Parts of verses 105-114 seem to be a warning to people in Medina who were coming to Muhammad to settle disputes. Disputants are warned, indirectly, against misrepresenting their cases and against making false accusations. Reading between the lines, so to speak, in v. 113, it seems as if some individuals had plotted to win a case dishonestly, but Muhammad had seen through their attempted deception.
In v. 110 the text says that a wrongdoer who seeks Allahs forgiveness will find Allah oft-forgiving and most merciful. However, in v. 116 the text (essentially repeating 4:48) says that Allah does not forgive the sin of setting up partners with Him. Either Allah /does/ forgive the repentant ex-polytheists, or Allah does /not/ forgive them. If He /does/ then I dont see how verses 48 and 116 can be true, inasmuch as they don't seem to have any accompanying qualifications. If He /doesnt/ then that does not seem very merciful, and this would tend to draw v. 110 into question. (The only logical escape from this contradiction that I can think of at the moment is this: a Muslim must conclude that no one who sets up partners in worship along with Allah will ever repent. Any other ideas?)
Verse 111 ("Whoever earns sin, he earns it only against himself") echoes the sentiment of Proverbs 9:12 ("If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you alone will bear it") but verses 110-111 together resemble Ezekiel 18:20-21 more.
Verse 117 mentions that those who set up partners in worship with Allah "invoke nothing but female deities" and thus actually invoke Satan. Almost certainly the "female deities" are Lat, Manat, and Uzza. The idea that those who worship idols are actually worshipping Satan was mentioned by Paul in First Corinthians 10:20.
The mention of Satan is followed up by an anecdote which is supposed to have occurred when Satan fell from heaven. Satan is said, in v. 119, to have resolved to mislead human beings. He pledged to "order them to slit the ears of cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah." The part about slitting the ears of cattle is mildly interesting; Rodwell claims that this alludes to an idol-honoring practice of the Meccans. But the second part is more notable: "changing the nature created by Allah" clearly comes across as a bad thing.
This has been consistently interpreted (in sync with some Hadith) to mean that Muslim men are obligated to grow their beards, and that Muslim women are obligated not to pluck their eyebrows. At www.islam.org.au/articles/22/beard.htm and
www.islam.tc/beard/beard6.html this is considered a fairly important teaching. Eyebrow-plucking and wig-wearing are both forbidden; those who do such things were cursed by Muhammad (this applied even in the case of a woman whose hair had fallen out due to illness). (I can just imagine what Muslim scholars think of elective plastic surgery!) A list of sayings of Muhammad which bolster this teaching may be found in chapter 25 at www.muslimaccess.com/sunnah/hadeeth/muslim/024.html (One such Hadith is Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, #408). It is a serious offense for a Muslim to trim away his/her eyebrows, inasmuch as v. 121 promises that those who thus surrender to Satan will go to hell.
The first part of v. 122 echoes the first part of 4:57.
Verses 123-124 note that the judgment of Allah "will not be in accordance with your desires (Muslims), nor those of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), whosoever works evil will have the recompense thereof This aptly describes Judgment Day, but it probably also had a specific applicability regarding the court-cases which were brought before Muhammad in Medina - i.e., Muhammad would not be biased in favor of the Muslim disputants.
Verse 125 mentions that no one is a better believer than the person who submits to Allah and follows Abrahams religion. Abraham, the text says, was taken by God as a Khalil that is, a friend. Abraham was previously called the "friend of God" in Second Chronicles 20:7 and, in the New Testament, in James 2:23.
The first part of v. 126 repeats the first part of 2:284 (which echoes, in turn, Psalm 89:11 ~ "The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fulness; You have created them" ~ and Jeremiah 23:24).
If one were to filter away the material in these verses which consists of self-endorsements, and which is not a repetition of Biblical teachings, then basically Muhammads new revelations here seem to amount to this:
(1) Those who conspire to trick Muhammad will not succeed.
(2) Satan, when he fell, wanted to get people to slit the ears of cattle.
(3) Although Allah forgives the repentant (v. 110), Allah does not forgive the sin of setting up partners with Him (v. 116).
