution explains everything even religion itself. Am not going to debate the strengths and weaknesses of evolution in this blog post but I will state that atheism necessitates evolution. Simply put, if an atheists does not believe in evolution, then they are stuck with no ability to explain reality.
Aside from attempting to establish some narrative to explain the world as it is today, religions offer rules to live by and the Koran appears to offer that as well in the chapter I've been looking at.
The second chapter of the Koran is pretty long, 286 verses.
Sprinkled throughout the second Surah but mostly toward the end of the chapter are various admonitions on how to live: prayer, charity, Ramadan, the Pilgrimage, money and marriage/divorce.
In the second Surah, from verses 1-30, there is much about the right and wrong path and to God being the creator. Koran 2:2, "This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah." Then in Koran 2:29, "It is He who created for you all things that are on the earth."
Interestingly, we meet Adam! Just like in Genesis of the Hebrew Scriptures, we meet Adam and Adam falls, Koran 2:36, "Then did Satan make them slip from the (Garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been."
Other figures familiar to Jews and Christians make their appearances in this chapter of the Koran. For instance, Koran 2:87, "We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride? - Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay!"
Whoa!
Doesn't this sound a lot like Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God' messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me."
It is really interesting to see that the Children of Israel are mentioned so explicitly in the Koran. See Koran 2:40, 47, 122, "O Children of Israel! Call to mind the special favor which I bestowed upon you."
Then there is Koran 2:116-117:
They say: "Allah hath begotten a son" :Glory be to Him.-Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to Him. To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: When He decreeth a matter, He saith to it: "Be," and it is.I am not clear on what it is saying here. Perhaps the English translation and its word order is very murky.
It seems to be saying, "God begot a son, glory be to the son. No. To God belongs all that is in heaven and on earth ...."
I have no idea if this passage is a rebuke to Christians who hold that Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity?
Another verse that caught my eye was Koran 2:136-137
Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)." So if they believe as ye believe, they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism; but Allah will suffice thee as against them, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.All very interesting! It sounds as if all three theistic religions with their roots in Abraham are valid in Islam's theology?
I realize that I may well be mis-reading this verse. The Koran probably (?) has other verse that are much less open to other faiths. That issue aside, my other question is this: if in Judaism the blessing came through Isaac and in Islam, the blessing came through Ishmael, then why is Jacob and Moses and Jesus (all descendants of Isaac) mentioned in the above mentioned passage?
Also, when it makes reference to "the Tribes," are they referring to the descendants of Ishmael?
Perhaps Islam believes that god worked on parallel tracks through both lines?
If so, then why the hostility toward Judaism and Christianity?
By the way, I define hostility in a very narrow sense. I don't think it is hostile if someone tells me I'm going to hell because I believe in Jesus or the wrong conception of Jesus. However, I think it is hostile if someone will try to kill me because I believe in Jesus. My thinking on this has been influenced by Dennis Prager who is a Jewish radio talk show host in Los Angeles. Prager often talks about religion on his program and people have asked him, how do you feel when people of other religions tell him, you are going to hell?
Prager responds by saying, that maybe so and people are free to believe it is so but they don't have the right to send me there prematurely!
1 comment:
I believe the Surah 2:116-117 means "And they say: "Allah has got a son." Pure is He. Instead, to Him belongs all that there is in the heavens and the earth. All stand obedient to Him. Originator of the heavens and the earth, when He decides a matter, to it He simply says: "Be", and it comes to be." I don't know which translation did you use, but I agree with you that it was ambiguous and inaccurate.
For me, the surah above means that people are saying that He has begotten a son, but he truth is He has not and that He is pure. This was also backed up in Suratul Ikhlas (Surah 112:3) "Nothing was born out of Him; so no one inherits Him. He was not born; so no one shares property with Him."
As for Surah 2:136-137, you must understand that most, if not all of those men mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible has also been a part of the Holy Qur an, but with varying importance. Muslims believe that these people followed the path to righteousness - in the muslims' case, the Islamic religion. Jews may have interpreted it their way, Christins may interpreted it the other way, but for Muslims, those people mentioned followed Islam. It doesn't necessarily mean that the Qur an validates all 3 religions. But you know what, I wish it would have been that way so there will be no arguments about the superiority of one religion over another. The purpose of religion is to unite the people, not to divide them into factions.
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