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0 Mere fables from the men of old (Surahs 16-17)

Episode 18: Mere fables from the men of old (Surahs 16-17)

Surah 16: The Bee (Al-Nahl)

From a drop of fluid

2 He [Allah] sends down the angels, saying, “Warn the people that there's no god but me.”

4 He created humans from a drop of fluid.

9 If Allah wanted, he could have guided everyone rightly.

22 Those who don't believe in the Hereafter are proud.

23 Allah doesn't love proud people.

Mere fables from the men of old

24 They say, “What has Allah revealed? Mere fables from long ago.”

26 Once there were plotters, whom Allah killed by collapsing a building. They didn't know what happened to them.

27 On resurrection day, Allah will embarrass them by asking, “Where are my partners?”

Those in the know will say, “Disgrace and evil are on the disbelievers. 29 So enter the gates of hell where you will live forever.”

39 Disbelievers are liars.

Prostrating shadows

45 Do those who plan evil deeds think that Allah won't cause the earth to swallow them, or that some unknown doom will fall upon them when they least expect it?

48 Don't they know that Allah makes their shadows fall to the right or left, making their prostration to Allah?

Me, me only, be in awe of me

51 Allah says, “Don't worship two gods. There's only one god, me. Only me. Be in awe of me.”

62 Those who assign to Allah that which they dislike will be abandoned in the fire. 63 Theirs will be a painful doom.

Grapes, whence ye derive strong drink

66-67 Allah gave you grapes, from which you make strong drinks.

Fruit-eating bees

68-69 Allah inspired the bees, by saying to them, “Eat all fruits.”

70 Allah creates you and then kills you, after making you senile for a while.

Are slaves equal to their masters?

71 Allah made some of you have more than others. Slave owners don't share their wealth with their slaves. 75 Are slaves equal to their masters? 76 Is a slave who can't speak and is a burden on his master equal to his master?

77 The hour of doom is coming soon, in a twinkling of the eye.

We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation

85 When those who did wrong see the doom, it won't be made light for them. 88 For those who disbelieve, we add doom to doom.

89 We [Allah] revealed the Quran to you, which explains everything to everyone.

90 Be kind to your relatives.

94 Those who oppose Islam will face an awful doom.

101 Sometimes we [Allah] replace one revelation with another new and better one. (Allah knows best what he's revealing.) When we do that, people say, "Allah is inventing."

Allah has sealed their ears and eyes

104 Disbelievers will have a painful doom. 105 They are liars.

106 Those who lose their faith in Islam will face an awful doom. Allah's wrath is upon them.

107 Allah doesn't guide disbelievers. 108 He seals their hearts and eyes. 109 They are the losers in the hereafter.

116-7 Those who invent lies against Allah will not succeed and will have a painful doom.

Surah 17: The Children of Israel (Bani Israil)

Muhammad's nighttime ride

1 He [Allah] carried his servant [Muhammad] one night from the Inviolable Place of Worship [in Mecca] to the Far distant place of worship [in Jerusalem]. We [Allah] did this to show him our tokens!

Muhammad's night-time ride from the temple in Mecca to the temple in Jerusalem

3 Noah was a grateful slave.

How many generations have We destroyed!

8 We have made hell a dungeon for disbelievers. 10 We have prepared a painful doom for those who disbelieve in the hereafter. 16 We (the Word of doom) destroyed entire towns by annihilating them with complete annihilation.

17 How many generations have we destroyed since Noah! 18 We have created a hell for those who desire life in this world.

Be kind to others

23 Be kind to your parents. Treat them with respect in their old age. 26 Help your family, the needy, and wayfarer. Don't selfishly squander your wealth. 31 Don't kill your children to avoid falling into poverty. 34 Don't steal from orphans. 36 Don't follow what you don't know.

A hidden barrier

39 Don't set up another god or Allah will cast you into hell.

45-46 We [Allah] place a hidden barrier on the hearts and ears of unbelievers so they can't understand.

53 Speak with kindness to others.

57 Try to avoid the doom of Allah.

We'll destroy every township

58 Allah will destroy every town before the Day of Resurrection.

59 We gave Thamud the she-camel -- a clear warning.

60 Watch out for that accursed tree in the Quran.

Allah and Iblis

61-62 We said to the angels, “Fall down prostrate before Adam.”

They all fell down, except for Iblis, who said, “Should I bow down to something you made out of clay? If you let me be until resurrection day, I'll take possession of nearly all of his descendants.”

63-64 Allah said to Iblis, “Okay that sounds good. But whoever follows you will go to hell. Entice as many as you can with your voice, horse, foot, and promises.”

Blind in the hereafter

72 Whoever is blind here will be blind in the hereafter.

Humans and jinn couldn't create the Quran

88 Humans and jinn working together couldn't produce the Quran.

We increase the flame for them

97 Allah will send disbelievers astray. Then he'll burn them in hell, increasing the flames from time to time. 98 That's what they get for disbelieving our revelations.

101 We gave Moses nine tokens, just ask the children of Israel.

103 We drowned Pharaoh and his army.

A few more words about this episode

Once there were plotters, whom Allah killed by collapsing a building. (16:26)
No one knows who these unfortunate plotters were. It's just a fable from men of old.
Allah inspired the bees, by saying to them, “Eat all fruits.” (16:68-69)
Bees eat nectar and pollen, not fruits.
Does Allah only speak to prophets?
Are slaves equal to their masters? (16:75-76)
This question is obviously rhetorical, with the implied answer being "No, slaves are not equal to their masters." (And, therefore, slavery is condoned by these verses.)
Sometimes we [Allah] replace one revelation with another new and better one. (16:101)
This is called the doctrine of abrogation.
He [Allah] carried his servant [Muhammad] one night from one place of worship to another one far away. (17:1)
This verse supposedly refers to Muhammad's famous midnight ride on the back of a flying horse (Al-Buraq) from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to heaven.
Muhammad's ride supposedly occurred 621 CE, ten years after he announced his prophethood. Of course at the time there would have been no temple of any kind (Jewish or Islamic), since the second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE and was never rebuilt, and the first Islamic mosque wasn't built until 691 CE, nearly sixty years after Muhammad died.
This is the only reference to Al-Buraq in the Quran. The details are provided by the Hadith.

Noah was a grateful slave. (17:3)
He probably didn't seem so grateful when he was drunk and naked in his tent, and then cursed his grandson (and all of his descendants) with slavery for seeing him in this condition. (See Genesis 9:20-29)
We gave Thamud the she-camel. (17:59)
For the story about the she-camel see Quran 7:73-79, 11:61-68, 26:141-58, 54:23-31, and 92:13-14.
(It's one of Allah's favorite stories.)
Watch out for that accursed tree in the Quran. (17:60)
This is the first mention of this tree. For more on the accursed tree (or the tree of Zaqqum) see 37:62, 44:43, and 56:52.
Fall down prostrate before Adam. (17:61)
This is also one of Allah's favorite stories. It's repeated in 2:34, 7:11-21, 15:26-43, 18:50, 20:116, and 38:73-85.
We gave Moses nine tokens. (17:101)
No one knows what nine tokens Allah is talking about here. Don't bother asking the children of Israel.
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