Which is the "greater charity?"

1. A rich man gives a $100,000 donation to a hospital toward a new wing or medical equipment

or

2. The rich man gives his free time after work to an inner city after school program to spend time with children at risk.



1. A woman donates money to a "social justice" cause

or

2. She provides play time, caregiver time, even doing the laundry for a poor and struggling local family with children, and maybe an infirmed elderly member.

For your consideration: an original joke/story

A lion, a horse and a fish, all of whom were friends, went out one day in a rowboat. The lion (who was the one who was rowing) all of a sudden slipped and let go of one of the oars, which floated away. Chagrined the horse said to the lion, “You’re the clumsy oaf who let go of the oar! You go into the water and go swim to get it!”

The lion said, “Are you kidding me? You know that I am a proud feline, the ‘top cat,’ and I hate to go into the water. I will not do it. You are a good swimmer and tall, so you go and get the oar. I’ve done all of the work of rowing already!”

But the horse said, “Don’t be an ass! If I jump in the water I am too big and heavy to climb back into the boat. So I can’t go into the water.” The lion and the horse both turned to look at their fish friend.

“Fish,” the horse said, “It’s going to have to be you. Please jump into the water, swim to get the oar and push it back to us. You can easily jump back into the boat.”

“Oh no,” said the fish after a thoughtful pause, “I don’t think so. You see, once I am in the water, might you not confuse me with the other fish to eat?”

I have here for you a parable to work as analogy

Here is a parable, though it really is more like an analogy, because I’m not trying to write a story with a beginning and end, but help you to better understand the issue. This is a parable about what modern unbelievers or those of weakened faith are like.

A man lives in a wonderful old elegant mansion that was built by one of his ancestors. He delights in the house and it provides for his every need. It is well and beautifully placed on the land and it weathers every storm.

The ancestor left many documents of how he constructed and paid for the mansion, such as blueprints, letters of agreement, correspondence, and bills for materials and labor that were fully paid. His ancestor lived before the time of cameras and photography, and so there are no pictures or paintings of him. Yet among the documents are letters from his many friends and merchants, all of whom praise him and his honesty, reliability and truthfulness.

One day a believer comes to visit the man to have tea. While the man serves the tea the believer praises the home and admires its many graces. She then comments what a wise man the ancestor must have been, filled with foresight and care for his family, his descendents, and his integrity in all things. She is surprised to see the man is frowning, rather than being proud of his ancestor. She asks him why. The man replies, “I am very angry at my ancestor. Just because this house exists and there are all these documents testifying to him, why should I believe that he was a good man, or that he even existed?”

The believer is astonished at the man’s reaction and “viewpoint.” She is actually speechless at what to say to such obviously distorted, bitter and erroneous “logic.” And so she said to the man, “What could your ancestor have done to make you believe?”

The man replies, “The ancestor should have built the house right in front of me while I’m alive so I can see and believe with my own eyes.”

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.

Qur'an Reading Surah 3:7

Actually, before I get to the next blog posting I mentioned, let me insert here a section of the Qur'an that I was just reading this morning, thinking about how to present it to my readers as part of an instructional commentary. I find that it helps to amplify what I just wrote in the previous posting about the Muslim shared attitude toward accepting "God's will."

Surah 3:7

He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity, they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead, and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation, but none knows its interpretations except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding.

***

This is an extremely important teaching about God for both Muslims and Christians to understand. It is saying that God gives his messages and instructions two ways, either in direct statements or in allegories (which are examples or parables, just as Jesus spoke). We all know that allegories are often easier to understand, and this is why Jesus used them so often to great outcome and understanding by those who listened.

This passage in the Qur'an warns that just because God gives an allegory, in order to help the listener to understand, does not mean that one should "take advantage" of it being an allegory to pour one's own skewed understanding into it. Those of pure mind, heart and faith listen to the allegory and comprehend its over all intention, but do not claim to understand all the details that God did not choose to put into direct statements instead of allegory.

