Noah: Just a warner
The Meccan sura 67 contains brief repetitions of many familiar and oft-repeated themes of the Quran: Allah controls all things and designed his creation perfectly (vv. 1-5); the unbelievers will suffer the pains of hell and will at that point regret having rejected Allah’s messengers (vv. 6-11); the righteous shall be rewarded (v. 12); Allah knows what is in everyone’s heart (vv. 13-14); Allah sustains all things and death can come without notice, so it is better to be mindful of Allah and obey him than to ignore him (vv. 15-22). The sura concludes with Allah giving Muhammad six things to say to the unbelievers in response to their skepticism about whether and when the Day of Judgment will come (vv. 23-30).
Likewise sura 68, an early Meccan sura, traverses very familiar ground. Allah consoles Muhammad over the unbelievers’ rejection of his message, assures him that he is not mad or possessed (v. 2) but actually has an exalted character (v. 4). According to Aisha and others, this refers to the fact that Muhammad’s character conformed entirely to the Qur’an, such that he was the living embodiment of its ethos. Those who accuse Muhammad of madness are the ones who are mad (v. 6). Muhammad should not listen to them (vv. 8, 10). Muhammad’s unnamed accuser is a violent, cruel slanderer (vv. 11, 13) who rejects the signs (verses of the Qur’an) of Allah as “tales of the ancients” (v. 15) – but soon Allah will brand him on the nose (v. 16)! Islamic tradition identifies this unfortunate man as al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, an opponent of Muhammad from among the pagan Quraysh. Of him Ibn Abbas says: “We know of no one whom God has described in the derogatory way in which He describes him, blighting him with ignominy that will never leave him.” Was this curse fulfilled? The Tafsir al-Jalalayn informs us that “his nose was chopped off by a sword at Badr.”
Then follows a parable. Allah blessed the “people of the garden” but they were ungrateful and ignored the warning of a man who invited them to glorify Allah (v. 28); thus they lost their garden, and only then did they realize that they needed to repent and return to Allah (vv. 17-33). The message is that failure to heed Muhammad’s words will lead to ruin in both this life and the next (v. 33). Allah in then taunts the unbelievers with questions (vv. 34-41, 46-47)– do they have a sacred book that tells them everything they want to hear (vv. 36-38)? Can they produce the partners they worship along with Allah (v. 41)? The Day of Judgment will surely come (vv. 42-45), so Muhammad should wait in patience and not be like the complaining Jonah – the “companion of the fish” (v. 48), even when the unbelievers try to trip him up with their eyes (v. 51). They were, says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, “looking at you in a severe way, almost hurling you to the ground or making you fall from your place, when they hear the Reminder, the Qur’an, and they say, out of envy: ‘He is truly a madman!’, on account of the Qur’an that he has brought.”
Sura 69, another early Meccan sura, occasioned the conversion of Umar, who became the leader of the believers after the deaths of Muhammad and his first successor, Abu Bakr. Umar explained:
Before embracing Islam, one day I came out of my house with a view to causing trouble to the Holy Prophet, but he had entered the Masjid al-Haram before me. When I arrived I found that he was reciting surah Al-Haaqqah [sura 69] in the Prayer. I stood behind him and listened. As he recited the Qur'an I wondered at its literary charm and beauty. Then suddenly an idea came to my mind that he must be a poet as the Quraish alleged. Just at that moment he recited the words: "This is the Word of an honorable Messenger: it is not the word of a poet." I said to myself: Then, he must be a soothsayer, if not a poet. Thereupon be recited the words: "Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little it is that you reflect. It is a Revelation from the Lord and Sustainer of the worlds. On hearing this Islam entered deep into my heart.
The sura opens by asserting the divine judgment as a “sure reality” (vv. 1-3); then it lists some of the disobedient peoples punished on earth by Allah for their rejection of his messengers (v. 10): the Thamud and ‘Ad people (vv. 4-8); the people of Pharaoh (v. 9); and the people of Noah (vv. 11-12). Then follows a description of the Day of Judgment (vv. 13-18) and of the fate of the righteous (vv. 19-24) and of the damned (vv. 25-37). The sura concludes (vv. 38-52) by assuring us again that this a true revelation from Allah, not the word of a poet (v. 41) or a soothsayer (v. 42). Nor did the messenger invent it – for if he did, Allah would cut the artery of his heart (vv. 44-46).
