Burden
of Proof
By
Rand
One of the major questions in determining the
validity of Islam is in deciding on the burden of proof. I believe the
burden of proof is on Islam to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it is
the correct religion.
|
|
|
[2.185]
The month of Ramazan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a
guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the
distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he
shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then
(he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease
for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He
desires) that you should complete the number and that you should
exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that
you may give thanks.
|
The Koran is guidance to men and clear proofs of
the guidance. Hence, the Quran claims to be provable, if it is not, then
it is wrong.
|
|
|
[4.174]
O people! Surely there has come to you manifest proof from your
Lord and We have sent to you clear light.
|
|
|
|
[6.57]
Say: Surely I have manifest proof from my Lord and you call it a
lie; I have not with me that which you would hasten; the judgment
is only Allah's; He relates the truth and He is the best of
deciders.
|
|
|
|
[45.20]
These are clear proofs for men, and a guidance and a mercy for a
people who are sure.
|
In the verses below, it would be hypocritical for
Allah to demand proof for other faiths, but not for the Quran:
|
|
|
[21.24]
Or, have they taken gods besides Him? Say: Bring your proof; this
is the reminder of those with me and the reminder of those before
me. Nay! most of them do not know the truth, so they turn aside.
|
|
|
|
[23.117]
And whoever invokes with Allah another god-- he has no proof of
this-- his reckoning is only with his Lord; surely the unbelievers
shall not be successful.
|
|
|
|
[27.64]
Or, Who originates the creation, then reproduces it and Who gives
you sustenance from the heaven and the earth. Is there a god With
Allah? Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful.
|
===
|
|
|
[2.147]
The truth is from your Lord, therefore you should not be of the
doubters.
|
|
|
|
[49.15]
The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Apostle
then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and
their lives in the way of Allah; they are the truthful ones.
|
If one cannot prove something, then being
intellectually honest means one should doubt. The implication is that the
Quran is proven beyond any doubt.
=====
The Quran is constantly emphasizing the burning in
hell of unbelievers. It does not seem merciful, for an all-merciful God to
torture people for not believing in something that cannot be proven
The Quran is very critical of people that believe
in a false religion and they will be punished. The Old Testament is also
critical of those that believe in false gods and false prophets. Hence, if
one makes a mistake by believing in a false religion, or not believing in
a true religion, either way one could be punished. So one cannot use the
argument, that they will follow Islam even though they are not sure
whether it is true.
==========
|
|
|
[9.73]
O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the
hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell,
and evil is the destination.
|
If one does not believe but follows Islam anyway
then that person is a hypocrite. So if one is intellectually honest, and
has no proof, he should doubt. If one pretends to not doubt, then the
person is a hypocrite. The implication is that there needs to be proof, or
one becomes a doubter or a hypocrite.
=====
Witnesses are required.
|
|
|
[2.23]
And if you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our
servant, then produce a chapter like it and call on your witnesses
besides Allah if you are truthful.
|
It is hypocritical for Allah to ask for witnesses,
if His text does not require witnesses.
The Actual Evidence of Quran
Let's judge the evidence:
According to tradition, Allah revealed the Quran
to angel Gabriel. Gabriel revealed it Muhammad. Others transcribed the
Quran. The khaliphs burnt incorrect copies of the text, so that the true
Quran remained. The Quran we have today is the same as the original.
There is no tape recording of what Allah told
Gabriel. Gabriel was the only primary witness. So only one witness exists.
Yet Allah requires witnesses. Then Muhammad is the only one who heard the
Quran directly from Gabriel. Muhammad is a secondary witness. But others
transcribed the Quran, so even if we rely on Muhammad as a witness, we
need to rely on anonymous people that transcribed it correctly. Even then,
the fact that the Khaliphs burnt the text implies that people can have
wrong version of Koran, which discredits the theory that it is perfectly
preserved. So now we must rely on trusting that the khaliphs preserved the
original Koran. Further, one could accept that Muhammad was a true witness
but that Gabriel was really Satan and mislead Muhammad.
Let's for arguments sake assume we are willing to
accept just one witness. But the Koran lists character witnesses, that
would allow one to question the witnesses credibility:
http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=75868#75868
To summarize the accusations (of Muhammad that are
listed in the Quran):
1. Muhammad is a madman.
2. Muhammad is a soothsayer.
3. Muhammad forged the Quran.
4. Muhammad is a liar.
5. Others helped Muhammad to lie and forge the
Quran.
6. Muhammad acted unjustly.
7. Muhammad was a man deprived of reason.
8. He tells stories of the ancients.
9. He partakes in ordinary activities instead of
having all kinds of miracles being performed on his behalf.
10. His knowledge of the OT was faulty.
11. Muhammad was not a peacemaker.
12. There is only this life.
13. He is constantly changing one communication
for another.
14. Believes everything he hears.
In the 7th century people were superstitious and
believed in all kinds of absurd things, so the fact that some people
bought into Muhammad is no proof of the truth of his message.
If I told the judge that a particular text had no
discrepancies, and when he pointed some out, I mentioned these sentences
were abrogated. If I mentioned that a text was perfectly preserved but the
communications were forgotten. The judge would kick me out of the court.
|
|
|
[4.82]
Do they not then meditate on the Quran? And if it were from any
other than Allah, they would have found in it many a discrepancy.
|
|
|
|
[2.106]
Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We
bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah
has power over all things?
|
In judging the credibility of witnesses one must
insure that they are not being bribed. Yet the Khaliphs and Muhammad were
offered special rights and statuses in Islam. For example, the Quran is
biased towards Muslims and males. Then by burning the text, without
preserving the original versions, one cannot confidently dismiss claims
such as: The Caliphs changed the Quran to suit their own agenda. The
Caliphs were afraid that people would abandon Islam if they realized that
the text was poorly preserved.
===
So how can I not at least doubt that the text is
perfectly preserved? Further, if a text was not perfectly preserved one
would expect to see grammatical errors. See http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1628&highlight=
|
|
|
INVENTING
GRAMMATICAL RULES
We have seen how did the Muslim scholars invent pre-Islamic
poetry, Hadith, and even imaginary words claiming them to be from
foreign languages. We now turn to the last invention that won them
the gold medal: Early Muslims as they wrestled with the various
errors in the Qur'an, have advanced different reasons as to why
they should not be errors. The early attempts to explain away the
grammatical errors in the Qur'an relied on the performance of
acrobatic feats in the field of grammar. The fact that these
attempts differed indicate that some scholars were not content
with others answers, which is an indication of idterab (perplexion).
Dissatisfied with the different attempts that relied on the
manipulation of grammatical rules some scholars have invented a
sweeping new rule to fix most errors They called it iltifat.
The types of iltifat and related features are of following types:
Changes in person, between 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, which is the
most common and is usually divided into six kinds. The four
important examples that are found in the Qur'an are:
Transition from the 3rd to 1st person. This is the most common
type. Over 140 instances can be found in the Qur'an.
From 1st to 3rd person - nearly 100 such instances can be found in
the Qur'an.
From 3rd to 2nd person - nearly 60 instances.
From 2nd to 3rd person - under 30 instances.
Change in the number, between singular, dual and plural.
Change in the addressee.
Change in the tense of the verb.
Change in the case marker.
Using noun in the place of pronoun.[1]
|
See http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2764&highlight=
for further evidence of an imperfect text.
|
