(Qur’an 27:53 - 29:45)
By
Source: Jihad Watch, June 24, 2016
Published on myIslam.dk: February 24, 2017
Sura 27. The Ants - An-Naml (continued)
Lot is saved with his family (except for his wife) while the city is destroyed (27:57-58).
After that, Allah details some of the signs of his power in the natural world (27:59-65). But in verses 66-74 the unbelievers are still perverse, objecting to the possibility of the resurrection of the dead (v. 67), saying again that these are just “tales of the ancients” (v. 68) and asking when the resurrection will happen (v. 71). Allah tells Muhammad to tell the unbelievers to travel the earth see what has become of those who sinned (v. 69) and not to grieve over their unbelief (v. 70).
Then Allah extols the Qur’an, for it explains to the Children of Israel the things they dispute about (v. 76) and is a guide for the believers (v. 77). Allah will confront the unbelievers on the Day of Judgment (v. 84), and they will be unable to answer (v. 85). Those who do good will be saved (v. 89), while those who do evil will be thrown into the Fire (v. 90).
Sura 28. The Narration - Al-Qasas
It has often been noted that while the Bible is (among many other things) a series of historical narratives, the Qur’an is a series of sermons. This is nowhere clearer than in the oft-repeated story of Moses. While the Bible’s first five books contain the story of Moses in what is in the main a continuous narrative, the Qur’an tells parts of this story in suras 2, 7, 10, 17, 20, 26, 27 and 28 (and elsewhere also).
There is a great deal of repetition and overlap, but there are also unique features of almost every retelling. Each one has its own homiletic point: details of Moses’ life are used to warn unbelievers or exhort believers to greater piety. Ibn Abbas and Jabir bin Zaid say that suras 26, 27, and 28 were revealed in that order. Maududi says that “the different parts of the Prophet Moses story as mentioned in these surahs together make up a complete story.” Still, if someone were to try to reconstruct the chronology of Moses’ life by means of the Qur’an alone, it would be very difficult.
Meanwhile, the recurring preoccupation with Moses reinforces his status as a prophet of Islam, as well as the perversity of the Jews in not recognizing the congruence of Muhammad’s message with that of Moses, and then becoming Muslims. Maududi emphasizes that, here again, the point of these retellings of Moses’ story is not to make a point about Moses, but about Muhammad: “The main theme” of this sura, he says, “is to remove the doubts and objections that were being raised against the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah’s peace and blessings) and to invalidate the excuses which were being offered for not believing in him. For this purpose, first the story of the Prophet Moses has been related by analogy with the period of revelation.”
Allah begins (vv. 2-43) by telling Moses’ story, echoing many elements of the Biblical account, although Haman is imported from another time and place (his story is in the Book of Esther) to be Pharaoh’s assistant (v. 8). Allah tells Moses’ mother to cast him into the river “when thou hast fears about him” (v. 7). She does, the “people of Pharaoh” rescue him (v. 8), and his mother, her identity not known to the Egyptians, becomes his nursemaid (v. 13). Moses declares he will never assist those who sin (v. 17) — a declaration that modern Salafis (rigorous, “pure” Muslims) link to Muhammad’s saying recorded in the Mishkat al-Masabih, that someone who knowingly assists a tyrant is no longer a Muslim. This is their justification for opposing authoritarian rulers in Muslim countries who do not implement the fullness of Sharia (such as Mubarak and Musharraf).
Moses kills an Egyptian and Allah forgives him (vv. 15-16), but his deed becomes known (v. 19) and Moses flees to Midian (v. 22). There he agrees to work for the unnamed Jethro in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage (v. 27). He sees the burning bush (v. 29), encounters Allah (v. 30), and is given the miracles of the rod (v. 31) and his white hand (v. 32) to show Pharaoh. Pharaoh dismisses his preaching as “sorcery” (v. 36), just as the unbelievers will say about Muhammad (11:7, 15:15). And after Allah flings Pharaoh and his hosts into the sea (v. 40), we get to the point of the story.
That point is in verses 44-55: the fact that Muhammad knows these details of Moses’ life, when he wasn’t there to witness them, is proof that Muhammad is a prophet. Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah points out the proof of the prophethood of Muhammad, whereby he told others about matters of the past, and spoke about them as if he were hearing and seeing them for himself. But he was an illiterate man who could not read books, and he grew up among a people who knew nothing of such things.” So we see Allah reminding Muhammad that he wasn’t present at various events in Moses’ life (vv. 44-46). Yet the pagan Arabs demand that Muhammad perform miracles as Moses did, even though they don’t believe in Moses either (v. 48); “they only follow their own lusts” (v. 50). The People of the Book know that the Qur’an is true — “this was revealed,” says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, “regarding certain Jews who became Muslims, such as Abd Allāh b. Salām and others, and [certain] Christians who had come from Abyssinia and Syria [who also became Muslims].”
