Questions from the Koran if anyone can help me with any of them. Im not religious so I had a very hard time?

Question

If anyone can help me with any of these, that would be great.

1. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam is a religion based on revelation. In the Muslim view, the revelations in the Koran were sent to correct all previous revelations. Using the introductory material in our text (or an outside source if you prefer), discuss the meaning of this statement: Islam is a religion based on revelation.

2. Were you surprised to find so many familiar names in the Koran--names such as "Joseph," Zacharias," "Mary," "Abraham," "Moses," and so on? From your reading of the selections from the Koran, how do you think the followers of Islam regard these people many of us know from the Bible?

3. Who is "the Merciful"? Discuss what his main attributes seem to be, according to the short readings we are studying.

7. What is the Koranic attitude toward women as revealed in Suras 4 ("Women"), 12, ("Joseph"), and 19 "Mary")? Add your own comments to your response

Close, actually it is traditions in world literature. Im not trying to get answers to an assignment or test or anything like that. These are discussion question and I cant discuss what I dont understand.

Answer 1

-----------------------
Edit: I finished, finally. Do note that Prophet Muhammad had minimal contact with people from other religions. What contact he did have was as a trader. He would not have had the time to sit down and read (or be narrated to) such volumes as have appeared in Islamic traditions.

For question #3, what materials have you had access to so far?
-----------------------

Interesting class. :) Muslims prefer the spelling "Qur'an"; and if you happen to discuss Shia Muslims, we prefer Shia, Shiah, Shi`a, or Shi`ah. Usually, Shia is the easiest to fly off the fingertips.

1. Shaykh Saduq, an ancient Shia Muslim theologian, wrote in his treatise on thology, "Our belief concerning this is that the Qur'an was sent down in one lot, in the month of Ramadan, on the Night of Power (laylatu'l-qadr). was revealed in the space of twenty years."

Shaykh Saduq goes on to explain that we believe that God inspired Prophet Muhammad with knowledge, both religious and mundane. (On The Beliefs of the Shi'a Imamiya, Chapter 31, "On the Revelation of the Qur'an") This could be further explained by a statement from Shaykh Tusi, another Shia Muslim scholar whose expertise included thology. He wrote, "It is obligatory to have faith in all that has been conveyed by the Holy Prophet and the Imams including what they have said about the Prophethood of the past Prophets, about the revealed Books..." (Tenets of Islam, Ch. titled "Faith in the Message of the Holy Prophet") This ties in to our belief in the complete infallibility and innocence of Prophet Muhammad and his Holy Family. Being inspired of God in all that they said and did, their religious and mundane knowledge was perfected according to the needs of their time - their knowledge being revealed and not acquired. In addition, not a single action of their could be found blameworthy in any sense.

In another chapter, he wrote, "Our belief Concerning the Qur'an is that it is the Word (kalam) of Allah, and His revelation, sent down by Him, His speech and His Book." We do not believe that God physically emits sound from His person. We believe that God is not composite and does not have a body in whatever sense. We believe that when God "speaks" He causes something to emit speech on His command. In this sense, it can be said that Prophet Muhammad was the spokesperson of God. (On The Beliefs of the Shi'a Imamiya, Chapter 32, "On the Qur'an")

Shaykh Saduq made other clarifications about the Qur'an: http://www.sicm.org.uk/index.php?page=suduk/Suduk33

2. When I was initially exploring Islam (before I converted), I was indeed surprised. I thought Islam to be a heathen religion wholly unrelated to the Christian concept of God. It surprisedme to learn that Islam holds that God is One, the Creator of the universe, the sender of the Prophets (even Prophets with whom I was familar), All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Eternal, etc. After working through the logic of the qualities of God that were described by Islamic texts, the rest of Islamic theology regarding God, and then prophecy, made sense to me. It followed, one step after another, in a perfect logical succession.

3. ?

4. If you have checked on this in the past several hours overnight, you will have noticed that I have had to work on this in parts. I have been using the translation by Shakir. As a Shia Muslim, I prefer the Qur'an translations of learned Shia translators. Even before I chose to follow Shia Islam, I was pleased by the closeness of the English words that Shakir chose to the Arabic words from which he had translated them. One thing that troubles me about Shakir's translation is his use of the "n" word. If you need more information about this translator, please mention it. For commentary, I am referring to the Pooya/Ali commentary. These two scholars worked together to produce a single work. One point on which I disagree with them is their view that Islam holds that women are not rqual to men. I have found so much evidence to the contrary from fundamental textual sources that I feel justified in my disagreement with them. So far. I have deleted parts from verses that cover more than one topic, and I have been very free in redacting the commentary to make it more readable or to offer more explanations. Let me know if that is a problem.

