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We hear and obey— but what if we don’t understand? — Transcript

by Jessica McDonald · 3,454 words · 673 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00It's late and I'm tired, but I promised
0:02you a study and a study you shall have.
0:05So let's dive into Al-Baqarah 285.
0:09Does God hold us accountable for what
0:11happens in our own minds, for our
0:14thoughts, our intentions,
0:16for things nobody else can see?
0:19That's what we explored in ayah 284.
0:22We discovered that according to an
0:24important Islamic tradition, the
0:26companions of Muhammad, peace be upon
0:28him, were frightened by that very
0:30question.
0:32They believed they had encountered an
0:33obligation that they thought was
0:36impossible to fulfill.
0:38And today we're going to examine what
0:40happened next
0:42because ayah 285 contains their
0:44response. And that response raises
0:47another question that I find deeply
0:49interesting.
0:51Can you trust God when you don't yet
0:53understand what God is asking of you?
0:57Now I need to tell you something before
0:58we begin.
1:00This [snorts] is not an easy question
1:01for me.
1:02I'm someone who asks questions, lots of
1:06questions.
1:07I ask questions for a living every day
1:09in the courtroom, and you have all seen
1:11the questions I ask in these studies.
1:14I want to understand why something is
1:16true.
1:17I want to examine the evidence. I want
1:19to know whether a conclusion actually
1:22follows from the information we've been
1:24given.
1:25And after almost 30 years practicing
1:27law,
1:29those habits are pretty deeply
1:30ingrained.
1:31So the idea of saying I hear and obey
1:35before I fully understand something,
1:38that's unsettling for me.
1:41But let's get started anyway. [laughter]
1:43Al-Baqarah 285 begins by describing the
1:46messenger's belief in what has been
1:49revealed to him from his Lord.
1:51And the believers share that faith.
1:54The verse says they believe in Allah,
1:56the angels, his books, and his
2:00Then comes this declaration.
2:02We make no distinction between any of
2:05his messengers.
2:06And
2:08the believers respond, we hear and obey.
2:12They ask their Lord for forgiveness and
2:14acknowledge to him is the final return.
2:18Now at first glance, this might seem
2:20like a straightforward declaration of
2:22faith. I've heard similar type things
2:25said in Baptist churches where I grew
2:27up.
2:28But remember where we are in the surah
2:30and remember what happened in the
2:32traditional account concerning the
2:33previous verse
2:35because I don't think we can fully
2:37appreciate these words without
2:39understanding the background.
2:41So remember why the companions were
2:43frightened?
2:44In our last study, we learned that when
2:46ayah 284 was revealed, the companions
2:49were deeply troubled.
2:51The Quran had said that God could call
2:54people to account for what they had
2:57revealed or concealed within themselves.
3:01And the companions were afraid.
3:03According to hadith, they approached
3:05Muhammad, peace be upon him, and asked
3:08how they could prevent every unwanted
3:09thought from entering their minds.
3:12How could they be responsible for
3:14something they couldn't completely
3:15control?
3:16And what interests me is that they
3:18brought the concern to Muhammad, peace
3:21be upon him.
3:22They didn't simply pretend they
3:24understood, they asked.
3:27But the response Muhammad gave them,
3:29according to the narration, is
3:31challenging. At least challenging to me
3:34because he tells them not to respond as
3:36earlier communities are portrayed as
3:38responding with disobedience.
3:41Instead, he instructs them to say, we
3:44hear and obey.
3:46We seek your forgiveness, our Lord, and
3:48to you is the return.
3:50And the companions repeat those words.
3:53Then according to this hadith, verse 285
3:56is revealed containing that very
3:58declaration.
4:00Now there are two things I want us to
4:02keep separate.
4:04First, the Quran itself contains the
4:07believers declaration of faith,
4:09obedience and desire for forgiveness.
4:12Second, the account describing the
4:14companions fear and Muhammad's response,
4:17that comes from Hadith.
4:19And according to the Hadith, when the
4:21companions say these words,
4:24their original questions haven't yet
4:25been fully resolved.
4:27They're still facing something they
4:29found frightening.
4:31They don't yet understand how they could
4:33possibly fulfill
4:35what they believe God required.
4:39But they respond with obedience anyway.
4:43And that raises a question I've been
4:44thinking about for quite some time.
4:47What is the relationship between belief,
4:50understanding, and trust?
4:53Can trust come before understanding?