For example, those who seek perversity would seize upon, say, the type of person who is being used in the allegory and say, "See! it only applies to someone like her." It would be like if you told a moral lesson about a man who went into a building and said this and that to a woman, if the person went away from your moral lesson thinking "Oh, that lesson only applies if it is a man talking to a woman. It does not apply if it is a woman talking to a man, or a woman talking to a woman, or a man talking to a man, or if the man talking to the woman is doing so outside the building, since it the allegory only mentioned a man talking to a woman in a building. So I can ignore this allegory if it is a man talking to many people over TV!" And so on and so on. Perverse people take the generosity of an allegory (or a parable) and seek to twist the choice of imagery used in the allegory in order to give themselves wiggle room or worse, interpretive "power" over "what God meant."

Oh boy do you see a lot of that in non institutional Christianity! This is one reason, as I've mentioned before, that Islam was given to the faithful in a very strict narrow and direct form to understand and obey. There are entire cottage industries of people who think they can state what God means, especially when God uses allegory. They should beware and be warned that this is risky, false and misleading to others.

This is why I quote this passage from the Qur'an for the benefit of Christians too, because while the Bible admonishes against the same general arrogance, it does not word it so susinctly as here in the Qur'an!

Bible Reading: Matthew 22:1-14

And Jesus addressed them, and spoke to them again in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a marriage feast for his son. And he sent his servants to call in those invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, 'Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it, and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business; and the rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

"But when the king heard of it, he was angry; and he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; go therefore to the crossroads, and invite to the marriage feast whomever you shall find.' And his servants went out into the roads, and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; and the marriage feast was filled with guests.

"Now the king went in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how didst thou come in here without a wedding garment?' But he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet and cast him forth into the darkness outside, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

A Reading from the Qur'an

Here is the "parable of the ashes" from the Qur'an.

Surah 14: 18-20

The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord: their actions are like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day; they shall not have power over any thing out of what they have earned; this is the great error.

Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He please He will take you off and bring a new creation.

And this is not difficult for Allah.

None other but God/Allah

Surah 22:73

O people! a parable is set forth, therefore listen to it; surely those whom you call upon besides Allah cannot create a fly, though they should all gather for it, and should the fly snatch away something from them, they could not take it back from it; weak are the invoker and the invoked.

A Modern Day Parable (3)

While listening to baseball today, as usual half of my mind was on the games, while the other half of my mind was thinking about the terrible situation that people are in regarding love of God, healthy living, and ultimately, their salvation. This example of the frustration I feel came to mind.

Imagine one of those classic old movies where the white guy "bwana" is being the big explorer in the dangerous jungle. He gets into trouble, being wounded by a terrible beast, for example, and staggers through the jungle alone, looking for help, bleeding from his wounds and barely holding on.

He comes into a clearing where a clean white tent is set up, with a Red Cross, showing that the doctor is in. It is gauzy and full of mosquito netting, a very simple place, but staffed by a very knowledgeable doctor who is "on call" all the time, who is God.

The man staggers inside the tent and says, "Help, help!" God the doctor steps forward and starts to ask him the standard "intake" questions, like "What has happened? What attacked you?" But then the man snarls, "I don't want to answer any of your questions! Just help me without talking."

God the doctor would find it easier to help if they talked, but agrees to the man's wishes. God the doctor reached toward the man to tend silently to his wounds. But then the man pulls back and snarls again, saying, "I don't want you to touch me! Just help me without touching."

This is what it is like for so many people today, both those of "faith" and those who do not consider themselves believers. But it is the believers who act this way that worries me the most. And there are a lot of them out there.

Explanations of the Qur'an for Christians (3)

Surah 2:265-266

And the parable of those who spend their property to seek the pleasure of Allah and for the certainty of their souls is as the parable of the garden on an elevated ground, upon which heavy rain falls so it brings forth its fruit twofold but if heavy rain does not fall upon it, then light rain (is sufficient) and Allah sees what you do.

