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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion
- Sprache: Englisch
Now available in a fully-revised and updated third edition, Islam: History, Religion and Politics, provides a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the core teachings, historical development, and contemporary public struggles of Islam. * Features a new chapter on the Arab Spring and the ongoing struggles for representative governance throughout the Muslim world * Includes up-to-date analysis of the civil wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, including the rise of terrorist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS * Spans Islamic history from the life of Muhammad and the birth of Islamic ideals, through Islam's phenomenal geographical expansion and cultural development, to the creation of modern states and its role in today's global society * Written by a leading scholar of Islamic studies
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Seitenzahl: 417
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Foreword
Preface
Maps
1 Many Paths to One God: Establishing the Ideals
The Quran
The Quran and Other Scriptures
Themes of the Quran
The Exemplary Life of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam: The Sunna
The Early Muslim Community and the Pillars of Islam
The Successors (“Caliphs”)
Early Communal Disputes
Conclusion
2 The Pursuit of Knowledge in the Service of God and Humanity: The Golden Age
Institutions
Law
Political Structure
Cultural Achievements
Spirituality and the Mystical Tradition: Sufism
Conclusion
3 Division and Reorganization
The Crusades and Other Disasters
The Decline of the Abbasids and Rise of the Ottomans
Persia: The Safavid Empire
India and the Rise of the Mughals
Understanding Developments in Islamic History
Conclusion
4 Colonialism and Reform
Colonialism
The Outcome of World War I
The Effects of Colonialism and Themes of Islamic Reform
Modern Iterations of Islamic Reform and New Challenges
Islamist Approaches to Reform
Conclusion: Mainstream Islamists and Radicals
5 Contemporary Islam: The Challenges of Democratization and Complications of Global Politics
Turkey
Iran
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and al-Qaeda
Indonesia
Tunisia and the Arab Spring
What about Terrorism? ISIS, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah
Conclusion: Asking the Right Questions
Further Reading
Art and Architecture
Current Affairs
History
Literature
Philosophy
Reference
Religion
Science
Women
Websites
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Maps
Map 1 Expansion of the Muslim world 632–750.
Map 2 The Muslim world in the sixteenth century.
Map 3 The Silk Road.
Chapter 02
Figure 1 Raphael's School of Athens showing Ibn Rushd with Aristotle.
Figure 2 Mevlevis or “Whirling Dervishes”.
Chapter 03
Figure 3 The mosque of Selim complex (1557) in Istanbul.
Figure 4 Worshipers at Badshahi mosque in Lahore.
Chapter 04
Figure 5 The Dome of the Rock (687–691) in Jerusalem.
Chapter 05
Figure 6 Handala cartoon, original version by Naji Al-Ali.
Figure 7 The mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah (1603–1619) in Isfahan.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
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Wiley Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion Series
This series offers brief, accessible, and lively accounts of key topics within theology and religion. Each volume presents both academic and general readers with a selected history of topics which have had a profound effect on religious and cultural life. The word “history” is, therefore, understood in its broadest cultural and social sense. The volumes are based on serious scholarship but they are written engagingly and in terms readily understood by general readers.
Other topics in the series:
Published
Heaven
Alister E. McGrath
Heresy
G. R. Evans
Death
Douglas J. Davies
Saints
Lawrence S. Cunningham
Christianity
Carter Lindberg
Dante
Peter S. Hawkins
Love
Carter Lindberg
Christian Mission
Dana L. Robert
Christian Ethics
Michael Banner
Jesus
W. Barnes Tatum
Shinto
John Breen and Mark Teeuwen
Paul
Robert Paul Seesengood
Apocalypse
Martha Himmelfarb
The Reformation
Kenneth G. Appold
Utopias
Howard P. Segal
Spirituality,
2nd Edition
Philip Sheldrake
Cults and New Religious Movements,
2nd Edition
Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley
Islam,
3rd Edition
Tamara Sonn
Islam
History, Religion, and Politics
Third Edition
Tamara Sonn
This edition first published 2016© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sonn, Tamara. Islam : history, religion, and politics / Tamara Sonn. – Third edition. pages cm. – (Wiley Blackwell brief histories of religion) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-97230-4 (paperback)1. Islam–History. 2. Islam–Essence, genius, nature. I. Title. BP50.S65 2016 297–dc23
2015025659
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Interior of mosque, Casablanca, Morocco. © Maciej Tomczak/phototramp.com/Alamy Limited
To our loving family.
Foreword
Since the publication of Tamara Sonn’s A Brief History of Islam in 2004 the babble of noises around Islam and the violence by and against Muslims has continued to grow exponentially. The daily news cycle invariably has a gruesome Muslim story—a beheading here, a suicide bomber there, a sectarian massacre in one country, and violent demonstrations in another.
