March 31, 2009, 8:58 am by dc-agape.

Surah 104: Al-Humazah: The Slanderer

Woe to every slanderer, defamer!

Who amasses wealth and counts it -

He thinks that his wealth will make him abide.

Nay, he will certainly be hurled into the crushing disaster;

And what will make thee realize what the crushing disaster is?

It is the Fire kindled by Allah,Which rises over the heart.

Surely it is closed in on them,In extended columns. 

I have included the translation of the Holy Qur’an by M Muhammad Ali to the beginning of these posts. 

I must heartily agree with the commentary at the beginning.  But then it is describing surāh 103.  But with connection to this surāh I would also have to agree.  In the commentaries, the foundations of human character are explored.  Goodness and patience are positive foundations.  Amassing wealth and defaming others are negative foundations.  In fact, many people might say that the damage done to the world economy by the US’s greed might even be the “punishment” for the amassing of wealth.  Unfortunately, if this is the case, a supernatural being is “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” (New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy).  Innocent people are being punished right alongside of the evil doers.  How is the act of a “Loving God”?  It looks much more like the acts of a natural balance in nature, very similar to over population leading to starvation, disease, and predation.  Also, it is very similar to walking out an air-lock without a space suit into vacuum leads to death.

Do remember that these posts are part of an experiment.  That experiment is has many folds.  I really need to make a page or a static front with the hypotheses that are being investigated in my experiment.  But the one that should be kept in mind is that as a gay Atheist I am reading different Holy Texts and posting my reaction and thoughts to the reading.  I am curious to see how reading these Holy Texts without the “god bias” adjusts the personal interpretation.

The rest of the surāh leads into how the punishment will be recognized.  In M Muhammad Ali’s translation, and to some degree my other commentaries, it is explained that the punishment describe will be dealt in this life.  This is true for some people, if they live long enough, but many rich and slanderous people have lived long and prosperous lives.  We can only hope that they have become cognizant of the pain they placed on others.  We have no guarantees in this life or especially in death that punishment is placed where it belongs.  Because of this lack of guarantee, it is up to us to ensure that the meek, the mild, and the helpless are protected.  This same lack of guarantee must lead us to provide the proper punishment in the “here-and-now”.  As I was pointed out in a comment “God helps those who help themselves”.  I brought up the concept of “practice make perfect”, whether “God” helps or not, we must practice making this world a better place.  Only then, will we make it “perfect”.

Posted in Holy Qur'an, Readings | Print | 5 Comments »

March 30, 2009, 8:53 am by dc-agape.

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Surāh 105: Al-Fīl: The Elephant

This surāh links the one before it and the one after it.  It does this by comparison of the “crushing disaster” promised in surāh 104: The Slanderer to the people that attack those under Allah’s protection, as in surāh 106: The Quraish.  The “crushing disaster” occurs when a Christian leader from Abyssinia attacks the protectors of the Ka’bah.  At the moment of the Quraish defeat the Abyssinia army is overcome by a pestilence (most likely small pox).  The history of Abraha the Aksum (the Christian leader) is definitely the stuff of legends (the link is from absoluteastromony.com).  But it is no wonder that he is not a Christian legend.  If the end of his life is accurate, his early career is eclipsed by his attack of Arabia for financial reasons (instead of religious ones).  Even though there is some doubt as to when this man died there is less doubt that the Aksum nation (New World Encyclopedia) did begin to lose power by the start of Islam.

What the Qur’an teaches of these events is that while completely unable to defend against a powerful army Allah still protected the arrogant idol worshipping Quraish.  What all the commentaries make clear is that when Allah’s plans are interfered with the supernatural being will act.  Unfortunately, with that in mind…the turmoil in Islamic communities today is perfectly within Allah’s plans.  Just look at the Islamic “rebels” in Thailand and Palestine, their suffering is acceptable to Allah.  Similarly the suffering of the Kurds and Shia under the Ba’ath political party in Iraq, that too was completely acceptable to Allah.

