"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Notes on Quran - Sura 71 - 76

Sura 71 - Nuh

This sura mentioned Noah and the troublesome people of his day.

4. That He may forgive some of your sins and prolong your term till an appointed time. Surely when God's appointed time is come it will not be put off, if only you knew!

I found the word "some" curious as it makes God seem limited. Now, I recall that God can only forgive sins committed against Him and not what you have done against others, right? So maybe this is why God's power is limited to forgiving only SOME of your sins. It seems people hold a lot of power when their unforgiveness could be the difference in your making it into heaven. While I agree that it's important to make things right between people we've hurt, I know that is not always possible. If you murdered someone, you can't go back and ask the dead guy for forgiveness. Yet I think of it more like this.

In North Carolina when someone rapes a person, it's not a trial of Allison (plantiff/raped one) vs. Kyle (defendant/alleged rapist.) In criminal cases, it is always The State of North Carolina vs. Kyle. Allison couldn't forgive Kyle and thus Kyle avoid trial because the offense is - in the eyes of the law - against the State or the people who live in North Carolina. It's a much bigger deal than merely being against one person. My point: when we sin, it's not a matter of Kyle wronging Allison. It's Kyle wronging God. God is "the State" so to speak. He is the Creator of Allison, therefore, when you hurt Allison, you hurt what He created, what He sustains, what He, in reality, possesses. Therefore, when we sin ultimately it's God's right to forgive or not forgive. This is why I think when we confess our sins God can and does forgive us fully. And when we turn from our sins, we will want to make things right with those individuals whom we've hurt by our wrongdoings.

Thus, God's power to forgive sins is complete. He is the all-powerful and He can forgive and cleanse us from every bit of filth staining us. I can not clean you. Shoot, I can't even clean myself. God cleans us all!


This sura ends with Noah asking God to get rid of all the sinners so they won't be around to lead God's people astray. Noah asks forgiveness on account of his family and the few others who believed in God.

Now I see more and more that intercession is a part of Islam as Sarira and others have mentioned. I suppose I went into my reading of the Quran with the wrong assumption of this topic thinking Muslims thought they had direct access to God, therefore, they didn't need or have use for intercessors. Also since Muslims think they are each accountable for what they did, I saw no reason for intercessors. If you stand or fall on your deeds, how can someone basically talk God into giving you a favored status? This sounds like what Muslims criticize about Jesus' role in Christianity. So I've learned something new just from reading these suras so far!


Sura 72 - al-Jinn

This sura discussed some jinns who overheard the Quran and believed its message and became Muslims. Now I am wondering how many Muslim jinn are running around the world!

I thought the idea of some men seeking refuge with the jinn (vs. 6) quite interesting to ponder.


Sura 73 - al-Muzzammil

This was a sura encouraging Muslims to read and recite the Quran at night since their days are so busy (vs. 7).

8. But recite the name of your Lord withdrawing yourself from everything, devoting yourself exclusively to Him.

I thought this was a good reminder for us to have personal daily quiet time with the Lord.


Sura 74 - al-Muddaththir

This sura was interesting especially when those in hell were asked why they were there.

42.  "What was it that brought you to Hell?" 43. They will answer: "We did not fulfil our devotional obligations, 44. And did not feed the needy, 45. And plunged into useless things with those who were obstinate, 46. And rejected the Day of Judgement as a lie 47. Until the certainty (of death) had come upon us.

Indeed it seems we are our own saviors according to Islam! Here you see your good works - or lack of them in this case - are what keep you in or out of heaven.

Sura 75 - al-Qiyamah

12. With your Lord alone will be the retreat on that day.

This sura describes Resurrection Day.

13. Then man will be told what he had sent ahead (of good) and what he had left behind.

This reminds me of Jesus when he told us to store treasures in heaven instead of storing them here where they get stolen, rusted and infested with bugs.


