The Bible Undressed

            This sura (chapter) is given its title because it talks about food.  Frankly, one of my pet peeves is religious food regulations.  Why is the Supreme Being so preoccupied with the kind of meat we eat?  Aren’t there more important issues to worry about?  Like, LACK of food for many people in this world?  Also, the sura finishes with Jesus’ disciples asking for a feast, giving Muhammad a chance to expound his thoughts about Jesus.  The surahs are getting (a bit) shorter, so I am going to pick up the pace a little (phew!).

            As a little background, you probably know the Jews have various food regulations.  For example, one can eat cows, but not pigs.  Kosher meat must come from animals that are both ruminants (chew their cud) and have split hooves, such as cows, sheep, and goats. Some people think the prohibition against pigs is because of diseases like trichinosis, but that disease is actually more of a problem in cooler climes, not in the Middle East.  Camels were also on the forbidden list (hooves not split), but Arabs would eat camels and drink their milk; a potential source of conflict.  One can eat a chicken but not a vulture.  That one makes some sense as vultures eat dead animals and might be more prone to carry disease, and frankly just seem more disgusting. But then eagles are also on the no-no list.

            Even the early Christians had some food regulations.  Like the Jews they were to avoid blood and animals that had been strangled; see Acts 15:29.  And apparently food that had been sacrificed to idols was a significant issue: it is also mentioned in Acts 15, Paul devotes time to it in 1^st Corinthians 8 and mentions it in Romans 14:2 and 3, and it is one of the criticisms of the church in Pergamum in Revelation 2:14.  And in this sura Muhammad gets into it.  So, all God’s chillun got food issues.

            “In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy” (The standard beginning)

            Livestock animals are lawful – except for the ones he’s about to exclude.  His first law is not to hunt when you are on pilgrimage.  Maybe he considered hunting sport and not essential, so not appropriate for the “sanctity of God’s rites.” (5:1, 2)

            Now some other restrictions: blood, pig’s meat, animals devotes to or sacrificed to idols, and animals strangled (sound familiar so far?).  Also, any animal that was killed by a violent blow or fall, or gored, or savaged by a beast of prey – unless slaughtered in the proper manner.  Note that he mentions pigs specifically, rather than giving a prohibition against hooves that aren’t split as in the Torah, maybe because he wanted to ensure camels were still eligible to be eaten.  And you can’t divide up the meat by drawing marked arrows – apparently a pagan custom associated with idols.  There is an out: if you are devoted to God, are forced by hunger and have no intention of doing wrong, then God will forgive the eating of such forbidden food.  He goes on to say, twice, “All good things are lawful for you.” (5:4, 5)  This sounds very much like the apostle Paul, which he also says twice in connection to eating (1^st Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23): “All things are permitted, but not all things are of benefit.”  Did Muhammad know Paul’s teachings on this subject?  More likely they just thought alike on this issue. 

A savory camel dish.  Yum!

            Now an interesting point is that you could not eat falcons or dogs, but you could use them in hunting (5:4).  Just make sure to pronounce God’s name over the prey.  He then makes the point that they [the Muslims] can eat what the Jews eat, and Jews can eat what they eat.  See?!  One big happy feasting family!  And not just food.  He adds that “chaste, believing women” are also lawful for you, as are chaste Jewish women, so long as you actually marry them and not use them as mistresses.  See again?!  One big happy intermarrying family!  So why all the fighting?

            Before prayer one should wash; the whole body if ritually impure (much like the Jewish laws of purification). (5:6. 7)  If you are impure (sick, or recent sex, for example), and you don’t have access to water, you can use clean sand to wipe your face and hands.  (Makes me think of the Dune scenario where water is scarce but sand plentiful.)

            As is common after such instructions he then admonishes devotion to God and faithfulness.  Although he again says there will be “a rich reward to those who have faith and do good works,” as in previous surahs, this time he adds, “those who reject Our revelations will inhabit the blazing Fire” (5:10).  So, he expects this Qur’an to be taken seriously.  That’s one of my issues with religion.  If religion left it at “have faith and do good works” then we could all get along, as we discuss together how to best do this.  Instead each religion proclaims its set of “divine revelations” and insists that you follow them and believe them (even when hard to swallow), or be cast into the fire.  If your teachings are that good then you shouldn’t have to threaten people.

            Muhammad then takes the Jews to task: God made a pact with them, but they did not live up to it (I wish he was more specific about this) (5:12, 13).  Still, God says to Muhammad: “Overlook this and pardon them: God loves those who do good.”  Then it’s the Christians’ turn: “they forgot some of what they were told to remember, so We stirred up enmity and hatred among them” (5:14)  Muhammad was right about that: Christian sects are still arguing with each other, with occasional outright warfare.  But do you think that is God stirring things up, or just human nature?