To an Atheist, it is obvious that both Allah and YHWH are the same supernatural being.  Both make more promises than they can keep.  Yet even then, people flock to praise both.  Looking at religion from the outside is turning out to be quite an experience.  Looking at the link between what is written in the Holy Texts and what is recorded in history does not help strengthen the Holy Texts.  I am starting to see that the Gnosis Christian of the 1^st century CE might have been right.  But that is for a post made on the weekend.

As for this particular surāh, taken in context, it clearly reminds the adherents of Muslim faith that Allah’s protection is available when needed.  This surāh also does link the two chapters before and after it.  The commentaries seem to document the events quite well.  But in doing so, allows the reader to see how history can be re-written in favor of religion.

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March 29, 2009, 2:42 pm by dc-agape.

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I have been saving this post topic and a few more, including preacher salaries, for the last on the topic of the Word of God.  I am saving salaries for last because, even though Christians are not will to give up their pride, their freedom or their life for the Word of God, what they really won’t give up is paying people to make them feel good.  And the Christian religious leaders will certainly not give up this pay, even when told by Jesus (Matt 19:23, Luke 6:24, Luke 8:14) that it is wrong.  What about Paul’s own example (1^st Cor 9:14-15)?  But those questions are for my next post.  In this post I want to ask why Christians do not give up their pride.  That is what was taught in the Word of God.  It was required from the believers in the 1^st century CE.  Following this post will be one or two on giving up freedom and giving up your life for the Gospel.

So what about pride?  Jesus has much to say on the subject (Matt 18:4, Luke 14:11, and Luke 18:9-14).  But since Jesus’ teachings are not the largest part of the NT, what about the teachings of James, Peter, and Paul?  Both James and Peter use the exact same words to reprimand the proud:

James 4:6 But he gives us more grace.  That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1^st Peter 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those you are older.  All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Both use the exact same verse from the OT: Proverbs 3:34.  Why do the Christians of today seem so easy to forget this teaching?  Why are they so arrogant?  Why are they determined that the rest of society should live the way they live?

Paul is even more forceful on the topic, but then most of the NT was written by him (not the actual apostles or Jesus).  For example here is one:

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.

How many Christians do you know that follow this verse?  I bet the answer is zero.  Few churches live in harmony for long.  Rarely do you see a “Christian” associate with people below their class.  And many of them are so conceited that it hurts just to hear them speak or read what they write.

Paul also warns about pride in a particular teacher (that one makes you say hmmm) which starts in 1st Cor 3:21-23, but continues here:

1^st Cor 4:6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.

Yet we have 38, 000 denominations.  I would say that is both breaking Romans 12:16 and 1^st Cor 4:6.  These two verses alone show that Christianity is a failure.  I am beginning to have a theory on this failure, being that I am doing research on the 1^st century and this is an experiment.  I will post on this much later.

Paul has two more sections in his letters that are quite interesting as well.  Almost everyone has heard this one, but it is worth repeating:

1^st Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

How many “loving” Christians obey this verse?  How many are patient?  How many are not proud?  The moderates sometimes fit this requirement.  But then they are patient with those Christians who break this verse as well.  I am waiting for the moderates to stand up and reprimand the “loving” Christians.  But that does not seem to be happening.

I will end with this teaching that Paul sent to Timothy:

2^nd Tim 3:2-5 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them.

Paul warns Timothy about these people.  He should have also warned every Christian about these types.  But do these three verses remind you of someone?  Don’t these parts hit close to home, especially the parts about “lovers of money”, “unforgiving”, “brutal”, and “lovers of pleasure”.  They certainly have a form of “godliness” but it certainly does not have any power.

As a gay Atheist I am waiting for these Christians to “come out of the closet”.  That is exactly what they need to do.  If they even exist.  I am hoping that is one of the outcomes of this experiment.  I am looking forward to the true Christian standing up and make their presents known.  If they exist, they certainly are not making themselves visible.

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March 29, 2009, 8:41 am by dc-agape.

