When reading Muhammad’s Night Journey, I felt it was reminiscent to Dante’s Inferno, but was a much lighter and happier read overall. The similarities between the two included the guidance of Virgil and Gabriel through the different levels of hell and heaven and the gate keepers that were present in both narratives. One of my favorite parts of this story was when Muhammad meet Moses, who is overcome with emotion. Moses realizes that he is no longer a prophet with followers like he was in the past. Now, that is Muhammad’s role. He seems like he is grieving the loss of his role as a prophet, but in the end it is clear that he feels compassion towards Muhammad and offers him help and advice through his past experiences. When God orders that Muhammad ask believers to pray fifty times a day, he relays this information to Moses. Moses assures Muhammad that through his experience as a prophet, he knows that no one would pray fifty times a day, so he advises Muhammad to ask God for a lower number until He finally lowers it to five times a day. This is reflected in one of the five pillars of Islam. The interaction between Moses and Muhammad illustrate the concept of the People of the Book. Moses was a prophet and leader for the people of Israel, whereas Muhammad is a prophet in the eyes of those who identify with Islam. The help Moses offers to Muhammad illustrates the lack of distinction between what religion one identifies with, as long as they believe in the same God. I enjoyed reading about Muhammad’s trip to heaven because people often wonder what happens in the afterlife. Just as often as people wonder what hell is like, people also wonder what heaven is like. In this case, it is not too late for Muhammad’s followers to gain admittance into heaven, as long as they stay true to the values, beliefs, and practices of Islam. On the other hand, in Dante’s Inferno, it was too late for those who were already enduring eternal punishment. The only person who may have learned what could prevent him from this eternal suffering was Dante, who was able to walk through hell without consequence.
I found the similarities between Dante's Inferno and the Muhammad Night Journey to be very interesting. The spectrum of the greatest good, portrayed in the Muhammad Night Journey, to the worst of all evil, as shown in Dante's Inferno, reminds me of Saint Augustine, and his claim that good and evil exist on a spectrum, and that the most pure and existing things fell closest to God. Each level of Heaven, as with each level of Hell, changed in its intensity in regards to where the protagonist is headed. The levels of Heaven become more beautiful as Muhammad ascends, beginning with a Heaven made of black smoke and ending with a Heaven made of white pearl. This could be an indicator of the juxtaposition between good and evil, and the ascension away from evil toward a greater good. The second, third, and forth Heavens were made of copper, silver, and red gold, becoming more grand with each level. This shows how, as you become closer to God, things are more precious and pure. In Dante's Inferno, there are increasingly awful conditions as Dante made his way through the eight layers of Hell. While we may believe that many of the sins do not match the severity of the punishments that people face, and that there are inconsistencies as to who belongs on what level, much of Dante's descent into the deepest depths of Hell is juxtaposed with Muhammad's ascent to the highest parts of Heaven. A connection between these two that I wanted to make was the idea behind Lucifer and those who were the worst sinners being punished by ice. When Muhammad speaks to the Guardian of Hellfire, the Guardian of Hellfire tells Muhammad that there are some of God's creations who were made to live in the hellfire, and that taking them out of the hellfire would be a akin to taking a fish out of water. They flourished in the hellfire, and would not do as well in any different environment. In this way, it makes sense that Lucifer would be punished with ice. It would be the worst of punishments for those who were in the deepest depths of Hell.
I agree that Dante’s Inferno and Muhammad’s Journey has multiple similarities. However I’d like to address some that you neglected. One that stood out to me the most was the idea of a guide. In Dante’s Inferno, the pilgrim’s guide is Virgil, and in Muhammad’s Journey, the guide is Gabriel. I think that I picked up on immediately when I read Muhammad’s Journey in a secular sense, is that like Dante, Muhammad is comparing himself to someone with utmost respect. It is seen in Dante, that he thinks of himself as a highly respect poet from not only having the guide be Virgil, but placing himself among writers such as Homer and Averroes when he entered the first circle of hell. Muhammad compares himself to the archangel Gabriel, who plays the most importance in all the stories found in Islam and anyone religion categorized as “The People of the Book.” I also want to draw attention to the idea of the tree that Gabriel can’t pass, and the idea of Virgil being unable to go to paradise. This idea is similar in a sense that it shows both Muhammad and Dante as people who are “higher” than their guides, because in both they are continuing on to paradise. However, in Muhammad’s Journey, he meets God, and in Dante’s Inferno he sees Beatrice. I think that it’s ironic that these two stories are so similar since Dante clearly adapted his story from Muhammad’s Journey, but puts the prophet Muhammad in one of the lowest levels of hell. IRONY!
Having read Mohammad's Night Journey, this again proved to me that the Qur'an is extremely accepting of the People of the Book. During the whole semester in Humanities, I've been taught to look at texts through a big picture perspective, and the big picture here is to see that many figures and ideas in Islam give recognition to the ideas put forth by Christianity and Judaism. The interaction between Moses and Mohammad sets forth the idea that the Qur'an recognizes the many prophets regarded as some of the People of the Book, such as Jesus. I made the link between Mohammad's night journey to Jerusalem and the Al Sakhrah mosque, which has been known to be accepting to Jews and Christians practicing their religion there, as well as Muslims. What was also interesting was that Islam had seven circles of hell that were very similar to Dante's nine circles of hell.
