Seeing the Invisible
Where do people get the ideas for the books they write? Well, it seems that sometimes it comes straight from the Big Guy Himself, God.
Muslims believe that their holy scripture, the Quran, was revealed to the prophet by an angel. And not just any angel...
"Which Angel brought the word of God to the Prophet?"
"Angel Gabriel"
Yes, it seems that in the year 610, Gabriel and the prophet began a working relationship that would span twenty-three years and result in one of the most widely-read books of all time. The angel bestowed the first revelation on the prophet during the month of Ramadan, while he was in a cave not far from Mecca. The ideas and stories recited by Gabriel make up the volume known as the Quran, which means "recitation" or "reading" in Arabic.
Gabriel is not the only angel mentioned by name in the Quran, but is also accompanied by Michael, Harut and Marut. According to Islam, all angels are faithful to God and do not have the free will to choose otherwise.
If you thought that angels were the only type of unseen beings out there, a Muslim would tell you that you're wrong. There is another class of beings, the jinn, and they seem to be up to no good.
What are the jinn? The Quran says that man was created from clay, angels from light and the jinn from fire. The jinn have a free will to believe, like mankind, but seem to have been granted powers that we do not have, such as invisibilty. They are often nasty and devilish, and Satan is said to be one of them. They are certainly not fallen angels, who have no freedom to choose such a destiny apart from God.
The jinn apparently spend more time in some areas than others. I once showed one of my students a photo from my vacation in Oman. His eyes went wide.
"Did you see some jinn there?" he asked. Oman is known for its jinn sightings.
"No, I didn't," I said.
"You didn't see something maybe flying through the air?" he said with a smile.
If I had, that sure would have made a nice photograph! But sadly, I have no photos of angels or jinn to share with you. Then again, there was that one time I received mysterious visitors late one evening...
Muslims believe that their holy scripture, the Quran, was revealed to the prophet by an angel. And not just any angel...
"Which Angel brought the word of God to the Prophet?"
"Angel Gabriel"
Yes, it seems that in the year 610, Gabriel and the prophet began a working relationship that would span twenty-three years and result in one of the most widely-read books of all time. The angel bestowed the first revelation on the prophet during the month of Ramadan, while he was in a cave not far from Mecca. The ideas and stories recited by Gabriel make up the volume known as the Quran, which means "recitation" or "reading" in Arabic.
Gabriel is not the only angel mentioned by name in the Quran, but is also accompanied by Michael, Harut and Marut. According to Islam, all angels are faithful to God and do not have the free will to choose otherwise.
If you thought that angels were the only type of unseen beings out there, a Muslim would tell you that you're wrong. There is another class of beings, the jinn, and they seem to be up to no good.
What are the jinn? The Quran says that man was created from clay, angels from light and the jinn from fire. The jinn have a free will to believe, like mankind, but seem to have been granted powers that we do not have, such as invisibilty. They are often nasty and devilish, and Satan is said to be one of them. They are certainly not fallen angels, who have no freedom to choose such a destiny apart from God.
The jinn apparently spend more time in some areas than others. I once showed one of my students a photo from my vacation in Oman. His eyes went wide.
"Did you see some jinn there?" he asked. Oman is known for its jinn sightings.
"No, I didn't," I said.
"You didn't see something maybe flying through the air?" he said with a smile.
If I had, that sure would have made a nice photograph! But sadly, I have no photos of angels or jinn to share with you. Then again, there was that one time I received mysterious visitors late one evening...
posted by Trevor at 1:01 p.m.
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