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PDF versionBy Mumin Salih
[The following article points to the fact that there are at least two levels of problematic issues in the Qur'an regarding contradictions.
The Author does not say it flat out, but we could add something alluding to the fact that there are at least two kinds of contradictions in the Qur'an. One being a clear contradiction where there is no escape (Like Allah saying he created the earth first then the skies, and saying in another part of the Qur'an the opposite). Second being an apparent difficulty that is most probably a contradiction, but one may have to wait further analysis to ascertain the location of such a contradiction (Mumin Salih gives examples of this in his article). FFI is with the critics, and in support of publishing all Qur'anic contradictions and difficulties. The Qur'an must be scrutinized analytically to expose all of its contradictions. Such a project is highly needed, and will only serve to show that no rational person should believe the claims of such a book called "the Qur'an"]
The Editors
There is nothing new about the existence of contradictions in the Quran. Both Muslim scholars and former Muslims are aware of this issue; the only difference is that Muslim scholars call it 'apparent contradictions', because they believe they have explanations for all of them. However, ordinary Muslims are largely unaware of this subject, and those minority who are aware of its existence, have been lead to believe that it is just another issue brought about against Islam by its enemies. With a stigma like that, the whole issue becomes, from the Muslims' point of view, invalid and not worth looking at.
I became aware of some of the Quranic contradictions decades ago, when I started to step away from the darkness of Islam. Once I freed my mind, and read the Quran with critical eye, all those contradictions and errors of all kinds started to come in focus and appear clearly to me. Islam was never irrelevant to me; I always had an interest in my religion from the time I was in the high school. It may look strange, but my interest in Islam has remarkably increased since I started to doubt it. By the time I decided that Islam was not the religion for me, I was not an average Muslim; my knowledge in Islam was remarkably broad and deep compared to others. I continued my readings and research about Islam even after I left that religion and I still do.
I read the testimonies of Ali Sina, Abul Kasem, MA Khan and many others who left Islam; their stories echoed mine. None of us rushed to leave Islam, but all of us did extensive research to find the carefully hidden truth. And yes it was that hard and shocking that some of us left Islam with tears while others went through phases of depression. There is no religion that controls its followers like Islam, a fact that only former Muslims can fully comprehend.
It is this extensive research about Islam, which we did in the past and still do today, which makes me believe that the only people who know Islam well are the ones who left it. We do not want to be called 'ulema' or Islamic scholars; we leave that Islamic honour to Muslims, but we are the people who know Islam inside out. None of us can recite the Quran by heart, as Muslim scholars do, and none of us will even try that wasteful mental activity, but we fully understand what is in the Quran.
There are days, sometimes weeks, of researching and amending before we publish any articles on this site, to make sure that we give the reader the truth as best as humanly possible. Our articles on Islam come with a lifelong guarantee- if you find a fault; we will apologize and retract it. If Muslims find any inaccuracies in any material that we publish about Islam, that inaccuracy would be from our sources, which are the Quran, sunna and other recognized Islamic books.
Currently, Abul Kasem is publishing his series about the contradictions in the Quran. I read some of them with amazement; I never realized that the Quran has so many of them. I am sure Abul Kasem, as well as other critical readers of the Quran, are equally surprised at the number of those contradiction. This is why the author as well as the editors of FFI sought others' opinions, which is a credit to them and only indicates the high level of scrutiny behind every published article. Muslims, predictably, are outraged at the association between the Quran and contradictions. I suggested omitting some of contradictions because I thought they are less convincing than the others.
Verses 41:11 and 21:30 carry with them this sort of less clear contradiction. Both verses describe the creation of universe; one verse claims that the sky was a smoke, the other claims that the sky was joined with the earth. Of course, scientifically both claims are utter rubbish, but when the Quran makes a mistake why it doesn't stick to it? I suggested to Abul Kasem not to include this contradiction on the basis that it might be a different stage of creation. This is like accepting a below normal answer from a child because he is too young.
My concern here is why do we have to lower our standards when it comes to the Quran? We would reject this from a student so why do we accept it from Mohammed?
41:11Allah designed the sky as a smoke; He rose towards the smoke, asked the smoke and the earth (i.e. earth was already created) whether they would come together willingly or unwillingly (the smoke is the steam of water-ibn Abbas).