Like with Jesus in the Qur'an, the interaction with Moses and Mohammad illustrates the lack of distinction and prejudice against the religions of the People of the Book, especially since they believe in the same God. Another interesting thing was discovering how the Five Pillars of Islam have formed. I never realized how involved Moses was in forming the ritual performed daily by over one billion Muslims all over the world. The fact that Moses helped Mohammed lower the number of prayers from fifty to five really helped me make the connect to how Mohammad's night journey has unknowingly influenced Islam, even though the Qur'an has never explicitly talked about Ascension or other details about the night journey.
The fact that is was never too late for Mohammad's followers to be given admittance into Heaven made me think about how forgiving and empathetic God is toward people in comparison to the Old Testament in the Bible. Whereas God was punishing and harsh in the Old Testament towards people, whether they made mistakes or not, it seemed much easier for Muslims to gain admittance into heaven since all they had to do was to not be an Unbeliever and practice Islam in its true light.
The influence of Moses on Muhammad in the Mirajnameh that we discussed in class today intrigued me. Not only was Moses a very esteemed figure, but he also was portrayed as wise and trustworthy, since Muhammad took his advice without question. I think this ties in well with the high esteem to which the People of the Book are held in the Qur’an. In the Mirajnameh, Moses is in the 4th circle of Heaven, a highly esteemed place, especially for someone who had he not been a prophet, would have been considered non-Muslim. Additionally, Muhammad takes his advice in negotiating with God to get his peoples’ requirements reduced. Moses told him that his people would never pray 50 times a day, so Muhammad got it reduced to five. Moses told him that they wouldn’t fast for 6 months, so Muhammad had God reduce it to one. By having Muhammad take Moses’s advice in this way, the Mirajnameh shows us that Islam believes Moses to be trustworthy and wise. This translates well into the high esteem that People of the Book have in the Qur’an. As we’ve said over and over in this class, the Qur’an tells Muslims to treat People of the Book with the highest respect, and affords them privileges that other religions do not enjoy. It even allows Muslims to marry People of the Book. I think that the high status that the Mirajnameh affords Moses is a good example of how highly the Muslim faith thinks of People of the Book. It’s also interesting to me to compare how the Mirajnameh portrays Moses to the way Dante’s Inferno portrays Mohammad. The Mirajnameh puts Moses in a higher ring of Heaven and portrays him as wise and good, but Dante puts Muhammad in eighth circle of hell, continuously ripping open his chest. In some ways I think the Christian faith is less accepting and kind to others than the Muslim faith, especially when I look at examples like this.
I also thought it was interesting how Muhammad was able to speak up for his people compared to Moses. And seeing how Muhammad was able to do this makes him great in the eyes of the Muslim community. The fact that such a great person that is looked up to in the Muslim community was but in such a low category in Dante’s book and was a very convincing to the Christian people that the Muslim religion was in a way lower than Christianity. Even today we are able to see some hatred towards Muslims because of the false accusations of that religion being “evil.” At the same time, Dante made other very important religious figures in the circles of hell which can make us question his reasons for having specific people and idolized figures in his version of hell.
In class today when we were comparing Dante’s Inferno and Mohammad’s Night Journey, we mentioned that they both were tempted along the way. Well, in class we said that they were very similar because they both ignored the temptations that stood in their way. But, I differ in this statement. This is simply because I recall that in Dante’s Inferno, when he was faced with distractions he went towards them. To support this statement, I will give the example of the monk whose body was possessed by demons, and begged to plead his case to Dante in order for his eyes to be free of ice, since he was in a high circle of hell. Also, multiple other times he stops to talk to souls, which he had known in the past. So, I definitely think that Dante did not ignore temptation like Mohammed did. On another note, for Mohammed’s Night Journey, I found the hierarchy by which religious figures where found in the book intriguing. As I recall, Mohammed met the figures in order of their existence with the most recent being first. This made me think about the reasons behind this hierarchy. Could it be in order of favor with God, who is most precious with God, who made the most impact to bringing souls to God or some other reason? I believe that it must be in the order of the most beloved, for Adam as God’s first human to be created, but then the thought of the betrayal of Adam crosses my mind and it does not make sense for Adam to be the closest to God because of this betrayal. This conclusion then brings me to the thought that the figures closest to the earth are God’s most faithful, and since they are closest to the earth they can influence the people the most. This influence, in turn, would bring people closer to God by good example and faith. I believe that different opinion on this matter would be very interesting, since we did not talk about this significance.
I agree that Dante did stop a lot along his journey through hell, and many times had to be convinced by Virgil to continue on. For example, as early as Canto II Dante questions his worthiness to be a traveler in a journey such as this one. He asks Virgil, "why am i to go? Who allows me to go?" to which Virigil replies that Dante's soul seems to be burdened with cowardice and Virgil is them prompted to tell Dante that he was sent here by Beatrice (through Mary and Lucia first). This news of Beatrice's love for him still fills Dante with courage and only then is Dante prompted to enthusiastically carry on with Virgil into hell. Dante also becomes distracted within some of the circles of Hell while interacting with sinners such as Farinata (a previous Florentine politician, now residing within the 6th circle as a heretic) and Dante also rips out the hair of one of the frozen sinners deeper within hell. Therefore i agree with you that in no way did Dante refuse temptation to stop along the journey in the way that Mohammed did.
