g153a0h2l22nf3hocd ·
Shared with James Wahl, Bisbee Bodega, Ali Sowid, Mohamed Mohsen, Fatima Louise and 1 other
Easter in the Quran. "Not even water." -on a Tshirt
Say what? Yes, Easter is in the Quran. We don't really celebrate it 'as such' but few people really do. I think of all the Christian holidays, Easter is subject to the most scrutiny in terms of secular versus sacred practices by the Christians themselves. In reality, the two high holy-days though are both just as fraught with the impingement of secular and pagan concerns as the other. Easter as a worldwide event is nearly gone though and in that it is different than Christmas which shows little signs of going away although some might be trying pretty hard to get it removed from the queue.
When I was growing up, Lent was a great time. We anticipated Easter almost as much as we did Christmas. I personally loved to go to church, with or without my mom (my dad seldom went to church save for big occasions). How lucky we were to attend St. Patricks and who wouldn't be enchanted at the monumental altar there. We got our ashes on the first day. We dutifully abstained from eating meat on Friday as was the norm back then. We each received a card that had forty slots in it and were expected to tithe a dime each day of Lent and happily place it in the collection basket on Easter Sunday, $4 of our own hard earned kid cash. We shopped diligently during Lent for our Easter clothing (just like muslim children who also get a brand new set of clothes to celebrate the end of fasting on Eid). Collection baskets were carried around by two men of the church that were on the end of long broomstick like handles that reached into the pews on either side. My mom would usually write a check and hand it to one of us to put it in there. We'd leave the church at the end of each service and hope very hard to be able to greet Father Padilla as he waited outside the front doors in the Sunday light like a rock star. If I were a painter, I'd paint that.
There's a reason I am here now and feel the way I feel about Ramadan. It is absolutely related and this year our fasting coincides with Lent to a certain degree (next year it will fall totally within Lent's boundaries). I wonder at children now who are given no religious education....it is not a good thing. I mean, even for athiests, how can you reject something you know nothing about? Perhaps a grown up first-gen athiest knows what they are rejecting but their children likely do not because that old addage of fruit not falling far from the tree is absolutely demonstrable in the nature versus nurture arena. And we are probably way beyond first-gen athiesm as it has existed from day one, Cane versus Abel. Not to mention the people who just don't care and live in a state of ignoring the important historical facts of the matter. We indeed have bred a generation born into ignorance. Is it any wonder society is now falling apart at the seams? It isn't just here in the US folks, it is everywhere now. People are struggling psychologically. Problem is, so many people believe too much religion is the cause but if that was the case, since religion is actually on the decline overall and problems increasing, what's the excuse? I assure you, humanity is much less religious than it was when I was a kid. I defy you to disagree with me.
So...what does the Quran have to say about Easter? I am sure it is surprising to some, even some muslims that it even does....because although many muslims worldwide have given into Christian Christmas, very few indeed follow along with the Easter Bunny fun. It's actually a bit more controversial than buying a few ugly Christmas sweaters or putting up a little tree. I suppose it has to do with how the resurrection occurred versus the 'if' it occurred (Christians say he died, we say he didn't and is literally, still alive somewhere outside of our purview). The Quran does though relegate the main discussion of Easter to a very, very important position in terms of when it was 'revealed'. The Quran, in case you don't know, is numbered in chapters 1-114 however those are not arranged in order of their transcription. After all the chapters were orated, the actual order of them was then dictated. Easter and what is known as the Last Supper is actually given its very own chapter called "The Dinner Table" (Al Maeda) and additionally, it is so important that it was literally the final chapter ever 'received' by the Messenger. (I won't get too much into the significance of this final and critical assertion concerning Islam/sectarian issues here, maybe on another day.). So Islam doesn't deny Easter as such, it clarifies the major crisis the departure of Jesus, SA caused and continues to cause until this day.
This final chapter of the Quran says it is the final one. Just like Mohamed, SA says he is the final Messenger/prophet. It is not fuzzy or unclear and it is not like any other Abrahamic statement all the way back to the Garden of Eden issues. In no uncertain terms even though it is #5 in textural order, the Quran relates that this is the final statement to the final messenger in the final book, the apex of all of it since the beginning of 'known' human storytelling for lack of a better word for 'this paradigm' we find ourselves solidly in now. "This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion." It is a relatively famous line even amongst detractors and Islamophobes. Newsflash, it is not "you" as in already in the fold Muslims. It is the "you" called "all of humanity henceforth" you. That you.
This is where it gets a little sticky.....for some. For the easily annoyed, the brainwashed, the ill-intended and well....for anyone who has an undue amount of belief that a few simple words will manage to suffice as a 'get out of jail free card' even for mortal sins like adultery, murder, burglary and most importantly, idolatry. Believe it or not, idolatry is worse than murder because murder is forgivable but idolatry/polytheism turns out, is not. Yikes.
