A Reader on Classical Islam

F. E. Peters

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 1993
• ISBN:
  9781400821181
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

To enable the reader to shape, or perhaps reshape, an understanding of the Islamic tradition, F. E. Peters skillfully combines extensive passages from Islamic texts with a fascinating commentary of his own. In so doing, he presents a substantial body of literary evidence that will enable the reader to grasp the bases of Muslim faith and, more, to get some sense of the breadth and depth of Islamic religious culture as a whole. The voices recorded here are those of Muslims engaged in discourse with their God and with each other--historians, lawyers, mystics, and theologians, from the earliest Companions of the Prophet Muhammad down to Ibn Rushd or "Averroes" (d. 1198), al-Nawawi (d. 1278), and Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406). These religious seekers lived in what has been called the "classical" period in the development of Islam, the era when the exemplary works of law and spirituality were written, texts of such universally acknowledged importance that subsequent generations of Muslims gratefully understood themselves as heirs to an enormously broad and rich legacy of meditation on God's Word.
"Islam" is a word that seems simple to understand. It means "submission, " and, more specifically in the context where it first and most familiarly appears, "submission to the will of God." That context is the Quran, the Sacred Book of the Muslims, from which flow the patterns of belief and practice that today claim the spiritual allegiance of hundreds of millions around the globe. By drawing on the works of the great masters--Islam in its own words--Peters enriches our understanding of the community of "those who have submitted" and their imposing religious and political culture, which is becoming ever more important to the West.

CHAPTER 1

The Past, Sacred and Profane

1. The Quran on Creation

The Christians accept Genesis as Scripture—that is, God’s true word—and so their account of Creation is identical with that of the Jews, though it was originally read, of course, in a Greek or later a Latin translation, and was often commented upon in a very different way. For the Muslims, on the other hand, the Scripture called the Quran superseded the Book of Genesis; and though its source is the same as that in Genesis, God Himself, there are obvious differences in detail in its view of Creation.

It was God who raised the skies without support, as you can see, and assumed His throne, and enthralled the sun and the moon (so that) each runs to a predetermined course. He disposes all affairs, distinctly explaining every sign that you may be certain of the meeting with your Lord.

And it was He who stretched the earth and placed upon it stabilisers and rivers; and made two of a pair of every fruit; (and) he covers up the day with the night. In these are signs for those who reflect.

On the earth are tracts adjoining one another, and vineyards, fields of corn and date-palm trees, some forked and some with single trunks, yet all irrigated with the selfsame water, though We make some more excellent than others in fruit. There are surely signs in them for those who understand. (Quran 13:2–4)

Much of the “biblical” material in the Quran, or perhaps better, the Torah material in the Quran—the Quran is in its entirety “Bible” to the Muslim—is not presented in a continuous narrative line in the manner of Genesis but often simply alluded to, frequently to support or illustrate another point. Hence the subject of Creation comes up in different places, as here again in Quran 32, where the moral consequences of Creation are homiletically drawn at the beginning and the end of the passage.

It is God who created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them, in six spans, then assumed all authority. You have no protector other than Him, nor any intercessor. Will you not be warned even then? He regulates all affairs from high to low, then they rise to perfection step by step in a (heavenly) day whose measure is a thousand years in your reckoning. Such is He, the knower of the unknown and the known, the mighty and the merciful, who made all things He created excellent; and first fashioned man from clay, then made his offspring from the extract of base fluid, then proportioned and breathed into him His spirit, and gave you the senses of hearing, sight and feeling, and yet how little are the thanks you offer. (Quran 32:4–9)

It is already apparent that, among other differences between Genesis and the Quran, there is the matter of chronology, as the Muslims themselves were well aware.

The people of the Torah [that is, the Jews] say that God began the work of Creation on Sunday and finished on Saturday, when He took His seat upon the Throne, and so they take that as their holy day. The Christians say the beginning (of Creation) fell on a Monday and the ending on Sunday, when He took His seat on the Throne, so they take that as their holy day. Ibn Abbas [a companion of Muhammad and an active transmitter of traditions from the Prophet] said that the beginning was on a Saturday and the ending on a Friday, so that the taking of His seat was also on a Friday, and for that reason we keep it as a holy day. It was said by the Prophet, may God bless him and give him peace, “Friday is the mistress among the days. It is more excellent in God’s sight than either the Breaking of the Fast (at the end of Ramadan) or the Feast of Sacrifice (in connection with the Pilgrimage liturgy). On it occurred five special things, to wit: Adam was created, on it his spirit was breathed into him, he was wedded, he died, and on it will come the Final Hour. No human ever asks his Lord for anything on Friday but that God gives him what he asks.” Another version of this prophetic tradition reads: “… ask, so long as it is not something forbidden.” (Al-Kisa’i, Stories of the Prophets) [JEFFERY 1962: 171–172]

2. Adam and the Angels

Christians found the chief moral implications of Genesis in the story of Adam’s sin and the original couple’s banishment from Eden. The Muslims too read the Creation story in a moral manner, chiefly because the Quran presented it from precisely that perspective. Here, however, the emphasis is not on the fall of Adam but on the sin of the angels.

