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

404 Reuven FirestoneMost of the terms also refer to entire peoples or religious communities · ·singled out by God and living in God's favor. 33 These include the audience .believers sometimes addressed by the Qur'iin (Q 2:77, 3:110, 5:3), the Children .Israel over all others (Q 44:32), and the family of Abraham and 'Imriin overall others. (Q 3:33). In the case of the root .....o.h;., which is used to denote replacingone dominant people with another, a variety of communities are distinguished. 0:In some cases it is only the religion of the ancients that is singled out (Q 2: 132;5:3; 24:55).Overall, the Qur' an articulates a less exclusive view of divine "'"r.nn>n "than previous scriptures. It allows the possibility of more than one communitybe in a special relationship with God simultaneously and there seems to beobvious intent to decommission the chosen status of prior communities by virtuea new Qur'anic dispensation. The underlying message in most references is that ifthe Qur'anic audience believes in God and engages in proper acts, it can and shouldbe among those peoples already favored by God. Like those of old, they will be .rewarded in this world and in the hereafter. The comparison between the Qur' anicaudience and other communities favored or chqsen by God is more complex thanthis, however. It can be illuminated by examining verses treating covenant.Divine election and covenant in the Qur' anAs in the Hebrew Bible, the Qur' anic notion of covenant carries both a mundaneand a sacred sense. 34 The two most common terms that convey the meaning ofagreement, contract or covenant are mithaq and 'ahd. A third term, i~r, is usedonce in thematic parallel with mithaq (Q 3:81), and l;abl, the common word forrope ( cf. Q 111 :5), is found in one verse in which the meaning may be one ofcovenant, though it is by no means certain. 35 The roots for the two common terms .are used verbally as well as in their noun forms, but space does not permit a fulllexical analysis in this chapter. We must be content here to consider the possibleQur'iinic parallels with the institution of covenant conveyed in the HebrewBible through the noun, berft (which has no verbal form in the Hebrew Bible 36 ),and which finds a semantic parallel in the New Testament through the Greek,diatheke.33 JP. Qur'an 3:110, Q. 44:32; cs!'?- Q. 22:77;..,.;...., Q. 3:33; ._,....,J Q. 5:33; UJ;.. all references.34 G. Bowering, "Covenant," EQ, 1:464-67.35 Qur'an 3:112. This verse follows a reference to iniquitous opponents of the umma. In v. 112, they"are stricken with abasement wherever they are found, exce.pt by a compact/covenant with Godand a compact/covenant with people (;J"Ull ~ .p...:, foi .):. ~ ':1!). They bring anger from God andare stricken with destitution. This is because they reject the signs of God and kill their prophetsunjustly."36 The actual orthographic base may be b.r.w., derived from a different original root that wasconflated lexically and can mean "to eat" (2 Samuel12: 17).1! has also been suggested that the rootfor berit may be related to Assyrian bani, to bind (Brown, Driver and Briggs, Lexicon 136, col.!).The meanings of covenantIs there a notion of "divine election" in the Qur'an? 405The pamllel terms mithaq and 'ahd are found in the same sentence on three occasionsand may be synonymous in these syntactic parallels. Two of the three occurin doublet sentences (Q 2:27 and 13:25): "Those who break the covenant ( 'ahd)of God after covenanting it (mithaqihi) and sever w)lat God pas comm,ande~through it to sow dissention on the earth" (I.A 0~.J ~~ ~ ~ ~1 ~ 0_,~;.,;;j &1~1. u:.o:}:/1 ~ 0_,~.:, ~i.l wl ~ :&1 y.l). The third is in Qur'iin 13:19: "those who fu4lllfue 'ah-d of God and do n~t violate the mithaq (~~10_,::.i;J ':1.:, .&j 4i.t 0)l.! ~1).More often, however, they are used in different contextual settings. Mithaqnearly always occurs in reference to ancient days and represents a covenant withancient prophets (Q 3:81; 33:7) or the Banii Isra 'if or, later, contemporary Jewswho are conflated for didactic or polemical reasons with their ancient forbears (Q2:83-84, 93; 3:187; 4:154-55; -Q:7, 12-13, 70; 7:169). Only one verse refersexplicitly. to a mithaq with contemporaries of Mul;lammad: 'Ahd, on the otherhand may occasionally refer to the Baml Isra 'if (Q 2:40; 20:86, 2:80) or prophetsof old (Q 2:124), but is found nearly always in relation to the Qur'anic audience(Q 2:80, 100; 3:76-77; 6:152; 7:~02?j 9:111; 16:90, 95;,17:34; 19:77~ ~7). God"takes" or "enjoins" a mithaq (J~ .iul ~I) but never an ahd. 37 Other 1d1o~s areassociated only ~ith 'ahd and never with mithaq, such as "fulfilling an ahd''(:.l!l4i.t i).:,l.:;) (Q 2:40; 3;7~;. 6: 1~2! 9:} 1 ~i _16:90; 17:34) or "bartering the 'ahd ofGod for a petty price"(~~ .iuj ~ 1_,~) (Q 3:76; 16:~5). 38However, PC:?Pl~can ''break" either an 'ahd or mithaq (Q 2:27- fo1 ~ 0_,;.,;;j; Q 4:155-~ 1.¥{¥~; Q 5:13; 13:19, 25; 16:91 [here with ayman in ~arallel wi~ 'a~C:D· .Despite these distinctions, which may reflect differences m !diOm~tlc ordialectic usage, these two most common terms for covenant convey virtuallythe same meaning of agreement, pact or promise. And both are symbols aroundwhich allegorical legends or references are made that draw the attention of theaudience to their own relationship to the demands made on them through theQur'anic revelations. As with the Biblical notion of berft, ~e ~ur'anic ?otiondefines the relationship identified with covenant as one of obligation, and like theHebrew Bible, the references may occur independently of terms for chosenness orelection.With mithaq, the covenant is most clearly associated with legends of ancientpeoples and prophets. It is a concrete symbol of relationship requiring certainbehaviors that vary among the verses (monotheist worship, Sabbath observance,ethical behaviors, community obligations, etc.). God always initiates this covenant.In some references to God establishing a mithaq with the Israelites, noresponse is recorded from the second party (Q 2:83; 3:187; 5:12, 70). In others,37 The Qur'an asks rhetorically, however, whether a person can "take" an 'ahd with God (Q 2:80;19:78). The answer is that it is impossible (Q19:87).38 The idiom, "bartering ... for a petty price" is also found in verses associated with 'ohd, but where'ahdis not the object of the bartering (Q 2:41; 9:111).