S1

Dear erudite and respected friend Dr. Pourhassan,

I thank you for kind response. The time that you spend in writing this shows your dedication and commitment to the truth. You are obviously very knowledgeable and I am honored to have this debate with you   

However you say that the reason I see contradictions in the Quran is because I am not allowing the Quran to be “just a book of guidance, as it claims its wants to be”. My friend shouldn’t we question the Quran, or for that matter any book or person who claims to be the source of guidance? If you go to a physician won’t you want first to ascertain that this person is really who he claims to be? What if the person claiming to be a physician is an impostor? Would you leave your life in the hands of a charlatan who claims to be a doctor? Isn’t it wiser to check his credentials before following his prescriptions?  

As you know you cannot open a shop and prescribe medicines for people before proving your credentials and getting your license. What are the credentials of Muhammad? How do we know that he was a messenger of God and not a charlatan? You keep quoting verses of the Quran as the proof of your statement, but you have not yet shown that this book is from God. I find contradictions, errancies and absurdities that prove to me this book far from being the word of God is a hallucination of a mentally insane man. How can I accept such book blindly? I have evidences the Quran is not from God. Can you refute those evidences? I have evidences that Muhammad was insane. Can you refute those evidences?  

You accept a priory that the Quran is from God. What proof you have for such claim except that the Quran says so? Isn’t this circular reasoning?  

Your entire thesis is based on the assumption that Quran is true and the Mullahs have twisted its real meaning. All you are trying to do is to show that the Mullahs and the other billion Muslims are wrong, that they do not understand the book of Quran that claims to be clear and easy to understand and you are the only one who understand it. Let us assume that what you say is true. First of all this contradicts the very claim of the Quran that it is a clear book, secondly still you have not proven that this Quran that only you understand is the word of God.  

S2

So according to your thesis, the Quran and hence Islam is not for the entire world but just for the Arabs of the seventh century. If this is what you are saying I agree with you completely. It is obvious that all civilizations of the world are superior to the primitive teachings of the Quran. Every country that has adopted Islam is dragged into misery and barbarity. Islamic countries are poor. They are dictatorial; they are corrupt; they are engulfed in hatred and fratricide wars. You are very honest to admit that non-Islamic countries are better off than Islamic countries. However what puzzles me is that you still maintain that Quran is a book of guidance. Guidance for what? If the countries that follow the Quran are immersed in misery, why you still claim that the Quran is a book of guidance?  Your statement leaves me perplexed. On one hand you affirm that the Quran is a book of guidance and on the other hand you say that this book should not be followed.   

You say, “For example there is nothing in the Koran teaches us how to write a constitution for a country, how to achieve and maintain a great economy, etc”. But of course Islam has its own constitution. Muhammad brought a very tight rule of governance. It is called Sharia. This is the constitution. The laws of Sharia are draconian and backward, that is why when Islamic countries practice them they become uncivilized and barbaric.  Islam also has its own economical system –a system that brings countries to poverty and ruins their economy. The laws of inheritance, the prohibition taking interests on the loan, the khoms and zakat are economical guidelines for Islamic countries. The time wasted in prayers and fasting is also another blow to the economy. Therefore it is not right to say that Islam does not have any constitution or economical system. The fact is that the Islamic constitution and the Islamic economical system bring dictatorship and poverty to those who practice them.   

S3

 My respected friend, Quran is a book full of errors. It contains scientific absurdities and ridiculous statements about cosmos, the Earth, the creation, the fetus and virtually everything in Quran is plain and simple stupid. Why you think when it speaks of God and the afterlife it tells the truth? Think of how Muhammad described the hell and paradise. Do you really think God has a place where he roasts humans for eternity, pours boiling water on them and scorch them with fire? Isn’t this absurd? What kind of sadist psychopath is this Allah of Muhammad? Do you think his paradise with rivers of wine, milk and honey and voluptuous virgins are true? Don’t you see that these ridiculous stories were apt of the most ignorant people of his time and no sane person in this day and age would accept them?

You say Quran teaches people to do good and not do bad. What good? Is beating one’s wife good (4:34) is chopping the hands of the petty thief good? Is killing the infidels, waging war against the unbelievers and murdering innocent people who do not accept Islam good? Quran is a textbook for murder, hate and genocide, what part of this book is good? Do you think the prayer and the fasting is good? Prayers is waste of time, it is a means to brainwash the gullible and control their minds. Fasting is unhealthy, accumulates toxin in your body and cases lethargy and laziness. It is not good for your health and it is not good for economy. These senseless rituals are narcotics for the gullible and the weak-minded people.  

Quran does not teach you to do good. It teaches you to do evil. It teaches  you to hate the Jews, the Christians and especially the pagans, the polytheists and the atheists. Quran is a book written by a lunatic hatemonger. There is nothing right or good in this book. Muhammad had hallucinations, not revelations. He had not idea of the other world. He lied and he fooled people to dominate them. He appealed to peoples fear and greed. His other word is a materialistic world, which is made of fire or gluttony and orgies. This sick man had not spiritual understanding. His idea of other world is physical. He spoke of pain and pleasure and nothing else because he was incapable of understanding spiritual realities. Please tell me what spiritual guidance you find in his book?  

S4

My views about Muhammad has nothing to do with what the religious leaders say and do. I have based my entire criticism on the Quran and the ahadith. I accuse Muhammad of rape. I based this claim on the stories narrated by the early historians and the ahadith collected by the early believers. I accuse Muhammad of pedophilia, of assassination, of rubbery, of sexual perversity and of genocide. These are historic facts unless you decide to deny the history of Islam. These accusations have nothing to do with the religious leaders. I accuse the religious leaders of whitewashing these facts and not telling the truth about Muhammad and his crimes. However what Muhammad did has nothing to do with the religious leaders.

S5

Here again I am at lost. On one hand you say that you approached the Quran with no prejudice, and then add that if I accept the Quran as it introduces itself to be, then all the mistakes make sense. Isn’t this contradiction? If you accept the Quran to be a divine revelation you are already prejudiced. How can you be objective about a book that you assume to be the word of God? How can you allow yourself to see the inherent errors of the Quran when you have already accepted it to be divine guidance?  

Allow me to point out that your method of reading the Quran is highly unscientific and prejudicial. You could read the book of any charlatan claiming to be a prophet accepting him to be real and become confirmed in your belief. This is exactly the error committed by all the believers of all the religions. You cannot be objective when you already accept the Quran to be the word of God. This book is full of errors than any unbiased person could see. Yet you are unable to see them because you do not allow yourself to see them. If you accept the innocence of a criminal even before hearing his case would you be a good judge? Would any rational person choose the mother of an accused criminal to server in the jury? To be a good judge you must be unbiased. You cannot believe in the innocence of the accused and at the same time claim impartiality. You have studied the Quran for 10 years, but you read that book with jaundiced eyes. It is obvious that you could not see any error in it because you did not WANT to see them. I do not blame you. This is the way we were raised. We were not allowed to think independently, to doubt and to question the validity of the Quran. I was not much different from you when I used to read the Quran in the early stages of my life. I also took that book as a book of guidance and therefore could not see its errors. When one thing came to my attention for which I could not find any answer, I started to doubt. Only then I could see that this book does not contain just one error but thousands of them. Now I read the Quran and almost find an error or two in every verse of it.  Sometimes I wonder how could I read this book and not see so many errors, absurdities and contradictions. The answer is that I was prejudiced. I accepted the Quran as a book of guidance even before reading it. I was told to believe in it and I did. I was biased. This is why you cannot see the errors of the Quran and this is why a billion other Muslims read that book and are unable to see them either.  

Belief is misleading. The path of truth is lit by the torch of doubt. Imagine where would we be if Copernicus and Galileo believed the cosmological teachings of the church. They doubted and it is thanks to that doubt that science advanced and we are where we are today. 600 years before Copernicus and Galileo and Iranian scientists such as Khayyam, Zakaria Razi, and Ibn Sina embarked on the same path of doubt. However their efforts were hampered and their works were abandoned because believers gagged them and did not let their thoughts flourish. Imagine what would be of the world and science if these doubters could have their way. With these great men in the horizon of Iran, we were in the brink of the renaissance 600 years before Europe. Imagine what would be of the world if we had invented airplanes, computers, and other goodies of the 20^th century 600 years earlier. We shall never know the harm that Islam inflicted upon humanity. A billion people follow an insane man. This is the greatest tragedy of mankind. Human science, civilization and progress were stifled because of Islam. Millions and millions were killed yet this is nothing compared to the loss that human civilization suffered.  

My friend: if you want to find the truth, do not believe; doubt everything and find your own light.  Do not assume that the Quran is a book of guidance before even verifying that claim. You yourself accept that the teachings of the Quran as far as politics, economy and science are useless. How can you be so certain that when Quran teaches about God and the afterlife is right? If we have evidence that what Quran says about things that can be seen and proven are false, why should we accept that what it says about the unseen is true?