Sura 76 - al-Insan

This sura begins with the conception of humans and continues to describe the Hereafter with more detail.

The latter part of this chapter dealt with the Quran being revealed gradually and a command to meditate on it at morning and evening and glorify God far into the night.

11 comments:

Suroor said...

Two points about Surah Nuh:

1) There are some sins that are pardonable even if the sinner doesn’t really repent. For example if I steal something precious because I want to pay my school fee; I have sinned. I could have tried to ask for a loan or something, but that sin is *relative* and also because that money I got from it wasn’t spent on a Gucci bag :-D But if for example I pray to anyone other than God then I have committed a sin that can’t be pardoned – this is not why I was sent on earth; this is not why I was given a brain. However, if I realise my folly and repent and worship Him alone, I will be forgiven.


2) Praying to Allah that he forgives my late father for his sins is not intercession. I’m not praying to anyone other than Allah. If I pray to Muhammad – in his name or to someone else in their name to ask God to forgive my father’s sins – then that is intercession. That is haraam. Asian Muslims still do that; they pray upon the graves of saints and even their forefathers and ask them that since they are now in heaven (?) that they should speak to Allah on their behalf. It is completely forbidden.

Regarding Surah Jinn I recently noticed something in Aslan’s endnotes:

“Despite his strict monotheism, Muhammad wholeheartedly accepted the Jinn and even gave them their own chapter in the Quran (he wrongly calls it chapter 18!). Muhammad may have equated the Jinn with some vague concept of angelology. Thus good Jinn are angels and bad Jinn, especially Iblis (Satan), who is often called a Jinn, are demons (see Quran 18:50).” (p. 275).

Susanne said...

Suroor, thanks for sharing your understanding of sins...interesting. So God winks at "little" sins as long as you are praying to Him? Interesting concept, but explains a few things. I thought it was permissible for Muhammad to make intercession for Muslims. Are you saying it's fine for Mu to do it directly as long as YOU aren't praying to Muhammad yourself? I think my problem is that if we rise and fall based on our deeds, isn't our praying for others kind of hoping God overlooks some bad things they did or credits them for your prayers (and not the others' deeds)? Is this then as if it's YOUR prayers benefiting your father and not what HE did? I often get the impression that Muslims can't have ANYONE else atoning or doing things that would affect their eternal status, therefore, our requests to God on another's behalf is wasted breath. You do good, you go to heaven. You do bad, you go to hell. That's just. YOU paved your own path. NO ONE ELSE can add an atom of goodness to your scales or subtract an atom of badness. You are damned or rewarded based on YOU. Yet this intercession bit nullifies this in my mind. Do you follow? Or am I missing something crucial?

Jinn stories are ...errrrr, different. They seem out of an era of superstitions unless they are merely supposed to be demons/angels perhaps? I guess i think of genies like "I Dream of Jeannie" so they seem very made up and Hollywood to me. :)

Thanks for sharing what you did. Lovely comments as always!

sarah said...

Interesting notes. I agree in a large part with what Suroor said but I just wanted to add that God's mercy is what is being appealed to by the prayers of Nuh and by the prayers of anyone for our friend's or relatives. The power lies in God's hands to forgive (even after that person has died). Yes, they will be judged according to their deeds but such prayers are appealing to God as the judge to be lenient or exercise forgiveness. Didn't Jesus also have a similar prayer of 'forgive then Father for they know not what they do'. God's mercy is one of His most dominant attributes and it says in the Quran that God's mercy always outweighs His anger.

That is not to say we wont be punished because sometimes punishment is required in order to reform behaviour. Like when I give my kids a time out so that they learn not to behave in certain bad ways. So ultimately, this is not intercession it is just an appeal to God's mercy.

As for Jinn... hmm. It's an interesting subject which I have some ideas but not a great deal of knowledge. Jinn, as I understand, is something which is hidden from view but has an effect upon events. It does not mean spirits or beings which come and possess you but it interpreted this way by many Muslims. If this were the case the surah wouldn't make much sense. I haven't read anywhere in the Quran that such a spirit people exists but belief in black magic is widespread in many parts of the Islamic world.

sarah said...

