Quran Project (Part 4): Cows Becoming Sacrifices and People Becoming Apes

It has been a long time since I have written a Quran Project post. The last post, Water from a Rock and Lightning from the Sky was posted on March 30th. In that post, I discussed the entrance of Musa (Moses) into the Quran.

Many names that people will be familiar with from the Bible make appearances in the Quran, but they star in plots that seem similiar at first, but then take a wide turn from the story lines in the Bible.

I return to the Quran at Surah 2, verse 62. In this story, there is a scene involving Musa and the sacrifice of a yellow cow. But first, there was a passage preceding that story that caught my attention:

[2.62] Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. 

[2.63] And when We took a promise from you and lifted the mountain over you: Take hold of the law (Tavrat) We have given you with firmness and bear in mind what is in it, so that you may guard (against evil). 

[2.64] Then you turned back after that; so were it not for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, you would certainly have been among the losers. 

[2.65] And certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, so We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated. 

[2.66] So We made them an example to those who witnessed it and those who came after it, and an admonition to those who guard (against evil).

Quran Project (Part 3): Water from a Rock and Lightning from the Sky

In the last update in the Quran Project series, I was going through the segment of Surah (chapter) 2, where the Quran talks about Adam, a figure common to all Abrahamic faiths. (Please read a follow up post I wrote after update 2, it turns out I had some misunderstandings about that passage).

Now, Surah 2 turns to another figure which is common to Islam, Judaism and Christianity alike: Moses. The Quran refers to him as Musa, and he is seen as a prophet, much like Adam was seen as a prophet.

{2.40] O children of Israel! call to mind My favor which I bestowed on you and be faithful to (your) covenant with Me, I will fulfill (My) covenant with you; and of Me, Me alone, should you be afraid.[2.41] And believe in what I have revealed, verifying that which is with you, and be not the first to deny it, neither take a mean price in exchange for My communications; and Me, Me alone should you fear.

The idea of Israel having a special relationship and covenant with god is also a running theme of the Old Testament, here's Exodus 19:

There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 

It seems like the parallels never end.

[2.42] And do not mix up the truth with the falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know (it).[2.43] And keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and bow down with those who bow down.

The "poor rate" appears to be a reference to the Islamic principle of Zakat, the practice of giving money to support those who are desperately poor, it is either given voluntary, or it can be established as a tax by a government. This principle is considered one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

I Stand Corrected.....

I always enjoy hearing from readers, either on Google + or in the comment section here on the blog. This morning, I found a great comment from a concerned Muslim on yesterday's post, a part of The Quran Project series, The Islamic Creation Story and Ranting About Unbelievers. His/her response to that post was much better than some responses to posts I've had in the past.

I'll break down their comment point by point, but first of all, anonymous, I appreciate your concern, and the help in trying to clarify the passages of the Quran, they can be difficult to interpret. For the sake of this post, I'll refer to this person as Concerned Muslim or CM:

Sure, CM, what I mean about proselytizing in the warning that you see above the comment section is a warning against people trying to convert me to their religion, Pascal's Wager arguments, etc, that won't be tolerated. Comments that are in disagreement, but are civil, and attempts to clarify something I've said in a post are not only acceptable, but encouraged.  

Yes, there probably are many misconceptions about Islam, both from a lack of knowledge about it in the Western world, (it's not a common religion in many places), and deliberate smears for various reasons, especially religiously motivated attacks. In the Koran, chapters are typically referred to as Surahs in Arabic, I usually just simply use the term "chapter" instead. 

Chapter/Surah 2 is rather difficult to read and understand, especially for someone who is not familiar with Islam to begin with. I have noticed that the Quran doesn't go with a narrative style like the Old Testament, but instead presumes that the reader already knows what it is talking about. I'm not the only one who has noticed this. It looks like my good blogging friend Ahab of the extremism watch blog Republic of Gilead feels the same way:

Quran Project (Part 2): The Islamic Creation Story and Ranting About Unbelievers

As I started reading chapter 2 of the Quran, I noticed it tends to repeat itself quite often. Verses 1-27 are repeats of the same few lines of ramblings about unbelievers, and people thought to be fake/insincere believers.

