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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, son 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]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Israel#Islamic_theology
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 context4, 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 rasul5. 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, those who revealed a book of Laws (shari'a) [cf. Qur'an 3:81].
1`Ahida vb (I): to stipulate, to make a covenant in Qur'an 2:125, 3:183, 7:134, 20:115, 43:49, 36:60
`Ahd n.m.: a covenant, a promise in Qur'an 2:27, 2:40, 2:80, 2:100, 2:124, 2:177, 3:76, 3:77, 6:152, 7:102, 8:56, 9:4, 9:7, 9:12, 9:111, 13:20, 13:25, 16:91, 16:95, 17:34, 19:78, 20:86, 23:8, 33:15, 70:32
`Ahada vb (III): to make a covenant in Qur'an 2:100, 2:177, 8:56, 9:1, 9:4, 9:7, 9:75, 16:91, 33:15, 33:23, 48:10
Mawthiq n.m.: covenant, agreements, pledge in Qur'an 12:66, 12:80
Mithaq n.m.: a compact, a covenant, solemn binding, a treaty in Qur'an 2:27, 2:63, 2:83, 2:84, 2:93, 3:81, 3:187, 4:21, 4:90, 4:92, 4:154, 4:155, 5:7, 5:12-14, 5:70, 7:169, 8:72, 13:20, 13:25, 33:7, 57:8
2See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_(biblical)
3 Messiah occurs in the Qur'an 3:45, 4:157, 4:171, 4:172, 5:17, 5:72,5:72, 5:75, 9:30, 9:31
4It has been argued that this covenant is made in pre-creation, see “Muslim-Christian encounters: perceptions and misperceptions” By William Montgomery Watt, http://books.google.com/books?id=OvANAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA11&dq=quran+3:81&lr=&ei=4oHoSoKDHZi-lASUwoH3Cw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
5See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophets_of_Islam