The problem is not that there is not sufficient material on Islam; the problem is that there is too much. We suffer a bombardment of opinions on Islam through round-the-clock information networks, which now include social media with its Twitter, Facebook, etc. We are thus privileged to glimpse the innermost thoughts of just about everyone on the subject of Islam.
That is why we yearn to hear the calm, authoritative voice of the scholar whose task is to study history, its events and actors, the origin and development of ideas, and on the basis of reflection and analysis throw light on contemporary society. Professor Sonn is that voice.
Since her Brief History of Islam was published a decade ago, Sonn has consolidated her reputation as a major public intellectual, successfully balancing her scholarship with the need to explain complicated issues in clear and accessible terms. This new volume not only updates her Brief History but also adds substantial material to it. There is a new final chapter, “Contemporary Islam,” which gives brief but detailed insights into several key Muslim nations including Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Indonesia. In addition there is fresh material on the Arab Spring and its consequences for the world. In the violence since the War on Terror began, Sonn points out that well more than a million lives have been lost in the main theaters of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. The overwhelming numbers of those who have been killed are Muslim.
Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard University claims in his Clash of Civilizations proposition, which was published just two decades ago, that Islam and the West are doomed to be locked in a long-running confrontation and that has had a global impact. After 9/11, commentators looking around for an answer to the question, “Why do they hate us?” found it in the idea of the Clash of Civilizations. Huntington’s notion, indeed even the phrase, was borrowed from Professor Bernard Lewis at Princeton University. The idea of a perpetual clash between Western and Islamic civilizations is a powerful one and is reflected in history if it is seen from a certain angle. But it is also reductive and simplistic in the extreme. Take an example from the earliest encounter between the West and Islam in which alliances cut across religious lines. Charlemagne, the dominant Christian ruler of Europe, allied with the Caliph in Baghdad against their common enemy, the Muslim ruler of Andalusia. Examples such as this can be found throughout history to challenge the idea of a Clash of Civilizations.
In this environment of hatred and distrust of Islam it should not come as a surprise that current polls consistently show that some half the population in the United States believes that U.S. values and those of Islam are incompatible. In the Muslim world figures reflecting hatred of the West are even higher.
In the midst of the cacophony and confusion around the subject, Sonn restores a sense of perspective and balance. At the end of the book, she reminds us that the Quran extolls the virtues of compassion, kindness, and patience by quoting Surah 2, Verse 177. At a time when so many are so genuinely confused about Islam there can be no greater service than the work of the scholars of integrity who set out to present their conclusions based on scholarship and knowledge all the while holding a steady course despite the turbulence around them. That is why Tamara Sonn’s new book Islam: History, Religion, and Politics is essential reading for anyone wishing to make sense of the difficult times we live in.
Professor Akbar Ahmed
Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islam Studies
Washington D.C.
April 2015
Preface
As 2010 came to a close, the Arab world erupted into a series of uprisings that came to be known as the Arab Spring. Western observers, accustomed to authoritarian governments like those of Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, were transfixed. Many commented that the uprisings were completely unpredicted. The eminent journal Foreign Affairs titled an entire Summer 2011 issue “Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring.”
But the Arab Spring uprisings were, in fact, just the latest developments in ongoing efforts of formerly colonized peoples to establish good governance, measured in terms of economic development and human rights. Those efforts did not start with the Arab Spring and, as the overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, Muhammad Morsi, in a military coup in July 2013 demonstrated, they have not ended. Egypt is once again under an authoritarian government, and other Arab Spring uprisings—in Libya, Syria, and Yemen—have resulted in deadly civil wars. As of 2015, only Tunisia appears to have managed a successful transition to democracy. But that victory seems meager because Syria’s civil war metastasized, giving rise to the group calling itself the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL), with its massacres of civilians and gruesome executions of journalists and other captives.
Meanwhile, the chaos of protracted postcolonial struggles in Nigeria and Pakistan has given rise to ever more shocking levels of gang-style violence. In northern Nigeria, the shadowy group known as Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of children, most remaining missing as of this writing. Pakistanis, who have long endured spillover from Afghanistan’s struggles between foreign and domestic forces, were horrified by an attack in December 2014 that left nearly 150 schoolchildren dead. And in January 2015, Yemen’s war with the international terrorist organization al-Qaeda reached all the way to Paris, as two gunmen attacked the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing twelve.