The early Meccan sura 70 is similar. It begins with the assurance that no one can ward off the punishment that Allah (“Lord of the Ways of Ascent”) has in store for the unbelievers (vv. 1-4). So Muhammad should be patient, because the Day will certainly come (vv. 5-7). The dreadful Day is described again (vv. 8-18). Then the unbelievers are contrasted with the righteous: the unbelievers are anxious and stingy (vv. 19-21), while the believers are steadfast in prayer (v. 23), help the needy (v. 25), believe in the Day of Judgment (v. 26), guard their chastity except with their wives and slave girls (vv. 29-30), respect their treaties and covenants (v. 32), and are attentive in worship (v. 34). The unbelievers don’t even long to enter the Gardens of Delight (v. 38), but the Day will surely come upon them anyway (vv. 42-44).
The Meccan sura 71 contains Noah’s message to his people and then his prayer to Allah. Here again there are strong parallels to Muhammad’s message, with the oblique lesson being that those who reject Muhammad will suffer the same fate as those who rejected Noah. Like Muhammad, Noah is a “warner” (v. 2), but his hearers are obstinate and refuse to listen (v. 7). Like Muhammad, Noah tells the unbelievers that Allah will bless them in this world (vv. 11-12) but they still won’t listen. Like Muhammad, Noah invokes the signs of Allah’s power in creation (vv. 13-20). As they plot against Muhammad, so the unbelievers plotted against Noah (v. 22). So the unbelievers are drowned in the flood (v. 25), as Noah prays that none of them be left on the earth (v. 26), for they will only mislead the believers (v. 27). Noah prays that Allah bless the believers while increasing the destruction and punishment of the unbelievers (v. 28).
(Here you can find links to all the earlier “Blogging the Qur’an” segments. Here is a good Arabic Qur’an, with English translations available; here are two popular Muslim translations, those of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, along with a third by M. H. Shakir. Here is another popular translation, that of Muhammad Asad. And here is an omnibus of ten Qur’an translations.)
...not the word of a poet (v. 41) or a soothsayer (v. 42). Nor did the messenger invent it – for if he did, Allah would cut the artery of his heart...
How convenient...Instant credibility...
Well Allah may not have caused bleeding from the heart but he did give Mohammad a headache, lots of them, then later he painfully killed him.
I wonder how much of that was punishment for making things up?
Wow these qur'an chapters are getting short. Five at a time? At this rate we'll be done in no time.
And there's little new here. Same old same old. I'm starting to wonder whether a certain famous 20th Century demagogue learned his famous propaganda lesson from ol' Mo -- you know, the one about what happens when a lie is repeated often enough?
Mr. Spenser, in Sura 67:5, it states:
"And we have, (from of old), adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps, and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire."
I understand the “lamps” to be stars (that’s what it says in the notes that accompany my text.)
Science has shown centuries ago, in fact, that the sun is a star, also. Just like these lamps, not part of heaven. Can you (briefly) explain how Islam can get away with not allowing any changes to interpretation when the Qur’an can so easily be proven wrong, as in this case. What happens in an Islamic society when someone stands up and says, “Hey, they are just stars made of hydrogen and we can measure them?” Sorry if I keep coming back to physical science, but I find it hard to imagine that no one would ever question this.
Other that this, these Suras seem to cover much of the same ground.
Thanks again for all you do.
"...do they have a sacred book that tells them everything they want to hear (vv. 36-38)?
That, to me, sums up Islam perfectly. For Muslim men, anyway. Why any woman, especially a mother of daughters, would be a Muslim is a question for a psychiatrist.
Jaynie,
I know you didn't ask me, but I keep wondering the same things, myself. Not about the women born Muslims, but the obviously sick female "reverts".
The only thing I can come up with is that some women want to be dominated, they crave it and they seek it. Islam is where they find that.
According to Eva and others, this refers to the fact that ADOLF'S character conformed entirely to Mein Kampf, such that he was the living embodiment of its ethos.
Abscedere~
And men want to be regimented. Those lost souls who reach the bottom due to their self indulgent lives that get them into trouble, often ending in jail, where they Convert.
eyeballs, the better to see your mind's eye with,eh? both quran and bible translations filled with typos. if not from G'd, where did they come from? surely you won't give an unacceptable creature like mohammed credit for really being who he said he was? e.g., sura 21:30 says that heaven and earth was once joined and G'd split apart (big bang theory or not?) also, all life comes from water.(what are we looking for on planet mars,sand? the more a truth is challenged, it seems, the more solidified it becomes. quran seems to make more sense than bible.
