Islamic mythology
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Islamic mythology is the body of
The traditional biography of the Islamic prophet
Religion and mythology
The discussion of religion in terms of mythology is a controversial topic.[3] The word "myth" is commonly used with connotations of falsehood,[4] reflecting a legacy of the derogatory early Christian usage of the Greek word mythos in the sense of "fable, fiction, lie" to refer to classical mythology.[5] However, the word is also used with other meanings in academic discourse. It may refer to "a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture"[4] or to stories which a given culture regards as true (as opposed to fables, which it recognizes as fictitious).[6]
Biblical stories in the Quran
The
Creation narrative
Creation of the world
Four different verses in the Quran mentions that the heavens and earth (As-Samāwāt Wa Al-Ard) were created by God in six days,[13][14] with three verse mentioning creation and numbers of days—how many days it took to create only the earth (two days);[15] provide mountains, nutrients, etc. (four days);[16] God's giving of orders to heaven and earth;[17] and creating the seven heavens (two days).[18] The arithmetic of adding the numbers of days can be confusing, as critics (Ali Dashti) point out that two plus four plus two "increases creation from six to eight days",[19] but Quranic translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali argues that commentators understand the four days in verse Q.41:9 "to include the two days" in verse Q.41:10.[20]
In Sūrah al-Anbiyāʼ, verse 21:30, the heavens and the earth were joined together ("of one piece") as one "unit of creation", after which they were "cloven asunder". God then created the landscape of the earth, placed the sky above it as a roof, and created the day and night cycles by appointing an orbit for both the sun and moon.[21] [22] The Quran states that the process of creation took sitta ayam (ستة أيام) or six days.[23][22] Critics note that modern cosmology does not fit well with creation of the universe in six (or eight) days and that it would be difficult to determine days before the sun and earth had been created,[19][24] but many preachers argue the word youm (plural ayam) can be translated as "era" or "period", and sometimes is in translations of the Quran.[25]
According to the
- Ex-nihilo in time: A position especially held by most classical scholars: God existed alone in eternity, until God's command "Be", thereupon the world came into existence. This world is absolutely distinct from God. Accordingly, the world was neither created out of His own essence nor did God create the world out of a primordial matter which preceded the creation, but created by His sheer command not bound by the laws of nature.[26]
- Emanation: Found especially among scholars such as Ibn Sina: Accordingly, the world was created out of nothing, but not in time. The world was eternal, but temporary in essence.[27][clarification needed]
- Creation out of primordial matter: Maintained by scholars such as Ibn Taimiyya: God fashioned the whole world out of primordial matter, the waters and the smoke.[28]
Creation of humanity
Mythology |
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According to Quranic creation narrative, God informed the angels, that He was going to create a khalifa (viceregent) on earth. The meaning of Khalifa holds different interpretations within Islamic exegesis:
- Successor: Adam and his descendants replace another species, who formerly inhabited and ruled the earth. Accordingly, the jinn preceded humanity, but God decided to replace them, due to their malevolence. Whereupon God sent an army of angels to annihilate the rule of jinn. Iblis, the future devil, plays a significant role in this story, either as the angel, who led his army into battle against the jinn, whereafter he declined to acknowledge the dignity of their successors, or as one of the few pious jinn, which were spared by the angels, but became an infidel, by opposing his successor.[29][30][31]
- Deputy: Adam and his descendants are thought of as the deputy of God. Therefore, humans are obligated to maintain the earth given by God and should spiritualize God's attributes, to rule and govern it in accordance with God's will.[32][33] The heavenly Adam, who has learned the names of God, functions as the prototype of Al-Insān al-Kāmil (Perfect human), which flawed humans should strive to become.
