the spider and the sermon on the mount
#reflections
I was reading a chapter of the Quran in the morning, called, 'The Spider.' It is one of the older chapters (The chapters of the Quran were revealed gradually over a period of 23 years, this chapter was revealed in year 5). It contains a series of directions and instructions. The chapter gets its name from the reference to the House of the Spider - intricate, beautiful, powerful, purposeful, but weak and flimsy. (Similar to the castles we build in this world, which crumble with time, and in front of the powers of nature) In the beginning the verses alternate between admonishment and encouragement to the believers. During this in-depth study, the topic of the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ (PBUH) came up and I read the Sermon in total. It is beautiful! (Bible, Matthew 5-7)
Very basic instructions in both of them.
Note - we Muslims believe that God revealed Holy books - some of them were simple instructions - do this, don't do that. Some of them contained advice (Sermon on the Mount, Bible, New Testament). Some of them contained law (Ten Commandments). Some were praises of God (Psalms). The Quran summarised all of them into one. We are ordered to believe in all the Holy Books, but we have to FOLLOW the Quran, since, over time, the authenticity of other books has diminished because of the absence of any written form. The Quran was transcribed during recitation, and copies dating back to the time of revelation are present today. Also - the oral tradition of Haafiz (memorising the Quran) has passed from generation to generation. There is a school of thought that believes that the Upanishads are a Holy Book, that was probably sent to Prophet Abraham (PBUH) and passed onto his descendants, one of whom came to India.
Didn't mean to bore you - but I didn't send anything in the morning, so.