Quran – The Word of God?

The Qur’an, (Koran) meaning recitation, is the sacred book of Islam. According to Muslim tradition, it was revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in separate revelations over the major portion of his life at Mecca and at Medina. The Qur’an was probably compiled as a single volume under the third caliph, Uthman, who appointed a committee (651-52). The internal organization of the Qur’an is somewhat ad hoc. Revelations consisted of verses (ayat) grouped into 114 chapters (surah, plural – suwar).

This is what Qur’an says in its English Translation’s introduction, lets see how much words in Quran is from Allah, because as per Muslim’s claim each and every word between the two covers of the Quran is verbatim word of God (Allah). This question is beyond any doubt and Qur’an itself proves that some verse contained in it is from Muhammad, and if Qur’an contains a single alphabet of Muhammad, or anyone except Allah, it means it has to rejected entirely as it is altered by a mere man.

Quran itself claims that it is pure word of Allah, and it has no discrepancies or errors. Now it’s not my fault if I find even a single error, discrepancy or pseudo-science in Quran, and reject it, because Quran asks me to do so. Read the verse:

(Quran 4:82)
Do they not consider the Qur’an (with care)?
Had it been from other than Allah, they would
surely have found therein much discrepancy.

According to the Muslims the Quran contains the words of God. Quran is to be read as if God himself had spoken these words stated in it. It is important to emphasize this point because if Quran is the word of God then it should not contain any human words or errors and it should hold true for all times.

However, such is not the case. First, we will see how some of the verses in the Quran itself show clearly that some of the verses were obviously spoken by Muhammad and Not God (Allah).

(Quran 1:1-7)
In the name of the Merciful and Compassionate God.
Praise belongs to God, The Lord of the worlds, the merciful, the compassionate, the ruler of the day of the day of judgement! Thee we serve and Thee we ask for aid. Guide us in the right path,the path of those Thou art gracious to; not to those Thou art wroth with, nor of those who err.

Someone need not be a rocket-scientist to comprehend that these words are clearly addressed to God, in the form of a prayer. They are Muhammad’s words of praise to God, asking for God’s help and guidance. Some Muslim compilers conveniently add the imperative “say” in the English translation of the Quran at the beginning of the surah (chapter) to remove this difficulty. This imperative form of the word “say” occurs at least 350 times in the Quran, and its obvious that this word has, in fact, been inserted by later compilers of the Quran to remove countless similarly embarrassing difficulties. Thus, we have direct evidence that the Quran starts out with the words of Muhammad.

Very similar comment Swami Dayanand Saraswati gave in his book “The Light of Truth” on the very first verse of Quran, he said:

The Mohammedans claim that this Q’uran is the Word of God, but it appears from the above passage that the author of this book was some person other than God, since had it been God himself, He would not have said: “(I begin this book) in the name of God etc.” He would have, instead, said: “I write this book for the instruction of mankind.” If it be said that by beginning His book in this fashion He means to teach men as to what they should say when about to do a thing, it cannot be true, since some men will do even sinful deeds in the name of God and thereby bring disgrace on Him.

So it can be said that at least the very first chapter of Quran is without a shadow of doubt not from Allah, but either by Muhammad himself or some of the later compiler. Quran in many other places gives us evidence that it is not the God’s word, but of somebody else, like read Quran 6:104, which says:

(Quran 6:104)
Now have come to you, from your Lord, proofs (To open your eyes): If any will see, it will be for (the good of) his own soul; If any will be blind, it will be to his own (harm): I am not (here) To watch over your doings.

In this verse the speaker of the line “I am not to watch over your doings”– is clearly Muhammad’s word. In fact N J Dawood in his translation adds a footnote that the “I” refers to Mohammed here. Apart from this Al-Jalalayan in his explanation to this verse writes:

And I am not a keeper, a watcher, over you, of your deeds: I am but a Warner.

The case is crystal clear that Muhammad considered himself to be the warner, and a messenger. So this verse must have been revealed by Muhammad himself to frighten people of Mecca from the wrath of Allah, so that people embrace Islam in fear. The are loads of similar verse, in which Muhammad speaks in 1st person. Let’s see them too.