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Surah 106: Al-Quraish: The Quraish

Surāh 98: Al-Bayyinah to this surāh are all linked.  One starts with a topic the last one ended with.  But at the same time they do stand alone.  I hope that reading these 8 surāh in the manner that I have adopted will not hamper my point of view.  For example surāh 105 reminds the reader about an invasion (that failed) during the Prophet’s birth year.  Surāh 106 reminds the reader of the benefits that those same people, who defended the Ka’bah (cyberistan.org), have received.  Before that, surāh 104 tells the reader about how those who are iniquitous are crushed. 

The Ka’bah is central to this surāh.  From time immortal (since Adam) the Arabian tribe of the Quraish had been the protectors of this building.  The Ka’bah was a place, even before the time of the Prophet, was a sacred place of pilgrimage.  So even though the Arabian tribes worshipped idols they recognized the importance of Adam, Abraham, and Ishmael. 

The pilgrims coming to the Quraish tribesmen gave Makkah a special honor.   As a result, this tribe did not have to deal with what other tribes had to deal with in greater Arabia.  The Quraish, of course, felt that this greater peace was given to them by a supernatural being.  This would make sense, because they also were not attacked when they went on business trips to Syria (during the summer) and Yaman (during the winter). 

The surāh ends with what the Quraish were granted at home in Makkah: plenty to eat and security from war.  The pilgrims brought extra trade to Makkah providing the Quraish with more trade than the other tribes.  At the same time, the Quraish were given more respect than the other tribes as well. 

I cannot quite get the importance of this surāh.  If it only applies to the actual Quraish, then this verse has little meaning to the majority of people who become Islamic.  In a way, it might be similar to how the Old Testament explains how YHWH protected his own “people”.  In this sense, Allāh did a much better job at protecting his people than YHWH did.  Throughout history the Israelites were banished from Israel numerous times.  If this surāh is intended for all believers (and not just the earthly Quraish), then I cannot say that Allah has not done as well at protecting and feeding his “people”.  So, in the end, I must assume that this protection and prosperity is only given to the actual Quraish.  Which then leads to two important question: why treat these people better? And why (knowing that only the Quraish are protected) would anyone want to convert to Islam?  I am obviously missing something culturally, by the Traditions of Men, or in translation.

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March 28, 2009, 9:52 am by dc-agape.

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Surah 107: Al-Mā’ūn: Acts of Kindness

The overall meaning of this revelation is something I wish more religious people understood.  Both the concept of helping others, like Hamas (LA Times) does for the sick, poor, and uneducated and the concept of hollow worship are important to more than religion.  But I do have a major bone to pick with how the Prophet defines religion. 

In the Qur’an, at least in this surāh, the definition of one who rejects religion (all religion) is someone who does not support the orphan and does not feed the needy.  There can be no misunderstanding here…by rejecting Islam one is also rejecting social services which Atheist and Humanist believe are critical to maintain.  So does this make Atheist and Humanist Muslim?  Of course it does not.  Both Atheist and Humanist do not believe in Allāh.  Yet both believe that social services are important.  This is at the cornerstone of my bone to pick.  The Prophet here is implying that non-religious people are also those who do not serve the downtrodden.  But one does not have to be religious to serve the poor.  So the link, that the Prophet was attempting to make, is incorrect. 

At the same time, if religion was about serving the poor and the orphan, Atheist would have no trouble at all with religion.  Instead many of us Atheist would flock to it.  But that is not the case; religion is not about serving the poor and helping the needy.  Religion is about saving your own personal soul by serving a supernatural being with arbitrary rules.  No matter how you “paint it”, that is the bottom line.  As a result, any good action done in the name of religion is hollow.  I can say this because the act was done due to a commandment you were told to follow.  You did not do it because it is the correct action to take.  There is no freewill under these conditions.  In religion you either do what you are told is the right thing to do or you suffer the “spiritual” consequence.  No wonder so many people are “unmindful of their prayer”.  In the US that is the same thing as “lip service” or “going through the motions”. 

