Miss Buddha

by Ulf Wolf

  The dispatching of prophets is itself understood to be an act of God’s mercy, for God, the creator and sustainer, never abandons his creations, and he always provides his subject human beings with the guidance they need for their salvation in this world and for entry into the one to follow.

  God is just, and his justice does entail informing humanity, through prophets, of how to act and what to believe before he holds them accountable for their actions and beliefs.

  However, once people receive the teachings of prophets and messengers—i.e., God’s word—His justice also involves punishment of those who—now well informed of what to do and what not to do—do wrong or do not believe, while he will reward those who do right and do believe.

  Although God is seen as an exacting but just task master, Muslims also believe that God’s most fundamental attribute is mercy. That, at heart, He is understanding (though never forgiving), and that He does go the extra mile to keep his subject well-informed as to law and ritual—about how to behave.

  Still, it is also well understood that He will not tolerate insubordination and non-compliance with his wishes.

  Humanity’s Relationship to God

  According to Islamic tradition and belief, in addition to sending a string of prophets culminating in Muhammad, God also manifests his mercy by dedicating all of His creation to the exclusive use and service of humankind.

  Islamic traditions hold that God brought the world (and the universe) into being for the benefit of his creatures; however, His mercy toward humanity is further manifested in the privileged status God gave to humans.

  According to both the Qur’an and to later traditions, God appointed humankind as his vice regents, or caliphs, on earth, entrusting them with the grave responsibility of fulfilling his scheme for creation.

  This Islamic concept of humanity’s privileged position in the eyes of God does (and rather radically) depart from the early Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Fall from Paradise that underlie the Christian doctrine of original sin.

  According to the Bible, Adam and Eve fell from Paradise as a consequence of disobeying God’s prohibition (not to eat any fruit from the tree of Knowledge—which in my view is God’s Great Hint for us not to get too tangled up in the voices of our senses and the facts they seem to provide).

  As a result of this disobedience, all of (then existing, e.g. Adam and Eve) humanity is cast out of Paradise as punishment.

  Based on this seminal event, Christian theologians developed the doctrine that humankind is born with this (original parental) sin branded on their souls.

  Christians further believe that Jesus Christ came to redeem humans from this act of disobedience (original sin) to allow humankind to return to God at the end of time.

  In contrast, and with a bit of revisionist history (or updated by Gabriel for Muhammad’s ear and benefit), the Qur’an maintains that after their initial disobedience, Adam and Eve did in fact successfully repent and so were forgiven by God.

  Consequently, Muslims believe that the descent by Adam and Eve to earth from Paradise was indeed not a fall, but an honor bestowed on them by God; and to reward them, Adam and all of his progeny were appointed as God’s messengers and vice regents, and were all (till the end of time) entrusted by God with the guardianship of the earth—making, according to Islamic law and tradition, all other worldly beings subservient to humankind.

  A stretch, if you ask me.

  The Inferiority of Angels

  The nature of humankind’s relationship to God is also clearly illustrated by comparing it with that of the angels.

  Islamic tradition has it that angels were created from light. More specifically, an angel is an immortal being that commits no sins (is incapable of committing a sin) and serves as a guardian, as a recorder of (human) deeds, and as a messenger-like link between God and humanity, well-illustrated by Gabriel when he communicated God’s message to the prophet Muhammad.

  In contrast to humans, angels are incapable of unbelief and always obey God—all, that is bar one: Satan, who some followers of Islam view as an angel who was unusual in his ability to defy God—while others view him as a jinn, or spirit created by God from smokeless fire, who roamed among the angels.

  Despite these rather superior (from God’s view) angelic traits, Islamic doctrine nonetheless holds that humans are superior to angels; for according to Islamic traditions, God entrusted humans (and not angels, mind you) to keep an eye on the Earth for him, and He apparently also commanded the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam.

  Now, Satan, along with the other angels, didn’t quite see eye to eye with God’s appointment of fallible (and mortal, for heaven’s sake) humans to the honorable position of vice-regency. Being a strict and fervent monotheist, Satan out-and-out disobeyed God and refused to prostrate himself before Adam or anyone else (but God). For this sin, Satan was doomed (ordered) to lead human beings astray until the end of the time. A task he seems to have taken to with vim and vigor.

  Lastly, according to the Qur’an, God informed the angels that he had endowed humans with knowledge angels could not acquire (though it’s not clear what this knowledge was).

  Methinks not.

  Islamic Theology

  Pretty much since Islam’s inception, Muslim theologians have debated (rather than intuiting or knowing, mind you) the subjects of justice and mercy as well as God’s other attributes.

  Initially, Islamic theology developed, and was articulated through debates with Christians and Jews, but as their expressions of the basic doctrines of Islam grew increasingly complex, Muslim theologians turned to debating different interpretations of the Qur’an among themselves, and so—without external distractions—came to develop the foundations of Islamic theology.

  One of these internal theological debates focused on the question of free will and predestination. One group of Muslim theologians maintained that because God is just, he can and will only create good; only humans can create evil.

