Tag: Koran

Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 19 (“Hud”)

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hud

As you may have noticed, as the chapters of the Qur’an have got longer, I’ve pretty much resorted to only doing only one a day. Yesterday, I went back and recaculated when I’m going to finish the Qur’an. I’ve concluded that, if I stay at a rate of about one hundred verses a day, I should be finishing the Qur’an at the end of January.

Here are today’s verses:

Surah 11 – “Hud” (Hud)
The first few pages of this chapter are filled with very standard stuff:

  • Worship Allah alone
  • Seek forgiveness, there will be punishment for the disbeliever on the Day of Judgement
  • Allah is all-knowing
  • Allah created the heavens and the earth
  • Those who disbelieve in the Messengers claim magic is at work
  • Mankind is ungrateful for the mercies of Allah
  • The disbelievers ask why Muhammad doesn’t come with some heavenly treasure or an angel
  • Muhammad is told to challenge those who say he invented the Qur’an, by demanding that they “bring ten surahs like it”
  • Those who believed in the former revelations (e.g. the Torah) believe in the Qur’an.

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Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 18 (“Jonah”)

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jonah

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:

  • Muhammad’s critics object that Allah’s revelation would come through a man.
  • Allah’s role as creator is emphasized and the natural world (the sun and moon in particular) are held up as signs pointing the people to God.
  • We have the usual statements about the disbelievers heading to the Fire and the believers going to “Gardens of Pleasure”.
  • Several times man’s fickle and forgetful nature is lamented and that Allah saves him from affliction, but yet he continues his path unaltered.

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Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 17 (“The Night Journey”)

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night

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.

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Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 14 (“The Poets”)

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quran

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.

  • Perhaps some critics of Muhammad thought, like myself, that often the Qur’anic text often isn’t terribly understandable?
  • Or maybe this was meant to juxtapose the Qur’an with the sacred texts of other religions?

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.

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Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 13 (“The inevitable”)

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paradise

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”:

  1. The Companions of the right who go to Paradise
  2. The Companions of the left who go to the Fire
  3. The Forerunners who go to Paradise

I’m not exactly sure what makes “The Forerunners” distinct from “The Companions of the right”.

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Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 9 (“The Criterion”)

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muslim

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”.

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