4:57Because I don't think that this lesson
4:59of this passage is just
5:02teaching us that people should never ask
5:04questions. The companion themselves
5:07asked questions. Their concern is part
5:09of the traditional story.
5:12And we've encountered other examples of
5:13questions in the Quran. Remember
5:15Abraham? Back in ayah 260, Abraham asked
5:19God to show him how the dead are brought
5:21back to life.
5:23And God asks whether Abraham believes.
5:26Abraham says yes, but he wants
5:28reassurance for his heart.
5:31I love that passage
5:33because Abraham wasn't presented simply
5:35as someone with no questions.
5:37He believed, but he still wanted to
5:40understand more deeply.
5:42The circumstances are different here.
5:44The companions are worried about whether
5:46they can fulfill a command they
5:47understand as coming from God. And the
5:50reports here is
5:53that the response emphasizes submission
5:56to divine authority. And they say those
5:59words, we hear and obey.
6:01It expresses a commitment to obey.
6:04But I think we should also notice that
6:06the companions questions were not erased
6:08from the story.
6:10They were frightened. They voiced that
6:12concern.
6:14And then they affirmed their commitment
6:16anyway.
6:17Now I want to admit some admit something
6:19to you guys.
6:21For me,
6:22understanding is deeply important.
6:25I've spent much spent much of my life
6:27believing things I was taught.
6:30And part of this journey for me has
6:31involved going back and asking why I
6:34believed them.
6:35What did the text actually say? What did
6:38history tell us?
6:40What did I know?
6:41What had I assumed?
6:44And what had I believed just because
6:46people I loved and trusted told me to
6:49believe?
6:50So I'm not going to pretend that I find
6:53unquestioning acceptance easy.
6:56I don't.
6:57But I can appreciate what this
6:59traditional account is describing.
7:02The companions are expressing trust in
7:04God's authority while still confronting
7:06their limits of their understanding.
7:09And I think that's a meaningful
7:11distinction
7:12because sometimes trust and
7:14understanding are connected,
7:16but they're not identical.
7:20Now let's return to the beginning of the
7:21verse. It says the messenger believes in
7:24what has been revealed to him and so did
7:26the believers. And I find that
7:28interesting because the verse doesn't
7:29simply begin with a list of commands. It
7:32begins with an affirmation of faith.
7:35The messenger believes
7:37and the believers share that commitment.
7:40Al-Tabari explains this as Muhammad,
7:43peace be upon him, affirming the
7:45revelation he has received, including
7:47its instructions, promises, and
7:50warnings.
7:51The believers likewise affirm God, the
7:54angels, the revealed books, and the
7:56messengers.
7:58And I think this helps explain why their
8:00declaration of obedience follows.
8:03Within the passage, obedience isn't
8:05presented as an isolated act
8:07disconnected from their belief.
8:09It's a response flowing from the
8:11recognition of God's authority.
8:14Now, of course, recognizing that
8:17connection does not answer every
8:18philosophical question about faith and
8:20obedience,
8:22but it tells us something important
8:23about how the verse is structured.
8:25Belief comes first,
8:28then the response of obedience, and then
8:31the request for forgiveness.
8:35We're going to talk about that more in a
8:37little bit, but first we need to deal
8:38with a statement that initially sounds
8:40like a contradiction
8:43of something that we studied earlier.
8:45So the verse says we make no distinction
8:48between any of his messengers.
8:51Now hold on a minute.
8:52Haven't we been here before?
8:55Because back in ayah 253 we studied a
8:57passage that says God favored some
8:59messengers over others.
9:02And that led us down uh an entire rabbit
9:05hole about whether God ranks the
9:07messengers.
9:09And the question of how and also we
9:11talked about the question of how Muslims
9:13understand the different roles of God
9:15and ranks of God's messengers.
9:18So now, just a few verses later, the
9:21Quran says believers make no distinction
9:24among them.
9:25Are we looking at a contradiction?
9:28Well, according to classical
9:29commentators, no. And here's why.
9:32The two passages are talking about
9:34different kinds of distinctions.
9:37Ayah 253 describes differences in the
9:40privileges, roles, or ranks God gave
9:43particular messengers.
9:44Ayah 285 concerns whether believers
9:47accept or reject those who God genuinely
9:50sent.
9:52[cough]
9:57I'm almost well, I promise.
10:00In other words, the believers aren't
10:02supposed to say, well, we'll accept
10:04Moses, but we're we'll reject Jesus, or
10:07we'll accept Jesus, but reject Muhammad.
