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Now that I’ve built a preliminary glossary of Islamic terms<\/a>,\u00a0it’s time to read some more chapters of the Qur’an! Today I’m reading suwar 106, 101, 75, 104, 77, 50 and 90.<\/p>\n Surah 106\u00a0– “Winter” (Quraish<\/a>)<\/strong> Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1. In what sense is the Ka’bah Allah’s “House”<\/span>? Does he dwell there in any special sense as Yahweh did in the Jerusalem Temple?<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Surah 101\u00a0– “The Calamity” (Al-Qaria<\/a>)<\/strong> Surah 75\u00a0– “Resurrection” (Al-Qiyama<\/a>)<\/strong> Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1.\u00a0What does it mean for “the sun and the moon…[to be] joined”<\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Q2. What does it mean when it says\u00a0“Then upon Us is its clarification [to you]”<\/span>?<\/em><\/p>\n Q3. It describes someone approaching\u00a0death as when “[the soul] has reached the collar bones”<\/span>. This is figurative, yes?<\/em><\/p>\n Q4. What does “the leg is wound about the leg”<\/span> refer to? Is it the process of shrouding a dead body?<\/em><\/p>\n Q5. In reference to ayah 23, my footnotes say that “The people of Paradise will actually see their Creator in the Hereafter”<\/span>. If Allah is utterly transcendent and has no body, how is that possible?<\/em><\/p>\n Q6. Does ayah 39 flow from 37-38? Is the reference to “two mates”<\/span> a reference to Adam and Eve?<\/em><\/p>\n Q7. In ayah 40, the most important word of the sentence (and the one which helps it to make sense) is in square brackets, showing that it’s not in the actual Arabic text. I’ve noticed this happen often. Is this some quirk of Arabic?<\/em><\/p>\n Surah 104\u00a0– “The Gossipmonger” (Al-Humaza<\/a>) Surah 77<\/strong>\u00a0– “The Emissaries” (Al-Mursalat<\/a>) Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1.\u00a0Many ayat use the phrase “And what can make you know what is [Hell, Resurrection, etc.]”<\/span>. This phrase is\u00a0very clunky in English. Is it used to indicate that what we are about to be told could only have come through the light of revelation?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Q2. Ayah 16 says “Did We not destroy the former peoples?”<\/span>. Is this referring to a particular group, or is it just saying that many people have come before you and have since died?<\/em><\/p>\n Q3. Is the “liquid disdained”<\/span> in ayat 20 semen? Why is it “disdained”<\/span>?<\/em><\/p>\n Surah 50\u00a0– “The letter Qaf” (Qaf<\/a>) Various unbelievers are then listed:<\/p>\n This is clearly painting Muhammad as a prophet who was rejected by his own people, like the prophets of old.<\/p>\n We then turn to the subject of the final judgment (again). It is emphasized that man cannot hide from God what he has done because Allah is “closer to him than [his] jugular vein”<\/span>. This phrase carries, at least for me, seems to carry a menacing threat, unlike Psalm 139<\/a>\u00a0which also speaks of God’s ability to know the inner thoughts of man.<\/p>\n We are then told some details about the Final Judgement. As in Christianity, a “Horn will be blown”<\/span>. However, the Qur’an then says that every person\u00a0will be brought to judgement with two angels. The first will bring\u00a0him and the other will testify as to the man’s\u00a0deeds.<\/p>\n Once again we are treated to a list of people who are thrown into Hell:<\/p>\n We are then told a little about those who are sent to Paradise, who “feared the Most Merciful…and came with a heart returning [in repentance]”<\/span>.<\/p>\n Finally, Muhammad is then told to to be patient, to wait for the Final Judgement and in the meantime praise the Lord. The final aya places the threatening language onto Allah rather than Muhammad. God tells Muhammad that He\u00a0knows that Muhammad doesn’t act like a tyrant, but that Muhammad\u00a0should\u00a0“remind by\u00a0the Qur’an whoever fears My [Allah’s] threat”<\/span>.<\/p>\n Questions<\/span><\/p>\n Q1.\u00a0My footnotes say that the\u00a0“By the honoured Qur’an”<\/span>\u00a0oath means “that the Qur’an is inimitable and thus a miracle from Allah”<\/span>. How does that follow?