Does one of you like that he should have a garden of palms and vines with streams flowing beneath it; he has in it all kinds of fruits; and old age has overtaken him and he has weak offspring, when, (lo!) a whirlwind with fire in it smites it so it becomes blasted; thus Allah makes the communications clear to you, that you may reflect.

********
Discussion of 2:265:

This parable starts with a landowner who acquires and develops property, in this case, a garden, "to seek the pleasure of Allah." Notice that this is the landowner's first priority, to please Allah, and the landowner's own pleasure is secondary. By placing the pleasure of Allah first, those like the landowner will have "the certainty of their souls." The rest of the parable uses an example to show exactly how this becomes true. The landowner who seeks the pleasure of Allah first selects land for their garden that is "on an elevated ground, upon which heavy rain falls." This is a well known phenomena, where a rise of land, like a hill or a mountain, that faces a wind that if often moisture laden (such as the mountains along the west coast of the USA that face the Pacific Ocean) will capture more than their share of rainfall and thus have very lush growth. So when one chooses land for the pleasure of Allah, it is like selected a "garden on an elevated ground, upon which heavy rain falls so it brings forth its fruit twofold." In other words, by prioritizing for Allah above all, one selects a way that reaps twice the harvest during normal times. Then, when hardship fall in life falls, one is "ahead" because one has already invested first in pleasing Allah, and has enough remaining in hardship by which to get by. So "if heavy rain does not fall upon it, then light rain (is sufficient.)" This parable beautifully combines the concepts of agriculture and provision in the time of hardship with the assurity that comes with seeking the pleasure of Allah first, and by virtue of that, one's feet are guided in wise decisions that allows one to prosper even when the heavy rain does not fall, and the light rain is sufficient.

For those of you new to the Qur'an, notice that many of the passages in the Qur'an end with reference to Allah. Here the phrase "and Allah sees what you do" is a reminder that Allah sees all, and observes that this pious landowner had placed as his or her first priority to behave and decide in ways to "seek the pleasure of Allah." This is a very valuable feature of the Qur'an where the Prophet (peace be upon him) almost always ties back each parable and verse to Allah. This is different from the Old Testament which is very much a codification of laws, events, and genealogies. It is easy to get carried away reading the Old Testament books about the events and laws and lose track of the "why's" of God. The Qur'an breaks the teachings of Allah into pieces that are easy to understand for those who listened or read, and in this regard is closer to the New Testament in structure, where Jesus segmented his activities and preachings in way that always points back to God and his will. So both the Qur'an and the New Testament are much more explanatory in nature, and contain frequent "point backs" to God.

Discussion of 2:266:

In this parable, in contrast to the one immediately before it, there is no mention that the landowner has selected land for the pleasure of Allah as the first priority. So the reader can assume that this parable is about the person who selects a garden for their own pleasure. The parable implies that the landowner has had a long run of success with this garden because he has "palms and vines with streams flowing beneath it" and "all kinds of fruits" up through the time when "old age has overtaken him." So he has had a pretty good run of the garden for his own pleasure. But then two things happen. He grows old and has "weak offspring." His children are clearly not strong willed in the discipline of tending to the garden as the old man did, and by implication, not trained sufficiently in following the will of Allah. So the old man has less years remaining to him and less strength, yet cannot turn to his offspring to maintain his work because they are "weak." And then a natural disaster occurs, where there is a "whirlwind with fire" that "smites it so it becomes blasted." Now, this is a natural disaster we are speaking of, not a punishment. Anyone who farms for a living knows that it is inevitable that there are weather changes, storms, disasters that are the will of Allah (in that they are part of how the world operates under Allah) but that a strong person who places Allah first can cope with and plan for. Remember, the landowner in parable 2:265 planted in an area that had more rain than he needed, and was mindful of the pleasure of Allah first. So when disaster struck the first landowner, in the form of a diminishment of rain by a half, he still thrived, for he chose his land by putting Allah's pleasure first. In pragmatic terms, you could say the first landowner knows the ways of Allah in the unpredictability of the weather systems that keep this planet healthy, and so he "built in some redundancy" in respect for Allah's pleasure and ways. The second landowner not only did not choose his land with the pleasure of Allah in mind, but his children also did not perform accordingly, and so not only does the eventual natural disaster overcome them, but there is no one to lead them back to recovery. Perhaps the landowner, putting his own pleasure first over Allah's, neglected the instructions of his offspring in the will of Allah, and then pays the price when the offspring are not upright enough to support the old landowner and their heritage. We see many examples of this in faith and in life. And so it is written "thus Allah makes the communications clear to you, that you may reflect." How many times do we hear someone say, "I never thought it could happen to me?" And worse when through weakness children leave their parents in a position of unnecessary danger and risk? The meaning is that life is unpredictable and that prosperity that is achieved without putting Allah first may be long in duration, or fleeting, but there is no recovery or safety net, if not in the living world, then when judged because as 2:265 reminds, "Allah sees what you do."