Just a correction . When I said I haven't read in the Quran that such spirit people exists I should have said - I haven't read that God created such spirit people. It is not described as part of His creation of heaven and earth, etc. So if God did not create them then the question would be who did?

Amber said...

Doesn't this say that Allah created the jinn?

55:14-16 - He created man of fermented clay dried tinkling hard like earthen ware, And created jinns from the white-hot flame of fire. How many favours of your Lord will you then deny?

I've never heard someone say that jinn weren't spirit beings before today. After all, Iblis is supposed to be a jinn, and he's the Islamic equivalent of the devil, yes?

'Jinn, as I understand, is something which is hidden from view but has an effect upon events. It does not mean spirits or beings which come and possess you but it interpreted this way by many Muslims. If this were the case the surah wouldn't make much sense.'

Since the surah talks of jinn's who heard the Qur'an and became Muslim, it actually only makes sense if they were being referred to as intelligent beings, as opposed to forces of nature.

Anyway. Jinn appear to be treated like a third race of beings: angels, jinn, and humans. Angels, in Islam, have no free will, so they're not so very interesting as all they are are automatons. Jinn on the other hand can apparently do all the things that we would say demons can do: possession being the major concern. I even have a book on the exorcist tradition in Islam, which includes how to get rid of a jinn that has inhabited an object or a human being.

sarah said...

Amber, thanks for pointing out my error. This is why I am enjoying the blog because it makes me learn
things too.

I went and looked up the meaning of Jinn and jinn means something which is hidden or concealed/remoteness/ seclusion. So there are a great many things which can be classed as jinn. It also has the same root word as 'jannah' (paradise) which implies the same aspects apply to that too.

This is the interpretation i have always been taught. It can also mean bacteria/virus as this also is concealed, etc. So when the prophet Muhammad told people not to touch the animal dung as it was food for the jinn he may have been referring to this system in nature not necessarily to some genies who are eating it.

I try to look for the common sense answers myself but i know that exorcism is believed in by Muslims and is a real fear for some.

My personal thoughts are that if there are such spirits existing then how can people be accountable for their own actions if they become possessed? Surely the existence of such spirits/demons would mean that people were not responsible?

Also, the question of Iblis is interesting. As you rightly said angels have no free will but humans do. But the prophet Muhammad said that 'satan runs in the blood of everyone...and my satan is a Muslim'. I take this to mean that satan is that aspect of our nature which pulls us towards evil and sin and it is our job to suppress that aspect of ourselves. I don't view satan as a separate being but as part of the system as a whole.

To sum up - as jinn means concealed/remote etc then it is possible for humans to be jinn if they are - as the surah mentions - not revealing their true intentions and/or belief.

But as I said, most Muslims do think of jinn as the third race you described.

Amber said...

Sarah,

Hmm. Interesting. I went and looked it up, and the root is shared with other words that mean madness.

Which sort of ties into the possession beliefs. Before psychology came about, people who were insane were treated as possessed, because no one knew any better.

The whole feces thing does make more sense if you look at it as referring to bacteria. :)

'My personal thoughts are that if there are such spirits existing then how can people be accountable for their own actions if they become possessed? Surely the existence of such spirits/demons would mean that people were not responsible?'

Well, just my personal opinion, of course, but one who is possessed (the same as one who suffers from a mental disorder) would not be accountable for their actions while being possessed. If something else is driving, so to speak, you cannot be responsible, because it's not *you* doing it. Of course, people manage to do evil things all the time without either madness *or* possession being a factor, and they would be responsible for those actions. For instance, in many cases of possession the person who is possessed was practicing some form of magic or some other forbidden practice that left them open and essentially invited the demon in. So they'd have to be accountable for those actions, but not necessarily for those taken after the demon moved in.