S6

Based on your thesis, the Quran is just for the Arabs of the seventh century. In that case I do not understand why you still insist that it is a book of guidance for the rest of mankind. You claim that the Quran is a clear book, easy to understand; yet you do not say why everyone else except you have failed to understand it they way it should be understood. Why there is so much confusions and so many different interpretations of this book if it is as clear as you claim?

You say that “That in the Koran’s teachings, human was created and by that he gets a chance to pass or fail a test.” What test? This is an absurdity? This is a bogus claim made by a manipulative narcissist to control people. The creator of this universe if all knowing does not need to test anyone. He should know how people would behave even before they are born. This whole scenario is ludicrous. It just make no sense for an all knowing all wise god to create a universe and then place in a tiny planet in this vast universe a bunch of primates to test them, then burn them for eternity if they fail or delight their senses with infinite sex and debauchery if they believe in the absurdities that he tells them. What a lunatic sadist god is this god? Why he created the Satan to beguile people and lead them into perdition? These are childish beliefs. They are fit for the ignorant people of the seventh century Arabia. Even at the time of Muhammad there were people in his own hometown that derided at these fairytales. You are a doctor and live in the 21^st century. If it was forgivable for the ignorant people of Arabia such as Omar, Abu Bakr or Ali to believe in Muhammad’s fairy tales it is not forgivable for you. These tales are ludicrous. They are absurd and childish. God does not need to test anyone. He does not burn people in hell and he is not a pimp to provide you with infinite sex in paradise. Please stop promoting this nonsense. These are lies concocted by a psychopath to control people. How can you believe in these fairytales? We do not have to die to know that these stories are false. All we have to do is to use our brain. These tales defy human logic. They are ludicrous.  

You say Adam and Eve failed. What Adam and Eve? How can a doctor living in this day and age believe in the fairy tale of Adam and Eve? Have you heard of evolution? Do you know that there were no Adam and Eve and that we are offspring of primates? Do you know that chimps and gorillas are our close relatives? Do you see now why Muslim in Islamic countries are backward uneducated and uncivilized. If educated Muslim such as you still believes in fairy tales of Adam and Eve, what else should we expect of the uneducated masses? It is this kind of unreasonable thinking that allows the Mullahs to take advantage of the masses and fool them.   

You say, “ These all must be accepted by a person who wants to be guided by means of the Koran”.  But if you accept all this nonsense you are fooled. What is the difference between these stories and other fairy tales about the gnomes, the elves, the Santa Clause and the two-headed dragons?  How can you be guided if you believe in these childish tales?  

You say, the Quran’s content, except the ones called basic verses should not be taken literally but must serve as moral lessons. Can you please tell us which verses are these basic verses? Does the Quran clearly make this distinction about the basic verses and the those that teach moral lessons? What criteria you used to determine which verses are basic and which ones are not? You claim that all it takes to save Muslims from their terrible condition is to show them which verses are basic and which ones are not. How are you going to convince the one billion Muslims that you are the only one who understands how the Quran should be read? You claim if the Muslims read the Quran the way you teach them, they would not need the Mullah’s to interpret that book for them. However you are presenting your own interpretation, classifying the Quran into basic and non-basic verses yet you present to proof of your authority to be the interpreter of the Quran.

The verse 7:143 reads:  

What this has to do with deciding which verses of the Quran should be basis and which ones should not? The is a fairy tale about Moses. There is no proof that Moses existed and if such person did exist there is no proof that this conversation ever took place.  Even if Moses spoke to God there is no proof that Muhammad knew anything about it. Put all that aside, this verse has nothing to do with what you claim.   

Finally you made the most outlandish claim that if the Quran is interpreted the way you say then it will make “any generation better, allowing and requiring advancement of humanity in every direction, allowing women to have rights that God gave them, etc”  

How did you come that conclusion? Quran is an anti science book par excellence. The very story of Adam and Eve that we spoke about makes it clear that this book is contrary to science and human logic. There are hundreds of other claims in that book that show it is anti science and anti progress. Also why do you think following the Quran your way would give women more rights? Have you forgotten that verse 4:34 says beat your wives if they are disobedient? Have you forgotten that verse 2:282, says women’s  testimony is half of that of man. The verse 4:11-12 says women’s inheritance should be half of that of men. Have you forgotten that verse 4:3  says men can marry a multitude of women while women do not have the same rights? What kind of right is that? Women have no rights in Islam.   

S7

You keep contradicting yourself. If the Quran is revealed for the Arabs of the seventh century as you keep reminding us, then how it could be a book of guidance for all the humanity? I am simply unable to understand this line of reasoning.  

S8

My dear erudite friend. You seem to forget the fact that the reason Muslims hate everything that God has created and treat others with disrespect is because Muhammad asked them to,  

What do you make of these verses:

Don’t take moshrekoon as friends and allies,

The Jews are decendantws of the apes and pigs

Force the Christians and jews to pay Jizyah

Etc.  

As for those monotonous prayers, they are one of the pillars of Islam. Muhammad said that he went to heaven and bargained with God several times to reduce the prayers from 50 to 5 times. Who are you to say this is too much prayer and they are monotonous? What you say is nothing short of blasphemy. You are trying to introduce bid’a (innovation) in Islam and the punishment of such heresy is death.  

You want to teach people to free their minds from superstitions and accomplish things they want their lives. However you speak of Adam and Eve without realizing this is a fairy tale? How free is your own mind? Shouldn’t you start freeing your own mind first before trying to help others to free their minds?  

S9

As for Abraham and other so-called prophets, these are mythological personages. There is little evidence that such people actually existed or if they did the stories attributed to them are most certainly fables. Abraham is as much real as is Gilgamesh, Ganesh or Shiva. These were lore of the ancient people. Yes Abraham would fail according to today’s standards. However few people actually follow Abraham. But there are a billion people who follow Muhammad and try hard to emulate him the way he lived, ate, dressed, bathed and cleaned his buts after relieving himself. Muhammad also would fail if weighed according to today’s standards.  Yet Muslims try to emulate him in every sense and regard him as the best example to follow. In fact he himself made this claim. Do you really think Muhammad had “sublime morals”?(Q. 68:4) was he a “good example to follow” (Q. 33:21). Was he an “honorable messenger1”? (Q. 81.19) 

The question is whether Muslims should follow Muhammad or not. Is he a good example to follow? Obviously you do not think this is such a good idea. However you excuse him because as you say he was a man of the seventh century Arabia and he is not to be judged according to our more advanced and humanistic values. On the other hand you claim that the Quran is a book of guidance and this same book says that Muhammad is the best example to follow. I hope you realize that there is a contradiction here. If Muhammad should not be judged according to our modern standards then he should not be followed in this day and age. We should not follow a man whose standard of humanity was lower than ours.   

Furthermore I do not buy the excuse that since Muhammad lived in the seventh century he should not be judged according to our humanistic standards. We have other great men who lived even before Muhammad like Cyrus, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates or other philosophers and saints whose life legacy was not marred by killing, looting, raping, genocide and lust. The history of mankind is full of men who were just, fair and wise. Muhammad can only be compared to the worst of criminals such as Hitler, Stalin and Saddam Hussein. This man was a psychopath. Muhammad fails when compared to any standard even his own. The Arabs of Mecca and Medina were far more humane than the man they followed. We have evidence that the Arabs prior to Muhammad did not know of religious intolerance. People of all the religions could preach freely in Arabia prior to Islam. There were Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Hanifis, Sabeans, and at least 360 pagan religions that co-existed harmoniously. Women in Arabia could own businesses and hire men to serve them. One such entrepreneurial woman was Khadijah the first wife of Muhammad. What happened to that freedom? Islam took that away. Women in Arabia do not enjoy the same freedom that they used to have 1400 years ago. The devastating impact of Islam on other countries is of course far worse. In Iran we had women as rulers and monarchs. What happened to that? Why women now are considered to be a shame to their families and why they should hide themselves under the veil?    

S10.

These are your claims. But do you have any proof to substantiate these claims? Of course not. It all boils down to the fact that you have CHOSEN to accept these things with no proof whatsoever.  

What is your proof that the Quran is the greatest book of guidance to humanity? When I read the Quran all I see is hate, violence and more hate and violence. When I look at the countries that take this book seriously and practice it I see they are immersed in poverty and desolation.  

You say that the Quran is the word of God. What is your proof? When I read that book I see it is full of garbage. There is nothing logical or intelligent in that book. It is full of errors, absurdities and incongruencies. Can possibly the maker of this universe be as stupid as it appears to be in the Quran?  