Explanations of the Qur'an for Christians (2)

One of my favorite passages in the Qur'an
(out of many favorites)

Surah 2:260

And when Ibrahim said: My Lord! show me how Thou givest life to the dead, He said: What! and you do not believe? He said: Yes, but that my heart may be at ease. He said: Then take four of the birds, then train them to follow you, and place on every mountain a part of them, then call them, they will come to you flying, and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise.

****
Ibrahim is Abraham. Those of you who have read about Abraham in the Old Testament will recall that Abraham had frequent conversations with God, mostly in the form of his dreams/visions, and also in person, when the Lord visited in the form of an angel/traveler. Notice the confidence, almost childlike in its charm, that this great Patriarch Abraham had in asking God to "show him how Thou givest life to the dead." God knows that Abraham is not being insolent and asking for a test of God's knowledge and powers, and so replies to Abraham as a loving father would to a son, knowing that this question was actually a request to strengthen Abraham's faith. God replies, "What! and you do not believe!" Again this is just as a loving father would say, in pretend surprise to his questioning son. Abraham replies, "Yes, but that my heart may be at ease."

Before I continue with talking about this passage, think of how Abraham's words parallel the father of the possessed boy who Jesus cures. Mark 9:20-24:

So he [Jesus] asked his [the boy's] father, "how long is it since this has come upon him?' And he said, "From his infancy. Oftentimes it has thrown him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if you canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us." But Jesus said to him, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him who believes." At once the father of the boy cried out, and said with tears, "I do believe; help my unbelief." Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Thou deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him and enter him no more."

This father of the possessed boy has come down through the sacred scriptures as saying one of the most profound things in the pursuit of salvation and grace, "I do believe; help my unbelief." One must have a base line of belief, and then go to God to ask for help with the unbelief that remains. And so in this passage of the Qur'an, there is such a beautiful illustration of this for the benefit of all who listen and hear, as Abraham, the Patriarch, feels the need and the right to ask Allah for strengthening his belief and easing his unbelief so that his "heart may be at ease."

Allah's answer is not complicated, yet it conveys a profundity of understanding of the way to Allah/God. Allah tells Ibrahim to take "four of the birds, then train them to follow you." You can think of the birds as doves or pigeons, the kinds that can be trained to return to home, traveling amazing distances. Allah then tells Ibrahim to take four birds that have been trained to return to him, and place a bird on each mountain (and so it is implied that there are four birds on four mountains, just like the four corners of the entire earth.) This symbolism indicates that Allah "givest life to the dead" no matter where on the earth they reside. Allah then says, "then call to them, they will come to you flying." And so Allah shows Ibrahim that the homing pigeons that have been trained will return to the one who trained them, as is Ibrahim in this example that Allah uses to illuminate Ibrahim. Allah says, "they will come to you flying and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise." Allah provides an example where Ibrahim can imagine how Allah provides the way back to him at the end of earthly life, because like the homing pigeons, those trained in the love and fear of Allah, and obey him, will fly back to him when their life on earth has passed. So in a simple conversation, admirably brought about by Ibrahim's faith to ask Allah this question, and the Qur'an's beautiful recording of this dialogue, anyone can understand "how" Allah "givest life to the dead."