The Islamic tradition draws upon the long history of the Abrahamic faiths with the key contention that al’Rasul is the final Messenger Muhammed who received God’s word, completing a line of vahiy, individuals who are divinely inspired but mortal nonetheless that brought God’s word to his special peoples. As the third faith to draw from the Abrahamic tradition, Islam raises many criticisms of Judaism and Christianity while stressing a special brand of tolerance in relations to the special peoples of the Book, or dhimmi. Islamic cultures also have a historical record of poetry and spoken verse, a cultural legacy of the jahiliyya period before the ministry of al’Rasul. In analysis of the Islamic tradition, we will examine the Arab concept of history and al’Rasul, while exploring the concept of tolerance, the legacy of the jahiliyya period, and the Islamic conception of Allah.
First, the Arab concept of history has two distinct periods, bifurcated by the ministry of al’Rasul, being the age of ignorance (jahiliyya) before al’Rasul and the age of Islam starting with the building of the Ummah, interpreted to mean a greater Muslim community. While the Messenger Muhammed is greatly admired in the Islamic tradition, Muslims and the Koran vehemently deny any divinity attributed to al’Rasul or other humans. The sura “He Frowned” exemplifies the human nature and imperfection of the Messenger as he turns away a needy, humble, devout man to speak to potential allies and is rebuked by Allah for his conceit (Vol. 2, Sura 53, pg324). This crucial concept is best encapsulated by the Islamic doctrine of isma, best interpreted as “serious error”, that the Messenger al’Rasul is mortal and can err, only Allah is free from error. According to Islamic tradition, al’Rasul would later seek out the humble blind man to ask for his forgiveness but key to note is the existence of error in the first place from the Islamic perspective. A related concept applies to the previous Messenger Jesus because Christians acknowledge him as the son of God, which the Koran sees as a perverse corruption of the message they were sent in the sura “Women” (Vol. 1, sura 4, pg124-125, aya 165-170). Thus, Allah is one in his divinity and cannot have a family. In the Islamic tradition, immaculate conception is a concoction of the Christian people in their erroneous ways that bars them from submitting to Allah. Therefore, Islam is like Judaism in their rejection and ridicule of the concept of the Holy Trinity.
The age of jahilliya has an outsized effect on Islamic culture and the composition of the Koran. The mostly nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian Peninsula had a proud tradition of oratory, poetry, and the spoken verse that manifests in the structure of the Koran. The people of jahilliya differed from the Greek-derived Western framework, placing value and finding beauty in every detail. These tribes lived to experience the world, not categorize it. This manifests in the exquisite detail lavished by pious Muslims on every aya or sura in the Koran. The Koran is written in the form of the qasida, best interpreted as an intention or declaration. Kinsmen would leave qasida around the dwelling of a influential relate they hoped to petition a favor from during the age of jahiliyya, and this concept lives on as a form of poetry dominant for the chanted word. Also, al’Rasul’s ministry needed to codify conduct in the rapidly growing Ummah, which might help explain the Medina volume’s focus on administration and other strenuous topics while the Meccan volume focuses on philosophical and ethical issues within the tradition. Successfully, the Messenger brought a message of unifying belief that developed a cultural identity that transcended and enveloped the bonds of Arab kinship groups to craft the dar al-Islam. For this achievement, al’Rasul was greatly respected for his verbal eloquence and abilities to mediate and make peace.
Interestingly, the sura “The Poets” attacked the proud poetic tradition, which is most likely due to Muhammed’s political rivals challenging the unity of the Ummah: verbally eloquent poets serving as spokespersons for various kinship groups in the jahiliyya and early Islamic periods (Vol. 2, sura 26, aya 225, pg. 75).The concept of tolerance, or tahammul, was extended in the Islamic world especially to the dhimmi. With only a few exceptions, Islamic rulers and peoples showed high levels of tolerance and understanding for Jews and Christians under their rule across the Islamic world. Muslims believe dhimmi to be special peoples who also received the word of Allah but have erred in submission to him due to their false beliefs. Jews first received the Torah from Allah’s Messenger Moses, then Christians received the Gospel from Jesus, setting the religious milieu for Muhammed to receive the Koran (“House of Imran”, Vol. 1, sura 3, second aya). Still, they deserve respect and tolerance, as Allah commands Muslims (Vol. 1, sura 4, aya 150). The Ottoman Empire remarkably formalized this command into the millet system, a complex administrative feat of self-governance for various dhimmi groups. While Christians largely split into millets based on denomination or sect, Jews had relatively less theological or sectarian differences beside locale. The system enabled dhimmi to levy taxes within their group, achieve limited self-government, and establish quasi-independent court systems. Beneath this system of self-governance was the explicit knowledge that unresolvable issues within or between millets would be solved by their Ottoman rulers. Ultimately, the policy success of the system and availability of historical records to study it is an example of the high quality of administration during Ottoman rule and a strong historical example of the Islamic tradition of tahammul.
The Islamic perspective of Allah and his divinity is best encapsulated in the title al-Wahud interpreted as “the one God”. The sura “Sincere Religion” is one of the most beloved in the Koran because of its celebration of the “oneness” of Allah (Vol. 2, sura 112, pg. 353). In the Islamic tradition, God is seen as merciful and compassionate. Indeed, every sura except for Repentance (vol. 1, sura 9, pg. 207) opens with a declaration called the Fatiha that also starts the Koran as the first sura: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” (Vol. 1, sura 1, aya 1, pg. 29).The most repeated word or concept in the Koran is “merciful”, which tends to represent the Islamic perspective of their God. Another example of Allah’s mercy in the Islamic tradition harkens back to the ninth sura “Repentance”, where it is declared that dhimmi can be forgiven for their errors by submitting to the will of Allah and receiving the message of al’Rasul (Vol. 1, sura 9, last aya, pg. 215). Of course, Allah’s mercy and compassion also manifests in the tahammul commanded of Muslims towards the other peoples of the Book. The Arab and wider Islamic concept of history sees the arrival of al’Rasul as the catalyst for progress into the dar al-Islam and receiving the bounty of Allah’s will, giving the Muslim world an optimistic framework for history, where the human condition improves through time. This is best encapsulated in the Islamic tenet that Allah sent a series of three Messengers to his chosen peoples over time, gradually improving the human condition until the greatest and final Messenger arrived.
In conclusion, the jahiliyya period has a great influence on the passages, structure, and composition of the Koran while providing cultural roots for the modern Islamic tradition. The Arab tribes celebrated the eloquent spoken verse, and the Koran is still recited, chanted, and memorized in its purest form of appreciation. The Arab concept of history is bifurcated by the ministry of al’Rasul into the preceding jahiliyya period and the following age of Islam, set to a progressive historical framework around the three Messengers Allah sent to his chosen peoples. In the Islamic tradition, Muhammed and the other Messengers are divinely inspired mortals who have faults and can commit errors, as Allah alone cannot err. Muslims reject what they see as theological perversions by Jews and Christians but accord them special tolerance as other peoples of the Book, best encapsulated by the Ottoman millet system of dhemmi self-governance.
References
Arberry, Arthur John. The Koran interpreted. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
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