Contradictions in the Qu'ran and Muslim Theology
Some Contradictions:
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (Submission to God), Never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost all Spiritual good.” (Surah III. 85)
We are told in Surah 3:85, that those who desire a religon OTHER THAN ISLAM will not be accepted, and that he will be in the ranks of those who have lost all Spiritual good (Hell).
Yet the Jewish people and the Christians would not embrace the religion of Islam. But what does the Quran say about these people? Surah 2:62 seems to contradict Surah 3:85.
“Those who believe (in the Qur'an) and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), And the Christians and the Sabians- Any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord: On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Surah II. 62)
We must realize that the words in the parenthesis are added words, and do not exist in the Qur'an. So what the Qur'an literally says here is “Those who believe, and those who follow the Jewish, and the Christians...” So we see that in Sura 3:85, unless one follows the religion of Islam, he will not be accepted of the Muslim god. Yet in Sura 2:62, we see that the Christians are going to be accepted by the Muslim god. But wait! There is another passage that says that Christians have been estranged from the Muslim god:
“From those too, who call themselves Christians, we did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them, so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the Day of Judgement. And soon will God show them what it is they have done.” (Surah 5: 15)
Remember that Sura 2:62 says those who follow the Jewish faith shall have their reward with the Lord. But Surah 5:67 out right condemns them:
“The Jews say “God's hand is tied up.” Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blashemy they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched; He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh to thee from God increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgement. Every time they kindle the fire of war, God doth extinguish it; but they ever strive to do mischief on earth. And God loveth not those who do mischief.”
Here we see that the Jews who were said to be rewarded with their Lord in Surah 2:62 are now cursed.
Yusef Ali, a Muslim theologian, in his commentary on this verse says:
“Cf. V. 15, where the eternal warring of the Christians sects, amongst themselves and against the Jews is referred to. The reference is to the whole of the people of the book, Jews and Christians, their internal squabbles and their external disputes, quarrels and wars.”
Obviously Ali saw the contradictions between the scriptures, and he tried to make it right in his commentary. The problem with that is that he is going out on a limb, by contradicting what the Qur'an itself says about the Jews and the Christians in Surah 5:54 - that they are friends and protectors of each other:
"O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors:They are but friends and protectors of each other. And he amongst you that turns to them for friendship is of them. Verily God guideth not a people unjust" (Surah 5:54)
So Yusef Ali, in his noble attempt to bring some clarity to the ever increasing muddle of contradictions we are finding here, is inadvertantly contradicting the very book which he is attempting to defend. What can we say, except, that he is building his house on a foundation of sand, and the storms of the Truth that is in the Most High God's Holy Book, the Bible, are about to take this straw house of Yusef Ali's defense down! (Matt. 7:24-27).
Yusef Ali also tries to do a similar thing in the Qur'an in Sura 3:85, (see above) by adding in parenthesis (“submission to God”) when it speaks of Islam.
His note says “The Muslim position is clear: The Muslim does not claim to have a religion peculiar to himself. In its view all religion is one, for the Truth is one. It was the religion preached by the earlier prophets. It is the truth taught by all inspired books. In essence, it amounts to a consciousness of the Will of God and a joyful submission to that will and plan....”
This is a misrepresentation of the religion of Islam.
Islam IS a religion which is peculiar to the Muslim himself.
TO FOLLOW ISLAM, ONE NEEDS TO OBEY MUHAMMAD:
“O ye who believe! Obey Allah and his messenger and turn not away from him while you hear.” (Surah VIII.20).
“And obey Allah and the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy” (Surah III.131).
“Say: obey Allah and the messenger; but if they turn back, Allah surely loves not disbelievers.” (Surah III.30)
“And whosoever obeys Allah and his messenger, he will admit him to the gardens wherein flow rivers, to abide in them. And this is the great achievment. And whoever disobeys Allah and his messenger and goes beyond his limits, he will make him enter fire to abide in it, and for him is an abasing chastisment.” (Surah IV.13,14).
`And whatever the messenger gives you, accept it, and whatever he forbids you abstain (therefrom).” (Surah LIX.7)
Yet the Christian adheres to this Truth:
Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, No man can come to the Father but by me.”
To follow Christianity, one needs to obey Jesus Christ, and NOT Muhammad! Indeed, to inherit eternal life, one needs to be born from above. As many as receive Jesus Christ, to them He gives the right to inherit eternal life. At least the Bible is True and consistant in it's claims.
