Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 4 (“The Purity of faith”, …)

Another day, another collection from the Qur’an…

Surah 112 -“The Purity of faith” (Al-Ikhlas)
In the hadith (collections of stories about Muhammad’s life), Muhammad said that this surah is equivalent to a whole third of the Qur’an. It asserts tawhid (Islamic monotheism), saying “He is Allah, [who is] One”, but also appears to specifically challenge Christianity and Jesus as the status of the only begotten Son of God (“He neither begets nor is born”).

Questions

Q1. Would you agree that “He neither begets nor is born” is a statement referring to the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of God?

Surah 53 – “The Star” (An-Najm)
A chapter in defense of the Qur’an and Muhammad’s soundness. It describes the descent of the angel Gabriel when giving the Qur’an to Muhammad.

Three Arabian goddesses are mentioned in this surah: al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat. These are the three “cranes” also mentioned in the Satanic Verses (which I’ll discuss in a later post). These goddesses are denounced. We are then told that disbelievers name the angels with female names, possibly suggesting that this is the true identity of the “goddesses”.

The text then goes on to tell Muslims to “turn away from whoever turns his back on [the Qur’an] and [the worldly]”. Allah’s supremacy is asserted and the final judgement recalled. Moses and Abraham are held up as examples of men who fulfilled their obligations to God.

One interesting point, the text differentiates between “major sins” and “slight [sins]”, but we are given no further explanation with regards to the difference between the two.

Questions

Q1. The footnotes in my copy of the Qur’an talk about Muhammad seeing Gabriel in “the angelic form” and “his true form”. What are these forms?

Q2. How far is “a distance of two bow lengths”?

Q3. What is “the Lote Tree” which is mentioned?

Q4. What does it mean when it says “The sight [of the Prophet] did not swerve, not did it transgress [its limit]”?

Q5. In ayah 26, it seems to suggest that angelic beings can pray for people here on earth (as long as it is in accordance with Allah’s will). Is that a correct understanding?

Q6. Do verses 27-28 mean that the goddesses are, in fact, angels?

Q7. What is the distinction in Islam between “major sins” and “slight [sins]”?

Surah 80 – “He Frowned” (Abasa)
This chapter suffers from “the pronoun game” – it’s not always clear from the text as to who the “he” is mentioned in different sentences. However, from multiple readings, here’s what I understood…

A blind man named Abdullah comes to Muhammad and talks about an important man from the Quraysh (the tribe who controlled Mecca at the time). In response, we are told that the Qur’an is a reminder, that God created everything, provides for man during his life and ultimately brings him to death and resurrection. We end, as usual, with a return to the subject of the final judgement.

Questions

Q1. Which verses in this surah are said from the mouth of Abdulla?

Q2. In ayah 10, is Abdullah criticizing Muhammad?

Q3. What are the “honoured sheets” mentioned in ayah 13? The Qur’an in Heaven? A written manuscript here on earth?

Q4. Verses 21-22 speak of death and the resurrection. In Islamic theology, what happens to the soul during the intervening “time”? Sleep? 

Q5. Why at the Resurrection does each man “flee from his brother”? My commentary says that it’s because each man is only concerned about himself.

Surah 97 – “Power / Fate” (Al-Qadr)
A very short chapter, asserting that the Qur’an was sent down by angels during “the Night of Decree” (Laylat al-Qadr). This is when the first Surah was revealed (Surah 96, which we looked on Day 1).

Laylat al-Qadr has always slightly confused me, but it appears that Muslims typically believe that the revelation of the Qur’an was a two-step process. On “the Night of Decree”, the Qur’an is revealed in its entirety to the Angel Gabriel (“Jibril”) and then he reveals it bit-by-bit to Muhammad over the course of his life (23 years).

Questions

Q1. Can you please confirm my understanding of Laylat al-Qaadr?

Q2. Ayah 4 speaks of “the angels and the Spirit”, the latter being a reference to Gabriel. In Christian theology, “spirit” is what an angel is, “angel” is what that spirit does (they bring messages). Is it the same in Islam? Why is Gabriel referred to as “the Spirit”?

Q3. What does “Peace it is until the emergence of dawn” mean? Is this figurative, referring to the revelation of Islam? Does the “until” in this text mean that the peace ends at dawn?

Surah 91 – “The Sun” (Ash-Shams)
This chapter refers the hearers to the story of the Prophet Salih, who went to the people of Thamud. This story is also referred to in Surah 7. It seems that God gave the people of Thamud a camel as a sign to them, but they rebelled and killed it and, as a result, they too were destroyed.

Questions

Q1. What does it mean in ayah 8 when it says “And [Allah] inspired [the soul] [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness”? This seems to imply that we have some concept of knowing truth apart from the specific revelations of Allah.

Surah 85 – “The Constellations” (Al-Burooj)
This chapter tells the story of Muslims who, because of their religion, were burned alive in a trench. We are told that those who killed them will be in Hell and those who died will be in paradise.

Questions

Q1. Who was it who killed these Muslims? My commentary just says “a tyrannical king”.

Surah 95 -“The Fig” (At-Tin)
A very simple surah where we are told that Allah makes man, brings him to death and ultimately to judgement.

As you can see, these chapters generated many more questions then the previous chapters. This is due to the “pronoun game”, rather vague statements and, once again, absence of context.

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