Adam is according to Islam, both the first human and the first prophet.[34] The Quran says that he and his wife dwelled in Garden of Eden. The Quranic counterpart of the fall of man differs in some regards from the Book of Genesis. The Quran does not blame women for seducing men,[clarification needed] since both Adam, and his unnamed wife, eat from the forbidden tree. Further, the forbidden tree is not identified as Tree of the knowledge of good and evil but as Tree of Eternity. The Quran does not mention the serpent as a symbol for the devil, but only Satan himself. While the Old Testament curses the earth for Adam's transgression, according to the Quran, God declares the earth as a dwelling place for humans, but not curses it nor is Adam destined to die for his sin,[35] thus lacking the doctrine of original sin, prevailing in Christian theology. Islamic theology gives a more optimistic attitude towards humanity's fall.[clarification needed] Only due to free will, humans are able to produce good. Thus, although Adam's disobedience created evil, only this made it possible to create good.[36] The disobediences of Adam and his wife were already forgiven by God during their life.[37][38]
Islamic traditions are more extensive, adding further details into the Quranic creation narrative. According to a common narrative, God ordered the
There is an extensive debate among the exegetes (muffasirun) on the creation of Eve as outlined in the foundational sources - Qur'an and Hadith. Surah an-Nisa verse one says "O people! Be mindful of your Lord who created you from a single soul (nafsin wahida) and created from it, its mate (zawjaha)..." Most Muslim exegetes have interpreted this verse as suggesting that Eve (zawjaha) is the secondary creation brought forth from Adam (nafsin wahida). Karen Bauer argues that since the nature and manner of Eve's creation in the Qur'an remains obscure, exegetes had no option but to read into the text of the Qur'an using Biblical, para-Biblical accounts and older myths.[42] The first spouse, according to the Qur'anic narrative, was created from (min) and for man (lahu) (Q. 7:189), but the meaning of from (min) is not clear. The exegetes have understood this in two key ways: first, from the "crooked rib" and second, "of the same type (substance)" It is worth mentioning that the Bible presents both accounts - of the same type (Genesis 1:26-7) and from the rib (Genesis 2:20-4) (109). The creation of man in the Quran differed from the Bible in that man was not made like the image of God but in the best of creation and not from Earth's dust but specifically from a dried pottery-like dark red clay, and that human was afterthat made from a mixed fluid droplet that was recreated into a clinging thing, and that God made from water every living thing and that Eve was made from the person of Adam not his rib[43][44]
Muqatil b. Sulayman (d. 150/767), one of the earliest interpreters of the Qur'an says Eve was created from Adam's rib and this is reflected in her name - Eve (Hawwa), from the word living being (hayy).[45]
Another early exegete, Hud b. Muhakkam al-Hawwari (d. 3rd/9th century) presents the same reading by referring it to al-Hasan al-Basri who reported from Muhammad that "indeed, woman was created from a rib, and if you wish to straighten her you break her."[45] Many traditionalist exegetes like al-Tabari, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, Maybudi, etc. have quoted these opinions. But others like Abu Ja'far Muhammad al-Baqir and Ibn Bahr argue that Eve was created "of the same type."[46] In the modern period, the creation of Eve continues to be intensely debated. Pakistani scholar of the Qur'an, Israr Ahmed (d. 2010) was of the opinion that with the advances in our knowledge due to modern science, the notion of Eve's creation from Adam's rib is against human observation and reason. He believes the "crooked rib" hadith is using a metaphor to make a point regarding the psychological nature of women. Israr, in the evolution of the animal kingdom from a unicellular being like an amoeba, sees a clear indication that the creation was brought forth from the first unicellular being in which the characteristic of biological sex did not exist.[47] Another South Asian scholar, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, sees the hadith as a metaphor and argues that Eve was created of the same biological sex as Adam.[citation needed]
Islamic traditions often use figures similar to the Biblical narrative. Adam's wife is commonly named Hawa, and the serpent reappears together with a peacock as two animals, which supported Iblis to slip into Adam's abode.[48] Many denied, that the Garden in which Adam dwelled with his wife, was identical with the Paradise in afterlife. They rather lived in paradisical conditions before their fall, while after their fall, they need to work to survive. Unlike Christian mythology, in Islamic thought, they did not simply walk out of paradise, but fell out of it. Hawa was punished with childbirth and menstruation, while Adam became bald[35] and the serpent lost its legs.
Regarding the creation of Muhammad, Islam developed the belief in the pre-existence of Muhammad.
Spiritual creatures
In the Quran, fire (nar) makes up the basic substance for spiritual entities,[53] in contrast to humans created from clay (tin). Islamic traditions state more precisely, how different spiritual creatures were created. Islamic mythology commonly acknowledges three different types of spiritual entities:[53]
- Angels, created from light (nur) or fire (nar):[54] the heavenly hosts, and servants of God. Eminent among them are the four Archangels (Jibra'il, Mika'il, Azra'il and Israfil), Kiraman Katibin, who record a person's good and bad deeds, Maalik, who guards the Hellfire, Munkar and Nakir, two angels questioning the dead and Harut and Marut, two angels instructed to test mankind by teaching of knowledge of magic.
- Jannis usually perceived as an ancestor of the jinn.
- are usually two powerful classes of shayatin.
Other prominent creatures within Islamic mythological traditions are
origin.Places
According to popular ideas derived from cultural beliefs during the
Islamic scholars knew the world was not flat.
