God, Muhammad and the Unbelievers by David Marshall

Author:David Marshall [Marshall, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415759946
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2014-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

17 See Robinson 1996, pp.106–109, for an analysis of the formal elements of these narratives.

18 I follow Arberry in translating kadhdhaba, the root verb, as ‘to cry lies’.

19 One other very brief reference to which Horovitz makes no reference occurs at 77:16–17: ‘Did we not destroy the ancients, and then follow them with the later folk?’

20 This plural implies that the message and its warning extend beyond Mecca to surrounding towns, which is also suggested in other Meccan passages in which Muhammad is spoken of as being sent to warn the mother of the cities (Mecca) and those around her (6:92; 42:7). On the other hand, Bell (1991, p.243) suggests that this could be a warning to the Jews of Medina and around.

21 Unsurprisingly, Bell (1991, ad loc.) judges v.4 to be ‘a later insertion to obviate the difficulty of the continued delay of the event’, partly on stylistic grounds. There is an interesting parallel to this verse in Psalm 90:4, alluded to at 2 Peter 3:8 in a context analogous to the Qurɔanic passage, that of a discussion of the perceived delay in divine intervention.

22 Bell (1937, ad loc.) dates it as Medinan.

23 This theme of waiting for God’s punishment recurs in a late Medinan passage at 9:52, but it is clear that in this context waiting no longer implies passivity on the part of the believers: ‘We are awaiting in your case too, for God to visit you with punishment from him, or at our hands; so await; we are awaiting with you.’

24 Surah 13 is taken as Medinan in the official Egyptian edition, but Nöldeke and other Western scholars date it as late Meccan (Watt and Bell 1970, p.207); even Bell declares that verse 40 is ‘certainly Meccan’ (Bell 1991, ad loc.). The first half of the verse, in which it is suggested that Muhammad might die before the punishment falls, strongly suggests a Meccan dating.

25 This excursus has been placed here, rather than being made into a short chapter earlier in the study, because it is at this stage in the unfolding argument that the relevance of the question of God’s attitude to the unbeliever becomes most apparent.

26 For further comment on Rahbar see Paret 1975b. Paret criticizes what he sees as Rahbar’s forced interpretation of the apparently predestinarian passages, but his criticisms do not call into question Rahbar’s emphasis on the primacy of justice over mercy in the Qurɔanic picture of God. Bouman (1977, p.179, n.279) cites Kraemer’s criticisms (in Dutch) of God of Justice. For an analysis of Rahbar’s approach to exegesis of the Qurɔan see Saldanha 1963.

27 The translation here largely follows Cragg 1988.

28 My interpretation of this and other narratives as reflections of Muhammad’s experience will be supported towards the end of this chapter by reference to several non-narrative passages which illustrate the same point.

29 If there is any truth in this observation, it is interesting to follow it up with some comments on the occurrence of the word amīn elsewhere in the Qurɔan.

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