10:10Within Islamic theology, the messengers
10:13are all to be recognized as authentic
10:16messengers of God.
10:18Here the Quran is affirming the
10:19legitimacy of all of the messengers, not
10:22declaring that every messenger was given
10:24the same role or rank.
10:27[snorts] Now, there's another phrase
10:29that I want us to examine.
10:31The verse says that the believers
10:32affirmed God's books.
10:36Within Islamic theology, that includes
10:38revelations associated with earlier
10:40prophets,
10:41the Torah, the Gospel, and other
10:44revelations recognized in the Quran.
10:47But I want to make an important
10:48distinction here.
10:50When the Quran affirms that God revealed
10:52scripture to earlier prophets, that does
10:54not resolve the separate question of
10:57whether every word in today's biblical
10:58manuscript is identical to the original
11:01revelation that Muslims believe God
11:03gave.
11:04That's a different historical and
11:07theological question.
11:09Here the believers affirm God's revealed
11:12books.
11:13And like we just said, that may be quite
11:16different than the books that Christians
11:19or Jews even read today.
11:22So that tells us something important
11:24about Islamic understanding of
11:25revelation, but we're not going to try
11:28to solve the entire history of biblical
11:30canon in the middle of ayah 285 because
11:34if we try, we may never finish
11:36Al-Baqarah. And we're so close to
11:38finishing.
11:40Although I have to admit that is an
11:43exceptionally tempting rabbit hole that
11:46I'm having to avoid going down right
11:48now. But
11:49we're going to leave that rock where it
11:51is, at least for now. So now we're going
11:54to return to the phrase at the center of
11:56today's study.
11:58We hear and obey.
12:01And I want to show you something
12:02interesting because there's a connection
12:04with the Hebrew Bible.
12:06In Exodus chapter 20, Moses reads the
12:08book of the covenant to the Israelites,
12:11and and respond that they will do what
12:14the Lord has spoken and obey.
12:18Now, that's a meaningful parallel.
12:20In both accounts, a community responds
12:23to what it understands as divine
12:25revelation with a declaration of their
12:28obedience.
12:29But here's where things become a bit
12:32more complicated because earlier in
12:34Al-Baqarah ayah 93, the Quran portrays
12:37the Israelites with an opposite
12:39response.
12:40They hear and disobey.
12:43Exodus presents them as verbally
12:45affirming obedience.
12:48Now, I like to point out when I find
12:49things in the different texts that
12:51support each other, so I think it's only
12:53fair to point out the differences I come
12:55across in my studies as well.
12:58So, now there are scholars who have
13:00argued that these verses aren't actually
13:02in conflict.
13:03One possible explanation that is given
13:05is that the Quran is characterizing the
13:08Israelites' actual pattern of
13:10disobedience rather than quoting their
13:13original covenant declaration. In other
13:16words,
13:17[clears throat] it can be read as they
13:19may have said at the time, yes, we hear
13:22and we will obey, but their pattern of
13:25behavior didn't actually fit that.
13:28But that's an interpretation and what
13:30matters for our study is that the
13:32contrast is visible within Al-Baqarah
13:34itself. Back in ayah 93, we encountered
13:37hearing and disobeying of the children
13:39of Israel. And now in ayah 285, the
13:43believers say they hear and obey.
13:47The declaration in 285 isn't simply a
13:49beautiful phrase. Within the traditional
13:52account, it's the response Muhammad,
13:54peace be upon him, has instructed the
13:56believers to give.
13:58A declaration that they will not reject
14:00God's authority merely because they find
14:03something difficult to understand.
14:06And yes, I do I do get the irony here of
14:10me actually um studying and now trying
14:14to explain what I learned in this verse
14:16while I still have much difficulty in
14:19professing belief in something I don't
14:22understand. I The irony is not lost on
14:25me, okay? But let's go back to the study
14:28because what I'm doing here is trying to
14:30tell you what the text says from my
14:32study.
14:34[clears throat]
14:35Now again,
14:36this doesn't erase the fact that they
14:39had questions. They still had questions,
14:42but it does reveal the kind of response
14:44the passage commands,
14:46one of willing obedience.
14:49And that leads to what I think is the
14:52most beautiful part of this verse.
14:55Why do they immediately ask for
14:57forgiveness?
14:59Think about what they we've just heard.
15:01The believers affirm their faith.
15:04They declare that they accept God's
15:06messengers. They say they hear and they
15:09obey.
