Living The Quran
From Issue: 871 [Read full issue]
Baptism of God
Al-Baqara (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 138
"The baptism of God, and who is better than God in baptism? And we are worshippers of Him."
The baptism of God renders sibghat Allah, which could also be translated "the coloring of God." The verb sabagha means "to dye," which involves plunging cloth in liquid and more generally means to cause someone to enter into something. The baptism of God can refer back to the creed of Abraham or it can be read as an adverbial clause connected to We believe in God. Thus one explanation is that the baptism (sibghah) is the primordial nature (fitrah) in human beings, which they bear the way a cloth bears its original color and which is the upright religion.
Some commentators mention Christian baptism and understand this verse to assert the superiority of Islam, as the true baptism of God, over the Christian rite. Other interpretations include sibghah as "purification" and also as the wont of God, God's "wont" being His unchanging actions in relation to the world. For others the sibghah may denote God's religion. These interpretations can be seen as complementary, as God's wont, religion, creed, and purification have overlapping significance, and all are brought out by the range of meaning in the term sibghah in the sense of an original dye or coloration by God in the fabric of existence.
Compiled From:
"The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary" - Seyyed Hossein Nasr