(4) Whoever changes the nature ordained by Allah - i.e., whoever plucks eyebrows, wears a wig, or gets a tattoo - should expect the punishment of hell.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
In v. 110 the text says that a wrongdoer who seeks Allahs forgiveness will find Allah oft-forgiving and most merciful. However, in v. 116 the text (essentially repeating 4:48) says that Allah does not forgive the sin of setting up partners with Him. Either Allah /does/ forgive the repentant ex-polytheists, or Allah does /not/ forgive them. If He /does/ then I dont see how verses 48 and 116 can be true, inasmuch as they don't seem to have any accompanying qualifications. If He /doesnt/ then that does not seem very merciful, and this would tend to draw v. 110 into question. (The only logical escape from this contradiction that I can think of at the moment is this: a Muslim must conclude that no one who sets up partners in worship along with Allah will ever repent. Any other ideas?)
Verse 111 ("Whoever earns sin, he earns it only against himself") echoes the sentiment of Proverbs 9:12 ("If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you alone will bear it") but verses 110-111 together resemble Ezekiel 18:20-21 more.
Verse 117 mentions that those who set up partners in worship with Allah "invoke nothing but female deities" and thus actually invoke Satan. Almost certainly the "female deities" are Lat, Manat, and Uzza. The idea that those who worship idols are actually worshipping Satan was mentioned by Paul in First Corinthians 10:20.
The mention of Satan is followed up by an anecdote which is supposed to have occurred when Satan fell from heaven. Satan is said, in v. 119, to have resolved to mislead human beings. He pledged to "order them to slit the ears of cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah." The part about slitting the ears of cattle is mildly interesting; Rodwell claims that this alludes to an idol-honoring practice of the Meccans. But the second part is more notable: "changing the nature created by Allah" clearly comes across as a bad thing.
This has been consistently interpreted (in sync with some Hadith) to mean that Muslim men are obligated to grow their beards, and that Muslim women are obligated not to pluck their eyebrows. At www.islam.org.au/articles/22/beard.htm and
www.islam.tc/beard/beard6.html this is considered a fairly important teaching. Eyebrow-plucking and wig-wearing are both forbidden; those who do such things were cursed by Muhammad (this applied even in the case of a woman whose hair had fallen out due to illness). (I can just imagine what Muslim scholars think of elective plastic surgery!) A list of sayings of Muhammad which bolster this teaching may be found in chapter 25 at www.muslimaccess.com/sunnah/hadeeth/muslim/024.html (One such Hadith is Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, #408). It is a serious offense for a Muslim to trim away his/her eyebrows, inasmuch as v. 121 promises that those who thus surrender to Satan will go to hell.
The first part of v. 122 echoes the first part of 4:57.
Verses 123-124 note that the judgment of Allah "will not be in accordance with your desires (Muslims), nor those of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), whosoever works evil will have the recompense thereof This aptly describes Judgment Day, but it probably also had a specific applicability regarding the court-cases which were brought before Muhammad in Medina - i.e., Muhammad would not be biased in favor of the Muslim disputants.
Verse 125 mentions that no one is a better believer than the person who submits to Allah and follows Abrahams religion. Abraham, the text says, was taken by God as a Khalil that is, a friend. Abraham was previously called the "friend of God" in Second Chronicles 20:7 and, in the New Testament, in James 2:23.
The first part of v. 126 repeats the first part of 2:284 (which echoes, in turn, Psalm 89:11 ~ "The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fulness; You have created them" ~ and Jeremiah 23:24).
If one were to filter away the material in these verses which consists of self-endorsements, and which is not a repetition of Biblical teachings, then basically Muhammads new revelations here seem to amount to this:
(1) Those who conspire to trick Muhammad will not succeed.
(2) Satan, when he fell, wanted to get people to slit the ears of cattle.
(3) Although Allah forgives the repentant (v. 110), Allah does not forgive the sin of setting up partners with Him (v. 116).
(4) Whoever changes the nature ordained by Allah - i.e., whoever plucks eyebrows, wears a wig, or gets a tattoo - should expect the punishment of hell.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