15:10And then what do they say?
15:12Oh Lord, forgive us.
15:15Now wait a minute. If they just declared
15:18obedience, why are they asking for
15:20forgiveness?
15:21Wouldn't perfect obedience eliminate the
15:24need for forgiveness?
15:26Well, that's exactly where I think this
15:28verse becomes especially meaningful
15:31because the declaration does not
15:32necessarily mean they have achieved
15:34perfect obedience. It expresses their
15:37commitment
15:39and they request forgiveness.
15:42And when they do that, it acknowledges
15:44their limitations.
15:47That's pretty beautiful, don't you
15:49think?
15:50Al-Tabari [snorts] interprets the
15:51request as a plea for God to pardon
15:53their sins. And another commentator,
15:56Al-Sa'di
16:00Yeah, not saying that right either.
16:02[snorts] Anyway, he also says that uses
16:05the same explanation, and it makes the
16:08connection really clear that even people
16:12committed to obeying God fall short.
16:16They remain in need of forgiveness even
16:19when they're committed to trying to do
16:22the right thing. And I loved that
16:24distinction
16:25because there's also a difference
16:27between saying I intend to do what is
16:29right and saying I've never failed to do
16:32what what's right.
16:34Those are very different claims. The
16:36first expresses commitment.
16:38The second claim claims perfection.
16:41And the believers in this verse are not
16:43presented as people who no longer need
16:45mercy.
16:46They are people who respond to God with
16:48obedience while asking for forgiveness.
16:53That that's a a real acknowledgement of
16:55human imperfection built right in to the
16:58declaration of faith. And that's
17:00significant, especially because of the
17:03verse we just studied. Remember verse
17:06284? It raised the possibility that God
17:09might call people to account for what
17:11they conceal within themselves.
17:14Now the believers are asking for
17:15forgiveness.
17:17They're not claiming that their inner
17:19lives are spotless.
17:21They're not claiming to possess possess
17:23perfect understanding. They're
17:25responding with trust while
17:27acknowledging their need for mercy.
17:31And I find that profoundly human
17:34because I don't know anyone who has
17:36lived a life without mistakes.
17:39I certainly haven't.
17:41And I suspect that even the people who
17:43sincerely want to do what is right
17:47sometimes fall short of their
17:48intentions.
17:51So the idea that commitment and
17:53imperfection can coexist,
17:57that makes perfect sense to me.
17:59[snorts] And I think it's an important
18:00part of understanding this ayah.
18:04But I want to return to the companions
18:06for a minute
18:07[clears throat] because I keep thinking
18:09about their reaction in the hadith.
18:12They hear something frightening.
18:14They believe it may be more than they
18:16can actually bear, and they say so.
18:19[snorts] Now it's easy to read these
18:21stories centuries later and forget that
18:23these people
18:27they're real human beings responding to
18:29something that they found difficult.
18:32They weren't simply caricatures in a
18:34theological argument.
18:36Within the tradition, they were people
18:38who experienced uncertainty and fear.
18:42And they were trying to understand what
18:44was being asked of them.
18:46I think about that because I recognize
18:49something of myself in their questions.
18:53Not because I share every theological
18:55assumption that they held. I don't.
18:58But because I understand
19:00what it means to struggle with something
19:02you're trying to understand.
19:06I've spent much of my life studying
19:08scripture.
19:10And there have been times
19:12when I encountered teachings
19:15that I was expected to accept without
19:17question.
19:19Sometimes I accepted them.
19:22Sometimes I struggled.
19:24[snorts] And sometimes, years later,
19:27I returned to those teachings and
19:29realized
19:30that I needed to examine them again.
19:34So when I encounter a passage about
19:36belief and obedience,
19:39I naturally want to ask
19:43what place is there for understanding.
19:48And I think today's research has helped
19:50me distinguish two different things.
19:54One is trusting an authority you believe
19:56is genuinely divine.
19:59The other is determining whether
20:01something actually comes from that
20:03authority and what it means.
20:06And those aren't identical questions.
20:09The companions in the hadith are
20:10portrayed as already recognizing
20:13Muhammad as God's messenger,
20:15peace be upon him,
20:17and the Quran
20:18as God's revelation. So in in this
20:22situation,
20:24the companions weren't questioning
20:26whether or not this came from God. They
20:27believed the divine origin of
20:31of the revelations to the prophet and of
20:35the Quran.
