The thing I found most interesting about the Qur’an was it’s ability to make me fear God and his wrath if I do anything wrong. Many times it references doing wrong will sentence you to the “fire” and if you repent for your wrongdoings God will forgive you. The language it uses is strong, absolute and scary in order for the readers to absorb and listen to what it says.
One Example of the Qur’an using words to make us fear would be on page 77 when it explains non-believers deciding to believe on the Day of Resurrection. It says, “If the disbelievers possessed all that is in the earth on the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them-they will have a painful torment. they will wish to come out of the Fire but they will be unable to do so: theirs will be a lasting torment.” The use of the word “torment” is terrifying. No one wants to suffer therefore they will remember this saying and live by the rules of the Qur’an. We see an example of this again of page 81, “Those who reject the truth and deny Our messages will be the inhabitants of Hellfire.” In this case, however; the use of the word “hellfire” gives the fear to believe.
I can’t help but fear the wrath of god as well. “… do not fear people, fear Me… those for do not judge according to what God has sent down are rejecting God’s teachings… we prescribe for them a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, an equal wound for and equal wound.” This shows that if you do nmot respect God and his teachings you shall perish. God shows no mercy for those who mock or ignore him. “Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot, or banishment from the land: a disgrace for them in his world and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter.” This on page 76, is the reading that scared me the most. If you go against God, not only will you get the worst punishment on earth but you’ll suffer for all eternity in the afterlife. This may seem harsh, but it causes you to stop and think about your actions and how God is perceiving them.
Words in literature do a great job reinforcing your thoughts and ideas. I believe the Qur’an does and excellent job with this because fear is a feeling and emotion you don’t easily forget. Maybe the purpose wasn’t to instil fear, but then it would have to change many of it’s words. Another reason you need to chose your words carefully.
The Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from GOD. It is created in the senses that Muhammed is the last of the prophet and Christ is considred a prophet and the the risen Lord and Saviour as that which is stated in the christian bible. One will fear the Qu’ran based off the fact that it is very straight forward with his dealings toward nonbelievers . it is stated that the Qur’an contains atleast 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelivers for the sake of the Islamic rule.
Unlike nearly all of the Old Testamet verses of violence, the verses in the Qur’an are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Qur’an.
The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving GOD.