While reading Mohammad’s Night Journey, and while discussing it in class today, I enjoyed making all of the connections to Dante’s Inferno. I found it interesting that there were so many similarities that were actually contrasts to Inferno. The layers were a similarity between the two but one was about layers of Hell and the other of Heaven. With each passing layer the dynamic changed, both in Heaven and in Hell. While in Dante’s Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim journeyed through the circles of Hell himself but in Mohammad’s Night Journey it wasn’t Mohammad telling the story himself but a third person narrative, rather. As was mentioned in class, the direction left plays a role in Inferno, which I found interesting. I did a little research and found that in history people whose left hand was their dominant one were punished and sometimes killed for being left-handed. This is clearly why “left” is a symbol of evil in Inferno. I was wondering if anyone noticed any instances where the direction left came into play in Mohammad’s Night Journey? I found Mohammad’s Night Journey to be a great read. I enjoyed coming across all of the historical figures throughout, like in Dante’s Inferno. I find Dante’s works to be interesting in that way. I also found that in our discussion today, the concept of the People of the Book was really solidified. It seems that all of the readings from throughout the semester are coming together and the ideas are starting to mesh.
I like how you mentioned that all the readings are coming together because that was something that I had also noticed recently. I feel like every thing that we have read has somehow tied into the other readings. I also thought the idea of left and right was interesting. Even though people do not go as far as killing people who are left handed I think that being right handed is something that we push on people in today's society. I remember being encouraged in my first years of school to use my right hand for things instead of left and it is interesting that it should even matter anymore because most people probably do not know where the idea originated. As for the similarities and differences in between the texts I think that one noticeable difference is that Dante was more likely to give into his temptation to talk to the souls her encountered. I feel like at times in Dante's Inferno, Dante was more focused on the souls within each circle and learning about each circle instead of his ultimate goal. But with Mohammad's Night Journey the focus was more on just trying to make it through without getting distracted.
The night journey from the Qur’anic scriptures was an interesting read. In intro of the reading the author talked a lot about the faction that this narrative has caused. Some scholars feel that the story of ascension should only be told through what the Qur’an says and should not be told through the descriptive Ibn Abbas narrative. Muslim scholars claimed that this story of Ascension is fabricated from a collection of false hadith that have no foundation. Either way I feel from an outside non-Muslim perspective I appreciated the descriptive narrative of the night journey. It was nice to read a story instead of interpreting a collaboration of verses, although I do respect why it could be seen as a misrepresentation since it is “fabricated.” There is an obvious connection between this text and Dante’s Inferno; the story of a man who wakes to be brought on a journey through seven stages for a chance to reach the light of God. It seems too similar for just a coincidence, Dante must have read some Qur’anic scriptures pertaining to the ascension and incorporated those ideas into his own story. There is just so must you can compare and it is interesting to know that these are two stories come from different faiths. You can see how interconnected all religion is even with comparing these two stories. You have numerous biblical and Qur’anic heroes in these stories. What is interesting to question is why Muhammad is put in hell in Dante’s Inferno while you can see all the biblical characters in the night journey portrayed as close to God in heaven. He is put with the people who seduce others and I know we said in class it is because he seduced others to follow the Qur’an and not the Bible. It feels insensitive to me to portray someone close to God in hell when the faith he represents respects and holds bible figures in the highest regard.
I agree that there are too many similarities between the two texts to deny that one wasn’t influenced by the other. I feel like using another work as inspiration to another creative work is not a bad thing and is common among some works today. However, I feel that Dante was disrespectful to Mohammad’s Night Journey because of the way he portrayed Muslim icons, like Mohammad himself. For example, there are so many books and movies today that are somewhat based on Shakespeare’s “star crossed lovers” theme from Romeo and Juliet. The works that are inspired by this theme do not disrespect the original piece or change something drastic that would take away from the original work, like Dante putting Mohammad in Hell. I also agree that reading these two works together highlighted the similarities between different religions. The incorporation of Moses into Mohammad’s Night Journey really showed how accepting the Islamic faith of People of the Book.
One aspect that intrigued me was that Mohammad was in Circle 8, the second lowest circles of Hell. I was a surprised by this since based on the other readings we have done for this class, Mohammad is considered a prophet. Why would a prophet be in one of the deepest layers of Hell?
According to Dante’s Inferno, Circle 8, called the Malebolge, consisted of sinners who were guilty of fraud and malice. Specifically, this included the fortune tellers, panderers, seducers, pimps, magicians, hypocrites, and so on. Punishments varied depending on which “pouch” you belonged in and what form of fraud you were found guilty for. For example, the flatterers were completely covered up to their necks in human excrement. Again, how does Mohammad fit in with all of these sinners? In class we only discussed that he was found guilty of fraud. After doing a little research, I learned that Mohammad was considered a sower, which is someone who divides what is meant to be divided.