'I take this to mean that satan is that aspect of our nature which pulls us towards evil and sin and it is our job to suppress that aspect of ourselves. I don't view satan as a separate being but as part of the system as a whole.'

Many Christians take this same stance. That the devil is really our own base urges and tendency toward the world, and not a separate being. I see it as both, actually, though I don't view the devil as a fallen angel, myself. But mine is the minority opinion, in that case. :)

Suroor said...

Susanne,

In Islam it ultimately it is God who pardons but you can pray to him to be lenient out of love and respect for your loved ones. However, it is forbidden to make such prayers if your loved ones never accepted Islam.

The Jinn – I do believe like Sarah here, that Satan is the evil side of our inner being. But I know that Jinn is a well-established and well-documented belief in Islam. There is a hadith in which it is said that Muhammad began to throttle an invisible man during prayer and later said that it was a Jinn who wanted to annoy him and he said that if Muhammad’s brother Sulaiman (King Solomon) hadn’t freed all Jinn he would have turned that annoying Jinn into a plaything for the children of Medina. Now even if this hadith is fabricated (it exists in sahih books) the idea is that Muslims even of that time very clearly believed in Jinn. Also, the Houris are believed to be these beauties who have neither been touched by humans or Jinn – the juxtaposition of these two beings show that they did not exist within each other in Islamic mythology. Jinn are also not really demons because demons are never good whereas Jinn can be good.

PS: The animal dung was the food for the animals of Jinn (so the idea is that not only are there Jinn who resemble humans, they also have Jinn animals that resemble earthly animals). The bones were the food for the Jinn.

Susanne said...

Sarah, great comment!

" God's mercy is one of His most dominant attributes and it says in the Quran that God's mercy always outweighs His anger."


Excellent!!!! Of course I am allllllll for God's mercy! I wasn't arguing against it at all, but I hear Muslims so caught up on JUSTICE,JUSTICE, JUSTICE that it seems they leave little room for God's mercy. :-)

In fact I feel I've been scoffed at for being so pro-mercy that THIS was why I even brought up this whole intercession thing and wrote what I did in the comment to Suroor. If Muslims are all for JUSTICE then people rise and fall, are rewarded or damned based on what THEY themselves did and not what others did or did not do. Christians believe in mercy and grace and the fact that God will even forgive our sins and cleanse us completely. None of this God can only forgive "some" sins which was the point I was trying to make in my example about God being "the State" in my post. My mentioning this is more my own working out the contradiction of Muslims demanding justice yet appealing to God for mercy when they scoff at Christians for believing in the mercy of God. I wanted to hear the explanations of Muslims and I have. So I am glad I brought it up. :)

" So ultimately, this is not intercession it is just an appeal to God's mercy."

Gotcha! Thank you for your explanation of this!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on jinn as it's very different from what I've always heard from Muslims previously. Jinn were all throughout the Quran even in the story of Solomon's army being made up of men and jinn so I always thought of them as some sort of beings. Your view is very interesting and seems more in line with what you said Muhammad said about Satan being part of the Muslim (his evil side I guess.)

Really enjoyed all your comments. Thanks so much!

Susanne said...

Amber, thanks for what you shared about jinn as that's the view I'd always heard.

Who knew jinn was merely bacteria! Well, there IS good and bad bacteria...whoa, interesting things to ponder!

"So they'd have to be accountable for those actions, but not necessarily for those taken after the demon moved in. "

I think I agree. It's an interesting subject.

Susanne said...

Suroor, thanks for what you added about it being OK to pray for God's mercy for a follower of Islam. I'm glad you clarified that for my mind's sake.


I also enjoyed what you said about the belief in jinn and how it was widely "known" in those days. I saw mention of them quite much in my reading of the Quran.

Really wonderful comments, everyone. Thanks so much for all the interesting bits that you shared!! Learning lots ... :)