In the above quoted surahs, Muhammed is exalting himself to the same status as that of Christ, by inference declaring that he himself is the way to God, thus declaring that Jesus Christ was a liar. Yet, another contradiction arises:
In Sura 3:84, we read: :”Say: “We believe in God, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and in the books given to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to God do we bow our will (in Islam.)”
The Muslim cannot adhere to this surah in truth, because if they believed in the books given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord, Muslims would not reject the teachings of the Bible. The teachings of the Bible and those of the Qur'an are not compatible with each other. Let God be true and every man a liar.
On the next page, I will show the reader where the Bible and the Qur'an are in direct opposition to each other, and in effect, where the Qur'an does not speak the truth in Sura 3:84.
MORE CONTRADICTIONS IN THE QUR'AN
In Sura XI: 42-43, we read that one of Noah's sons was drowned. Yet Surah XXI:76 says:
"(Remember) Noah, when he cried (to Us) aforetime: we Listened to his (prayer) and delivered him and his family from great distress.
In Sura 4:138, we read: “To the hypocrites give the glad tidings that there is for them (But) a grievous penalty..”
In Sura 2:256, “Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand hold, that never breaks. And God knoweth and heareth all things.”
Now in Sura 47:4, we read” Therefore when ye meet the unbelievers in fight, smite at their necks; at length, when you have thouroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly on them; there after is the time for either generosity or ransom; until the war lays down it's burdens...”
A couple of points are to be made here. Historically, the religion of Islam spread through jihad, wars of conquest fought by the Muhammedeans in the name of Allah, and thus declared to be “Holy wars”. But while the Qur'an in several places decries materialism and riches, this “holy war” is seen as an opportunity for revenue through the paying of ransoms.
Also, notice that it speaks of subduing the enemy, which implies submission, which Islam claims to mean. So we see that contrary to the passage in Sura 2:256, which says there must be no compulsion in religion, 47:4 teaches compulsion. It seems we are dealing with some hypocrisy here within the very pages of the Qur'an. What is the penalty?
Again, we read in Surah 9:29:
“Fight those who believe not in God [here actually meant to read “Allah”] nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which had been forbidden by God and his Apostle [every muslim would acknowledge this to be Muhammed], nor acknowledge the religion of truth [Islam], (even if they are ) of the people of the book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.”
“Jizya”: According to Yusef Ali's comment on this verse: “the root meaning is compensation. The derived meaning, which became the technical meaning, was a poll tax levied from those who did not accept Islam, but were willing to live under the protection of Islam, and were tacitly willing to submit to its ideals being enforced in the Muslim state, saving only their personal liberty of conscience as regarded themselves...”
If you submitted to Islam and it's ideals, however, the implication is that you could be free from the tax. This appears to be compulsion. If they did not acknowledge the truth of Islam, there would be a holy war against them, until they submitted.
What would happen if a person refused to pay the tax?
There is enough proof from within the Qur'an that Islam teaches the spreading of it's religion through compulsion.
If someone joins a religion through compulsion (“Submit or die”; or “submit or pay taxes”), does that not in itself encourage hypocrisy? So according to Sura 4:138, (see above) those loyal Mujadeen who are “spreading Islam” through compulsion by the point of the sword are causing people to be condemned to a grievous penalty...one can only assume that this penalty is hell.
Jesus said, speaking to the religious leaders of his day: ”Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” It seems this charge could be made against these who adhere to these teachings of Islam, also.
MUHAMMAD'S COMMUNICATION WITH JINNS
Sura 72 is a section in which Muhammad is said to have recieved a visitation from “Jinns,” better known in English as demons. The Dictionary of Living religions defines Jinn as literally meaning demons in Arabic.
Sura 37.158 says the Jinns know quite well that thay have to appear before Allah's judgement seat.
In Sura 18:50, we learn that Iblis (Satan) was one of the Jinns:
“Behold!We said to the angels bow down to Adam”: they bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinns, and he broke the command of his Lord. Will ye then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than me? And they are enemies to you! Evil would be the exchange for the wrong doers. I called them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor even their own creation: nor is it for me to take as helpers such as lead men astray! One day he will say “call on those whom ye thought to be my partners”, and they will call on them, but they will not listen to them; and we shall make for them a place of common perdition.”
Several points must be made here:
We see that Satan (Iblis) was one of the Jinns, and that they are enemies to those who believe. The Bible, The Holy Word of the Most High God says That Satan is the father of all lies. We are not to take him or his “progeny”-fellow jinns- as protectors because they are the enemies of mankind.
But we see that in Sura 72.11, that Muhammad is being told by the cohorts of the father of lies that there are some demons who are righteous.
