Editing Az-Zukhruf (section)

==Textual notes==
===Jesus as the Word of God===
Verse 60 reads “if it had been Our will, We could have made you angels, succeeding one another one earth.”<ref name="Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel 2005"/> This once again affirms angels are God's mere servants, subject completely to his command, but it also evokes another important theme- God as the creator. This verse suggests that God has the power to make angels. He has the power to create a human servant who has just a mother and no father, just as [[Jesus]] had. It implies that Jesus is not the Son of God but was the creation of the one, true God. Verses 63-64 additionally discuss Jesus, denouncing the divinity he is given as the son of God and emphasizing him as a special servant who was born by the miraculous word of God. “When Jesus came with clear signs he said, ‘I have brought you wisdom; I have come to clear up some of your differences for you. Be mindful of God and obey me: God is my Lord and your Lord. Serve Him: this is the straight path’” ('''63-64''').<ref name="Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel 2005"/>

===Source of Scripture===
This relates back to the beginning of the surah where the Quran is identified as the “Source of Scripture” ('''4''') <ref name=316MAS/> which can also literally be translated into ‘mother of the Scripture. ’ The Haleem translation of the Qur'an includes that this phrase is also referring to the ‘Preserved Tablet’ that is referenced in [[Quran 13:39]]<ref>Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel. The Qur'an (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) 156.</ref> and '''22''' <ref name="ReferenceB">Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel. The Qur'an (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) 416.</ref> as well. This subtle reinterpretation suggests that the Qur'an is the ‘mother’ of and therefore superior to all of the books revelation. It suggests that the Quran is more reliable and possesses more truth than the [[Torah]] and the [[Gospels]] and it suggests that the Quran should be revered above all revelations that came before it. One interpretation is that this represents a pronounced declaration of the truth and certainty of the revelation and implies that the Quran is not to be worshipped as divine only orally, but also as it is ascribed on the tablets or written on the pages of the Quran. This interpretation suggests that the Quran is a heavenly book, not a human book. The way it was written is to be revered as the true word of God.

Another interpretation of this verse is that the Quran is a unique phenomenon in human history that exists beyond the mundane sphere as the eternal and immutable word of God. Through this interpretation, the Quran is considered an earthly book whose history is intimately linked human life and the history of humanity.<ref name="oxfordislamicstudies.com">[[Mahmoud M. Ayoub|Ayoub, Mahmoud M.]], Afra Jalabi, Vincent J. Cornell, Abdullah Saeed, Mustansir Mir and Bruce Fudge. "Qurʿān." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. 30-Oct-2013. <http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0661>.</ref> It is regarded as  “a glorious Qurʿān [preserved] in a well-guarded tablet” ('''21–22''')<ref name="ReferenceB"/> and is believed to transcend time and space.<ref name="oxfordislamicstudies.com"/>

===You and Your Spouses===
While many Quranic chapters of the Early Meccan periods make references to wide-eyed maidens upon arrival into Paradise, surah 43 explicitly states, "Enter Paradise, you and your spouses: you will be filled with joy" '''70''').<ref name="Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel 2005"/><ref name="Robinson, Neal 2003">Robinson, Neal. Discovering the Qurʼan: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown UP, 2003. 88-89.</ref> The inclusion of verse 43:70 indicates that this surah was revealed in the later Meccan period at which point there existed an emphasis on family. At the time of this surah's revelation, there was less of a concern convincing Meccan pagans to convert and more of a concern developing a law-abiding community centered upon worshipping God's will.<ref name="Robinson, Neal 2003"/>

===The Most Merciful===
The divine names Allah and Ar-rahman ('the Most-merciful) occur eight times throughout this surah. Patterns show that these names were absent from the earliest revelations and were introduced and most prominently used during the Second Meccan period. After the Second Meccan period, Ar-rahman was subsequently dropped and the term Allah was used with increasing frequency. This pattern emerges because in the earliest of revelations, God was referred to as Muhammad's Lord (Arabic Rabb). The names Allah and Ar-rahman were introduced when Muhammad began to preach publicly, but the names were both problematic as many pagans of the time believed not only in God but in lesser deities such as the three goddesses whom they regarded as his daughters (43:15-19).<ref name=316MAS/> Furthermore, belief in Allah during this time period was not accompanied by any moral demands and it was therefore difficult to convince the pagans that Allah was the only God and that they must obey His command.<ref>Robinson, Neal. Discovering the Qur'an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text. London: SCM Press LTD, 1996. Print. 90-92.</ref>

Additionally, inscriptional evidence has been verified there were monotheists in Palmyra and the Yemen who regarded God as ar-Rahmn but there is no evidence that the name was known in Mecca.<ref>Robinson, Neal. Discovering the Qur'an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text. London: SCM Press LTD, 1996. Print. 92.</ref>