Commentary on Final Testament 2:40-53 ,Rashad Khalifa translation.
Divine Commandments to All Jews: "You Shall Believe in This Quran."
Rashad Khalifa puts titles in his translation of the Qur’an to mark off different subject matters. The title above the section of his translation beginning with 2:40 is quite interesting. “Divine commandment to all Jews: You shall believe in this Quran.” Is there a divine commandment for Jews to believe in the Quran? It would seem that for Orthodox Islam that this is so obvious that it does not need to be said. But is the title appropriate to surah 2:40? Moreover, is Rashad Khalifa’s proposition of this divine commandment consistent with a Quran-only methodology and his concept of salvation?
The Qur’an is a universal message for mankind, Jew and gentile are both included in the message. One cannot however fail to notice that the children of Israel or those of Jewish faith are mentioned more than other people. The prophet Moses is mentioned several times in the Qur’an while the name Muhammad is only mentioned in 4 places The Qur’an often mentions historical incidents of the Jewish people to illustrate different lessons. The Qur’an is well known to criticize the behavior on a number of occasions and this a well known subject of controversy. The Qur’an mentions for example the stubbornness of the Jews to accept the revelations to Muhammad. The Jews are often cited for violating commandments and even killing their prophets. The arrogance of the children of Israel and their belief in being superior to all other peoples is known. What we can say for the time being is that much of the critique involving the Jews is actually levelled at Muslims themselves, but unfortunately Muslim scholars failed to understand this. The ulemas copied the behavior of the Jews in their arrogance. So when the Muslim scholars read the Qur’an’s stories concerning the Jews they assumed the Qur’an was admonishing the Jews when in reality the Qur’an was admonishing the Muslim ummah themselves! The Jews are merely mentioned as subjects of the conversation which is really directed at Arabs How could the so-called Ummah be wrong when they are God’s chosen people? The arrogance that destroyed Israel as a nation is destroying the Muslims as we speak!
Whatever Dr. Rashad Khalifa’s faults, he was not conceived to be anti-Semitic by anyone. I would hope that Dr. Khalifa’s students would share in my understanding of the verses concerning the Jews even if they don’t accept what else I have to say. Dr. Khalifa at least shared in my conclusion even if he did not provide a specific exegesis of those verses. For example, a number of times in his Newsletters, Dr. Khalifa said that God had taken favor away from the Arabs and blinded them to the message of the “mathematical” miracle of the Qur’an. Dr. Khalifa’s criticisms of the Arabs reminds one of St. Paul’s statement about the Jews being blinded to the message of Jesus Christ. The failure of the Arabs or Muslims in general to follow the message can certainly be derived from the lessons given about the Jews.
Is a Jewish person obligated to convert to Islam? An orthodox Islamic answer is in the affirmative to no one’s surprise and shares the evangelical project of Christianity. The issue of Jews converted to another religion is contentious due to the history of forced conversion and the painful memory anti-Semitism left behind. Most of Jewish history centered in Europe but Jews at one time had lived in the Muslim world and the history was not always bright but better than Europe. Any people would see conversion to another religion as a betrayal but for Jews its not just a mere change of one’s beliefs about metaphysical speculations that one adopts, as a Jew who converts to another religion is leaving his/her people. The French Jewish philosopher Henri Bergson was intently interested in Catholicism and summoned a priest to perform last rites but he himself never adopted the faith. Bergson did not want to see his conversion as a way to escape Nazi persecution since and instead choose to heroically stick it out his time with other Jews. There is a certain element of caution one should take when discussing the topic of Jewish conversion.
The notion that the Jews are “Commanded” to believe in the Qur’an may enhance the validity of false historical notions that are used against Islam such as the fate of the bani Qurayza after the victory of Badr. The fate of this Jewish tribe that allegedly lost 900 men to execution remains contentious history. But some folks with a shallow understanding of history claim that the Jews were massacred because they refused to believe in Muhammad’s claims to the apostleship. The general story about Muslims contact with Jews was one of Muhammad’s anger and desire for revenge as a result of disbelief remains a constant refrain. There is little truth to these myths and for whatever happened at Qurayza, no Muslim historian writes that it was an attack based on belief.
Rashad Khalifa wrote his translation of the Qur’an by using a Qur’an only principle, in which hadiths and traditional assumptions were allegedly ignored. In reality Dr. Khalifa kept in tact many traditional assumptions of Sunni Islam that one would expect for him to discontinue. But for now we want to further are enquiry into Rashad’s basis for the “Commandment” of the Jews to believe the Qur’an. Before we look at the specific verse 2:40, it would be necessary to ask a general question such as how Dr. Khalifa understands salvation.
