The beginning of this section consists of regulations about women, marriage, and divorce. Muslims may not marry idol-worshipers or give their daughters in marriage to them. Muslims are not permitted to have intercourse during menstruation (a command which echoes Leviticus 15:19-24, 18:19, and 20:18).
Verses 224-225 note, as if in anticipation of the next subject (divorce), that pledges taken in Allahs name should not be used as an excuse for avoiding doing good. (Surah 5:89 explains what should be done in case one wants to weasel out of a pledge or oath.)
When a Muslim man divorces his wife, theres a four-month waiting-period before the divorce is official. [I figure that a man might divorce his wife on the assumption that she is barren, and he might change his mind if, during that time, it becomes obvious that his about-to-be-divorced wife is pregnant.] A husband and his ex-wife may remarry. But (in v. 230) if a man divorces his wife twice, and remarries her twice, then if he divorces her a third time, he may not remarry her until she has been married to, and divorced by, some other man.
The infant child of a Muslim man and his ex-wife [it seems implied that the text refers to an ex-wife] should be breast-fed for two whole years, during which time the father should provide for the mothers food and clothing. Foster-nurses are allowed, as long as they are given reasonable wages.
Muslim widows should wait four months and ten days before they are free to remarry. During this time its okay for a man to let a widow know hes interested in her, but no formal contract of betrothal should be made, and the anticipated marriage should not be pre-consummated.
If a Muslim man marries a woman, and then changes his mind before "touching" her, then if he has promised a gift to her, he must give her half of it unless she tells him he may keep it all. But its best to give her the whole gift. If no gift has been promised, he should nevertheless give her an affordable gift. [This is comparable to the giving of an engagement present; the initial stage of marriage may be considered congruent to engagement.]
The topic shifts for two verses (238-239) to the five daily prayers: the middle-of-the-day prayer (Asr) has a higher value than the others. Muslims should "stand before Allah with obedience" (which is interpreted to mean that Muslims should be attentive and non-talkative during prayer-times). In case of danger, Muslims may perform the prayers when on foot or riding.
In v. 240 it is stated that Muslim men "those of you who die," (that is, in context, those in Muhammads community who are about to go on jihad and risk death) should include in their wills a provision for one year of maintenance and residence for their wives. (This rule, however, is significantly qualified by the instructions in 4:12). Wives are allowed to leave the provided residence earlier, though [so they may get re-married, I think, is the main idea]. Also, if a Muslim man divorces his wife, he is obligated to provide a reasonable amount of maintenance for her.
The notion that Muhammads troops were to prepare their wills before going forth to fight in Allahs cause serves as a bridge to the next few verses: in v. 243 a short anecdote describing how Allah caused a group of thousands of people to die, and then raised them back to life. Then v. 244-245 encourages Muslims, again, to "fight in the Way of Allah," with the assurance that Allah will repay many times what is loaned to him.
As an example of the benefits of following Allahs appointed ruler, the text describes the appointment of Saul ("Talut"). The Quran both condenses and expands the Biblical story (from First Samuel 8-10). The differences between the Biblical account and the Qurans account are interesting ~
One detail that is missing in the Qurans account is the name of the prophet who appointed Talut. (Also, "Talut" seems to be simply a nickname for Saul, meaning "Tall guy.")
The Bible states that when Samuel was fairly young, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, and was then returned by them. (The story of the Arks loss and recovery is told in First Samuel 4-6.)
The Quran states that Allah will affirm Sauls right to be king by the arrival of At-Tabut (a box, that is, the Ark of the Covenant) wherein is Sakinah from your Lord and a remnant of that which Moses and Aaron left behind, carried by the angels. [Sakinah would seem to be the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew term Shekinah, the active presence of God. Theres more to be said about this, later.]
The Ark of the Covenant did contain souvenirs from the days of Moses and Aaron: the tablets of the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna, and Aarons rod. But it was not "carried by angels." Apparently Muhammad misunderstood the meaning of the Bibles description of the cherubim (angels) which were carved upon the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. Also, the Ark of the Covenant had already been returned to the Israelites, quite a while before Saul was made king (more than 20 years, according to First Samuel 7:2).
