What Is the Qur'an? | Dr. Garry Wills

what is the Quran it is a set of seventh-century revelations from God made to Muhammad in two cities Mecca and Medina in what is now Saudi Arabia it heralds the truth that there is only one God not the many gods still being worshipped in ancient Arabia of course this was not the earliest revelation that there is only one God that had been taught and Hebrew to the Jews and in Greek to the Christians before it was taught to Muslims in Arabic these three sets of revelation set apart the people of the book each with their own special covenant from the same God there is only one we believers in one God are on the same team as it were and should protect one another's places of worship listed in the Quran as monasteries churches synagogues and mosques where God's name is much invoked the Quran does not confine God's action to the formal covenants of religion God tells us that he sends messages to all men all the time beginning with Adam who repented his sin in the garden and became the first prophet the unending stream of prophets includes Moses and Jesus Muhammad himself is the seal of the prophets not as canceling former covenants but as confirming them but the love of God is not brought only by human messengers in the Quran creation itself is a set of messages from God which speak a divine code that we are told to decipher God's intent can be seen in the beauty and power of the universe Moses does not speak alone on the mountain the mountain speaks with him birds speak to Solomon the world is constantly signaling to us bringing us insights into the beauty and power of its maker this should call us to a reverence for God's handiwork an important message for our ecologically challenged era the Quran has more of poetry in it been of legislation it sets ethical norms while stressing the need for mercy in our dealings with God's fellow creatures force is allowed only for self-defense and never as a way of spreading religion commercial dealings with fellow Muslims or with non-muslims should be meticulously fair and never extortionate the relations of the sexes were still polygamous in the seventh century as among the ancient Hebrews and the original Mormons but women are to be honored in fact the dowry that was paid to a husband's family by the bride's family in Europe was paid in the Quran directly to the bride and she retains this bride right even if the husband divorces her or if she divorces him this carved out an area of women's rights unparalleled in the seventh century the Quran is a book of many levels and great depths even non-muslims can learn from it as Pope Francis has proclaimed I am Gary wills for the aimer Stein Center [Music]

Channel: Emir-Stein Center

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Keywords: Quran, Qur'an, Bible, People of the Book, Torah, Women's Rights, justice, mercy, coexistence, ecology, prophets, forgiveness, Islam, Shariah, Garry Wills, القرآن, الكتاب المقدس, أهل الكتاب, التوراة, الإنجيل

Id: WhIJX92Ovn0

Length: 3min 51sec (231 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 30 2019