Dr. Khalifa often said that all people who 1)belief in God, 2) believe in Judgement day) and 3) act righteously are able to go heaven based on reading 2:62. What made Dr. Khalifa unique was that he defined those 3 principles as defining for the religion of Islam/ submission to God. Thus one is a Muslim who submits to God by believing those 3 principles. So far we would assume that Dr. Khalifa was a universalist who had a liberal view of understanding the Qur’an but he was far from it! Dr. Khalifa also believed that using the name of anyone other than God in pray would make one guilty of idolatry. This would place 99.99% of Muslims in hell for reasons that lack coherency. (We would wander what Dr. Khalifa would think of the Amidah prayers in which the names of the patriarchs are mentioned.) But more importantly, Dr. Khalifa believed that secondary to revelation such as hadith condemned one to hell if believed or used for religious purpose. Dr. Khalifa was insistent that believing in the Talmud would put the Jewish believer in the same rank as a hadith believer for example. Dr. Khalifa’s understanding of salvation would definitely not appeal to Jewish folks. Perhaps a Karaite would meet the criteria of salvation according to Dr. Khalifa since they believe in the Torah and reject the Talmud,( although they have their own traditions and customs that may be classified as a “karaite” Talmud. But that is another story.)
Let us return to the 13 verse in question. In the first verse (2:40) God is speaking to the Jews in order to remind them of the blessings they received. They are specifically reminded about the nature of the covenant with it’s provisions which are based on both God and Israel’s requirements to fulfill. The Torah makes it clear that the blessings granted to Israel are conditional; that is dependent on the good works performed by the Jews. This notion was forgotten by the Jews even during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. By this time, the Jews believed that since they are the chosen people of God that that their physical and spiritual salvation was guaranteed. This notion is still persistent today but Allah in the Qur’an reminds the Jews that a clear reading of the Torah does not reveal such a notion of unconditional grace.
After reminding Israel to recall the nature of the divine covenantal relationship, the Jews are advised to believe in “what I have revealed herein.” (2:41) This appears to be the strongest possibility to what Dr. Khalifa has in mind when he uses the term “commandment” in reference to the Jews need to believe in the Torah. The Jews with preconceived notions of unconditional grace may have been startled by the admonishment offered through the Prophet Muhammad. But God explains in the Qur’an that the Jews (not just God) have a role in fulfillment of the covenant is not just an empty claim from the Qur’an but from the Torah itself “confirming what you have.” So the Jews are warned in 2:41 and 42 to not reject the contemporary revelations in Quranic form since they are from the same divine source.
The following four verses (2:43-46) encourage the Jews towards practical worship with a brief admonishment. First the Jews are told to complete obligatory prayers (salat) and give obligatory charity (zakat., 2:43) The nation of Israel is warned not to act hypocritical by telling other people to act righteous while they do not (2:44.) Obligatory prayers are mentioned again as a means of seeking help and also noted for being difficult for those who exclude reverence towards their Lord. 2:45,46.)
The fact that the Jews are provided with special blessings, unique to them is specified again in 2:47. The Jews are reminded about the general blessings but also warned that all people will be responsible for their actions during God’s judgement (2:48.) The next five verses (2:49-53)remind that Jews of the Exodus story the Jews rebelled against God despite having been saved from Pharaoh. Yet God pardoned the Jews after that terrible incident. The last verse in the section states that God gave the people of Moses the kitab and furqan (“scripture and the statute book”, per Rashad) for the purpose of guidance. The mention of the kitab and furqan as a form of guidance is meant to be a lesson to Israel about how God is guiding Israel and the gentiles today through the Qur’an.
Is it a “commandment” to believe in the Qur’an? Dr. Khalifa did not put belief in the Islamic holy writ as a criteria for salvation in his understanding of Surah 2:62 (only 9 verses subsequent to the section reviewed.) Dr. Khalifa limits salvation and the definition of a Muslim to those who fulfill the three principles in this verse. These principles alone do not lay out any commandment explicitly to believe in the Qur’an. But of course there is a contextual analysis of the Qur’an here that is owed but for the moment we only want to address Dr. Khalifa’s claims in regards to his understanding of “commandment.” Elsewhere as we said that Dr. Khalifa’s stated that rejection of secondary sources (hadith, Talmud)was necessary just as acceptance of his “mathematical miracle” was for salvation.
Is a “commandment to believe” in the Qur’an or anything else for that matter? A learned Jewish person would be perplexed by Dr. Khalifa’s section title because of the debate whether or not faith is “commanded.” The whole idea of faith being a commandment was debated by Jewish authorities for centuries. Maimonides, the towering 13th century giant in Jewish philosophy and law, lists belief in God as a commandment. However not everyone agreed with him. Nachmanides, a near contemporary living in France explicitly denied belief in God as a commandment and uses this analogy to prove his case: "The king refuses, explaining: 'First the populace must accept me as their monarch, and only after that is it possible to rule.' "( https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5153801/jewish/Is-It-a-Mitzvah-to-Believe-in-G8209d.htm) In the view of Nachmanides which was also shared by earlier rabbis from the Gaonic period, belief in God is not a commandment, although it is expected as the basis for participation in the other commandments of God and considered necessary for salvation.
