Miss Buddha (111 page)

God eventually grew tired of this ongoing
perversion of law, and so contacted Muhammad (via Gabriel) and
handed him the last and perfect version of a legal code that
balances the spiritual teachings with the societal law, and which,
therefore, supplants the Jewish and Christian codes.

The upshot: The Islamic
code, called
Sharia
, is the final code, one that will continue to address the
needs of humanity in its most developed stages, for all time to
come.

The Qur’an actually mentions 28 pre-Islamic
prophets and messengers, and Islamic belief maintains that God has,
in fact, sent tens of thousands of prophets to various peoples
since the beginning of creation.

Some of the Qur’anic prophets are familiar
from the Hebrew Bible, but others are never mentioned in the Bible
and seem to be prophetic figures from pre-Islamic Arabia.

For the Muslim then, Islamic history unfolds
a perfect and divine scheme starting with creation and lasting till
the end of time. Creation itself is seen as the realization of
God’s will. God created humans to worship Him, and human history is
sprinkled with prophets to ensure that the world will never lack
for knowledge of proper worship of their creator.

The dispatching of prophets is itself
understood to be an act of God’s mercy, for God, the creator and
sustainer, never abandons his creations, and he always provides his
subject human beings with the guidance they need for their
salvation in this world and for entry into the one to follow.

God is just, and his justice does entail
informing humanity, through prophets, of how to act and what to
believe before he holds them accountable for their actions and
beliefs.

However, once people receive the teachings
of prophets and messengers—i.e., God’s word—His justice also
involves punishment of those who—now well informed of what to do
and what not to do—do wrong or do not believe, while he will reward
those who do right and do believe.

Although God is seen as an exacting but just
task master, Muslims also believe that God’s most fundamental
attribute is mercy. That, at heart, He is understanding (though
never forgiving), and that He does go the extra mile to keep his
subject well-informed as to law and ritual—about how to behave.

Still, it is also well understood that He
will not tolerate insubordination and non-compliance with his
wishes.

Humanity’s Relationship to God

According to Islamic
tradition and belief, in addition to sending a string of prophets
culminating in Muhammad, God also manifests his mercy by dedicating
all of His creation to
the exclusive use
and service of humankind
.

Islamic traditions hold that God brought the
world (and the universe) into being for the benefit of his
creatures; however, His mercy toward humanity is further manifested
in the privileged status God gave to humans.

According to both the
Qur’an and to later traditions, God appointed humankind as his vice
regents, or
caliphs
, on earth, entrusting them with the grave responsibility of
fulfilling his scheme for creation.

This Islamic concept of humanity’s
privileged position in the eyes of God does (and rather radically)
depart from the early Jewish and Christian interpretations of the
Fall from Paradise that underlie the Christian doctrine of original
sin.

According to the Bible, Adam and Eve fell
from Paradise as a consequence of disobeying God’s prohibition (not
to eat any fruit from the tree of Knowledge—which in my view is
God’s Great Hint for us not to get too tangled up in the voices of
our senses and the facts they seem to provide).

As a result of this disobedience, all of
(then existing, e.g. Adam and Eve) humanity is cast out of Paradise
as punishment.

Based on this seminal event, Christian
theologians developed the doctrine that humankind is born with this
(original parental) sin branded on their souls.

Christians further believe that Jesus Christ
came to redeem humans from this act of disobedience (original sin)
to allow humankind to return to God at the end of time.

In contrast, and with a bit of revisionist
history (or updated by Gabriel for Muhammad’s ear and benefit), the
Qur’an maintains that after their initial disobedience, Adam and
Eve did in fact successfully repent and so were forgiven by
God.

Consequently, Muslims believe that the
descent by Adam and Eve to earth from Paradise was indeed not a
fall, but an honor bestowed on them by God; and to reward them,
Adam and all of his progeny were appointed as God’s messengers and
vice regents, and were all (till the end of time) entrusted by God
with the guardianship of the earth—making, according to Islamic law
and tradition, all other worldly beings subservient to
humankind.

A stretch, if you ask me.

The Inferiority of Angels

The nature of humankind’s relationship to
God is also clearly illustrated by comparing it with that of the
angels.

Islamic tradition has it
that angels were created from light. More specifically, an angel is
an immortal being that commits no sins (is incapable of committing
a sin) and serves as a guardian, as a
recorder of (human) deeds
, and as a
messenger-like link between God and humanity, well-illustrated by
Gabriel when he communicated God’s message to the prophet
Muhammad.

In contrast to humans, angels are incapable
of unbelief and always obey God—all, that is bar one: Satan, who
some followers of Islam view as an angel who was unusual in his
ability to defy God—while others view him as a jinn, or spirit
created by God from smokeless fire, who roamed among the
angels.

Despite these rather
superior (from God’s view) angelic traits, Islamic doctrine
nonetheless holds that
humans are superior
to angels
; for according to Islamic
traditions, God entrusted humans (and not angels, mind you) to keep
an eye on the Earth for him, and He apparently also commanded the
angels to prostrate themselves before Adam.

Now, Satan, along with the other angels,
didn’t quite see eye to eye with God’s appointment of fallible (and
mortal, for heaven’s sake) humans to the honorable position of
vice-regency. Being a strict and fervent monotheist, Satan
out-and-out disobeyed God and refused to prostrate himself before
Adam or anyone else (but God). For this sin, Satan was doomed
(ordered) to lead human beings astray until the end of the time. A
task he seems to have taken to with vim and vigor.

Lastly, according to the Qur’an, God
informed the angels that he had endowed humans with knowledge
angels could not acquire (though it’s not clear what this knowledge
was).

Methinks not.

