Thoughts on the Koran, Part 1

One of my goals in living in Morocco is to be able to read Arabic, particularly Classical Arabic. On an academic but also on a very real personal level, I am interested in the relationship between Islam and Christianity and how both interact with secular modernity. I tend to think that a lot of contemporary problems would not exist if we better understood these issues.

Yesterday, along with a friend, I worked through the Arabic of al-Fatiha, the first sura of the Qur'an. So I thought that I would post my translation and a few thoughts on it.

Sura 1: al-Fatiha
1. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
2. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds,
3. The Compassionate, the Merciful
4. King of the Day of Religion [the Day of Judgment]
5. It is you we worship and it is you we call on for help
6. Guide us in the correct way,
7. the way of religion, of those upon whom you have had favor and not of those upon whom your anger has come nor of those who have lost the way.

A few notes:
1) This sura uses a structure that puts the accusative (objective) form first in the fifth verse, thus putting God before those who worship him, even though those who worship him are the subject of the sentence. This mirrors grammatically the structure of the relationship between God and human: even in human action and agency, God is most important.

2) The use of the word 'Deen' ('Religion') is much broader than our current sociological use of the word 'religion' in English. It is comparable to Jonathan Edwards' 18th century use of "religion" (see his 30th Resolution, for instance). It is not just a set of beliefs and practices, but rather the true way, the way of God beyond any human creations). It involves the most important things we will have to come to account for at the Final Judgment. There is just a hint of the Islamic insistence on moving beyond idolatry (putting ultimate value on something other than God) to worship of the one true God beyond all those idols. We might compare this with Jesus' harsh rebukes of the Pharisees and their tendency to miss the forest of what God wants for the trees of tradition and rules. Jesus said the Prophets and the Law were summed up in two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and Love your neighbor as yourself. The importance of that love and worship of God as more important than all rules and traditions (and what should be the source of any rules and traditions we do have) is shared between Islam and Christianity. As a result, avoiding idols is another similar aspect between the two faiths (although some Muslims might argue that the way Christians make images or talk of God is idolatrous). How this God beyond idols is known and worshiped are different, but the uppermost goal is central in both faiths.

3) This Sura clearly divides the world into those who seek to worship the one true God (the action of seeking it being described using the metaphor of the path or way) and those who merit God's anger and have lost the true way. This parallels Christianity as well. The difference, of course, lies in what that path is and, in the case of Christianity, who it goes through (the person of Jesus Christ). But once again, the similarities in purpose are very strong: seeking the one true God and his way.


Disclaimer:
I am in no way a Koranic scholar (nor a real Biblical scholar for that matter). These are just a few observations from my very limited understanding of the Arabic and my observations of both Christianity and Islam. I more than welcome corrections and constructive criticism.