  Otherwise, this group argued, God’s punishment of humans would be unjust because he himself created their evil deeds. However, this particular view was rejected by other Muslim theologians on the grounds that it would limit the scope of God’s creation, while the Qur’an clearly states that God is the sole creator of everything that exists in the world.

  Of course, humans, if truly created by God, would have no say in whether or not they created good or evil, but I believe this point was (and remains) rather lost on most debaters.

  Another controversial issue that has kept the debaters busy down the centuries was the question whether the Qur’an was eternal or created in time.

  Theologians devoted to the concept of God’s oneness maintained that the Qur’an must have been created in time, or the Qur’an would otherwise be as eternal as God—and only God is truly eternal. This view was refuted by others because the Qur’an itself (the final word in Islam) states in many places, and in no uncertain terms (as in unambiguously), that it is the eternal word of God. So it must be eternal.

  Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari

  These and many other theological controversies kept many a Muslim thinker busy for the first few centuries of Islam, but by the 10th century the views of Islamic theologian al-Ashari and his followers, known as Asharites, finally prevailed and were subsequently adopted by most Muslims.

  al-Ashari resolved the question of free will by arguing that no human act could occur if God does not will it, and that God’s knowledge encompasses all that was, is, or will be—thus maintaining that it is God’s will to create in humans the power to make free choices.

  This, in my view, is a mental sleight-of-hand on God’s part, and not a very convincing one either; for even if He grants the power to humans to make self-determined choices, humans are nonetheless created, and God is nonetheless responsible for all that His creations do.

  My view notwithstanding, according to al-Ashari God (by placing himself at arm’s length, so to speak, of what humans mi
ght be up to) is therefore just (and justified) to hold humans accountable for their actions.

  This, and other views of al-Ashari and his school gradually grew dominant in Sunni, or orthodox, Islam, and they still prevail among most Muslims.

  The tendency of the Sunnis, however, has been to tolerate and accommodate minor differences of opinion and to emphasize the consensus of the community in matters of doctrine.

  As is the case with any religious group, the Muslim on the street is not all that concerned with detailed theological controversies, and never has been. For ordinary Muslims the central belief of Islam is in the oneness of God and in his Prophets and Messengers, culminating in Muhammad. End of Muslim story.

  Most Muslims believe the scriptures that God conveyed through these Messengers, in particular the truth and content of the Qur’an; and whatever their specific religious practices, most Muslims also believe in angels, in the Day of Judgment, in heaven, in paradise, and in hell.

  The Prophet Muhammad

  The belief in Muhammad and his message ranks second only to belief in the one God.

  It is not known exactly what year Muhammad was born, but most pin it around 570 CE. His was orphaned at an early age and was eventually adopted and raised by his uncle, who enjoyed religious prominence within the main Quraysh tribe of Mecca but was of modest financial means.

  At age 25, Muhammad married Khadija, a well-to-do, 40-year-old woman. Fifteen years later, at age 40, during a retreat in the hills outside Mecca, Muhammad had his first mystical experience.

  That was when (ostensibly) that the angel Gabriel appeared to a fearful Muhammad and informed him that he, Muhammad, was God’s chosen Messenger. Having gained his attention, Gabriel then proceeded to communicate to Muhammad the first revelation from God.

  Once Gabriel had finished, and taken off, Muhammad, terrified and shaken from this encounter, went home and told Khadija all about it. She believed all Muhammad told her and as a result became the first person to accept his message and convert to Islam.

  After a string of additional revelations, Muhammad began preaching this new religion (as relayed to him by Gabriel), initially to a small circle of relatives and friends, but gradually to a larger and larger audience of the general public.

  Muhammad’s general public was that of Mecca, and at first it ignored, then ridiculed him. But as more and more people accepted Muhammad’s call, the vested interest of Mecca (who felt threatened by Muhammad’s growing popularity) grew more aggressive and after failing to sway Muhammad away from his new religion they began persecuting his less prominent followers.

  When this approach had little or no effect upon Muhammad’s onward march, the opposing Meccans decided to persecute Muhammad himself, which made his life not only uncomfortable but perilous.

  At this time, however, the clan leaders of the two main tribes of the city of Yathrib, about 200 miles north of Mecca, invited Muhammad to live there in the role of impartial religious authority to arbitrate disputes. In return, was Muhammad to accept, these leaders pledged to accept Muhammad as a prophet and would thus support the new religion of Islam.

  Medina

  Justifiably fearing for his safety, Muhammad then, in the year 622, immigrated to Yathrib, and not long thereafter the name of the city was changed to Medina, meaning city of the Prophet.

  This date was later designated by Muslims as the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

  Only two years after Muhammad’s arrival in what was now Medina, the core community of Muslims started to expand, and in Medina, in addition to preaching the religious and moral message of Islam, Muhammad also took to organizing an Islamic society (based on his revelations) and appointed himself head of state, diplomat, military leader, and chief legislator for the now his growing Muslim community.