In v. 249, a scene is described in which Talut took his army to a river (before a battle) and told them that those who drink from the river is not his ally, except those who drink using the hollow of their hand. This looks like a confused recollection of the incident in Judges 7:1-7, where Gideon reduced the size of his army by retaining only those who drank water using their hands to bring it to their mouths.
In v. 249b-251, it is mentioned that Taluts army fought the enemy, and David (Dawud) killed Goliath (Jalut). The part about how Goliath repeatedly challenged and intimidated the Israelite army, though, is absent. The picture one gets from this surah is that Taluts army-members gathered their courage and attacked a more numerous foe together, and during the battle (rather than at its beginning, as in First Samuel 17) David killed Goliath. One also gets the impression that Talut went from being made king one day to going to fight Jalut and his forces shortly thereafter; whereas in the Bible, the events are separated by a series of events which culminate in the rejection of Saul as king.
(At first glance, it might look like Muhammad and his audience were unaware of the missing material; however there is a slight parallel between First Samuel 14:6b and a statement in v. 249 ~ Jonathan (Sauls son) says, Nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few, and Taluts soldiers say, How often a small group overcame a mighty host by Allahs leave.)
Throughout this section, the Quran appears to adapt Biblical material in order to make Taluts situation appear to resemble the situation of Muhammad when he was mustering his forces in the city of Yathrib (Medina): in v. 246, the unnamed prophet in the days of Talut is pictured saying to hesitant people something similar to what was said in 2:216 to hesitant people. Everything that would detract from encouraging Muhammads army to fight (the Bibles added details about how Samuel gave the people a king only after telling them what a burden it would be to have a king, and how rash Saul became, and how David went to face Goliath one-on-one) has been carved away from the narrative.
Not only has the Biblical material been extremely condensed, but some of the details that are added the description of the Ark as "carried by angels," and the statement that it appeared when Saul was made king, and the placement of the story of the water-test in the days of Saul instead of Gideon suggest that this section is not supernaturally revealed material (despite the self-endorsement in v. 252 that "These are the verses of Allah" and that Muhammad is one of Allahs messengers).
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
Verses 224-225 note, as if in anticipation of the next subject (divorce), that pledges taken in Allahs name should not be used as an excuse for avoiding doing good. (Surah 5:89 explains what should be done in case one wants to weasel out of a pledge or oath.)
When a Muslim man divorces his wife, theres a four-month waiting-period before the divorce is official. [I figure that a man might divorce his wife on the assumption that she is barren, and he might change his mind if, during that time, it becomes obvious that his about-to-be-divorced wife is pregnant.] A husband and his ex-wife may remarry. But (in v. 230) if a man divorces his wife twice, and remarries her twice, then if he divorces her a third time, he may not remarry her until she has been married to, and divorced by, some other man.
The infant child of a Muslim man and his ex-wife [it seems implied that the text refers to an ex-wife] should be breast-fed for two whole years, during which time the father should provide for the mothers food and clothing. Foster-nurses are allowed, as long as they are given reasonable wages.
Muslim widows should wait four months and ten days before they are free to remarry. During this time its okay for a man to let a widow know hes interested in her, but no formal contract of betrothal should be made, and the anticipated marriage should not be pre-consummated.
If a Muslim man marries a woman, and then changes his mind before "touching" her, then if he has promised a gift to her, he must give her half of it unless she tells him he may keep it all. But its best to give her the whole gift. If no gift has been promised, he should nevertheless give her an affordable gift. [This is comparable to the giving of an engagement present; the initial stage of marriage may be considered congruent to engagement.]
The topic shifts for two verses (238-239) to the five daily prayers: the middle-of-the-day prayer (Asr) has a higher value than the others. Muslims should "stand before Allah with obedience" (which is interpreted to mean that Muslims should be attentive and non-talkative during prayer-times). In case of danger, Muslims may perform the prayers when on foot or riding.
