Verses 53-70 continue to stress the importance of being ready for Judgment Day. Good preparation, according to this text, includes the following:
(a) Follow the Quran,
(b) Dont speak falsely about the Quran,
(c) Dont make religious rules that are not affirmed in the Quran, and
(d) Dont believe the teachings of the Jews and Christians.
Aside from those three points, theres not a lot of new material in this section; this section is heavy on filler -- self-commendations, repetitions, and formulaic phrases. There are slight similarities between part of v. 54 and Mark Mark 8:36, and between v. 61 and Luke 12:2.
The blessing that is promised for the Auliya of Allah (Auliya = friends, allies, supporters) in v. 62 is the same as the blessing promised for Jews, Christians, and Sabians who believe in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous deeds in 2:62. This is very difficult to harmonize with Surah 98, a Medina-surah which emphatically states that Those who disbelieve from among the People of the Book and the Polytheists will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures.
This brings us to the statement in 10:64 that No change can there be in the Words of Allah. This clearly does not mean that God cannot reveal new truth for new situations, superceding what was revealed in preceding situations as far as applicability is concerned. Christians as well as Muslims believe that God is capable of doing that; its just a matter of degree: Christians believe that God has done that from one dispensation, or covenant, to another -- for instance, the laws of Moses about offering sacrificial animals are considered superfluous now that Jesus, the Lamb of God, has atoned altogether for our sins. Muslims -- at least, most orthodox Muslims, in agreement with the earliest layers of Islamic tradition -- likewise believe that younger verses can abrogate older ones. For those who are unfamiliar with the idea of abrogation, here are a couple of examples of mansukh (abrogated) and nasekh (abrogating) verses:
(1) 2:109 gave instructions for Muslims to Forgive and overlook the attempts by the People of the Book to persuade them to abandon Islam until Allah brings His command. What was implicitly anticipated in that verse is said to have arrived in 9:29, which instructs Muslims to fight against those who do not acknowledge Islam until they pay the jizyah-tax out of hand and feel subdued.
(2) 2:219, which merely disapproves of alcoholic drinks and gambling, is said to be abrogated by 5:19, which prohibits them and categorizes them as Satans handiwork.
Such abrogations -- in which, according to Muhammad, new revelations were delivered to adapt to new situations, superceding the older revelations which had been given for older situations -- are not entirely different from the non-applicability of the standards of an older covenant once a newer covenant has been revealed. Christians should perceive that among the implications of this doctrine is the point that no verse in the Quran can be automatically considered authoritative by itself; it must be considered within its historical framework. When a Muslim quotes an early Meccan verse that suggests that Islam is tolerant and that it merely asks of Christians and Jews equal protection under the law, Christians should investigate or ask whether or not such a verse is mansukh. For instance, 2:62 is considered to have been abrogated by 3:85.
Another problem arises when one considers that Muhammad is said to have issued various verses which were, at the time, regarded as part of his teachings, but which were later not included in the text when the Quran was collected. Perhaps we can look into that more, some other time.
Verses 65-70 consist of retorts against those who rejected Muhammad and claimed that Allah has partners or children, repeating part of 6:148 in 10:66, the gist of 10:5 in 10:67, and then objecting to the claim that Allah has begotten a son (children) (in the Halili-Khan translation), or God hath begotten children in Rodwells rendering. Muhammads response is that those making this claim have no warrant to say this. However, anyone who reads the Gospels can see for themselves that Christians have plenty of warrant to say that Jesus is the Son of God. The Injil repeatedly states that Jesus is the Son of God, and it describes Jesus as Gods only-begotten Son. Possibly we have here in 10:68 evidence that
(a) Muhammad thought that the Christian notion of God begetting a Son was a false teaching because he interpreted the claim to imply that God had begotten Jesus via Mary (in the way that some pagans claimed that their favorite deity had seduced mortal maidens), instead of eternally begetting the Word through perpetual generation from before the foundations of the world, and
(b) Muhammad either forgot, or never encountered, or rejected the portions of the Injil which attest to Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God. No one who had ever read the Gospel of John, for instance, could seriously claim that Christians had no warrant for calling Jesus the Son of God.
Another possibility, though, is that Muhammad here is not talking about Christians, but about Jews who referred to themselves as the offspring of God, in the sense in which some of the prophets poetically referred to the nation of Israel collectively as Gods firstborn son. Perhaps some Jews in Mecca or nearby had made this claim ostentatiously, as if to imply that they were more valuable to God than the Arabs.
Verse 70 promises (again) terrible torment for disbelievers. Verse 69 states that those who devise a lie against Allah will never prosper; immediately anticipating that someone might notice that some polytheists were prosperous, verse 70 clarifies that this world only offers an ephemeral delay for them from torment.
Although hell is not the main subject of this surah, it sure is mentioned a lot in verses 1-70: the torments of hell are mentioned or alluded to in verses 4 (painful torment), 8 (the Fire), 11 (ruination), 13 (destruction), 15 (torment), 27 (humiliation, the Fire), 31 (punishment), 45 (ruination), 50 (torment), 52 (everlasting torment), 54 (torment), and 70 (the severest torment) -- about once every six verses.
Notice the poetic pattern in v. 55 and v. 66.
Notice also v. 46: "Whether We show you some of what We promise them, or We cause you to die - still unto Us is their return, and moreover, Allah is witness over what they used to do." I suspect that this verse reflects Muhammad's awareness that the longer he stayed in Mecca, the more his life was at risk. He was not sure at this point whether he was destined to die a martyr's death in Mecca, or live to see his opponents taste the torment which he believed Allah had promised to give them.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
(a) Follow the Quran,
(b) Dont speak falsely about the Quran,
(c) Dont make religious rules that are not affirmed in the Quran, and
(d) Dont believe the teachings of the Jews and Christians.
