Qur'an parable reading for Christians commentary

Surah 68:8-30

So do not yield to the rejecters. They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. And yield not to any mean swearer, Defamer, going about with slander, Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; Because he possesses wealth and sons.

When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. We will brand him on the nose.

Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning.
And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping.
So it became as black, barren land. And they called out to each other in the morning.
Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce).
So they went, while they consulted together secretly,
Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you.
And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent.

But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray.
Nay! We are made to suffer privation.
The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)?
They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust.
Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other.

***
This is a very useful passage from the Qur’an for Christians to read and have me explain to them. This is because once you understand it, you will see the similarities with what the Bible teaches.

By way of background, remember that the Prophet (PBUH) differed from Jesus in that the Prophet was given these words to say by God, often through the angel Gabriel. Jesus was inspired by God, obviously, but Jesus “wrote his own sermons” to use a modern expression. In other words, God was not directing every word that Jesus spoke, though obviously he approved. Thus when Jesus spoke a parable he would be the "author" of that parable, or he would be modifying a traditional folk kind of story in order to serve the purpose of a parable.

In contrast, the Qur'an is "dictated" to the Prophet by God. So this reading is a parable, just like one Jesus would have given, except God is the one “telling the parable.” The Prophet is hearing this parable from God and memorizing it, for later preserving in writing. You can tell that God is speaking because he uses throughout the Qur'an what we call in history “the imperial ‘We’”. That is when kings (and ruling queens, such as England's Queen Victoria) would not use the term “I” but would say “We,” meaning not just themselves individually, but the fullness of their collective power of kingdom and ruler ship.

So in the first section that I cited above, God is admonishing the faithful people to never go along with those who disbelieve in him. God explains that the reason that some people want the faithful to become lax in their faith is so that they can rationalize themselves being unfaithful and can therefore be lax in their duties (that is the meaning of being “pliant.”)

God gives examples of that type of person and their behavior, such as those who swear but don’t keep their word, those who slander and defame others, those who act out or break laws (exceeds limits), are course or impolite (ignoble), run with the wrong crowd (that is what is meant by base-born, to translate into modern caste and class free societal context, where the wrong crowd is now by choice rather than birth), or those who think that because they are wealthy (sons can be thought of as modern day having a lot of employees) that they are above faith in God and his law.

God then says what he knows just what this type of person will say, that they will say that good behavior and fear of God is passé because they are “stories” of “yore.” In other words, just as you often hear today, that type of person would say that God’s laws and admonitions are “old fashioned” and “out of date,” and just “mythical stories.” God says this type of person will even plot torture and harm to someone (such as branding him on the nose) of those who admonishes the unfaithful to obey God and his laws.

So God now starts the parable. God is basically saying, when you encounter this type of person, here is a parable of what I might do to them. God tells the parable of farmers who planned to harvest their crops the next morning. They were told in advance by the pious faithful that God requires everyone to set aside a portion of the harvest for the poor. They were not willing to do so, and planned not to save any crops for the poor when they got up to harvest in the morning. So while they slept God visited their agricultural fields and blackened them, ruining the entire crop.

So the greedy and unbelieving farmers got up in the morning, calling out to each other to get an early start, and confirming that they will hide what they are doing so no one will know they didn’t save any for the poor.

(In those days the way it worked is that they would leave unharvested part of the crop, so poor people could come later and harvest themselves what they need. The farmer was not expected to cut the crop for the poor and take it to them. The farmer was expected to leave some in the field where the poor would be told they could come and take it. That’s why they “went in secret” while normally they would tell the poor what they were planning and that they would leave them some crops. That is how they had “the power to prevent,” by not inviting the poor to come after them and also by cutting everything down so there was nothing left for anyone to stumble across and benefit from). Jesus was criticized for doing such "gleaning," which is picking up remnants of crops in the field left for the poor, because he and the Apostles did it on the Sabbath. You can better understand now why Jesus had such ire with the Jewish religious authorities who were so mean and hypocritical, since they were basically saying the poor could not pick up left over grain in the field to feed themselves "on the Sabbath."

Anyway, God then relates in this parable how the men would be surprised to find the entire field blackened and destroyed. In the part that I cite here God repeats some of the unfaithful farmers' dialogue, such as their mystification of what went “astray.” In the parable the faithful who had warned them to set aside some for the poor basically say, “See, we told you so.” They are “the best of them,” meaning that they are the best of men since they sought to warn the farmers to do the right thing and honor God by obeying his laws about saving a portion of crop for the poor. Some of the farmers immediately figure out that God was punishing them and they acknowledge their error. Others continue to resist the lesson, and there’s more in this chapter, but I leave it with the part that is really the bulk of the parable.

I hope you find this helpful. Once a Christian reader of the Qur’an understands that it is God speaking through insight or through words by Gabriel to the Prophet, one can start to delineate what is God recounting history, telling a parable, or giving instructions for law, devotion and good behavior. It is often easier to relate to the Qur’an if a Christian can examine a parable, very much like one Jesus would tell, so I thought this commentary would be useful.

Also, as you can see, it gives cross cultural and common cultural insight about common shared ancient practices (leaving food for the poor to harvest) that modern readers of the Bible or the Qur'an would not understand from the perspective of modern day culture. Thus you learn that they didn't have "food banks for the poor," but rather, the poor were expected to be notified when extra harvest would be left on the vine or in the field for them to cut themselves. Also you can see what "gleaning" means and better understand Jesus' reaction. The Bible and the Qur'an really are mutually supportive, much more than many people realize.