In answer to the video "Quran and the Queen of Sheba"
When the Quran denounces the pagans for their attribution of angel daughters to God while keeping the "preferred" gender to themselves, it isnt diminishing the status of females, referred with males as gifts from God 42:49-50, and females in particular as a glad-tiding 16:58. The idea of keeping the preferred male gender is a sarcastic comment, pointing to the absurdity of the pagans' reasoning who would attribute to the God they believed in and worshipped as their Creator, what they hated for themselves.
Daughters were considered to be no more than objects of adornments and the Quran exposes their inner thoughts whenever a female was born to them; contending whether to keep them in disgrace or burry them alive 16:57-62,17:40,43:15-19.
In 17:31 the Quran refers to the killing of infant children/awlad out of fear of poverty. The practice was overwhelmingly done to females, and rarely males. These same awlad/children are referred to in many places as valuable things 3:10,116,9:69etc.
The blessed Mary is described as more valuable than any male her mother could have wished for. When in her pregnancy, Imran's pious wife vowed to offer what was in her womb to the devotion of God 3:35 as denoted with "muharraran", she meant that the child is free of any other obligation or attachment. She desired a male whom she wanted to follow in the footsteps of the priestly family, living in devotion to God and serving Him in the Temple.
This religious function was prescribed exclusively for the male descendants of the Levites branch. But when she brought forth a female whom she thought wouldnt be able to live up to her spiritual expectations and duties in the Temple, she was explained that her excellence would go far beyond any hopes and desires she had entertained
3:36"God had been fully aware of what she would give birth to, and [fully aware] that no male child [she might have hoped for] could ever have been like this female".She named her Maryam and invoked Allah's protection on her and her offspring 3:36. In the ahadith we read that in answer to her mother's prayers, the divine protection and supervision of Mary, extended to her son Jesus to the point that Allah prevented a seemingly harmless event of the unseen, that every human being is made to experience at birth
"No child is born but that, Satan touches it when it is born whereupon it starts crying loudly because of being touched by Satan, except Mary and her son".
In fact Mary is described as a model for both men and women. Mary the mother of Jesus is mentionned alongside Pharao's wife as the example to follow. The word describing her spiritual submissiveness is in the masculin plural/qanitin 66:12. This necessarily includes the male gender as well as females, otherwise it would have said qanitat. This eloquent, linguistic precision makes her not only a role model to Muslim women in her chastity and submission, ie submission to the divine will, but also to Muslim men.
When it points out male offspring as a particular asset 16:72 it is in the context of continuity of lineage, children's children. The banee of 80:36 doesnt exclude female children. The word is amply used for both genders, as in banee aadam or banee israil.
When it refutes the attribution of daughters to God among the angels, the verse isnt solely offended by the double standard of the pagans, but also by the very fact of attributing offspring to God, giving a share of the divine essence to other entities. The Quran tells them, they could be turned into angels themselves all the while remaining the same created beings devoid of any divinity, succeeding eachother on this finite earth that will eventually come to an end with everything in it 43:60.
The Quran equally denounces those who attribute male children to God whether in a literal or metaphorical sense which shows that the issue pointed out isnt gender related but rather the unreasonableness of their concept and degrading of God.
The negation of male children to God is stated in 6:100-101, where the Quran also explains the impossibility, from the point of view of His majestic status, unique essence, for God to physically/carnally beget both sons and daughters as the polytheists claimed throughout time, ascribing to Him even a lineage among the jinn 37:158.
The desire for children is based upon the desire to continue one's own legacy, i.e. it is based upon an inherent weakness within man and this rejects the majesty of Allah, His transcendence, and status as beyond causality and contingency. Why would He need entities besides Himself, sharing His essence? Is He lacking in power, knowledge to rule creation by Himself, or is He limited in lifespan?
The Quran rejects this concept of progeny and sonship to God, as well as all the implications undermining His supremacy, by for instance pointing to the facts that nothing precedes or outlasts Him 57:3, that nothing is even within the realm of the remotest of comparisons, that He neither begets nor is He begotten 42:11,112:1-4.
WALAD is the term translated as "son" in 6:101 but the word really means a "product of birth". This covers that Allah does not give birth, nor does he have a consort to give birth for Him. It is important to note, the verse does not tie the impossibility for God to beget to the absence of consort exclusively. It says Wa/And He has no consort. So, the absence of the consort is one of many reasons why Allah does not have a son. Along with the absence of consort, the other reasons for God not having any son are "innovator of the heavens and Earth", "Creator of everything" and so on.
It does not befit the One holding sway over all creation to have the need for a son, which entails an inherent weakness. Why would He need to, when His grasp over creation is so all-embracing, that His will, whatever it may be, is instantly executed
19:35"It is not for Allah to take a child; glory to be Him. When He decrees a command, He only says to it: Be; and it is".The Quran treats this assertion as so far removed from reality, that it tells its messenger, had it been true he would have been the first to be instructed to worship such an entity 43:81.
Finally the word ANNA translated as How, is an exclamatory expression through several angles, as in "How" and "why" together, to mean "why should He?!"
The primary Quranic argument against God procreating is thus not linked at all the presence or absence of consort, but to the contradiction that notion creates with His uniqueness, supremacy, perfection, self-subsitence and so on. But had the Quran not refuted the idea of God physically procreating by mentionning the absence of a consort, its argument would have remained incomplete. That is because the very notion of God needing to procreate demotes Him in His self-sustained status, restricts His power and will. This inevitably entails the need for partners in His rule, including a consort to procreate.
In such a demoted status, the notion of God doing whatever He wills through His creative word "BE" becomes an impossible proposition. The Quran is here showing the necessary implications of the polytheists' belief, exposing their flaws and refuting them from every possible angle. The perfect example to illustrate is that of Mary 19:20. Being a human, she was limited in her power and will just as God would have been, had He needed a progeny. Mary was unable by her own will to conceive, just as Allah would have been due to His demoted status. They would have both needed a counterpart to procreate. But the reality is different. God, the Majestic, is free from any need, including that of having children, which necessarily implies Him being limitess in His power and will
19:35"It is not for Allah to take a child; glory to be Him. When He decrees a command, He only says to it: Be; and it is".The verse makes it clear, the total absence of any need to have a child is linked to His supreme dominion over all things, as encapsulated with the creative word "BE". On the other hand, the need for a child would immidiately negate that absolute power. But Allah is limitless and that is why He was able to impose His creative will upon Mary, making her conceive even in the absence of a male counterpart.
As to the children of paradise, they will most probably be those who died before reaching maturity and moral accountability. This includes the righteous' own children with whom the Quran promises one will be reunited, or any other under-aged children of those who did not make it into paradise 52:21. They will be going round about the dwellers of heaven and are described with words evoking both physical and spiritual beauty and purity
56:17,76:19,52:24"as if they were protected pearls".The Quran describes the servants as Ghulamun, denoting young vigorous males. However elsewhere they may include both genders since it uses the genitive plural wildan, as in 4:127.
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