Allah then excoriates the perversity of the unbelievers, in ignoring and denying the clear signs of Allah (vv. 56-75). Allah guides whom he will; Muhammad will not be able to bring to the truth all those he loves (v. 56) — yet another verse indicating that belief and unbelief is solely in Allah’s hands. This verses was revealed,” Ibn Kathir explains, “concerning Abu Talib, the paternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah” — and the father of Ali, the hero of the Shi’ites. Abu Talib “used to protect the Prophet, support him and stand by him. He loved the Prophet dearly, but this love was a natural love, i.e., born of kinship, not a love that was born of the fact that he was the Messenger of Allah. When he was on his deathbed, the Messenger of Allah called him to Faith and to enter Islam, but the decree overtook him and he remained a follower of disbelief, and Allah’s is the complete wisdom.”
Allah will taunt the unbelievers on the Day of Judgment, asking them where his “partners” are (vv. 62, 74-75). He follows this with the story of Qarun (Korah of Number 16:1-40), who rebelled against Moses (vv. 76-88). Qarun trusts in his great wealth instead of worshipping Allah (v. 78). According to a hadith, Abu Hurayra, one of Muhammad’s companions, recalled Muhammad saying that only three things actually belong to the man who glories in his riches: the food he eats, the clothes he wears out, and the money he spends in the cause of Allah. “All else,” said Muhammad, ”he will leave for his heirs.” No doubt about that.
Those “whose aim is the life of this world” (v. 79) envied him, but the righteous knew better (v. 80), and sure enough, in due time Allah “caused the earth to swallow up him and his house” (v. 81). Muhammad should “never be a helper to the disbelievers” (v. 86) — “rather,” says Ibn Kathir, “separate from them, express your hostility towards them and oppose them.” For in the end, "everything will perish except His Face” (v. 88) — that is, everything except Allah. This might seem to contradict the idea of the eternity of Paradise and hell, but the Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsir Ibn Abbas glosses it in this way: “all works that are for other than Allah’s Countenance will not be accepted except that which is meant for the sake of His Countenance.”
Sura 29. The Spider - Al-Ankabut
Sura 29’s name, “The Spider,” comes from 29:41, which compares those who trust in anyone or anything besides Allah to spiders, who labor to build webs that are “the flimsiest of houses.” Maududi says that sura 29 was revealed during “the period of extreme persecution of the Muslims” at Mecca, although he considers and then dismisses the possibility that the first section, since it rails against the Hypocrites who so plagued Muhammad in Medina, were revealed later, during the Medinan period. Evidently the Hypocrites were always about.
Allah focuses on them at the outset (29:1-13), saying that it is not enough to profess belief in Islam, but that believers must be tested (vv. 2-3). The Hypocrites in this case are actually weaklings, who mistake human oppression for the wrath of Allah (v. 10). Allah asks, “Do those who practice evil think that they will get the better of Us? Evil is their judgment!” (v. 4). Even if a believer’s own parents urge one to worship anything or anyone besides Allah, he shouldn’t obey them (v. 8). Ibn Kathir elucidates this: “If they are idolaters, and they try to make you follow them in their religion, then beware of them, and do not obey them in that.” The unbelievers tell the believers that if they forsake Islam and follow them, the unbelievers will bear the penalty for the believers' sins, but they are, of course, lying (v. 12).
Then in verses 14-39 Allah then once again invokes various prophets: Noah (vv. 14-15); Abraham (vv. 16-27); Lot (vv. 28-35); Shu’aib (vv. 36-38); and Moses (v. 39). Says Maududi: “The stories mentioned in this Surah also impress the same point mostly, as if to say, ‘Look at the Prophets of the past: they were made to suffer great hardships and were treated cruelly for long periods. Then, at last they were helped by Allah. Therefore, take heart: Allah’s succour will certainly come. But a period of trial and tribulation has to be undergone.’ Besides teaching this lesson to the Muslims, the disbelievers also have been warned, as if to say, ‘If you are not being immediately seized by Allah, you should not form the wrong impression that you will never be seized. The signs of the doomed nations of the past are before you. Just see how they met their doom and how Allah succoured the Prophets.'” The warning to those who have heard and rejected Muhammad is clear.
Along the way, many familiar notes are sounded: the truth of Allah is evident from creation (v. 20); Allah grants mercy to whom he pleases and punishes those whom he wishes to punish (v. 21): says Ibn Kathir, “He is the Ruler Who is in control, Who does as He wishes and judges as He wants, and there is none who can put back His judgement. None can question Him about what He does; rather it is they who will be questioned, for His is the power to create and to command, and whatever He decides is fair and just, for He is the sovereign who cannot be unjust in the slightest.” Those who reject his signs (ayat, or verses of the Qur’an) will be severely punished (v. 23).
In verses 40-57 Allah tells Muhammad to keep preaching, but only those with knowledge will understand his message (v. 43). Consequently one early Muslim, Amr bin Murrah, remarked: “I never came across an Ayah [verse] of the Book of Allah that I did not know, but it grieved me” — because his lack of understanding indicated that he didn’t have the requisite knowledge. This verse may be why it is so common today for Muslims to charge that non-Muslims who speak about the Islamic jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism do not understand Islamic texts and teachings; if they did understand them, they would become Muslims.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book, Not Peace but a Sword: The Great Chasm Between Christianity and Islam, is now available.