Dante’s placement of Mohammad could reflect Dante’s views on Muslim religion. It is thought that Dante believed Mohammed was an imposter who taught a false religion and caused a great schism among the Christians. He must have felt this way about Ali as well, because he is also in the eighth circle of Hell. It was very interesting to see how these two famous Islamic figures were punished; Mohammad’s body was split from groin to chin and Ali’s face spit from the top to the bottom (ew). This was part of the contrapasso theme that was expressed throughout each circle of Hell; for every sinner’s crime must be an equal and fitting punishment. Overall, I enjoyed learning about the Islamic influence on Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” It was unreal how closely related Mohammad’s Night Journey was to the “Divine Comedy.
I agree with you about how it is interesting to see that Mohammed and Ali was in one of the higher realms according to Dante. It makes you really wonder how Dante viewed Mohammed, and the religion itself to view Mohammed as someone who committed such high of a sin. Mohammed is in no way a figure that would be portrayed as one who committed such sin - so to have to figure out what Dante was thinking as he wrote this book (such as putting himself amongst all the poets and philosophers in Limbo) is interesting. In the real world, Ali and Mohammed are both seen as prophets who did great deeds for their religion and for those who believe in the religion, and to see that Dante was able to openly disagree by putting them in hell and the higher level of hell seems very daring as well.
Muhammad’s Night Journey once again reinforced the other Islamic readings we had this year that show the tolerance of the religion. I always find these readings interesting and enlightening because they knock down the stereotypes many “Westerners” have of the faith and their ideas that Islam is anti-Christian.
Muhammad is granted a privilege never offered to any man before, to ascend into the 7 layers of heaven and talk with God face to face. As he journeys through Heaven with Gabriel he meets not only angels but the great prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The fact that these prophets are present in the Heaven that Muslims believe in demonstrates once more that the 3 religions share the same God. They even all pray together. The respect these prophets show toward Muhammad and him to them demonstrate that the People of the Book are supposed to respect one another and show compassion towards each other.
Muhammad’s exchange with Moses further demonstrates this. Not only do the two prophets warmly greet one another, but Moses even offers Muhammad advice on his meeting with God. He recommends that Muhammad ask God to lower the expectations asked of his people, for example praying five times a day instead of fifty. He explains to Muhammad that he did not do this and his people were not able to meet the rigorous demands of God, and were driven to be disobedient as a result. Thus Moses, a prophet of Judaism, played a crucial role in the formation of Islamic practices such as fasting one month a year rather than six and praying five times a day. This exemplifies just how connected the religions of the People of the Book are, that important figures from the Old Testament and the Bible not only welcomed, but influenced the formation of Islam.
As everyone else has already stated, there are many similarities to be made between Dante's Inferno and The Night Journey of Muhammad. While this is true, it is interesting to point out that within these similarities, when looked at a little closer, one can see that there are distinct differences in the way they are portrayed. One prime example that comes to mind is how the main characters are portrayed. They are both seen by their supporting characters as great beings. Dante the pilgrim and Muhammad are both told how lucky they are to be able to go on their journeys and how special they must be to do so. While the two stories are relatively similar in this aspect, Muhammad's story is written quite differently from Dante's. After each time an angel had spoken to Muhammad in this way, he always shied away from it. He did not see himself as an equal or better than those such as Moses, Adam, Jesus and so on. He mentioned their names many times as if they were greater. This continued to happen all the way until Muhammad met God, who then told him to stop acting like he's any less. God then continues to explain to Muhammad how he had always seen the messenger of God as greater than everyone else. The main point of sharing all this is that throughout the entire story of his night journey, Muhammad was always very humble. He was gracious towards those around him and astounded by the beauty he was able to be a part of. On the other hand. Dante the poet makes a very clear message about the way he sees himself. Dante the Pilgrim was astounded by all that was around him as well. Though this is true, Dante the poet made the Pilgrim belong among the great poets and philosophers in the Inferno who did not suffer. This tells the reader that Dante believed himself to be as great as these people and just as deserving of no punishment as they were. This notion may be unfair because Dante did write it himself and Muhammad did not. If Muhammad had written his Night Journey himself, I may have different thoughts on the subject. But still, while Muhammad was portrayed as humble throughout his journey always noting the angels as greater than himself, Dante the Pilgrim did not do so much of this.
When reading Muhammad's Night Journey I thought it was interesting how similar certain things were to Dante's Inferno. They both talk about how there are different levels and different people and things in each of those levels. Each level was different for both Heaven and Hell. There were designated things on each level. It is also interesting that even though they are so similar they are also very different. I also thought it was interesting how in Muhammad was even in Dante's Inferno. I wouldn't have thought that the prophet would be put down in Hell. It was just very interesting to me because he is someone that was looked up to and followed by many and was put somewhat on a pedestal because he is a prophet. Also, it is interesting that in both stories they had to pass a gate and that each time they were asked if they were allowed through. Gabriel said that Muhammad was allowed through the gate and someone from Heaven was sent to let Dante through the gate. I never would have thought that these two stories would be so similar even though one is writing about a journey through Hell and the other a journey through Heaven.
