Another Quranic Mess: Shameless Claims to Eloquence or Shirk?

The Quran claims to be perfect, sufficient, complete, fully detailed, the best explanation of itself, the best saying to ever exist.

 

Below is another example of the state the Quran leaves its reader in, a state of total confusion and ambiguous guess mustering! 

 

Several cases where the referent cannot be identified and implications of Shirk are actually possible because of the “glamorous” mess masterful Quran leaves its reader in. 

 

Shirk Case No. 1

Supposedly the Quran affirms the existence of Abraham (which in reality no historian or archeologist has found evidence of) and records a dubious tale similar to that of the Bible:

• And (We also saved) Abraham: behold, he said to his people, "Serve God and fear Him: that will be best for you - If ye understand! "For ye do worship idols besides God, and ye invent falsehood. The things that ye worship besides God have no power to give you sustenance: then seek ye sustenance from God, serve Him, and be grateful to Him: to Him will be your return. "And if ye reject (the Message), so did generations before you: and the duty of the apostle is only to preach publicly (and clearly)." See they not how God originates creation, then repeats it: truly that is easy for God. Say: "Travel through the earth and see how God did originate creation; so will God produce a later creation: for God has power over all things. "He punishes whom He pleases, and He grants Mercy to whom He pleases, and towards Him are ye turned. "Not on earth nor in heaven will ye be able (fleeing) to frustrate (his Plan), nor have ye, besides God, any protector or helper." Those who reject the Signs of God and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter), - it is they who shall despair of My Mercy: it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty. So naught was the answer of (Abraham's) people except that they said: "Slay him or burn him." But God did save him from the Fire. Verily in this are Signs for people who believe. And he said: "For you, ye have taken (for worship) idols besides God, out of mutual love and regard between yourselves in this life; but on the Day of Judgment ye shall disown each other and curse each other: and your abode will be the Fire, and ye shall have none to help." But Lut had faith in Him: He said: "I will leave home for the sake of my Lord: for He is Exalted in Might, and Wise." And We gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained among his progeny Prophethood and Revelation, and We granted him his reward in this life; and he was in the Hereafter (of the company) of the Righteous. Yusuf Ali 29:16-27

I will not be highlighting all of the various problems with these passages but here are a few important ones.

Firstly the story is relatively clear up until about verse 19:

• And (We also saved) Abraham: behold, he said to his people, "Serve God and fear Him: that will be best for you - If ye understand! "For ye do worship idols besides God, and ye invent falsehood. The things that ye worship besides God have no power to give you sustenance: then seek ye sustenance from God, serve Him, and be grateful to Him: to Him will be your return. "And if ye reject (the Message), so did generations before you: and the duty of the apostle is only to preach publicly (and clearly)." See they not how God originates creation, then repeats it: truly that is easy for God.

Then often as the Quran does an interjection is made, Allah commands Mohammed to “say” or recite something specifically to his people, his tribesmen. However the problem that follows is: When do Mohammed’s comments addressing his people stop and when does the story switch back to Abraham?

• 20 Say: "Travel through the earth and see how God did originate creation; so will God produce a later creation: for God has power over all things. "21 He punishes whom He pleases, and He grants Mercy to whom He pleases, and towards Him are ye turned.

These two verses seem to flow nicely and simply after these two verses you might think the story would then continue telling the tale of Abraham, but unfortunately due to the Qurans ambiguity it is impossible to tell who the following verses have speaking

Is Allah recording the words of Mohammed still reciting to his people, or has the narrative reverted back to Abraham speaking with his people?

• 22 “Not on earth nor in heaven will ye be able (fleeing) to frustrate (his Plan), nor have ye, besides God, any protector or helper." 23 Those who reject the Signs of God and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter), - it is they who shall despair of My Mercy: it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty.

Although my personal view is the first two verses after “say” end Mohammed’s words to his people, all of the commentators I have read have indicated that Mohammed is speaking up until verse 23. According to these scholars, verse 24 finally introduces Abraham back into the flow of the narrative:

• 24 So naught was the answer of (Abraham's) people except that they said: "Slay him or burn him." But God did save him from the Fire. Verily in this are Signs for people who believe

Several problems. Firstly Yusuf Ali, a notable translator has placed his quotation marks up until verse 22, indicating that Yusuf Ali believes Mohammed’s words cease being quoted by Allah after verse 22. Therefore Allah is reverting back to quoting Abraham in verse 23 or Allah is simply interjecting his own comments:

• 22 “Not on earth nor in heaven will ye be able (fleeing) to frustrate (his Plan), nor have ye, besides God, any protector or helper." (End of Quotation Marks) 23 Those who reject the Signs of God and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter), - it is they who shall despair of My Mercy: it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty.(Abraham’s Warning To His People) 24 So naught was the answer of (Abraham's) people except that they said: "Slay him or burn him." But God did save him from the Fire. Verily in this are Signs for people who believe.

Hilali and Khan translate verse 24:

• So nothing was the answer of [Ibrahim's (Abraham)] people except that they said: "Kill him or burn him." Then Allah saved him from the fire. Verily, in this are indeed signs for a people who believe.

As is common with the Quran, verse 24 actually doesn’t indicate who’s people are in question, contextually it could be Mohammed or Abraham or even God’s people, but the specific details of Allah saving Abraham from fire, rather than Mohammed (the content) has indicated the people must be those of Abraham as this event is never have thought to happened in the life of Mohammed. Yet really that is an argument from silence. It is also worth mentioning that Abraham is never said to have been saved from the fire and therefore it is unknown whether this actually happened, so the Quran could be talking about any person at this point.