            God (the surahs are written as if God is speaking them) tells the Jews that “Our Messenger,” meaning Muhammad, has come to make clear what they have obscured, or gotten wrong.  And then to the Christians:

            Those who say, ‘God is the Messiah, the son of Mary,’ are defying the truth. Say, ‘If it had been God’s will, could anyone have prevented Him from destroying the Messiah, son of

Mary, together with his mother and everyone else on earth? Control of the heavens and earth and all that is between them belongs to God: He creates whatever He will.  God has power over everything.’  (5:17)

            Muhammad recognizes that Jesus was a prophet of God (as we shall see), but disputes the idea that he is God or the Son of God.  God [Allah] alone is supreme and in control.  He can create anything, including Jesus, but that does not make Jesus the Son of God.  Then he chides the two groups together: “The Jews and the Christians say, ‘We are the children of God and

His beloved ones.’ Say, ‘Then why does He punish you for your sins?”  It is so common for religious people to claim that other people’s problems are a punishment for sin.  (But when a tornado flattens a church in the Bible Belt the preachers fall silent?)

            As is common when talking to the Jews, he invokes their own history to rebuke them.  This time he reminds them of Moses and how he led them to “go into the holy land which God has ordained for you” (5:21)

            Let me pause for a second: did you catch that?  The Qur’an says that God ordained that land (Palestine) for the Jews.  So why are modern Muslims trying to eradicate Israel?  I understand why they are concerned about how Israel is treating the non-Jews living there, but trying to obliterate Israel seems to be contrary to what the Qur’an teaches.  Anyway…

            He describes how the Jews got to the Promised Land and then balked because of the people living there.  Only two men (in the Bible Joshua and Caleb) encourage the people to go in.  So, God has them wait 40 years (as in the Bible).  Once again note that Muhammad knows some Bible history that many Christians do not.  I wonder where he learned these Bible stories.  I don’t think he went to Sunday School!

            Next he uses the example of Cain and Abel (but doesn’t use their names).  Because of this first murder “We decreed to the Children of Israel that if anyone kills a person– unless in retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land– it is as if he kills all mankind, while if any saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind.” (5:32)  Now, that is important, because he goes on to say “Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot, or banishment from the land: a disgrace for them in this world, and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter, unless they repent before you overpower them– in that case bear in mind that God is forgiving and merciful.” (5:33,34)  So, he gives his followers the right to hurt or kill those “who wage war” against Islam, but he does not give them the right to initiate war.  Self-defense but not aggression.  At least that’s how I read it.

            Speaking of amputation: “Cut off the hands of thieves, whether they are man or woman,

as punishment for what they have done– a deterrent from God: God is almighty and wise.” (5:38)  Ouch!  And also:  “In the Torah We prescribed for them a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a

nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, an equal wound for a wound: if anyone forgoes this out of charity, it will serve as atonement for his bad deeds.” (5:45)  Sounds harsh (as it is also in the Torah), but I like the incentive he gives to the wronged person to forego inflicting such punishment in light of one’s own bad deeds.  It touches on Jesus’ teachings about forgiving one another, and taking the “log” from one’s own eye instead of the “speck” from another’s eye (Matt.7:5).

            Back to Jesus:  “We sent Jesus, son of Mary, in their footsteps, to confirm the Torah that had been sent before him: We gave him the Gospel with guidance, light, and confirmation of the Torah already revealed– a guide and lesson for those who take heed of God.” (5:46)  So he again affirms Jesus as coming from God, but note how he often refers to Jesus as “son of Mary” but never “son of God.”  Because God doesn’t have any children, in his view.

            But even though he says the Jews and Christians have received revelations from God he is clear that true believers (the Muslims) should not be “allies” with them, for they are still wrongdoers, and “God does not guide such wrongdoers.” (5:51-53)

            Although he goes on to more criticism of the Jews and Christians he also throws in things like, “some of them are on the right course, but many of them do evil.” (5:66)  And, “For the [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Sabians [another monotheistic group], and the Christians– those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds– there is no fear: they will not grieve.” (5:69)  So, there is this ambivalence that some Jews and Christians are still faithful and will be saved, while others are astray and will be lost.

