This sura (chapter) is given its title because of passages relating to women, but it also speaks of orphans and justice in general. There is even an interesting assertion about the crucifixion of Jesus.
As always it begins, “In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.” Then a reminder to be mindful of God, “who created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them spread countless men and women far and wide.” So, Muhammad seems to agree with the creation story found in Genesis 2 in the Bible. Then he advises taking proper care of orphans. Whatever property they have should be used in support of them and not taken from them selfishly. There seems to be a warning against marrying orphan girls in order to take their property, and instead he advises men can take other wives. “two, three or four,” but only if you can treat them all fairly; otherwise stick with one (4:3). Some people might object to this, but polygamy is common in the Bible and never condemned, so let’s be fair. Not that I can imagine dealing with more than one wife.
He says, “Do not entrust your property to the feeble-minded.” Since he says this within his advice about orphans I think he means immature children, not the mentally handicapped (although it could apply to both). You should manage their affairs for them until they are mature enough to take care of themselves. Men and women both should have a share in what their parents and relatives leave. And consider orphans, too, because, “Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly…will burn in the blazing Flame” (4:10). I’m not big on threatening hellfire, but in the case of people mistreating orphans I’m OK with it! We might nitpick some of Muhammad’s teachings, but I do like his defense of orphans and the needy.
Imam Ali, known as Father of the Orphans in Islamic tradition
Speaking of nitpicking, he goes on to say, “God commands you that a son should have the equivalent share of two daughters” (4:11). If it had been a female prophet I wonder if she would have heard God say the same thing. Well, that’s something the Bible and the Qur’an share in common: women tend to get the short end in such laws (see Bible post #15). He goes into some detail on how to distribute inheritance; I’ll leave you to read it if interested.
Then, “If any of your women commit a lewd act, call four witnesses from among you, then, if they testify to their guilt, keep the women at home until death comes to them or until God shows them another way” (4:15). What? Men can’t commit lewd acts? And how could there be four witnesses? That must be some pretty public lewdness. At least he does go on to say that if they repent and mend their ways then leave them alone (i.e., don’t kill them!). He also dismisses the idea of deathbed confessions: “It is not true repentance when people continue to do evil until death confronts them and then say, ‘Now I repent!’” I agree with him there!
Apparently the Arabs (pre-Islam) had something like Levirate marriage that was practiced in Israel (see Bible post #9). Muhammad says however, “it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will” (4:19). And if you are going to “replace” one wife with another you can’t take back any of the bridal gift you gave her. At least this gives women some rights in marriage. But he stops short of saying that a wife can replace her husband! Definitely not equal rights here.
There are some prohibitions against certain marriages, like marrying a woman your father had married. These prohibitions sound much like the ones in the Bible: mothers, sisters, aunts, etc. Good news: if you can’t afford a regular wife: you can marry a slave! (If she’s a believer.) And good news for the slave-wife: if she commits adultery then her punishment is only half that of a free woman! Sura 24:2 says the penalty is normally 100 lashes for both men and women, so I assume this means 50 lashes for the slave-wife, but that still seems like a lot.
Let me speed this up and list some of the teachings:
- Do not “wrongfully consume” each other’s wealth, but do fair trade. Still a relevant message today, I’d say.
- Do not kill each other. (Why do people need to be told this?!)
- Avoid major sins, knowing that minor misdeeds can be forgiven.
- Don’t be envious of what others have.
- Husbands should take good care of their wives.
- Get this one: husband if your wife is acting high-handed, first remind her of God’s teachings, then ignore her in bed (but that might be a relief for some wives?), and if that fails: hit her! Nothing like a little domestic violence to set her right!
- This on the other hand sounds good: if a couple is liable to break up, then appoint an arbiter from each family to help them work things out. Now, isn’t that better than hitting?
- Be good to your parents, to relatives, to orphans, to the needy, to neighbors (near and far), to travelers in need, and to your slaves. Like the Bible, the Qur’an seems to accept slavery as part of the social fabric and never condemns it. Apparently it is OK to own another human being, as long as you treat them according to the relevant laws, in both the Torah and the Qur’an (and the New Testament?).
- God does not like arrogant, boastful people, who are miserly and encourage others to be the same, or who spend their wealth to show off. “My yacht is bigger than your yacht!” Not like we ever see that in today’s world, do we? He adds, “What harm would it do them to…give charitably from the sustenance God has given them?” (4:29) What harm indeed? Well, they might slip a few notches on the Forbes’ list of richest people, I suppose.
