" . . . those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find inscribed in the Torah and the Gospel that is with them, who enjoin upon them what is right, and forbids them what is wrong, and makes good things lawful for them, and forbids them bad things, and relieves them of their burden and the shackles that were upon them."
Quran 7:157
This particular passage is drawn from the 7th surah, which I've referenced several times, and will again, known as al-A'raf, here rendered as "The Heights." It is one of several references in the Quran to Muhammad's "unlettered" status, essentially that he was not an educated man. Far from Muslims being ashamed of this fact they take pride in it because it speaks to the miracle of the Quran. In the corresponding commentary Nasr takes this point even further, "That the Prophet was unlettered is understood to mean that his soul was not defiled by profane knowledge and that it was a tabula rasa upon which the Divine Word cold be 'inscribed in its purest form, untainted by humanly acquired knowledge and learning." (p. 460)
Nasr then makes an interesting connection to Mary: "This doctrine is analogous in an essential way to the virginal purity of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who represented a pure conduit through which Jesus, described as a Word from God (3:45) - like the Quran, which is the Divine Word - could be brought into the world."
Quran 7:157
This particular passage is drawn from the 7th surah, which I've referenced several times, and will again, known as al-A'raf, here rendered as "The Heights." It is one of several references in the Quran to Muhammad's "unlettered" status, essentially that he was not an educated man. Far from Muslims being ashamed of this fact they take pride in it because it speaks to the miracle of the Quran. In the corresponding commentary Nasr takes this point even further, "That the Prophet was unlettered is understood to mean that his soul was not defiled by profane knowledge and that it was a tabula rasa upon which the Divine Word cold be 'inscribed in its purest form, untainted by humanly acquired knowledge and learning." (p. 460)
Nasr then makes an interesting connection to Mary: "This doctrine is analogous in an essential way to the virginal purity of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who represented a pure conduit through which Jesus, described as a Word from God (3:45) - like the Quran, which is the Divine Word - could be brought into the world."
No comments:
Post a Comment