(Quran 27:91)
For me, I have been commanded to serve the Lord of this city, Him Who has sanctified it and to whom (Belong)  things; and I am commanded to be of those who bow in Islam to Allah’s Will

Again, the speaker here is clearly Muhammad who is trying to justify killing of innocent Meccans who were not willing to follow Muhammad’s version of God. Dawood and Pickthall both interpolate “say” at the beginning of the sentence which is lacking in the original Arabic version of the verse.

If we use word to word translation dictionary, it makes more clear that this verse is Muhammad’s own creation, instead of Allah’s. The actual verse in Arabic says:

innamā- “Only

umir’tu – I am commanded

an – that

aʿbuda – I worship

rabba- (the) Lord

hādhihil-baldati – (of) this city

By my wildest imagination also, I can’t understand why God commands himself to worship the lord. Or else the verse is by Muhammad or somebody else. In other places in Quran, the creator of world, the lord of Islam, starts swearing on his own creation. We have observed and seen, that people mostly swear on things or people very superior to them, like mother, father, god, holy books etc. We would have hardly noticed people, swearing seriously on their bikes, cars, or wallets, but never mind Allah does if he has revealed the verse (Quran 81:15) himself. The verse says:

(Quran 81:15)
So verily I call To witness the planets that recede… 

Ibn Kathir explains the verse by quoting a Sahih Hadith which says:

Muslim recorded in his Sahih, and An-Nasa’i in his Book of Tafsir, in explaining this Ayah, from `Amr bin Hurayth that he said, “I prayed the Morning prayer behind the Prophet , and I heard him reciting, (But nay! I swear by Al-Khunnas, Al-Jawar Al-Kunnas, and by the night when it `As`as, and by the day when it Tanaffas.)” Ibn Jarir recorded from Khalid bin `Ar`arah that he heard `Ali being asked about the Ayah; (لَا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ. الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ) (Nay! I swear by Al-Khunnas, Al-Jawar Al-Kunnas.) and he said, “These are the stars that withdraw (disappear) during the day and sweep across the sky (appear) at night.”

Do we have any more doubt regarding the verse? Obviously its Muhammad, who swore on planets and stars. We find very similar verse in CH 84:16-19 too, which says:

(Quran 84:16-19)
I swear by the afterglow of sunset, and by the night, and by the moon when she is at the full.

Once again it is Muhammad and NOT God. He is unable to disguise his pagan heritage. He swears again in the name of the Sun and Moon, both of which were considered as holy deities by Pre-Islamic Arabs. We have got enough evidences to prove that Quran contains Muhammad’s own word, but this is not all, we are left with many of Muhammad’s verse, for example read Quran 6:114, which says:

(Quran 6:114)
Should I seek other judge than God, when
it is He who has sent down to you, the
distinguishing book (Koran)?

Any sane person can comprehend that those words are not spoken by God but Muhammad himself. Yusuf Ali in his translation adds at the beginning of the sentence “say”, which is not there in the original Arabic and he does so without comment or footnote. The Arabic verse starts with the word “afaghayra l-lahi” which means “Then is (it) other than Allah”. Any Muslim who reads Quran in Arabic can check this fact.

Now let’s come back to Muslims claim, that the book Quran is a verbatim word of Allah, and contains no human verses or letters or even an alphabet. But as per my knowledge and study of Quran, I have shown half a dozen verses of Muhammad, or else later compiler of Quran. Now would they reject Quran as word of God, or they will stick to their blind belief depends on them?

Interestingly I haven’t touched the errors and pseudo-science portion yet, which Allah has challenged us to find in Quran. Which will be done in next part of this article.

 

 

 

Reply to Dr Naik’s :Does Islam Promote Violence?

Does Islam Promote Violence?

We often hear Muslim Clerics and Scholars explaining the meaning of word ‘Islam’ as peace. Most of the time we are accused of misquoting verses of Quran and misunderstanding them, we are even asked by our politically correct leader to never use the word terrorism with Islam.  But is it true that Islam doesn’t promote violence? Or it does? When I asked this simple question from my Muslim friends, they handed me a video lecture of famous Indian televangelist Dr. Zakir Naik, who explains in his video why Islam does not promote violence. Even after going through his video I am not satisfied, I am writing this article as an objection to his claims. Following are the transcripts of his lecture in red, with my reply.

