An Atheist Explores the Qur'an Part 29: How to Behave on Pilgrimage, Allah Will Help You Take Revenge, and Stan the Deceiver (The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj))

The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj) 1-78
How to Behave on Pilgrimage, Allah Will Help You Take Revenge, and Stan the Deceiver.

Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0

For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com

The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj) 1-20

“The day that you will see it, every suckling female will neglect what she suckled, and every pregnant female will deliver her burden, and you will see the people drunk, yet they will not be drunken, but Allah’s punishment is severe.”

Interesting to see that “hajj” simply translates as “pilgrimage”; presumably the hajj is considered to be *The* Pilgrimage, rather than *a* pilgrimage. Presumably somewhere in this chapter we’ll get some details possibly about why it needs to be conducted, and maybe some details about behaviour thereon. Or, given how the Qur’an has tended to shy away from specifics so far, perhaps not.

First, though, more about why God is the best, and how if you think that you get rewarded and if you don’t you get punished. There’s some interesting obstetric observations - “We indeed created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then from a clinging mass, then from a fleshy tissue, partly formed and partly unformed, so that We may manifest [Our power] to you”. I wondered before when it was mentioned that God created mankind from a “drop of seminal fluid” that it was God’s semen; the intent here though seems to be that normal mortal semen is infused with the creative potential of God. It remains unclear how Adam was specifically created, and why God would need semen in the first place. I wonder where Islam stand on abortion, since the “clinging mass” and partly-unformed fleshy tissue don’t sound quite as emotive as the “life begins at conception” ideas of US Christians.

“Indeed the faithful, the Jews, the Sabaeans, the Christians, the Magians and the polytheists —Allah will indeed judge between them on the Day of Resurrection”. It looks like the “faithful”, i.e. Muslims, are separated from the other faiths, so although they might be “People of the Book” the Jews and Christians are still considered in error I their beliefs. I’ve forgotten who the Sabaeans are, I think I looked them up last time they were mentioned. The Magians are possibly Persian Zoroastrians, the Magi? The Qur’an feels that you’re better off killing yourself if you don’t believe in Allah - “Whoever thinks that Allah will not help him in this world and the Hereafter, let him extend a rope to the ceiling and hang himself”. Or rather, this is kind of saying; if you don’t think God exists, try killing yourself and then feel embarrassed when you meet Him. But it’s perhaps not the best course, because some salacious punishments are described -“As for those who are faithless, cloaks of fire will be cut out for them, and boiling water will be poured over their heads, with which their skins and entrails will be fused, and there will be clubs of iron for them.”

Come on. That’s disturbing and childish at the same time. I’ve seen some apologists suggest that the Hell Doctrine of Christianity should really be interpreted to mean the suffering a soul will feel if separated from God, not an actual afterlife plane filled with devils and fire. Clearly the Qur’an doesn’t adhere to that principle; Hell is a place where real tortures occur.

The Pilgrimage 21-40

“And proclaim the ḥajj to people: they shall come to you on foot and on lean camels coming from distant places,”

Although this section mentions the hajj, and also condemns people that would try to stop any believers from their worship, it’s a bit of a miscellany of items.

First off, there’s a bit more about afterlife rewards and punishments, of note that those who go to the Gardens will be “adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearl, and their dress therein will be silk”. So evidently it’s a very physical kind of afterlife and not the pure spirit kind of concept of later Christianity.

The we get into a few specifics of worship, although as usual it’s mostly pretty vague. The Qur’an channels Jordan B Peterson in saying “Then let them do away with their untidiness” – in this context “untidiness” is a disputed phrase, according to the footnotes, and may refer to personal grooming (presumably after a long journey) or a general performance of rites. The original Arabic suggests “egress from the state of iḥrām”, apparently. I looked up iḥrām, and it’s a special kind of ritual purity conducted during the hajj, involving wearing clothing without knots or stitching and open-heeled sandals. Although the specifics of such rituals always seem a bit odd and arbitrary to an outsider, I can see the intent of such things, in focussing the mind and making a deliberate entry into the realm of the sacred.

Next we get a bit about animal sacrifice, wherein we can see the origins of halal butchery - “For every nation We have appointed a rite that they might mention Allah’s Name over the livestock He has provided them”. I note here that there’s nothing about the animal needing to hear the prayer, so from a straight Qur’anic reading, so far, there’s no reason not to stun animals before killing them if doing it halal style. In this particular case the Qur’an is referring to the camels that people rode in on, whereby they are to be eaten and offered up to the needy to eat. The Qur’an is at pains to point out that this is a ritual rather than an offering - “It is not their flesh or their blood that reaches Allah. Rather it is your Godwariness that reaches Him”. I assume that a sacrificial offering is something that pagans do, hence the need to differentiate.

Finally, I don’t really understand the logic behind the statement “Had not Allah repulsed the people from one another, ruin would have befallen the monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques in which Allah’s Name is mentioned greatly”. The point being seems to be that it’s a good thing that people have different faiths (even if, according to the Qur’an, all the others are in error of some kind and therefore: burning) because otherwise … people would fight?

The Pilgrimage 41-60

“We did not send before you any apostle or prophet but that when he recited [the scripture] Satan interjected [something] in his recitation. Thereat Allah nullifies whatever Satan has interjected, [and] then Allah confirms His signs, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.”

That’s an interesting attempt to, I would guess, point out discrepancies with previous scriptures. Obviously, any errors are in the older scriptures because Satan put them there (and not “Stan” as I originally typed). Except that, once you’ve out that concept out there, how do you know that your own scriptures haven’t been corrupted by Stan? I mean, how would you tell? How do you know Stan didn’t insert this very verse just to confuse you? Damn you, Stan.

Most of the rest is a reversion to the refrain of gardens for good people, burning for bad people. The good people are those who “their hearts may be humbled before Him”, whereas the bad are wilful and disobedient. Make of that division what you will. But note that the Qur’an, unlike the teachings of Jesus, does not expect you to turn the other cheek. “That; and whoever retaliates with the like of what he has been made to suffer, and then is [again] aggressed against, Allah will surely help him”. It’s perfectly okay to take revenge on people that have wronged you; in fact God will even help if your cause is righteous. Which of course you’ll think it is.

The Pilgrimage 61-78

“That is because Allah is the Reality, and what they invoke besides Him is nullity, and because Allah is the All-exalted, the All-great.”

To close off the chapter there’s more about Allah does everything and is self-evident due to stuff existing. The quoted line above is interesting, it’s a kind of deism, claiming that all of reality is God, not just created by God. Mind you, some of the other arguments are less philosophical. “He sustains the sky lest it should fall on the earth”, for example. Umm…. You know those apologists that claim that the Qur’an is full of scientific truths? This one doesn’t even work as a metaphor.

The very last verse is a biggie, and rattles through a whole list of things that make a good Muslim - “And wage jihād for the sake of Allah, a jihād which is worthy of Him. He has chosen you and has not placed for you any obstacle in the religion, the faith of your father, Abraham. He named you ‘muslims’ before, and in this, so that the Apostle may be a witness to you, and that you may be witnesses to mankind. So maintain the prayer, give the zakāt, and hold fast to Allah. He is your master —an excellent master and an excellent helper”. Again, I’m going to let the reader make of that what they will.