When reading Muhammad’s Night Journey, I felt it was reminiscent to Dante’s Inferno, but was a much lighter and happier read overall. The similarities between the two included the guidance of Virgil and Gabriel through the different levels of hell and heaven and the gate keepers that were present in both narratives.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts of this story was when Muhammad meet Moses, who is overcome with emotion. Moses realizes that he is no longer a prophet with followers like he was in the past. Now, that is Muhammad’s role. He seems like he is grieving the loss of his role as a prophet, but in the end it is clear that he feels compassion towards Muhammad and offers him help and advice through his past experiences. When God orders that Muhammad ask believers to pray fifty times a day, he relays this information to Moses. Moses assures Muhammad that through his experience as a prophet, he knows that no one would pray fifty times a day, so he advises Muhammad to ask God for a lower number until He finally lowers it to five times a day. This is reflected in one of the five pillars of Islam.
The interaction between Moses and Muhammad illustrate the concept of the People of the Book. Moses was a prophet and leader for the people of Israel, whereas Muhammad is a prophet in the eyes of those who identify with Islam. The help Moses offers to Muhammad illustrates the lack of distinction between what religion one identifies with, as long as they believe in the same God.
I enjoyed reading about Muhammad’s trip to heaven because people often wonder what happens in the afterlife. Just as often as people wonder what hell is like, people also wonder what heaven is like. In this case, it is not too late for Muhammad’s followers to gain admittance into heaven, as long as they stay true to the values, beliefs, and practices of Islam. On the other hand, in Dante’s Inferno, it was too late for those who were already enduring eternal punishment. The only person who may have learned what could prevent him from this eternal suffering was Dante, who was able to walk through hell without consequence.
I found the similarities between Dante's Inferno and the Muhammad Night Journey to be very interesting. The spectrum of the greatest good, portrayed in the Muhammad Night Journey, to the worst of all evil, as shown in Dante's Inferno, reminds me of Saint Augustine, and his claim that good and evil exist on a spectrum, and that the most pure and existing things fell closest to God. Each level of Heaven, as with each level of Hell, changed in its intensity in regards to where the protagonist is headed. The levels of Heaven become more beautiful as Muhammad ascends, beginning with a Heaven made of black smoke and ending with a Heaven made of white pearl. This could be an indicator of the juxtaposition between good and evil, and the ascension away from evil toward a greater good. The second, third, and forth Heavens were made of copper, silver, and red gold, becoming more grand with each level. This shows how, as you become closer to God, things are more precious and pure. In Dante's Inferno, there are increasingly awful conditions as Dante made his way through the eight layers of Hell. While we may believe that many of the sins do not match the severity of the punishments that people face, and that there are inconsistencies as to who belongs on what level, much of Dante's descent into the deepest depths of Hell is juxtaposed with Muhammad's ascent to the highest parts of Heaven. A connection between these two that I wanted to make was the idea behind Lucifer and those who were the worst sinners being punished by ice. When Muhammad speaks to the Guardian of Hellfire, the Guardian of Hellfire tells Muhammad that there are some of God's creations who were made to live in the hellfire, and that taking them out of the hellfire would be a akin to taking a fish out of water. They flourished in the hellfire, and would not do as well in any different environment. In this way, it makes sense that Lucifer would be punished with ice. It would be the worst of punishments for those who were in the deepest depths of Hell.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Dante’s Inferno and Muhammad’s Journey has multiple similarities. However I’d like to address some that you neglected. One that stood out to me the most was the idea of a guide. In Dante’s Inferno, the pilgrim’s guide is Virgil, and in Muhammad’s Journey, the guide is Gabriel. I think that I picked up on immediately when I read Muhammad’s Journey in a secular sense, is that like Dante, Muhammad is comparing himself to someone with utmost respect. It is seen in Dante, that he thinks of himself as a highly respect poet from not only having the guide be Virgil, but placing himself among writers such as Homer and Averroes when he entered the first circle of hell. Muhammad compares himself to the archangel Gabriel, who plays the most importance in all the stories found in Islam and anyone religion categorized as “The People of the Book.” I also want to draw attention to the idea of the tree that Gabriel can’t pass, and the idea of Virgil being unable to go to paradise. This idea is similar in a sense that it shows both Muhammad and Dante as people who are “higher” than their guides, because in both they are continuing on to paradise. However, in Muhammad’s Journey, he meets God, and in Dante’s Inferno he sees Beatrice. I think that it’s ironic that these two stories are so similar since Dante clearly adapted his story from Muhammad’s Journey, but puts the prophet Muhammad in one of the lowest levels of hell. IRONY!
DeleteHaving read Mohammad's Night Journey, this again proved to me that the Qur'an is extremely accepting of the People of the Book. During the whole semester in Humanities, I've been taught to look at texts through a big picture perspective, and the big picture here is to see that many figures and ideas in Islam give recognition to the ideas put forth by Christianity and Judaism. The interaction between Moses and Mohammad sets forth the idea that the Qur'an recognizes the many prophets regarded as some of the People of the Book, such as Jesus. I made the link between Mohammad's night journey to Jerusalem and the Al Sakhrah mosque, which has been known to be accepting to Jews and Christians practicing their religion there, as well as Muslims. What was also interesting was that Islam had seven circles of hell that were very similar to Dante's nine circles of hell.