Dr. Naik Said:- A few selected verses from the Qur’an are often misquoted to perpetuate the myth that Islam promotes violence, and exhorts its followers to kill those outside the pale of Islam.

My Reply:- Few years back I read a book entitled “164 Jihad verses in Quran” compiled by Yoel Natan, he enlisted only those verses from Quran which talks about killing, murder, jihad, raid, loot, expedition, fighting etc. Apart from Quran there are many Sahih Hadiths, which are canonical scripture of Islam, and in Hadith you will find commands of violence and fighting in good amount. So I guess Dr. Naik made a mistake by selecting the word ‘few’ for those verses from Quran which critics consider to promote violence.

Let’s leave the Quranic verses aside for time being, but how can we ignore what Muslims are doing today in world in name of Allah. I believe action speaks more than words, and they (Muslims) have proved it that something is wrong with Islamic teaching. They don’t even tolerate Muslims from other sect, then how come we expect them to show mercy of Non-Muslims?

About the allegation of misquotation I would say, that it’s hardly our mistake if we have misquoted any Quranic verse, as seldom you will find Quranic verses with context. Actually Quran only in some places gives its context of verses, still we are more sincere than Muslims in taking the Quranic verse in context, why I said so we will see it later in this article.

Dr. Naik Said:- . Verse from Surah Taubah 

The following verse from Surah Taubah is very often quoted by critics of Islam, to show that Islam promotes violence, bloodshed and brutality:

“Kill the mushriqeen (pagans, polytheists, kuffar) where ever you find them.” [Al-Qur’an 9:5]

My Reply:- Yes, true the Quranic verse 9:5 and 9:29 are very often quoted, the complete verse reads:-

[9.5] So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Who will not say that Islam promotes violence, bloodshed, and brutality, after reading the above verse? The commands are crystal clear, and in above verse the author of Quran commands Muslims to kill Non-Muslims after the sacred months of Islam is passed. It further adds that if they (Non-Muslims) embrace Islam, then let them go free. Doesn’t it sound kind of dictatorship by an almighty? Well I still have to take this verse in context, or else Muslims will accuse me of misquoting the verse, but before let’s see what more Dr. Naik says.

Dr. Naik said:- . Context of verse is during battlefield 

Critics of Islam actually quote this verse out of context. In order to understand the context, we need to read from verse 1 of this surah. It says that there was a peace treaty between the Muslims and the Mushriks (pagans) of Makkah. This treaty was violated by the Mushriks of Makkah. A period of four months was given to the Mushriks of Makkah to make amends. Otherwise war would be declared against them. Verse 5 of Surah Taubah says:


“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Al-Qur’an 9:5]

This verse is quoted during a battle.

My Reply:- Above Dr. Naik easily claims that the context of verse is during battlefield, but we don’t see any evidence for his claim. Whereas most of the early scholars have different view about the very same verse.

Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi wrote: – A clear declaration was made that all the treaties with the mushriks were abolished and the Muslims would be released from the treaty obligations with them after a respite of four months.(vv. 1-3). This declaration was necessary for uprooting completely the system of life based on shirk and to make Arabia exclusively the center of Islam so that it should not in any way interfere with the spirit of Islam nor become an internal danger for it.

In his explanation of the verse 9:5 Ibn Kathir says:- (So when the Sacred Months have passed…), meaning, `Upon the end of the four months during which We prohibited you from fighting the idolaters  and which is the grace period We gave them, then fight and kill the idolaters wherever you may find them.’ Allah’s statement next, (then fight the Mushrikin wherever you find them), means, on the earth in general, except for the Sacred Area,(and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush), do not wait until you find them. Rather, seek and besiege them in their areas and forts, gather intelligence about them in the various roads and fairways so that what is made wide looks ever smaller to them. This way, they will have no choice, but to die or embrace Islam.

