Day 10 & 11

Thinking today about the character of God in the Qur’an. Well, the character of God, gods, or goddesses in any religious tradition. I know I use the word “God” here, but there are characteristics between the God of Islam and the God of Christianity that are distinct. I know some people like to say they’re all the same thing, but I’m with Stephen Prothero in affirming the distinctness and, at times, irreconcilability of different understandings of God/god/gods/goddesses. I think it’s important to notice difference instead of glossing over it and minimizing each tradition.

The God described in Islam is absolute. There is nothing you can do, think, say, experience, etc without God being involved. It’s fuzzy if God is involved in sin or evil in any way, but in the very least God is somehow in-the-know. It’s at once terrifying, amusing, bewildering, puzzling, and somewhat comforting to think of a deity this way. I’m used to how the Christian God is involved in the world, which is more of a balancing act. Here, in Islam, God is much more front and center. I’m not saying one is right or wrong nor am I saying I have the interpretation right. It’s just interesting to take stock of how deities or ultimate concerns or grounds of being or great spirit/mystery/etc interact with the world. It has me asking: how does my own understanding of the divine operate in our world?

Things I Noticed in the Text

1. Surah 31:1, God is described as the Sole Originator. The names of God are plenty in this the Qur’an, and they all point toward the absoluteness of God. It feels like Christianity and Judaism have a more “God is hands off in certain areas” mentality, whereas Islam makes it clear: Everything is because of God.
2. Surah 36:33, An interesting image contrasting the “dead earth” and the appearance of life as a proof of resurrection. It both alludes to the creation and to the seasonal rebirth every year.
3. Surah 37:8, “They cannot listen to the angels of the transcendent assembly for they are pelted from every side by meteors…” This verse is in reference to Iblis (Satan) and his fallen angels. Kinda loving the whole flinging meteors at Satan thing.
4. Surah 39, A lotta hell and judgement here. I’ve read some commentaries that are quick to say: “Yeah the Qur’an mentions hellfire a lot, but…there’s always forgiveness just before that.” Sure, I guess that works.
5. Surah 44:10-15, What feels like a more specific eschaton than the several other “Y’all gonna burn” verses. Here there’s a mysterious smoke that appears in the sky during the end times and reveals the disbelievers. Almost like a reverse rapture?
6. Surah 49:11, Hey, you, no scoffing! Yeah, you!

This post is part of a larger series where I read the entire Qur’an in ~21 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.