Contradiction: 21:30 says heavens and the earth were joined together as one solid mass, then Allah separated them.
Verses 41:37 and 12:100 also carry with them one of those less convincing contradictions; one verse asks people not to worship other than Allah, while the other asks some people to worship Joseph! I suggested not including this contradiction in the series lest some Muslims come up with a claim that prostrating is not the same as worshipping and can be a sign of respect. But would Muslim clerics be happy if they see a Muslim prostrating to another person?
41:37
The sun and the moon are the signs of Allah, but do not worship them; prostrate only to Allah who has created them.
Contradiction: 12:100 says Allah allowed Joseph's brethren and his parents to prostrate before Joseph.
Abul Kasem's series raises the question: why when it comes to the Quran we always have to shelf the rules and give all kinds of exceptions? Why do we have to go into disagreements and different interpretations whenever we read the Quran? If we can write clear and straight forward articles, why cannot Allah?
Debating Muslims
I do not normally get involved in planned and lengthy debates with Muslims, but it is unavoidable for me to defend the views expressed in my articles. Occasionally I receive polite e mails from Muslims who wish to correct 'my misunderstanding' of the Quran. Their politeness soon proves to be a mask that conceals their hatred. It is striking, but no more surprising, how little those Muslims know about the Quran or Islam. When the debate is about a confusing verse, they say the verse is crystal clear and the confusion is in my mind, but of course they disappear once I point out that tafseer books had many different interpretations to that verse, which only means the verse was not clear even to those highly reputable scholars. Such Muslims, who do not speak Arabic at all and hardly any good English, suggest to me to learn more to improve my knowledge about the Quran.
Debating Arab Muslims is even more depressing, because it exposes the masked illiteracy among the Arabs. The standard of writing among the Arabs is getting worse and worse, and it is those people who write to us, with broken sentences, to say there are no contradictions or errors in the Quran. The great Wafa Sultan, who is a talented Arabic writer, once wrote that the Arab writers do not read what they write; otherwise they wouldn't submit their articles for publication. How true! Articles in Arabic newspapers shamelessly appear with errors of all kinds, a sign of the low respect to their readers. This is the kind of people who claim the Quran is free from errors or contradictions.
What do Muslims think?
Some Muslim scholars are aware of the existence of contradictions and mistakes in the Quran, this is why they wrote many, rather more contradicting and confusing, books to justify them. This fact establishes a common platform that we, Muslims and non Muslim, agree on, albeit giving it different names: contradictions vs. apparent contradictions. I find it difficult to believe that a person with integrity can read about the details of Mohammed's murders and crimes and still remains a Muslim, never mind justifying them. Even today, I keep wondering whether those Muslim scholars, who write books about Mohammed, really believe what they write. However, many of those Muslim scholars make their living from marketing Islam, and some did so well that they have become celebrities. Others had their moral code completely thrown into disarray by the Islamic brain wash. However, the vast majority of ordinary Muslims have no idea at all about those contradictions.
It is for the sake of those Muslims who never been told the truth, and for the sake of clarity and academic objectivity that we need to publish these contradictions. The contradictions may be less obvious in some verses than the others, and some may appear as inconsistencies or uncertainties. Muslims are welcome to refute them, and we will be happy to change our minds about them.
The Quran does not only contain contradiction, it is also full with errors of all kinds, but this is outside this subject. I understand, and fully accept, that Muslims believe their book contains no errors or contradiction whatsoever, which I also used to believe. What is not acceptable is to see the error and, despite being unable to refute it, defend it.
Why the Quran contains so many contradictions?
It is unlikely that Mohammed could have included deliberate errors in his Quran. The Quran was released over a long period of time, about 23 years, and this on its own can explain many of the contradictions and repetitions. It is possible that Mohammed simply forgot the exact wording of the earlier verses. It is also possible that some of the verses were added or changed at a later stage. The Quran was written on primitive material using primitive Arabic script, where many letters have similar appearance, which also can provide an explanation to this confusion. We also must keep in mind the possibility that the Quran had multiple authors.
The Quran was not an important part of the Arabic culture during the first half of Mohammed's career as a prophet. Mohammed was branded as insignificant mad person and nobody took him or his Quran seriously, just like we do not take seriously any insignificant person who preaches in the streets.
