THE CALCUTTA REVIEW. THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO ISLAM, AND THE CORAN IN ITS LAST MECCAN STAGE. ART. I.-1. The Coran. 2. Versuch einer Darstellung der Christologie des Koran von C. F. Gerock. Hamburg und Gotha, 1839. HAVING in a previous paper traced the history of Mahomet to his flight from Mecca, we propose now to examine the portions of the Coran revealed during the last three years of his residence in that city. It is in the Suras of this period that we first find any detailed mention of Christianity. The connection at that time professed by Mahomet with our holy Faith, never became closer, or materially altered. It will therefore be convenient here to review the entire relation of Christianity to Islam, without confining the enquiry to the Meccan period only of the prophet's life. Though the Christians and their Prophet are frequently referred to in the Coran by name, yet extended notices of the narrative or doctrines of the Gospel are few, and scattered; -so few, indeed, that it will be possible (and we think it will prove interesting to the Christian reader), to enumerate them all. The following is the fullest and the earliest account of the Gospel history; and was produced by Mahomet shortly after his journey to Tâyif. From its subject the Sura is entitled MARY, (Maryam), and opens thus : A commemoration of the mercy of the Lord unto His servant ZACHARIAS ; When he called upon his Lord with a secret invocation. He said;-Oh Lord! as for me, my bones are decrepit, and my head white with hoar hair. And I have never prayed unto Thee, Oh Lord! unheard. Verily, I fear my kinsmen after me; and my Wife is barren. Wherefore grant unto me from thyself a successor*, Who shall be my heir, and an heir of the Family of Jacob, and make him, Oh Lord! well pleasing. In the parallel passage in Sura III, 38, the expression used is or offspring. Gerock would construe the passage as the prayer for an heir generally, and not from his own body, of which from the opening of his prayer it seems he had no expectation. He goes so far as to say that the prayer alludes probably to the marriage of Mary, his "ward," or "foster-daughter," (Pflegetochter) whose child he assumes (but seemingly on very insufficient grounds) would be his heir. Christologie, p. 20. We very much doubt this explanation, and would C C Oh ZACHARIAS! WB bring thee good tidings of a son, whose name shall be JoHN; WE have not made any to be called thereby before. He said;-Oh Lord! whence shall there be a son unto me, since my Wife is barren, and I truly have reached the imbecility of old age? He said;-So shall it be. Thus saith thy Lord,-It is easy unto me; for verily I created thee heretofore when thou was nothing. He said;-Lord! make unto me a sign. He said; -This is thy sign; thou shalt not speak unto any for three nights,+ though sound in health. And he went forth unto his people from the chamber, and he motioned unto them that they should praise God in the morning and evening. Oh JoHN! Take the Book with power; and WE gave him Wisdom, as a child, And compassion from Us, and Purity; and he was virtuous, and dutiful unto his parents; he was not overbearing nor rebellious. Peace be on him the day he was born, and the day he shall die, and the day he shall be raised to life! And make mention, in the Book,§ of MARY, when she withdrew from her people into an eastern place, And took a curtain to hide herself from them. And WE sent unto her Our SPIRIT, and he appeared unto her a perfect man. She said;-I seek refuge in the Merciful from thee if thou fearest God! He said;-Nay, verily, but I am a Messenger of thy Lord, that I may give unto thee a virtuous son.|| She said;-How shall there be to me a son, and a man hath not touched me, and I am not unchaste. He said; So shall it be. Thus saith thy Lord,- It is easy with me; and We shall make him a sign unto mankind, and a mercy from us, for it is a thing decreed. And she conceived him, and withdrew with him (in the womb), unto a distant place. And the pains of labour came upon her by the trunk of a Palm-tree; take the common sense of Mussulman commentators do not stand on such difficulties. Abd al Cadir, the Urdu translator of the Coran, holds that Zacharias prayed "in secret," because at his advanced age, to have prayed openly for offspring, would have subjected him to ridicule ! i. e., "offspring to Zacharias himself." The * Evidently based on Luke i. 61. † Compare Sura III, 41. In the Gospel, Luke i. 20, 64, the dumbness continues until after the birth of John. That is, the Old Testament. The verse is spoken by God Himself. § I. E., the Coran. Gerock, (p. 37,) with much special pleading, endeavours to prove Mahomet's doctrine to have been that Gabriel was the father of Jesus by ordinary generation. The only expression which gives the shadow of a colour to this idea is the one in the text, where Gabriel declares himself sent, "that I may give thee a virtuous Son." But from the parallel passage, (Sura III.. 45) it clearly appears that no stress can be laid upon these words. The following is the account there given : "When the Angels said, Oh MARY! Verily God giveth thee good tidings of the WORD from Him, JESUS, the Messiah, the Son of Mary, &c. She said: Whence shall there be a son unto me, and no man hath touched me? He said,-Thus doth God create that which He pleaseth; when He hath decreed a thing, He only saith unto it, BE, and it shall