  However, hostilities would soon break out between the Muslims in Medina and the powerful Meccans (whose ax with Muhammad was still very much unground). But in 630, after a string of military confrontations and various diplomatic maneuvers, the Muslims in Medina prevailed and extended their authority over Mecca.

  As a result, before Muhammad died in 632, the whole Arabian Peninsula was, for the first time in history, united under the banner of Islam.

  Muhammad’s Humanity

  Early Muhammad lore does contain some supernatural events such as his one-night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and his subsequent ascent to heaven on the back of a winged horse. Despite such stories, however, the primary focus of both biographies about Muhammad, as well as Islamic doctrine in general, is on his humanity.

  For like all prophets before him, Muhammad was but a mortal man (though not a few Christians may beg to differ when it comes to Jesus of Nazareth—the Son of god) who was commissioned by God to deliver a message to his people and to all of mankind.

  Also like other prophets, Muhammad was distinguished from the man in the street by certain powers and faculties. For example, Muslims believe that God made Muhammad sinless in order to support his career as a prophet.

  Muhammad is thus portrayed in the Qur’an as a person who does make mistakes but who does not sin against God. God, however, being God, did correct Muhammad’s mistakes (which God viewed as errors in judgment), killing two birds with one stone: fixing Muhammad’s mistakes while also making his life serve as an example for future Muslims to follow.

  Thus, the Qur’an’s focus on Muhammad as a regular human being serves as a reminder to all Muslims that all human beings can reasonably aspire to lead as good a life as he did.

  The Qur’an

  As with other prophets and messengers, God gave Muhammad a hand by allowing him to work a few miracles and so prove that he indeed was a genuine prophet.

  The supreme miracle of Muhammad (and also the ultimate proof of the truthfulness of Islam) is the Qur’an itself.

  In accordance with the word of this scripture, Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the timeless word of God, “the like of which no human can produce.” This inimitable property is based on belief in the divine authorship of the Qur’an.

  For unlike earlier religions, the miracle of Islam is a literary miracle (i.e., the Qur’an itself), and Muhammad’s other miracles are all subordinate to it.

  This belief in the unique and miraculous nature of the Qur’an has led Muslims to devote great intellectual energies to the study of its contents and form, and in addition to interpreting the scripture and deriving doctrines and laws from it, many disciplines within Qur’anic studies seek to understand its linguistic and literary qualities as a further expression of its divine origins.

  The Format of the Holy Book

  The Qur’an comprises 114 chapters or suras, which appear—from the second chapter onward—roughly in order of length, beginning with the longest and ending with the shortest chapters.

  Chapter one, al-Fatiha—the Opening—is a short chapter which is also recited during each of the five daily prayers as well as in many other ritual prayers.

  All but one chapter begin with the formula “in the name of God, the Merciful Lord of Mercy” (Bismillah, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim”). Each chapter is then divided into verses called ayat (singular aya, meaning “sign” or “proof”). With few exceptions these verses are randomly organized with no coherent narrative thread.

  Any given chapter of the Qur’an can address any combination of the following themes: God and creation; prophets and messengers from Adam to Jesus; Muhammad as preacher; Muhammad as ruler; Islam as a faith and as a code of life; disbelief; human responsibility and judgment; and society and law.

  Muslim scholars have long tried to explain this randomness of topics and lack of narrative coherence by arguing that this is due to the timelessness and universality of the text. In other words, so they hold, the multiple meanings of the Qur’an transcend linear (human) narrative because they transcend any particular historical moment.

  Above time, then.

  The Qur’an and the Bible

  Islam does recognize the divine or
igins of the earlier Hebrew and Christian Scriptures but represents itself as both a restoration and a continuation of their traditions.

  In order to properly restore the integrity of these earlier scriptures, the Qur’an freely draws on biblical stories and repeats many biblical themes. So, not surprisingly then, several biblical prophets and their stories appear in the Qur’an, some in a condensed form; other stories, such as those of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, are given in elaborate detail and some even with subtle revisions and restorative additions.

  One of these revisions—though not very subtle—is that the son that Abraham was to sacrifice to God was not Isaac, from whom the tribes of Israel are descended, but Ishmael, from whom Arabs descend.

  Another not so subtle revision of the New Testament is the Islamic story of Jesus, who according to the Qur’an is but a mortal, human prophet as opposed to the Christian belief that Jesus was born the son of God.

  Islam also rejects the idea that God shared his divinity with any other being, e.g., Jesus Christ.

  Another important idea expounded in the Qur’an and in later Islamic doctrine, opposing biblical accounts, is that although prophets are capable of human errors, God protects them from committing sins and also protects them from excruciating suffering or humiliating experiences; for God would never abandon his prophets in times of distress.

  Therefore, in what has to be viewed by most Christians as a bit of a stretch, the Qur’an proposes that God interfered to save Jesus from torture and death by lifting him to heaven and replacing him on the cross with someone who looked like him. Think: stunt double.