            Yet, for him there is a clear dividing line:

Those who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have defied God. The Messiah himself said, ‘Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ If anyone associates others with God, God will forbid him from the Garden, and Hell will be his home. No one will help such evildoers.  Those people who say that God is the third of three are defying [the truth]: there is only One God. If they persist in what they are saying, a painful punishment will afflict those of them who persist.  Why do they not turn to God and ask His forgiveness, when God is most forgiving, most merciful?  The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; other messengers had come and gone before him; his mother was a virtuous woman; both ate food [like other mortals]. See how clear We make these signs for them; see how deluded they are.  Say, ‘How can you worship something other than God, that has no power to do you harm or good? God alone is the All Hearing and All Knowing.’  (5:72-76)

            He is quite clear: if anyone thinks of Jesus as God, or thinks of God as a being part of a trinity, then he is defying God and will be lost.  Yet in some passages he seems to indicate that some Christians will be saved.  Did he know of Christians who saw Jesus as a prophet, or perhaps an angel, but not as God Himself?  I think it is quite possible, because we know that there were a variety of views of who and what Jesus was among the early Christians.  I know one prominent Bible scholar who thinks even Paul may have thought of Jesus as an angelic being rather than God-in-the-flesh.  The famous Council of Nicaea met in 325CE mainly to discuss the issue of Jesus’ divine nature and his relationship to God the Father, so 300 years into Christianity it was still a matter of debate.  A bit later Muhammad goes on to say, “You [Prophet] are sure to find that the most hostile to the believers are the Jews and those who associate other deities with God; you are sure to find that the closest in affection towards the believers are those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ for there are among them people devoted to learning and ascetics.  These people are not given to arrogance.” (5:82)  So I get the impression that “among” the Christians there were those whom he thought had similar views. Perhaps “ascetics” refers to Christian monks living in Arabia whose views of Jesus were more compatible with his own.  And of course when we find someone who thinks like we do we say, “Hey, you must be devoted to learning, and not arrogant, because you agree with me!”

            Muhammad gets back to food, saying, “eat the lawful and good things that God provides

for you” but “do not exceed the limits.” (5:87,88)  Good point, because religion is so prone to “exceed the limits” and create more restrictions than necessary.  He outlaws intoxicants and gambling and “divining with arrows.”  He gives instructions for creating a will if you think you’re close to death.  But let’s fast-forward to his closing comments about Jesus and “The Feast.”

            In speaking of Jesus he again makes reference to the story from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, mentioned in post Q003 about Sura 3, about young Jesus making clay birds and giving them life, and that he “healed the blind person and the leper; how, by My leave, you brought the dead back to life.”  (5:110)  So, he sees Jesus as empowered to do miraculous things; but that does not make him God.  As for the Feast:

When the disciples said, ‘Jesus, son of Mary, can your Lord send down a feast to us from heaven?’ he said, ‘Beware of God if you are true believers.’  They said, ‘We wish to eat from it; to have our hearts reassured; to know that you have told us the truth; and to be witnesses of it.’   Jesus, son of Mary, said, ‘Lord, send down to us a feast from heaven so that we can have a festival– the first and last of us– and a sign from You. Provide for us: You are the best provider.’  God said, ‘I will send it down to you, but anyone who disbelieves after this will be punished with a punishment that I will not inflict on anyone else in the world.’  (5:112-115)

            I wonder if Muhammad is making reference to the story of Jesus and the Last Supper with his disciples, especially since Christians continued to re-enact this in their ceremonies (the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist).  Or perhaps he is referring to the stories of Jesus feeding the 4,000 or 5,000 in miraculous fashion.  Or maybe it’s a metaphor for spiritual blessings, or the word of God.  And a final clarification of who Jesus was:

When God says, ‘Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to people, “Take me and my mother as two gods alongside God”?’ he will say, ‘May You be exalted!  I would never say what I had no right to say– if I had said such a thing You would have known it: You know all that is within me, though I do not know what is within You, You alone have full knowledge of things unseen – I told them only what You commanded me to: ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’  I was a

witness over them during my time among them.  Ever since You took my soul, You alone have been the watcher over them: You are witness to all things and if You punish them, they are Your servants; if You forgive them, You are the Almighty, the Wise.’  (5:116-118)

            So, Jesus denies ever suggesting that he or his mother were “gods alongside God.”  Apparently the veneration of Mary was in Muhammad’s view also raising her to godly status among the Christians.  For Muhammad Jesus was a prophet, bringing revelation from God, and could even work miracles; but he was not and never claimed to be God or equal to God.  Of course, the orthodox Christian view became that Jesus was God in the flesh, part of the Holy Trinity, even if there were earlier groups who thought more like Muhammad.  So, a pretty clear difference in belief.  But worthy of conflict and even bloodshed?

            So, put aside that ham sandwich and reach for a camel burger, and ponder today’s lesson!

Thinking exercises: 

1.  What do you think of religious food restrictions?  Is there a sensible purpose behind them?  Or do they just represent more religious control over people?  Another excuse for dividing people into right or wrong, saved or lost?

2.  Which is more important to you: avoiding certain foods, or making sure that everyone has enough to eat?

2.  Do you think the difference in how Muslims and Christians think about Jesus is an insurmountable obstacle to discussion, interaction and cooperation between them?

Assignment: Ask a Muslim acquaintance what he or she thinks about the food laws and why they were included in the Qur’an.  If you are a Christian, ask them what they think about Jesus, and compare your beliefs. (Discuss peacefully, I hope.)