Surah Nisa
4:1 O people! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread from these two, many men and women; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, by Whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship; surely Allah ever watches over you.

By ya ayyuhun nas (O mankind), the entire mankind, irrespective of divisions, has been addressed. They are the children of a common ancestor. The first woman, Hawwa or Eve, was created from that single soul. Arham (plural of rihm) [womb] implies kinship. Kinship in Islam is regarded as one of the most important social institutions. Much has been said and practised by the Holy Prophet and his Ahl ul Bayt to lay emphasis on the love of near relatives, brotherhood of mankind and peace and harmony in human society. In Islam, motherhood is lauded as the most praiseworthy of stations.

4:3 ...then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; but if you fear that you will not do justice (between them), then (marry) only one or what your right hands possess; this is more proper, that you may not deviate from the right course.

Monogamy is the ideal; and polygamy is only allowed as a safeguard against greater social evils. ...

Concisely, Islam, in unequivocal terms, though indirectly, deprecates polygamy.

Just a note in passing that "right hand" refers to ownership. In the case of humans, it does indeed refer to slavery. One of the reasons that slave owenership in the muslim world is on the verge of extinction (thank God is that is was meant to be phased out. Pooya and Ali note that "verse 177 of al-Baqarah says that piety does not lie in turning the face to east or west-piety lies (among other deeds mentioned therein) in 'freeing the slaves', therefore, the application of 'what your right hands own' has become, step by step, beyond the bounds of possibility.

In verse 195 of Ali Imran the parenthetical phrase "one of you from the other" makes it clear that men and women are counter-parts to each other and of the same human status.

Here is the whole ofthe verse mentioned in the commentary:
3:195] So their Lord accepted their prayer: That I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other; they, therefore, who fled and were turned out of their homes and persecuted in My way and who fought and were slain, I will most certainly cover their evil deeds, and I will most certainly make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; a reward from Allah, and with Allah is yet better reward.

And the commentary:
A sub-human status was allotted to women in almost all philosophies and religions, before Islam. In this verse it is stated that man and woman are counter parts to each other ("one of you from the other") and of the same human status. This truth was proclaimed to mankind not in the twentieth but in the sixth century of the Christian era. Islam recognises perfect equality of both sexes (in their responsibility to be good), according to their natural assignments and native endowments.

I supposed that it could be said that Pooya and Ali even contradict themselves in trying to say that Islam declares man superior to woman.

4:4] And give women their dowries as a free gift, but if they of themselves be pleased to give up to you a portion of it, then eat it with enjoyment and with wholesome result.

Payment of dowry, either a sum of money or other form of property, to the wife is no [sic] obligation, prescribed by the law, on the husband. The right to receive husband's wealth gives the woman an honourable status as a human being.

Actually, I see the word "no" asa typographical error. I am not sure if it has been allowed to stand in more recent editions of this text. The edition posted online is several years old by now. One reason that I assume it to be a mistake is that Islamic law provides for a woman's dowry upon marriage. Most Islamic schools of thought, including the Shia sect, declare it obligatory for a man to pay his new bride her dowry.

4:7] Men shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, and women shall have a portion... [11] Allah enjoins you concerning your children: The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females; then if they are more than two females, they shall have two-thirds of what the deceased has left... [12] And you shall have half of what your wives leave if they have no child...and they shall have the fourth of what you leave if you have no child...

In Islam, womanhood ... is no bar to the inheritance as it had been in the past.

[Shakir 4:15] And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or Allah opens some way for them.

My own understanding is that the procedures required in Islamic law for witnessing and evidence make it nearly impossibleto convict anyone of adultery. One practically has to confess to it after having been accused. Most of the killing of women that we see with the claim that Islamic law provides for it is quite false. Their killing of the women is, more often than, not pure murder. Pooya and Ali seem to support what I have seen and heard to this point.

