UI – Part 464 – Is the Quran True?

If assertions in the Quran are blatantly not true, does that argue that the entire Scripture is untrue.  That is certainly a possibility.

Two Claims Debunked

Let’s address two claims.

(1) First that Jesus was not crucified:

“And their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but it appeared so to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.” (Qur’an 4:157)

There is not just one testimony, however there are hundreds, if not thousands, books also, recorded, written, that tell of Christ’s death on the cross.  He was crucified.  This is not just the Bible.  From stories of Pontius Pilate, the Roman military representative in Jerusalem who wanted to free Jesus.  Caiaphas and his cabal shouted ‘no’ and insisted he be killed. He organized the plot to kill Jesus.  You can be certain he was an observer and would have been alert to any devious effort to substitute another in place of Jesus.  Pilate not wanting a riot proceeded with their request.  Hundreds witnessed the event, and among them were many who knew Jesus, having met him, having seen him preaching, who were in the audience at Golgotha to witness his torturous execution. Jesus mother, Mary, was in the crowd.  The guards who stood by until he succumbed to the weight of his own body crushing his lungs to the point he could not longer breathe knew who they were punishing.  One gave Jesus vinegar when he was thirsty.  One was charged to pierce his side as proof he was dead.

You can be certain Caiaphas checked on the dead body as insurance. And those that prepared the body for interment knew who Jesus was as well. The Romans responsible for his death, at the peril of their own demise, checked the body as it was removed from the cross to be readied for burial to report the outcome and know for themselves. Christ was crucified, on the cross, he died, never faked, and was buried. The Quran accounting is mis-information. In today’s parlance it is ‘fake news.’

(2) Second that Jesus is not God, denying the divine nature of Isa (Arab for Jesus):

The Quran suggests Jesus told Allah himself, denying the fact he said to his disciples (reported in the Bible) he was ‘God.’  The disciples were faithful Muslims by that account (Sura 3:52)(Sura 5:111), a period over 600 years before Muhammad was even born. Faithful because the text says they were pure of heart, as companions of Jesus in white clothes.  “And when Allah will say, ‘O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, “Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?”‘ He (Jesus) will say, “‘Exalted are you! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, you would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within yourself. Indeed, it is you who are knower of the unseen.'” (Qur’an 5:116)

Muhammad was mortal. He could not comprehend anyone, any human, could be God, supernatural, so applying that logic to Jesus, he was not God. Then Allah confirmed his suspicions. Muhammad thought of himself as a Prophet, on a parallel with Biblical Prophets. He claimed he was to be the last. If he could have been divine, he might have tried, but being crucified as punishment for the evil in his people, substituting himself for their crimes against Allah, was not in his nature. He preferred to kill them himself, or command others to do so.

From Khadija’s  (Khadijah was Muhammad’s first wife, and only, until she died) cousin (Warraqh) Muhammad was aware of Old and New Testament facts, Jesus and the Gospels. He chose to believe what he preferred and recalled what he could. The thought of God-incarnate, the man-God, was in conflict with his plan. The story of God’s saving Grace and having faith in Christ to achieve salvation did not agree with the works program, requirements to earn Allah’s forgiveness, Muhammad outlined. So the Quran makes a record of more ‘fake news’ useful for Muhammad’s purposes. It would be as if Trump was Muhammad and wrote his own Scripture. Because Muhammad said it was true and had it memorized by others or recorded it is true?  Not so.

More Distortions

More from Sura 5.

It is interesting, as an added note to the Quran’s ‘fake news,’ is that the Scripture of Islam suggests there is not just one people, thus not only Muslims, there are others.  The Quran states there is more than one way of believing. In Sura 5:48, “For everyone of you we have appointed a law and a way.   And if Allah had pleased He would have made you a single people….So vie one with another in virtuous deeds….”  Different laws are given to different Nations in accordance with their requirements (such as common law).

What is also recognized is Free Will.  Humans are higher in the chain of living things that all else, having discretionary powers, the gift of intellect and discernment, and can choose to follow one path or another.  Allah makes note, if you accept the Quran, that if man did not have Free Will there would be but one, a single, nature for every human. Free Will is a positive quality of the human in that regard. So if Allah wanted a single people, he would have made it so. We are not one nation, borderless, not just Islam, thus the voices of Imam’s and Mullah’s and would-be Caliphs that the world is one, or to be one, All for Allah, is wrong even by the Scripture of Islam.

Are you as confused as I am then?  Was the need for others, by Muhammad’s standards, required for identity purposes.  Having someone to hate as a target, those other than Islamic, gave Muhammad and his following a sense of unity; couple that with demanding loyalty and the evolution of apostasy laws, death for those who leave Muhammad’s ideological camp, and Islam was founded.

