Judgment Day

Before I continue with my commentary on the Quran, I want to give another disclaimer.  I am not an expert on the Quran, and yet I will give some speculations.  If something seems odd to me, I might look at a commentary, but if the commentary doesn't make sense to me I'll go my own way.  I welcome serious students of the Quran to critique my commentaries.  If I've got it wrong, I'm sorry.

Now, let me move ahead in my blindness...

Sura 74 is called "The Cloaked Man", which might very well refer to Muhammad, who was seeking another revelation like he did before.  Perhaps the Sura could be split, revealed at two different times, but it seems to me that it might all work together.

Muhammad was in dispute with a critic.  The critic said that there was no day of judgment.  That no All-powerful God would come to judge between the good and the bad, and that Muhammad's own poetry proved nothing.  He said that Muhammad had only made a few poems and recited them, but that was no indication of God's power, or a necessity to pray to Him.

I like this Sura.  First of all, it is its own response.  It is speaking back to the critic, saying, "See, I can give Muhammad as many revelations as I want."

But most of all, the poem says, "Do what you like.  The day of judgment comes whether you like it or not."

This is one thing Muhammad had in similarity to Jesus.  They both took the final day with the utmost seriousness.  We are to organize our lives according to how we will be ultimately judged by God.  This idea is life changing and powerful.

Those who wish to live immoral lives deny God and deny the day of judgment. (They aren't the only ones who do, but certainly they do)  (Psalm 14 and Psalm 53).  They say this to claim that there is no recrimination for their evil deeds.  Both Jesus and Muhammad (and David) strongly oppose this notion.  They may not agree as to what the standard of judgment is, but the judgment of God is coming.  And we need to get ready for it.