You are also wrong when you say that the message of Islam has been destroyed by the religious leaders. I do not care what these religious leaders say. I am concerned about what is written in the Quran. We do not need any other document to incriminate Muhammad than the Quran. Any unbiased person, whose thoughts are not conditioned by prejudice and blind faith, who is capable of reading the Quran objectively and without accepting a priory that it is a book of God will see this book is a concoction of folklore of the ancient people many of which borrowed from the existing lore of the people of Arabia and some ridiculous claims about God, hell and paradise. Apart from some laughable statements about God, and the other world that as you say cannot be proven, every other statement of the Quran can be proven to be false. It is clear that this book is not from God. God cannot be so ignorant about his own creation.  

S11

My dear good Dr. Pourhassan. Yes I am afraid you are wrong about this verse.  The reason you are wrong is because you have taken this verse out of the context. Remember this is exactly what you accused me of. What does context mean? It means understanding when and why Muhammad said this or that thing. This is what the scholars of the Quran call Sha’ne Nozool. You will not be able to understand the real intent of what Muhammad said if you do not know when and why he said it. You dismiss the importance of Sha’ne Nozool and claim that it is not important to know the context in which the verses were said. And still you claim by doing so you can understand the meaning and the intent of the verses better than the scholars who know the context in which these verses were revealed? Although I do respect and admire your knowledge of the Quran, I am afraid I do not agree with your claim.  

Let us talk about the verses (2:190,191). These verses were “revealed” (I actually do not believe any verse of the Quran was revealed to Muhammad by any deity. They are the revelations of his own sick mind. I am simply stating how they are referred to by Muslims) when Muhammad was about to invade Mecca. He gathered 10, 000 men at the outskirt of Mecca calling upon the Meccans to surrender or die.   

So when he says “ And fight in the way of God with those who fight with you” He is actually saying fight and kill those who defend themselves. When these verses were revealed no one was attacking the Muslims. As a matter of fact no one ever attacked the Muslims. Muslims were always on the offensive mode. He adds “and do not exceed the limits, surely God does not love those who exceed the limits.”  

This is what Muhammad said only then when his men were ready to invade Mecca, kill everyone and loot that town. That was what Muhammad and his men did to every other town they invaded. Take for example what Muhammad did to the Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadir Banu Qurayza, Banu al Mustaliq and tens of other Arab tribes. He raided them without a warning and ruthlessly killed anyone who stood in front of him fighting for his life. But the deal with the Meccans was to be different. He did not want to destroy his own people. After all the Meccans were his own cousins and kin. Hence it was necessary to tell his men to fight only those who resisted the invasion but stop killing and looting them if they surrender. The Meccans did surrender without a fight. Muhammad uncharacteristically did not kill but ten of them. He did not even take their belongings. As a matter of fact when he invaded Taif he gave all the booty to the Meccan chiefs such as Abu Sofyan and his sons Yazid and Muavieh and to his angry supporters of Medina he said, “I have sought to incline the hearts of these men unto Islam, whereas ye are already stedfast in your faith? Are ye not satisfied not at others should obtain the flocks and the camels, while ye carry back the Prophet of the Lord unto your homes”. There is no doubt that like his other counterparts such as Hitler, Stalin and Saddam, Muhammad was a master of manipulation and deceit. He was a great vanquishing conquistador. But was he a prophet of God?  

As you see my friend, you need to know the context of each verse of the Quran to understand why Muhammad revealed those verses and what he meant by them. You agree that it is important to know the context, yet you say it is not important to know the Sha’ne Nozool of the verses. Sha’ne Nozool means context. If you do not study the history of Islam and the Sha’ne Nozool of these verses, you will not be able to understand the real meaning of the Quran. Perhaps that is why your understanding of the Quran is so different from that of the Islamic scholars. I am confident that with your sincerity and commitment to the truth, once you read the Quran in its proper context you will see this book is evil and nothing but evil. May be then you will join me and together we will fight this curse and free our people from ignorance, fanaticism and hate.  

S12

Although I still believe the character of the messenger is very important in determining whether what he say is true or false I do accept this challenge anyway. As I said we need no other evidence than the Quran to show Muhammad was not a messenger of God but a charlatan. So I will abide by your terms that should you prove my claims about the Quran are false I will withdraw the faithfreedom.org from the Internet and will issue an apology to all the Muslims for defaming their religion. I do not promise to convert to Islam though as I would rather go to hell and burn in eternity than submit to a sadistic deity such as Allah. I am also glad to see that you are also committed to the truth and will keep an open mind.  

S13

I agree with your definition of what is fair and how a scientific approach should be carried out. However I believe my rejection of Islam and the Quran is based on scientific approach. I have followed to the letter the method you described above. I do not take any verse out of the context but study the whole Quran and the when and why or the Sha’ne Nozool of that verse. I insist that it is important to read the Quran and its verses in their proper context, which includes historical context and the reason for which such verse has been revealed. You also insist that the proper way to read the Quran is to read it in its context, yet you seem to have an entirely different understanding of what context means. However I am willing to change my stance should you prove that my assessment of the Quran is mistaken. If you prove that my understanding of the Quran is different from the real meaning of the Quran, I will accept my mistake and will withdraw my accusation not before apologizing publicly.

S14

I already discussed the verse 2:190. If you had studied the Sha’ne Nozool of that verse you would know that this verse was revealed when Muhammad’s army was at the gates of Mecca, ready to invade that town. If you had known just this the whole meaning of this verse would have become clear to you. The enemy was not about to attack the Muslims but the Muslims were about to attack them. So when it says fight those who fight you it means fight those who resist you, kill those who do not surrender to you.  

Do you see how confusing it could be if you do not read the Sha’ne Nozool of the verses and do not view them in their proper context. Here Muhammad is the aggressor. He is not advising the Muslims to fight only if they are attacked. He is telling them not to kill those who surrender but kill those who defend themselves. These are two different things.  

Of course if you read the history of Islam and the biography of Muhammad, you’ll see that during the last 10 years of his sojourn in Medina, he waged 67 wars and all of them were offensive. So the history corroborates what the what the Quran says. As a mater of fact the wars of Muhammad were called qazwah. This means raid or sudden attack. I know why you are so reluctant to read the history of Islam. Because then your eyes will be opened and this is painful. You rather avoid knowing the truth and making up your own “facts” as you go. You would rather invent an Islam that is more agreeable to you and make you save face that go through the pain of coping with the embarrassment and the shame of following a monster such as Muhammad.  However my dear friend, if now you are embarrassed of what Muhammad did our forefathers used to read these very stories of genocide and crimes perpetrated by their beloved prophet and felt proud of him. They thought  the reason he was winning at his wars was because God was with him. It never occurred to them, or perhaps they never dared to say that the reason Muhammad was winning was because he was cunning, used treachery and deceit. Our forefathers had different values form you and I. Look at Khomeini, look and Osama Bin Laden. Look at hundreds of millions of Muslims in Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and virtually every other Islamic country with exception of Iran of today. Muslims think killing the infidels is okay. This is how your forefathers and my forefathers used to think. You and I are the exceptions and  we should thank the west for our westernized  and humanistic values. Iran today is very much changed. People have seen the real face of Islam and they do not want anything to do with it anymore. However the majority of the Muslims do not see anything wrong with what Muhammad did and they are very angry of you for trying to twist the facts to appease the kafirs  and the infidels in the West.

S15

If you had read the Sha’ne Nozool or at least when this verse was written you would not said this. Because this is a Meccan verse. When Muhammad was in Mecca he was weak. He had not power to fight. At that time his talk were sweet. He spoke of patience and forbearance. That kind of speech ended when he gained power and could fight those who did not agree with him. There is a sharp difference between what Muhammad said when he was in Mecca and weak and when he went to Medina and became powerful. The verses and the Suras of the Quran are jumbled  tighter without any chronological order. But if you separate the early revelations from the later revelation, you will see the difference and you will not make the mistake that you made above in assuming that Muhammad was strong enough to fight when he revealed the verse 73:10 

S16

I already explained the context or the Sha’ne Nozool of this verse and as we saw if you had read this verse in its context you would not say it is about self defense. All Muslim wars were offensive. Are you going to claim that the Muslims invaded Iran to defend themselves? Did Muhammad invade Yeman in self-defense? Did he massacred the Jews of Arabia in self defense?  My friend, as long as you refuse reading the history of Islam and how it expanded, no matter how much Quran you may have memorized, your knowledge of Islam and your understanding of the Qurn will remain limited.

S17

No one can accuse Muhammad, Hitler or Stalin of stupidity. These criminals were insane but not stupid.  

