DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Jesus the "Son of Mary", NOT "the Son of God"

**HenriRow** · 08-04-2012, 09:10 AM

brothers, I'm pretty sure it means past prophets too (given the context) but insha'Allah I would like to get it confirmed if correct and corrected if wrong.

@ Pouring Rain: when you first read it, did you take it to mean past prophets too?

[edit: @Pouring Rain: one more nosy question if you don't mind (ignore the q if you do mind and I'll delete shortly). Perhaps someone has already asked you but have you considered doing an in-depth reading of the Qur'an with a Muslim scholar? I don't mean to imply scholars have infinite amounts of time and should be able to accommodate everyone/such individual requests but perhaps if it was possible to arrange a small group reading with a Muslim scholar (even better if the scholar is as familiar with Christianity and Judaism as you are) it would be helpful... I don't know if any exist in your area but the US certainly has a healthy share of Muslim scholars masha'Allah.]

When I first read it, I didn't take it to mean past prophet's shari'ah. I thought he was speaking of possibly an early Islamic shari'ah.

Sometimes in the English tafsir he is more specific and will say "Islamic sharia'ah" or the "shari'ah of earlier prophets," "all the shari'ahs agreed," or it will be more clear in context such as "the sunnah and the shari'ah" or "the tafsir and shari'ah."

In this particular case he says "earlier shari'ahs" which could indicate earlier than Islam (the shari'ah of previous prophets) or it could also indicate earlier islamic shari'ahs. There are instances where he speaks about things that were permissible in early Islam, but were changed due to misunderstandings, abuse, or other reasons. This could be one of those.

One thing that I like about when he speaks about Christians and Jews is that he refers to the beliefs that certain sects of Christians and Jews held in that area, at that time of Mohammed. I think it is an important distinction to make, and he does well in doing this. One reason it is important is because it is common to find a belief listed that is not a predominant belief of a majority of Jews or Christians. (Although, I will say that some are quite common beliefs even today in many sects.) So, I am glad that he makes that distinction that these were beliefs of the people in that specific area, at that specific time.

Regarding our original discussion, I also understood it to be possibly early Islamic shari'ah, because of Yusuf Ali stating a similar point in his commentary (I know may people disagree with Yusuf Ali), and also other places like the second I listed above where God as a father type is discussed.

Regarding your second question, Acacia, there are no scholars in my area. There is no masjid either. The closest are 3-4 hours away. I would love to be able to discuss many things with a scholar. On-line and in books I find so many mixed opinions on matters.

08-04-2012, 09:10 AM	#25
HenriRow Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 480 Senior Member	brothers, I'm pretty sure it means past prophets too (given the context) but insha'Allah I would like to get it confirmed if correct and corrected if wrong. @ Pouring Rain: when you first read it, did you take it to mean past prophets too? [edit: @Pouring Rain: one more nosy question if you don't mind (ignore the q if you do mind and I'll delete shortly). Perhaps someone has already asked you but have you considered doing an in-depth reading of the Qur'an with a Muslim scholar? I don't mean to imply scholars have infinite amounts of time and should be able to accommodate everyone/such individual requests but perhaps if it was possible to arrange a small group reading with a Muslim scholar (even better if the scholar is as familiar with Christianity and Judaism as you are) it would be helpful... I don't know if any exist in your area but the US certainly has a healthy share of Muslim scholars masha'Allah.] When I first read it, I didn't take it to mean past prophet's shari'ah. I thought he was speaking of possibly an early Islamic shari'ah. Sometimes in the English tafsir he is more specific and will say "Islamic sharia'ah" or the "shari'ah of earlier prophets," "all the shari'ahs agreed," or it will be more clear in context such as "the sunnah and the shari'ah" or "the tafsir and shari'ah." In this particular case he says "earlier shari'ahs" which could indicate earlier than Islam (the shari'ah of previous prophets) or it could also indicate earlier islamic shari'ahs. There are instances where he speaks about things that were permissible in early Islam, but were changed due to misunderstandings, abuse, or other reasons. This could be one of those. One thing that I like about when he speaks about Christians and Jews is that he refers to the beliefs that certain sects of Christians and Jews held in that area, at that time of Mohammed. I think it is an important distinction to make, and he does well in doing this. One reason it is important is because it is common to find a belief listed that is not a predominant belief of a majority of Jews or Christians. (Although, I will say that some are quite common beliefs even today in many sects.) So, I am glad that he makes that distinction that these were beliefs of the people in that specific area, at that specific time. Regarding our original discussion, I also understood it to be possibly early Islamic shari'ah, because of Yusuf Ali stating a similar point in his commentary (I know may people disagree with Yusuf Ali), and also other places like the second I listed above where God as a father type is discussed. Regarding your second question, Acacia, there are no scholars in my area. There is no masjid either. The closest are 3-4 hours away. I would love to be able to discuss many things with a scholar. On-line and in books I find so many mixed opinions on matters.
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