It is interesting to know why the Quran has so many errors and contradictions, but it is essential that we expose them. It is time for Muslims to admit their existence and reach the inevitable conclusion- that the Quran is manmade and Mohammed was a liar.
Hello Mumin Excellent
Hello Mumin
Excellent article. Keep it coming.
I have a question for all the readers. If "Allah" created everything heaven, earth, sky etc., why did Muhammad's Allah requested the Sky and Earth to come together?
If Muhammad's Allah was the creator of all things in this world, why did he create Syaitan? Did Muhammad's Allah wanted to play good Cop bad Cop with his creations the Ummah?
If Muhammad's Allah was the creator of all things in this world, why did he create Jinn? Was it to annoy Muhammad or to make sure Muhammad to clean his nose when he wakes up from slumber?
Funny that Muhammad's Allah will sit in judgment of his own creation. Muhammad and his imaginary friend Allah must be a Loony.
Qran has no
Qran has no contradictions.It's crystal clear and who says? Qran! Moslem's circular logic. Mohammad was the best man ever created.Who says so? QRan and who brough out qrand? mohammad of course. This is the best, most erudite explanation that you can get from moslems.ARbs writing is poor? I said the same thing that ARabs are the stupidest race I have met and got the crap for it. The best moslems ( intelligent and caring) are the Iraqis and Iranians and these two have their own glorious civilisational past, prior to islamic destruction.Look at Egypy where the islamisation is complete.How stupid, lazy,idiotic and destructive they are.They have not built any thing like the egyptian pryamids! They all are perislamic architecture and funnily enough the moslem brother considers them as jahiliya and want to blow them up! Islamic mind of destruction at work
1. non-delusionist
1. non-delusionist Says:
----If Muhammad’s Allah was the creator of all things in this world, why did he create Syaitan? Did Muhammad’s Allah wanted to play good Cop bad Cop with his creations the Ummah?----
Same question you can ask the Christians also. Why God created Devil ,Satan , El Diablo etc? See, how similar the Christians and the Muslims are. They have the God and the Devil to fear and nothing to love. These two belief systems stand for FEAR & GREED only. God fearing fools.LOL
Allahmiyan Good question.
Allahmiyan
Good question. Isn't Muhammad's Koran the only "true" word of the one and only Muhammad's Allah. So, please don't us Non-delutionist, ask Muhammad's Allah for he is the All Knowing.
Typical Delutionist defensive comment is it, Allahmiyan?
non-delusionist
non-delusionist Says:
""Isn’t Muhammad’s Koran the only “true” word of the one and only Muhammad’s Allah. So, please don’t us Non-delutionist, ask Muhammad’s Allah for he is the All Knowing.""
And where did you learn that "Qurand the only "true" word of Allah""?? Or where did your Mullah found Qurand the only "true" word of Allah the Dalla ( Pimp) ?
By the way you know more about internet and computers than any Mullah , MoHamMad and the pimp Allah knew. Am I correct ? There is no mention of Internet in evil Qurand.
Feel free to post your views. No Islamic republic can stop you. This is Non Islamic Cyber world.
To lower critique standards
To lower critique standards when it comes to the quran. Yes it is important to lower them and actually point to the verses that are unambigously contradictory. The reason I say so is because many muslims have got very low IQ and when you add this to the fact that they are told since they are 1 hour old that the quran is absolutely pure and uncontradictory and to think otherwise gurantees fiery hell, they will never understand what you are trying to show to them. Example of this clear contradictions is like that of Noah's son, in one verse he drowned in the other he was saved. And that which says allah sent prophets to all mankind where the other verse says the opposite. Plus some other clear cut contradictions this was just to give a hint.
The problem with the quran is that there is no clear objective of what the quran is trying to convey. One must read between the lines to get at least on objective. As a result the problem of contradictions become lethal to the purpose of the quran. One contradiction, game over Islam. That's why islam scholars invest all of their energy and skills including lying trying to defend quran contradictions.
Proud Kafir and
Proud Kafir and sat-chi-tanada
I have left messages for you here http://www.faithfreedom.org/2009/02/21/moderate-beheading/. Do take the time to read them.
