Voices of Islam (26 page)

Go to Pharaoh. He has been insolent, but speak gently to him, that he may be mindful, or perchance fear. ‘‘Our Lord,’’ said Moses and Aaron, ‘‘truly we fear that he may transgress against us, or be insolent.’’ ‘‘Fear not,’’ said He, ‘‘Surely I shall be with you, hearing and seeing. So go you both to Pharaoh and say, ‘We

114
Voices of Tradition

are the Messengers of your Lord, so send forth with us the Children of Israel and chastise them not.’’’

(Qur’an 20:43–47)

This confrontation with Pharaoh is the most frequently referenced aspect of Moses’s story in the Qur’an. It is directly mentioned in 10 separate passages and alluded to in several others.
15
It is often seen by Muslims as foreshadowing the Prophet Muhammad’s confrontation with the leaders of Mecca. The penultimate condemnation of Pharaoh’s unbelief in the Qur’an comes not from Moses but from ‘‘a believing man from the people of Pharaoh who concealed his belief’’ (Qur’an 40:28). He rebukes Pharaoh for rejecting Moses’s message and for demanding that Moses be slain:

What, will you slay a man because he says, ‘‘My Lord is God,’’ even though he has brought you clear signs from your Lord? If he is a liar, his lying is upon his own head; but if he is truthful, some of what he promises you will surely beset you. Truly, God does not guide the one who is prodigal and a liar. O my people, today the kingdom is yours, as masters in the land. But who will help us against the might of God if it comes upon us?

(Qur’an 40:28–29)

The man compares the disbelief of Pharaoh and his people to that of those who had previously disbelieved the Prophets Noah and Joseph and concludes with a warning: ‘‘As for those who dispute about the signs of God, without any authority having come to them, hateful is this in the sight of God and the believers; so God puts a seal on every proud and arrogant heart’’ (Qur’an 40:34–35).

As in the Bible, Moses’s initial warnings are followed by many affl ctions from God until Pharaoh relents and releases the Israelites. Pharaoh then follows the Israelites with his army, only to be swallowed alive by the Red Sea. However, here the Qur’an provides another new twist when Pharaoh confesses his belief in Moses immediately before he perishes, saying, ‘‘I believe that there is no god except He in whom the children of Israel believe; and I am among the submitters’’ (Qur’an 10:90).

As the Israelites march toward the Promised Land, the Qur’anic account continues to follow that of the Bible. Although they are acknowledged as the chosen people whom God has favored over others (Qur’an 2:47; 2:122; 45:16), the Israelites are also portrayed as an ungrateful and contentious com- munity that continually questions the authority of Moses. As in the Bible, Moses is called to Mount Sinai, where he stays for 40 days and returns to find that the people have forsaken all that had been ordained by worshiping the golden calf. In the Qur’an, however, it is not Aaron who is blamed for this transgression. Instead, it is a man referred to as ‘‘the Samaritan’’ (
al-Samiri
) who tells the people, ‘‘This is your God and the God of Moses; he has

Prophets and Messengers of God
115

forgotten’’ (Qur’an 20:88). As in the Biblical account, Moses becomes infuri- ated and destroys the tablets given to him by God (Qur’an 7:150). He then returns to the mountain and receives a new set of tablets. Unlike the Bible, the Qur’an does not list the commandments given to Moses, although each of them can be found in various places and forms throughout the text.

Upon reaching the Promised Land, the Israelites again disobey Moses, fearing its inhabitants:

‘‘O my people’’ [said Moses], ‘‘enter the Holy Land that God has ordained for you, and turn not back in your traces, for you will then revert to [being] losers.’’ They said, ‘‘Moses, there are tyrannical people in it. Surely, we will not enter it until they depart from it. If they depart from it, then surely we will enter.’’
.. .
They said, ‘‘Moses, we will not enter it so long as they remain in it. So go forth, you and your Lord and do battle; we will be sitting here.’’

(Qur’an 5:21–24)

For their intransigence the Israelites are banished from entering the Holy Land for 40 years: ‘‘Said [God], ‘Then it shall be forbidden to them for forty years, while they wander throughout the Earth’’’ (Qur’an 5:26).