The Quran goes on to say Allah recognizes man’s Free Will, but informs the followers that if they “turn away” from Islam, then “Allah desires to afflict them for some of their sins.”  So much for Free Will!  So if you or I choose the wrong path, not Islam, we are considered ignorant (Sura 5:50).

The text continues to inform that making a friend of a Christian or a Jew is wrong.  They can be friends of each other (they are tolerant), but not of a Muslim (that is intolerance) (Sura 5:51).  Non-Muslims are called “losers” (Sura 5:53).

Then comes the Apostasy Law, “should anyone of you turn back from his religion (Islam), then Allah will bring a people, whom He loves and who love him (the devout Muslim),…mighty against the disbelievers, striving hard (jihad)…and not fearing any censure of any censurer.”  This seems to give the sword to behead the apostates to humans, only, however, those who are Muslims, doing what Allah cannot do on earth.

God’s punishment (thinking here the biblical true God) takes place on Judgment Day, not everyday at the hands of humans.  Man is created in God’s image, yes, but they are not God!  Not the case in Islam.  And for those who commit such crimes, killing humans (in the name of Allah), are not to be punished (censured). Thus for a Muslim to kill another human being that is not a Muslim, if in service or with respect to Islam, there is a ‘get out of jail free’ card – at least in Islamaland.

Sura 5 is an interesting read if you want to understand the extent to which Islam despises non-believers and calls upon all Muslims to commit Jihad. Non-Muslims are referred to as “apes and swine” (Sura 5:60).  Anyone who finds fault with a Muslim because they believe in Allah, whether it makes sense or not, does not matter (Sura 5:59). Rabbi’s and lawyers are condemned when speaking against Islam. The verses pump up the Muslims to thinking anything spoken by a scholar of biblical law is ‘evil.’ (Sura 5:62).

Accepting the ‘truth’ of the Quran is a requirement.  There is no debate that the ‘truth’ to which the Quran refers is Muhammad’s truth (as the author).  When I say ‘no debate,’ it is not open to objective conversation or discussion. Not even when there are inconsistencies, or abrogation (changes in commands once stated altered, or reversed, subsequently).   It does more for the self-proclaimed prophet and his commanders than for the people as a whole.  At the time this documentation came about (7th Century) people felt strongly about the supernatural.  God was truth, but then they were made to accept god as Allah and the truth was as Muhammad told them. They were vulnerable, gullible and/or persuaded by the sword of Muhammad.  No questions were allowed. Accept the tenet of Islam as it is, or be punished.

The text of the Quran conveniently refers to the Bible, when God is mentioned, as Allah. So when Jesus says to the people of Israel they are to serve God, the Quran informs its adherents they were told (many hundreds of years before Muhammad) to serve Allah. Would that be considered ‘a convenient truth,’ according to Al Gore?  But if Jesus says to the people of Israel he is God, well that cannot be true. So the Quran has Jesus speak to Allah, which Muhammad never did, to say he did not say what the Bible said he said.

We also have in Sura 5 denial of the Trinity, “they disbelieve who say: Allah is the third of the three.  And there is no God but one God (Allah). And if they desist not from what they say, a painful chastisement (punishment – to include death) will surely befall such of them as disbelieve.” Referring to Sura 5:73.  Again – so much for other paths, free will, and tolerance.

A distortion that is most clear is when the Quran informs its readers that the Trinity is ‘father, Son and Mary,’ that is God, Jesus, and Jesus’ mother. It is a well know fact that the Trinity, by all manner of scholarship, is the Father (God), Son (Jesus or God incarnate), and the Holy Spirit (God indwelling in believers).  It is all God, in three forms, the reference intended so believers know God, have a relationship with God (he came to live as man among humans), and feel his presence in them.  The term ‘Trinity’ came from religious scholars and thinkers as they studied the Bible and Biblical history.  It is used to explained the Oneness of God, as he is, can be, and lives within the faithful.  It is not directly referred to in the Bible itself as ‘trinity.’

Muslims in Trouble for Thinking

A warning to Muslims appears in Sura 5:101. It instructs Muslims to not ask questions to which the answers ‘would give you trouble.’ That ‘trouble’ for them is an alternative ‘truth’ that indeed for many non-Muslims, such as Jews and Christians, is ‘Truth.’  The Word of God, the Bible is true; Christ’s resurrection confirmed it to be so. If the answers lead a Muslim to convert out of Islam this verse should give them pause, along with the thought that Muhammad would, at the time for certain, have them killed.  A Muslim is not supposed to choose his own path.  However that path may have already been chosen by God’s Sovereign Grace and the Muslim forced to deny the Holy Spirit that dwells in him/her. Saying “No, No No!” as to independent thinking is repeated with frequency. If the brain goes astray, the heart feels God’s Love, the head may be removed and tossed aside. I refer you to the Apostasy Law mentioned previously.