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Q2. In ayah 6, Allah refers to his construction of “the heaven above them”<\/span> and about how “it has no rifts”<\/span>. What would constitute a “rift”<\/span>? Is this\u00a0just a poetic phrase used to indicate the perfection of the Heavens?<\/em><\/p>\n Q3. What is the “new creation”<\/span> mentioned in aya 15? Resurrection?<\/em><\/p>\n Q4.\u00a0According to aya 16, a man’s soul “whispers to him”<\/span>. If a man is not a soul, what is he? Is this just a poetic way of describing man’s lower passions?<\/em><\/p>\n Q5. Aya 22 suggests that, on Judgement Day, Allah will remove each person’s clouded vision\u00a0(“You were certainly in unmindfulness of this, and We have removed from you your cover, so your sight, this Day, is sharp”<\/span>). Was this originally placed upon them by Allah?<\/em><\/p>\n Q6. In aya 27, when referring to someone being sent to Hell, it refers to “His [devil]”<\/span>. Does each person get assigned a devil? Or is this referring to Satan? Or is this one of the angels with the human?<\/em><\/p>\n Does this verse say that devils cannot tempt? Or is that a demonic lie?<\/em><\/p>\n Q7. What does Allah mean when He says to the devil “Do not dispute before Me, while I had already presented to you the threat”<\/span>? What is this “threat”<\/span>\/warning?<\/em><\/p>\n Q8. My translation uses the word “covenant”<\/span> in aya 32. What is the Islamic understanding of this word? In the Judeo-Christian context, covenant is associated with family\u00a0bonds, but I imagine that is impossible in Islam since Allah is not a father.<\/em><\/p>\n Q9.\u00a0Does Islam teach that God “rested”<\/span> on the seventh day (Genesis)? Aya 38 emphasizes that God didn’t tire (something with which Christians we would agree), but does is this verse also denying\u00a0the Sabbath?<\/em><\/p>\n Surah 90\u00a0– “The City” (Al-Balad<\/a>)
\nThis chapter addresses\u00a0the Quraysh the tribe who dwell in\u00a0Mecca. Allah says that because of the\u00a0blessing He has given them, they should worship Him.<\/p>\n
\nA fairly short chapter on the Final Judgement. However, unlike other chapters, this one speaks a little more directly to the Resurrection of the Dead, which it refers to as “The Striking Calamity”<\/span>. The text then\u00a0describes the scene of judgment, where a pair of scales are used to weigh each\u00a0person’s good deeds. If they are heavy, that person goes to Paradise, but if they are light then they are sent to the Fire.<\/p>\n
\nThis longer surah very much continues the theme of the previous surah, “The Calamity”. Once again we are told of the inevitability of the Resurrection and Judgement. We are told that for not believing, not praying and for evil deeds, people\u00a0are sent to Hell. Those who go to\u00a0Paradise will experience something like the Christian beatific vision in that they will be able to look upon God.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>A simple poem which acts as a warning to “every scorner and mocker…[and] he [who] thinks that his wealth will make him immortal”<\/span>. We are told that these people will end up in Hell, which in this surah is called “the Crusher”<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Here we find repeated warnings, each separated by the text “Woe, that Day, to the deniers”<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Allah rhetorically asks why\u00a0unbelievers don’t recognize His\u00a0expertise in creation. He then speaks of His goodness in watering the land and bringing forth life. This appears to then be used as a figure for\u00a0the Resurrection.<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/strong>Allah\u00a0says that He “created man into hardship”<\/span>. He\u00a0reminds the hearer that He is omniscient and that He made man. In a fashion similar to Deuteronomy, Allah then goes on to say\u00a0that He has shown man “the two ways”<\/span>. One of these ways is difficult, so He then lists the things which believers\u00a0can do to break to follow this\u00a0path, actions which are similar to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in\u00a0Catholicism:<\/p>\n\n