- Joined
- Mar 9, 2016
- Messages
- 7,376
- Reaction score
- 1,880
- Location
- Canada / Australia
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Slightly Conservative
In 610 CE, a 40-year-old illiterate Meccan merchant named Mohamed began claiming that God had sent the angel Gabriel to him with divine revelations "so that Man may receive admonition"; a claim he maintained for the remaining 22 1/2 years of his life. The number of verses he received from God (or made up himself, depending on your beliefs) eventually grew to 6,236, and became the Qur'an. As Mohamed was illiterate, he taught the Qur'an from memory. It was not compiled into written form until several years after his death.
In 622, after 12 years of a relatively fruitless attempt to convert the pagan Meccans to Islam, Mohamed left Mecca for the Jewish city of Yathrib, which he renamed Medina after he turned it into a Muslim city at the expense of the Jewish population. This migration is known as the Hijrah, and is the start of the Islamic calendar. The tone and content of the Qur'an changed noticeably after the Hijrah, although this is difficult to discern because the Qur'an is not compiled in chronological order. It jumps from Meccan verses to Medinan verses and back again, which makes an already difficult read even harder.
In order to get a clearer sense of the Qur'an's progression from innocuous, and frankly boring, repetition of Old Testament stories and dire warnings of ever-lasting fiery torment, into calls for war and subjugation of unbelievers, I decided to read it in chronological order. Below is a summary of my findings to date.
The first 49 surahs chronologically are 96, 68, 73, 74, 1, 111, 81, 87, 92, 89, 93, 94, 103, 100, 108, 102, 107, 109, 105, 113, 114, 112, 53, 80, 97, 91, 85, 95, 106, 101, 75, 104, 77, 50, 90, 86, 54, 38, 7, 72, 36, 25*, 35, 19**, 20, 56, 26, 27, 28. Their message, although seemingly universally applicable, was directed exclusively toward the pagans of Mecca as Mohamed tried, without much success, to convert them to monotheism (Islam) under his leadership. They are so similar in theme and content that it would be repetitive to quote them individually. They can be summarized as follows:
- The Qur'an comes from God who created all things.
- God has no equals or partners.
- God sent Gabriel to Mohamed to deliver the Qur'an.
- Mohamed is not insane. Do not mock him. He is only a messenger.
- The five pillars of Islam; faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage, are introduced.
- Obeying Mohamed, and therefore God, is your most important duty in life.
- Obey him and be rewarded in Paradise; disobey him and suffer eternally in the Fire (This is repeated countless times).
- Old Testament stories of Adam, Moses, Noah, Lot, Abraham, etc. are repeatedly used as a reminder of God's wrath.
- Earth will be destroyed on Judgement Day and every person will be judged and sent to either Heaven or Hell.
- Do not trade an eternity of bliss in Heaven for temporary pleasures on Earth.
- People are either believers or unbelievers. (every description of right and wrong in the Qur'an is based on this distinction.)
- Unbelievers are evil followers of Satan.
- Rejecting the word of God (Islam) is the greatest sin.
- First mention is made that God did not have a son.
- First mention is made of virgin companions in Heaven for believers (3 times).
* Surah 25 is the first to contain the word 'jihad'. To this point, Mohamed's struggle against the Meccan's pagan beliefs has been limited to preaching, therefore it can be assumed that verse 25:52, which tells believers to struggle (wage jihad) against the unbelievers, does not mean to fight them physically, but through recitation of the Qur'an. However, it also contains the first reference to killing. Verse 25:68 says, "do not slay the soul, which Allah has forbidden except in the requirements of justice". This verse may seem out of place because it is. It is actually a Medinan verse that was retroactively inserted into this surah.
**Surah 19 tells the story of Mary giving birth to Jesus, and stresses that he is only a prophet. To say that he is the son of God is "hideous, evil, monstrous, abominable, or atrocious" depending on the translation.
That's a far as I've read for now. Next up is surah 17. I hope to finish this before the summer is over.
In 622, after 12 years of a relatively fruitless attempt to convert the pagan Meccans to Islam, Mohamed left Mecca for the Jewish city of Yathrib, which he renamed Medina after he turned it into a Muslim city at the expense of the Jewish population. This migration is known as the Hijrah, and is the start of the Islamic calendar. The tone and content of the Qur'an changed noticeably after the Hijrah, although this is difficult to discern because the Qur'an is not compiled in chronological order. It jumps from Meccan verses to Medinan verses and back again, which makes an already difficult read even harder.
In order to get a clearer sense of the Qur'an's progression from innocuous, and frankly boring, repetition of Old Testament stories and dire warnings of ever-lasting fiery torment, into calls for war and subjugation of unbelievers, I decided to read it in chronological order. Below is a summary of my findings to date.
The first 49 surahs chronologically are 96, 68, 73, 74, 1, 111, 81, 87, 92, 89, 93, 94, 103, 100, 108, 102, 107, 109, 105, 113, 114, 112, 53, 80, 97, 91, 85, 95, 106, 101, 75, 104, 77, 50, 90, 86, 54, 38, 7, 72, 36, 25*, 35, 19**, 20, 56, 26, 27, 28. Their message, although seemingly universally applicable, was directed exclusively toward the pagans of Mecca as Mohamed tried, without much success, to convert them to monotheism (Islam) under his leadership. They are so similar in theme and content that it would be repetitive to quote them individually. They can be summarized as follows:
- The Qur'an comes from God who created all things.
- God has no equals or partners.
- God sent Gabriel to Mohamed to deliver the Qur'an.
- Mohamed is not insane. Do not mock him. He is only a messenger.
- The five pillars of Islam; faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage, are introduced.
- Obeying Mohamed, and therefore God, is your most important duty in life.
- Obey him and be rewarded in Paradise; disobey him and suffer eternally in the Fire (This is repeated countless times).
- Old Testament stories of Adam, Moses, Noah, Lot, Abraham, etc. are repeatedly used as a reminder of God's wrath.
- Earth will be destroyed on Judgement Day and every person will be judged and sent to either Heaven or Hell.
- Do not trade an eternity of bliss in Heaven for temporary pleasures on Earth.
- People are either believers or unbelievers. (every description of right and wrong in the Qur'an is based on this distinction.)
- Unbelievers are evil followers of Satan.
- Rejecting the word of God (Islam) is the greatest sin.
- First mention is made that God did not have a son.
- First mention is made of virgin companions in Heaven for believers (3 times).
* Surah 25 is the first to contain the word 'jihad'. To this point, Mohamed's struggle against the Meccan's pagan beliefs has been limited to preaching, therefore it can be assumed that verse 25:52, which tells believers to struggle (wage jihad) against the unbelievers, does not mean to fight them physically, but through recitation of the Qur'an. However, it also contains the first reference to killing. Verse 25:68 says, "do not slay the soul, which Allah has forbidden except in the requirements of justice". This verse may seem out of place because it is. It is actually a Medinan verse that was retroactively inserted into this surah.
**Surah 19 tells the story of Mary giving birth to Jesus, and stresses that he is only a prophet. To say that he is the son of God is "hideous, evil, monstrous, abominable, or atrocious" depending on the translation.
That's a far as I've read for now. Next up is surah 17. I hope to finish this before the summer is over.