Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions! – Psalm 58:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 25, 2016): Psalm 58

There is this idea that the Qur’an is a violent document. And to a certain extent, that is true. There is no getting away from some of the comments, but there is also a bit of an interpretation issue. I was recently reading an article on Islam and the author chose to quote Al -Baqara:190. According to the author the verse read like this "And fight (qaatiloo) in the way of Allah those who fight you." But the full verse might give a slightly different interpretation. The full verse reads like this – “And fight in the cause of Allah those who fight and persecute you, but commit no aggression. Surely, Allah does not love the aggressors.” Clearly the full verse gives a slightly different meaning. It is okay to defend yourself against aggression, but according to this verse in the Qur’an, it is not okay to be the instigator of the violence.

In the West, we often see the radical fundamentalist wing of Islam as being the aggressors, of committing the first act of aggression against us. But sometimes we need to remind ourselves that that is not the way that they view themselves. To them, they are simply responding to the aggression of the West, or the aggression of other branches of Islam. In their own consciences, they are protecting themselves from the infidel (aggressor) that is threatening both them and the God that they serve. This is the only way that the fight can be seen as honorable in the eyes of Allah.

But Islam is not the only religion with a problem of violent texts in its Holy Book. Judaism and Christianity have the same struggle, as my atheistic and agnostic friends like to remind me. So what do we do with these verses? Some of them are difficult to interpret – and others maybe not. While David’s words here sound like they might belong in the mouth of a mob boss in the midst of a turf war, his words are actually fairly easy to interpret. Is he really asking God to break someone’s teeth? Yes, and no. In the context of the rest of Psalm, David’s concern is people – and especially rulers and leaders – who are causing harm to the people within their circle of influence or responsibility. In this case, David is talking about the ones who are both in power and the aggressors and, in reality, all he is asking God to do is to take away their ability to cause harm.

Which, incidentally, is a prayer I pray for myself on a daily basis – God, bless me and keep from being the cause of harm. Admittedly, I have never asked God to break my teeth, but maybe that might not be such a bad idea.

May God keep you from causing harm on this day! I will refrain from asking him to “break your teeth.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 61