Article 1
Annotation
The biblical reference to the Ten
Commandments given to Moses on the mountain Sinai is revered by all Christians
as a religious law but the purpose of the commandments upon further analysis is
revealed to be a set of social and ethical rules that help in the proper administration
of a society and to keep order. This rules that are an important part of the Old
Testament are included in the Qur’an as the basic set of rules that a person
should abide by and there have been two instances where the incident on Mount
Sinai has been referred to as the covenant with the one true god. However upon
further inspection and the interpretations by the many Muslim scholars and
commentators of the middle ages the significance of the ten commandments have
been given extreme importance as the man’s covenant to god emphasises the base
of the religion that is based mostly on two things. The relation between god
and man is prompted in the first laws where the existence of any other god has
been decreed as blasphemy by god himself. The relation of the man with his humans
has also been noted in the commandments but the reference to the Moses is
limited and has been omitted by some interpreters of Qur’an.
In the modern times, some scholars
believe the commandments that were given to Moses was already given to the first
Muslim Abraham. And the definition given to Moses is a ploy by the early
Muslims to keep the Jews on their side. This fact is supported by the slight
variations of the different commandments that are different in phrasing and word
choice which is much more inclusive in the Qur’an version. The right of the
kinsmen and the children of one’s blood emphasised the much more specific
interpretation that is the main difference between the biblical and Qur’anic
version of the commandments.
Opinion
In my opinion the religious texts of
both religions are based on the laws of the human kind that are required for a
society to function properly. The Islam and Christianity might be different
religions but both consist of humans who are social animals and to stay in the
society there needs to be some rules that govern all our actions. These basic
laws that are required for any civilized society to exist are the commandments.
The reference to the Biblical incident of the Mount Sinai in the works of Prophet
Mohammad is incidental and might have some ulterior motive but that is not the
matter of discussion in the article. The governance of human society and basic
rules that are needed to keep peace and the religious interpretations of the
same laws are the matter of discussion. The torah also contains some rules that
are like the commandments in the biblical or Qur’anic references without
mentioning the god’s commandments. Therefore, the rules that are the
commandments can be deemed universal and necessary for the society to function
peacefully where without the rules there would have been chaos.
For this reason the rules of the
society are more important and the religious texts are only relating to the
rules to prevent the society from falling into chaos. So, the commandments
whether in Qur’an or the bible are more concerned with civic laws than
religious beliefs. Therefore, if the commandments in the bible or Quran if seen
as separate from the religious context the article is focusing on the same
principles that are prevalent in all religions that are necessary for the
prosperity of humanity.
Article 2
Annotation
This article is based on the prophets
of the pre abrahamic era and the post –abrahamic era. The different prophets
and their mission and the ending of them have been compared to discover the
trends in the prophetic missions and the change that had been finalised in the prophetic
mission of Moses which is the most mentioned mission in the Qur’an compared to
other prophets of different eras. Before Abraham the missions of the prophets
followed a similar pattern where the mission ended in the lifetime of the
prophet and the unjust were punished by god and the servants of god were free
to live in peace under divine law. The same pattern is repeated over and over
in the history. In the time of Abraham there was a significant change in the
pattern as the seeds of the teachings of Abraham were spread throughout the
different nations and the result was long lasting. Therefore, the change in
pattern was seen. The relation of the prophets with the people was similar
where they were concerned with the wellbeing of the humanity and many rejected
their message where others accepted. In
the case of Moses, the chosen people were the sons of Israel who were the
favoured of god. And the exodus under Moses was highlighted in many texts as it
was different than the other prophetic missions of the time and had some
immediate result like the freeing of the Israelites.
Therefore, the special relation
between the prophets and their chosen people were emphasised upon in the
article and the unjust that are common in the narration of the events were
similar and caused many problems for the prophets. Their struggle is emphasised
in the article.
Opinion
The article focuses on the prophets
and their mission and tries to draw the similarity in the patterns of the
missions of the prophets and the people who followed them and this in my
opinion focuses on the spiral pattern as the prophets all came in the times
where the world was rife with wickedness and unjust rule. The stories of the
prophets in my opinion are narrated in that particular way so that the
influence on the people is positive. The narration of the events all end with
the righteous people ending up with a fulfilling life and the unjust and wicked
suffering under the wrath of god and succumbing finally. These are important in
their significance as they focus on the rule of god and the punishment that is
to befall a person if he or she is not obeying the rules of the god. Therefore
the emphasis of the events are on the positive impact of the events on the
psyche on the humans who are wilfully disobeying the rules of the god to find
momentary advantage over the righteous. The different parts of the punishment
are also part of the teachings of the religious texts as the Qur’an not only
denotes the teachings of the god’s first prophet Muhammad but the consequences of
disobeying them. This is the part where the events of the prophets come along
and their significance in the teachings that are passed on by the Qur’an is
validated in the eyes of the followers of the same religion of a later time.
Therefore, the article focuses on the particular purpose that influences the
behaviour of the followers of the Islam. Therefore the purpose of the article
is to analyse the effect of the teachings of the prophets and the events that
brought down holy punishment on the unjust.
Article 3
Annotation
The article is part of the book the explores
the different parts of the law of man and god that is the basis of all religion
and the Quran that is the text that denotes the rules that are to be obeyed by
all true Muslims. The true meaning of the religious laws and the covenant is
emphasised in the Qur’an. The interpretation of the covenant and the different
consequences of obeying or disobeying it is the main matter of discussion of
the article. The different religious laws that are based in the ethics and the civility
and the integrity of a religious community are discussed in the article along
with the result of swaying from the path decreed by the covenant. The rewards
that await the people who live a virtuous life always adhering to the laws that
are stated in the covenant are put against the ones who disobey the law and
their punishments. The laws that are based on the general ethics that allow a
community to exist are the basis of the law and the ethics of the law are based
on the obeying of the covenant. This is applicable in case of all treaties and
the thus the rule of staying true to ones word is given extreme importance in
the article. The religious perspective that has been allowed to overshadow the
ethical side of the religious text is also noted and the emphasis on the
testifying to the truth is pointed out to be the main point of being true to
the covenant and not the speaking of truth or such. The same is applicable for
the disbeliever who are said to be not disregarding the dictates of god but one
breaks his word.
Opinion
In my opinion the article is written
with the purpose of relating the religious laws to the ethical conduct that is
necessary for the human society to function properly. The connection between
the religious edicts or the rules that a religious person must abide by in
Islam and the ethical conduct that is to be practiced by every civilised man to
ensure the survival of human society is emphasised in the article. So, the
connection between the religion and the ethics is established which was not
present in the earlier laws where the nomadic tribes had no specific rules to
abide by that was related to the worship of a specific deity. Therefore, in my
opinion the article is dedicated to drawing a parallel between the ethical
conduct and religious conduct that has been deemed the same in case of the Qur’an
and the Islam at large. Some examples of the instances when the covenant was
formed also has been used to give more validity to the fact that the religion
is a roundabout way of keeping people ethical and thus preserving the stability
of the society. The different part of the Quran that has been quoted in the
article and the connection to ethical conduct that has been drawn in the
context is ample proof of the statement that has been made before. The
punishment of the disobeyer of the covenant also serves to use fear as an
incentive to keep people ethical and the rewards of staying true to the
religious edicts also serve the same purpose. Therefore the article is focused
on the nature of the religion that is a motive for people to stay ethical.
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