The problem with the explanation provided by the commentators is with the discontinuity: “So nothing was the answer of his people”, but an answer to what? and to whom? and which people said nothing? Well unfortunately the verse makes no coherent sense unless Yusuf Ali is right and we assume verse 24 is actually addressing those who reject the signs of Allah mentioned in verse 23. The disbelievers rejected the signs of God, and answered with nothing, no faith, but rather wanted to kill Abraham, which indicates Abraham is the speaker in verse 23.

However if as the Commentators speculate verse 23 is actually not Abraham, but rather Allah or Allah quoting Mohammed addressing disbelievers in Mohammed’s time (Jews and Christians), then verse 24 makes no coherent sense whatsoever, it has no connection to the narrative, nor to verse 23. Why are people answering Abraham with nothing and threatening to kill him? Why is Abraham not clearly identified? Is another prophet such as Daniel being referenced in 24 since the narrative keeps referencing new persons? Why does this verse come out of the blue? Who is this verse about? And who is this following verse about?

• 25 And he said: "For you, ye have taken (for worship) idols besides God, out of mutual love and regard between yourselves in this life; but on the Day of Judgment ye shall disown each other and curse each other: and your abode will be the Fire, and ye shall have none to help."

Who is Lot said to believe in?

• 26 But Lut had faith in Him: He said: "I will leave home for the sake of my Lord: for He is Exalted in Might, and Wise."

The Quran certainly isn’t “clear” at all, nor is it a good explanation or a detailed account. Far from containing superior masterful eloquence, it seems hard to make heads or tails out of even a few verses.

If we accept the solution that verse 24 does have a context deriving from verse 23, and therefore the Quran is not a juggled, mixed up book then Abraham is certainly speaking to his people in verse 23 which creates even further problems:

• 23 Those who reject the Signs of God and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter), - it is they who shall despair of My Mercy: it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty.

Here Abraham correctly refers to God in the third person: “Those who reject the Signs of God and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter),” However the next part of the verse Abraham says: “it is they who shall despair of My Mercy: it is they who will (suffer) a most grievous Penalty.”Abraham clearly claims to have the attributes that belong to God alone, mercy and punishment and by implication the responsibility of the great Judgment seat of God.

Since Muslims cannot accept Abrahamic Shirk, we then conclude they must accept the conclusion that verse 24 has no context, and the Quran is scattered, juggled and incoherent, disproving the Quranic assertion of divine eloquence.

Shirk Case No. 2

Finally in continuing disproving the eloquence of the Quran, we find another example of Shirk by a Muslim Prophet in the very same passages we’ve been looking at. Assuming the Muslims are right and Abraham is shown to be the reintroduced in 24, the Quran goes on to say:

• 25 And he (Abraham) said: "For you, ye have taken (for worship) idols besides God, out of mutual love and regard between yourselves in this life; but on the Day of Judgment ye shall disown each other and curse each other: and your abode will be the Fire, and ye shall have none to help."26 But Lut had faith in Him: He said: "I will leave home for the sake of my Lord: for He is Exalted in Might, and Wise." Yusuf Ali 29:25-26

What is of interesting note is the translations provided by Muslim translators in order to cover up the real meaning of verse 26.

In Yusuf Ali’s translation provided here, “Lut had faith in him: He Said” could either refer to Lot speaking, or Abraham speaking. The most obvious and natural and fluent reading is to assume the text is quoting Lot, but why would Muslims not want that to be the case? If we use Yusuf Ali’s translation Lot then goes on to say “I will leave my home for the sake of my Lord”, we have no bizarre theological difficulties. However here is what happens if we use other translations:

1. And Lut believed in Him, and he said: I am fleeing to my Lord, surely He is the Mighty, the Wise. Shakir
2. And Lot believed in him, and Abraham said, `I flee unto my Lord; surely, HE is the Mighty, the Wise.' Sher Ali
3. Lot believed with him and said, "I am emigrating to my Lord. He is the Almighty, the Most Wise." Khalifa

All of these translations presuppose Lot is leaving his home and moving in order to be with his Lord, to live with his Lord. Clearly Lot’s belief in Abraham and his message had caused him to emigrate to the location of his Lord Abraham, The Mighty, the Wise.

Some obscured translation have felt so difficult about the implications of the Arabic, that the necessity to add in brackets and even without brackets the referent as “Abraham” making the quotation was essential:

• So Lout (Lot) believed in him [Ibrahim's (Abraham) Message of Islamic Monotheism]. He [Ibrahim (Abraham)] said: "I will emigrate for the sake of my Lord. Verily, He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." Hilali-Khan
• And Lot believed in him, and Abraham said, `I flee unto my Lord; surely, HE is the Mighty, the Wise.' Sher Ali

The most natural translation of the first half of the verse: “Lot believed in Him, and said(waqala)” clearly attributes the quotation that follows to Lot, which clearly teaches Lot will leave his home in order to live with his Lord, who in the context is the object of Lots new belief, namely Abraham.

The negative implications of such an astounding claim to attribute Abraham as his Lord, and to attribute Abraham with two attributes that belong to God alone has caused a tremendous bias in translating the passage.

Conclussion

A direct contradiction of Islamic Tawheed, yet it was not uncommon in the Bible for Abraham to be addressed as “my lord”, and thus not unthinkable for the clumsy illiterate pirate spuriously plagiarizing from dubious biblical legends to make the mistake of copying this theme without realizing the major affect and error it would have and the complete contradictory nature it would have in exposing Tawheed Ar Rububiyya and Tawheed Al Asma was Sifa

In conclusion the Quran certainly isn't clear nor is it eloquent nor does it have a stamp or signature of divinity let alone a verbatim divine recital. The Quran if not fixed up by commentaries and scholars and authentic reports is a polytheistic mess. If Allah had simply made his book clear, only making one referent possible, then there would be no possible shirk.