In v. 240 it is stated that Muslim men "those of you who die," (that is, in context, those in Muhammads community who are about to go on jihad and risk death) should include in their wills a provision for one year of maintenance and residence for their wives. (This rule, however, is significantly qualified by the instructions in 4:12). Wives are allowed to leave the provided residence earlier, though [so they may get re-married, I think, is the main idea]. Also, if a Muslim man divorces his wife, he is obligated to provide a reasonable amount of maintenance for her.
The notion that Muhammads troops were to prepare their wills before going forth to fight in Allahs cause serves as a bridge to the next few verses: in v. 243 a short anecdote describing how Allah caused a group of thousands of people to die, and then raised them back to life. Then v. 244-245 encourages Muslims, again, to "fight in the Way of Allah," with the assurance that Allah will repay many times what is loaned to him.
As an example of the benefits of following Allahs appointed ruler, the text describes the appointment of Saul ("Talut"). The Quran both condenses and expands the Biblical story (from First Samuel 8-10). The differences between the Biblical account and the Qurans account are interesting ~
One detail that is missing in the Qurans account is the name of the prophet who appointed Talut. (Also, "Talut" seems to be simply a nickname for Saul, meaning "Tall guy.")
The Bible states that when Samuel was fairly young, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, and was then returned by them. (The story of the Arks loss and recovery is told in First Samuel 4-6.)
The Quran states that Allah will affirm Sauls right to be king by the arrival of At-Tabut (a box, that is, the Ark of the Covenant) wherein is Sakinah from your Lord and a remnant of that which Moses and Aaron left behind, carried by the angels. [Sakinah would seem to be the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew term Shekinah, the active presence of God. Theres more to be said about this, later.]
The Ark of the Covenant did contain souvenirs from the days of Moses and Aaron: the tablets of the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna, and Aarons rod. But it was not "carried by angels." Apparently Muhammad misunderstood the meaning of the Bibles description of the cherubim (angels) which were carved upon the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. Also, the Ark of the Covenant had already been returned to the Israelites, quite a while before Saul was made king (more than 20 years, according to First Samuel 7:2).
In v. 249, a scene is described in which Talut took his army to a river (before a battle) and told them that those who drink from the river is not his ally, except those who drink using the hollow of their hand. This looks like a confused recollection of the incident in Judges 7:1-7, where Gideon reduced the size of his army by retaining only those who drank water using their hands to bring it to their mouths.
In v. 249b-251, it is mentioned that Taluts army fought the enemy, and David (Dawud) killed Goliath (Jalut). The part about how Goliath repeatedly challenged and intimidated the Israelite army, though, is absent. The picture one gets from this surah is that Taluts army-members gathered their courage and attacked a more numerous foe together, and during the battle (rather than at its beginning, as in First Samuel 17) David killed Goliath. One also gets the impression that Talut went from being made king one day to going to fight Jalut and his forces shortly thereafter; whereas in the Bible, the events are separated by a series of events which culminate in the rejection of Saul as king.
(At first glance, it might look like Muhammad and his audience were unaware of the missing material; however there is a slight parallel between First Samuel 14:6b and a statement in v. 249 ~ Jonathan (Sauls son) says, Nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few, and Taluts soldiers say, How often a small group overcame a mighty host by Allahs leave.)
Throughout this section, the Quran appears to adapt Biblical material in order to make Taluts situation appear to resemble the situation of Muhammad when he was mustering his forces in the city of Yathrib (Medina): in v. 246, the unnamed prophet in the days of Talut is pictured saying to hesitant people something similar to what was said in 2:216 to hesitant people. Everything that would detract from encouraging Muhammads army to fight (the Bibles added details about how Samuel gave the people a king only after telling them what a burden it would be to have a king, and how rash Saul became, and how David went to face Goliath one-on-one) has been carved away from the narrative.
Not only has the Biblical material been extremely condensed, but some of the details that are added the description of the Ark as "carried by angels," and the statement that it appeared when Saul was made king, and the placement of the story of the water-test in the days of Saul instead of Gideon suggest that this section is not supernaturally revealed material (despite the self-endorsement in v. 252 that "These are the verses of Allah" and that Muhammad is one of Allahs messengers).
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
