Although the creation story of the Qur’an is supposed to be
derived from the Genesis, it is actually very different. Firstly, verse 2:35
from the Qur’an states, “Adam, live with your wife in this garden. Both of you
eat freely there as you will, but do not go near this tree, or you will both
become wrongdoers.” However, in Genesis 2 God sets his human in the Garden of
Eden and tells him “From every fruit of the garden you may surely eat. But from
the tree of knowledge, good and evil, you shall not eat, for on the day you eat
from it, you are doomed to die” (2:16-17) and then goes on to make a woman that
the human names Eve. In the Qur’an story Adam and his already created wife are
able to live in a garden where they can freely eat, and they are told not to approach
a tree or else the will become “wrongdoers.” The story of the Qur'an differs
greatly in that Eve, or as labeled in the Qur’an Adam’s wife, entered the
garden with Adam and therefore is able to hear God’s message (which is also
different in each narration). In particular, I noted that in the Qur’an God
says not to go near a certain tree, which is similar to what Eve explains to
the serpent in Genesis 3 even though Eve does not repeat the exact command that
God gave. Another point I found interesting was that the Qur’an directly states
that Satan “lured them [Adam and his wife] with lies”(7:22) telling them that
they will become angels or immortal. Where as in Genesis the serpent just says
to Eve that their eyes will be opened and they will become like god in knowing
good and evil. I find that these differences completely change the story from Genesis
to a distinct one from the Qur’an.
Iska has made very fascinating points on the differences of Genesis and the Qur'an. The different descriptions of the same interactions in the garden of Eden play an essential part in the different texts. I think that even though they seem completely different, the stories still are similar or have the same purpose. In the book of Genesis, the text does not tell us anything about where the serpent came from or why was it even there. The Qur'an gives some background on Satan, the serpent, and builds this up throughout its amendment of this narration. In Sura 7:11-17, God tells his angels to bow before his creations, Adam and Eve, but Satan refuses and swears to show that "most of [the humans] are ungrateful." Satan sees humans as lower than his position in God's universe, but he was commanded to bow before them. The Qur'an gives description to reveal Satan's maybe "jealousy" to back the reason why the serpent comes to deceive Adam and Eve. Even though the texts have differences in their accounts of what really happens, the Qur'an really expand and amend these stories for better understanding.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I find that the differences in similar stories as laid out by Genesis and the Qur'an are very interesting. I particularly liked Liezel's point that the Qur'an gives us background on Satan, while the serpent simply seems to exist in Genesis. I think this ambiguity throughout Genesis plays a huge role in the ability of believers to interpret the text, while the straightforward and direct nature of the Qur'an eliminates this ability for interpretation. I found that this helps to highlight the differences in the foundations of each of these religions.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Satan luring Adam and Eve near the tree, I find the two gods' treatment of Satan and the snake interestingly similar. God in the Qur'an expels Satan from the Garden and establishes the conflict between humans and Satan as enemies. In Genesis, God sets enmity between Adam & Eve and the snake and it sounds like Adam will kick the snake as it bites his heel (3:15). The difference I find most interesting is that Adam & Eve blame Satan for their transgression and God punishes them equally whereas in Genesis Adam blames Eve who in turn blames the Snake and God punishes them all differently. I definitely agree the story in both texts, though along the same lines, have distinct meaning.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how Eric pointed out that God gives Adam, Eve and Satan the same punishment in the Qur’an while in Genesis he hands out different punishments. I think two different arguments regarding Eve could be made based on Eric’s insight. First, the Qur’an completely sidelines Eve. While in Genesis she is the one approached by the serpent, in the Qur’an the “serpent whispered to Adam... and they both ate from the tree” (20:120-21). Eve is robbed of her significant role as the one the serpent chose to seduce, and is not mentioned in the rest of the story, as God “brought [Adam] close, accepted his repentance, and guided him—God said, ‘Get out the garden as each other’s enemy’” (20:122-23). Eve is left entirely out of God’s confidence, and is left on the sidelines of the creation story. While this may appear to bode ill for Eve and her place in the God’s creation, the Qur’an’s version of the story also omits Eve being cursed by God and ordered to be subjective to her husband, because as Eric pointed out, all of the participants in original sin are given the same sentence.
ReplyDeleteIska, one thing that I saw that intrigued me was right after God commands Adam and Eve to not go near the tree then it says, "But Satan made them slip, and removed them from the state they were in" (2:36). I think this is significantly different from Genesis in that here in the Qur'an it is not the woman, Eve, eating from the tree and then giving it to Adam to eat as well. In the Qur'an it is both man and woman that commit the act together; they both slip. I think that this is significant because it takes the blame of the fall of humankind off of the woman, and makes it a shared burden of both sexes.
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