Quran
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Q019: Sura 19: Mary!
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The usual beginning: In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy… This sura is so named because it…
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74: Does God care what we wear?
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In a recent post (#71) I examined the food regulations in Judaism, Christianity and the Qur’an. Muhammad mostly agrees with the Jews about food,…
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71: Does God care what you eat?
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For Christmas I received as a gift an assortment of meat jerky made from some exotic animals, including wild boar, ostrich, alligator and camel.…
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17: The Night Journey
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In this sura Muhammad gives some good teachings, and some questionable ones, but the title of the sura comes from one of his strangest…
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16: The Bee!
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Muhammad once again appeals to ‘natural theology’ in this sura. The usual opening: In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver…
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Q015. Sura 15: Al-Hijr, and the Satan
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The people of al-Hijr also rejected Our messengers:We gave them Our signs, but they turned their backs.(15:80,81) Of course, this sura starts with the…
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Q014. Sura 14: Abraham
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Remember when Abraham said, ‘Lord, make this town safe!Preserve me and my offspring from idolatry,Lord, the [idols] have led many people astray!Sura 14:35, 36 …
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Q013. Sura 13: Thunder!
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It is He who shows you the lightning, inspiring fear and hope; He builds up the clouds heavy with rain; the thunder sounds His praises,…
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Q011. Sura 11: Hud
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No, Muhammad was not prophetically speaking of the 1963 movie starring Paul Newman. Rather, Hud was a pre-Islamic prophet that God (Allah) sent to…
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Q009. Sura 9: Repentance
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Despite the title this sura (chapter) again deals with the broken treaty mentioned in Sura 8 and also with a military campaign to Tabuk,…
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Q008. Sura 8: Battle Gains
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This sura (chapter) relates to the Battle of Badr, fought in 624 CE, the second year of Muhammad’s Muslim state. It marked the first…
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Q006. Sura 6: Livestock
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A chapter in a holy book devoted to livestock? Don’t act surprised. People know about the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20 of the…
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Q005. Sura 5: The Feast
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This sura (chapter) is given its title because it talks about food. Frankly, one of my pet peeves is religious food regulations. Why is…
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Q004. Sura 4: Women
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This sura (chapter) is given its title because of passages relating to women, but it also speaks of orphans and justice in general. There…
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Q002b. Sura 2: The Cow. Part 2.
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In part 1 we examined the beginning of this sura, including the part about God asking the Jews to sacrifice a cow, hence the…
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Q002a. Sura 2: The Cow. Part 1.
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It strikes me odd that this sura is entitled “The Cow,” but there is a reason for it, as we shall see. It is…
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Q001. The Qur’an: Intro and Sura 1
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The Quran, (also Qur’an or Koran) is the sacred text of Islam, much like the Bible is the sacred text of Christianity. The word…