It goes on and on, ranting about unbelievers and the fate that awaits them, as well ramblings against people who are fake or insincere, and reading it makes me think of, well this:

If you do want to read those passages on your own, feel free to. You can read it at the University of Michigan library website, or I have made publicly available the Google Drive document of Chapters 1-3 that I use to read the Quran, and write these posts with.

There's only a few verses of note from verses 1-27 that I would like to point out, before going into later portions of the chapter, which talk about the Islamic version of the creation story.

Verses 6-9:

[2.6] Surely those who disbelieve, it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe.

[2.7] Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing and there is a covering over their eyes, and there is a great punishment for them.

[2.8] And there are some people who say: We believe in Allah and the last day; and they are not at all believers.

[2.9] They desire to deceive Allah and those who believe, and they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. 

I noticed parallels in these verse between the Quran and the Bible/Christian fundamentalist teachings, sometimes, like when I was writing the previous post here in the Quran Project, I feel like I'm reading the Bible or a book by a Christian minister/theologian, translated from a different language.

For instance, verse 7, where it says that unbelievers have a "covering over their eyes" to prevent them from believing. Similar imagery is used in the Bible as well. 2nd Corinthians 4:4 sounds rather similar:

The Quran Project (part 1): Allah Is Merciful?

Unlike the Bible, which starts with it's own explanation of how the world came into being, the Quran opens with introductory chapters that do not explain much, but are passages of praise for Allah, and have a few choice words for the unfaithful.

I have noticed a constant repeating theme of statements that Allah is merciful (each chapter so far starts with the tag line "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful"), and that theme is repeated in the chapters themselves, as well as warnings to those who chose not to believe, or to Muslims who are allegedly not following the teachings of Islam and the Quran closely enough.

The Opening

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

[1.1] All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

[1.2] The Beneficent, the Merciful.

[1.3] Master of the Day of Judgment.

[1.4] Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help.

[1.5] Keep us on the right path.

[1.6] The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.

I notice a lot of common themes here between Islam and other monotheistic faiths especially Christianity. You have an all powerful god, who is depicted as merciful (especially to his followers, he is willing to rescue his followers in time of need), but is harsh, delivering swift judgement upon those who reject him.

I noticed the mention of the "Day of Judgement", as it turns out, there is a lot of prophecy in Islam, and Islam has it's own theological field of eschatology (study of religious prophecy, and it's interpretations), just like Christianity does.

Islam believes that there will be an end of the world, where the evil will be judged, the righteous rewarded. Before this time, there will be chaos and calamity that will happen. Before this time, there will be decadence, immorality, and a a falling away from Islam. Many people will claim to be Muslims, but few of them will read the Quran and act upon it's words.

A false prophet called the Masih ad-Dajjal will lead people, including Muslims astray, and a man sent by god called the Mahdi will fight back against him, and rule over the earth until the final Day of Judgement.

This all sounds very familiar, like I have heard a story with this common theme, but I can't place it. What was that book called? Wait, I know, it sounds remarkably similar to Revelation! That's it! 

OK, enough with the sarcasm. Seeing all of the claims by the Quran about Allah being a merciful god made me wonder how Muslims explain the problem of suffering. If god is an all powerful god (which verse 1 seems to suggest: All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.), then either god planned the events that cause suffering, or he let it happen.

Annoucing a New Series: The Quran Project

There are times that I realize that when it comes to most religions of the world, other than Christianity, that I know enough about them to realize I don't really know anything about them.

I have really wanted to learn more about other religions, it's something I never did as a young fundamentalist (at least not information that wasn't passed through the critical filter of fundamentalist writings).

 I figure the best way to see what a religion teaches is to read it's foundational texts.  After all, that's how I learned about my own former faith, Christianity, right?  I didn't know which religion to start with, but somehow, I've settled on Islam. I want to read it for the first time, and give my thoughts on the text here on the blog.