Sam Harris

“Remember Me and I will remember you” (Qur’an 2:152)

“verily man transgresses, when he sees himself beholden to none” (Qur’an 96:7)

“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden” (Qur’an 57:3).

We shall show them Our signs, in the horizons and in themselves, until it is plain to them that it is the Truth (Qur’an 41:53).

“It is He who created death and life for you that He may try you, as to which of you is best in works. And He is the All-powerful, the Oft-forgiving” (Qur’an 67:2).

“The likeness of paradise, which the godfearing have been promised—rivers flow beneath it, and its fruits are forever, and its shade: that is the requital of the godfearing, while the requital of unbelievers is hell” (Qur’an 13:35).

And He says,

“It is He who created death and life for you that He may try you, as to which of you is best in works. And He is the All-powerful, the Oft-forgiving” (Qur’an 67:2).

This is our test, and the judge is a King, who is not up for reelection. If our ignorance of how He shall judge us in the next world is far greater than our knowledge, we do have enough to go on, and the immense value in His eyes of our lives and actions is certainly plain from the magnitude of the stakes. Those who knew more than anyone about it were more afraid than anyone; namely, the prophets. And the only ones not afraid are those who do not understand.

“There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him” (Qur’an 42:11).

“There has come to you a Light from Allah, and a Manifest Book” (Qur’an 5:15).

in which the word Light has been explained by a number of classic Qur’anic exegetes as follows:

(Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti:) “It is the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)” (Tafsir al-Jalalayn, 139). 

(Ibn Jarir al-Tabari:) “By Light He means Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), through whom Allah has illuminated the truth, manifested Islam, and obliterated polytheism; since he is a light for whoever seeks illumination from him, which makes plain the truth” (Jami‘ al-bayan, 6.161).

(Fakhr al-Razi:) “There are various positions about it, the first being that the Light is Muhammad, and the Book is the Qur’an ” (al-Tafsir al-kabir, 11:194).

(al-Baghawi:) “It means Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), or, according to a weaker position, Islam” (Ma‘alam al-Tanzil, 2.228). 

And Qurtubi (Ahkam al-Qur’an , 6.118) and Mawardi (al-Nukat wa al-‘uyun, 2.22) mention that interpreting Nur as “Muhammad” (Allah bless him and give him peace) was also the position by [the Imam of Arabic grammar Ibrahim ibn Muhammad] al-Zajjaj (d. 311/923).

All of which shows that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), is a light from Allah, according to the Qur’an . This is the interpretation of the earliest exegetes, for al-Tabari was the sheikh of the salaf (early Muslims) in tafsir; while explaining Nur as “Islam” is an interpretation that came later.

As for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) being a bashar or ‘human being’, there is no doubt of this, because it is Qur’an and ‘aqida. Yet the Qur’an does not simply state that he is a human being, but rather says,

“Say: I am but a man like you who is divinely inspired that your god is but One God” (Qur’an 18:10)

The important qualificatory phrase in this verse shows us that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was a completely different sort of human being from anyone else, then or now. For none of us can say he is divinely inspired as the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) was. Rather, as is said in a poetic ode to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) which is often sung at gatherings after singing the Qasida al-Burda [Ode of the Prophetic Mantle] by al-Busayri:

Muhammad is a human being, but not like humankind;
He is a ruby, while people are as stones.

“Nor did I create men and jinn, except to worship Me” (Qur’an 51:56).

“Say: ‘If you all love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins. Verily God is for­giving and compassionate’” (Qur’an 3:31).

To follow the Prophet (God bless him and give him peace) in his lifetime was a simple matter for his Companions, who but said, “We hear and obey.” As for afterwards, the Companions passed on their knowl­edge to those after them, and so on down to our own times, so that Allah’s remembrance might be pre­served, both His word, the Holy Qur’an, and the other wisdom brought by the Prophet (God bless him and give him peace). God Most High says,

“Surely, We have revealed the Remembrance; and We shall surely preserve it” (Qur’an 15:9),

which God, in His wisdom, has brought about through those who have borne the trust down through the ages, the scholars of this Umma. For the sake of scholarly quality and excellence we rely on the very foremost of them in each discipline, the Imams of the field, whether in Sacred Law, Qur’anic exegesis, hadith, Qur;an recital (tajwid), or the other disciplines.

“So whoever longs to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and not associate with his Lord’s wor­ship anyone” (Qur’an 18:110).

“Are they equal, those who know and those who do not know?” (Qur’an 39:9).

“Everything is perishing except His Countenance. His is the ruling, and to Him you return” (Qur’an 28:88).

“We do not punish until We send a Messenger” (Qur’an 17:15).

Jack

You seems a little lonely here just spewing out 13 quotes from the Koran with no replies at all. So here is one:

Believers must fight for Allah. They must kill and be killed , and are bound to do so by the Torah, Gospel, and Quran. But Allah will reward them for it. 9:111

Want some more?

Stay Well

Wot

Wotansson - 13 June 2008 01:06 PM

Jack

You seems a little lonely here just spewing out 13 quotes from the Koran with no replies at all. So here is one:

Believers must fight for Allah. They must kill and be killed , and are bound to do so by the Torah, Gospel, and Quran. But Allah will reward them for it. 9:111

Want some more?

Stay Well

Wot

Where did you get that translation???

Anyway, nothing wrong with fighting for, killing or being killed, for God, if of course, you understand who God is, and what He stands for, which is peace and justice.  There are many verses demonstrating this.

If you want to quote verses from the Qur’an to paint the ugly picture that exists of it in your mind, feel free to do so, but you have nothing on the Qur’an except for your misunderstanding of it, trust me.

If I had the time, I’d be more than happy to untangle your misunderstandings, but I prefer that you simply refer to the resources I provide, do a little learning about the quoted verses that you don’t understand.