As with the story of Abraham and his people, the Qur’anic story of Moses is recounted in a way that bears many similarities to the struggles that the Prophet Muhammad faced with his community. Both Moses and Muhammad began receiving revelations at the age of 40. Both were called to confront recalcitrant and impious rulers, over whom they achieved victory. Each was forced to flee his home in order to found a new religion. Most important, each brought a complete revealed law that governs both the religious and the communal lives of their peoples. In this vein, many Muslims have read the following account of a future Moses-like Prophet in the Torah as an allusion to the Prophet Muhammad:

The Lord said unto me, ‘‘They have well spoken that which they have spoken. Therefore, I will raise for them
a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you [Moses]
, and will put My words in his mouth. And he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

(Deuteronomy 18:17–18, emphasis added)

The Qur’an itself refers to such biblical allusions to the Prophet Muham- mad in the following passage:

My mercy encompasses all things. Therefore, I shall ordain for those who are God-fearing and pay the alms tax, and those who believe in Our signs, who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet (Muhammad), whom they find written down for them in the Torah and the Gospel, commanding them to do good and forbidding them from evil, making good things lawful for them and

116
Voices of Tradition

making unseemly things unlawful, and relieving them of their loads and the fet- ters that were upon them. Those who believe in him, succor him, aid him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him—they are the ones that will prosper.

(Qur’an 7:155–156)

JESUS AS A MESSENGER

Perhaps the most controversial aspects of the Islamic understanding of Prophets and Messengers are the teachings regarding Jesus. Jesus is accepted as one of the five Messengers who possess steadfastness (
uluw al-azm
) and is referred to in the Qur’an as the Word of God (Qur’an 3:45; 4:171). He is aided by the Holy Spirit (Qur’an 2:87; 2:253; 5:110) and is regarded as the Messiah (
al-Masih
), but he is not accepted as the Son of God or as God incar- nate.
16
The belief in the incarnation of Jesus is in fact repudiated in several verses: ‘‘They disbelieve who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary’’’ (Qur’an 5:17; 5:72). Other verses of the Qur’an explicitly deny that God has a son:

They say that God has a son. Glory be to [God]! Rather, to [God] belong all that is in the heavens and the earth; everything is obedient to Him.

(Qur’an 2:116)

The Christians say the Messiah is the ‘‘son of God.’’ That is what they say with their mouths; they imitate the words of those who disbelieved before. May God fight them; how deceived are they!

(Qur’an 9:30)

It is not for God to take a son. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a matter, He simply says to it ‘‘Be!’’ and it is.

(Qur’an 19:35)

Following upon these arguments, the Qur’an emphasizes that Jesus was not God, but a servant and Messenger of God: ‘‘The Messiah does not dis- dain to be a servant to God’’ (Qur’an 4:172); ‘‘The Messiah, the son of Mary is but a Messenger; Messengers before him have passed away. His mother was truthful and both of them ate food [like normal human beings]’’ (Qur’an 5:75).
17
Despite his humanity, Jesus still has a special place among the Prophets of Islam. Regarding the place of Jesus in relation to the other Prophets and Messengers, the Qur’an says:

Prophets and Messengers of God
117

These are the Messengers. We have preferred some of them to others. Among them is the one to whom God spoke [Moses]. We raised some of them by degrees; and We gave Jesus the son of Mary the clear proofs and supported him with the Holy Spirit.

(Qur’an 2:253)

The best example of Jesus being preferred over other Prophets is the miracle of the virgin birth, to which the Qur’an attests:

And mention in the Book Mary, when she withdrew from her people to an eastern place, secluding herself from them. Then We sent to her Our spirit, which appeared to her as a man. She said, ‘‘Truly I seek refuge in the All- Merciful from you, if you be God-fearing.’’ He said, ‘‘I am but a Messenger from your Lord, to give you a sinless son.’’ She said, ‘‘How shall there be a son to me when no man has touched me, nor have I been unchaste?’’ He said, ‘‘Thus says your Lord, ‘That is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign for the people and a mercy from Us. It is a thing decreed.’’’