be, &c. Besides, in both passages, after the annunciation by Gabriel, the question of Mary as to how this should be, seeing that "she knew not a man (Luke i. 34); and the reply of Gabriel that it would be by the Almighty power of God, are conclusive against any such meaning as that started by Gerock; and show that Mahomet simply adopted the Gospel story as it was narrated to him, even to verbal coincidence. It is farther clear from the phrases repeatedly applied in the Coran to Mary, as "she whose virginity we preserved, and into whom WE breathed of Our spirit,” that Mahomet avowed the immaculate and supernatural conception of Jesus. Sura XXI., 91; and LXVI., 13; the former revealed at Mecca, the latter at Medina. The expression,, which it is not necessary to translate literally, will satisfy the Arabic scholar, that Gerock's theory is utterly groundless. She said,-Would that I had died from before this, and been forgotten, out of mind!* And there cried one from below her,-Grieve not thou! verily thy Lord hath provided beneath thee a fountain: And shake unto thee the root of the Palm-tree: it will drop upon thee ripe dates, ready plucked. Wherefore eat and drink, and be comforted; and if thon seest any man, Say, -Verily I have vowed unto the Merciful a fast, and I will not speak to any man this day. And she came with the child unto her people, carrying him; they said,-Oh MARY! Verily thou hast done a strange thing: Oh Sister of Aaron !+ thy father was not an evil man, nor was thy mother unchaste. And she pointed to the child. They said,-How shall we speak with him that is an infant in the cradle ? He (the child) said;-Verily I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, and made mé a Prophet, And made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath commanded me (to observe) Prayer and Alms-giving while I remain alive, And made me dutiful to my mother, and not overbearing nor wretched : Peace be on me the day I was born, and the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised alive! This is JESUS, the Word of truth, concerning whom they are in doubt. It is not for God to take unto Him a Son :-Glory be to Him! When He hath decreed a matter, He only saith unto it, BE, and it shall be. Sura XIX. There is but one other detailed account of the birth of Jesus in the Coran, and that was delivered a few years before the death of Mahomet, on the occasion of an embassy to Medina *Gerock, (ibidem,) as it appears to us quite gratuitously, turns these words of natural anguish into a proof of his doctrine as to the paternity of Je-us. : † In Sura III, 33, she is likewise called the daughter of IMRAN and it is therefore concluded by some, that Mahomet confounded Mary (Maryam) with the sister of Moses. The confusion of names is the more suspicious, as it is not favoured by Christian authority of any description, the traditional names of Mary's parents being Joachim and Anna. Gerock combats this idea at some length, (p. 24 ;) showing that Imran is never named in the Coran as the father of Moses, nor Mary (Maryam) as his sister, and that Mahomet is seen elsewhere to be well aware of the interval between Jesus and Moses. The latter fact cannot, of course, be doubted. Mahomet could never have imagined that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the sister of Moses and Aaron. But it is still extremely probable that the confusion of this mis-nomenclature originated in the notions of Jewish informants, amongst whom the only notorious Mary, (Maryam) was the daughter of Imrân, and sister of Moses: and they would ordinarily give the name of Maryam those accompaniments. Mahomet adopted the phraseology (for his informants were mainly, if not solely, Jews,) without perceiving the anachronism it involved. The tradition that Jesus spoke in his cradle is referred to in the Gospel of the Infancy, ch, I. "Invenimus in libro Josephi Pontificis, qui vixit tempore Christi, Jesum locutum esse, et quidem cum in cunis jaceret, dixisseque matri suae Mariae: Ego, quem peperisti, sum Jesus. filius Dei, verbum, quem admodum annunciavit tibi angelus Gabriel, misitque me pater meus ad salutem mundi." -See Gerock, p. 47. § Or, “a true saying, concerning which," &c.: the original, is susceptible of both constructions. قول Sura III., 33-54. This passage contains in much detail the birth of Mary, and Gerock has traced some approximations in it to the Apocryphal Gospels. 1. Mary's parents devoted her while in the womb to the Divine service, Sura III., 35, compared with Evang. de nativ. Mariae :-"Voverunt tamen (ejus parentes) si forte Deus donaret eis sobolem, eam se Domini servitio mancipaturos." 2. God supplied her supernaturally with daily food, Cnf. Protev. Jacob, ch. 8 ;και έλαμβανε τροφην εκ χειρος ἀγγελου. So, Hist. Nativ Mar. et infant. Salv. ; quotidie exa, quam de manu angeli accipiebat, &c. 3. The relatives of Mary cast arrows (lots) for her charge, Sura III., 44; compared with Ev. Nativ. Mar., cap. 6-8 ; Protev. Jacob, cap. 8, 9. A common traditional source is thus apparent. Gerock, p. 30. from the Christian tribe of Najrân, the singular particulars of which will be alluded to below. Of the Life of Christ, the particulars are unaccountably meagre, and mingled with fable: the passages, too, in which they occur, belong solely to the prophet's later years at Medina. The object of the Mission of Jesus to the Jews was to confirm their Scriptures, to modify and lighten some of the burdens of their Law, and to recall them to the true service of God.