How can you voluntarily convert to a religion where the founder murdered many and ordered many murdered?
those people who do not like freedom, who discard their culture and their identity to follow this cult
how can they do that is a also a big question to me
From Sura 70, Muslim males have to "...guard their chastity except with their wives and slave girls (vv. 29-30),"
The fact that this is an early Meccan verse, revealed before Muhammad engaged in physical warfare, refutes an apologetic line about the taking of slave girls in Islam as a necessary by-product of warfare. Obviously, in this passage, Muhammad is approving and regulating the practice of owning slave girls and having sex with them, outside of the context of Islamic warfare.
Another apologetic line taken from the Quran itself is that "Muhammad is only a warner." This is often repeated by the "no compulsion in religion" apologists (i.e., most of them at some point). Of course, even in the Meccan stage we see Muhammad laying down regulations, such as the above (also see 7:157).
It would be interesting to find out exactly what role the slave trade had in early (Meccan phase) Islam.
Here are some commentaries on 70:29-30:
Ibn Kathir
"(And those who guard their private part (chastity).) meaning, they keep their private parts away from that which is forbidden and they prevent their private parts from being put into other than what Allah has allowed them to be in. This is why Allah says,
(Except from their wives or their right hand possessions) meaning, from their female slaves.
(for (then) they are not blameworthy. But whosoever seeks beyond that, then it is those who are trespassers.) The explanation of this has already preceded at the beginning of Surat Al-Mu'minun,* and therefore does not need to be repeated here."
*23:1-6.
Ibn Abbas
"(Save with their) four (wives and those whom their right hands possess) of slaves without limitation, (for thus they are not blameworthy) nor sinful; they are not reproached for indulging in that which is lawful;"
strong drink, gambling,prostitution and slavery...mankind seems to have always been plagued by these corruptions, however,in islamic history i read where the slaves (male and female) were often married to their so-called muslim masters and it was unlike our american version of chattel slavery. also, most warring tribes/countries either took slaves/prisoners-of-war or they simply killed everybody and the dog, which culture do think acts best in war-like behavior? the old testament, the new tastament and what the quran seems to be is the last testament, it doesn't support the myth that Prophet Noah got drunk and cursed his son's gerneration to servitude. muslims love Jesus too!
Another one-man jihad against Mavis Beacon. We seem to get a lot of that.
Goob:
Yes, just a few weeks more, and not a moment too soon!
Cordially
Robert Spencer
dentalque:
This is no scientific problem at all. "Heaven" and "sky" are the same word in many languages, and the passage is simply saying that Allah made the stars in the sky, and asserts that the stars drive away demons. Neither assertion can be disproven, and neither is contradicted by science except in the minds of militant atheists.
Calling the stars "lamps" is just a poetic image. We are entering into the area of the Qur'an that is full of the poetic images that captured my imagination way back in the early 1980s when I first read it. "Lord of the Ways of Ascent" and all that. Pickthall's "Ascending Stairways" made me grin then and now, but it really isn't any more jarring an image than Jacob's ladder.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
Told ya Islam is a parasite religion. It tries so hard to leech off of Judaism & Christianity for life blood, but it cannot generate anything of legit spiritual substance on it's own.
The parasite is still a parasite.
Marisol
Who is Mavis Beacon?
Yrs
Robert
Robert--
It's the brand name of a software curriculum for developing competence in typing.
Kind of like Betty Crocker, only it doesn't smell nearly as good in the oven.
I guess that since Chiefcohenn is either a zombie or a zombie apologist, and can't speak English, I'll attempt to translate this post:
Corruptions? How about vices?
Wow! That's a zombie scientific revelation: Forced marriage NOT EQUAL chattel.
Or they simply killed everybody.... Since zombie countries don't understand nor comply with the Geneva Covention - Laws of War> nor with Humanitarian Workers, what are are left with?
The example of Muhammad? The Perfect Man, the Example for all mankind?
Allah forgets nothing?
A simple rehash of Genesis 9
But Yeshua was crucified on the Cross for redemption of sins for all of Man, in the name of YWHW.
