Family Laws and Virtues

This section of the Qur'an covered many different family laws.  Here are a few that I found interesting.

"Give orphans their property, do not replace their good things with bad, and do not consume their property with your own-a serious crime.  If you fear that you will not deal fairly with orphan girls, you may marry whichever women seem good to you, two three, or four.  If you fear that you cannot be equitable to them, then marry only one, or your slave, that is more likely to make you avoid bias.  Give women their dowry as a gift upon marriage, though if they are happy to give up some of it for you, you may enjoy it with clear conscience."

I am wondering if by this passage, the Qur'an is telling Muslims to marry orphans before they marry someone with a family.  Or was the Qur'an simply talking of orphans before moving onto the dealing of marriage.  I read this passage over and over again and cannot figure out as to why the Muslim men are supposed to marry orphans first.  

Then, my next question is, it says that a man is allowed to marry more than one wife as long as he is equitable to all.  Later in the passage, it says that it is impossible for a man to be equitable to all wives.  So why would they be allowed to marry more than one woman in the first place.  Just out of curiosity, I am wondering what percentage of men actually do marry more than one woman.  In the United States, it is illegal to have more than one wife at a time.  Does this have any effect on a Muslim's belief about marriage and do they object to America's law?

Other interesting points I found, was that it says divorce can happen twice, a widow must wait four months and ten nights before marrying etc.  Do these numbers have any significance toward something Muhammad did with his wives in the past or are these numbers just an amount that the Muslims think is fair?

"There is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the Ever Watchful.
Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. All that is in the heavens
and in the earth belongs to Him. Who is there that can intercede
with Him except by His leave? He knows what is before them and
what is behind them, but they do not comprehend any of His
knowledge except what He wills. His throne extends over the
heavens and the earth; it does not weary Him to preserve them both.
He is the Most High, the Tremendous."

This verse, also called the throne verse seems to be a very powerful description of what he is for believers. It just made me wonder how most followers use this in daily life, I know in some other religions they have a similar belief which helps them stay good under god's view.

Sura of Mary

“When she bore him, she isolated herself to a faraway place. The birth process came to her by the trunk of a palm tree. She said, (I am so ashamed;) I wish I were dead before this happened, and completely forgotten. (The infant) called her from beneath her, saying, do not grieve. Your Lord has provided you with a stream. If you shake the trunk of this palm tree, it will drop ripe dates for you.”

When reading this I was intrigued by a certain statement, “If you shake the trunk of this palm tree, it will drop ripe dates for you.” Middle Eastern dates ripen in early October, thus meaning Jesus was born around the month of October. This is completely different from the Christian beliefs (ignoring all the other differences). I read this passage literally; does anyone take this differently?

Le post...Horne

There is no doubt in my  mind that other people saw the "Constitution"  as something that stressed unity. All of those who were associated with the idea played key parts and were extremely important to the Islamic community. How can it not be considered a document of "unity" when it is for the community and the people of the Islamic religion as well as other religions.  It did  not encourage assimilation or making those of another religion convert to another, it simply provoked peaceful methods between cultures, so they could come together as one and become a stronger unit. Thats all I have to say about the Constitution of Medina..peace

The Constitution of Medina

I believe that the Constitution of Medina greatly emphasizes the importance of unity among the Islamic community (known as the umma). In this document, Muhammad creates laws for the citizens in Yathrib that will protect the Muslims as well as their faith. However, it is clear that it will take a strong community effort in order for Islam and its followers to flourish. Muhammad says that muslims must not let others spread evil among the umma and that "the hand of every man shall be against him" who attempts to do so. If a muslim is wronged or killed, other muslims are expected to "avenge the blood of one another" as well. I think that these types of laws stress how important each member of the umma is and explain that everyone's cooperation is needed. Another important idea presented by Muhammad is that all muslims and jewish tribes mentioned in the document must protect one another. Even though they have different faiths, they must fight together as one in order to fend off large enemies such as the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. Without this type of alliance, it seems doubtful whether or not the Islamic faith would have survived it's enemies attacks.

Did other people think that the "Constitution" stressed the importance of unity? Are there other facets of the document that seem important that I forgot to discuss?

The story of Angels

"According to the popular legend, one day while Muhammad was herding sheep he was visited by two angels who laid him down and opened up his chest. They then took his heart out and washed it in a golden basin filled with snow before replacing replacing it in and closing him up, which probably symbolizes the removal of all existing sin from his body. However, neither the notion of primordial sin nor the belief that one's can inherit one's parent's sin is prevalent in Islam." Ch. 2, page 32, Islam. 

This paragraph caught my attention because I found it interesting that a story such as this would exist because it suggests primordial sin. I understand how in Islam one must be clean (showered) before prayer, but in this story the angels took out Muhammad's heart to clean with snow (purity) not bathed his body.  

From my perspective, his heart represents his soul and the  angels  "cleaned his soul" from any "sin" to prepare Muhammad. According to the author this story shares the Christian belief of original sin which contradicts Islam's belief. Does anyone have any more insight to this particular story that could better explain why  his heart was washed, not his body? Coming from a Christian background this is where I see a similarity, but according to the author there is a contradiction with the beliefs in Islam regarding original sin. 

Blog rules

1. Discussion leader(s) will post their thoughts, opinions, questions, criticisms, reactions, etc. The rest of class will reply accordingly.

2. No flaming! This is not a forum to attack each other's ideas. Please debate responsibly and respectfully.

3. Your participation grade will reflect your blog activity. Blog wisely.

4. Discussion leader, have your post ready by Tuesday night at midnight (the earlier, the better). Everyone else, please post your reply before Wednesday at midnight (again, the earlier, the better).