Book 1 (The Cow) Cont...
In verse 2:17 of 'The Cow', Allah continues to emphasize the despair that must belong to those who do not believe, those who are in darkness. For example (cont. from v. 2:16);
"Such are those that barter guidance for error: they profit nothing, nor are they on the right path. They are like one who kindled a fire, but as soon as it lit up all around him Allah put it out and left him in darkness: they do not see. Deaf, dumb, and blind, they will never return to the right path."
Here, as seen before (in both the Arabic and English texts), Allah is clearly without love when he speaks to his followers through Muhammad, without grace.
Compare this picture of "god" with Eph. 1: 7-8:
'In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us.'
(Take special note of the mention of the Lord's blood being shed - it will come up again in a more important/influential context.)
Later on in the same passage, Allah brings down even more punishment in an Allah v. unbeliever context.
"Indeed, if Allah pleased, he could take away their hearing and their sight: Allah has power over all things."
It is interesting to cite what Muhammad, Allah's mouth, says in the last passage of soffha thalatha (page three):
"If you doubt what We have revealed to Our servant, produce one chapter comparable to it. Call upon your idols to assist you, if what you say be true. But if you fail (as you are sure to fail), then guard yourselves against the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers."
I'm sure Allah's challenge is meant to sound threatening, ominous, frightening. But to me, as a Christian, it merely emphasizes the insecurity of this faith. This idol has a base of clay and a head of gold - it is built on nothing but lies, and so, in the end, must fall. This challenge sounds like a child's dare or a "your mom" joke, meant to goad the opponent to something worse or better or higher or longer. What kind of child dares? One who is insecure of his own abilities, one who needs to see someone else try to do better and fail before he is sure of himself.
It is also interesting to note that Allah uses the third person "we" rather than "I". Those who read the Bible or the Qur'an for the first time may believe, as mentioned in the previous post, that the similarities between the two texts run deeper than the surface. However, when Allah refers to himself as "we", it's merely a royal "we", and authoritative "we", as opposed to Christ's "we", which refers to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Because there is no Trinity in Islam, there is no love shared between different parts of the same God. This is the base explanation for the lack of love displayed by Allah, both towards his followers and those he calls the unbelievers. If a child sees no love growing up, it's doubtful that he will show any love when he is an adult. In the same sense, because there has always been love in the Holy Trinity, there will always be love from the Trinity towards the children of God.
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