Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 7 (“The heights” and “The Jinn”)
Today I’m going to be looking at two chapters of the Qur’an, one long (#7) and one reasonably short (#72).
Surah 7 – “The heights” (Al-Araf)
Mankind is reminded to follow Allah and also reminded of the cities which He destroyed to punish unbelieving people. The scales of judgement which weigh good deeds are also recalled.
The fall of Satan is described, in an almost identical pattern to Surah 38 (“The letter sad”). The narrative continues, however, describing the Fall of Adam and Eve. Allah told them “do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers”. The nature of the tree or the consequences of eating from it were not really explained. Rather than saying that they will be like gods (as in the Genesis narrative), Satan promised that if they eat the fruit they will “become angels or become of the immortal”. Once they have eaten, they recognize their nakedness and sew together leaves as clothes. God arrives and chastises them. We don’t see “the blame game” which we see in Genesis, where Adam blames Eve (and ultimately God) and Eve blames the serpent.
Muhammad is told to turn believers to the direction of prayer.
Believers are told to eat and drink, but not in excess.
We are reminded that those who deny the scriptures and laws revealed by Allah are destined for the flames. Those who invent lies about Allah, invoke other deities beside him or who lead others astray are identified for punishment. When speaking about unbelievers, the Qur’an borrows a turn of phrase from the New Testament: “[they will not] enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle [i.e. never]”.
Interestingly, it says that those who enter Paradise will be purified of any resentment which they have as a result of how they were treated while on earth. It therefore appears there is some form of purgation after death in Islamic thought.
Having discussed those in Paradise and in Hell, we are then told about men whose good and bad deeds are equally balanced. These stand on the wall between Heaven and Hell. The text seems to suggest that these people ultimately end up in Paradise.
We return, yet again, to the pattern of the earlier prophets: Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, Shu’ayb and Moses. This takes up considerable space, but is simply a repeat of what we’ve read before:
- Each prophet calls the people to worship Allah
- They refuse
- They are destroyed
A couple of notes of interest regarding this section:
- In ayah 81, Lot specifically charges his people with homosexuality. Also, it says that his wife “remained [with the evildoers]” rather than the Biblical account where she leaves but looks back and is turned to salt.
- Moses’ showdown with Pharaoh’s magicians is related, mostly in accordance with the Biblical account. However, upon the magician’s failure, we are told that they convert to Islam! Pharaoh threatens them with crucifixion, which seems to me to be anachronistic.
- When Moses is later on Sinai, Moses asks to see God and is rebuked.
- After the incident with the Golden Calf, Moses chooses seventy men and they are consumed in an earthquake.
Verse 157 contains a significant claim, that Muhammad (“the unlettered prophet”) is found prophecised in the Torah and the Gospel. I will respond to some of the examples which are typically cited by Muslims in later blog posts.
Verse 162 seems to suggest that the message sent down by God (to the Jews) has been changed. There follows a story whereby the fish would only come to them if they observed the Sabbath.
In verse 172, an amazing claim is made. Allah says that He “took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants” and asked them if He was Lord, which they affirmed. This is meant to disprove any claim of ignorance of Allah given by disbelievers on Judgement Day (although I’m not sure why).
Questions
Q1. When Satan was whispering to Adam and Eve, what does it mean when it says that it was “apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts”? Is this talking about what their nakedness?
Q2. What would it mean to “become angels”?
Q3. In Islamic theology, were Adam and Eve created mortal? Christian theology teaches that they were created with the preternatural gift of immortality.
Q4. There’s no mention in the Qur’an so far of any other fallen angels. Is it just Iblis, disbelievers and some of the Jinn in Hell?
Q5. Do the “companions of the Elevations” end up in Heaven? It seems to suggest that they do.
Q6. Ayah 124 speaks of crucifixion, but I can’t find any evidence of this in Egypt at the time of Moses.
Q7. Is there a significance that ayah 142 breaks the forty days Moses was on the mountain into thirty days plus ten?
Q8. Aya 147 implies that Moses taught a Final Judgment and afterlife. Where do you see this in the Pentateuch?
Q9. Where do you see Muhammad described in the Torah or the Gospel?
Q10. Does Verse 162 mean that scripture was changed? Is this speaking just about the Jews or to the Christians also?
Q11. What is the Islamic view of the Sabbath?
Q12. How does God question the descendants of Adam while they’re still in his loins?
Q13. What does it mean when it says “Was not the covenant of the Scripture [i.e. the Torah] taken from them that they would not say about Allah except the truth, and they studied what was in it”? It seems to suggest that the Torah was taken away, and in order that they would speak the truth?
Q14. Does verse 203 suggest that Muhammad performed no miracles?
Surah 72 – “The Jinn” (Al-Jinn)
This chapter clears up some questions I had about Jinn. We are told that before the prophethood of Muhammad, the jinn used to eavesdrop on angels and then pass that information on to soothsayers. The really important piece of information in this chapter, however, was that some of the Jinn have heard the Qur’an and become Muslim.
In this chapter the Jinn affirm that Allah “has not taken a wife or a son”, which is probably a confused reference to the Trinity.
Questions
Q1. If Muhammad is just a reminder, in the long line of prophets, why did the Jinn not become Muslim following the proclamation of an earlier prophet? Why did it take Muhammad’s preaching to conver them.
I was flagging today. Surah 7 was so long and a real grind. More tomorrow…