The Last Supper chapter discusses a great many things about the final and problematic issues of the next to last prophet, Jesus Christ who we know is called Isa, SA, son of Miriam, pbuh. This chapter reveals* the last act of Mohamed, SA and describes the last act of Jesus, SA. Not an accident I assure you. It is always the case that in order to understand the "new" information, an example of a previous situation is quite helpful. But it is and must be painful for some. So painful that they reject our information outright. What to do. This is the part that hurts and then I'll get to the actual description of the final act of Jesus, SA (noting that the entire chapter is referring to the 'at the time of the revelation/real time*' final act of Mohamed, SA prior to his death a month or two later which I am not discussing). The Quran relates the following:
"Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely Allah, He is the Messiah, son of Miriam." IOW, Allah is not "Jesus" a human being. It says, "Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely Allah is the third (person) of the three." It goes on to say, "And there is no god but the one God." It is very clear and I hope not to offend anyone and the next few verses explain the brotherhood between believers, particularly Christians and Muslims. Of course, this is not the only place in the Quran that this critical issue is described and throughout, it is quite clear and not even a little bit subject to debate in terms of 'real meaning' or the congruency of the assertion throughout the entire 114 chapters, in all Qurans, in all languages. So.
What does it then say about the Last Supper? lt starts at verse 110. It is what we hold to be a 'verbatim' account of what Jesus, SA was actually commanded to do. It starts with a reminder (TO Jesus, SA) about his own ability to orate in the cradle all the way to old age. It reminds Jesus, SA about Allah teaching him (via Gibreel I assume) the entire Torah and then, the Injeel (which is not known to exist in print now or maybe ever as oration was the means of communication in times when printing did not exist). It relates that Allah reminded Jesus, SA about the miracles (clay bird, healing the blind/lepers and raising the dead) performed by Jesus, SA. And finally, Allah reminds Jesus, SA that he protected him from death from his adversaries. IOW, Allah tells Jesus, SA, don't worry about these people that hope to kill you. I'd say that's a big tip off to the quality of our data on the matter.
And then, it gets to his Companions. Oh dear. The companions is where things always go astray. Because not all companions are created equal. And some companions, even those trailing behind Mohamed, SA continued to doubt all the way to the bitter end. And beyond for some of the most notorious. These types have always been the bane of Monotheists since Cane and Abel. Yes, those two early-in-the-paradigm brothers appear in this chapter because of the clear presence of believer vs disbeliever allegory prevalent throughout Al Maeda/Last Supper.
These companions of Jesus, SA (known as 'disciples') wanted one last piece of proof (raising corpses and curing blindness was not enough so that ought to tell you something right there) that Jesus, SA was legit. So they asked for a big dinner. "Food from heaven" which I suppose is a traditional means for cementing faith from the days of Manna and Moses, SA. They said, "O Isa, son of Marium! will your Lord consent to send down to us food from heaven?" Mind you, some folks differed all the way back to the days of Moses, SA in terms of 'faith' too and those Hebrews split off into two sects right after Moses, SA went up to the mountain. As far as I can tell, they are still split over the Golden calf false idol imbroglio. And that event was literally caused by one and only one bad apple (who may have repented)..his name was Samiri.
So, Jesus, SA then prays to Allah to send down a meal that will be "an ever recurring happiness, to the first and the last of us and a sign". So. Allah then said to Jesus, SA "Surely I will send it down to you, But whoever shall disbelieve afterwards from among you, surely I will chastise him with a chastisement with which I will not chastise anyone among the nations. And when I (Allah) will say: O Isa son of Marium! did you say to men, Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah?" ...it then returns to Jesus, SA response to that "Glory be to THEE(not me as in me Jesus, SA), it did not befit me that I should say what I had no right to say.
In a nutshell. Many of us know that Jesus was then betrayed however this betrayal is a confused issue in the known texts written by these same witnesses who betrayed him. Not all of them but certainly, the ones who betrayed are the ones who violated everything I have explained to you here....perhaps some out of good intentions or misunderstanding. Who knows really and it doesn't really matter in terms of what a person does and believes right now. All of this merely cements the knowledge and how the lack of it has resulted in a lot of bad data leading to bad behaviors in all the world. Sure, Jesus, SA loves you and I for one loved that guy so much while I sat up there at St. Pat's in my Sunday dresses that I absolutely needed to know how to find him again at the next opportunity. Which I know one day will occur. Sooner or later and the way time flows forward all the time, sooner is much sooner than later. Peace.