Defining what a commandment is would ultimately be necessary to answering the question on whether it is “commanded” to believe. In everyday language the term command refers to some compulsory action that one must take such as a solder being commanded to lead a march. But does the Qur’an la an such obligation out for belief? The Qur’an says the exact opposite: [2:256] “There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in GOD has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.” So there does not appear to be a command to believe anything in the Qur’an. To say that the Jews are “commanded to believe” in the Qur’an itself is contradictory to what the Qur’an says in Surah 2:256. This is true at least in the definition of “Commandment” we use in colloquial English.
Of course we are told several times in the Qur’an to obedience. The Quran says to “obey God and His messenger (4:59.) But this obedience is understood by all authorities as an after fact of freely accepting of Islamic belief. I suppose one could understand the obedience in this sense as a “command” but as far as the Qur’an is concerned the “commands” are for specific actions and not beliefs. To return to Judaism, there are allegedly 613 commandments to follow and the Hebrew word “mitzvot” is understood in the way as compulsory action one must take. But all these commandments were given at the acceptance of the Torah freely by Israel on Mount Sinai. See Exodus 24:7. There is a minor rabbinical opinion that the Torah was not freely accepted, a story for another time)
The 13 verses provided by Dr. Khalifa do not reflect a “commandment” to believe in the specific sense we would use the term in contemporary English or the working definition of mitzvot in Jewish law. But to make matters more complicated, the term mitzvot is not always limited to the strict definition of commandment. Colloquially is used to mean simply a “good deed.” This definition of mitzvot is often mistaken as being incorrect but there is traditional evidence for it. The Talmud says for example , "It is a mitzvah that the two goats of Yom Kippur be equal in their appearance height and value — and they should be purchased at the same time. (Yoma 58)” The rabbis here are using “mitzvot” in the sense of a practice being better and not in the strict sense of a “Commandment from God.” The word mitzvot comes from the Aramaic term “tzava” which literally means “to attach, join.” (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1438516/jewish/Mitzvah.htm) If mitzvot is defined in a more expansive way based on the Torah and sages, we can perhaps accommodate a more general idea of “Commandment” that encompasses not simply prescribed actions but something that is highly recommended. It is in the sense we can say from the Qur’an’s perspective that a Jew is “ commanded” to believe in it.
If a Jew is “commanded” to believe in the Qur’an does that obligate a Jew to convert to islam? A traditional answer will be yes. It seems that Dr. Khalifa argued as such as well. But the obligation of accepting the truth of Islam and adopting Islam are however two different things. Where for example does it say anywhere in the Qur’an that a Jew must “convert” to Islam? On the contrary, most of the admonishments towards the Jews are for NOT following their own Torah. If we are to take a “Quran-only “approach, which is what Dr. Khalfia claims to do, then we would have trouble making a case for Jews, or people of the book, to convert.
I would expect a “submitter” to make two arguments to the notion that Jews are not obligated to convert to Islam. In the first place they may argue that the Jews are informed of the need to perform Salat and Zakat (2:43,45) But what salat or zakat is the Qur’an referring to? The Jews have the principle of obligatory charity already called Tzedeka (a cognate of zakat.) They also perform obligatory daily prayers called Amidah (or the shemone Esreh) three times a day. A “submitter” may argue that current Jewish and Christian practices (not to mention the Muslim ones) are not in accord with that established by Abraham as Dr. Khalifa believed that the 5 times salat with each the number of bows, stances, prostrations and cycles all came from Abraham. Well Dr. Khalifa could make that argument but it may not convince anyone who does not already follow him.
In our perspective a Jew is required to believe in the Qur’an, which serves as a message that has the followers of Torah in mind about what they need to do to ensure God’s grace. But it is silly to use the term “Commandment” to believe in the Qur’an. Surah 2:41 asks the Jews to “ believe in what I have revealed herein,.” What is “revealed herein” is certainly includes the Qur’an but it does not specifically mention the Quran. What is “revealed” is whatever God reveals to people in time and place. So if a revelation after the Qur’an is sent, the Jew or gentile would both be obligated to believe in that revelation in addition to the Qur’an based on what the Qur’an “alone” teaches. This notion may be controversial to some traditional folks and even followers of Dr. Khalifa himself, but I cannot understand the Qur’an in any other way. And God knows best.
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