He made for you all that lies within the earth, then turning to the firmament He proportioned several skies: He has a knowledge of every thing.

And when the work of Creation was completed, there followed this dialogue in heaven.

Remember when the Lord said to the angels: “I have to place a trustee [the Arabic word is khalifa, Caliph; see chapter 3 below] on the earth.” They said, “Will You place one there who would create disorder and shed blood, while we intone Your litanies and sanctify Your name?” And God said, “I know what you do not know.” Then He gave Adam the knowledge of the nature and reality of all things and every thing, and set them before the angels and said, “Tell me the names of these if you are truthful.” And they said, “Glory to You, (O Lord), knowledge we have none save what You have given us, for You are all-knowing and all-wise.”

Then He said to Adam: “Convey to them their names.” And when he had told them, God said, “Did I not tell you that I know the unknown of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you disclose and know what you hide?”

Remember, when We asked the angels to bow in homage to Adam, they all bowed but Iblis, who disdained and turned insolent, and so became a disbeliever.

And We said to Adam: “Both you and your spouse will live in the Garden, eat freely to your fill wherever you like, but approach not this tree or you will become transgressors.”

But Satan tempted them and had them banished from the (happy) state they were in. And We said: “Go, one the enemy of the other, and live on the earth the time ordained, and fend for yourselves.”

Then his Lord sent commands to Adam and turned toward him: Indeed He is compassionate and kind. (Quran 2:29–37)

3. The Primordial Ka‘ba

The Quran says little else about Adam and his unnamed wife, but the later Muslim tradition was quick to fill in additional details. The earthly paradise of their dwelling was identified as, among other places, Sri Lanka, and various sites, notably Eve’s at Jidda, were later shown as the final resting place of the original pair. Of particular interest was Adam’s connection with Mecca. The Quran says nothing about the remote origins of a holy place in the Prophet’s native city; it speaks only of the era of Abraham and of Ishmael there, and of the providential construction of the Ka‘ba, this “sacred House” (5:100), this “ancient House” (22:29). The Islamic tradition did not rest on that scriptural testimony alone, however. Somewhat later generations of Muslims, who had access, through Jewish and Christian converts to Islam, to a vast body of stories and legends about the earliest times of God’s dispensation, were able to trace the history of the Ka‘ba and its sanctuary back to the very beginning of Creation, and even before.

This tradition has been transmitted by various authorities: When Adam was brought down to earth, his feet were on the earth but his head was in Heaven, where he heard the words of those in Heaven. [He heard] their prayers and glorification of God and was on intimate terms with them. But the angels came to fear him, so they complained about that to God, and He diminished his [size] to sixty cubits the length of his forearm. When Adam was deprived of hearing the angelic voices and their glorification [of God], he felt distressed and lonely, and complained about that to God. So God brought down one of the sapphires of the Garden to where the location of the House [that is, the Ka‘ba in Mecca] is today. He said: “O Adam, I have brought it down to you as a House, to be circumambulated as my Throne is circumambulated, so pray there as you used to pray at my Throne.” So Adam turned toward Mecca, saw the House, and circumambulated it.

Abu Salih related on the authority of Ibn Abbas: God gave a revelation to Adam: “I have a sacred area opposite my Throne. Go and build me a House in it, and then encompass it as you have seen the angels encompass my Throne. There I will answer your prayers and the prayers of your children who will be obedient to Me.” Adam said: “How can I do that? I do not have the power nor the guidance for that!” So God sent him the power, and he went to Mecca.

Whenever he passed by a beautiful garden that delighted him, he would say to the angel (that was transporting him): “Bring me down here!” The angel would then say: “Enough,” until he arrived in Mecca. Every place at which Adam descended became populated, and every place that he passed over became a desert wasteland. Then, he built the House. When he had finished building it, the angel took him to Arafat and showed him all of the ritual stations that people visit today. Then he went to Mecca and circumambulated the House for a week. He then returned to the land of India and died on a fire.

Abu Yayha Ba’i‘ al-Qat said, Mujahid said to me: Abdullah ibn Abbas related to me that Adam settled somewhere in India and made 40 pilgrimages [to Mecca] by foot. But I said to him: “O Abu Hujjaj, didn’t he ride?” He answered: “What kind of thing could he have ridden? By God, one of his strides equaled a distance of three days (of normal travel).”

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: When Adam was brought down to earth and saw its [great] extent, but did not see anyone upon it other than himself, he said: “O Lord, is there any humanity on this earth who will praise Your glory and extol Your sanctity other than me?” God replied: “I will have your children, those who will praise My glory and extol My sanctity. I will make buildings that will be raised in My honor and in which My creations will praise and mention My name. And of these buildings I will make one House that I single out for My honor. I will bequeath My name to it and will elevate it as My House. I will cause it to speak of my greatness, and I will put my splendor upon it. Then I will make that House sacred and secure, and it will make whatever is around it or underneath it or above it inviolable through its sanctity. Whoever is sanctified by its sanctity will have his prayers answered through My generosity. But whoever causes his people to fear, My religion (belief in me?) is lost, My protection is guarded, and My sanctity is revealed.”

