The New Lifetime Reading Plan

The Koran consists of 114 chapters, or suras, which in the written version of the holy book are printed simply in order of length, the longest first and the shortest at the end. There is no narrative thread in the Koran and no obvious connections link- ing each sura to the next; these features derive from the origi­nal oral nature of the text. (In fact Al-Quran means "the recita- tion," and in the Muslim world reciting the Koran is an important act of faith and religious witness.) The written text was not finalized until around 650, some twenty years after Muhammad's death in 632; it was compiled from memory and included ali the material that, by consensus of the community, was considered to have been genuinely revealed to Muhammad by God.

From the point of view of a non-Muslim Western reader, the Koran seems remarkable at first glance for the degree to which it is part of the Jewish and Christian Biblical heritage. It is full of familiar figures; Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, John the Baptist and many others are represented as prophets and messengers of God. A closer look shows that this familiar world is seen through a radically different lens in the Koran; ali of the Biblical stories, ali of the prophets and patriarchs, are pre- sented as precursors leading up to the Koran itself, the Word of God as recited by Muhammad; the Koran presents itself as the "seal of prophesy," the final revelation of God's word on earth.

Accordingly, much of the Koran is devoted to telling the faithful exactly how they are to live in a state of islam, "submis- sion," to God. These instructions for the regulation of a theo- cratic community are distilled in the Five Pillars of Islam, which are

н. The profession of faith: "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet." (The word translated as "prophet" in this formula really has a stronger meaning: "One who warns of God.") Islam is a religion of uncompromising monotheism; God is absolute, omniscient, and omnipotent— nothing whatsoever happens on Earth or in the Heavens but by the will of God.

Prayer five times each day, according to prescribed rituais.

Fasting from dawn to dark during the month of Ramadan each year.

Giving alms to the poor.

At least once in one's lifetime, making a pilgrimage to Mecca, but only if one is in good health and has sufficient financial means to make the pilgrimage without impoverishing one's family.

These rules, supplemented by many more both in the Koran and in later compendia of religious law, mark off the Muslim community from ali others; the Koran promises the protection of God to those who submit to his will, and damna- tion to ali who reject it. The Koran thus creates a religious community that is inherently militant and evangelistic, while at the same time urging upon the faithful attitudes of modera- tion, tolerance, and a dedication to justice. The history of the Islamic world provides many examples of fanaticism, and equally many examples of enlightened tolerance; like ali scrip- ture, the Koran can be used to justify many things.

Some years ago I was privileged to talk with a very high official of our government, and I asked him (because the Middle East was very much in the news at the time) how many members of the presidential cabinet knew enough about Islam to name the Five Pillars of the faith. "Thafs easy," he replied. "Not one." At a time when one of every five people in the world is a Muslim, and the Islamic world contributes a dispro- portionate share of our government^ foreign policy concerns, it seems to me a matter of simple good citizenship to know something about Islam. That is one good reason to read the Koran; others are the beauty of its majestically poetic language, and the fascinatingly refracted vision that it projects of the Biblical traditions at the heart of Euro-American mainstream culture.

J.S.M.

25

HUI-NENG

638-713

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

Buddhism arose in northern нndia in the sixth century B.C.E. through the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. A prince of a small kingdom in the Himalayan foothills, he was shocked by the suffering that he saw everywhere in the world, and he went on a retreat to meditate for many days, sheltered by a great tree, searching for the cause of that suffering. At last he entered a state of pure understanding, thereby becoming the Buddha or "enlightened one"; and he began to preach a new doctrine on the basis of that enlightenment.