ReplyDeleteLike with Jesus in the Qur'an, the interaction with Moses and Mohammad illustrates the lack of distinction and prejudice against the religions of the People of the Book, especially since they believe in the same God. Another interesting thing was discovering how the Five Pillars of Islam have formed. I never realized how involved Moses was in forming the ritual performed daily by over one billion Muslims all over the world. The fact that Moses helped Mohammed lower the number of prayers from fifty to five really helped me make the connect to how Mohammad's night journey has unknowingly influenced Islam, even though the Qur'an has never explicitly talked about Ascension or other details about the night journey.
The fact that is was never too late for Mohammad's followers to be given admittance into Heaven made me think about how forgiving and empathetic God is toward people in comparison to the Old Testament in the Bible. Whereas God was punishing and harsh in the Old Testament towards people, whether they made mistakes or not, it seemed much easier for Muslims to gain admittance into heaven since all they had to do was to not be an Unbeliever and practice Islam in its true light.
The influence of Moses on Muhammad in the Mirajnameh that we discussed in class today intrigued me. Not only was Moses a very esteemed figure, but he also was portrayed as wise and trustworthy, since Muhammad took his advice without question. I think this ties in well with the high esteem to which the People of the Book are held in the Qur’an. In the Mirajnameh, Moses is in the 4th circle of Heaven, a highly esteemed place, especially for someone who had he not been a prophet, would have been considered non-Muslim. Additionally, Muhammad takes his advice in negotiating with God to get his peoples’ requirements reduced. Moses told him that his people would never pray 50 times a day, so Muhammad got it reduced to five. Moses told him that they wouldn’t fast for 6 months, so Muhammad had God reduce it to one. By having Muhammad take Moses’s advice in this way, the Mirajnameh shows us that Islam believes Moses to be trustworthy and wise. This translates well into the high esteem that People of the Book have in the Qur’an. As we’ve said over and over in this class, the Qur’an tells Muslims to treat People of the Book with the highest respect, and affords them privileges that other religions do not enjoy. It even allows Muslims to marry People of the Book. I think that the high status that the Mirajnameh affords Moses is a good example of how highly the Muslim faith thinks of People of the Book. It’s also interesting to me to compare how the Mirajnameh portrays Moses to the way Dante’s Inferno portrays Mohammad. The Mirajnameh puts Moses in a higher ring of Heaven and portrays him as wise and good, but Dante puts Muhammad in eighth circle of hell, continuously ripping open his chest. In some ways I think the Christian faith is less accepting and kind to others than the Muslim faith, especially when I look at examples like this.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting how Muhammad was able to speak up for his people compared to Moses. And seeing how Muhammad was able to do this makes him great in the eyes of the Muslim community. The fact that such a great person that is looked up to in the Muslim community was but in such a low category in Dante’s book and was a very convincing to the Christian people that the Muslim religion was in a way lower than Christianity. Even today we are able to see some hatred towards Muslims because of the false accusations of that religion being “evil.” At the same time, Dante made other very important religious figures in the circles of hell which can make us question his reasons for having specific people and idolized figures in his version of hell.
DeleteIn class today when we were comparing Dante’s Inferno and Mohammad’s Night Journey, we mentioned that they both were tempted along the way. Well, in class we said that they were very similar because they both ignored the temptations that stood in their way. But, I differ in this statement. This is simply because I recall that in Dante’s Inferno, when he was faced with distractions he went towards them. To support this statement, I will give the example of the monk whose body was possessed by demons, and begged to plead his case to Dante in order for his eyes to be free of ice, since he was in a high circle of hell. Also, multiple other times he stops to talk to souls, which he had known in the past. So, I definitely think that Dante did not ignore temptation like Mohammed did.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, for Mohammed’s Night Journey, I found the hierarchy by which religious figures where found in the book intriguing. As I recall, Mohammed met the figures in order of their existence with the most recent being first. This made me think about the reasons behind this hierarchy. Could it be in order of favor with God, who is most precious with God, who made the most impact to bringing souls to God or some other reason? I believe that it must be in the order of the most beloved, for Adam as God’s first human to be created, but then the thought of the betrayal of Adam crosses my mind and it does not make sense for Adam to be the closest to God because of this betrayal. This conclusion then brings me to the thought that the figures closest to the earth are God’s most faithful, and since they are closest to the earth they can influence the people the most. This influence, in turn, would bring people closer to God by good example and faith. I believe that different opinion on this matter would be very interesting, since we did not talk about this significance.
I agree that Dante did stop a lot along his journey through hell, and many times had to be convinced by Virgil to continue on. For example, as early as Canto II Dante questions his worthiness to be a traveler in a journey such as this one. He asks Virgil, "why am i to go? Who allows me to go?" to which Virigil replies that Dante's soul seems to be burdened with cowardice and Virgil is them prompted to tell Dante that he was sent here by Beatrice (through Mary and Lucia first). This news of Beatrice's love for him still fills Dante with courage and only then is Dante prompted to enthusiastically carry on with Virgil into hell. Dante also becomes distracted within some of the circles of Hell while interacting with sinners such as Farinata (a previous Florentine politician, now residing within the 6th circle as a heretic) and Dante also rips out the hair of one of the frozen sinners deeper within hell. Therefore i agree with you that in no way did Dante refuse temptation to stop along the journey in the way that Mohammed did.