He made it the first House given to the people to come to, disheveled and dusty “on every kind of camel, coming from every deep vale” (Quran 22:27), shouting “the Greeting” [that is, the pilgrimage formula “At Your service, O Lord”] noisily, rustling with commotion in weeping, and saying “the Glorification” [that is, the prayer formula “God is great!”] in a roar. He who adores it will desire nothing else, but travels to visit Me and stay as My guest. It is incumbent upon the [Most] Noble that He honors His delegation and His guests, and that He be gracious and beneficent and help all who make His pilgrimage. Inhabit it, O Adam, as long as you live. Then, he will make peoples and generations and prophets from your children inhabit it, nation after nation and generation after generation. (Tha‘alibi [d. 1035 C.E.], Tales of the Prophets 86–87)

Two motifs emerge from these stories. First, that the Ka‘ba is a part of cosmogony and not merely of human history. The Meccan Ka‘ba is an earthly counterpart to—and stands opposite or under—God’s heavenly Throne, or, as appears in some versions, a heavenly “Well-populated House” (al-bayt al-ma‘mur) (52:4), and Adam built the Meccan Ka‘ba on its model. Second, just as the construction of the original House is pushed back to Adam and the beginning of the world, so too the pilgrimage rituals were first given to Adam by God through the agency of the angel Gabriel, and they too were modeled on heavenly prototypes, the cultus of the angels.

These are not new notions: almost everything that is said of Mecca and of the Ka‘ba—that it predated the creation of the world, for example, or that it stands beneath the Throne of God and thus marks the center of both the earth and the universe (cf. Quran 42:7)—can be found in the dense body of Jewish legend surrounding Jerusalem. The Muslim tradition makes no attempt to disguise the fact that many of these stories came from men like Ibn Abbas, Wahb ibn Munabbih, or Ka‘b al-Ahbar, who were either well instructed on the traditions of the Jews, the oft-cited isra’iliyyat, or were themselves converts from Judaism to Islam.

4. The Covenant with Abraham

The Muslim was not constrained, like the Christian, to argue the case of his spiritual descent from the biblical Book of Genesis; he had his own account of the Covenant in the Quran. It begins with Abraham in a state of idolatry, of “associating” as the Quran puts it, other gods with the One True God.

Remember when Abraham said to Azar, his father: “Why do you take idols for gods? I certainly find you and your people in error.” Thus We showed to Abraham the visible and invisible world of the heavens and the earth, that he could be among those who believe. When the night came with her covering of darkness he saw a star, and (Azar, his father) said, “This is my Lord.” But when the star set, (Abraham) said: “I love not those that wane.” When (Azar) saw the moon rise all aglow, he said, “This is my Lord.” But even as the moon set, (Abraham) said, “If my Lord had not shown me the way, I would surely have gone astray.” When (Azar) saw the sun rise all resplendent, he said, “My Lord is surely this, and the greatest of them all.” But the sun also set, and (Abraham) said: “O my people, I am through with those you associate with God. I have truly turned my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth: I have chosen one way and I am not an idolater.”

His people argued and he said: “Do you argue with me about God? He has guided me already, and I fear not what you associate with Him, unless my Lord wills, for held within the knowledge of my Lord is every thing. Will you not reflect? And why should I fear those you associate with Him when you fear not associating others with God for which He has sent down no sanction? Tell me, whose way is the way of peace, if you have the knowledge. They alone have peace who believe and do not intermix belief with denial, and are guided on the right path.”

The notion of guidance leads to a typical Quranic opening of the historical perspective to include a broad prophetic landscape.

This is the argument We gave to Abraham against his people. We exalt whosoever We please in rank by degrees. Your Lord is wise and all-knowing. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob and guided them, as We had guided Noah before them, and of his descendants, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward those who are upright and do good. Zachariah and John We guided, and guided Jesus and Elias who were all among the upright. And we gave guidance to Ishmael, Elisha and Jonah and Lot; and We favored them over all the other people of the world, as We did some of their fathers and progeny and brethren, and chose them, and showed them the right path.

This is God’s guidance: He guides among His creatures whom He will. If they had associated others with Him, surely vain would hav...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: A Primer on Islam
• Chapter 1 The Past, Sacred and Profane
• Chapter 2 The Life and Work of the Prophet
• Chapter 3 The Community of Muslims
• Chapter 4 The Word of God and Its Understanding
• Chapter 5 The Quran, the Prophet, and the Law
• Chapter 6 The Worship of God
• Chapter 7 Saints and Mystics
• Chapter 8 Islamic Theology
• Sources Cited
• Index