Doing what is right, doing what is good for society must come from inside a person.  No religion or supernatural being can be the source of that desire.  When the source is exterior, then the action is based on false pretenses, it is hollow.  There is an ulterior motive for the action, in the case of religion; it is to “save your soul”.  Only by dumping the religious attitude and doing the act on your own freewill, without receiving the “get out of Hell” card, can any act truly be called good.

In the end, the Prophet was headed in the right direction.  Unfortunately, the link between religion and doing good does not exist.  And this leads to hollow acts done in the name of religion.  The true meaning of doing good is lost and people like me, a gay Atheist, are turned off by religion.  As the old Nike add use to say, “Just do it” (BlogSounds). 

I must admit reading the article I linked to at the top of this post does put Hamas in better light than most “Christian” social services.  Due to Hamas’ need for money they have separated their military/religious actions from their social services.  In doing so, they have also removed the proselytizing from their service.  Further, it has won the hearts and minds of the people, as the Hamas political victory shows.  Something that Christians might want to think about.

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March 28, 2009, 7:36 am by dc-agape.

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Since I am a gay Atheist it is useful to write and explain my personal beliefs as part of this experiment.  Having a balanced life is one of them.  Growing up three things strengthened this belief: family experiences, laws of the Southern States, and Dungeons and Dragons.  True I was a D&D™ fan.  I was also a Star Trek fan.  That show influenced other beliefs that will deserve a post to its self.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist/Presbyterian house.  One of the two is much more balanced than the other.  My mother was good at using daily experiences to show me the errors of actions (mine and other peoples) in an attempt to explain both forms of Christianity.  One of the first lessons on balance was about the difference between Southern Baptist (SB) and Presbyterian.  You see, in the early 1900’s SB went off the deep end: no drinking, no card playing, no dancing.  As with the Prohibition of the 20’s this was unsustainable to society.  After awhile the SB relaxed (a little) and began to allow these “sinful” acts.  But knowing the history made me question the “extreme” conditions of that religion, and later all religions.  Alcoholism and workaholics were two more of the lessons I learned about.  I was reminded on many occasions that my family had a history of both these conditions.  I was taught from an early age that I would be forced to confront those conditions and may even have to fight them my entire life.  I saw first-hand the damage workaholics can do to themselves and their families.  The 70’s had a few economic crises of its own.  As a younger teenager I was constantly warned about the damage that alcohol could do to the liver.  As I became an older teenager the first cases of “date rape” were becoming sensationalized.  I saw that in both the case of workaholics and alcohol abuse it was due to not keeping an “even keel”.  I also was able to recognize that religious fervor was similar, simply by the fact that it lasted only a slight bit longer than the effects of alcohol or throwing yourself into work.  During high school I got to “enjoy” the SB revivals that occur each summer.  And each summer the same people re-committed themselves to the exact same “promises” that they had the year before.  For those unaware of SB revivals it is a spiritual New Year’s Day resolution that is required if you don’t want to go to hell.  In the end I saw that all three did not solve the daily or the life problems that one faces.  All three just cover it up and let their “victims” forget about those problems for short periods of time.  Unfortunately, those problems have to be dealt with.  Forgetting them does nothing but postpone the inevitable confrontation.  I recognized that all three were forms of procrastination.  Two of the three were acceptable forms of procrastination but all three were the same.  All three required the same approach: a balanced life.

The Southern States (and many others) have some very archaic laws on their books (dumblaws.com).  During high school I was introduced to some of the laws that no one had bothered to remove.  It was exceedingly funny, until I realized that if someone wanted to pursue legal action, based on those laws, nothing could stop them.  This line of thought brought me to realize how humans try to control each other by arbitrary definitions of law.  Just take a look at that link to dumblaws.com; some of those laws are exceedingly precise to the point of it could only have happened once.  These laws were obviously someone’s pet peeve and that someone was powerful enough to make it a law.  In the end it taught me that you cannot control a society simply by writing a new law.  Using alcohol again, Prohibition is one of the best examples of this being true.  By this time I had also been exposed to both George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.  The concept of a totalitarian society was a catalyst for me to recognize that again balance was required.  These two separate but similar experiences, the dumb laws and the totalitarian society, could only be challenged by learning to live a balanced life.