* His miracles are thus described : : On a certain day shall God assemble the Apostles, and Then shall God say;-Oh JESUS, Son of Mary! call to mind My grace upon Thee and upon Thy MOTHER, when I strengthened Thee with the HOLY SPIRIT, that Thou shouldest speak with men in the cradle, and in mature life-and when I taught Thee the Scripture and Wisdom, and the Law, and the Gospel ;—and when Thou formedst of clay like unto the figure of a bird by My permission, and thou blewest thereupon and it became a Bird by my permission :-and Thou didst heal the Blind and the Leper by My permission; and when thou didst raise the Dead by my permission;† and when I held back the Children of Israel from Thee at the time Thou showedst unto them evident signs, and the Unbelievers among them said,— Verily this is nought but manifest sorcery. And remember when I spake by inspiration to the Apostles, saying,Believe on Me, and on My Apostle. They said,—We believe; bear thou witness that we are Moslems § if When the Apostles said,-Oh JESUS, Son of MARY! is Thy Lord_able to cause a Table to descend upon us from Heaven? He said,-Fear God; ye be faithful. They said,-We desire that we may eat therefrom, and that our hearts be set at ease, and that we may know that Thou verily hast spoken unto us the truth, and that we may be witnesses thereof. Then spake JESUS, Son of MARY,-Oh God, our Lord! send down unto us a Table from Heaven, that it may be unto us a Feast-day, unto the first of us and unto the last of us, and a sign from Thee; and nourish us, for Thou art the best of Nourishers. And God said, Verily I will send it down unto you; and whoever after that shall disbelieve amongst you, surely I will torment him with a torment wherewith I shall not torment any other creature. And when God shall say,-Oh JESUS, Son of MARY! didst Thou speak unto mankind saying,-Take Me and My Mother for two Gods besides THE LORD? He shall say,-Glory be to Thee! it is not for Me to say that which I know to be not the truth. If I had said that, verily thou wouldest have known it. Thou knowest that which is in Me, but I know not that *Sura III., 49. †These miracles are again recapitulated in Sura III., 48, with this addition;-"And I will tell unto you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses," i. e., as a proof of his knowledge of the invisible. .used only of the Apostles of Jesus الحواريين § I. E., those who have surrendered themselves unto God. , An Eed, or religious festival recurring periodically. which is in thee; verily, Thou art the Knower of secrets. I spake not unto them aught but what Thou commandedst Me, saying,-Worship God, My Lord and your Lord; and I was a witness unto them whilst I continued amongst them; and since Thou hast taken me away, Thou hast Thyself been their keeper, and Thou art a Witness over all things. If Thou punish them, verily, they are Thy servants, and if Thou have mercy upon them, verily, Thou art the Glorious, the Wise! God will answer,-This is a day on which their truthfulness shall profit the truthful. They shall have Gardens with rivulets flowing through them, and remain therein for ever. God is well-pleased with them, and they well-pleased with Him. That shall be a great Felicity !* This passage is remarkable as affording in the supernatural table that descended from heaven, the only possible allusion, traceable in the Coran, to the Lord's Supper. The tale is probably founded on some misapprehended tradition regarding "the Table of the Lord."+ To complete the miserable outline, it remains only to be added that Jesus escaped the machinations of the Jews, and was taken up alive to heaven. In a passage aimed at his Jewish enemies of Medina, Mahomet thus upbraids their rebellious fore-fathers : And for their unbelief; and for their having spoken against Mary a grievous calumny; and for their saying,- Verily we have killed the MESSIAH, JESUS, son of MARY, the Apostle of God. And they killed him not, nor did they crucify him, but he was simulated (in the person of another) unto them. And verily they that are at variance about him, are in doubt concerning him. They have no knowledge regarding him, but follow only a conjecture. And they slew him not certainly. But God raised him up unto Himself; and God is the Glorious, the Wise! And there is none of the People of the Book but shall believe in him before his death, and in the day of Judgment he will be a Witness against them.‡ In addressing the idolatrous Meccans, Mahomet appealed to the Ministry, Revelations, and rejection of Jesus, as he was wont to appeal to the history of other prophets, in analogy and support of his own Mission. His adversaries saw their *Sura V., 118 to end. †The singular fancy of the Traditionists and Commentators has created a host of miraculous accompaniments to this table ;-fruit from the trees of Paradise, bread, meats, and fish, which, though broiled, were still alive, and for the convenience of the guests threw off their scales and bones ! The poor, lame, and wretched were invited to the feast, which lasted forty days. The commentators probably confounded the Lord's Supper with the feeding by Jesus of the multitudes. The purport of this last verse is obscure. It probably implies that the death of Christ will take place before the Judgment Day and that the Jews will then be forced to believe in him. |