The levels of violence represented in these examples appear unprecedented. What is not so apparent is that the vast majority of the victims of so-called Islamic terrorism are Muslims. And the death tolls of terrorist attacks pale when compared with those in the Global War on Terror itself. The international group Physicians for Social Responsibility, with the Nobel-prize winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Physicians for Global Survival, published Body Count: Casualty Figures after 10 Years of the ‘War on Terror’ in March 2015. Assessing the death toll in three target countries—Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan—the report notes that the U.S.-led Multinational Force in Iraq reports the deaths of 4,804 of their soldiers in Iraq as of February 2012. In Afghanistan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and U.S.-led forces report 3,485 deaths. (No death tolls for military personnel are kept for operations in Pakistan because there are officially no NATO or U.S. military personnel involved in fighting there.) The focus of the report, however, is the death toll among Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis. Acknowledging the extreme difficulty of compiling such figures, the authors nonetheless estimate, conservatively, “that the war has, directly or indirectly, killed around 1 million people in Iraq, 200,000 in Afghanistan, and 80,000 in Pakistan, i.e. a total of around 1.3 million.”
Headlines convey fleeting and often sanitized images of these horrors. But they cannot provide explanations of the roots of what appears to be the Muslim world’s “descent into chaos”—to borrow Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid’s apt phrase. This revised edition of A Brief History of Islam (2004) updates Islam: A Brief History (2nd edition, 2010) with developments since the Arab Spring in 2010. It focuses on Muslim majority countries’ ongoing efforts to recover from colonization in the context of Cold War and post-Cold War geopolitics. Its goal is to allow readers to discern, despite the “fog of war,” the major democratizing trends and recognize that the excruciating paroxysms of violence currently gripping many parts of the Muslim world are a tragic by-product of the ongoing struggle for civil, political, and human rights.
Tamara Sonn
Washington, DC
March 2015
Maps
Map 1 Expansion of the Muslim world 632–750.
Source: © Richard C. Martin. Reprinted with permission of the author
Map 2 The Muslim world in the sixteenth century.
Map 3 The Silk Road.
1Many Paths to One God: Establishing the Ideals
When Jews speak of their religion, they call it Judaism or the Judaic tradition. When Christians speak of their religious tradition, they often refer to it as Judeo-Christianity because Christianity was an organic outgrowth of Judaism. In the same way, Muslims refer to their religion as part of the Abrahamic or monotheistic tradition because Islam shares the history, basic beliefs, and values of Judaism and Christianity. Muslims consider Jews and Christians to be their spiritual siblings. They are among the ahl al-kitab, the “People of the Book” or “People of Scripture.” This is the family of monotheists, those who believe in one supreme God, the creator, the sustainer, the benevolent and merciful judge of all humanity. “The Book” is revelation contained in scripture; Muslims believe all revelation came from the only God, who revealed His will to humanity repeatedly, in various times and places to different groups.
The Quran
The Quran (“Koran” is the archaic spelling) is Islamic scripture, the book containing Islamic revelation. It is in Arabic, the language of the prophet through whom it was revealed, Muhammad (d. 632 CE). The term qur’an means “recitation,” reflecting the belief that the Quran is the word of God (Allah, from the Arabic al-ilah: the [one] god), not the word of the prophet who delivered it. Although the Quran was revealed (or “sent down” [munzal, in Arabic]) in the seventh century CE, Muslims believe that it is actually timeless. As the word of God, it is co-eternal with God. Like God, it has always existed. It therefore was not created but was revealed word for word in the Arabic language at a particular time, through God’s final messenger, Muhammad. The Quran says that its specific words reflect a divine archetype of revelation, which it calls “the preserved tablet” (al-lawh al-mahfuz, 85:22). Although anthropomorphic language (using human traits to describe God) is recognized as only symbolic in Islam, still it is not uncommon to hear the Quran described as reflecting the eternal “will” or “mind” of God. However, it is described, the Quran is considered eternal.
The term qur’an is sometimes interpreted as “reading,” even though Prophet Muhammad is described by the Quran as unlettered or illiterate (7:157, 62:2). Rather than “reading” a message, Prophet Muhammad is described as delivering (or “reciting”) a message that God had imprinted on his heart (e.g., 26:194). At one point, the Quran refers to Gabriel (Jibril) as the one “who has brought it [revelation] down upon your heart” (2:97). As a result, traditional interpreters claim that the angel Gabriel was the medium through whom Muhammad received God’s revelation.
The Quran uses the term qur’an seventy times, sometimes generically referring to “recitation” but usually referring to “revelation.” The Quran commonly refers to itself as simply “the Book” (al-kitab), a term used hundreds of times to refer to scripture, including the Torah and the Gospels. Muslims therefore frequently refer to the Quran as The Book. They usually use adjectives like “holy,” “noble,” or “glorious” to show their respect for the Quran. They annually commemorate the beginning of its revelation on the Night of Power (or Destiny [laylat al-qadr]), during the last ten days of Ramadan, which is the month when observant Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset.