The evidence in the case of adultery must be, according to the law of Islam, ocular, not hearsay, conjectural or circumstantial. Every possible safeguard is taken against hasty and unfounded accusations. When four men testify that they saw with their eyes the actual carnal conjunction, punishments mentioned in this verse, can be inflicted.

4:19] O you who believe! it is not lawful for you that you should take women as heritage against (their) will, and do not straiten them in order that you may take part of what you have given them, unless they are guilty of manifest indecency, and treat them kindly; then if you hate them, it may be that you dislike a thing while Allah has placed abundant good in it.

It still does happen that men and their families put pressure on new brides to force them to comply with their financial (or servile) demands.

4:20] And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything; would you take it by slandering (her) and (doing her) manifest wrong? [23] Forbidden to you are your mothers... [4:24] And all married women except those whom your right hands possess...and lawful for you are (all women) besides those, provided that you seek (them) with your property, taking (them) in marriage not committing fornication. Then as to those whom you profit by, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed; surely Allah is Knowing, Wise.

Famastamta-tum bihi provides for a temporary marriage, known as muta. It has been specifically made lawful by the Quran and the Holy Prophet, therefore, this provision subsists as unrescinded. The Shia school of thought (Islam-original) holds that temporary marriage is lawful.

Sunni Islam considers it to be prohibited. It is a sore point of contention between the two sects. In everyday practise, Shia Muslim males use temporary marriage as a form of dating or prostitution. Therefore, what was supposed to be part of a beautiful intitution of marriage has been corrupted into something quite ugly. Most scholars and clergy advise strongly against temporary marriage so that men and women would establish healthy families that are not tarnished by the emotional scars often inflicted by the modern use of temporary marriage.

4:25] And whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means to marry free believing women, then (he may marry) of those whom your right hands possess from among your believing maidens...so marry them with the permission of their masters, and give them their dowries justly, they being chaste, not fornicating, nor receiving paramours; and when they are taken in marriage, then if they are guilty of indecency, they shall suffer half the punishment which is (inflicted) upon free women. ...

I have asked the offices of one of the high-ranking scholars whose rulings Shia Muslims follow about this verse, and they indicated to me that it is indeed one of the source-texts for the geenral requirement that women need the permission of their fathers or other lawful guardian to get married. The listed exceptions are such that many women who convert to Islam might actually be exempt. Also exempt are women who want to get married to someone who is their peer, but her parents refuse for no decent reason whatsoever. At that point, the couple can appeal to a local clergy and get a waiver from him.

Pooy and Ali have said, "'Allah knows best your faith' implies that a bondswoman may be more honourable with her Lord than her free husband."

[Shakir 4:32] And do not covet that by which Allah has made some of you excel others; men shall have the benefit of what they earn and women shall have the benefit of what they earn; and ask Allah of His grace; surely Allah knows all things. [34] Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 4:34]
In verse 228 of al-Baqarah Allah says that women also have rights as men have but men are a degree above women. In this verse it is again stated that men are the guardians of women as He has made the male sex excel over the female sex. This is the will of an all-wise and almighty Lord.

This is my bone of contention with Pooy and Ali. Baqarah 2:228 states, "And the divorced women... manner, and the men are a degree above them, and Allah is Mighty, Wise."

By the time that the degree is mentioned, "them" are women in general. Most commentators have explained the degree in the cotext of divorce and in terms of man's responsibility towards the woman. Men have more responsibility and therefore more rights in a marriage. Women, having fewer marital responsibilities, have fewer marital rights.

The Pooya Ali commentary continues.

Qanitatun means devoted to Allah, therefore, a woman who obeys Allah must accept His command and acknowledge her duties she has to perform to please her husband who spends of his wealth to provide for her. She must also watch over his property and his interests, attend to his needs, and above all guard her chastity.

In case a perverse woman (wife) refuses to mend her ways (very common among the low-bred and ignorant women of easy virtue) then the husband can admonish her, and even stop sleeping with her, but if the corrective measures fail to refine her, he can take harsher steps to make her qanitatun (devoted and obedient to Allah).

What they have not mentioned is that when he explained this verse, Prophet Muhammad said that a man may hit his wife with a toothbrush. Obviously, many men the world over have also missed that point.

