"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
As I’ve noted in my posts about the Qur’an, the context of the each chapters of the Qur’an is often far from clear, at least from the text alone. I recently found a page on the website whose surah chronology I’m following which also provides contextual information for each chapter:
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. If you had to go to work today, then you can at least comfort yourself with the knowledge that I’ve waded through 109 verses to bring you this commentary on Surah 10:
Surah 10 – “Jonah” (Yunus)
The opening few pages of this chapter are pretty standard stuff:
Happy Christmas everyone! I hope your day is filled with joy. As for me, I’m working my way through a very long chapter of the Qur’an…
Surah 17 – “The Night Journey” (Al-Isra)
This chapter begins with an brief reference to event which gives its name to this chapter: The Night Journey. We are told that, in a single night, Muhammad travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem. There’s a second journey made later that night to Heaven, but it is not mentioned in this chapter.
Then begins some teaching concerning the Children of Israel. We are told that Allah “gave Moses the Scripture and made it a guidance for [them]”. Again, there is no indication that the Hebrew scriptures have been corrupted at all.
After a brief mention of Noah, we are told that Allah told the Children of Israel that they would “surely cause corruption on the earth twice” and he promised punishment on both of these occasions.
1. On the first occasion, Allah promised that a servant of His, someone with great military power, would invade their homes. He then promised that the Israelites would eventually be victorious.
2. On the second occasion, Allah sent enemies who entered the Jerusalem Temple and destroyed it.
I’m not exactly sure which events are being described here, since we are given very little information. The destruction of the Temple was done first by the Babylonians and then by the Romans.
Weighing in at 227 verses, today’s chapter is one of the longest I’ve read thus far…
Surah 26 – “The poets” (Ash-Shuara)
This surah opens with an assertion which we’ll see a lot of in future chapters, that “[the Qur’an is a] clear Book”. I have the suspicion that there is some historical context behind the introduction to this affirmation.
The text then goes on to say that Allah could have sent down some uncontrovertable sign if he had wanted, but that the people have already denied the sign of the earth itself, with its abundance of life.
The last couple of chapters have covered new and interesting material, focussing on the Biblical characters such Moses and the Blessed Mother. Today, however, we return to the Qur’an’s sweet spot: judgment, Heaven and Hell.
Surah 56 – “The inevitable” (Al-Waqia)
A portrait of the Resurrection is painted, a day when “the earth is shaken” and “mountains are broken down”. We are told that mankind will become “[of] three types”:
I’m not exactly sure what makes “The Forerunners” distinct from “The Companions of the right”.
I was on a plane flying to Atlanta today, so I’m a little late, but here are my notes for Surah 25.
Surah 25 – “The Criterion” (Al-Furqan)
The title of this chapter is significant. The “criterion” here is identified as the Qur’an itself. This is principal means by which Muslims “distinguish truth from falsehood and right from wrong”. This definitely is in accordance with my experience of speaking with Muslims: everything is viewed through the lense of the Qur’an.
There are are quite a references to other religions in this surah and, I would say, it identifies Christianity in particular. For example, we are told that “[Allah] has not taken a son and has not had a partner in dominion… But they have taken besides Him [Allah] gods”. This seems to be a fairly clear reference to the Christian belief in the Divine Sonship of Jesus. It is also possibly a reference to His mother, Mary, whom we will encounter in later suwar. A little later we are told that on Judgement Day, those false deities will testify against those who worshipped them, saying that none is worthy of worship but Allah. Those who “commit injustice” in this way are guilty of the sin of Shirk and will therefore “taste a great punishment”.
During my study of the Qur’an, I came across this website:
I have to say, I’m really rather impressed. The site allows me to compare different Qur’anic translations, which has proved very helpful in discerning the meaning of obscure verses:
It also has an ontology graph, showing the relationships between different concepts in Islam.
There’s also a considerable material here on grammar, which I’m sure I’d find useful if I actually spoke Arabic:
The only thing it doesn’t have which I’d find really helpful is integration with the hadith, since context is still my #1 issue when reading the Qur’an…