This is a very worthwhile exercise, since (as his introduction explains,) picking up and reading the Qur'an in translation is very heavy going due to its wildly disjointed nature.
I haven't read many of the entries yet, but the latest one is of particular interest. It tells the Qur'an-ic story of Moses and Khidr (the "Green Man"), about which I had not previously heard.
The exact nature of the Green Man is unclear, but he is meant to be good (a saint perhaps) and teaches Moses a lesson by doing some weird, apparently pointless, things, and only explaining the hidden "good" reasons for his actions at the end. The lesson to take from it is this:
“There are paradoxes in life: apparent loss may be real gain; apparent cruelty may be real mercy; returning good for evil may really be justice and not generosity (18:79-82). Allah’s wisdom transcends all human calculation.”But, the part of the story that is disturbing is that one of Khidr's acts is this:
So they went on until, when they met a boy, he slew him. (Musa) said: Have you slain an innocent person otherwise than for manslaughter? Certainly you have done an evil thing.The explanation Khidr later gives is:
As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man). So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection.As Robert Spencer notes, it's not hard to see how such a story can be used to support, at least psychologically, the awful practice of honour killings in Muslim society.
I've been trying to think of some biblical story which is as offensive to me in quite the same way. I don't think God telling the Jews to be ruthless in attacking their enemies is the same (and besides which, Islam has the same issue.) The lesson about the nature of God in the Book of Job is, I suppose, similar to the Green Man's lesson, but it is not God who directly inflicts the evil that befalls Job. And of course, although Jesus at times spoke not coming to soothe families, but to break them up, one of the best known parables is that of the Prodigal Son. Of course, it is mainly about humans who return to the path of God, but you could also read it as encouraging forgiveness of parents towards their children.
No, I just can't see how you can read as being an "acceptable" metaphor or lesson the precautionary killing of a young man because he will upset his parents in the future by being rebellious.
Oddly, Robert Spencer doesn't really dwell on this aspect very much; in fact, in the comments following the post he makes it clear that he actually meant to convey that he "loves" this "wild story". (The next comment questions this, as do I.)
For this Easter season, I will stick to Christianity as an "objectively" better religion, thank you very much.
The ultimate in preemptive discipline?
ReplyDeleteMind you, one of the bits you quoted is a get-out-of-jail-free card for pretty much anything, isn't it:
“There are paradoxes in life: apparent loss may be real gain; apparent cruelty may be real mercy; returning good for evil may really be justice and not generosity (18:79-82). Allah’s wisdom transcends all human calculation.”
Any action can be justified if you attribute it to Allah's wisdom, rather than human ethics or morality.
I had quite forgotten that I had book marked Spencer's blog some time ago, with the intention of having a look every now and then ... now that I'm reminded, I'm not sure that I want to.
Steve
ReplyDeleteThe old testament has its share of verses that a christian might find disconcerting, as below
Deu 21:18 If a man has a son who is stubborn and rebels, who will not obey his father's voice or his mother's voice, even when they have chastened him he will not listen to them,
Deu 21:19 then his father and his mother shall lay hold on him and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place.
Deu 21:20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.
Deu 21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones so that he dies. So shall you put evil away from you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.
In defence of christianity, the new law that christ came to preach did away with the old law as in the above quote ,do no harm to any man he said, for this and many other reasons the pharises (religious teachers of the old law of moses)sent him to his death
Peter S
(serial lurker)
Yes Peter, there is heaps of stuff in the Old Testament God which is problematic to the modern mind. A strong tendency towards collective punishment, for one.
ReplyDeleteBut that's why I was careful to say "offensive in quite the same way". What is most troubling about this story is not only that it is pre-emptive punishment, but it suggests that causing embarrassment to your family is just as important as upsetting God.