To understand the true purport of this verse, it is essential to keep in mind verse 21 of al-Rum. "Another of His signs is that He created out of you mates of your own kind so that you may find repose in them, and has instilled (ordained) love and kindness between you. Verily there are signs in this for those who reflect." In many verses it has been ordained to, treat women with kindness and to speak to them gently. The Holy Prophet said: "Never beat Allah's handmaidens." "The best of you is he who is kind to his wife." There is not a single event of wife-beating or child-abuse in the lives of the Holy Prophet and his holy Ahl ul Bayt. (family)

[Shakir 4:35] And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint judge from his people and a judge from her people; if they both desire agreement, Allah will effect harmony between them, surely Allah is Knowing, Aware.

[Shakir 4:127] And they ask you a decision about women. Say: Allah makes known to you His decision concerning them, and that which is recited to you in the Book concerning female orphans whom you do not give what is appointed for them while you desire to marry them... [128] And if a woman fears ill usage or desertion on the part of her husband, there is no blame on them, if they effect a reconciliation between them, and reconciliation is better, and avarice has been made to be present in the (people's) minds; and if you do good (to others) and guard (against evil), then surely Allah is aware of what you do. [129] And you have it not in your power to do justice between wives, even though you may wish (it), but be not disinclined (from one) with total disinclination, so that you leave her as it were in suspense; and if you effect a reconciliation and guard (against evil), then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Howsoever one may try one will never be able to treat one's wives equally to fulfil the demands of justice, but one can at least avoid inclination to any wife exclusively so that the others may not be left suspended. ...

[Shakir 4:130] And if they separate, Allah will render them both free from want out of His ampleness, and Allah is Ample-giving, Wise.

Surah Yusuf
[Shakir 12:21] And the Egyptian who bought him said to his wife: Give him an honorable abode, maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son. And thus did We establish Yusuf in the land and that We might teach him the interpretation of sayings; and Allah is the master of His affair, but most people do not know. [23] And she in whose house he was sought to make himself yield (to her), and she made fast the doors and said: Come forward. He said: I seek Allah's refuge, surely my Lord made good my abode: Surely the unjust do not prosper. [24] And certainly she made for him, and he would have made for her, were it not that he had seen the manifest evidence of his Lord; thus (it was) that We might turn away from him evil and indecency, surely he was one of Our sincere servants. [25] And they both hastened to the door, and she rent his shirt from behind and they met her husband at the door. She said: What is the punishment of him who intends evil to your wife except imprisonment or a painful chastisement? [26] He said: She sought to make me yield (to her); and a witness of her own family bore witness: If his shirt is rent from front, she speaks the truth and he is one of the liars. [27] And if his shirt is rent from behind, she tells a lie and he is one of the truthful. [28] So when he saw his shirt rent from behind, he said: Surely it is a guile of you women; surely your guile is great: [29] O Yusuf! turn aside from this; and (O my wife)! ask forgiveness for your fault, surely you are one of the wrong-doers. [30] And women in the city said: The chiefs wife seeks her slave to yield himself (to her), surely he has affected her deeply with (his) love; most surely we see her in manifest error. [31] So when she heard of their sly talk she sent for them and prepared for them a repast, and gave each of them a knife, and said (to Yusuf): Come forth to them. So when they saw him, they deemed him great, and cut their hands (in amazement), and said: Remote is Allah (from imperfection); this is not a mortal; this is but a noble angel. [32] She said: This is he with respect to whom you blamed me, and certainly I sought his yielding himself (to me), but he abstained, and if he does not do what I bid him, he shall certainly be imprisoned, and he shall certainly be of those who are in a state of ignominy. [33] He said: My Lord! the prison house is dearer to me than that to which they invite me; and if Thou turn not away their device from me, I will yearn towards them and become (one) of the ignorant.

In Egypt, a high court official purchased Joseph when he was put for sale in a public auction. He took him to his house and instructed his wife to make his stay honourable so that they might adopt him as a son. ... The wife of the high official, Zulaykha, tried to seduce him. ... As Yusuf was one of Allah's chosen devotees, He enabled him to avert both evil and lechery from himself. [This does not imply that Prophet Joseph had any malace in himself. He was given resistance to temptation as a gift from God on bealf of his service to God as a Prophet. This is according to the beliefs of both Shia and Sunni Muslims.] She grabbed and rent his shirt from behind. ... A witness from her family testified. Yusuf's shirt was torn at the back, he must obviously have been retreating and Zulaykha must have been tugging from behind. Everybody knew the guilty party. The husband was convinced that indeed it was a woman's ruse-the wiles of women are terrible. He asked Yusuf to ignore the affair and ordered his wife to ask forgiveness for her sin. In the city the women gossiped. When she heard their slanderings, she invited them to a sumptuous feast and gave each of them a knife and called Yusuf to come out before them. When they saw him, the women were so wonderstruck with his beauty that they [accidentally] cut their hands. The women all agreed that no man had a right to resist their solicitations, so Zulaykha, in her tragic guilt, threatened Yusuf with imprisonment and disgrace. Yet, inspite of having seen the clear proofs of his innocence, the men, as a political move, sent him to prison for a time, until the scandalous gossip of the town regarding the high official's wife had ceased.