These above explanations make the verse very clear, as it also proves that Dr. Naik is lying about the verse. This verse was revealed to prepare Muslims for Jihad against Non-Muslims, and to force all Arabs to embrace Islam.

Dr. Naik is certainly making an error by claiming that the peace treaty was violated by Non-Muslims, but in reality it is Muhammad himself who broke the treaty with Non-Muslims, it is clear from the very first verse of Quran Ch 9, which says:-

[This is a declaration of] disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists.

Here we see Allah and his messenger are declaring the disassociation of the treaty with the polytheists, and it is not the other way round. The reason for this disassociation is correctly mentioned by Maududdi, as he says:-

This declaration was necessary for uprooting completely the system of life based on shirk and to make Arabia exclusively the center of Islam so that it should not in any way interfere with the spirit of Islam nor become an internal danger for it.

Allah commands Muslims to complete the term of four months with them who are not deficient towards Muslims in any way. This he mentioned in Quran Ch 9 Verse 4:-

Excepted are those with whom you made a treaty among the polytheists and then they have not been deficient toward you in anything or supported anyone against you; so complete for them their treaty until their term [has ended]. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous [who fear Him].

And the very next verse commands Muslims to kill even those who were not deficient towards Muslims and supported no enemy of Muslims, so this alone clearly proves that Islam does promote violence, and the explanation given by Dr. Naik is full of errors and far from historical evidences.

Dr. Naik:- Example of war between America and Vietnam

We know that America was once at war with Vietnam. Suppose the President of America or the General of the American Army told the American soldiers during the war: “Wherever you find the Vietnamese, kill them”. Today if I say that the American President said, “Wherever you find the Vietnamese, kill them” without giving the context, I will make him sound like a butcher. But if I quote him in context, that he said it during a war, it will sound very logical, as he was trying to boost the morale of the American soldiers during the war.

My Reply:- Well Dr. Naik loves to brain wash his followers by giving irrelevant examples, and he cunningly quotes those example which may make Islam look a peaceful religion. The example which he quoted above is in no relation with the verse which we are discussing. As I demonstrated above that the verse was not revealed in relation of war like that of America and Vietnam, so his example is useless here.  He should have better given example of Pakistan and India. We all know Pakistan is a heaven of Islamic terrorism, so what if the president of Pakistan tells Islamic terrorists “Kill all the Indians wherever you find and lie in wait of them.” This example would be more relevant than his example.

Dr Naik Said:- Verse 9:5 quoted to boost morale of Muslims during battle

Similarly in Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 5 the Qur’an says, “Kill the Mushriks wherever you find them”, during a battle to boost the morale of the Muslim soldiers. What the Qur’an is telling Muslim soldiers is, don’t be afraid during battle; wherever you find the enemies kill them.

My Reply:- Yes, verse 9:5 was revealed to boost the morale of Muslims, but not during battlefield. Muslims were commanded to kill all the Non-Muslims of Arabia and fight with them until they die or embrace Islam, so were Muslims in state of war with all Non-Muslim? I believe no. I as said earlier this verse was revealed to make the whole of Arabia a perfect Dar-ul-Islam.

Dr Naik said: – . Shourie jumps from verse 5 to verse 7 

Arun Shourie is one of the staunchest critics of Islam in India. He quotes the same verse, Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 5 in his book ‘The World of Fatawas’, on page 572. After quoting verse 5 he jumps to verse 7 of Surah Taubah. Any sensible person will realize that he has skipped verse 6.

My Reply:- Its good that he jumped from verse 5 to 7, or else it would have made the meaning of the verse 5 more worst, and cruel. OK  as you suggest that we should include verse 9:6 too, then sure, I’ll do it for you. Quran 9:6 says:-

And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah . Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.

