The Cow

Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

The Queran so far states that the righteous will be rewarded and the sinners bring punishment on themselves. It has not yet defined the distinction between the two except for this paragraph (I have not finished this sura yet).

It also continues to recount a summary of the Israelites and their flight from Egypt, and how time and again they were forgiven and helped by God, and time and again they turned their back to Him. I had taken the meaning to apply to all people: we do this in our lives and in our ignorance. The Bible teaches us to be patient with others because we ourselves require much patience. However, I believe there are those who use this anecdote to reject the Jews, as if it applies to their history only, and not our own nature. Sawdust in their eye while we have a plank in our own.

In a very Paul-like way, the Quran encourages its reader to turn his back on the sinner, using the tale of the Jews and their recurring offenses as an example of how no matter how many times forgiveness is given, the sinner will return to his old ways. This contradicts Christ, however, who stated that if a son were to betray you seven times and ask forgiveness seven times, you should forgive him every time. Yes, we know he will probably turn back after gaining forgiveness, but we must forgive, because we are much the same even if we don't see it.

Humans require infinite patience. If we want to receive such patience from God (and oh how we need it) then we will need to know what it's like to show such patience to others.