The Quran consists of 114 chapters, called suras (in Arabic, surah; pl.: suwar). The verses of the chapters are called ayat (sing.: ayah). The chapters range in length from 3 to 286 verses. The first sura is short, but the remaining suras are arranged from longer to shorter (i.e., in descending order of length), rather than in chronological order.
Chapters of the Quran may be referred to by number, but each also has a name, such as “The Opening” (Sura 1), “Women” (Sura 4), and “Repentance” (Sura 9). These names were ascribed after the Quran was canonized (established in its authoritative form) and typically derive from major references in the chapters. All but one sura (Sura 9) begins with the phrase “In the name of God the Merciful and Compassionate.” Twenty-nine suras are also preceded by a letter or brief series of Arabic letters, whose meaning is unclear. Some scholars believe they refer to elements within the sura itself, some believe they refer to early organizational components of the suras or served as mnemonic devices, and some believe these letters have mystical or spiritual meanings. Whatever their significance, these letters are considered to be part of the revelation itself.
People reading the Quran for the first time will notice that it often speaks in the first person (“I” or “We,” used interchangeably) and may assume that this usage indicates the voice of Muhammad. But Muslims believe the Quran is revealed in the voice of God. For example, in the verse about the first night of revelation, the Quran says, “Surely We sent it [revelation] down on the Night of Power” (97:1). In this voice, the Quran frequently addresses Muhammad, instructing him to “say” or “tell” people certain things, sometimes in response to specific issues. For example, when people doubted Muhammad’s role as prophet, the Quran instructs him: “Say, ‘O People, indeed I am a clear warner to you. Those who believe and do good works, for them is forgiveness and generous blessing’” (22:49–50). The Quran also offers advice to Muhammad. When people accused him of being a mere poet or even a fortune-teller, the Quran says, “Do they say that you have forged [the Quran]? Say, ‘If I have forged it, my crimes are my own; but I am innocent of what you do’” (11:35). The Quran also offers encouragement to Muhammad when his efforts seem futile: “Have we not opened your heart and relieved you of the burden that was breaking your back?” (94:1–3). At other times, the Quran speaks directly to the people about Muhammad. Concerning the issue of the authenticity of his message, the Quran addresses the community, saying, “The heart [of the Prophet] was not deceived. Will you then dispute with him about what he saw?” (53:11–12). Many of the Quran’s verses seem to be in the voice of Muhammad, addressing the community with the word of God and referring to God in the third person. For instance, we are told, “There is no compulsion in religion. Right has been distinguished from wrong. Whoever rejects idols and believes in God has surely grasped the strongest, unbreakable bond. And God hears and knows” (2:256). But such verses are generally embedded in longer passages that begin with the divine command to “tell them” the information thus revealed.
To whom was the Quran addressed? Although its message is meant for all times and places, the Quran’s immediate audience was the community of seventh-century Arabia, in which Prophet Muhammad lived. That is why the Quran explains that it is purposely revealed in the Arabic language. Interestingly, and uniquely among monotheistic scriptures, the Quran assumes both males and females among its audience, and frequently addresses the concerns of both. For example, it tells us that God is prepared to forgive and richly reward all good people, both male and female:
Men who submit [to God] and women who submit [to God],
Men who believe and women who believe,
Men who obey and women who obey,
Men who are honest and women who are honest,
Men who are steadfast and women who are steadfast,
Men who are humble and women who are humble,
Men who give charity and women who give charity,
Men who fast and women who fast,
Men who are modest and women who are modest,
Men and women who remember God often.
(33:35)
Still, the overall audience for the scripture is humanity as a whole. The Quran refers to itself as “guidance for humanity” (hudan li’l-nas).
The Quran was revealed through Prophet Muhammad to the community in seventh-century Arabia over a period of twenty-two to twenty-three years, but it was recorded and canonized soon after Muhammad’s death. During his lifetime, Muhammad’s followers sometimes recorded his pronouncements; some even memorized and transmitted them orally. After his death, and on the deaths of some of those who memorized the Quran (huffaz), the Prophet’s companions decided to establish a written version of the Quran so that it could be preserved and transmitted accurately to future generations. This process was begun by a close companion of Muhammad, Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 655 CE), who collected written records of Quranic verses soon after the death of the Prophet. The third successor to the Prophet (caliph), Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656 CE), is credited with commissioning Zayd and other respected scholars to establish the authoritative written version of the Quran based on the written and oral records. This was accomplished within twenty years of Muhammad’s death. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated among various Muslim communities, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. Because of the existence of various dialects and the lack of vowel markers in early Arabic, slight variations in the reading of the authoritative text were possible. To avoid confusion, markers indicating specific vowel sounds were introduced into the language by the end of ninth century, but seven slightly variant readings (qira’at), or methods of recitation, are acceptable.