I agree with you that one has to defend himself if attacked. I agree with you that this is commonsense. However had you read the history of Islam you would not have said what you said above. Muhammad was never persecuted for his religion. As I said before the Arabs were very tolerant of religious diversity. In Arabia, the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, the Hanifis, the Sabeans and hundreds of pagan religions used to co-exist harmoniously. People fought for any reason but never for religion. Jews and Arabs had formed alliances. Sometimes a Jewish tribe would enter in war against another Jewish tribe to defend an allied Arab tribe. Jews were living in Medina for 2000 years since the time of Joshua. When Muhammad was a boy, he used to go to Occaz an annual market place three days away from Mecca and listen to Coss, the bishop of Najran the Christina preacher who used to narrate the stories of the Bible and call people to Christianity. As a matter of fact Waraqa a cousin of Khadija was a Christian monk. The Meccans did not stop Muhammad from preaching his religion. This is yet another lie of the Muslims that has been rehashed so much that is now actually believed. However the history of Islam denies the claim that Muhammad was persecuted for his religious beliefs.  

In the verse.  2:191 Muhammad says “And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the sacred mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.”  

Here Muhammad is trying to incite his Meccan followers to wage war against their own relatives and is saying that killing them is not as bad as what they did to you, which is driving you out of your homes. This is of course ludicrous. Would you rather be driven out of your home or be executed?

However the truth is that Meccans did not drive the Muslims out of their homes. The Muslims emigrated on their own volition and because Mohammad told them so. At first he ordered his followers to go to Abyssinia and then when he found enough disciples in Medina, he sent them thither. 

Despite the fact that Muhammad constantly insulted the religion of the Quraish and infuriated them with his abrasive behavior the Quraish did not persecute the Muslims and did not kill Muhammad.

Muslims today would not tolerate any criticism against their religion. They would kill at once any person who dares to question their belief. This is what the prophet taught them to do. But Arabs prior to Muhammad were more tolerant. They used to live with the Jews and Christians in harmony without any sign of religious animosity between them. The ultimate test of tolerance came when Muhammad started to taunt their gods. Despite that kind of libeling the Quraish evinced incredible degree of tolerance and although being offended, never harmed Muhammad or his cohorts.  

Compare this to the treatment of the Baha’is in Iran. Baha’is do not insult Muhammad or his Allah, they do not reject the Imams nor disagree with any part of the Quran. All they say is that their messenger is the Promised One of the Muslims. This is nothing compared to Muhammad’s affronts of the beliefs of the Quraish. Nevertheless Muslims have not spared any act of atrocity against the Baha’is. They killed many of them, jailed them, tortured them, beat them, denied them of their human rights and treated them with utter inhumanity. None of that was done to Muhammad and his followers in Mecca even though he constantly accosted their gods with showers of taunts and would imprecate their sacred beliefs as if daring them to persecute. 

When the Meccans had enough of it and could no more stand Muhammad’s mocking of their deities, a body of their elders repaired to Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet and complained: - “This Nephew of thine hath spoken opprobriously of our gods and our religion: and hath abused us as fools, and given out that our forefathers were all astray. Now, avenge us thyself of our adversary; or, (seeing that thou art in the same case with ourselves,) leave him to its that we may take our satisfaction.” (Tabari  P. 125) Abu Talib spoke to them softly and assured them he would counsel his nephew to be more deferential. But Muhammad would not change his proceedings. So they went again to Abu Talib in great vexation; and warned him that if he would not restrain his nephew for his offensive conduct, they would have to restrain him themselves. They added thus: - “and now verily we cannot have patience any longer with his abuse of us, our ancestors, and our gods. Wherefore either do thou hold him back from us, or thyself take part with him that the matter may be decided between us.”  Ibid

This is all that is recorded about the persecution of the Muslims in Mecca. The above is a warning but falls short of issuing a threat. In fact until Abu Talib was alive and even after his death until Muhammad stayed in Mecca no harm was inflicted upon him nor any of his followers suffered persecution. 

Abu Dhar was beaten by his master, Omar beat his sister and there is a false hadith about the persecution of Sumayyah which is contradicted in other hadithes. Where is the evidence of persecution of the Muslims?

So the question arises, if there were no persecution against the Muslims, who forced them out of their homes? Why would they leave their homes if they were not in danger? 

The answer to this question can be found with Muhammad and what was going in his mind. It was he who asked his followers to leave. In fact he ordered them to leave making it a mandate from Allah. The Following verses clarify this perfectly. 

 “Lo! those who believed and left their homes and strove with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah, and those who took them in and helped them: these are protecting friends one of another. And those who believed but did not leave their homes, ye have no duty to protect them till they leave their homes; but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion then it is your duty to help (them) except against a folk between whom and you there is a treaty. Allah is Seer of what ye do.”(Q.8: 72)

These are very harsh words that Muhammad uttered against his own followers who did not leave Mecca and stayed behind. In another verse he presses further this point.

They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them, (Q.4: 89) 

In the above verse Muhammad is ordering the believers of Mecca to forsake their homes and go to Medina. He goes as far as to instruct other Muslims to kill their fellow believers if they decide to return home, which is consistent with the cultic nature of Islam. So as we can witness the exodus of the Muslims from Mecca was not due to any persecution of the Muslims by the idolaters. There was no such a persecution even though Muhammad exasperated the Quraish to their limit of forbearance with his triad of insults. The new converts left Mecca because Muhammad asked them to. His pressure tactics was so intense that he even told them that they would go to hell if they stayed behind and did not emigrate.  

Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the angels) will ask: In what were ye engaged? They will say: We were oppressed in the land. (The angels) will say: Was not Allah's earth spacious that ye could have migrated therein? As for such, their habitation will be hell, an evil journey's end;(Q.4: 97) 

 Muhammad had plans to conquer the Arabia and subdue Persia,

The inevitable question is however: “why?”  Why would this self proclaim Prophet force his followers to abandon their homes and choose exile when they were not being persecuted? Why would he coerce them to leave their own homeland? This tactic was so unorthodox that even western historians and scholars of Islam like Sprenger and Sir William Muir have failed to see the plot that Muhammad was brewing in his mind from the very early on in his prophetic carrier.    

Muir, in The Life of Mohammad, quotes Hishami:

 The Coreish, hearing that Abu Talib lay at the point of death, sent a deputation in order that some contact should be made to bind both parties, after his decease should have removed all restraint upon Mahomet. They proposed accordingly that they should retain their ancient faith, and that Mahomet should promise to refrain from abuse or interference; in which case they on their part would agree not to molest him in his faith. Abu Talib called Mahomet, and communicated to him the reasonable request. Mahomet replied -" Nay, but there is one word, which if ye concede, you will thereby conquer Arabia, and reduce Ajam under subjection." "Good!" said Abu Jahl, " not one such word, but ten." Mahomet replied,-" Then say,-There is no God but the Lord, and abandon that which ye worship beside him." And they clapped their hands in rage;-" Dost thou desire, indeed, that we should turn our gods into one God? That were a strange affair!" And they began to say one to another, "This fellow is obstinate and impracticable. Ye will not get from him any concession that ye desire. Return, and let us walk after the faith of our forefathers till God determine the matter betwixt us and him." So they arose and departed. Hishami, p.136. 

From the above story we can establish several facts.

a)                  The Quraish were not persecuting the Muslims and the their leader but asking him to respect their beliefs.

b)                  Muhammad was adamant to continue his abrasive and opprobrious behavior towards the people of Mecca and their religion.

c)                  Muhammad was dreaming to conquer Arabia and “reduce Ajam under subjugation”. 

As it becomes clear, the Prophet when yet in Mecca with no more than a handful of follower was already fantasizing to conquer Arabia and subdue Persia. Is it befitting for a messenger of God to indulge in reveries about “conquering” and “subduing”? One would expect that the one chosen by God to be the light or mercy and a beacon of love for all mankind, have nobler thoughts of guiding, educating and liberating people, not conquering them and subduing them. These are not the thoughts of a messenger of God but of a conqueror and a vanquishing subjugator. These are the thoughts of authoritarian conquistadors like Changiz Khan, Napoleon, Hitler and Saddam, but not of a prophet of God who, should radiate with love, compassion and other spiritual qualities.  

Muhammad was indeed a vivid case of megalomania. He was a narcissist and  manic/depressive. When he was high, he had these grandiose thoughts of conquering the world and when he was low he would indulge in thoughts of suicide.  

 Sahih Bukhari V. 9, Book 87, Number 111

“….the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while and the Prophet became so sad as we have heard that he intended several times to throw himself from the tops of high mountains and every time he went up the top of a mountain in order to throw himself down, Gabriel would appear before him and say, "O Muhammad! You are indeed Allah's Apostle in truth" whereupon his heart would become quiet and he would calm down and would return home. And whenever the period of the coming of the inspiration used to become long, he would do as before, but when he used to reach the top of a mountain, Gabriel would appear before him and say to him what he had said before.