Aside from those three points, theres not a lot of new material in this section; this section is heavy on filler -- self-commendations, repetitions, and formulaic phrases. There are slight similarities between part of v. 54 and Mark Mark 8:36, and between v. 61 and Luke 12:2.
The blessing that is promised for the Auliya of Allah (Auliya = friends, allies, supporters) in v. 62 is the same as the blessing promised for Jews, Christians, and Sabians who believe in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous deeds in 2:62. This is very difficult to harmonize with Surah 98, a Medina-surah which emphatically states that Those who disbelieve from among the People of the Book and the Polytheists will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures.
This brings us to the statement in 10:64 that No change can there be in the Words of Allah. This clearly does not mean that God cannot reveal new truth for new situations, superceding what was revealed in preceding situations as far as applicability is concerned. Christians as well as Muslims believe that God is capable of doing that; its just a matter of degree: Christians believe that God has done that from one dispensation, or covenant, to another -- for instance, the laws of Moses about offering sacrificial animals are considered superfluous now that Jesus, the Lamb of God, has atoned altogether for our sins. Muslims -- at least, most orthodox Muslims, in agreement with the earliest layers of Islamic tradition -- likewise believe that younger verses can abrogate older ones. For those who are unfamiliar with the idea of abrogation, here are a couple of examples of mansukh (abrogated) and nasekh (abrogating) verses:
(1) 2:109 gave instructions for Muslims to Forgive and overlook the attempts by the People of the Book to persuade them to abandon Islam until Allah brings His command. What was implicitly anticipated in that verse is said to have arrived in 9:29, which instructs Muslims to fight against those who do not acknowledge Islam until they pay the jizyah-tax out of hand and feel subdued.
(2) 2:219, which merely disapproves of alcoholic drinks and gambling, is said to be abrogated by 5:19, which prohibits them and categorizes them as Satans handiwork.
Such abrogations -- in which, according to Muhammad, new revelations were delivered to adapt to new situations, superceding the older revelations which had been given for older situations -- are not entirely different from the non-applicability of the standards of an older covenant once a newer covenant has been revealed. Christians should perceive that among the implications of this doctrine is the point that no verse in the Quran can be automatically considered authoritative by itself; it must be considered within its historical framework. When a Muslim quotes an early Meccan verse that suggests that Islam is tolerant and that it merely asks of Christians and Jews equal protection under the law, Christians should investigate or ask whether or not such a verse is mansukh. For instance, 2:62 is considered to have been abrogated by 3:85.
Another problem arises when one considers that Muhammad is said to have issued various verses which were, at the time, regarded as part of his teachings, but which were later not included in the text when the Quran was collected. Perhaps we can look into that more, some other time.
Verses 65-70 consist of retorts against those who rejected Muhammad and claimed that Allah has partners or children, repeating part of 6:148 in 10:66, the gist of 10:5 in 10:67, and then objecting to the claim that Allah has begotten a son (children) (in the Halili-Khan translation), or God hath begotten children in Rodwells rendering. Muhammads response is that those making this claim have no warrant to say this. However, anyone who reads the Gospels can see for themselves that Christians have plenty of warrant to say that Jesus is the Son of God. The Injil repeatedly states that Jesus is the Son of God, and it describes Jesus as Gods only-begotten Son. Possibly we have here in 10:68 evidence that
(a) Muhammad thought that the Christian notion of God begetting a Son was a false teaching because he interpreted the claim to imply that God had begotten Jesus via Mary (in the way that some pagans claimed that their favorite deity had seduced mortal maidens), instead of eternally begetting the Word through perpetual generation from before the foundations of the world, and
(b) Muhammad either forgot, or never encountered, or rejected the portions of the Injil which attest to Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God. No one who had ever read the Gospel of John, for instance, could seriously claim that Christians had no warrant for calling Jesus the Son of God.
Another possibility, though, is that Muhammad here is not talking about Christians, but about Jews who referred to themselves as the offspring of God, in the sense in which some of the prophets poetically referred to the nation of Israel collectively as Gods firstborn son. Perhaps some Jews in Mecca or nearby had made this claim ostentatiously, as if to imply that they were more valuable to God than the Arabs.
Verse 70 promises (again) terrible torment for disbelievers. Verse 69 states that those who devise a lie against Allah will never prosper; immediately anticipating that someone might notice that some polytheists were prosperous, verse 70 clarifies that this world only offers an ephemeral delay for them from torment.
Although hell is not the main subject of this surah, it sure is mentioned a lot in verses 1-70: the torments of hell are mentioned or alluded to in verses 4 (painful torment), 8 (the Fire), 11 (ruination), 13 (destruction), 15 (torment), 27 (humiliation, the Fire), 31 (punishment), 45 (ruination), 50 (torment), 52 (everlasting torment), 54 (torment), and 70 (the severest torment) -- about once every six verses.
Notice the poetic pattern in v. 55 and v. 66.
Notice also v. 46: "Whether We show you some of what We promise them, or We cause you to die - still unto Us is their return, and moreover, Allah is witness over what they used to do." I suspect that this verse reflects Muhammad's awareness that the longer he stayed in Mecca, the more his life was at risk. He was not sure at this point whether he was destined to die a martyr's death in Mecca, or live to see his opponents taste the torment which he believed Allah had promised to give them.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