Surah Maryam
[Shakir 19:8] [Prophet Zecariah] said: O my Lord! when shall I have a son, and my wife is barren, and I myself have reached indeed the extreme degree of old age? [9] He said: So shall it be, your Lord says: It is easy to Me, and indeed I created you before, when you were nothing. [16] And mention Marium in the Book when she drew aside from her family to an eastern place; [17] So she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our spirit, and there appeared to her a well-made man. [18] She said: Surely I fly for refuge from you to the Beneficent Allah, if you are one guarding (against evil). [19] He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord: That I will give you a pure boy. [20] She said: When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste. [21] He said: Even so; your Lord says: It is easy to Me: and that We may make him a sign to men and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter which has been decreed. [22] So she conceived him; then withdrew herself with him to a remote place. [23] And the throes (of childbirth) compelled her to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! [24] Then (the child) called out to her from beneath her: Grieve not, surely your Lord has made a stream to flow beneath you; [25] And shake towards you the trunk of the palmtree, it will drop on you fresh ripe dates: [26] So eat and drink and refresh the eye. Then if you see any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent Allah, so I shall not speak to any man today. [27] And she came to her people with him, carrying him (with her). They said: O Marium! surely you have done a strange thing. [28] O sister of Haroun! your father was not a bad man, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman. [29] But she pointed to him. They said: How should we speak to one who was a child in the cradle. [30] He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; [31] And He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live; [32] And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed.

Refer to the commentary of Ali Imran : 42 to 64 for Maryam and Isa.

I am inserting this passage and its commentary.

[Shakir 3:42] And when the angels said: O Marium! surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of of the world. [43] O Marium! keep to obedience to your Lord and humble yourself, and bow down with those who bow. [45] When the angels said: O Marium, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the '. Messiah, Isa son of Marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah). [46] And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones. [47] She said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to I me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is. [59] Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was.

A note here that we typically spell her name "Maryam". I don't know why Shakir chose the spelling "Marium".

...the best of all the women in the universe from beginning to the end, in all ages, among whom are included Asiyah, Maryam, [Fatimah,] and Khadijah al Kubrah. On account of the charges levelled against Maryam by the Jews, her status has been made clear in this verse. Maryam is neither a goddess nor a mother-God. She is a created being and as such she has been asked to pray like all true and devout servants of Allah. There was no means of knowing the dispute among the priests of the sanctuary as to who should have Maryam in his charge (because the accurate records of these events have been obliterated altogether) except by revelation. The Holy Prophet knew about the casting of lots to select Zakariyya to take charge of Maryam, as if he was there when this event took place. Allah refers to Isa as the son of Maryam, because she gave birth to him without a male partner by keeping her virginity intact. Maryam ... [expressed] her surprise or curiosity [in verse 47] as Zakariyya did in verse 40 of this surah. The news of the forthcoming birth of Isa was given to Maryam in her state of virginity, which was going to take place without the agency of a male partner, suspending the natural process necessary for a woman to conceive a child. The religion of Allah, Islam, emphatically states that Maryam, the mother of Isa, was a virgin. She did not have any kind of sexual relation with any man before or after the birth of Isa and remained a virgin in the strict sense of the word till she departed from this world, as has been mentioned in verse 12 of al Tahrim that Maryam, the daughter of Imran, guarded her chastity, and Allah breathed into her His spirit (Isa), and she was an obedient servant of Allah, and she testified the truth of the words of her Lord-she neither lied nor kept anything hidden, because, as Allah says, she was truthful.

The commentators added, "Masih literally means the 'anointed'." The following is the rest of the commentary for Surah Maryam.