Ibrahim, Hindus do accept
Ibrahim, Hindus do accept that there are issues related to caste. BTW, which religion doesn't have caste? You know how many westerners have taken up Hinduism (ISKCON, Ramkrishna sect, Chinmayananda sect). A lot of Africans have also taken up HInduism due to these organisations. Arya samaj is openly giving certificates to anyone that wishes to convert to Hinduism. I have so many upper caste friends married to lower caste ones. It is fast changing. Changing of occupation (varna) was quite easy in the history of Hinduism. You know very well that RSS and VHP have trained low caste people to become preists of temples. What about the marriages of Muslim actresses or actors with Hindu actors and actresses? Sunil Dutt- Nargees, Shah Rukh Khan-Gauri, Hritik Roshan- Suzanna Khan, Aamir Khan-Kiran Rao? Of course these people might belong to high society, but there should be innumerable people aping them, hey?
I agree with you that there are problems that still need to be addressed. One of the facts why Hindus fear accepting Muslims is the nature of Muslim's nature. History has shown us that Muslims can hardly be trusted. It has ingrained in people's mind. People that were forcibly converted to Christianity have returned to Hindu fold on many occasions. I have seen with my own eyes around 1400 Muslims getting converted to Shaivism at a place called Gagag in Karnataka. The Swamiji offered Shivalinga to all these people and openly accepted them. They are in charge of all activities, including offering worship, of the mutt there. It didn't make a news because all this happened in installments. Another Swami in Maharashtra accepted 2100 Christian converts into Hinduism on a single day. A former Muslim who had converted to Hinduism had visited my home along with his guru. I could not believe the amount of knowledge he possessed. We all offered our salutes for his wonderful lecture on universe, soul, and supersoul. Although I say it is not yet a complete success, yet reformations have been taking place in Hindu society. I am sure after seeing disasterous events in Pakistan, more people will leave Islam.
Faith
Faith Wars
http://dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect/dawn+content+library/dawn/news/pakistan/...
Dear Ibraswamy( ibrahim) I
Dear Ibraswamy( ibrahim)
I take your advise.I need abit of rest and relaxation.Enjoy this.I visited Hampi ( I think every Hindu/indian/moslem/sikh etc and every human being should visit this place to see what the evil ideology of Ialam can do to unsuspecting population.One of the most glorious, advanced rich, cultural capital of the Viajyanagara empire lies in ruins due to the simple destructive mentality of moslems. I stayed in a resort on the boulders of the river Thungabhadra. There were 4 boys keeping our rooms clean and tidying etc. I always call the boys who are in to cleaning the rooms etc by their names to make them feel wanted.As its they have a buggered up life doing this.Just to spite me I think( god has a good sense of humor I think) the boys all from the same father abdul sattar( who has 7 other moslemlets) said their names were 1.Saddam Hussain.2.Osama Bin LAden3.Gaddaffi and Allahuddin I said to them oh how nice meeting you all at the same place
I am george Ronald Bush! I guess the joke was too far above them but the rest in the room had a heartfelt laughter after the boys left the room! Whether I am a jihadi moslem or fake hindu etc is immaterial, this pisspond is an indian christian with not a lot of achievements to his credits.That much I am certain
Dear Proud Kafir I already
Dear Proud Kafir
I already know what you are telling me. But the thing is you are discussing the disease and its symptoms and not its cure.
I already know how destructive Islam is and the sort of carnage Islamic brainwashing breeds. Anyway thanks for calling me Ibrahimswamy, lol, its quite flattering to get undeserved compliments. I personally don't consider myself enlightened enough to be called a swami. So thaks PK and have a great time!
Ahh but you did not comment
Ahh but you did not comment on my introduction to those three boys working for me! George Ronald bush for Saddam, Ossama, and Gadaffi!
Sure PK, you have the
Sure PK, you have the potential to become a stand up comedian.
Why does the Quran contain so
Why does the Quran contain so many contradictions? Simple, it is Muhammed who wrote the Quran. The Quran is not a divine revelation, but the revelations of a sick pedophile and a madman. Yup that's Islam must holy prophet, a mentally ill person.
#3 When God created the
#3
When God created the spirit world they were free agents just like humans. satan made himself into the Devil. When women birth a child, did she give birth to a murderer. Did Muhammad's mother give birth to a thief or a liar or a baby boy. We all are born free agents. We are taught or influenced by our surroundings.