Copies of the Quran were produced by hand until the modern era. The first printed version was produced in Rome in 1530; a second printed version was produced in Hamburg in 1694. The first critical edition produced in Europe was done by Gustav Flügel in 1834. The numbering of the verses varies slightly between the standard 1925 Egyptian edition favored by many Muslim scholars and the 1834 edition established by Flügel, used by many Western scholars. (Editions from Pakistan and India often follow the Egyptian standard edition, with the exception that they count the opening phrase, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,” of each sura as the first verse.) The variations in verse numbering comprise only a few verses and reflect differing interpretations of where certain verses end.
The Quran is considered to be authentic only in Arabic. Even non-Arabic speakers—the vast majority of Muslims—pray in Arabic. Although Arabs comprise less than one-third of the world’s Muslim population, the Arabic language still serves as a symbol of unity throughout the Muslim world. Nevertheless, numerous translations of the Quran have been produced. The first Latin translation was done in the twelfth century, commissioned by Peter the Venerable, abbot of the monastery of Cluny in France. It was published in Switzerland in the sixteenth century. Translations (or, more accurately, “interpretations” of the Quran) are now readily available in virtually all written languages and on the Internet. Still, Quranic calligraphy remains not only the highest form of visual art but a spiritual exercise. Beautifully hand-wrought copies of Quranic verses adorn many Muslim homes—in ink on paper, stitched into fabric, or carved into wood, metal or stone. It is also common for Muslims to wear verses of the Quran in lockets or on necklaces. And each year during the pilgrimage season, a special cloth embroidered in gold with Quranic verses is created to drape the Kaaba (the sanctuary in Mecca which is the object of the annual Islamic pilgrimage, the hajj).
Many pious Muslims maintain belief in the miraculous power of the words of the Quran itself. Carrying a small replica of Quranic verses is popularly believed to offer protection against illness or accident. Yet by far the most popular way to experience the Quran is by listening to it. The art of Quranic recitation (tajwid) is highly developed and extremely demanding. A student must memorize the Quran, in any of the seven pronunciation and intonation patterns (qira’at) mentioned previously, understand its meaning (even if one is not an Arabic speaker), and observe a number of rules dealing with spiritual attitudes (such as humility), purity, and posture (such as facing the direction of Mecca, if possible). So important is the experience of hearing the Quran properly and reverently recited that learning Quran recitation is traditionally considered a communal obligation (meaning that not everyone in a given community is required to learn Quran recitation, but enough people must do so to ensure that there are sufficient Quran reciters to serve the community).
Gifted Quran reciters are highly respected throughout the Muslim world. In recent years, a number of women have joined the ranks of popular Quran reciters. But even Muslims who are not able to recite the Quran demonstrate their respect for the Book by making sure they are in a state of spiritual purity when they handle it. As in Orthodox Judaism, blood and other bodily fluids are believed to be agents of impurity in Islam. Therefore, the passing of any bodily fluids requires that Muslims wash before touching a copy of the Quran. Thus, for example, women who are menstruating are traditionally not allowed to touch a copy of the Quran.
Most importantly, the Quran is the focal point of all Islamic belief and practice. It is the miracle of Islam. Unlike Jesus, who according to the Quran performed many miracles, Prophet Muhammad brought no other miracle besides the Quran. And although Muslims are utterly devoted to Prophet Muhammad, frequently express their love for him, and consider him eminently worthy of emulation, Muhammad does not occupy the position in Islam that Jesus occupies in Christianity. The Quran does. The Quran tells us that when people asked Muhammad to demonstrate the authenticity of his prophecy by performing miracles as other prophets had done, he simply and reverently referred to the Quran. The exquisite beauty of its language and wisdom of its sublime message are considered beyond compare and impossible to imitate. This belief is conveyed in the doctrine of the “inimitability” of the Quran (i‘jaz). Thus, whereas Christians consider Jesus’ life as miraculous and the basis of their religion, Muslims consider the Quran to be the cornerstone of Islam. Muslims are required to pray five times daily: at sunrise, midday, afternoon, sunset, evening. At each of these times, verses of the Quran are recited in a specified order and number of repetitions (ranging from twice at morning prayer to four times at evening prayer). Extra prayers may be added individually but, again, they are based on the Quran. The weekly congregational prayer (at midday on Fridays) follows the same pattern, although it includes a sermon (khutbah), often based upon a Quranic theme. As well, devout Muslims read the entire Quran during the holy month of fasting, Ramadan. The book is divided into thirty sections for this purpose.
