An Atheist Explores the Qur'an Part 113: Motivations for Altruism (Aid (al-Ma’un))
Aid (al-Ma’un)
Motivations for Altruism.
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
Aid (al-Ma’un) 1-7
“Did you see him who denies the Retribution?
That is the one who drives away the orphan,
and does not urge the feeding of the needy.
Woe to them who pray,
—those who are heedless of their prayers,
those who show off
but deny aid.”
I think this chapter pretty much speaks for itself. It wishes woe on people that make a big show of praying but don’t really mean it, and don’t then act with charity. Those of you who’ve either followed my Bible series or have read it for yourselves may recognise that this kind of message is a popular one with Jesus, who frequently railed against the religious establishment that ignored the hungry, poor and sick because they were “unclean”.
I’ll be honest, I have no disagreement with this chapter. Almost none. It almost leaves God out of things entirely, except in the sense that the pious hypocrites think of Him on their side. Apart from what is meant by the Retribution. Since this is capitalised, I assume it means the punishment of Hell, and so this chapter is also saying that anyone that doesn’t believe in the Hell doctrine is the same person that denies charity.
That, I would say not. One does not need fear of eternal punishment to act in a charitable fashion. I’d even argue that doing so because you think it to be right is a better motivation than doing it because you’re scared you’ll be punished for not doing it. I know, of course, that some believers make various arguments that moral behaviour is impossible without God, from a variety of angles. From the idea that God is the “rightness” that exists as a calibration point to enable us to determine of something is right or wrong, to the more simplistic “God says so” argument, via the concept that God grants humanity the capacity to judge right and wrong (even though per Genesis He got really really angry/disappointed when Adam and Eve gained the ability against His wishes). None of these interpretations really stand up to analysis although I don’t really have the time here to go into it. Discuss in comments if you wish.
As a comparison, this is the translation offered by Quran.com:
“Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense?
For that is the one who drives away the orphan
And does not encourage the feeding of the poor.
So woe to those who pray
[But] who are heedless of their prayer –
Those who make show [of their deeds]
And withhold [simple] assistance.”
You can see that the sense is pretty identical, even if the wording is slightly different. The big one to me is the Recompense vs. the Retribution. Although both imply just desserts on Judgement Day, the Recompense implies rewards for good deeds whereas the Retribution implies punishment for bad deeds. That changes the tenor of the whole chapter, in a sense. My argument above, that doing good for fear of eternal punishment, is reversed in that doing good so that you get eternal reward is arguably just as much a selfish act. Doing good, because you like helping people, somehow doesn’t seem to enter into it. At a biological reductionist level, though, altruism kind of becomes selfish again. Doing good produces a response in dopamine and/or oxytocin, both of which generate a sense of well-being and happiness. So even if God isn’t punishing or rewarding altruism, our central nervous system is.
Motivations for Altruism.
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
Aid (al-Ma’un) 1-7
“Did you see him who denies the Retribution?
That is the one who drives away the orphan,
and does not urge the feeding of the needy.
Woe to them who pray,
—those who are heedless of their prayers,
those who show off
but deny aid.”
I think this chapter pretty much speaks for itself. It wishes woe on people that make a big show of praying but don’t really mean it, and don’t then act with charity. Those of you who’ve either followed my Bible series or have read it for yourselves may recognise that this kind of message is a popular one with Jesus, who frequently railed against the religious establishment that ignored the hungry, poor and sick because they were “unclean”.
I’ll be honest, I have no disagreement with this chapter. Almost none. It almost leaves God out of things entirely, except in the sense that the pious hypocrites think of Him on their side. Apart from what is meant by the Retribution. Since this is capitalised, I assume it means the punishment of Hell, and so this chapter is also saying that anyone that doesn’t believe in the Hell doctrine is the same person that denies charity.
That, I would say not. One does not need fear of eternal punishment to act in a charitable fashion. I’d even argue that doing so because you think it to be right is a better motivation than doing it because you’re scared you’ll be punished for not doing it. I know, of course, that some believers make various arguments that moral behaviour is impossible without God, from a variety of angles. From the idea that God is the “rightness” that exists as a calibration point to enable us to determine of something is right or wrong, to the more simplistic “God says so” argument, via the concept that God grants humanity the capacity to judge right and wrong (even though per Genesis He got really really angry/disappointed when Adam and Eve gained the ability against His wishes). None of these interpretations really stand up to analysis although I don’t really have the time here to go into it. Discuss in comments if you wish.
As a comparison, this is the translation offered by Quran.com:
“Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense?
For that is the one who drives away the orphan
And does not encourage the feeding of the poor.
So woe to those who pray
[But] who are heedless of their prayer –
Those who make show [of their deeds]
And withhold [simple] assistance.”
You can see that the sense is pretty identical, even if the wording is slightly different. The big one to me is the Recompense vs. the Retribution. Although both imply just desserts on Judgement Day, the Recompense implies rewards for good deeds whereas the Retribution implies punishment for bad deeds. That changes the tenor of the whole chapter, in a sense. My argument above, that doing good for fear of eternal punishment, is reversed in that doing good so that you get eternal reward is arguably just as much a selfish act. Doing good, because you like helping people, somehow doesn’t seem to enter into it. At a biological reductionist level, though, altruism kind of becomes selfish again. Doing good produces a response in dopamine and/or oxytocin, both of which generate a sense of well-being and happiness. So even if God isn’t punishing or rewarding altruism, our central nervous system is.
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