20:36[snorts] Their difficulty concerns how
20:39to respond to a verse they believed came
20:42from God.
20:44My position
20:46as someone studying Islam from outside
20:49the faith,
20:50it's a little different.
20:52[snorts] I'm still examining what the
20:53text teaches and how I understand its
20:56claim.
20:58I don't want to blur those differences,
21:00but I can appreciate the internal logic
21:03of the narrative and I can understand
21:06why a believing Muslim might find the
21:08companions' response beautiful.
21:11They're expressing trust while
21:13acknowledging that they still need
21:15forgiveness.
21:18And I think
21:19that's worth understanding on its own
21:21terms.
21:24Now we come to the final phrase of the
21:25verse.
21:27To you is the final return.
21:30And I want you to notice how this brings
21:32us right back to ayah 284.
21:36We began with the question of
21:37accountability.
21:39God knows what is revealed and what is
21:41concealed.
21:43Now the believers acknowledge that their
21:45ultimate return is to God.
21:48The themes haven't changed.
21:50Judgment [snorts] and accountability are
21:52still present,
21:53but something has been added,
21:56the response of faith,
21:58the commitment to obey
22:01and the plea for forgiveness.
22:04Al-Tabari explains the final phrase in
22:06terms of the believers' return to God
22:09and the request that God forgive their
22:11sins.
22:13They don't simply say we obey, therefore
22:15we have nothing to fear.
22:17They say we hear and obey.
22:21Forgive us, our Lord,
22:23and to you is our final return.
22:26That's not a declaration of
22:27self-sufficiency.
22:29It's a confession of dependence.
22:32They believe.
22:34They commit to obedience.
22:36And they recognize that their ultimate
22:39hope
22:40rests in God.
22:42And that brings us to something I don't
22:44want to overlook as we approach the end
22:46of Al Baqarah.
22:48As we've studied the Quran, I've been
22:50reminded repeatedly that I'm
22:52encountering these words for the first
22:53time.
22:55But many of my Muslim neighbors have
22:57known them for much of their lives.
23:00And these final two verses in Al Baqarah
23:03have a very special place in Islamic
23:05devotional practice.
23:07There's a hadith reporting that reciting
23:10the final two verses of Al Baqarah at
23:12night is sufficient for the one who
23:14recites them.
23:16[snorts] Now, we don't really know
23:18because there's no
23:22completely agreed upon definition of
23:24what sufficient means, but
23:27it's still held as something very
23:30important in in traditional Islam. These
23:34verses aren't simply the conclusion of a
23:36long chapter.
23:37They're words that many Muslims have
23:39memorized,
23:40words they've recited in prayer and
23:42devotion,
23:43words they associate with God's mercy
23:46and care.
23:47And I think that's something worth
23:49recognizing
23:51because when I study another person's
23:54sacred text,
23:55I'm not simply examining words on a
23:58page.
23:59I'm examining words that may have shaped
24:01the way they understood their lives,
24:04their relationship with God, their
24:06responsibilities, their hopes, their
24:08fears,
24:10and their understanding of forgiveness.
24:12And I want to approach that with
24:14respect,
24:15not because I'm obligated to agree with
24:17every theological claim,
24:20but because understanding another person
24:22requires taking seriously
24:26what matters to them.
24:28And that is one of the reasons this
24:29journey has become so meaningful to me.
24:33Now,
24:34I want [clears throat] to return to the
24:35question that we began with.
24:38you trust God when you don't fully
24:40understand?
24:42I think the traditional story behind the
24:44verse gives us one particular answer.
24:47The companions are portrayed as
24:49affirming God's authority even while
24:51struggling with something they don't
24:53understand.
24:55And they answer with obedience.
24:58But what follows
25:01what follows that declaration it is just
25:03as important because they say
25:06forgive us.
25:08They don't claim that faith has made
25:10them perfect.
25:11They don't claim to know or understand
25:14everything.
25:15They affirm their commitment while
25:17acknowledging their limitations.
25:20And perhaps that's part of why these
25:21words have been so meaningful to
25:24generations of believers.
25:27They provide a way to express
25:29both devotion and dependence,
25:33both commitment
25:35and humility.
25:37And I don't have to agree with all the
25:39theology in these scriptures to find
25:42that very beautiful.
25:45As always, I welcome your corrections,
25:48your perspectives, and your additional
25:50sources.
25:51Thank you for continuing to explore this
25:54with me.
25:55And until next time,
25:57go love your neighbor.

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