- Don’t pray when you are intoxicated. Or if you are in a state of ritual impurity: like the Jews certain things like illness or sex could make one temporarily unclean, and you need to perform a ritual cleansing first. And Muhammad says if water is not available you can use clean sand to clean your face and hands; that seems practical if you are in a land where sand is more abundant than water.
- He criticizes the Jews, for distorting the Scriptures (4:44-47). I sense Muhammad resented the Jews because they did not accept him and his followers as true believers. He seems to believe the Jews were given God’s word, but they don’t follow it properly. So, the Jews criticize him, and he criticizes the Jews. Religion in a nutshell. I wonder if he is also taking a shot at the Christians when he says, “God does not forgive the joining of partners with Him” (4:48). The Christians of course saw Jesus as the Son of God and equal with God; Muhammad certainly rejects such an idea, as we shall see.
- Here’s something horrifying and funny: “We shall send those who reject Our revelations to the Fire. When their skins have been burned away, We shall replace them with new ones so that they continue to feel the pain.” (4:56) Whoa! Bad enough to be thrown into the Fire, but then your skin gets replaced so the pain continues! Nice touch, O Merciful One!
- On the other hand: “As for those who believe and do good deeds [me: ah, if only religion were that simple!], We shall admit them into Gardens graced with flowing streams and there they will remain forever. They will have pure spouses there, and We shall admit them into cool refreshing shade.” (4:57) So, the afterlife of believers is compared to a garden with flowing streams, cool shade and pure spouses. So, marriage in the afterlife? This is different than what Jesus said: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Matthew 22:30) Which is your idea of Heaven? Spouses or no?
- Muhammad gives advice on going into battle, and as is common in religion and politics he makes this promise to those willing to fight: “To anyone who fights in God’s way, whether killed or victorious, We shall give a great reward.” (4:74) Whether Valhalla or Heaven, always smart to promise your soldiers a heavenly reward.
- However, these battles are not for aggression, but defense: “Why should you not fight in God’s cause and for those oppressed men, women and children who cry out, ‘Lord, rescue us…” (4:75) I don’t see this as a call to attack people simply because they have different beliefs, but only to oppose oppression. Ironically, it seems Christians in history have followed this advice more than Jesus’, who never advocated violence even against oppression. Yet in the Crusades Christians fought to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims through warfare. That sounds more like the Qur’an than the Gospels.
- Muhammad gives quite a bit of advice in this section about war and fighting; I think this is a significant contrast from the teachings of Jesus. Although he puts limits on fighting and killing, it was still a rough business: “So if they neither withdraw, nor offer you peace, nor restrain themselves from fighting you, seize and kill them wherever you encounter them: We give you clear authority against such people.” (4:91)
- Mistakes happen in battle. If you kill a believer you must free a Muslim slave and pay compensation to his family, but if that believer “belonged to a people at war with you” then you only have to free a slave. And if you don’t have slaves you should fast for two months. (4:92) But if one kills a believer deliberately God “has prepared a tremendous torment for him.” (4:93) I’m really not clear how this is handled in warfare. Does everybody wear dog tags denoting if they are believers or not?
- Now here’s an interesting thought: when people are judged some may claim that they were oppressed and not able to fulfill the teachings of the Qur’an (4:97-100). So, the angels will ask, “But was God’s earth not spacious enough for you to migrate to some other place?” I have often wondered about this. If you are living in a place where life is hard or you are being oppressed, why not move away? Why cling to a place where life is inhospitable? I realize people tend to love their “home,” but if my homeland became miserable then I would welcome a change. (I suppose being an American I tend to be more mobile and less tradition-bound?) Of course, not everyone has the means to move, and Muhammad advises that God will forgive such people.
- Now here’s some sage advice: if you are among unbelievers (enemies) then when you pray let some of the group stand guard with their weapons, to prevent a surprise attack during prayer. Reminds me of the old American saying and song, “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!” (Supposedly first uttered by a chaplain during the Pearl Harbor attack.)
After this digression into battle and other matters Muhammad does return to women. Muhammad seems to be a stream-of-consciousness sort of prophet (although some might accuse him of tangential thought). If a wife is concerned about alienation from her husband then they should seek a peaceful solution, “for peace is best.” (4:128) Sounds good. And sometimes Muhammad is quite practical: “You will never be able to treat your wives with equal fairness, however much you may desire to do so, but do not ignore one wife altogether, leaving her suspended [between marriage and divorce]” (4:129). Yes, I would think that is a major problem with polygamy: how do you treat all the wives fairly and equally? Well, you can’t, but do your best!