The Quran and Other Scriptures
The Quran contains numerous references to prior monotheistic scriptures, which it identifies as the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospels. Muslims believe that the Quran reiterates, confirms, and completes these previous scriptures, calling on all people to remember and respect the truths carried in them. Indeed, it assumes people are familiar with those texts. It therefore does not recount their historic narratives. Instead, it uses characters and events familiar to Jews and Christians to make specific moral or theological points. As a result, although references to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus, for example, appear frequently, they are not arranged in chronological order.
The Quran refers to its religion as al-din, the monotheistic tradition that began with the covenant between God and humanity marked by the obedience of Abraham. (Interestingly, the term din, often translated as “religion,” actually means “judgment”; the Quran calls the Last Day, for example, the yom al-din, “day of judgment.” The term is related to “obligation,” “debt,” and “law,” as it is in Hebrew.) Adam is actually considered the first prophet because through the story of Adam and his wife in the garden—the same story revealed to Jews and Christians—humanity began to learn that God created us with a purpose. Fulfilling that purpose requires obedience to the divine will, and disobedience will bring suffering and punishment. But Abraham is the first major prophet, given the profound impact of his message.
The story of Abraham is familiar to all monotheists. He was an aged Iraqi shepherd who had longed for a child for years. God chose to favor Abraham with a child, but then asked him to demonstrate his obedience by killing his beloved son. At the last minute, God spared the child, but Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son rather than disobey the command of God sealed the agreement between God and humanity. God promises eternal reward to all who submit to the will of God; “one who submits” to the will of God is a muslim. Likewise, God promised punishment for willful disobedience. One of the disagreements between Muslims and Jews concerns the identity of the son Abraham was willing to sacrifice. Although the Quran does not state it explicitly, Muslims believe that Abraham intended to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Ismail), rather than Isaac (Ishaq), and that Muslims are thus spiritual descendants of Abraham through Ishmael and his mother Hagar (Hajar).
As well, according to Islamic teaching, Abraham’s act was personal; its reward was not bequeathed to successive generations. The patriarch serves as a model for others to follow, but each individual must earn his or her own reward from God by likewise submitting to the divine will:
Those to whom We gave the Book
and who follow it accurately,
they believe in it; and whoever disbelieves in it,
they are the losers.
Children of Israel, remember My blessing
with which I blessed you, and that I
have preferred you above all others;
and fear a day when no soul shall substitute
for another, and no ransom
will be accepted from it, nor any
intercession will help it,
and they will not be assisted.
And when his Lord tested Abraham
with certain words, and he fulfilled them.
He said, “I make you a leader
for the people.” He said, “And what of my progeny?”
He said, “My covenant does not extend to oppressors.”
(2:121–124)
In other words, it is not the group one belongs to that determines salvation; the Quran says that it is demonstrating submission (islam) to the will of God through good deeds that brings reward. Nevertheless, Muslims agree that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son was of utmost importance; in thus demonstrating his commitment to the will of God he established the foundational covenant between God and those who believe in Him. Jews and Muslims are both descendants of Abraham and heirs to that covenant.
Through another great messenger of God, Moses (Musa), the Torah was revealed. Mentioning the Torah eighteen times, the Quran reminds believers that its guidance continues to be valid. The Quran actually describes itself as “confirming the truth of the Torah that is before me” (3:50) and calls on believers to “bring the Torah now, and recite it” (3:93). Believers are expected to be honest, charitable, care for the needy, fast, obey dietary regulations, and overall to honor God and respect His creation, just as the Torah instructed.
The last great messenger before Muhammad was Jesus (‘ Issa). Mentioned twenty-five times in the Quran, Jesus is called the Messiah (although the meaning of that term is not made clear), the son of a virgin, and one who brought great signs from God. His message, the Gospel, is confirmed and described as consistent with the messages of all prophets. Speaking through Muhammad, the Quran says that God is sending the same religion (din) that He sent through Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, saying: “Establish [true] religion [din] and do not be divided about it” (42:13). But the Quran does assert that those who believe that Jesus is divine, the son of God, and part of a divine trinity, are mistaken:
O People of Scripture, do not exaggerate your religion or say anything about God but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His word which He sent to Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messenger and do not say “Three” … God is only one.
(4:171)
Still, like the messages of the other prophets, Jesus’ message is true, according to the Quran, and the Jews were mistaken to reject it.
Muhammad is presented as the last in the succession of prophets sent by God to reveal the divine will: “And when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people, why do you hurt me, though you know I am the messenger of God to you?’ … And when Jesus, son of Mary, said, ‘Children of Israel, I am indeed the messenger of God to you, confirming the Torah that is before me, and giving good tidings of a messenger who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad’; then when he brought them clear signs, they said, ‘ This is sheer sorcery’” (61:5–6). (“Amhad” is a variation on the name Muhammad and refers to Prophet Muhammad in this passage. Muslims believe that the prediction of the coming of Muhammad was deleted from or misinterpreted in Christian scriptures, for example, John 16:6–15.)
