reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

376 Gerald HawtingIt was indicated above that the opponents' contemptuous reference in Q 17:94. ·.'to the fact that the messenger was merely a human being elicited a response thatimplied that they expected a messenger to be an angel. There are several other ..passages where the same contrast is set up. At Q 6:50, following a verse that·assures him that "those who deny Our signs" will be punished, the messenger of ·the Qur' an is commanded to say, "I do not tell you that I have the treasures of Godwith me, that I know the unknown, or that I am an angel. I merely follow what has .been revealed to me (yii(la ilayya)." The implication is that his opponents ·rejected him because, as a mere human, he is unable to meet their demands formiraculous signs to support his claims to be a messenger of God, and that theyexpected God's jllessengers to be angels. Elsewhere, Noah responds to the objec~tion made by the council (al-ma/a') of the unbelievers among his people that "wedo not consider you anything but a human like us" (Q 11 :27) with exactly thesame formula: "I do not tell you that I have the treasures of God with me, that Iknow the unknown, or that I am an angel." (Q 11:31)It is notable that the phrase, "I do not tell you that I am an angel," never seemsto be a direct response to an explicit statement, "You are not an angel." That latterphrase is never attributed to the opponents, but that they do in fact think God'smessengers must be angels is implied in three verses that use related but slightlyvariant formulations. At Q 11:12, they are reported as saying, "If only a treasurehad been sent down upon him or an angel had come with him (ja 'a ma 'ahumalak)". 9 Again at Q 25:7, following their assertion of the Qur'anic messenger'smerely human status ("he eats food and walks in the markets"), the opponents say,"If only an angel had been sent down to him (unzila ilayhi malak) and he (the selfproclaimedQur'anic messenger) would be a warner with him (the angel)." AtQ 6:8 we are told that they said, "If only an angel had been sent down upon him(unzila 'alayhi malak)." 10Sometimes God or His messenger responds by explaining why an angel has notbeen sent. In response to the just cited words of the opponents at Q 6:8 God says,"If We had sent dov:n an angel, the matter would be decided and then no delaywould be granted them, and if We had made him an angel, We would have madehim a man and We would have confused them even more (law anzalna malakanla-qzu;liya l-amnt thumma !a yun:?ariina wa-law ja 'alnahu malakan la-ja 'alnahurajulan wa-la-labasna 'alayhim ma yalbisiina)." That appears to mean that the9 The verse continues with the phrase, "You are'only a warner (nadhfr)." This is generally understoodas God addressing the Prophet rather than as a continuation of the words of the opponents.The change of person in the pronoun might support that understanding, ·but comparison with Q25:7 would support the view that it is a continuation of the words of. the opponents, perhapssuggesting that they would be prepared to accept a human as a warner but not as a messenger.10 It is worth pointing out that the Qur'anic messenger does not respond by saying that an angel hadindeed come down to him. In view of the common understanding that Q 2:97 identifies Gabriel asthe one who brought the revelation, and of the prominence in Muslim tradition of the idea ofGabriel as the intermediary who brought the Qur'iin to Mul;tammad, it is remarkable that he doesnot do so.Messengers and angels in the Qur 'an 377· sending down of angels indicates the imminence of the Last Judgment, and that if... angels were to walk on earth they would be indistinguishable from men. Similar· ··ideas and phrases occur in other places. At Q 2:210 it is asked if the unbelieverswill wait (yaniunlna) until God comes to them in dark clouds with angels(wa-qurjiya 1-amr); at Q 15:8, responding to the opponents' demand that themessenger should bring them angels as proof of his authentiCity, God says that Hedoes not send the angels unless with the truth (ilia bi-1-baqq) and in that case the. unbelievers would have no respite (wa-ma kaml idhan mun:?ar'ina). 11· • At Q 17:95, however, in response to the demand of the unbelievers that he bring. them God and .the angels as proof of his claims (aw ta 'tiya billahi wa-1-mala 'ika•. qabrlan), the Qur'anic messenger is commanded by God to say, "If there were·angels walking on earth in security, then We should have sent down upon themfrom the heavens an angel as a messenger (law kana fi 1-arf/i mala 'ikatunyamshiina mutma 'inn'ina la-nazzalna 'alayhim mina l-sama 'i malakan raszllan)."In other words, God has sent a human being as His messenger and not an angelbecause angels do not routinely inhabit this world.In such passages referring to the words of the opponents it seems possible todistinguish two different, although related, motives for their demand for angels tocome down. In some cases tliey are saying that the self-proclaimed messenger ofGod should produce angels (together with God himself according to Q 17:92) asone of the miraculous signs that would convince them that his claims to be amessenger (and for them, therefore, also to be an angel) were authentic (although,of course, the Qur' an insists that nothing would in fact convince them of that). 12In others they are stipulating that an angel should come down with, to or upon himand without that he is merely an ordinary man. The sense is not obvious, but whatseems to be implied is that the coming of the angel to him would transform him.On the face of it, then, the passages referred to reflect a situation in which theQur'anic messenger is rejected by his opponents because of his merely humanstatus: he cannot be a messenger of God because he is clearly only a human being.His replies both indicate a positive assertion of his humanity - that being ahuman is not merely no obstacle to being a messenger of God, but it is a necessarycondition 13 - and imply that the opponents expect a messenger to be an angel.Before discussing the sorl of historical and intellectual context in which such anargument would make sense we need to consider further the Qur'anic materialpertaining to angels, including the ideas of the opponents of its messenger. Muchof what we are told about angels in the Qur'an seems familiar and traditional.11 Cf. also Q 25:22-25: "The day when they see the angels ... the day when the heavens shall be tornasunder and the angels shall be sent' down."12 E.g., Qur'an 15:14--15: "Even if We were to open for them a gate of the heavens and they wouldnot cease to go up through it, they would say, 'Our eyes have been intoxicated- indeed we are apeople bewitched.' "13 The explanations given of why God had not sent an angel as His messenger (e.g. that the comingdown of angels portends the end of the world) suggest that the Qur'anic argument is that amessenger must be a human.