Philadelphia Wins the World Series – Oh, Glory Day

I went to school in Philadelphia and am so happy that this city finally won a sports championship. I spent four years with millions of unhappy people, and Philly has waited a long time for this.

Congratulations Philadelphia and Phillies fans!

Quran Read-A-Long: The Cow 104-112 Provides Us With Some Familiar Things and Reminds Us that Everyone Can Have His Reward with God

Kick-off

Immediately in verse 105 I’m pleased by the distinction of “those without faith among the people of the Book.” I think that it complements something that we run in circles around week after week: that not all Jews (or Christians for that matter) are enemies of God. Only the ones who don’t believe in Him/have faith/etc.

Grace in Islam or a Bad Translation?

The concept of grace in this verse also interests me. Grace, at least in Christianity, implies that someone is saved by the grace of God, if you will, which is to say that as far as humans are concerned it’s a very fanciful (I dare say, almost whimsical) thing on God’s part: almost Job-ian (and not the Job portrayed in the Quran but the Job that we see in the biblical book of Job which has different lessons). Perhaps my translation is crummy, or as Kay suggested last week I need to be looking at multiple translations, but putting aside my preconceived notions regarding the concept of grace, I think it might be important to understand how this idea manifests and works itself out in Islam.

Allah’s Prophets and the Right to Upgrade Technology

Verse 106 acknowledges that Allah is entitled to do away with prophecies of the past or replace them with better ones. How could He not have that right!?

First of all, He’s Allah. That alone should give him sufficient right (something He says). Second of all, I look at this from a technology perspective. Just because dial-up internet was the latest and greatest thing when it happened two decades ago doesn’t mean that we should stick with it because it was the harbinger of the internet age and a time of rapid and mass transformation for everything technological. When cable modems came out, you better believe I upgraded and the rest of you probably did too. Why stick with what’s old and outdated when there’s something fresh and new that carries a better message (that’s an email reference, not necessarily a religious one 😉 ).

In any case, what I’m saying is not to accept cavalierly the replacement of Judaism and Christianity and those religions’ respective (and primarily overlapping) prophets with Islam and Mohammed. What I’m suggesting is that internal to the text and Islam, we better believe that Allah has the right to give us the latest and greatest rather than to leave us with last week’s technology…or prophet. I mean, if we let Cisco tell us when to let go of the past, then we better let God.

A Warm, Fuzzy Feeling: Be Good and It’s All Good

We seem to have covered the many themes found in the middle verses of this passage before so instead of me not adding anything constructive, I’ll move onto the end, knowing that some of the participants in this project will enlighten me as to anything I may have neglected in those verses.

All I can really say about verse 112 is that I like it. It’s another one of those like 2:62 type verses that says that everyone has the ability – regardless of religious affiliation – to have his reward with God. Do two things: surrender to God with all your heart and (this I see as supremely important) do good. That’s it – give your heart to God and do good. And in English I love looking at the etymological relationship between those two words (God and good).

Summary and Welcome Newcomers

That’s it for this week. Please feel free to share any thoughts, add anything, make any corrections, etc.

I’ve noticed more Quran Read-A-Long readers as of late, and so I just want to welcome you all and let you know that this is a place where we can read the Quran together, a few verses at a time, and try to learn a little something with each other, regardless of our religions, about this amazing book and about Islam. So, don’t be shy – feel free to leave your comments and thoughts and let us know what you know.

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The Cow 104-112

104. Say not (to the Prophet), O believers: “Have regard for us (ra’ina),” but “look at us (unzurna),” and obey him in what he says. Painful is the nemesis for disbelievers. 105. Those without faith among the people of the Book, and those who worship idols, do not wish that good should come to you from your Lord. But God chooses whom He likes for His grace; and the bounty of God is infinite. 106. When We cancel a message (sent to an earlier prophet) or throw it into oblivion, We replace it with one better or one similar. Do you not know that God has power over all things? 107. Do you not know that God’s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and that there is none to save and protect you apart from God? 108. Do you too, O believers, wish to question your Apostle as Moses was in the past? But he who takes unbelief in exchange for belief only strays from the right path. 109. How many of the followers of the Books having once known the truth desire in their hearts, out of envy, to turn you into infidels again even after the truth has become clear to them! But you forbear and overlook till God fulfils His plan; and God has power over all things. 110. Fulfil your devotional obligations and pay the zakat. And what you send ahead of good you will find with God, for He sees all that you do. 111. And they say: “None will go to Paradise but the Jews and the Christians,” but this is only wishful thinking. Say: “Bring the proof if you are truthful.” 112. Only he who surrenders to God with all his heart and also does good, will find his reward with his Lord, and will have no fear or regret.

Does God Want Cancer Ridden Nelson to Die in South Park Episode 1014, “Stanley’s Cup”?

This is a question that the five-year-old, hockey playing, child, Nelson, asks Stan as he is trapped in the hospital with leukemia. Apparently, he stakes his entire life and future on whether or not Stan can coach his peewee hockey team to victory.

And why, you ask, is Stan coaching a peewee hockey team? Well, his bike was towed because he had a bunch of parking tickets and in order to get his bike out of impound, he had to do this.

The episode is pretty silly and until the final hockey game, which is definitely worth watching, really not my favorite. I hope you enjoyed it.

What did you think?

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