Muhammad encourages people to uphold justice, even when it is against you or your family; that is a challenging teaching, is it not? “Refrain from following your own desire, so that you can act justly…” (4:135) I think that is a message we could do with in America today, as some seem to think justice is only for those who agree with them. No, seek justice even when it goes against your personal beliefs and desires. Not easy, but a worthy goal. I think Jesus would agree with Muhammad on this.
Speaking of Jesus, Muhammad goes on to chide the Jews for their resistance to his revelations, citing how stubborn the people were during the time of Moses, and he goes on to say:
And so for breaking their pledge, for rejecting God’s revelations, for unjustly killing their prophets, for saying ‘Our minds are closed – No! God has sealed them in their disbelief, so they believe only a little – and because they disbelieved and uttered a terrible slander against Mary, and said, ‘We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God.’ (They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, though it was made to appear like that to them; those that disagreed about him are full of doubt, with no knowledge to follow, only supposition: they certainly did not kill him – God raised him up to Himself. God is almighty and wise. There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in [Jesus] before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.) (4:155-159)
Now, this passage is a bit controversial as to its meaning. Some Muslims believe this is saying that Jesus did not die but was taken up to Heaven. That is also reflected in some early Christian texts. There was a theological view called Docetism, that Jesus only appeared to be human, and therefore could not really suffer and die. There was also the view that someone else died in Jesus’ place. The apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas claims that Judas Iscariot took Jesus’ place on the cross (see the blog home page for links to sites with this and other gospels). The Second Treatise of the Great Seth asserts that Simon of Cyrene, said in the Gospels to carry Jesus’ cross for him, was crucified in place of Jesus. So, Muhammad is not alone in contending that Jesus was not really crucified. In the previous post I pointed out that Muhammad seemed to know some of the apocryphal stories of Jesus and his family; now he seems to show knowledge of alternative stories of his death (or non-death). I wish we knew more about how Muhammad came to know these stories. Were such stories circulating in Arabia in his day, while being extinguished in the Christian churches in order to conform with the developing orthodox theology?
Muhammad honors many of the people mentioned in the Bible: Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon and David. “To Moses God spoke directly.” (4:164) Again, it is interesting that Muhammad knew of these Biblical patriarchs and respects them. But I find it sad that although Muhammad notes this common bondage between Judaism and Islam they see each other as enemies rather than estranged brothers. More talking, less fighting, please.
He makes his view on Jesus very clear:
..the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary, a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not speak of a ‘Trinity’– stop [this], that is better for you– God is only one God, He is far above having a son, everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him and He is the best one to trust. (4:171)
He believes God alone is God and He is above having a son. He is not alone in this belief; it was an active topic of discussion in Christianity for many centuries. The main reason for the Council of Nicaea in the early 4th Century was to discuss in what way Jesus was “God.” (You might want to look up “Arianism.”) There are scholars who think the apostle Paul thought of Jesus as a spirit, like an angel, sent from God rather than being equal to God, which is not unlike Muhammad’s view. Read Philippians 2 and ask, How could God hyper-exalt Jesus to be Lord over all if Jesus was already God? How can you be exalted any higher if you are already God? But that’s a deep discussion beyond this article. The point is, Muhammad’s belief about Jesus is not far off from what many early Christians believed. And yet there is this unscalable wall between Islam and Christianity, much as there is between Islam and Judaism. Again, more talking, less fighting, please.
Muhammad goes on to urge faithfulness and to remind us that “those who believe and do good works” will be rewarded (4:173). Again, why can’t religion be that simple?
Then, almost as a post-script, he returns to inheritance, noting again that “the male is entitled to twice the share of the female” (4:176). Gee, Muhammad, you had this sura coming to a nice conclusion and then you throw this in. Not the most equitable law in the Qur’an. At least you could have (or the later compilers of your teachings could have) put this in the section on inheritance, instead of leaving a bad taste in our mouths at the end. Oh, well.
Thinking exercises:
After 4 surahs, what do you see as common ground between the Qur’an and Christianity? What are the key differences? Are the differences insurmountable? Should religion today emphasize differences or commonalities?
Assignment: Talk to a Muslim acquaintance about their views on women and orphans.