But yet Yeshua will defer to Muhammad to be the superior judge at the Day of Reckoning?
"Allah consoles Muhammad over the unbelievers’ rejection of his message, assures him that he is not mad or possessed (v. 2) but actually has an exalted character (v. 4). According to Aisha and others, this refers to the fact that Muhammad’s character conformed entirely to the Qur’an, such that he was the living embodiment of its ethos. Those who accuse Muhammad of madness are the ones who are mad (v. 6). Muhammad should not listen to them (vv. 8, 10).
The fact that these verses are in the Koran scream to me just how insecure Mohammed was about what he was professing. He must have realized on some level that the criticism being leveled at him by others - that he was mad and/or possessed - was true. And, instead of allowing himself to adjust his viewpoint(s), he persisted in his delusion rather than accept that there was something fundamentally wrong with him. Only the extremely crazy people insist with such vehemence that they really are sane.
chiefcohenn writes:
"however,in islamic history i read where the slaves (male and female) were often married to their so-called muslim masters"
Islamic history written by whom? Anyways, in Islamic law, slaves had to be manumitted (freed) first before they could be married to their Muslim master. That is also mentioned in the Hadith. Given the position of women in traditional Islam, being "freed" to become a wife of a Muslim master would be an improvement over being a slave, but not by much.
"...and it was unlike our american version of chattel slavery."
How so? For better or for worse in what respects?
"also, most warring tribes/countries either took slaves/prisoners-of-war or they simply killed everybody and the dog,"
According to Anwar Shaikh, Roman law (before Islam) forbade men from having sex with their female slaves. Islam, obviously, is worse than that for allowing men to rape their female slaves and captives.
Also, you failed to note that 70:29-30 (a Meccan passage), which approves sex with slave girls, was revealed before Muhammad waged any wars.
You are also failing to mention that Muhammad permitted the killing of women and children of the polytheists under some conditions. In some Islamic laws, killing and burning of property and livestock (camels, etc.) is permitted in jihad. The Quran and Hadith allow, via Muhammad's example conduct, the burning of the enemy's trees.
Posted by: jihadwatch at November 16, 2008 7:43 PM
Thanks!
OT-
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,24654971-401,00.html?from=public_rss
Pictures of the faces of brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas as well as ringleader Imam Samudra after they were executed by firing squad on November 9 appeared today on the Islamist Ar Rahmah website.
The photos were captioned with text in Arabic and Indonesian praising the murderers as the "martyrs of the battle of Bali".
When I read that muslims can call a bombing of a nightclub a "battle" it makes me wonder if all those battle stories in the koran are lies, or at a minimum exagerations.
Like the battle where the muslims attacked the farmers who came running out from their houses because they were asleep. Do you think that they knew the muslims considered themselves at war with the farmers? I bet they didn't. It's easy to win a battle when the other side isn't awake, not alert that there is even trouble brewing because it is all in the minds of the enemies.
Like Kahlid Kelly on Channel 4 in London said, the people of Britain would know that the covenant was broken with the muslims when they woke up to the bombings and the blood in the streets. Do you think the people of England knew anything about any covenant or what he was even talking about? Who signed this covenant? Anyone? Or is it only in the minds of muslims?
And
strong drink, gambling,prostitution and slavery...mankind seems to have always been plagued by these corruptions
So, is paradise corrupt? There is drink, and slavery(boys like pearls standing around to wait on you) and prostitution ( virgins standing around waiting for your beck and call, although not paid theres no difference, there are still call girls). Not sure about gambling but that would probably be there too.
So, is the afterlife all about corruption being allowed as a reward for slaughtering in the way of allah?
Some god you follow chiefcohenn....
Another once fallen, but now found convert????
slaves (male and female) were often married to their so-called muslim masters
Like Safiya?
I'm sure she was happy to marry MohaMAD the day he murdered her father, uncle and brother.
That is a remarkable cover graphic for a book by a lady with an unimpeachably Islamic name. For, as far as I can tell from the Islamic literature, there is no prohibition against -- as many apologists and fools would have in the west -- the portrayal of Mohammed, there ARE, in well-attested ahadith, islamic prohibitions against the drawing of animals See also THIS and THIS.
can mohammed lie? no. according to him jesus was a prophet. can a prophet lie? no. so who lied? mohammed when he called jesus a prophet or jesus when he said he was God?