Qur'an as Oracle and Intro to Islam

Today we look at another descendant of the religion of ancient Israel: Islam. Ummah is the Arabic term used to refer to the world community of Muslims.  One thing of note about Islam is that the sacred text, the Qur'an, is not a traditional narration such as the New Testament.  There are no quotations in the text but only allusions.  Rather, God is always either speaking for himself or speaking about himself in the third person.  The Qur'an is an oracle.  An oracle is a speech given on the behalf of God by a prophet.  In this case, Muhammad is the prophet speaking for God.  Whereas in the New Testament, any such prophecy is preceded by a grand introduction, we can expect that every line in the Qur'an is such prophetic proclamation.  An oracle may provide prophecy, warnings of punishment or corrections to earlier texts.  We can think of Islam's correction of Christianity and Judaism as analogous to Protestantism's correction of traditional Catholic doctrine.    It is of note that the Qur'an has little actual narrative.  For the purposes of this class, we focus on certain portions of the text that most closely resemble narrative style.

We will focus in part on Abraham because he is the paradigmatic Muslim.  This means that the story of Abraham is characteristic and defining for the religion.  Islam is, as a matter of fact, the Arabic word for submission.  In the Sura The Family of 'Imran, at section 65, a discussion of Abraham begins.  It is pointed out that Abraham was neither Christian nor Muslim.  At section 83, the claim is made that submission to Islam is the most important thing.  This is the establishment of a new covenant between God and humans.  Abraham, as someone who submitted completely to God, is heralded as someone who always had faith in God and so he is the model for Muslims.  At 96, God claims that the first House of worship is Mecca.  Mecca is a place where Abraham stood and whoever enters into it will be safe.  In this way, the Qur'an is able to establish itself not as a new religion but as a religion that has a history as long and as rich as Christianity and Judaism.  Muhammed is presented as a prophet who is part of the long line of Abrahamic religions but who is untainted and able to provide a more pure message.    

Perhaps this is why Abraham is such an important part of the text.  At Sura 37, verse 83, Abraham is depicted as confronting idolaters and unbelievers of his time.  At Sura 4, verses 101 and on, a scene is described where Abraham tells his son that he had a dream in which he sacrificed him.  At this point, the son willingly let himself be sacrificed.  It is feasible that this scene is about Ishmael and not Isaac, as at a later point in the text, the birth of Isaac is noted.  This faith and submission was, of course, rewarded by God's mercy.