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

406 Reuven FirestoneIsrael accepts (Q 2:84; 39 3:81; 5:7), while in one reference Israel refuses outright(Q 2:93):~ 0 In virtually all cases, Israel breaks·the covenant or in some waydates its part ofthe commitment. 41 The covenant itself is not invalidated, however. ·:Those who break the covenant may be punished, though it is not always clearwhether the threat of punishment is directed against the ancient people situated in,'the allegorical legend or the Qur' anic audience that is listening to the discourse (Q2:85-86; 3:188; 5:13). At least in some cases God is clement toward the ancientIsraelite protagonists despite their unacceptable behaviors (Q 5:71), and the factof the existence of Jews among the Qur' anic audience testifies that despite the ..repeated trope of their having failed to live up to the divine covenant in a variety 'of ways, they are not all destroyed by God as were the vanished communities of'Ad and Thamild. Note that these extinct communities are associated with prophetsbut not with covenants. Unlike the New Testament, the Qur'an does not considerprior covenants to have been annulled or abrogated (but, as will be elucidatedbelow, individuals cannot benefit from membership in a covenanted community ifthey do not live up to their covenantal responsibilities).As noted above, the Qur'anic audience is more directly addressed in the versesamong which covenant is expressed through the word 'ahd, though the contextmay yet be.one that references covenants of old. References to 'ahd tend to be lessspecific and even more abstract. "Isn't it always so that whenever they covenant acovenant, 42 a group of them rejects it? Actually, most of them do not believe" (Q2:100). "Whoever keeps his covenant and is conscientious, surely God loves theconscientious" (Q 3:76). "And We did not find most of them in a covenant. Indeed,We found most of them deviants" (Q 7:102). With both terms, the Qur'anic audienceis to draw the lesson from the allegorical references that it too is being offereda divine covenant through the Qur'an. An opportunity is made available to thelisteners, but they must draw the necessary lesson from the sins and misbehaviorsofthe ancients who failed to keep the covenant and were thus punished.In the traditional Jewish literature called Midrash, 43 a distinction is madebetween the mashiil (Arabic linguistic equivalent: mathal) and the nimshiil. Themashiil frames the lesson within a narrative or within a reference to a knownnarrative. The nimshiil then spells out the application of what the story has taughtfor the present context. When this category is applied to our case, the lessons to bederived from stories depicting the failures of ancient peoples is to be applied to theIs there a notion of "divine election" in the Qur 'an? 407· context of the emergence ofthe Qur'an and the demands that it makes on its audience.While the nimshiil in Midrash sometimes does this clearly and distinctly, inother cases the audience must draw the conclusion without an obvious explanation.This is the method ofthe Qur' an in its references to the covenants of ancientpeoples. Those who failed to live up to the divine demands symbolized by thecovenant were punished. Some communities that failed to respond to the divineimperative were destroyed outright. The listeners to the message of the Qur' anmust therefore draw the lesson to obey the teachings of God's revelation asarticulated by the latest and the last prophet, MuQ.ammad.The data derived from the Qur'iinic use of mithaq and 'ahd to characterize arelationship between God and community conforms to the results of our examinationof the words used in the Qur'an for divine choosing. Covenant and election arenot exclusive. God can be in relationship with a number of different peoples andcommunities. God can also replace one people, who are in special relationship,with another. Having been chosen or having been a party to a covenant with Goddoes not automatically grant the community privileges without the communityitself (or individuals with it) demonstrating that it is loyal to God's demands.·Belonging to a cdmmunity with a history of chosenness or covenant is not enoughto enjoy the rewards of a chosen or covenanted relationship with God. Listeners tothe Qur'anic message are themselves individually responsible for their own fate. 44Divine election in polemicAlthough inclusio.n in special relationship with God is broadened in the Qur'anbeyond most articulations in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, its inclusivenessis more theoretical than practical. That is, despite occasional inclusivereferences, and some extremely so, such as Qur'an 2:62, 45 the Qur'an expressesunambiguous hostility toward monotheists who believe in God and the last daybut do not accept its revelation as authentic. This sentiment reflects a problem thatis common to all new religious movements.Newly emerging religions always represent a threat to the religious establishment .because they are an alternative to the status quo. New religions therefore inevitablyfind themselves in conflict with establishment religions. 46 Like the Hebrew Bible andthe New Testament, the Qur' an is the earliest source for information about the genesis39 Qur'iln 2:83 and 2:84 appear to be a case where two separate traditions are joined togetherconsecutively.40 On the contextual and bilingual meaning of the idiom, "We hear and disobey" (~~ j), see R. Firestone, "The failure of a Jewish program of public satire in the squares of--Medina," Judaism, Fall 1997,438-52.41 Qur'iin 2:84-85, 93; 3:187; 4:154-55; 5:12-13; 5:14 (with Christians -