{"id":63214,"date":"2016-12-16T23:26:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T06:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=63214"},"modified":"2016-12-29T11:40:04","modified_gmt":"2016-12-29T18:40:04","slug":"quran-day-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2016\/12\/16\/quran-day-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Qur\u2019an Cover-to-Cover: Day 9 (“The Criterion”)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"muslim\"<\/p>\n

I was on a plane flying to Atlanta today, so I’m a little late, but here are my notes for Surah 25.<\/p>\n

Surah 25\u00a0– “The Criterion” (Al-Furqan<\/a>)
\n<\/strong>The title of this chapter is significant. The “criterion”<\/span> here is identified as the Qur’an itself. This is principal means by which Muslims\u00a0“distinguish truth from falsehood and right from wrong”<\/span>.\u00a0This definitely is in accordance with my experience of speaking with Muslims: everything is viewed through the lense of the Qur’an.<\/p>\n

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”<\/span>. 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”<\/span> in this way are guilty of the sin of Shirk and will therefore “taste a great punishment”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We then hear from the critics of Muhammad. They say that Islam’s prophet simply takes “Legends of the former peoples”<\/span>, which I’m guessing is a reference to the Old Testament narratives,\u00a0and possibly the stories found in apocryphal sources. Muhammad fails to fulfil many of the expectations these people have and they ultimately reject him as “a man affected by magic”<\/span>. One example of their disappointment is that\u00a0Muhammad is just a man, and they want to know why an angel wasn’t sent down to assist him in warning the people. The Qur’an responds to this saying that there will<\/span>\u00a0be a day when they’ll see angels, but it will be Judgement Day and “no good tidings will there be”<\/span> because on that day they will be thrown into hell.<\/p>\n

Muhammad’s critics\u00a0also ask why the Qur’an wasn’t revealed to him\u00a0all at once, but I’m afraid that I don’t really understand the answer (“that We may strengthen thereby your heart”<\/span>).<\/p>\n

It is pointed out in the text\u00a0that Muhammad does not ask for any payment for his message.<\/p>\n

As usual, we have a tour through the prophets recognized by Isalm: Moses, Aaron, Noah and the prophets sent to Aad and Thamud. Muhammad is told to “strive against [the unbelievers] with [the Qur’an]”<\/span>.\u00a0We’re also treated to the standard affirmations that Allah is God over all creation.<\/p>\n

This surah contains two passages (ayah 53 and 54) which I’ve heard cited as proofs of the “scientific miracles” of the Qur’an:<\/p>\n