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As previously mentioned<\/a>, I am going to read through the Qur’an in chronological order from beginning to end. I will be writing up my notes from the chapters (“suwar”) each\u00a0day, starting today\u00a0with the chapters which were composed at the beginning of Muhammad’s ministry in Mecca: 96, 68, 73, 74, 1, 111 and 81.<\/p>\n Surah 96 – “The clinging substance”\/”Recite” (Al-Alaq<\/a>)<\/strong> Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1.<\/span> “Created man from a clinging substance”<\/span>. Is this a reference to a fetus?<\/em><\/p>\n Q2.<\/span> “Who taught by the pen”<\/span>. Is this a reference to the Bible?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Surah 68 –\u00a0“The Pen” (Al-Qalam<\/a>)<\/strong> The text\u00a0then denounces those who would deny Muhammad’s prophethood. Verses 17-32 seem to me to be\u00a0something analogous to\u00a0a parable, describing workers who\u00a0go into a garden which Allah emptied of its fruit during the night, proving that things\u00a0happens only “if Allah wills” (“in-sha-Allah”). The text offers this barren garden as a foreshadowing of Hell. It then goes on to tell\u00a0Muhammad to leave the punishment of disbelievers to Allah, exhorting him to be patient, unlike\u00a0“the companion of the fish”<\/span>, the Prophet Jonah from the Old Testament.<\/p>\n Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1. What is the meaning of “Nun”<\/span> at the beginning of the chapter? The notes in my Qur’an says that the meaning of some of the opening words isn’t known for certain. It says that there are a number of theories about these openings, but it doesn’t give any examples.<\/em><\/p>\n Q2. Are the “Legends of the former peoples”<\/span> a reference to Moses and Jesus?<\/em><\/p>\n Surah 73 –\u00a0“The one who wraps himself” (Al-Muzzammil<\/a>)<\/strong> Surah 74 –\u00a0“The one who covers himself” (Al-Muddathir<\/a>) Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1. Is there any place for free will in Islam? This surah says that “Allah send[s] astray whom He wills and guide[s] whom He wills”<\/span>, implying what Christians would call double predestination, but later verses imply free will.<\/em><\/p>\n Q2. Is it figurative when the text describes\u00a0those in Heaven speaking to those in Hell?<\/p>\n Surah 1 –\u00a0“The Opening” (Al-Fatiha<\/a>) I seem to recall that this was one of the disputed chapters during the process of standardization of the Qur’an.<\/p>\n Q1. I’ve heard it said that the final ayah is a reference to Jews and Christians. Is that correct?<\/em><\/p>\n Surah 111 –\u00a0“The Fiber\/Flame” (Al-Masadd<\/a>)
\nThis short surah accuses a man of sinning because he sees himself as “self-sufficient”<\/span>. We are reminded\u00a0that God made man (with a vague description of human development), that God sees everything and that if the man\u00a0does not repent, God will drag him by the hair and angels will throw him into Hell.<\/p>\n
\nThis chapter begins by\u00a0asserting that Muhammad is not crazy, nor afflicted by a devil as some people seem to suggest, but that he is a man of “great moral character”<\/span> and will have an “uninterrupted reward”<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nAllah calls Muhammad to get up in the night to\u00a0pray and recite the Qur’an. Once again, Muhammad is told to leave to God the punishment of the disbelievers. Allah compares Muhammad to Moses, whom He\u00a0sent to Pharaoh in the Old Testament.\u00a0The chapter ends with exhortations to prayer and care of the poor (“zakah”).<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>More references to the Final Judgement. A man named “al-Waleed”, although he had initially been open to Islam, has rejected it. Muhammad is once again told to leave the disbelievers\u00a0to Allah. Hell (“Saqar”) is then described. We are told that those who are in paradise (“the gardens”<\/span>) will ask those in Hell why they are there. Four reasons are given in the text: failing to pray, failing to feed the poor, engaging in “vain discourse”<\/span> and “deny[ing] the Day of Recompense”<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>This is a unique chapter of the Qur’an, in that it is a short prayer to Allah, rather than the words of Allah speaking to Muhammad. Allah’s mercy and sovereignty\u00a0are extolled and the believer prays for guidance.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Made up of only five verses, this chapter condemns Abu Lahab, Muhammad’s uncle, who opposed Islam. We are told that Abu will burn in fire and that there will be\u00a0a rope of twisted fibre around his wife’s neck.<\/p>\n