DeleteWhile reading Mohammad’s Night Journey, and while discussing it in class today, I enjoyed making all of the connections to Dante’s Inferno. I found it interesting that there were so many similarities that were actually contrasts to Inferno. The layers were a similarity between the two but one was about layers of Hell and the other of Heaven. With each passing layer the dynamic changed, both in Heaven and in Hell. While in Dante’s Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim journeyed through the circles of Hell himself but in Mohammad’s Night Journey it wasn’t Mohammad telling the story himself but a third person narrative, rather.
ReplyDeleteAs was mentioned in class, the direction left plays a role in Inferno, which I found interesting. I did a little research and found that in history people whose left hand was their dominant one were punished and sometimes killed for being left-handed. This is clearly why “left” is a symbol of evil in Inferno. I was wondering if anyone noticed any instances where the direction left came into play in Mohammad’s Night Journey?
I found Mohammad’s Night Journey to be a great read. I enjoyed coming across all of the historical figures throughout, like in Dante’s Inferno. I find Dante’s works to be interesting in that way.
I also found that in our discussion today, the concept of the People of the Book was really solidified. It seems that all of the readings from throughout the semester are coming together and the ideas are starting to mesh.
I like how you mentioned that all the readings are coming together because that was something that I had also noticed recently. I feel like every thing that we have read has somehow tied into the other readings. I also thought the idea of left and right was interesting. Even though people do not go as far as killing people who are left handed I think that being right handed is something that we push on people in today's society. I remember being encouraged in my first years of school to use my right hand for things instead of left and it is interesting that it should even matter anymore because most people probably do not know where the idea originated. As for the similarities and differences in between the texts I think that one noticeable difference is that Dante was more likely to give into his temptation to talk to the souls her encountered. I feel like at times in Dante's Inferno, Dante was more focused on the souls within each circle and learning about each circle instead of his ultimate goal. But with Mohammad's Night Journey the focus was more on just trying to make it through without getting distracted.
DeleteThe night journey from the Qur’anic scriptures was an interesting read. In intro of the reading the author talked a lot about the faction that this narrative has caused. Some scholars feel that the story of ascension should only be told through what the Qur’an says and should not be told through the descriptive Ibn Abbas narrative. Muslim scholars claimed that this story of Ascension is fabricated from a collection of false hadith that have no foundation. Either way I feel from an outside non-Muslim perspective I appreciated the descriptive narrative of the night journey. It was nice to read a story instead of interpreting a collaboration of verses, although I do respect why it could be seen as a misrepresentation since it is “fabricated.” There is an obvious connection between this text and Dante’s Inferno; the story of a man who wakes to be brought on a journey through seven stages for a chance to reach the light of God. It seems too similar for just a coincidence, Dante must have read some Qur’anic scriptures pertaining to the ascension and incorporated those ideas into his own story. There is just so must you can compare and it is interesting to know that these are two stories come from different faiths. You can see how interconnected all religion is even with comparing these two stories. You have numerous biblical and Qur’anic heroes in these stories. What is interesting to question is why Muhammad is put in hell in Dante’s Inferno while you can see all the biblical characters in the night journey portrayed as close to God in heaven. He is put with the people who seduce others and I know we said in class it is because he seduced others to follow the Qur’an and not the Bible. It feels insensitive to me to portray someone close to God in hell when the faith he represents respects and holds bible figures in the highest regard.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are too many similarities between the two texts to deny that one wasn’t influenced by the other. I feel like using another work as inspiration to another creative work is not a bad thing and is common among some works today. However, I feel that Dante was disrespectful to Mohammad’s Night Journey because of the way he portrayed Muslim icons, like Mohammad himself. For example, there are so many books and movies today that are somewhat based on Shakespeare’s “star crossed lovers” theme from Romeo and Juliet. The works that are inspired by this theme do not disrespect the original piece or change something drastic that would take away from the original work, like Dante putting Mohammad in Hell. I also agree that reading these two works together highlighted the similarities between different religions. The incorporation of Moses into Mohammad’s Night Journey really showed how accepting the Islamic faith of People of the Book.
DeleteOne aspect that intrigued me was that Mohammad was in Circle 8, the second lowest circles of Hell. I was a surprised by this since based on the other readings we have done for this class, Mohammad is considered a prophet. Why would a prophet be in one of the deepest layers of Hell?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Dante’s Inferno, Circle 8, called the Malebolge, consisted of sinners who were guilty of fraud and malice. Specifically, this included the fortune tellers, panderers, seducers, pimps, magicians, hypocrites, and so on. Punishments varied depending on which “pouch” you belonged in and what form of fraud you were found guilty for. For example, the flatterers were completely covered up to their necks in human excrement. Again, how does Mohammad fit in with all of these sinners? In class we only discussed that he was found guilty of fraud. After doing a little research, I learned that Mohammad was considered a sower, which is someone who divides what is meant to be divided.