Christendom has given Xtians a bad name when Jesus never said kill anyone. When Jesus said preach the gospel, he said if the people dont want to listen, shake the dust off of your feet and move on. It is a choice. We dont have to accept Xtianity. We can be Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist, Athesit, Nazi or whatever.
[...] About the Quranic
[...] About the Quranic Contradictions By Mumin Salih [The following article points to the fact that there are at least two levels of problematic issues in the Qur'an regarding contradictions. The Author does not say it flat out, but we could add something alluding to the fact that there are at least two kinds of contradictions in the Qur'an. One being a clear contradiction where there is no escape (Like Allah saying he created the earth first then the skies, and saying in another part of the Qur'an the opposite). Second being an apparent difficulty that is most probably a contradiction, but one may have to wait further analysis to ascertain the location of such a contradiction (Mumin Salih gives examples of this in his article). FFI is with the critics, and in support of publishing all Qur'anic contradictions and difficulties. The Qur'an must be scrutinized analytically to expose all of its contradictions. Such a project is highly needed, and will only serve to show that no rational person should believe the claims of such a book called "the Qur'an"] The Editors [...]
Raisin head. (Sorry folks,
Raisin head.
(Sorry folks, Islam goes first, but then irrationaliy should not get muslim converts through whatever type appeal)
You really sound to me as someone who juxtaposes so also careless about any incongruity and generally not based on comparative analysis of other extra-ordinary claims to see whether his own extra-ordinary assertions differ from others'
You talk about Devils and spirits in relation to your version of religion as if you have a credible evidence for them apart from the inevitable circular reasoning that any Muslim can spout.
You keep talking about the loving Jesus as if you don't believe that the father god is responsible for the carnage in the OT, how does god the son differ from the god the father if they are united in trinity?? How the heck are the not so lustrous stories of the OT got well placed in your divine book?? it is just like a muslim trying to acknowledge violent verses in the quran and At the same time saying they are ineffective at this time, If the chief god head had once decided at one time to kill off virtually all humans , how are we to think of him as a good being considering the fact that smaller catastrophic floods are still allowed by him (or is it allowed by the latest god Jesus now) does Tsunami ring any bell??
It is true that Muslims can use a direct command from quran to murder people, but can you tell me you can overlook the similar command from your god where he/she/it commanded the army to kill all men and leave the women for their pleasures?? oh., you'll say it is not Jesus that commanded that, well then Jesus must have born later and never was eternal as a god should be, he wasn't there when god the father was wreaking havoc on the entire humanity, if he was ther and decided to not intervene to stop the madness, then he is an accessory to murder, am I right, if your premise is he wasn't there or not in existence, then your god is no god at all and should be removed from the god head positon to a mere human born just within our recorded history.
Animals are souls. numbers
Animals are souls.
numbers 31:28 re. 16:3
Adam became a living soul after God breathed breath into his dead soul. While alive a living soul when dead a dead soul.
#16
I wasnt there (smile) I just believe like Muslims believe in 72 white virgins in Paradise. Muhammad saw Gabriel, remember, and the man down the road saw Jesus and killed his son. Crazy! Jesus came and completed the works of the Father.
I prefer to serve the same God Jesus served not Jesus.
#16 The differencebetween the
#16
The differencebetween the God of the Bible for Xtians and the Quran the God of Islam/Allah is that the Xtians God never told them to kill for him. He said he would get rid of the bad ones. The Bible God said wait on him. Allah aka Muhammad said kill.
tHE bIBLE CAME FIRST NOT THE
tHE bIBLE CAME FIRST NOT THE qURAN. IF YOU READ THE TALMUD, THE QURAN SAYS THE SAME THING IN REVERSE. All of the holy days of Islam came from Hinduism, Ramadam, Eid, Hajj, Kaaba and the word Allah belong to Hindus. Arabia had 5 Kaabas as the Taj Mahal is a Kaaba, a Hindu temple for Siva and Durga. Muhammad hated all of you who refused to convert. He conquered Iran then Persia and replaced Zoraostarianism, the Muslims went to Turkey (Byzantine) and tried to take France. they tried to take Northern europe but Dracula stopped them. Count Dracula made a deal with the Holy See (Catholics) to defeat Turkey Muslims. The History is exciting. Dracula was useful after all except being a scary movie. (smile)