This change of mood gives us the clue that the Prophet was not a messenger of any god but a mentally sick, unstable manic/depressive man. His dreams of conquering and subduing were so intense, and they consumed his inner thoughts with such an ardor that they expunged the shades of right and wrong from his conscience. For him his dream of domination became his primary goal. And to achieve that goal he would stop at nothing. He lied compulsively and so convincingly that even he managed to fool himself. Narcissist often believe in their own lies. Although his earlier visions were the result of his hallucinations and perhaps he was sincere, when those hallucinations stopped he kept revealing spurious verses and perusing his dreams of grandeur with a remarkable obduracy distinctive only of mentally infirm. Megalomaniacs like Muhammad and Hitler often are charismatic people with a compelling personalities that would mesmerize their audience with their speeches, their oomph, and confidence. Watching Hitler’s buoyant, upbeat, inspiring and motivating speeches with his air of confidence and self-assuredness that captivated the imagination of millions of his German listeners, perhaps can give us an insight into the mind of the Apostle of Allah and explain the mystery of his spell over his naïf and unsophisticated companions and devotees.   

As he asserted in the deathbed of his uncle Abu Talib, Muhammad dreamed of conquering Arabia and subduing the mighty Persia even when his followers were but a handful of untrained and insignificant lot, with no means to fight or defend themselves. However Muhammad was not just a dreamer, but also someone who would follow up his dreams with extraordinary single mindedness and endurance. In his quest for personal grandeur he would sacrifice everything. He would kill those who would oppose him. He would slay those who would turn their backs to him. He would assassinate those who criticized him. He would wipe out the entire Jewish and Christian population from the Arabic Peninsula and execute one of the most ruthless genocides on the Jewish population of Medina and Kheibar. He would fabricate stories of jinns and angels and would fool his followers with tales of his visits to Heaven and Hell to manipulate his credulous and foolhardy believers. And he would invent an Allah, proclaim to be his messenger and the sole contact between him and thus demand total and unconditional submission to that imaginary deity through himself. 

Muhammad dreamed of grandiosity and his plans were perfect. His timing was ideal and he had the best people to work with. Arabs of his time were superstitious, bigot, fanatical, ambitious, ruthless, barbarian, stubborn, chauvinist and above all gullible and a credulous crowd. Conquering Arabia and subduing Ajam for a man of his allure in that milieu was a synch. He would lie to fool people and promise them infinite carnal pleasures and infinite sex in paradise and threaten them with the fire of hell to get their attention and make them ready to kill and be killed at his behest. 

But how would he realize his dream without an army? How would he convince his followers to take up their swords and use it against their own brothers, fathers and friends? He had to create the discontent. He had to cause enmity where there were none. He had to incite brother against brother and divide the people so they would willingly take arms and slay each other at his command. Thus, on one hand he set on a campaign to imprecate the deities of the Quraish and taunt them constantly with his rude and boorish remarks to excite them and incite them to hostility who would in turn react and harass his followers and make them feel victimized. And on the other hand he would force his followers to endure the hardship of exile, abandon their homes and flee to a foreign land. As a consequence he put one group against the other, and caused his followers to feel persecuted. Now they were poor, sore and suffered. Muhammad needed that anger and bitterness to foster his own dominance over them and command their obedience. In order to rule, he had to divide.  In order to incite hate you must make people feel victimized. 

In order to rule ignorant people and make them side with you, you have to give them an enemy. Nothing can make people rally around you more than a common foe. This is the oldest trick in the book, which has been used successfully by all dictators throughout the history of mankind. Even Khomeini used that policy to strengthen his dominance over those gullible Iranians who believed in his lies.  

Muhammad. As he boasted in his Quran “Makaroo va makara Allah. va Allah khyrul makereen” was a master deceiver himself. He managed to create religious hate among people who despite their ignorance and bigotry never had evinced religious intolerance before. Now he had a group of supporters who were impoverished, discontent and angry. They were ready to fight for him and help him realize his dreams. Obedience to "God and his Apostle," became the watchword of Islam;-- And of course as usual Allah would reveal verses that give to his Apostle total authority.

Whomsoever disobeyeth GOD AND HIS PROPHET; verily to him shall be the Fire of Hell; they shall be therein always, forever! ⁽Q.72: 23)

More verses such as this???????????????????????????????

It is of interest to note that after enduring years of verbal abuse the Quraish boycotted Muhammad and his supporters from commercial transactions. They would not buy anything from them nor sell to them and would not marry anyone among them. They may even have threatened to punish Muhammad if he would not stop insulting their gods. Upon this Muhammad barricaded himself with the rest of his family members, the Hashemis, (excluding Abu Lahab) in a Quarter of Mecca known as She'b of Abu Talib. This self-imposed durance lasted about 3 years. During this time they would venture out only at the time of hajj and retreat once the pilgrimage was over. But in no time Quraish attacked that quarter. On the contrary they seemed quite pleased that Muhammad was not in the streets shouting obscenities at their deities. Had the Quraish intended to persecute Muslims or kill Muhammad, they had plenty of opportunities to do so. Yet they showed no hostility in the form of violence to any of the Muslims. Though it was much easier for them to wipe out Muhammad and his family who were a small group than it was for him to exterminate the Jewish tribes of Medina who were in the thousands.  The Quraysh were fare more humane with the Muhammad than Muhammad was with his opponents.

Nonetheless, the Quraish was ever suspicious of the Prophet and his movements, as they had heard that his followers were increasing in number in Medina. The tone of Muhammad’s message was of doom and gloom and his actions towards the Meccans were perceptibly hostile. Therefore it was natural to be apprehensive of his moves and watch him carefully. Their suspicions picked when they learned that the Prophet had a clandestine rendezvous at midnight with a conclave of the Pilgrims from Medina in Acaba, at the outskirts of Mecca. Meccans were not at war with the people of Yathrib (Medina) but still the Medinans were foreigners. What Muhammad had to do with them? Why he was conspiring with outsiders and what was the purpose of his secret meeting with them in the middle of the night? We cannot blame the Quraish to be nervous and concerned for their own security as they were informed of that secret gathering and viewed it as unwarrantable interference in the domestic affairs of their town.   

This forced them to meet and confer with each other to gage the gravity of the situation. The outcome of that meeting is not clear, yet it caused Muhammad to fear for his life and flee the town with his friend Abu Bakr.  

Muhammad later recalls that moment and conjectures that perhaps they were plotting to detain him, slay him or expel him. But there is no evidence to prove any of those charges and even his All Knowing god did not seem to be sure as the outcome of that meeting.  

"And call to mind when the unbelievers plotted against thee, that they might detain thee, or slay thee, or expel thee. Yea, they plotted; but God plotted likewise. And God is the best of plotters." (Q.8: 29)

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If this story is true, it only bespeaks of the greatness and humanity of Muhammad’s opponents. Compare that to what Muslims would do to anyone who insults their religion or starts a new one. Muslims would kill anyone who says a word against their belief. Please do not start blaming the “religious leaders” for all the atrocities committed by the Muslims in the name of Islam. Muhammad himself ordered his opponents to be assassinated.  

Confucius said: You can judge a man by seeing how his words match his deeds.  Lying and murdering are great sins in Islam. Yet Muhammad himself ordered his followers to lie and to assassinate his enemies.

QUOTE FROM BUKHARI, VOLUME 5, #369

Narrated Jabir Abdullah:

Allah's messenger said "Who is willing to kill Ka`b bin al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His apostle?" Thereupon Maslama got up saying, "O Allah's messenger! Would you like that I kill him?" The prophet said, "Yes". Maslama said, "Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Ka`b). The prophet said, "You may say it."

Maslama went to Ka`b and said, "That man (i.e. Muhammad) demands Sadaqa (i.e. Zakat) [taxes] from us, and he has troubled us, and I have come to borrow something from you." On that, Ka`b said, "By Allah, you will get tired of him!" Maslama said, "Now as we have followed him, we do not want to leave him unless and until we see how his end is going to be. Now we want you to lend us a camel load or two of food." Ka`b said, "Yes, but you should mortgage something to me." Maslama and his companion said, "What do you want?" Ka`b replied, "Mortgage your women to me." They said, "How can we mortgage our women to you and you are the most handsome of the Arabs?" Ka`b said, "Then mortgage your sons to me." They said, "How can we mortgage our sons to you? Later they would be abused by the people's saying that so and so has been mortgaged for a camel load of food. That would cause us great disgrace, but we will mortgage our arms to you."

Maslama and his companion promised Ka`b that Maslama would return to him. He came to Ka`b at night along with Ka`b's foster brother, Abu Na'ila. Ka`b invited them to come into his fort and then he went down to them. His wife asked him, "Where are you going at this time?" Ka`b replied, None but Maslama and my (foster) brother Abu Na'ila have come." His wife said, "I hear a voice as if blood is dropping from him." Ka`b said, "They are none by my brother Maslama and my foster brother Abu Na'ila. A generous man should respond to a call at night even if invited to be killed."

Maslama went with two men. So Maslama went in together with two men, and said to them, "When Ka`b comes, I will touch his hair and smell it, and when you see that I have got hold of his head, strike him. I will let you smell his head."

