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.
20 comments:
I think the story is more symbolic than to be taken in literal meaning. It must be looked into as the significance of the cleansing of the heart, not the lack of cleansing of his body or what social implications, such as presence at prayer, this story has. I think the key to this story is that it is the foundation of why people should believe in Muhammad- he is pure. I think that this passage is particularly interesting because of all of the components that are similar to other religions- the dipping of his heart in a golden basin filled with snow could be paralleled to a Baptism, or the fact that he is hearding sheep like other past religious figures of significance. But, going back to the basis of this story, I think it is significant because it shows that Islam's main prophet is free of sin.
I have to agree with Alex, i dont think that the legend should be taken literally and focus on the absence of Muhammad's body being cleansed, but with the view that cleansing his heart is the deepest form of cleansing and this makes him pure. This cleansing could as play into removing some of his impurities from when he was a young child and lived in the city. Which is though to be unhygienic and not as culturally pure of a life as living in the desert with a nomadic tribe.
When reading that passage in the book i didn't think too much into it because at first read through it reminded of almost a 'rebirth' into life with a clean slate. The sins that he might have committed in the past are no longer with him. I agree with Alex where as the cleaning of the heart is similiar to a Baptism. Baptism can be viewed as an acceptance into the world and having purified soul, which is what i think the passage was describing.
I too do not think that the legend implies that Muhammad had primordial sin. Instead, I believe that Muhammad was only being prepared for a special relationship with God, as the author of the first response suggested. Also, I think that the supernatural event that Muhammad experiences in the legend illustrates the importance and sanctity of the prophets in Islam. (The belief of the immaculate conception of Jesus, who is also regarded as a prophet in Islamic faith, also seems to mark the significance of God's messengers.)
I think this passage of the book plays a very important role in the life of Muhammad and his followers. Believers in the religion of Islam (or any religion for that matter) want to follow and believe in someone who is pure. It is a common belief that one has to be pure and cleansed before he/she can accept God into their life. For example, baptisms, confessional, etc. Every religion has some form of cleansing. I also saw the cleansing of the heart in snow as Muhammad being given the power of love to spread amungst his people and to show that it is a greater power than evil. By using this love, they will be a stronger people and will overcome more.
I think the cleansing of Muhammad's heart symbolized the change to a new style of life and religous habits for followers of him. It is one more thing that helps shape follower's ideas and practices making a complete religion. I agree with others on the idea of this being one more part of islamic practices or beliefs that makes other religions look very similar.
I think the author is using this story to portray that Muhammad was visited by angels at an early time in life. This symbolizes that even at such a young age he indeed was marked for greatness. I think that by cleansing his heart does not necessarily mean he had primordial sin, but shows a difference from others in the community because the angels are preparing Muhammad to become a prophet of God.
I agree that the story is more symbolic than literal. The idea of cleansing him might be because in order to have that type of relationship with God, Muhammad would have to be the purist of pure, he would be different than other normal people who were not cleansed by the angels. I think this is sort of like being baptised in the Christian religion but, in the Christian religion, they are cleansing away the original sin that every follower is born with. I also think that the reason that only his heart was cleansed was because his heart is a metaphor for his most important part, maybe connected to his soul. Therefore, the rest of his body is just superficial and doesn't need that metaphorical cleaning. His heart and soul were the parts that needed to be pristine. There are a lot of other metaphors that can be seen in this passage. The fact that Muhammad's heart was being cleaned in snow, snow is seen as a pure substance and it's color, white, is seen as pure also. Also, the angels washing his heart in a golden basin leads the reader to believe that this is something special. Gold is not an object used friviously. Gold is used in special things.
I don't necessarily believe that Muhammad's heart needed cleansing from any sin. A few lines before the excerpt, Elias states that Muhammad was sent to live with the foster family as a "very young child." In a later chapter, Elias contrasts the burial customs between adults and children. He states that for the deceased adult, prayer should be used to ask for forgiveness of the deceased in the afterlife. However, "...small children are not believed to be accountable for their actions, the funeral prayer does not include a plea for forgiveness on their behalf." Ch. 4, page 78, Islam.
If small children should not be held accountable for their actions, they should therefore be considered sin-less, pure, which is why I don't think Muhammad needed his soul cleansed from his 'prior sins'... IF Muhammad had been an adult and this same scenerio had occured, I would believe that the '...heart-washing in a gold basin filled with snow...' would be an act of cleansing; however, that isn't the case.
I think Sarah Ihns' had a nice thought about Muhammad being given the power of love as opposed to a clean slate.