So how does D&D™ fit in?  In the game there are 9 “alignments”.  Think of them as steps from being purely lawful and good to purely chaotic and evil.  At both extremes even one “falling of the boat” is disastrous.  I slowly learned the concept of “neutral” was not avoiding confrontation.  In fact, in the game pure neutral sometimes required as much work to maintain as the purely lawful good or the purely chaotic evil.  But in the neutral alignment you had the opportunity to re-align.  Using that alignment you were allowed to do both good and evil acts and both lawful and chaotic acts.  This made sense to me; it hit a deep nerve that resonated throughout my young mind.  But at the center of the concept of neutral was also the concept of balance – a balanced life. 

So I combined all the experiences I that I saw and recognized how each was damaging not just to the individual or family but to society as well.  The extremism of religion, alcohol, and work had major consequences.  Each avoided the “here-and-now”.  The dumb laws and the concept of totalitarian society did the same thing, except on a larger scale.  These were where the government avoided the “here-and-now”.  The concept of neutrality, not as avoidance, but as something to strive for could eliminate the consequences of these extremisms.  To say the least, living a purely “neutral” life by balancing both good and evil and law and chaos is not the optimal choice.  Today I lean towards what the game calls neutral good.  Some laws need to be broken, others should be held up at any cost.  But doing good for society and for individuals is always preferred.  Defining what is “good” for society, well, humankind is still trying to figure that one out.

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March 27, 2009, 7:57 am by dc-agape.

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Surāh 108 Al-Kauthar: The Abundance of Good

I was hoping that this surāh was about the abundance of good in the world.  And with the first reading it would seem that was not the case.  In fact, reading just the revelation is full what Atheists call “woo”.  But in this particular set of commentaries M Muhammad Ali does give it a very realist and logical meaning.  This surāh is about obtaining good and what is required to bring “the abundance of Good” to humankind.  Two things are required: the desire to do good, and the willingness to actually follow through with the act of doing good. 

Since this is a spiritual text, the desire to do good “only” comes from prayer.  This prayer then leads to a supernatural being giving humans the desire to do good.  As a gay Atheist I can tell you, without doubt, that prayer is not required nor is a supernatural being required to gain the desire to do good.  Meditation is not even required.  What is required is understanding the “big picture”.  When a person even thinks about lying, stealing, cheating, etc all one needs to do is a rapid calculation of the odds and the consequences.  How likely is the act that will harm someone else going to be linked back to the perpetrator?  What is the consequence of this act to the “victim”?  What consequences are there for the perpetrator?  Even just thinking about these three questions the answer comes immediately, faster than I can write the question, and to most people faster than you can read the questions.  Intellectually we know that an action that will hurt someone else will have consequences.  Intellectually we know that that same action will be traced back to the person who did the action.  Intellectually we also know that we will not be able to remove the nagging little thing called a “conscience” (dictionary.com) from the back of own mind.   But yes, it is true, that many people have “killed” that part of their thought pattern.  But we just need look at many of our religion leaders to realize that “conscience” does not come from a supernatural being.  It comes directly from our own personal experiences.  We know what it feels like to be lied to, we know what it feels like to have something stolen from us, and we know how much our own conscience will nag us.  We also know what the thought of death feels like.  In the end we know that we will regret the harmful act.  It might not be today, or even tomorrow, but our conscience plays a hard ball, its weight only increase with time.  This weight is cumulative.  When it reaches a “critical” weight, for whatever reason, each person must deal with it in their own personal way.  Many turn to religion.  Religion tells us that we are “helpless” without a supernatural beings intervention.  By the time we reach this “critical” weight it certainly feels like we are helpless.  And unfortunately each person’s “critical” weight is different.