To understand this verse we may rely on what most prominent Islamic scholars think about this verse, I believe it will not make the previous verse peaceful, but certainly it will make it look more violent. Ibn Kathir in his commentary says:-

These Ayat allowed fighting people unless, and until, they embrace Islam and implement its rulings and obligations. Allah mentioned the most important aspects of Islam here, including what is less important. Surely, the highest elements of Islam after the Two Testimonials, are the prayer, which is the right of Allah, the Exalted and Ever High, then the Zakah, which benefits the poor and needy. These are the most honorable acts that creatures perform, and this is why Allah often mentions the prayer and Zakah together. In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that Ibn `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said, These Ayat allowed fighting people unless, and until, they embrace Islam and implement its rulings and obligations.

He adds:- (And if anyone of the Mushrikin), whom you were commanded to fight and We allowed you their blood and property,’(seeks your protection), asked you for safe passage, then accept his request until he hears the Words of Allah, the Qur’an. Recite the Qur’an to him and mention a good part of the religion with which you establish Allah’s proof against him, The Ayah says, `We legislated giving such people safe passage so that they may learn about the religion of Allah, so that Allah’s call will spread among His servants. Ibn Abi Najih narrated that Mujahid said that this Ayah, “Refers to someone who comes to you to hear what you say and what was revealed to you (O Muhammad).Therefore, he is safe until he comes to you, hears Allah’s Words and then proceeds to the safe area where he came from.” 

After reading the above explanation, in short we can say that Muslims in 9:5 are allowed to kill all Non-Muslims until they make Arabia a perfect Dar-ul-Islam. Muslims are allowed to fight until none has right to worship Allah alone. In between if any Non-Muslim seeks protection, i.e. if he agrees to embrace Islam, and do all that what Muslims do, is safe.

Now how this addition of verse 9:6 makes its previous verse peaceful? Still the outline is same, to kill Non-Muslims and keep fighting until they either die or embrace Islam. So in Dr. Naik’s words, any sensible person will realize that Islam does not promote violence.

Rest he talks about Quran 9:6, which I have already explained in above part. So by no means Islam can be said a religion of peace, and even the top scholars of Islam makes a number of mistakes and errors while trying to prove Islam to be religion of peace. Islam was, is and ever be the most intolerant religion, which always promotes violence.

Objections to the Creationism of the Bible

creation

Objections to the Creationism of the Bible

The whole edifice of Christian theology of Salvation finds it’s origins in the Biblical account of creation and the subsequent fall of man — necessitating the final salvation through Jesus Christ. So we begin our critique with this myth. The fundamentalists would have us believe that God created the world from nothing (ex nihilo). The world was created according to Genesis in 6 days, then God tired from his labour and took rest on the seventh day, which was consecrated as a holy day. (The original day was Saturday which Emperor Constantine changed to Sunday). If this is accepted as a Myth — meaning a description which explains an inexplicable Truth, then there is no problem. When it is presented as historic and cosmological fact then some questions call for answers. The first major problem that faces us with the story of creation is that there are two distinct and Mutually contradictory accounts.

Genesis 1; 1-31

The earth is formless and void — water is in a state of chaos.

Day 1. God creates the light through speech and separates it from darkness, calls light day and darkness night.

Day 2. Divides the waters upwards and downwards by the sky.

Day 3. Gathers the waters below the sky into the sea, and dry land (earth) appears. Creates vegetation.

Day 4. Creates sun, moon and stars. Day 5. Creates creatures of the sea and birds, and sea monsters (ta‘inim).

Day 6. Creates cattle and all earth creatures,then creates both male and female (Adam & Eve).

Day 7. Takes rest from His handiwork.

Genesis 2; 4-25

The earth is barren and dry

Step 1. A spring gushes out and waters the entire earth.

Step 2. God creates Adam from the dust.

Step 3. God plants a garden to the east — Eden, together with the tree of life and the tree of good & evil.

Step 4. God puts Adam in the garden to work as a gardener.

Step 5. Makes animals to be his companions so that he won’t be lonely. He brings each one to Adam to name it.

Step 6. Adam still has no helper and so God creates Eve from his rib.

Objection 1. The creation ex nihilo?

There is no definite statement that the world was created from nothing. The first verse “ln the beginning God created heaven and earth” is a statement introducing a subject about to be taught ie. the creation of heaven and earth. There was either a pre-existent chaos in which earth and water and sky were all combined and undifferentiated or the first thing that God did was to create a chaos and then set about sorting it out.