The 11th-century scholar Ibn Hazm stated: "Evidence shows that the Earth is a sphere but public people say the opposite." He added: "None of those who deserve being Imams for Muslims has denied that Earth is round. And we have not received anything indicates a denial, not even a single word."[67]
The Kaaba
According to Islamic mythology, God instructed
The Kaaba was originally intended as a symbolic house for the one monotheistic God. However, according to Islamic mythology, after Ibrahim's death, people started to fill the Kaaba with "pagan idols". When
Events
- Creation - a six-stages creative act by God
- Fall of man - expulsion from Heaven
- Deluge and Noah's (Nuh's) Ark- flood-event. Unlike Christianity, the flood might be either global or local
- biblical Mount Sinai
- Qiyamah- the Day of Resurrection; a fundamental element of Islamic eschatology that incorporates much from the Jewish and Christian traditions
In Salafi thought
Beginning as a reaction to the
Many adherents of the
See also
Notes
- ^ The idea of Pre-Islamic Muhammad in deeply rooted in Islamic tradition and already attested in the Sunni-canonical collection (al-Tirmidhi). The association of Muhammads pre-existence with light can also be found in Ibn Ishaq's Sira. Later, both Sunni and Shia sources extended this motif to construct cosmological scenarios.[49]
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The word 'myth' is popularly understood to mean idle fancy, fiction, or falsehood; but there is another meaning of the word in academic discourse. A myth, in this latter sense of the word, is a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture
- ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, 1968, p. 162.
- ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 1, 8-10; The Sacred and the Profane, p. 95
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- ^ Quran 14:35-53
- ^ Quran 19:16-33
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- ^ Quran 10:3, Quran 7:52, Quran 11:9,Quran 50:37
- ^ Dashti , 23 Years, 1994: p.162-3
- ^ Quran 41:8
- ^ Quran 41:9
- ^ Quran 41:10
- ^ Quran 41:11
- ^ a b Dashti , 23 Years, 1994: p.163
- ^ Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The Meaning of the Glorious Quran. Dar al-Kitab. p. 1288, note 4470.
- ^ Quran 21:31-33
- ^ a b "Islam Creation Story". www2.nau.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
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- ^ Ibn Warraq (1995). Why I'm Not a Muslim. Amherst NY: Prometheus Books. pp. 134–137.
- ). Hence, the six Days of creation refer to six eons of time, known only by Allah.
- ^ Husam Muhi Eldin al- Alousi The Problem of Creation in Islamic Thought, Qur'an, Hadith, Commentaries, and KalamNational Printing and Publishing, Bagdad, 1968 p. 29 and 96
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- ^ Ahmed, Israr (2013). The Process of Creation: A Qur'anic Perspective (PDF). Lahore: Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Quran. pp. 32–35.
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- ^ Macdonald, John. The Creation of Man and Angels in the Eschatological Literature: [Translated Excerpts from an Unpublished Collection of Traditions]. Islamic Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 1964, pp. 285–308. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20832755.
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{{cite journal}}
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Cube-shaped "House of God" located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Focal point of the hajj pilgrimage and a world spiritual center that all Muslims face during prayer. Muslims believe that it was built by Abraham (Ibrahim) and Ishmael (Ismail); some believe Adam built it and Abraham and Ishmael only rebuilt it. Often called the earthly counterpart to God's throne in heaven. Circumambulated seven times during the hajj ritual in imitation of angels circumambulating God's throne. Contains the Black Stone, which pilgrims often try to touch or kiss during circumambulations, believing that it physically absorbs sin; all pilgrims salute the stone as a gesture of their renewed covenant with God. Covered with a cloth called kiswah, which is embroidered with verses from the Quran.
- Jamiʽ al-Tirmidhi 877
- ^ "Black Stone of Mecca | Islam". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
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- ^ a b c "Important Sites: The Kaba". Inside Islam. 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- ^ "Hajj - Oxford Islamic Studies Online". www.oxfordislamicstudies.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- ^ "qibla | Art History Glossary". blog.stephens.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- ISBN 9780521653947p. 65
- ^ Quintan Wiktorowicz Quintan Wiktorowicz Pages 207-239 | Received 10 Jan 2005, Accepted 12 Apr 2005, Published online: 19 Aug 2006
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Sources
- The Holy Quran. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. Available online.
- Dashti, `Ali (1994). Twenty Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- Mircea Eliade. Myth and Reality. Trans. Willard R. Trask. NY: Harper & Row (Harper Torchbooks), 1968.
- Ibn Warraq (1995). Why I Am Not a Muslim (PDF). Prometheus Books. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- Robert A. Segal. Myth: A Very Short Introduction. NY: Oxford UP, 2004.
- Huston Smith. The Religions of Man. NY: Harper & Row (Perennial Library), 1965.
- Zong In-Sob. Folk Tales From Korea, Third Edition. Elizabeth: Hollym International, 1982.
External links
Media related to Islamic mythology at Wikimedia Commons