Maryam went into privacy, from her people and from people in general, for prayer and devotion. It was in this state of purity that Jibra-il appeared to her in the form of a man. It means the spiritual power of Jibra-il made her see him as a man otherwise he remained a spirit, so as to solace her which he could not do unless she was able to see him with her own eyes. The birth pangs led her to the trunk of a date-palm tree. It is said that it was a barren tree but as soon as she rested herself on its trunk it became green and new leaves and fruit grew on its naked branches. ... Maryam was worried about the whispering campaign the people would start when they would come to know that she gave birth to a child without being married. They would not believe the truth that the holy ghost caused her conception. Overcome with shame and pain she cried [out.] Maryam was asked to keep from talking to people so that she might not give her own answers to the expected censure from the people. The answer was to be given by Isa himself as a child in the cradle. [Regarding] "O sister of Harun": ... according to the Bible, Maryam and Zakariyya's wife were related to each other, and Zakariyya's wife was a descendant of the house of Harun. Generally any female belonging to a family is described as a sister or daughter of the head of the family. ... When Isa was born the people of the town declared that Maryam had fallen and disgraced the name of her progenitors. As a child Isa refutes the charges of illegitimate birth by declaring that Allah has made him blessed wheresoever he be. The mother of the son given to Zakariyya was a born barren woman, so he was named Yahya, derived from hayat (life), a name which was given to him for the first time. The Hebrew form of Yahya is Johanan [Ya Hanan, YHWH + compassion <- life] which means "Jehvah (God) has been gracious". Hananan (see verse 13) means compassion. The births of Isa and Yahya were the miraculous signs of the will of Allah. Isa was born to a virgin without a father and Yahya was born to a born barren woman, and both of them were so disinterested in the physical life that they never married. It was as easy for Allah to give a son to a born barren woman from an old and decrepit man as He brought them into being when they were nothing.

Answer 2

1. Islam was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh) through the angle Gabriel in numerous increments usually in response to a situation.

2. I'm a Muslim raised as a christian so I was surprised although the shock wears off a little after a while. :-)
We think of these people as the best people to ever grace the earth.

3. The Most Merciful is God (Allah). He is the most Merciful, the most Gracious, the Most forgiving, the Most Benevolent, the Most High and so on. There are 99 names for Allah all describing His Attributes.

7. Muslims regard women as being as responsible for their piety as men. They are to be held in the highest honor after God and His Prophets. A person is to love God most, then the Prophet (pbuh) and then his mother. Contrary to popular belief if Islam is followed, the wife is to be revered.

Answer 3

are you aware that also in western culture (as recently as a couple of hundred years ago) that a girl was usually married by 14? and by 16 or 17 she was an 'old maid' if she hadn't been married? and it was very usual for girls as young as 9 or 10 to be married. so for the times (where by 40, your years are getting pretty stretched) where life expectancy hovered around the 30's mark, it was acceptable. in today's society, eyebrows would most probably be raised. but our lives now have the benefit of medicine etc and we have different expectations. and also keep in mind that aisha had known mohammed all her life, and trusted him, which is probably why she agreed to marry him in the first place. and also, sexual feeling is not dead just because you are developing into an adult (no endorsement of pedophilla intended), some girls may want to experience that before others. of course, this should only be within the bounds of marriage, to protect the lives of all those involved (and the potential lives) by encouraging social harmony.

Answer 4

It is not shocking to find biblical names in the Qur'an since the Qur'an heavily plagirized the Gemara. Gemara is the commentary portion of the Talmud which is not considered divine or from G-d since it is just things various Jewish sages said.

So a Jew who studied the Gemara and then reads the qur'an will find numerous things in the qur'an that are word for word things that Sages said.

Merciful is "al raheem" is one of the names of Allah.

Holy women are praised in the qur'an such as Mary even though her family accused her of being a whore for getting pregnant while not married.

Answer 5

Sounds like this is for an educational class of some sort. I would not really recommend getting answers from this site. You will get answers from Christians based on their beliefs, answers from atheists saying there is no god, and answers from Muslims that may differ depending on their point of view. Good luck finding your answers! Would you mind letting us know what type of class this is for?

Answer 6

questions koran im religious hard time

Answer 7

Why does this sound like the kind of questions you'd get in a "World Religions" course in college?

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

they don't mention Jesus God's son

Answer 10

do your own home work...