Ka`b bin al-Ashraf came down to them wrapped in his clothes, and diffusing perfume. Maslama said, "I have never smelt a better scent than this." Ka`b replied, "I have got the best Arab women who know how to use the high class of perfume." Maslama requested Ka`b "Will you allow me to smell your head?" Ka`b said "yes." Maslama smelt it and made his companions smell it as well. Then he requested Ka`b again, "Will you let me (smell your head)?" Ka`b said "Yes". When Maslama got a strong hold of him, he said (to his companions) "Get at him!" So they killed him and went to the prophet and informed him."

How a man can hurt Allah? How can God be hurt by one of his creatures? If he is hurt and wants revenge by killing the person who hurt him can’t he kill him himself? Why he needs to ask his messenger to send one of his followers to do his dirty work? What Muhammad did was more befitting of a mafia godfather than a messenger of God. To lie and commit murder are not godly deeds, unless Muslim’s god is different from the real God.

The stories of Muhammad's plots and assassinations are among the most damaging stories about Muhammad. May modern Muslims prefer to deny the authenticity of these ahadith than try to explain them. However, this is not that easy. These ahadith are classified as sahih (authentic). Why should anyone forge such ahadith in the first place? No intelligent person would accept that Muslims, who fabricated so many false stories about Muhammad’s “miracles” to make him look saintly and a superior being, would fabricate stories that implicate him as a gangster and an assassin, that would have defied their faith and defies our intelligence. 

Would a believer say such damaging things about Muhammad if they were not true? In fact the Muslims in their fanatical zeal disregard even human reason to save Muhammad from blemish. While their loyalty is noteworthy, their intellectual honesty is deplorable. Why believers would fabricate so many stories about assassination plots of their prophet? Why Bukhari and Muslim would listen and write ahadith of such horrible nature if they were not true? Why so many Muslims read them for so many centuries and no on denied them?  If you pay attention to the details in those stories you would admit that they couldn’t be fabricated. There are names of the people involucrated and there are so many of them. These were people known to everyone. 

There are many phony ahadith that anyone could have made-up. Like the one that says water flew out of the fingers of Muhammad, or the stones moved around to hide his but when he went to answer the call of the nature, or that he started to praise Allah as soon as he was born. These are unintelligent stories that have no base. Nevertheless the believers loved to hear them because they strengthened their faith. But the accounts of his assassinations are not the kind of stories that someone would willingly fabricate for the person he loves most. 

It is not just one story that portrays Muhammad as an assassin. There are many of them, reported by several people and preserved by several Hadith collectors. All of them corroborate each other. Those who don’t believe in ahadith as religious source of guidance, must accept them as historic sources. The stories of Muhammad's assassinations do not contain religious guidance, (though it became the standard of conduct for Muslims throughout the history) but they are “historic” facts.  

There are two categories of Muslims. The first are those that unabashedly defend Muhammad and whatever he did irrespective of any consideration for decency, rightness or justice. The second group, are those that dishonestly deny the facts about him and try to twist the evidence to make Muhammad acceptable by modern morality and values.

I don’t want to pass the judgment as which one is better, but I certainly admire the honesty of the first group that the second group lacks. Sometimes ago I had a debate with someone representing the first category. He had no difficulty accepting the stories of Muhammad’s assassinations and tried to prove Muhammad’s greatness by reminding me that the assassin who went to kill him hurt his ankle and Muhammad touched it and it healed. This gentleman could not think that if Muhammad had powers to heal he would have been able to kill his enemies by remote control and would not have needed to recruit an assassin.

However in my view the greatest enemies of democracy and reform are those pertaining to the second group. These are the ones disguised as intellectuals and modernists. They want to present Islam as a peaceful and tolerant religion. They lie. They twist the facts. They hide the evidence not because they truly believe that Islam is a religion of peace, for anyone who reads that book knows that this is not so. They lie to gain advantages, especially in the West as long as Islam is in the minority and as long as it is weak. But as soon as Islam become powerful, all that sweet talk of tolerance is put aside, the mask will be off and the real face of Islam as evinced by its founder will become manifest. Then those phony smiles give way to showing the fangs. This is precisely how the Prophet himself acted. When he was in Mecca and weak, he spoke of tolerance, but when he became powerful he forgot all that talk and started his campaign of genocide of the Jews and the Christians of Arabia.  

For more stories of assassinations plotted by Muhammad and executed by his followers click here.

As for your claim that Muhammad had no greed for wealth, and that is why he refused the offer of the Quraish in order to stick to his belief in God, I am afraid you are very mistaken. The Quraish already believed in Allah and did not have to pay to Muhammad to stop him preaching his religion. You are probably referring to the above episode reported by Hishami. As you see the Quraish were real gentlemen about it. They pleaded Muhammad to stop insulting their gods. If they really offered him wealth to make him stop while they could kill him with no sweet then they should be regarded as champions of tolerance.

However it is absurd to say Muhammad was not a greedy man. If Muhammad did not have greed for wealth then why he raided merchant caravans, and asked ransom for the release of the men he captured in such raid or would kill them if the family of the captives could not come with what he demanded? When Muhammad escaped to Medina he was poor and depended on the charity of this followers for his sustenance. Only a few yeas later he had slaves and lands, horses and camels. How do you think he made his wealth if not by raiding, looting and stealing? It is reported that Ayesha once manumitted 40 slaves in expiation of a broken oath. How many other slaves she had to expiate 40 of them in one go? Where did she get this many slaves? She was just one of Muhammad;s wives? How many slaves all his wives had together? As a matter of fact the war between Shiism and Sunism can be dated back to the garden of Fadak, a lush garden that Muhammad stole from the Jews of Kheibar after killing his owner and gave it to his daughter Fatima. Later Abu Bakr tried to take that property back and this is the beginning of animosity of Ali and his family with the legitimate Khalifas after Muhammad.

My respected friend, Muhammad was an extremely greedy man. He invaded the Jews massacred some and banished others for no other reason but greed. The only guilt of these people was that they were wealthy and Muhammad needed their wealth. Once again please read the history of Muhammad written by the very Muslims to understand this man. If you do not know the history of Islam, your knowledge of the Quran is meaningless. 

Now let us assume that the Quaysh actually did offer wealth to Muhammad so he stop preaching his religion and Muhammad did not accept it. Remember that I never said Muhammad was stupid. He was smart and extremely cunning. What do you think it would have happened if Muhammad had accepted that offer? His followers would have left him at once and there would be no need to pay him anything. If I were Muhammad I would not have accepted that offer either. It would have been a total loss of face for him and loss of face is something narcissist cannot accept.

Take the example of Saddam Hussein. The USA offered him to take his billions of stolen money and go in exile to Russia. The Russian agreed with the deal. Those billions of stolen money would certainly have sufficed him to live comfortably for the rest of him life. Yet he preferred defeat than losing face. A narcissist will never go back. A narcissit will rather die than accept the humiliation of and Saddam could shed some light on this matter. America offered Saddam of losing face. It is this insane obstinacy that often catapults the narcissists to power, fame and success. In he case of Muhammad how much money would have sufficed to wash away the shame of being called a liar by the Quraysh and his disappointed followers who actually believed in his lies? 

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You keep repeating the unfounded claim of the Muslims that the enemies of Islam wanted to kill him. What is your evidence for that? Can you please refer me to one provable fact that show the enemies of Islam actually wanted to kill him?

In Medina 

After Muhammad and Abu Bakr fled to Medina, their families stayed behind for several weeks. But nothing befell them and the Quraysh did not harm, accost or harass them in anyways. Although as Muir points out “it was not unreasonable that they should have been detained as hostages against any hostile incursion from Medina. These facts lead us to doubt the intense hatred and bitter cruelty, which the strong colouring of tradition is ever ready to attribute to the Coreish In accordance with this view is the fact that the first aggressions, after the Hegira, were solely on the part of Mahomet and his followers. It was not until several of their caravans had been waylaid and plundered, and blood had thus been shed, that the people of Mecca were forced in self-defence to resort to arms”

The fact that Mohammad and Abu Bakr trusted that their families would be safe if left behind in Mecca is a clear indication that the hostilities attributed to the Quraish against the Muslims is an exaggeration and an excuse or a justification for their later invasion of Mecca. None of the Muslims were exiled. All of them were able to emigrate by their own volition. A few of them, were detained by their families and a few who were slaves could not escape. The rest joined Muhammad with no obstruction from the Quraish.

When Muhammad reached Medina, there were about a couple of hundred of emigrants and perhaps an equal number of Medinans of the tribes of Khazraj and Aus who had believed in him. The Meccans were unskilled people and found employment in the fields and plantations. They mostly worked as laborers and journeymen for the wealthy Jews. It was hard on them. The belief in Allah was good but it would not feed them.  Muhammad was aware that he could not keep his followers for long if he failed to satisfy their earthly needs. Moreover he had made them immigrate for a purpose: to wage war for him and establish his dominance over Arabia and subdue the Persia. 

