Covenant in the Qur'an
by Michael McCarron
In Shi'a
Islam the term “day of the covenant” (yawm al-mithaq) is equated
with the day that `Ali was appointed the successor to Muhammad.
The covenant is a major ideal in Islam as it is in all Abrahamic faiths.
The Qur'an has many instances of the mention of the term covenant, the
Qur'anic terminology for covenant is on the one hand 'mithaq'1
and on the other hand '`ahd'. Both terms come to mean to covenant
or a covenant. The definition of mithaq is:
Mithaq is a noun that signifies
covenant, agreement, treaty or alliance. Mithaq can be used to
describe an agreement between two parties. It is a confirmed contract,
guaranteed by an oath. In the Qur'an the covenant between God and his
servants is mentioned as many as twenty-six times. Allah took
the covenant from the prophets: 'And remember when We took from
the Prophets their covenant' (33:7). There are many Prophets and
Messengers of Allah, but only five are of alu-al-`azm (with strong will).
They are Muhammad, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The above verse
specifies them as the strong upholders of the covenant with Allah: 'And
from you [Muhammad] and from Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, sone of
Mary, we made with them a strong covenant' (33:7).
The Qur'an mentions the covenant
of God with the Children of Israel very often, for example: 'And We
made with them a firm covenant (4:154). Allah reminds the Jews
in the Qur'an of his covenant on different occasions, including: 'And
when we made a covenant with the Children of Israel' (2:83). pg.
409, The Qur'an: an encyclopedia By Oliver Leaman http://books.google.com/books?id=isDgI0-0Ip4C&pg=PA408&dq=mithaq&ei=Cs_lSqCBDYHclQTW9PysDA#v=onepage&q=mithaq&f=false
The definition of `ahd is:
“`Ahd, injunction, command;
thence: obligation, engagement; thence: agreement, covenant, treaty.
The term (as well as the 1st and 3rd forms of
the corresponding verb) occurs frequently in the Qur'an. It is
used there over the whole range of its meanings, of Allah's covenant
with men and His commands, of the religious engagement into which the
believers have entered, or political agreements and undertaking
of believers and unbelievers towards the Prophet and amongst each other
and of ordinary civil agreements and contracts (xvii, 34; xxiii, 8;
lxx, 32); occasionally, the agreement is personified: it 'will be asked'
to give evidence (xvii, 34; xxxiii,15). From the idea of God's covenant
derive the Christian Arabic terms al-`adh al-`atiq and al-`ahd al jadid
for the old and the New Testament respectively. The basic concrete
concept is 'joining together', whereas the synonym `aqd derives from
the concrete ide of 'binding'. In later usage, the latter term
is commonly used of civil engagements and contracts, whereas `ahd is
generally restricted to political enactments and treaties, in particular
to the appointment of a successor, a wali al-`ahd by a ruler,
and to treaties of alliance with non-Muslims outside the Islamic state,
who are therefore called ahl al-`ahd; thus last term is occasionally
extended, on one side to the mustamin, and on the other to the dhimmis;
both aman and dhimma are indeed, a political `ahd with religious sanction.”
J. Schacht Encyclopedia
of Islam, pg. 255, Vol. I, E.J. Brill, 1979, Leiden, Netherlands
Informing the conversation
on Covenant we are left with the pre-Islamic precedents for understanding
the covenant. In the Tanukh (Old Testament), in the New Testament
there are several covenants made. A covenant with Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Children of Israel, David, and
Jesus2 . In the Qur'an not all the same Covenants are mentioned.
There is a primordial covenant with Adam, covenants with Noah, Abraham
and Ishmael, with Moses, with the Children of Israel and with Jesus.
These are the explict mentionings of covenants in the Qur'an 33:7.
And when We exacted a covenant
from the prophets, and from thee (O Muhammad) and from Noah and Abraham
and Moses and Jesus son of Mary. We took from them a solemn covenant
(mithaq); (7)
وَإِذۡ
أَخَذۡنَا مِنَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ مِيثَـٰقَهُمۡ
وَمِنكَ وَمِن نُّوحٍ۬ وَإِبۡرَٲهِيمَ
وَمُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَى ٱبۡنِ مَرۡيَمَۖ
وَأَخَذۡنَا مِنۡهُم مِّيثَـٰقًا غَلِيظً۬ا (٧)
It is very controversial that
between the Bible and the Qur'an the covenant of Abraham's children
goes to two different lines, with the Qur'anic being that of Ishmael
while the Biblical is that of Isaac. There is also no direct mention
of the covenant with David, although David is given a special book of
revelation, the Psalms (zabur). In Psalms the Davidic covenant
is mentioned there is no mention in the Qur'an to refute the Davidic
covenant. Although, one could argue that because the Qur'an mentions
that Jesus (`Isa bin Maryam) is annointed (messiah3
) that the ideal of the Davidic Kingship is explicitly mentioned through
the appointing of Jesus in the Qur'an as the annointed of God.