Miracles

Sura 5:110 recognized Jesus miracles, speaking ‘to the people in the cradle and in old age, breathing life into a bird, healing the blind, healing the leprous, raising the dead,’ while in the same verse mentioning the ‘Holy Spirit’ strengthening Jesus.  Input from God into Jesus is accepted herein. There is no mention of Muhammad’s miracles. Why? You know the answer.

Quran – True or False

Who am I to state unequivocally that the Quran is not true?

As a Christian I can only share what I believe.  That way readers can understand Islam from a different perspective.  My writing is not intended to be Islamophobic.  In fact if I were a Muslim, knowing what I know, my Islamophobia would be real as I would fear Islam and the death I would face if I left for another religion or ideology. If filled with the Holy Spirit and living in Islamaland, born a Muslim, the options are made clear. Live for God, or die for Allah at the hands of any Muslim.  That is fear of Islam.

Readers can also understand Christianity; if they are willing to read, think, discuss, and debate (with an open mind).  The Bible is the primary document needed. Is there but one path to a life eternal?  Some believe, as atheists, there is no path.  You die and that’s all there is.  There are the Universalists that believe God so loves the world and everyone in it that all, despite their evil nature, will be saved.  Very inclusive.  For the Universalist there is no eternal Hell.  But anyone can discuss, ask questions, explore and study the Bible. Along the way they may discover they are indeed purposed by God. Then the transformation will begin.

There are those that do not embrace the concept of Original Sin.  After the Fall in the garden of Eden, humans are born inherently sinful due to Adam’s act of disobedience to God, sin a part of human nature as a result.  To be equal, Eve also disobeyed. Women are human, and by God’s standard, from the Bible all humans, men and women, are equal in God’s eyes, as we are all born in the ‘image of God.’ Muslims do not accept Original Sin, but they all sin.  Show me one Muslim without sin, especially those so righteous they can act on Allah’s behalf and kill non-believers, even innocent Muslims that get in the way. The Muslim that stones men and women for adultery, as sinners, should take the stones and crush their own skulls if they are so right in what they do in punishing others for their crimes (sins) against Allah (or the textural demands as dictated by Muhammad).

Remember that the Quran was compiled after Muhammad’s death from what he claimed he memorized and shared with his companions, who also memorized and had to remember and have what they remembered recorded before their death.  Muhammad received the Quran via an intermediary Gabriel who was the mouthpiece for Allah while Muhammad was taking respite in caves around Mecca and Medina. During his respite Muhammad may have been consuming a local product, Khat, to enhance his relaxation. It may have relaxed his mind too opening it to a khalidascope of colors and images. Not all of  Muhammad’s Companions survived in time to share what they remembered. Thus the Quran is incomplete.  If there is a whole story it is not in the Quran.

Here is an interesting tidbit to consider.  Allah never appeared to Muhammad,  Yet the verse mentioned earlier in this blog has Jesus (Isa) speaking with Allah, mentioning he was not God.  So Jesus had a more direct relationship with Allah than Muhammad.  Jesus is the ‘I am,’ a claim the Quran denies. He is God, and thus able to speak with Allah, if he were God, directly.

There are many more claims put forward in the Quran that can be challenged.  With a rational mind such challenges leave Islam in the lurch, making statements that clearly lack a historical perspective, and reflect ignorance and/or denial of the truth.

There is one truth that can be ascribed to the Quran.  It was a reflection of Muhammad.  It may be his words, his desires, his thinking recorded, peppered as well with wants and thoughts from Caliph’s after he died.  The evil desires Muhammad had are put forth in the Quran, in direct opposition to the Bible’s statement in 1 Peter 1:14, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”  The Quran writes that Allah was the best of deceivers.  Deception is to trick, cheat, bluff and lie.  However the Bible informs us, referring to Jesus, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). Muhammad was always sinful. His nature was evil.

You Decide

You can and should decide for yourself, objectively. Read the Bible.  Read other historical evidence.  Explore history.  Is the Quran true?  Or are Muslims being duped, even forced to remain a Muslim. A Muslim needs to reflect upon his heart and may realize they too have been filled with God’s Spirit, saved by what God has done, not what they are required to do according to the Quran.

Grace and Peace