Objection 2. Day & Night without the Sun?

God separates light from darkness and calls the light Day and the darkness Night. (Genesis 1;4) Then three days later he creates the sun.(Genesis 1;16) How is it possible for day to exist without the sun? Every school child knows that the day and night are created by the movement of the earth. The Fundamentalist will perform all kinds of exegetical gymnastics to get out of this quandary. Saying that the Day referred to is not an actual day, and the Night is not an actual night — none of which is borne out by the text which uses the words in a simple and straight forward manner, affirming that day and night were alternating with each other.

Objection 3. Canopy of the sky?

According to Genesis 1; 6-8 God separates the waters by means of the canopy of the sky. There is water below which is the sea and there is another body of water above the sky. Seeing that water is a physical substance this canopy too must be a physical substance. Yet millions of people have flown in aircraft above the clouds, space ships and satellites have regularly been sent into space yet never has there been any report of vast bodies of water beyond the sky! Nor a canopy that has been pierced.

Objection 4. Creation of Man

We are told that God created animals first and then followed with the creation of man (Adam) and woman (Eve) at the same time. We are then told that he first created Adam, then he created the animals to be companions to him. When this does not alleviate Adam’s loneliness he takes a rib and creates woman (Eve) to be his companion. An evangelical friend of mine understood the second account to be an elaboration of the first account. But he still could not adequately explain how the animals were created before Adam and then again after him.

Objection 5. Human-like Activities of God.

Genesis 2; 8 tells us that God then took to gardening and planted a garden in the east called Eden. He then gave Adam and Eve to live in the garden. In the cool of the evening He used to stroll about in the garden4alking to himself (Genesis 3;8). Where Adam and Eve hide themselves from him, he couldn’t find them and called out to them(Genesis 3;9). He then interrogates them about their indiscreet behaviour and curses them. This episode clearly demonstrates that God is very much a physical being with physical limitations and is not yet omniscient. If the East spoken of is a geographic east why is it that the garden of Eden has never been found? If it is acknowledged by our Fundamentalist friend to be spiritual realm, then surely the account cannot be historic! History pertains to the realm of scientific investigation not to the realm of mythological speculation! The two views are incompatible. One Evangelical that I was discussing this subject with told me that the garden had been destroyed in the flood! Tree of life and all! (There is no indication of this in the Bible to my knowledge!)

Objection 6. The existence of other Peoples

Adam and Eve had two sons — Qayn and Hevel, Qayn killed Hevel, God then inquires from Qayn what has happened to his brother (Gen. 4;10) In the dialogue that follows Qayn expresses fear that he will be victimized and the Lord acknowledging the reality of his fear promises to protect him (Gen. 4; 15).Qayn then departs to the land of Nod where he marries and has children (Genesis 4; 16). It seems like the creator suddenly has a memory lapse, the entire population of the earth is three; Adam, Eve and Qayn, so who does Qayn fear and from whom will God protect him? Where did those people in the land of Nod come from? Who made them? If this is an historical account we must come to the logical conclusion that other creators were at work oblivious of each other’s agendas!

Objection 7. Lifespan exceeding 800 years

We then have a genealogical table of Adam’s descendants all whom live not less than 800 years! Seeing that a year has always been exactly 12 months except in a leap year it is impossible to accept that our pre-flood ancestors actually lived for 800 + years!

Objection 8. God’s lack of knowledge

The people began building a tower to ascend to heaven (Gen 11;4) God (elohim) came down from heaven to see what they were doing (Gen 11;5) He became worried because nothing would prevent them from doing what they have imagined to do (Gen 11;6) God (elohim) then says “let us divide their languages so that they will become confused and their work will be obstructed” (Gen 11;7) From this “historical” account we learn that God lives up in the sky beyond the clouds, his vision is limited so he cannot see clearly from were he is. He is compelled to descend from the sky to observe what the people are doing. He becomes worried because they can and will reach heaven if they continue building and so he and his colleagues (“let us“) divide the languages, cause confusion and so foil the plot by humans to ascend to heaven!!