However his small cluster of followers was unqualified for military tasks. Yet he had offered those who left their homes a goodly home in this world and it was time to deliver his promise or face sedition and defection.  

 To those who leave their homes in the cause of Allah, after suffering oppression,- We will assuredly give a goodly home in this world; but truly the reward of the Hereafter will be greater. If they only realized (this)! (Q.16: 41)

Whence would he provide them all the goodly things he offered them in this world? That is when he had to put to action the plan that he had devised years earlier. Of course conquering Arabia and subduing the Ajam was not possible with just a few disciples but raiding the merchant caravans and plundering their goods was.  

 The Prophet turns a bandit.  

So the Prophet turns a bandit and thenceforth he ceased to preach,  "Speak good to men..." 2: 83 or "Be patient with what they say, and part from them courteously".73: 10  and started to call for blood, “qateloo”, fight and kill became the buzzword of Allah’s subsequent messages.

During the first six months of Muhammad’s arrival to Medina, nothing important happened. The immigrants including Muhammad himself, had to struggle to make a living to pay for shelter and food.

However the thoughts of Mohammad were not thoughts of peace. He had plans, big plans. The number of his followers were increasing, some defecting from Mecca joining other immigrants and some accepting Islam in Medina. Now he was in a position to command a party of warriors. But the people of Medina had pledged only to defend the Prophet from attack, not to join him in any aggression against the Quraish.

So instead of attacking Mecca, in Dec. A.D. 622 In Ramadhan, seven months after his arrival, the prophet dispatched his uncle Hamza, at the head of thirty Refugees, to surprise a Meccan caravan returning from Syria under the guidance of Abu Jahl.  This caravan, was guarded by some 300 men. Hamza’s men had to retreat empty handed to Medina and Abu Jahl proceeded onwards to Mecca. This was the first confrontation started by Muhammad, which was aborted because of shortage of men and bad planning. The god who told Muhammad to raid and plunder the caravans, did not tell him how to do it. And the Prophet had to learn it by trial and error just like any greenhorn thief.

The next event took place a month later in Jan. A.D. 623. At that time Muhammad sent another party double the strength of the first one, under the command of Obeida, ibn Harith, in pursuit of another caravan protected by Abu Sofian with 200 men. This time the Quraish were surprised while their camels were grazing by a fountain in the valley of Rabigh and some arrows were exchanged but the invaders retreated after realizing that the are out numbered by the men accompanying the caravan.

One month later, a third expedition started under the youthful Sa’d, with twenty followers, in the same direction. He was asked to proceed as far as Kharrar, a valley on the road to Mecca, and to lie in wait for a caravan expected to pass that way. Like most of the subsequent marauding parties they intended to affect a surprise. They marched by night and lay in concealment during the day. Notwithstanding this precaution, when they reached their destination in the fifth morning, they found that the caravan had passed a day earlier, and they returned empty-handed to Medina.

These excursions occurred in the winter and spring of the year 623 A.D. On each occasion, Muhammad mounted a white banner on a staff or lance, and presented it to the commander of the expedition, on his departure. The names of those who carried the standard, as well as the names of the commanders, are carefully recorded in ahadith in.

There were three more failed robbery attempt by the Prophet and his men at Abwa, Bowat and Osheira.

Nakhlah the breakthrough

More than one year had passed and despite several attempts and expeditions none of the holy Prophet's robberies were successful. The megalomaniac Messenger of Allah finally realized that he has to start with smaller targets. So when the news reached him of a small merchant caravan going from Mecca to Taif that was guarded by just four men, he seized the opportunity and sent his cousin (the son of his parental aunt) Abdallah ibn Jahsh, with seven other immigrants, to hijack that caravan.

The group of bandits went to Nakhla a Valley between Mecca and Taif known for its date orchards and waited there. In a short time a caravan laden with wine, raisins, and leather, came up. It was guarded by four Qureishits, who, seeing the strangers, were alarmed, and halted. To disarm their apprehensions, one of Abdallah's party shaved his head, in token that they were returning from the lesser pilgrimage; for this was one of the months in which that ceremony was ordinarily performed. The men of the caravan were at once reassured, and turning their camels adrift to pasture, began to prepare food for themselves. Then one of Abdallah’s men advanced; and discharging an arrow, killing a man of the convoy, on the spot. All then rushed upon the caravan and secured two of the guards as hostages while one man escaped. 

When the party returned carrying along the stolen property and the hostages, the followers of Muhammad were disappointed for the envoy had violated a long-standing tradition of no hostility during the sacred months. This was embarrassing to the messenger of Allah and he pretended to be angry. He took all the goods confiscated and jailed the captives pretending to be displeased for the timing of the attack. But soon the resourceful Prophet took out another verse from Allah out of his sleeve and condoned the crime thus:

"They will ask thee concerning the Sacred Months, whether they may war therein. SAY : - Warring therein is grievous; but to obstruct the way of God, and to deny him, and hinder men from the Holy Temple, and expel his people from thence, is more grievous with God. Tempting (to Idolatry) is more grievous than killing. They will not leave off to fight against you until they turn you from your faith, if that were ill their power; but whosoever amongst you shall turn back from his faith and die an Unbeliever, -verily their Works are rendered of no effect in this Life and in the next. These are the Dwellers in Hell, - for ever therein. But they that believe, and they who emigrate for the sake of their faith, and strive earnestly in the way of God, - let them hope in the mercy of God: for God is forgiving and merciful." (Q.2: 217)

After promulgating this verse, Muhammad gave over the booty to the captors, who, after presenting a fifth of it to Mohammad, divided the remainder among themselves.

Before Abdallah reached Nakhla, two of his men, Sa’d and Otba, lost their camels that wandered in the desert. They went after their camels and missed the action in Nakhla. When Abdallah returned to Medina, these two men had not returned yet. Muhammad feared that they were captured by the Quraish and refused to ransom the captives till he was assured that no foul play had been used against them: - "if ye have killed my two men," he said, "verily, I will put yours also to death." But, soon after, they showed up, and the Prophet accepted the proffered ransom, - forty ounces of silver for each and released them. 

Attacking merchant caravans, fighting during the holy months, deceiving and killing innocent people, stealing the goods unlawfully, taking human hostages, demanding ransom for their release, threatening to kill them, etc. are not acts that one would expect from a messenger of God. What the Prophet did here was terrorism. There can be no justification for that whatsoever. 

It was only then that it became clear to the Quraish that their opponent respected no rules. It is interesting to note that the first blood spelt between the Muslims and the non-believers was spelt by a Muslim. In no time Muslims were victimized. They were always the victimizers, the aggressors and provokers. Nevertheless they kept their hatred alive by viewing themselves as the victims. It is amazing how the tradition of deceit and the game of victimization started by Muhammad has survived for the last 1400 years.   

Ibn Hisham confirmed, "This was, the first booty that the Mussulmans obtained; the first captives they seized; the first life they took." 

The Prophet is said to have designated Abdallah, the head of the bandits of Nakhah, with the distinction of Amir al Mominin, "Commander of the Faithful" an appellation that was assumed in after days by the Caliphs. 

This attack showed that the Prophet and his followers would respect neither life nor the universally honored sacred months. But still the Quraish did not retaliate. Though some of the Muslims were still in Mecca, the Quraish attempted no cruelties or reprisals against them. This is in contrast with the Prophet’s way of punishing some for the faults of others. When his men captured the guards of the Caravan in Nakhlah, he was ready to kill them just by assuming that his lost followers were captured and killed by the Meccans. Even if that were true, how could a messenger of God put to death innocent people for the sins of others? However, the most horrendous act of the Prophet’s injustice is his massacre of all the men of Bani Quraiza in retaliation of one of them killing a Muslim who in turn had killed a Jew.  

After the successful foray in Nakhlah, the Prophet increased his profitable marauding activities and became an expert in the art of plundering and warfare. More caravans were attacked and more booty filled the coffins of the Prophet and enriched his followers. It was then that the messenger of Allah started to reveal verses encouraging fighting and killing. Like the following: 

"Bear good tidings unto the Righteous. Truly the Lord will keep back the Enemy from those who believe, for God loveth not the perfidious Unbeliever. Permission is granted unto those who take up arms for that they have been injuriously entreated; and verily the Lord is Mighty for the assistance of those who have been driven from their homes without just cause, - for no other reason than that they said, God is our Lord. And truly if it were not that God holdeth back mankind, one part of them by means of another part (Q.22: 41) 

Notice how the holy Prophet is twisting the facts to rouse his followers into killing frenzy. As we saw Muslims were not “injuriously treated” and they were not driven from their homes. The Quraish did not persecute them for their belief in God. These inflammatory verses were lies. But he wanted to incite his followers to enlist in his army and help him realize his dream of conquering the Arabia and subduing the Ajam. 

