Pre-test: Three holy book

Social Studies Review, Fall 2002

Teacher: This is a good pre-test designed to stimulate discussion of a less well-known religion, Islam. Take the test yourself, before you turn the page to look at the answer key, and you'll discover what a good conversation starter this can be.

Directions: For each quotation, indicate which is the source by writing a letter in the blank.

A. Jewish Scripture (The Old Testament) B. The New Testament C. The Qur'an

1. We said: "O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye ran into harm and transgression"

---2. We sent Noah to his people: he said, "0 my people! Worship God! Ye have no other god but Him. Will ye not hear Him?"

3. And (remember) Job, when he cried to his Lord, "Truly distress has seized me. But Thou are the Most Merciful of those who are merciful."

4. We sent an inspiration to Moses: "Travel by night with My servants, and strike a dry path for them through the sea, without fear of being overtaken by Pharaoh and without any other fear."

5. O ye Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and we made a Covenant with you on the right side of Mount Sinai, and We sent down to you Manna and quails...

6. Behold! Abraham said to his father and his people: "I do indeed clear myself of what ye worship: I worship only Him Who made me, and He will certainly guide me."

7. We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah, and the messengers after him: We sent inspiration to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.

8. Say: "We believe in God, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ismail; Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them and to God do we bow our will (in Islam).

9. Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets: and God has full knowledge of all things.

10. She (Mary) said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?' He said: "So it will be: thy Lord saith, 'That is easy for Me: and We wish to appoint him as a Sign unto man and a Mercy from Us.' It is a matter so decreed"

11. When Jesus found unbelief on their part he said: "Who will be my helpers in the work of God?" Said the Disciples: "We are God's helpers..."

Answer Key for Pre-Test: Three Holy Books:

ALL ARE FROM THE QUR'AN!

1. Sura 2, ayat 35

2. Sura 23, ayat 23

3. Sura 21, ayat 83

4. Sura 20, ayat 77

5. Sura 20, ayat 80 (Yusuf All Translations)

6. Sura 43, ayat 26

7. Sura 4, ayat 163

8. Sura 3, ayat 84

9. Sura 33, ayat 40

10. Sura 12, ayat 20-2 1

11. Sura3, ayats2

Teacher: here are some comments you might make following the revealing of the answer key and the general surprise that results:

1) Islam sees itself as part of that historic continuum of revealed religions. The Qur'an declares it is the culmination and the completion of earlier divine revelations - revelations that began with Adam (the first Prophet) and continue through a long line that includes Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muhammad is not the founder of Islam - rather he is the last in a long line of messengers.

2) Mary (Maryam in Arabic) is venerated in Islam. Though other women are mentioned in the Qur'an, Mary has an entire chapter which bears her name, "Mary's Chapter." The Qur'an tells the story of the Virgin Birth of Jesus. (It would be safe to say, since all Muslims regard the Qur'an as the literal word of God, that there are more Muslims who believe in the Virgin birth of Jesus than there are Christians who believe in the Virgin birth.) Mary is a Prophet ("in the company of those nearest to God") in Islam, and another verse (3:45) confirms Jesus as the promised "Messiah."

3) Many stories familiar through Jesus and Christian scripture find re-telling in Qur'an. And many times, it is enough for God to simply reference a story the listener already knows. A "remember Job" recalls for the listener the entire story, so that in the Qur'anic context the reference becomes a metaphor for something else.

4) You may think that what you have been examining is an English "translation" of the Qur'an, but a Muslim would be quick to point out that it is an English "interpretation." The Qur'an is in Arabic, and everything else is an interpretation. This points to the importance of scholarship in Islam. It should not be inferred that Arabic is therefore a chosen language or that Arabs are somehow special/chosen people. Nothing of the sort exists in Islam. It is simply an acknowledgement that any time someone attempts to translate a work, what we end up with is at best "a record of an encounter" between the translator and the text they are working on - but it is not that text in another language.

5) Earlier versions of this pre-test used exclusively "Old Testament" as the first choice (A). It should be noted to students that such terminology is from a Christian-centric perspecfive, and therefore we have used "Jewish Scripture" with the notation (Old Testament) in parenthesis. Biblical scholars might prefer the terminology "Hebrew Bible" to be used here, but we felt "Jewish Scripture" would better convey to students the point we were trying to make about "someone else's perspective."