Similar to many religious beliefs, the idea of cleansing such as the cleaning of Muhammad's heart is an act to symbolize the ridding of impurities that they have acquired from the common world. I do not think that the story is saying that Muhammad had primordial sin, but I think it was necessary in the story to symbolize that he was pure. By the act of cleansing, he was an example for others and someone who would lead them in their beliefs.
I am going to have to agree with the first commenter, Alex A. I come from a Catholic background and when reading about how the two angels came down and absolved the sin from Muhammad's heart reminds me definitely about Baptism. The heart being dunk into a basin is like a new born being dunked into holy water. Also, another aspect I found very closely to Catholicism is that the angel Gabriel also appears to be in Islam also (and other religions as I have found out). Going along with Alex A, I do believe this legend was taken place to show that Islam's main prophet is one free of sin. It is to show that they are following one pure of heart. I think it is amazing to see the similarities between such religions.
I think another thing to keep in mind about the significance of what we're talking about is that it is a "popular legend" (Islam pg32). There are many legends within all systems of religion and life that are not necessarily true but can be used to express an idea or symbol. I agree with everyone who says this legend should be taken symbolically in the fact that he had to be prepared and cleansed of sin before he could began any sort of ministry. It does have an interesting similarity to the idea of baptism as well. Anywyas, I still think I am slightly confused about what Islamic belief states about original sin/primordial sin.
I agree with the comments made by gwilson and Caitlin. The idea of Muhammad's heart being cleansed very closely relates to the Christian religion. When we were born we were born into a world of sin. Every man has a sin nature. I know that God can not deal with sin because he is perfect. Therefore as Jesus was perfect in the Christian faith Muhammad had to be washed pure. He could not be a vessel of God if he was full. He had to have his heart or "soul" washed pure. He was the messenger for God in the Islam faith therefore he had to be pure. In Christianity you are called to be baptized as a symbol of being cleansed of your sin before God. There are a lot of close aspects between these religions.
I agree that this paragraph is a metaphor for how Islam has a prophet free of sin. Washing his heart probably refers to cleansing his soul to make him a better being. I also see the similarities that it makes to other religions such as Baptism and Christianity. I am pretty sure that most religions believe in improving one’s self for the best, and this article shows how Islam tries to do this.
Im thinking the angels took out Muhammads heart to purify it as means of a symbolic tool. When you think about it when the heart dies so does the rest of the body so it was a symbolic mean to the "soul" and by doing that his whole body would be purified again. I know in the religion of baptist the body is dunked in holy water as a way to relieve sins, and every first sunday cranberry juice and crackers are sybolic to jesus's blood, and body when he died on the cross for our sins, so therefore that wipes out our sins for that perioid of time.
I think this passage of the book plays a very important role in the life of Muhammad in the sense that it's describing a supernatural event that proves Muhammad's divine purity. An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to undergo such an experience therefore proving Muhammad as in fact the last prophet. Also, I have along with other contributors noted the similarity of this story to the Christian concept of baptism. Both religions have a process of purifying the soul with liquids. I don't believe it was an implication of primordial sin but rather the establishment of a unique relationship with God.
I also do not believe the passage implies Muhammad was filled with primordial sin. It shows, even at a young age Muhammad was destined for greatness. Being visited by angles shows his importance to God. I also agree with others that in order to attract followers and establish a religion the figurehead must have certain attributes, i.e. pure soul.
I do not believe the story is saying that Muhammad had premordial sin. I believe it is just saying that Muhammad was human and thus had likely sinned after being born and so his soul had to be cleansed and prepared for his special relationship with god. I believe it is saying, through symbolism, that for someone to have such a special relationship with god (being a prophet) they must have a soul that is truely and completely pure and free from sin and that is what Mohammad achieved while he was out in the desert.
The definition of primordial is "in the very beginning", so primordial sin would be sin from birth. Just because Islam does not believe in sin from birth or sin inherited from parents does not mean they do not believe in sin developing during childhood. The sin being cleansed away by the angels while Muhammad is herding can be seen as the sins he made after birth. This cleansing is similar to a Baptism, so Muhammad would be sin-free moving forward in life. I agree with Alex A about the importance of having a sin-free prophet in a religion.
I believe that Prophet Mohammad was already born without any sins; I think this story was made up, because the story might imply that prophet Mohammad was not completely pure, so that the angels came to clean his soul. In my point of view this is could not be because Prophet Mohammad and all Prophets should be completely pure from day one, because they have a difficult task ahead of them.
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