In Sura 72:1, we see that a company of Jinns Listened to the Qur'an and gave thier stamp of approval of the Qur'an.
They said, "We have really heard a wonderful Recital!"
This is not surprising to read, since we see that the Qur'an teaches in several places against the Sonship of Jesus Christ to the Father (ie., Sura 19:35). Any thing that would hinder a person from knowing the Truth of Who Jesus Christ is would be a welcome recital to a demon's ears. The Bible warns that it is "anti Christ" to deny the Son and the Father.
I Jn 2:22-23
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (KJV)
Sura 19:35 SAYS:
It is not befitting to the majesty of God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter, he only says to it, "be" and it is".
We can see the anti-Christ spirit behind these words. Even the telling of Jesus' birth is not in line with the Biblical account. In the Qur'an, we are told that Mary gave birth to Jesus at the trunk of a palm tree, rather than a stable in Bethlehem. Sura 19:21-27. This is entirely in contradiction to the Biblical Gospel accounts, which, incidently, were written 600-plus years BEFORE the Qur'an was written.
THIS IS MORE PROOF THAT THE STATEMENT IN THE QURAN IN SURA 3:84 IS NOT TRUE.
Once again, in Sura 3:84, we read: :”Say: “We believe in God, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and in the books given to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to God do we bow our will (in Islam.)”
In the light of this Sura, those who profess to accept the Quran as truth, would do well to consider the following Biblical verse:
Gal 1:6-9
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.(KJV)
Of course, a Muslim wouldn't consider that passage of Scripture, because they would have to admit that Jesus Christ Is everything that the Qur'an is against. The Truth of the matter is that Muhammad and the Qur'an were decidedly anti-christ. Those who reject the True Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ are accursed. The only remedy is for them to repent, and turn to the True and Living God, Who Ordained Jesus Christ to be the One that leads to Eternal Life.
In Sura 18:51, after Allah denounced Satan and the Jinns, he says “Nor is it for me to take as helpers such as lead men astray!”
Yet in Sura 72:16, the Jinns are helping Allah through conveying his message to Muhammad. (“And God's message is:”)
In Sura 18: 50, The angels were told (by Allah) to bow down to Adam. Yet throughout the Holy Word of the Most High God (the Bible), we can see where no one was to be worshipped except God. (See Deu.5:6-10 then Romans 1, where we can see that God gave men up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, and who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever more. -Rom.1:24-25. In Revelation 19:10, we see John being admonished not to worship the angel, but to worship God.).
No one is to be worshipped but God, and this is where the religion of Islam stumbles. It was not Adam, the man, who the angels were to worship; it was Jesus, the Only begotten Son of God, whom the angels were to worship.
Heb.1:5-6.
“For unto which of the angels said He at any time, “Thou art my Son, this day I have begotten Thee.”? And again, “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”? And again, when he bringeth the first begotten in to the world, He saith, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
The Muslim, through his lack of understanding might point to this as proof that God had the angels worship a man, but let's consider who this One is. Adam never created anything. Only God creates.
Colossians 1:16 says of Jesus: “All things were created by Him and for Him.”
In John 1:1-14; we read a passage of Scripture, which declares that all things were created by Him (the Word), and without him was not anything made that was made, (vs.3).
Again, Hebrews 3:1-6 reads thus:
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is built by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses was verily faithful in all His house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”
It is easy to see why the Angels are to worship Him. The Creator alone is worthy of worship. God didn't create Adam to be worshipped. Only He, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is to be worshipped.
In Surah 3: 55, we read an interesting passage for the Muslim to consider:
"Behold! God said: O Jesus! I will take thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return to me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute."
According to the Qur'an, we see that Allah said that those who follow Jesus are superior to those who reject faith in Him.
The Muslim rejects faith in Jesus. According to the Qur'an, then, it would seem that the Christian is superior to the Muslim. But no sincere Christian would ever claim that superiority to anyone. We are taught to humble ourselves before God and men, and to follow peace with all men.
Surah 3: 45 says concerning Jesus,
"And God will teach him the Book [Bible] and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel."
Once again, in Sura 3:84, we read: :”Say: “We believe in God, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and in the books given to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to God do we bow our will (in Islam.)”
But in several places, we see where the Quran contradicts the teaching of the Bible.
At any rate, Surah 2:2 which says “This is the scripture whereof there is no doubt”, is a mighty big claim, considering the passages we have dealt with here which casts a lot of doubt as to the truth of the Qur'an. But we will discuss more on the Qur'an later. For now, let us go to the next page, and look at some contrasts between Christianity and Islam.
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