Islamic Theology

Pretty much since Islam’s
inception, Muslim theologians have debated (rather than
intuiting or knowing
,
mind you) the subjects of justice and mercy as well as God’s other
attributes.

Initially, Islamic theology
developed, and was articulated through
debates with Christians and Jews
, but
as their expressions of the basic doctrines of Islam grew
increasingly complex, Muslim theologians turned to debating
different interpretations of the Qur’an among themselves, and
so—without external distractions—came to develop the foundations of
Islamic theology.

One of these internal theological debates
focused on the question of free will and predestination. One group
of Muslim theologians maintained that because God is just, he can
and will only create good; only humans can create evil.

Otherwise, this group argued, God’s
punishment of humans would be unjust because he himself created
their evil deeds. However, this particular view was rejected by
other Muslim theologians on the grounds that it would limit the
scope of God’s creation, while the Qur’an clearly states that God
is the sole creator of everything that exists in the world.

Of course, humans, if
truly
created
by
God, would have no say in whether or not they created good or evil,
but I believe this point was (and remains) rather lost on most
debaters.

Another controversial issue that has kept
the debaters busy down the centuries was the question whether the
Qur’an was eternal or created in time.

Theologians devoted to the
concept of God’s oneness maintained that the Qur’an
must
have been created in
time, or the Qur’an would otherwise be as eternal as God—and only
God is truly eternal. This view was refuted by others because the
Qur’an itself (the final word in Islam) states in many places, and
in no uncertain terms (as in unambiguously), that it is
the eternal word of God
.
So it must be eternal.

 
Abu al-Hasan
al-Ash’ari

These and many other
theological controversies kept many a Muslim thinker busy for the
first few centuries of Islam, but by the 10
^th
century the views of Islamic
theologian al-Ashari and his followers, known as Asharites, finally
prevailed and were subsequently adopted by most Muslims.

al-Ashari resolved the
question of free will by arguing that no human act could occur if
God does not will it, and that God’s knowledge encompasses all that
was, is, or will be—thus maintaining that it is
God’s will to create in humans the power to make free
choices
.

This, in my view, is a mental
sleight-of-hand on God’s part, and not a very convincing one
either; for even if He grants the power to humans to make
self-determined choices, humans are nonetheless created, and God is
nonetheless responsible for all that His creations do.

My view notwithstanding, according to
al-Ashari God (by placing himself at arm’s length, so to speak, of
what humans might be up to) is therefore just (and justified) to
hold humans accountable for their actions.

This, and other views of al-Ashari and his
school gradually grew dominant in Sunni, or orthodox, Islam, and
they still prevail among most Muslims.

The tendency of the Sunnis, however, has
been to tolerate and accommodate minor differences of opinion and
to emphasize the consensus of the community in matters of
doctrine.

As is the case with any religious group, the
Muslim on the street is not all that concerned with detailed
theological controversies, and never has been. For ordinary Muslims
the central belief of Islam is in the oneness of God and in his
Prophets and Messengers, culminating in Muhammad. End of Muslim
story.

Most Muslims believe the scriptures that God
conveyed through these Messengers, in particular the truth and
content of the Qur’an; and whatever their specific religious
practices, most Muslims also believe in angels, in the Day of
Judgment, in heaven, in paradise, and in hell.

The Prophet Muhammad

The belief in Muhammad and his message ranks
second only to belief in the one God.

It is not known exactly what year Muhammad
was born, but most pin it around 570 CE. His was orphaned at an
early age and was eventually adopted and raised by his uncle, who
enjoyed religious prominence within the main Quraysh tribe of Mecca
but was of modest financial means.

At age 25, Muhammad married Khadija, a
well-to-do, 40-year-old woman. Fifteen years later, at age 40,
during a retreat in the hills outside Mecca, Muhammad had his first
mystical experience.

That was when (ostensibly) that the angel
Gabriel appeared to a fearful Muhammad and informed him that he,
Muhammad, was God’s chosen Messenger. Having gained his attention,
Gabriel then proceeded to communicate to Muhammad the first
revelation from God.

Once Gabriel had finished, and taken off,
Muhammad, terrified and shaken from this encounter, went home and
told Khadija all about it. She believed all Muhammad told her and
as a result became the first person to accept his message and
convert to Islam.

After a string of additional revelations,
Muhammad began preaching this new religion (as relayed to him by
Gabriel), initially to a small circle of relatives and friends, but
gradually to a larger and larger audience of the general
public.

Muhammad’s general public was that of Mecca,
and at first it ignored, then ridiculed him. But as more and more
people accepted Muhammad’s call, the vested interest of Mecca (who
felt threatened by Muhammad’s growing popularity) grew more
aggressive and after failing to sway Muhammad away from his new
religion they began persecuting his less prominent followers.

When this approach had little or no effect
upon Muhammad’s onward march, the opposing Meccans decided to
persecute Muhammad himself, which made his life not only
uncomfortable but perilous.

At this time, however, the clan leaders of
the two main tribes of the city of Yathrib, about 200 miles north
of Mecca, invited Muhammad to live there in the role of impartial
religious authority to arbitrate disputes. In return, was Muhammad
to accept, these leaders pledged to accept Muhammad as a prophet
and would thus support the new religion of Islam.

Medina

Justifiably fearing for his safety, Muhammad
then, in the year 622, immigrated to Yathrib, and not long
thereafter the name of the city was changed to Medina, meaning city
of the Prophet.

This date was later designated by Muslims as
the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

Only two years after Muhammad’s arrival in
what was now Medina, the core community of Muslims started to
expand, and in Medina, in addition to preaching the religious and
moral message of Islam, Muhammad also took to organizing an Islamic
society (based on his revelations) and appointed himself head of
state, diplomat, military leader, and chief legislator for the now
his growing Muslim community.