Dante’s placement of Mohammad could reflect Dante’s views on Muslim religion. It is thought that Dante believed Mohammed was an imposter who taught a false religion and caused a great schism among the Christians. He must have felt this way about Ali as well, because he is also in the eighth circle of Hell. It was very interesting to see how these two famous Islamic figures were punished; Mohammad’s body was split from groin to chin and Ali’s face spit from the top to the bottom (ew). This was part of the contrapasso theme that was expressed throughout each circle of Hell; for every sinner’s crime must be an equal and fitting punishment. Overall, I enjoyed learning about the Islamic influence on Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” It was unreal how closely related Mohammad’s Night Journey was to the “Divine Comedy.
I agree with you about how it is interesting to see that Mohammed and Ali was in one of the higher realms according to Dante. It makes you really wonder how Dante viewed Mohammed, and the religion itself to view Mohammed as someone who committed such high of a sin. Mohammed is in no way a figure that would be portrayed as one who committed such sin - so to have to figure out what Dante was thinking as he wrote this book (such as putting himself amongst all the poets and philosophers in Limbo) is interesting. In the real world, Ali and Mohammed are both seen as prophets who did great deeds for their religion and for those who believe in the religion, and to see that Dante was able to openly disagree by putting them in hell and the higher level of hell seems very daring as well.
DeleteMuhammad’s Night Journey once again reinforced the other Islamic readings we had this year that show the tolerance of the religion. I always find these readings interesting and enlightening because they knock down the stereotypes many “Westerners” have of the faith and their ideas that Islam is anti-Christian.
ReplyDeleteMuhammad is granted a privilege never offered to any man before, to ascend into the 7 layers of heaven and talk with God face to face. As he journeys through Heaven with Gabriel he meets not only angels but the great prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The fact that these prophets are present in the Heaven that Muslims believe in demonstrates once more that the 3 religions share the same God. They even all pray together. The respect these prophets show toward Muhammad and him to them demonstrate that the People of the Book are supposed to respect one another and show compassion towards each other.
Muhammad’s exchange with Moses further demonstrates this. Not only do the two prophets warmly greet one another, but Moses even offers Muhammad advice on his meeting with God. He recommends that Muhammad ask God to lower the expectations asked of his people, for example praying five times a day instead of fifty. He explains to Muhammad that he did not do this and his people were not able to meet the rigorous demands of God, and were driven to be disobedient as a result. Thus Moses, a prophet of Judaism, played a crucial role in the formation of Islamic practices such as fasting one month a year rather than six and praying five times a day. This exemplifies just how connected the religions of the People of the Book are, that important figures from the Old Testament and the Bible not only welcomed, but influenced the formation of Islam.
As everyone else has already stated, there are many similarities to be made between Dante's Inferno and The Night Journey of Muhammad. While this is true, it is interesting to point out that within these similarities, when looked at a little closer, one can see that there are distinct differences in the way they are portrayed. One prime example that comes to mind is how the main characters are portrayed. They are both seen by their supporting characters as great beings. Dante the pilgrim and Muhammad are both told how lucky they are to be able to go on their journeys and how special they must be to do so.
ReplyDeleteWhile the two stories are relatively similar in this aspect, Muhammad's story is written quite differently from Dante's. After each time an angel had spoken to Muhammad in this way, he always shied away from it. He did not see himself as an equal or better than those such as Moses, Adam, Jesus and so on. He mentioned their names many times as if they were greater. This continued to happen all the way until Muhammad met God, who then told him to stop acting like he's any less. God then continues to explain to Muhammad how he had always seen the messenger of God as greater than everyone else. The main point of sharing all this is that throughout the entire story of his night journey, Muhammad was always very humble. He was gracious towards those around him and astounded by the beauty he was able to be a part of.
On the other hand. Dante the poet makes a very clear message about the way he sees himself. Dante the Pilgrim was astounded by all that was around him as well. Though this is true, Dante the poet made the Pilgrim belong among the great poets and philosophers in the Inferno who did not suffer. This tells the reader that Dante believed himself to be as great as these people and just as deserving of no punishment as they were.
This notion may be unfair because Dante did write it himself and Muhammad did not. If Muhammad had written his Night Journey himself, I may have different thoughts on the subject. But still, while Muhammad was portrayed as humble throughout his journey always noting the angels as greater than himself, Dante the Pilgrim did not do so much of this.
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ReplyDeleteWhen reading Muhammad's Night Journey I thought it was interesting how similar certain things were to Dante's Inferno. They both talk about how there are different levels and different people and things in each of those levels. Each level was different for both Heaven and Hell. There were designated things on each level. It is also interesting that even though they are so similar they are also very different.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting how in Muhammad was even in Dante's Inferno. I wouldn't have thought that the prophet would be put down in Hell. It was just very interesting to me because he is someone that was looked up to and followed by many and was put somewhat on a pedestal because he is a prophet.
Also, it is interesting that in both stories they had to pass a gate and that each time they were asked if they were allowed through. Gabriel said that Muhammad was allowed through the gate and someone from Heaven was sent to let Dante through the gate. I never would have thought that these two stories would be so similar even though one is writing about a journey through Hell and the other a journey through Heaven.