(Qur’an 19:16–21; see also 3:45–47)
18

The chapter of Mary in the Qur’an also tells of the virgin birth, providing details not found in any of the Gospel accounts:

She carried [Jesus in her womb] and then withdrew with him to a far-off place. When the labor pains drove her to the trunk of a palm tree, she said: ‘‘Would that I had died before this and had been utterly forgotten!’’ Then he (an angel?) called to her from under the tree: ‘‘Do not grieve, for your Lord has placed a stream beneath you. Shake the trunk of the palm tree and ripe dates will fall upon you. Eat and drink and be of good cheer. And if you see any person, say: ‘I have consecrated a fast to the All-Merciful, so I will not speak to anyone today.’’’
19
Then she came with [Jesus] to her people. They said, ‘‘O Mary! You have brought a grave thing! O sister of Aaron,
20
your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother unchaste.’’ She pointed to him. They said, ‘‘How can we speak to one who is an infant in the cradle?’’ [Jesus] said, ‘‘Indeed, I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. He has made me a blessing wherever I am and has ordained for me prayer and almsgiving so long as I live; and He has made me devoted to my mother and did not make me a wretched tyrant. Peace upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive.’’

(Qur’an 19:22–33)

The Prophet Muhammad is said to have confi that of all human beings only Jesus and the Virgin Mary were born without the stain of sin: ‘‘There is none born among the offspring of Adam, but that Satan touches it. A child, therefore, cries loudly at the time of its birth because of the touch of Satan, except for Mary and her child.’’
21

118
Voices of Tradition

Not only was the birth of Jesus a miracle but other passages also bear witness to a creative life-giving power possessed by Jesus that was not granted to any other Prophet:

Truly, I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. Truly, I will create for you the figure of a bird from clay, and I will breathe into it so that it becomes a real bird by the will of God. And I heal the blind and the leper, and I will give life to the dead by the will of God. And I will inform you of what you eat and of what you store in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you if you are believers.

(Qur’an 3:49)

Then God said, ‘‘O Jesus son of Mary, remember My blessing upon you and upon your mother, when I supported you through the Holy Spirit. You speak to the people in the cradle and in maturity. And I taught you the Book and the Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. And when you create the figure of a bird from clay and you breathe into it, then it is a real bird, by My will. You heal the blind and the lepers by My will; and you raise the dead by My will.’’

(Qur’an 5:110)

Like Christians, Muslims believe that Jesus will return at the end of time to make justice reign on earth. As the Prophet Muhammad says, ‘‘By Him in whose hand is my soul, the son of Mary will soon descend among you as a just judge.’’
22
This is another way in which Jesus has a nature that is different not only from other human beings but also from other Messengers and Prophets. Nonetheless, Muslims do not accept the crucifi n of Jesus. As for the Resurrection, he was not raised from the dead but was raised up to the divine presence, as the following passage of the Qur’an attests:

[The Jews] said, ‘‘Truly, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Mes- senger of God.’’ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them. Those who differ regarding this are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge regarding it, save to follow conjecture, and they certainly did not kill him. Rather, God raised him unto Himself. God is the Mighty, the Wise.

(Qur’an 4:157–158)

Most Muslims, scholars, and laypersons alike view these verses as a straight- forward denial of the crucifi They maintain that Jesus was assumed directly into heaven and that another was crucifi in his place. However, while most Muslim scholars maintain this position, they also aver that God raised Jesus into heaven from life and that he did not suffer a mortal death. As the Qur’an states:

Prophets and Messengers of God
119

Then God said, ‘‘O Jesus, I am taking you, and raising you unto Me and will purify you of those who disbelieve and will place those who follow you above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection.’’

(Qur’an 3:55)

Just as the Prophet Muhammad has a close connection with both Abraham and Moses before him, so too, Muhammad said of himself and Jesus: ‘‘I am the most worthy of Jesus the son of Mary in this life and the hereafter.’’
23
In addition, the Qur’an maintains that Jesus had foreseen that he would be followed by the Prophet Muhammad:

Then Jesus the son of Mary said, ‘‘O Children of Israel, truly I am a Messenger of God unto you, confi what was before me in the Torah and bringing you good tidings of a Messenger coming after me whose name is Ahmad.’’

(Qur’an 61:6)
24

The name Ahmad means, ‘‘most praised.’’ It comes from the same root as the name Muhammad (H-M-D), and Muslims have long recognized it as one of the honorific names given to the Prophet by God Himself. This belief is based on a saying of the Prophet Muhammad: ‘‘I have several names: I am Muhammad; I am Ahmad; I am
al-Mahy
(literally, ‘‘The Eraser’’), by means of which God eliminates unbelief.’’
25