Exploring the Qur'an: VII:

I'll go back and totally edit that last one. It was a rough week, and I went from my usual 'pompous and stagnant' style (thanks, Andre) to near incomprehensibility. But I do want to move on a little first.

Sura 95, the Fig, is yet another example of ugliness, I'm afraid. "WE've made man the highest, then turned him into the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do good. They will get rewards. How do you not believe in Judgement Day? Isn't God the most just of judges?"

The condemnation of all men as the lowest of the low unless they believe is not pleasant. (Think of the Christian 'there is more rejoicing in heaven over a sinner who repents...') And what does 'do good' mean? It's a minor Sura, I would guess, but hardly a pleasant one.

Sura 94 is also a minor one, addressed to Mohammed, and more pleasant. Easier to quote it, since, except for the opening, it's self explanatory.

"Have We not caused thy bosom to dilate, And eased thee of the burden Which weighed down thy back; And exalted thy fame?
But lo! with hardship goeth ease, Lo! with hardship goeth ease; So when thou art relieved, still toil And strive to please thy Lord."

Pleasant, and the opening probably means nothing more than "I opened your heart to knowledge" -- though Palmer gives an alternate reading not worth discussing -- but still of little guidance to the future generations.

Sura 93 is another short one, again neither exceptional nor greatly useful. It just reminds Mohammed of what God has done for him, that he was an orphan and was given shelter, was wandering and given direction, was poor and is now rich. (Shakir sees 'wandering' as meaning 'looking for an audience' and God directed men to him, the others give the simpler reading.) Therefore Mohammed, and, by implication, men, should not oppress orphans, or drive away beggars (Yussuf Ali has it 'drive away the petitioner unheard, slightly but not significantly different, especially given this is a Meccan and not a Medinan Surah). And he should also proclaim the goodness of God to him.

Surah 92 is memorable for a couple of reasons. It is, yet again, the statement that unbelievers will burn, but there is a more gentle tone to it, an almost regretful tone rather that the ugliness we've run into, and this one seems more to be praising the good than damning the bad. Again, wealth and stinginess are stressed as the mark (other than unbelief) of evil.

Perhaps most important, this is the only Sura but one we have seen that even notices the existence of the female part of the species. The introduction at least describes Allah as "he who created male and female." The only other mention we have of any woman is Abu Lahab's wife, who was condemned to carry the wood for his fire. (Were the rest of the Wur'an to be the same, then there would be little trouble, since it would be possible to assume that the words are for both sexes. Sadly, when we get further along we will see more mention of women, and this will be less supportable.)

So far we have gone through one-fifth of the Surahs -- though the shortest ones. Still we have little ethical guidance except to know we shouldn't expect our wealth to save us from hell, that we should not be stingy or slanderers, and that we shouldn't oppress orphans or beggars. We are told to believe that God exists, and those who do not are threatened with hell. There is a scattering of superstition, and some scientific nonsense, but not much. There is a little gloating over the discomfiture to Mohammed's enemies, but not much.

Most of all there is nothing that hints of a 'final message' to mankind, yet. If you ignore the specific references, you have a bland and unexceptional message, with less real substance than you find in the standard Christian or Jewish prayer, or in a chapter of Dickens, to pick one writer the mention of orphans and stinginess brings to mind.

However, the Surahs are getting longer, perhaps we shall see more, good or bad, as we go along.