Thus, although this monotheistic religion had been accurately revealed before the time of Muhammad, the Quran says that the communities that received those scriptures had become confused about it (42:14). Whether through ignorance or by deliberately distorting the message, many Jews and Christians had fallen into disagreement, each claiming to have the truth. Indeed, the Quran chastises both Jews and Christians for their mutual rejection. “The Jews say the Christians have nothing to stand on, and the Christians say the Jews have nothing to stand on, while they both recite the same Scripture” (Quran 2:113). It is God who will decide on all people’s fate, on the Day of Judgment, when all deeds will be weighed in the scale of justice. Those who have demonstrated their true belief through good deeds “have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve” (2:112).
The Quran advises that if Jews and Christians understood their scriptures properly, there would be no dispute and, what is more, they would recognize that the Quran truly confirms what had been revealed before. “This is a blessed Scripture We have revealed, confirming that which was before it … ” (6:92). “This Quran narrates to the children of Israel most of what they disagree about. It is a guide and a merciful gift for believers” (27:76–77).
Again, the continuity of the monotheistic tradition is asserted. The Quran also refers to prophets unknown to Jews and Christians. For example, there is a sura named for an Arab messenger, Hud (Sura 11), who warned his community to follow God, but they rejected him. The same community then rejected another messenger, Salih, and they were punished with tragedy. Similarly, the Quran relates the story of the Midianites, who were done away with when they rejected their messenger Shuaib. The point of these stories, like that of the people of Lot, is that people reject the message of God at their own peril. The Quran mentions more than twenty prophets or messengers between Adam and Muhammad and notes that “there is no distinction among prophets” (2:136; 3:84), referring to consistent truth of all their messages.
In fact, the Quran states that every nation has been sent a messenger from God. (“Every nation has its Messenger” [10:47]; see also 16:36: “We sent forth among every nation a Messenger,” and cf. 16:63 and 35:24.) The Quran does note that some prophets excel others (2:253), generally assumed to refer to those who left laws or texts, or whose historical impact was greater than that of others. But the message is always essentially the same: God rewards those who do His will and punishes those who do not. The Quran informs its audience that Muhammad’s revelation is an integral part of the same tradition:
He has laid down for you as religion
what He charged Noah with, and what
We have revealed to you, and what We
charged Abraham with, Moses and Jesus:
Practice the religion, and do not separate
over it.
(42:13)
The Quran calls on believers to recognize the religion of Abraham, clearly positioning itself as revelation in the same tradition:
And they say, “Be Jews or Christians and
you shall be guided.” Say: “No, rather
the religion of Abraham, a true believer;
he was no idolater.”
Say: “We believe in God, and
in what has been revealed to us
and revealed to Abraham, Ishmael,
Isaac and Jacob, and the Tribes,
and what was given to Moses and Jesus
and the Prophets from their Lord; we
make no division between any of them, and
to Him we surrender.”
(2:135–136; cf. 26:196–197)
The Quran then confirms that it is the final clarification of the message. Those who accept the message brought by Muhammad are called “the best community brought forth to people, enjoining good and forbidding evil, and believing in God” (3:110). The “People of the Book”—those who have received the previous scriptures—will suffer for rejecting true prophets. “Some of them are believers,” the Quran claims, “but most of them are sinful” (3:110). The Quran is the perfect expression of the divine will; no other is necessary. As the Quran puts it in a verse delivered toward the end of Muhammad’s career: “Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed my blessing upon you and approved submission [al-islam] as your religion. Whoever is forced by hunger to sin … God is forgiving, merciful” (5:3). Therefore, the succession of prophets ends with Muhammad. The Quran calls him the “seal of the prophets” (33:40).
Thus, the Quran reiterates, confirms, and completes Jewish and Christian scriptures. It does not try to establish a new religion but rather to inspire people to new commitment to the one true religion of monotheism. The term islam is used only eight times in the Quran, and it is referred to as the true religion. But in the Quran the term means the act of submitting to the divine will, rather than an organized religious group separate from other monotheistic traditions. By contrast, the term din, meaning the true religion revealed by the one God at various times throughout human history, is used more than ninety times. Muslims believe that although the Quran corrects some misinterpretations of previous scriptures, overall it focuses on inspiring Jews, Christians, and Muslims to work together toward their shared goal of justice and, in so doing, to achieve eternal reward: “People of the Book, come together in agreement on a word, that we worship only God” (3:64).
