Three Questions by a Christian and their Answers — Page 7
7 word expressive of disgust, nor reproach them, but address them with kind words. And lower to them the wing of hu- mility out of tenderness. And say: My Lord, have mercy on them even as they nourished me in my childhood. It is evident from these verses that the use of the second person singular relates to the umma, and it has been used more than once in these very verses. The addressee is not the Holy Prophet sa , for the verses teach respect and obedi- ence to parents, and we know that the Holy Prophet’s sa parents had passed away in his early childhood. It is established from this verse and from numerous other verses that addressing a class of people in the form of an individual, is a common idiom of the Holy Quran. The same idiom is used in the commandments of the Torah, which are apparently addressed to a single person, but are intended for the Israelites as a whole. We have an example of this in Exodus, Chapters 33 and 34, where Moses as is the apparent addressee: (11) Observe thou that which I com- mand thee this day. (12) Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest. (17) Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. When viewed in their context, it becomes clear that though these verses apparently address only one person, i. e. , Moses as , he is not the one for whom the commandments are really intended; for he never went to Canaan, nor could we expect a Man of God and an idol-breaker like Moses as to be guilty of the sin of idolatry. There was no need, therefore,