Christianity does have something that is right; we must remember what it was like as a child.  As a child each act was overwrought with imagined outcomes.  Many of these outcomes are were so outlandish that we soon discard those as either unlikely or impossible.  Here the Prophet is also correct; we must have a desire to do good.  Many people lose the desire to do good due to the “must have” syndrome.  This syndrome is the need for power, money, attention, other people’s respect, to forget past actions, etc.  This syndrome also becomes overpowering and all consuming.  It leads to workaholics, alcoholics, and many “dastardly deeds”.  But by the time the syndrome is this sever, prayer will not “save” the person and neither will a supernatural being.  An exterior source is required, but it usually comes in the form of personal tragedy “a wake-up call”. 

The second requirement that is needed to have an abundance of good is the willingness to do what it takes to accomplish good.  The Prophet calls this sacrifice.  And it usually is a sacrifice.  One must face the truth, which may be painful personally or to someone important to the individual.  One example of this is the cases where one must admit a shortcoming to a loved one, to co-workers, or to the “boss”.  Another example of this is to either wait or not acquire a special object immediately.  Some people cannot control this “must have” and will steal, lie, and even kill to relieve this syndrome.  Here in the US it is what Arthur (Pop) Momand called “keeping up with the Joneses” (phrases.org).  As long as we use exterior sources of operational metrics (Wikipedia), such as the “Joneses” we will never be able to do good.  Doing good is never the “easy way”, but in the “big picture” the outcome is the best.  Minimizing the suffering of other people is always difficult, because it usually is the opposite of minimizing our own immediate suffering.  As a result the act of doing good is a personal sacrifice.

I always love it (the sense of irony) when reading something as short as this surāh (3 verses – 32 words) ends up leaving something like my post (880 words).

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March 25, 2009, 10:18 pm by dc-agape.

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Surāh 109 Al Kāfirūn: The Disbelievers

With little doubt this surāh is about polytheism.  Maulana Muhammad Ali makes it clear that a disbeliever was anyone who worshipped idols.  As a result, the revelation of this surāh is most definitely out-of-date for most of the world.  If you want to push the issue…this surāh could include the Trinity of Christianity and the US worship of the Almighty Dollar. 

Basically, the gist of this surāh is how those who serve Allāh are different than those who do not.  The followers of Islam serve a different supernatural being than the other people do.  Do to this, those who worship and follow Allah will receive recompense.  Oddly, this revelation of the Prophet says the exact same thing of the Disbeliever…they will receive recompense.  The definition of recompense (Dictionary.com) is “to repay or reward”.  The English translation does not differentiate positive or negative reward in this surāh.

Since this surāh applies to polytheism and has a lack of differentiation, this revelation is meaningless to both Atheist and Christians.  Neither group receives any new concept from this surāh.  Even the Hinduism religion is left wondering what recompense they will receive.  It turns out a Hindu proverb says:

Success comes to those who make sincere efforts.

This quote tells the followers of Hinduism the exact opposite of what the meaning of surāh 109 attempts to imply.  When different religions contradict each other, no one changes their minds.  That, of course, is the problem with any disagreement (religious or not).  Without significant, overwhelming evidence no difference can ever be overcome.  In the end no religion can provide that significant, overwhelming evidence.  Many have vague verses like surāh 109; others claim that something exists after death.  In both cases, no evidence is present.  Even the evidence that is provided is so ambiguous that contradictions exist.  Since religion is unchanging it does not have the mechanisms to adjust to these conditions.  Only science has the mechanism to adjust to these problems.  That mechanism is the ability to adjust to new information.  But when science is faced with “unchanging” religion neither wins.  It is impossible for science to adjust to the unchanging, for when that happens it is no longer science.

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March 25, 2009, 8:57 am by dc-agape.

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Surāh 110 Al-Nașr: The Help

In the commentaries we are told that this was the last revelation to the Prophet.  As a result, he has experienced the massive influx of believers from across the all the Arabian nations.  Even with this great paradigm shift, this revelation is directed at requesting help from the supernatural. 

I find it surprising that M Muhammad Ali would “brag” about this accomplishment being such a “wonderful transformation”.  The reason I call it “bragging” is that if he believed there was a supernatural explanation for this, of course the outcome would be exactly this!  But I also call it bragging because he says that no other religion had affected so many people so quickly.  The comparison of Islam to other religions is slightly skewed in Islam’s favor.  Judaism was directed at one specific family.  Christianity was also slow because it was directed at the Jewish community.  If you look at the history of Buddhism (Buddhist Temples) you will see that it spread within 100 years to encompass most, if not all, of India.  This occurred 1000 years before the Prophet.  So using the words electrifying or rapid is exaggeration.  The expansion of Islam (barkati network) was carried out in a much more “brutal” fashion than these other three examples.  Christianity spread rapidly, within the lifetime of Paul (religious tolerance organization), to encompass the entire Mediterranean civilization as far as Asia Minor (The Known World – angelfire.com).

The “help” that the Prophet sought was three-fold.  First it was for himself.  He was asking for help to protect himself from becoming over elated by the swift progress of his revelations.  Second, he recognized that the new converts needed help.  They needed protection for both spiritual and physical harm.  Third, this revelation included help to the oppressors of the religion.  Helping the enemy to understand their error and even forgiveness for the crimes they had committed.

From an Atheistic point of view, these revelations and those of Christianity are not supernatural in origin.  Both men were changing the perspective of corrupt civilizations.  In the Islamic case, polytheism was rampage and lead to fragmentary communities.  In the case of Christianity, Israel was attempting to throw off the shackles of the “oppressive rule” of the Roman Empire.  Both needed something to unify the people, both needed something to give the people hope.  Just as when the Buddha came and created a paradigm shift in India, so too did Jesus and the Prophet.  Remember, the old religions were losing ground and could not explain the problems that were happening to the new generation of people.  Things had changed in all three societies, yet the old way of seeing the world had not changed.  The old religions were just “lip service” to how things were done in the past.  The same thing is occurring today.  Many “Christian” nations are no longer religious (Pew Global Attitudes Project).  And this has been happening for some time.  Just read this from William Butler Yeats in 1920:

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March 24, 2009, 7:52 am by dc-agape.

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Surāh 111 – Al-Lahab: The Flame

In this surāh, without reading the commentaries, it seems like any other religious person’s hope that their adversary is consumed with fire.  Modern day Christians use these same epitaphs on their enemies.  But a closer look shows a distinct similarity to Jesus’ own life:

Mark 3:21 When his family heard this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Mark 6:4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

What this show’s is that anyone who is attempting to create a paradigm shift (both Jesus and the Prophet) has a harder time convincing their relatives than the general public.  But this only makes sense.  Family members have known these men/women since childhood; the new adult role is more difficult for the family members to accept.  It takes a much longer time for family to see changes in relatives than people who have never met the individual.  That is why one of my mother’s sayings is so true:

“I would rather drown in water than in blood.”

The meaning of this quote is that being surrounded by friends is much more desired than being surrounded by family.  It incorporates the fact that friends can be so much more forgiving than family.  But it also incorporates that friends see the person you are today, where family sees you as the person you were.

Reading the commentary by M Muhammad Ali, there is a “higher” explanation than both of these.  Abū Lahab and his wife were the strongest vocal opposition that the Prophet faced in his lifetime.  But they also were opponents to the “Truth”.  The Prophet uses this surāh to explain how the forward motion of the “Truth” could not be stopped by human hands. 

With the wife of Abū Lahab there is an additional lesson.  Possibly the Prophet was describing how earthly riches were nothing compared to the inner worth that Allāh looks for.  This comes from the last verse:

111:5 Upon her neck a halter of twisted rope!

In the Prophet’s time it was known that Abu Lahab was rich.  The Prophet describes the necklaces worn by the wife of Abu Lahab as a “halter of twisted rope”.  How I wish the Christians in the US recognized this spiritual concept!  Jesus taught the same thing, yet no Christian in the US gives up their earthly possessions to find “spiritual meaning” in their lives.  I would not be surprised if it is not the same in most Islamic communities as well.

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