Themes of the Quran
Because the Quran teaches that God has sent revelation to all communities, and that revelation includes specific rituals and laws, Muslims do not find it surprising that communities differ in their perceptions and practices. The Quran also says that if God had wanted all people to be the same, He would have made them that way. “For each of you We have established a law and a way. And if God had willed it, He would have made you one people. But [you were made as you are] to test you by what He has given you… .” The differences among religions are therefore believed to be part of the divine plan. The Quran invites all people to participate with Muslims in the struggle to do the will of God. In its words, “So compete with one another in good deeds” (5:48).
Solidarity among individuals and communities in doing the will of God is therefore among the themes of the Quran. And the Quran does provide specific regulations for its own community, the Muslims, including purity, prayer, charity, fasting and dietary regulations, and pilgrimage. But the majority of Quranic verses deal with overarching themes and moral guidance, rather than specific regulations. As noted previously, the Quran refers to itself, as well as to the Torah and the Gospels, as “guidance for humanity” (e.g., 3:4). That guidance is expressed through a number of interrelated themes.
The fundamental theme of the Quran is monotheism: tawhid. Derived from the Arabic term for “one,” tawhid does not appear as such in the Quran (although other forms of the term do), but it conveys the rich complexity of the Quran’s insistence on the oneness of God. It entails first of all that there is only one God, the god (al-ilah), Allah. None of the deities worshiped by the Meccans is actually divine, the Quran asserts. They can be of little help to human beings. God has no partners. Placing others in His stead or “associating” (shirk) partners with God is bound to lead to failure in the human quest for happiness. Further, God is unitary: without parts. The Quran insists, as noted previously, that God is not part of a Trinity, as the Christians believe (see 4:171, 5:73). The notion of tawhid goes beyond simple monotheism, however, particularly in the view of modern Islamic thinkers. Just as there is only one God, there is only one creator of all human beings, one provider, protector, guide, and judge of all human beings. All human beings are equal in their utter dependence on God, and their well-being depends on their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly. This acknowledgment is both the will and the law of God. Modern Islamic commentators such as the Egyptian Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966), and revolutionary Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini (d. 1989) stress, therefore, that tawhid implies that we must order society in accordance with the will of God. A tawhid-based society is one in which people devote themselves to serving God by contributing to a society that reflects and safeguards the dignity and equality in which all were created. Submission (islam) to that will is the route to our happiness, both in this life and the hereafter.
The Quran presents detailed discussions of the major characteristics of a tawhid-based society, and chief among them is mercy or compassion, another major theme. Although the Quran frequently warns of punishment for those who violate the will of God and describes vividly the scourges of hell, its overriding emphasis is on divine mercy. “The Merciful” (al-rahman) is one of the most frequently invoked names of God, equivalent to Allah. As mentioned, all but one sura of the Quran begins by invoking the name of God “the merciful and compassionate.” Divine mercy is often paired with divine forgiveness. “God is forgiving and merciful” is a common refrain. At times, especially in the early suras, the Quran sternly warns people that they ignore its message at their own risk: “Woe to the slanderer and backbiter, who collects wealth and counts it continually. He thinks his wealth will bring him eternal life, but no, he will certainly be thrown into hell” (104:1–6). “Have you seen the one who makes a mockery of faith? He is the one who mistreats orphans, and does not encourage feeding the poor. Woe to those who pray but are heedless of their prayer. They are seen [praying] but [then] do not give charity” (107:1–7).
The Quran balances these warnings with sympathy for the weaknesses of human nature: “Indeed, the human being is born impatient. When evil touches him he is anxiety-ridden, and when good things happen to him, grudging” (70:19–21). In this context it offers advice and encouragement: “As for the human being, when God tests him and honors him and blesses him, he says, ‘My Lord has favored me.’ But when God tests him and restricts his livelihood, he says, ‘My Lord has forsaken me.’ No; you do not honor orphans or work for the wellbeing of the poor, you take over [others’] inheritance and are overly attached to wealth” (89:15–20).
[W]hen you are aboard ships and they sail with a fair breeze and [those on board] are happy about it, then a violent wind overtakes them and the waves come from every side and they think they are drowning, then call upon God, practicing religion properly [and saying that] if you spare us from this we will be indeed grateful. But when He has rescued them, indeed they begin oppression on earth. O People, your oppression will only hurt yourselves!
(10:22–23)
Given this understanding of human nature, the Quran repeatedly reassures people that God is merciful and compassionate. “My mercy encompasses everything” (7:156). “On the day when every soul is confronted with what it has done, good and evil, they will desire a great distance from [evil]. God asks you to beware; God is full of pity for servants. Say: If you love God, follow me; God will love you and forgive you your sins. God is forgiving, merciful” (3:30–31).
Thus, the Quran sets an example for people to emulate in their efforts to establish a just society. Variations on the phrases “be compassionate” or “show mercy” (rahma
