Exploring the Qur'an VIII: Surah 90

Surah 90: The Land (or the City)
[Where is Surah 91? I will be doing a special post on this because it is the first -- or last -- introdcution of the 'hamstrung she-camel of Thamud,' a story that is a purely personal fascination of mine.]

These next few surahs seem to be the first I've come across that imply any sort of ethical structure in Islam, the sort of thing I am looking for. Admittedly, this one has, apparently, major problems in translation, starting with the title. Shakir and Asad translate the title as "The Land" the others as "The City." (And Asad sees it as meaning, in effect, Earth, 'the land of man' and makes the 'you' in the address mean 'mankind.' Even he admits that the classical commentators see it as 'city' and 'Mohammed' respectively.)

The translations continue to differ. All but Yussuf Ali have an opening negative, which Palmer translates as "I need not swear by..." The others simply give an opening interjection "Nay!"

Similarly 'the begetter and what he begets' is seen by Asad to refer to parents of both sexes. I would question this, since it is the male who 'begets.' (This is what i meant by tendentious. At times Asad seems to have read all the complaints about various verses and Surahs and attempted to come up with a way of defusing them. Perhaps these are valid, but his willingness always, as far as i've seen, to make this sort of explanation -- explanations which don't seem to correspond with either other translations or other commentators does give me pause to think.) Only Yussuf Ali seems to back him up here, seeing the line as 'the mystic bond of parent and child.'

The basis of the whole Surah is encouragement to do right and to believe. Again there is a tricky line in verse 17. Freeing a slave, feeding orphans related to you, or even the needy stranger when you yourself are hungry, are considered admirable acts. Where the problem comes in is the connection between this and belief. Shakir and Yussuf Ali see these actions as defining a believer, (Much like the Christian 'if you would follow me, keep my commandments') the others -- including Asad -- see the 'people of the right hand' as being those who BOTH believe and perform thos works. The difference is subtle but important.

(Asad again demonstrates his unique and modernistic point of view in his translation of verse 13. All other translations see it as 'freeing a slave' in the literal sense. Certainly slavery did exist in Mohammed's time, and in parts of the Islamic world up until my own lifetime. There seems to be no doubt that Mohammed acepted it, as we shall see elsewhere. But Asad will not admit this. His initial translation is 'the freeing of one's neck (from the burden of sin).' In his notes, he argues that while it may also be translated as 'the freeing of a human being from bondage,' this refers to "all those forms of subjugation and exploitation -- social, economic or political -- which can rightly be described as slavery." And, in an earlier note that he refers to, he inists that Islam stood, from the beginning, for the abolition of slavery, and that the only reason why such was not done immediately was the economic dislocation it would have caused. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy this interpretation, which goes so against all else I have seen, and the history of Islam.)

However, while this is an argument against Asad, there is no doubt that the idea of freeing slaves, of feeding the needy, are admirable things, certainly worth celebrating.

Let's stop here, and from here on, do a surah a post. I'll get at least one more done tonight. (And get the missing Surah covered perhaps right after the weekend.)