"By the dawn, by the ten nights, by the even and the odd, and by the night as it recedes; . . ."
Quran 89:1-4
OK, this is another post which is mainly designed for me to share some fascinating commentary from Nasr from his Study Quran. These are the opening lines from the 89th surah, al-Fajr, usually rendered as "The Dawn." At this moment I'm mainly focusing on the third verse, "by the even and the odd." Nasr shares:
"Commentators have given this verse up to thirty-six different interpretations. Some interpret even as a reference to all of creation, for as 78:6-8 says, Did We not . . . create you in pairs, and odd as a reference to God, Who is One without peer, hence odd. According to a saying attributed to the prophet, this verse refers to the prayers, most of which have an even number of prayer cycles, and one of which, the sunset prayer (maghrib), has an odd number of cycles. Other say that odd refers to the Day of Arafah, which is the ninth day of the hajj, and even refers to either the eighth day, when the pilgrims travel to Mr. Arafat, or the tenth day, which is the Feast of Sacrifice. According to other interpretations, the odd refers to Adam, and the even to Eve; the even refers to Safa and Marwah, between which the pilgrims pass during the pilgrimage, and the odd refers to the Kabah. One Shiite interpretation maintains that the even refers to Ali and Fatimah and the odd refers to the Prophet himself." (p. 1510)
OK, I truthfully have nothing profound to add here (or anyplace, truthfully) other than I find it fascinating that one brief passage in the Quran has given rise to thirty-six different interpretations. The common perception from outside Islam is that the faith is a very strict, literal, some might even argue thoughtless, faith, when the reality is that it's been argued and discussed for fourteen centuries, and it should be. The argument is sometimes made that the questions were answered by religious scholars by around the year 1000 and thus the Gates of Ijtihad were essentially closed (this is a Sunni belief not a Shia one) but I think that's a patently absurd notion. We are told to think and reflect, not mindlessly memorize. I know the argument is made that it is the religious scholars who are best able to tackle these issues, and that may be true, but if we accept that then are we really any different than any other religion where intellectual/spiritual power, and thus power, is monopolized in the hands of the few? One of the things that drew me to Islam is that lack of a powerful priesthood or hierarchy, and thus the emphasis is on your own personal relationship with God. The notion that we might make mistakes on our spiritual journey is absolutely no reason to make the journey. If the religion is being interpreted and re-interpreted then it is vibrant and alive, and not simply a bunch of rules to memorize and laws for punishment.
Quran 89:1-4
OK, this is another post which is mainly designed for me to share some fascinating commentary from Nasr from his Study Quran. These are the opening lines from the 89th surah, al-Fajr, usually rendered as "The Dawn." At this moment I'm mainly focusing on the third verse, "by the even and the odd." Nasr shares:
"Commentators have given this verse up to thirty-six different interpretations. Some interpret even as a reference to all of creation, for as 78:6-8 says, Did We not . . . create you in pairs, and odd as a reference to God, Who is One without peer, hence odd. According to a saying attributed to the prophet, this verse refers to the prayers, most of which have an even number of prayer cycles, and one of which, the sunset prayer (maghrib), has an odd number of cycles. Other say that odd refers to the Day of Arafah, which is the ninth day of the hajj, and even refers to either the eighth day, when the pilgrims travel to Mr. Arafat, or the tenth day, which is the Feast of Sacrifice. According to other interpretations, the odd refers to Adam, and the even to Eve; the even refers to Safa and Marwah, between which the pilgrims pass during the pilgrimage, and the odd refers to the Kabah. One Shiite interpretation maintains that the even refers to Ali and Fatimah and the odd refers to the Prophet himself." (p. 1510)
OK, I truthfully have nothing profound to add here (or anyplace, truthfully) other than I find it fascinating that one brief passage in the Quran has given rise to thirty-six different interpretations. The common perception from outside Islam is that the faith is a very strict, literal, some might even argue thoughtless, faith, when the reality is that it's been argued and discussed for fourteen centuries, and it should be. The argument is sometimes made that the questions were answered by religious scholars by around the year 1000 and thus the Gates of Ijtihad were essentially closed (this is a Sunni belief not a Shia one) but I think that's a patently absurd notion. We are told to think and reflect, not mindlessly memorize. I know the argument is made that it is the religious scholars who are best able to tackle these issues, and that may be true, but if we accept that then are we really any different than any other religion where intellectual/spiritual power, and thus power, is monopolized in the hands of the few? One of the things that drew me to Islam is that lack of a powerful priesthood or hierarchy, and thus the emphasis is on your own personal relationship with God. The notion that we might make mistakes on our spiritual journey is absolutely no reason to make the journey. If the religion is being interpreted and re-interpreted then it is vibrant and alive, and not simply a bunch of rules to memorize and laws for punishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment