Does History Lie?

April 17, 2009, 2:09 pm by dc-agape.

Surāh 89 – Al-Fajr: The Daybreak

I will start each post on the Qur’an with a link to M Mohammad Ali’s translation of the Qur’an with his commentaries. 

Duality and warning of disaster are again used in this surāh.  I find the examples of Divine wrath quite interesting: ‘Ād, Thamūd, and Egypt.  First, no knowledge has been recorded of the destruction of ‘Ād or Iram.  In the book of Isaiah 17:3 there is a possible reference to this place as Damascus.  But here a remnant would survive and become as glorious as the Israelites.  Other than legend, no proof that “sin” was the cause of any harm to these people or this place.  In fact, if the Jewish account is correct, Damascus has flourished.  Even though the city has been in the hands of Israel, Assyrians, and now Muslim influence.  Many legends abound, but the actual place and the history of its destruction is just that: legend.  The Thamūd incident I covered in my post on Surāh 91: Devine Power.  But here again, the destruction of the Thamūd society is legend.  It is true that the society was destroyed; in fact, the Encyclopedia Britannica indicates this society was most likely destroyed by volcanic activity.  But was this due to sin?  Can we say the same thing about Pompeii?  What about Mt Saint Helens in US?  Weren’t each of these places also warned about sin?  Volcanic activity is the exact same forces of nature as hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, and floods.  Any society that lives in the region of such powerful natural forces is bound to be destroyed.   Did the volcanic destruction of Thamūd occur three days after the warning…most likely not.  This story is just another example of how historic events can be changed into “moral” stories with religious overtones.  Finally, what about the Pharaoh of Egypt?  Which one?  Egypt has been one of the cradles of civilization and still exists today.  Was an entire society punished for one man’s ego?  The fall and rise of the Egyptian nation has been cyclical just like that of Italy, Greece, China, India, and Japan.  How can a person say that one particular fall in these cycles are due to the “sin” of the entire nation?  I will return to this concept numerous times: that it is just pure arrogance to assume that a supernatural being is watching and waiting to punish entire societies for specific people’s actions.  When natural disasters occur the innocent are punished right alongside the guilty.  In fact, the number of innocent people that are punished outweighs the guilty by a very large margin.  To claim that a supernatural being is the cause of the destruction of an entire society due to sin, only speaks of the brutality of that supernatural being.

I am glad that the Prophet brings up the concept of how humans become pompous when fortune smiles on them and how the same people believe that poverty is a disgrace.  Right this moment, in the US, the “rich” are bemoaning our new Presidents tax proposal.  They claim that it is their right to have the money and that government does not have the right to force them to give it to social programs.  Yet these same people are “Christian”.  These same people were perfectly fine with their tax money going to destroying Iraq, yet they cannot appreciate the needs of people in their own country!  Here again is a reason that Atheist, especially Ethical Humanist, find fault with religion.  The concept of “do as I say, not as I do” is dripping with hypocrisy. 

Again, we reach a point in this surāh where the lovely concept of “those evil doers will be punished” comes into play.  Yet again: I ask how do we know that they will be punished?  Will they really be punished in this life or the next?  Will they one day realize that they squandered their lives and money?  At best the answer is 50/50.  Some will and some won’t. 

But the closing verse is very poetic and the commentaries on it are inspiring.  As an Atheist, who is going to be punished by Allah or YHWH for my homosexual nature (which will not change – unless a supernatural miracle occurs), I can take the spiritual woo out of this last verse and see hope for the human condition.  M Ali comments on:

89:30 And enter My Garden!

He says this: the spiritual (third) stage of human existence is filled with delight, contentment, and comfort.  I can honestly say that I hope this on every living being.  I just wish it came earlier in life.  Many of my friends are suffering from the lack of such experiences in their lives.  I personally could wish for more comfort, but I am overfilled with delight and contentment.  Without doubt, I am living as close to heaven on earth as most people ever reach.  But I always wonder if this feeling (of heaven) is similar to a quote from the movie “The Broken Hearts Club”.  The reason I bring this up is that the quote from the movie from the character Jack (played by John Mahoney) states “You may think you are feeling love.  But if you really knew what love was, you’d know that you aren’t in love”.  How does this relate?  When I look back on past experiences I see that my present life is always better than my past.  I wonder where my life will lead me next?  But I know that it will be just like the movie quote: better than it is now and now is pretty good. 

I find it interesting that both the Buddha and the Prophet mention stages of human life.  Christianity does not have this concept, your either saved or you’re in damnation.  And the change between the two states is instantaneous.  So far from my readings I have not seen that the Jewish faith mentions either case.  I guess being the “Chosen People” means that you are already there, where ever there is.

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