In the covenant of the Children of Israel there may also be an oblique
reference to the Davidic Kingship:
In the Qur'an
there are forty-three references to "Banū Isrāʾīl", the
Islamic term for the Israelites, which means "Children of Israel".[19]
There is a Surah (chapter) in the Qur'an titled Bani Israel
(Arabic: بني اسرائيل, "The Children
of Israel"), which is also known as Al-Isra (Arabic: سورة الإسراء, "The Night
Journey").[20]
This Surah was revealed in the year before Hijrah and takes its name from Surah 17:4. Also,
starting from verse 40 in Surah Al-Baqara[21]
(Arabic: سورة البقرة, "The Cow")
is the story of Bani Israel. Finally, there is a Qur'an, verse in which Moses
addresses his followers as "Muslims" (Arabic: مُّسۡلِمِينَ Muslimïn)[22]
meaning, in English, "those who submit to God".[23]
In Surah Al-Araf Verses 158
and 159, there was also mention of the twelve tribes: (158) "And
of Moses' folk there is a community who lead with truth and establish
justice therewith." (159) "We divided them into twelve
tribes, nations; and We inspired Moses, when his people asked him for
water, saying: Smite with thy staff the rock! And there gushed forth
therefrom twelve springs, so that each tribe knew their drinking-place.
And we caused the white cloud to overshadow them and sent down for them
the manna and the quails (saying): Eat of the good things wherewith
we have provided you. They wronged Us not, but they were wont to wrong
themselves."[24][25]
A further possible reference
to the Davidic Kingship is in the Qur'an 32:23-24:
We verily
gave Moses the Scripture; so be not ye in doubt of his receiving it;
and We appointed it a guidance for the Children of Israel. (23)
And when they became steadfast and believed firmly in Our revelations,
We appointed from among them leaders who guided by Our command. (24)
وَلَقَدۡ ءَاتَيۡنَا
مُوسَى ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبَ فَلَا تَكُن فِى مِرۡيَةٍ۬
مِّن لِّقَآٮِٕهِۦۖ وَجَعَلۡنَـٰهُ
هُدً۬ى لِّبَنِىٓ إِسۡرَٲٓءِيلَ (٢٣) وَجَعَلۡنَا
مِنۡہُمۡ أَٮِٕمَّةً۬ يَہۡدُونَ بِأَمۡرِنَا
لَمَّا صَبَرُواْۖ وَڪَانُواْ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا
يُوقِنُونَ (٢٤)
The covenant with the Children
of Israel (bani isra'il) is a very contentious issue in Islamic theology
with more moderate scholars putting forth the argument that the covenant
that the Children of Israel shall inherit what has become known as the
modern state of Israel is Qur'anic based while Islamists have put forward
arguments that the Covenant with the children of Israel is revoked and
hence they are not promised the land of Israel in the Qur'an.
The covenant
is a key instrument in understanding the difference between a strong
covenant and other covenants for in Islam the strong covenants go to
the strong Messengers (rasul) that revealed a Divine Book of Laws (shari'a).
These strong messengers (ulu'l-a`zim) are the ones mentioned specifically
as having a Covenant in the Qur'an: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and
Muhammad. The covenants mentioned specifically in the Qur'an go only
to messengers with divine laws (shari'a). The other messengers and or
prophets (nabi) though there may be a biblical covenant they are not
mentioned specifically in the Qur'an. An interesting passage occurs
in the Qur'an in relation to the Covenants of the Prophets in ayah 3:81:
When Allah made (His) covenant
(mithaq) with the prophets (nabiyyan) [including Muhammad see Qur'an
33:7], (He said): Behold that which I have given you of the Scripture
and knowledge. And afterward there will come unto you a messenger (rasul),
confirming that which ye possess. Ye shall believe in him and ye shall
help him. He said: Do ye agree, and will ye take up My burden (which
I lay upon you) in this (matter)? They answered: We agree. He said:
Then bear ye witness. I will be a witness with you. (Qur'an 3:81)
وَإِذۡ أَخَذَ
ٱللَّهُ مِيثَـٰقَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ لَمَآ
ءَاتَيۡتُڪُم مِّن ڪِتَـٰبٍ۬ وَحِكۡمَةٍ۬
ثُمَّ جَآءَڪُمۡ رَسُولٌ۬ مُّصَدِّقٌ۬
لِّمَا مَعَكُمۡ لَتُؤۡمِنُنَّ بِهِۦ
وَلَتَنصُرُنَّهُ ۥۚ قَالَ ءَأَقۡرَرۡتُمۡ
وَأَخَذۡتُمۡ عَلَىٰ ذَٲلِكُمۡ إِصۡرِىۖ
قَالُوٓاْ أَقۡرَرۡنَاۚ قَالَ فَٱشۡہَدُواْ
وَأَنَا۟ مَعَكُم مِّنَ ٱلشَّـٰهِدِينَ
Here we have the covenant in
a eschatological context, after the covenants are made with the Prophets
a figure shall come, it is not Muhammad, it is a reference to a future
personage that shall be a messenger, a rasul4
. Not every prophet is a rasul, not every rasul reveals a book
of Laws (shari'a), so here we must have a messenger that will not reveal
a book of Laws (shari'a) but rather confirms all the previous scriptures
and the knowledge contained within. This is undoubtedly eschatological
in context.
So we see
in the overall schema of the Qur'an the Qur'an is interested mainly
in the covenants of the major messengers (ulu'l-a`zim). The covenants
of the prophets are not mentioned specifically. David only being a prophet
his covenant is not mentioned explicitly or specifically unless the
ambigous verses regarding the leaders of the Bani Isra'il are interpreted
as referencing the Davidic Kingship. The title of Jesus in the Qur'an
is Messiah, which is a direct reference to be annointed in the line
of David. The conception of the Davidic Kingship thereby is not
foreign to the Qur'an. Interestingly, a eschatological figure
is mentioned as coming after the ministries of the strong covenant messengers
(Qur'an 3:81).
