5: The Table

This chapter of 120 verses arranged in sixteen sections was revealed at Madina
(except for V.3, which was announced after the stay at `Arafat during the Farewell
Pilgrimage in the 10th year of the Hijra or March 632 A. D.). The chapter comes
after [Divine] Support 110 and before Dispensation 9 in the sequence of
revelation. It is called The Table from section XV towards the end, where Jesus'
disciples asked for the rules governing food, and he was challenged to have a table
sent down from Heaven.
The chapter starts out like The House of `Imran 3, with important
statements on Islam as a religion, so as to consolidate the nascent Islamic community.
This begins by considering behavior during Pilgrimage (I), a subject which is
sumed in XIII. Food, marriage (I), and washing before prayer (II) come next; also
oaths, liquor and gambling (XII) Good and evil (XIII) are moral issues which are
likewise discussed. Judicial procedure is recorded (VI) while Mosaic law is
mentioned in vii. Adam's sons Cain and Abel were participants in the first murder
(V), although they are not named in the Qur'an. Theft (VI) and wills (XIV) are
other matters discussed.
Christians are addressed and we are told that Christ is not God (III). Jesus
himself is discussed in vii; as well as Christians, the Trinity and the figure of Christ
again in X. The Jews are mentioned in XI but we are advised that Christians are
closer than they are to Islam. Jesus' miracles are described in XV and we are
informed how Jesus himself rejected Godhood at the end of section XVI which
closes the chapter.