The treaty that was signed in Medina obliged the inhabitants of that town to protect Mohammad if he was attacked by the Meccans, but it did not require them to take part in offensive wars, plunder and enrich the prophet with spoils of war. But Muhammad needed their participation in his expeditions. The solution was found, as usual, in a revelation.

"War is ordained for you, even though it be irksome unto you. Perchance ye dislike that which is good for you, and love that which is evil for you. But God knoweth, and ye know not."

Yes indeed! God knoweth and ye know not! This was enough explanation for those dimwitted followers of Muhammad then and incidentally it is enough even today for the benighted Muslims.

At this point we have to ask ourselves what makes a man a messenger of God? If not good deeds and good conduct are not needed for one to become a prophet then what is it that sets his apart? In what ways the Prophet excelled the common thieves, the gangsters, the thugs, the hooligans, the hoodlums and the criminals? 

S.20

What you wrote is only the example of how people can make up fantasies and believe in them.  

Muhammad was never offered the wealth of the world. The Quraysh did not have access to such a wealth to offer it to Muhammad.  

Even if the Quraysh had offered his something in exchange for his quitting his taunting their religions, which seems absurd, Muhammad was a narcissist and narcissist are stubborn and will not turn back. Saddam Hussein and Hitler are perfect examples of how narcissists behave. They rather accept death than retreat. Muhammad’s stubbornness is not the sign of his greatness but is the indication of his metal sickness.

Muhammad was not an example of humility. He claimed to be a prophet and demanded absolute obedience from his followers. He said he who disobeys his is as if disobeying God. He revealed verses asking them to be respectful in his presence and do not speak loudly. These are not the signs of a humble man but an arrogant self centered man.  

Muhammad was not brave. He ordered his followers to wage war for him and told them if they charge against the enemy and die they will go to paradise. But he himself never took part in any battle. He used to stay behind and excite his followers to fight for him by throwing a handful of dirt at them and cursing them. He used to wear two armors one on top of the other which made him so heavy that he hardly could stand or walk. This is not the sign of a brave man.  

Muhammad’s enemies never declared war on him so he could not have accepted their challenge while he was the underdog. The only time the non Muslims attacked the Muslims was the war know as the ditch (Khandaq). The Meccans were fed up of Muhammad’s constant raiding and looting their merchant caravans. They came to stop him and teach him a lesson. Muhammad ordered his followers to dig a ditch and stayed inside the walls of the city. He did not go out to fight. The Meccans got tired of waiting and went back without any fight.  

Muhammad was not an example of forgiveness. He was a ruthless man who massacred and banished those whom he did not have need for such as the Jews, but also a calculating man who saved the Meccans who were his own relatives and he knew that blood is ticker that water. He not only did not kill them but in the next battle, he gave them all the booty to “sweeten Islam in the mouth of the Meccans” as he said to his Medinan companions.  

Muhammad did not kill the Meccans because the Mecums surrendered without a fight and that was the condition for their surrender. However it was also to the interest of Muhammad not to kill his own relatives. Abu Sofyan was the cousin of Muhammad. The Meccans had never killed any Muslim. It is also not true that Muhammad did not kill anyone in Mecca. Muhammad ordered the execution of 10 people when he took Mecca. Here is the list of names found in Ibn Sa'd "Tabaqat".

The quote is from the Tabaqat, Vol 2, page 168.

"The apostle of Allah entered through Adhakhir, [into Mecca], and prohibited fighting. He ordered six men and four women to be killed, they were (1) Ikrimah Ibn Abi Jahl, (2) Habbar Ibn al-Aswad, (3) Abd Allah Ibn Sa'd Ibn Abi Sarh, (4) Miqyas Ibn Sababah al-Laythi, (5) al-Huwayrith Ibn Nuqaydh, (6) Abd Abbah Ibn Hilal Ibn Khatal al-Adrami, (7) Hind Bint Utbah, (8) Sarah, the mawlat (enfranchised girl) of Amr Ibn Hashim, (9) Fartana and (10) Qaribah

QUOTING FROM THE SIRAT, PAGE 550.

"The apostle had instructed his commanders when they entered Mecca only to fight those who resisted them, except a small number who were to be killed even if they were found beneath the curtains of the Kaba. Among them was Abdullah Sa'd, brother of the B. Amir Luayy. The reason he ordered him to be killed was that he had been a Muslim and used to write down revelation; then he apostatized and returned to Quraysh [Mecca] and fled to Uthman Affan whose foster brother he was. The latter hid him until he brought him to the apostle after the situation in Mecca was tranquil, and asked that he might be granted immunity. They allege that the apostle remained silent for a long time till finally he [Muhammad] said yes [granting Abdullah immunity from the execution order].

When Uthman had left he [Muhammad] said to his companions who were sitting around him, "I kept silent so that one of you might get up and strike off his head!" One of the Ansar said, "Then why didn't you give me a sign, O apostle of God?" He answered that a prophet does not kill by pointing."

Ibn Sa'd corroborates Ibn Ishaq and says on page 174:

"A person of al-Ansar had taken a vow to kill Ibn Abi Sarh [the already mentioned Abdullah] if he saw him. Uthman whose foster brother he (Ibn Abi Sarh) was, came and interceded for him with the prophet. The Ansari was waiting for the signal of the prophet to kill him. Uthman interceded and he [Muhammad] let him go. The apostle of Allah said to the Ansari, "Why did you not fulfil your vow?" He said, "O apostle of Allah! I had my hand on the hilt of the sword waiting for your signal to kill him. The prophet said signalling would have been a breach of faith. It does not behave the prophet to make signal.""

Ali Dashti in his "23 Years, A study of the prophetic career of Muhammad", page 98 sheds more light on this subject. 

"The last man named [in the list of people to be killed] had been one of the scribes employed at Medina to write down the 'revelations'. On a number of occassions, with Muhammad's consent, he changed the closing words of verses. For example, when Muhammad said "And God is mighty and wise", Abdullah Sarh suggested 'knowing and wise', and the prophet answered that there was no objection. Having observed a succession of changes of this type, Abdullah renounced Islam on the ground that the revelations, if from God, could not be changed at the prompting of a scribe such as himself. After his apostasy, he went to Mecca and joined the Qorayshites." 

Now lets go on with the Sirat, and see who else was in that black list of Muhammad. page 550.

"Another [to be killed] was Abdullah Khatal of B. Taym b. Ghalib. He had become a Muslim and the apostle sent him to collect the poor tax in company with one of the Ansar. He had with him a freed slave who served him. (He was Muslim). When they halted he ordered the latter to kill a goat for him and prepare some food, and went to sleep. When he woke up the man had done nothing, so he attacked and killed him and apostatized. He had two singing-girls Fartana and her friend who used to sing satirical songs about the apostle, so he ordered that they should be killed with him."  

Muhammad ordered Abdullah Khatal  to be killed not because he killed his slave boy but because he apostatized. Muhammad was a narcissist and you cannot turn away from a narcissist without becoming the subject of his wrath. He also killed Khtal’s to slave girls because they sang the satirical songs that he composed against Muhammad.

Remember, they sung these songs about Muhammad years earlier. Muhammad could not forgive them. These slave girls were not threats to Islam. They paid with their lives because Muhammad could not forgive those who maligned him. They sang silly songs  about Muhammad and that is why they were put to death. 

Ibn Sa'd's writesl, Vol 2, page 172 

"The apostle of Allah entered Makkah in the year of victory and on his head there was a helmet. Then he removed it. Ma'n and Musa Ibn Dawud said in their version: A person came to him and said, "O apostle of Allah! Ibn Khatal is holding fast the curtains of al-Kabah. Thereupon the apostle of Allah said: "Kill him."  p173: "....kill him wherever you find him"

The same story is narrated by Bukhari , volume 5 #582.

"Narrated Anas bin Malik: "On the day of the Conquest, the prophet entered Mecca, wearing a helmet on his head. When he took it off, a man came and said, "Ibn Khatal is clinging to the curtain of the Kaba." The prophet said "Kill him."  

Now imagine that Kaaba was a sacred place and those who sought refuge in it were usually saved. But Muhammad was a man with no mercy. He had no regards of the secrecy of Kaaba. He did not shun shedding blood even in that sacred spot. For him everything was a game. God, Kaaba, prayers were just tool to fool people and control their minds.

 And  Abdullah. Ibn Sa'd continues with this story on page 174:

"Verily the apostle of Alah ordered (his followers) on the day of the Victory to kill Ibn Abi Sarh, Fartana Ibn al-Zibr'ra and Ibn Khatal. Abu Barzah came and saw him (Ibn Khatal) holding fast the curtains of al-Kabah. He (Abu Barzah) ripped open his belly.

Now what happened to the singing girls? Their fate is described in page 551 of the Sirat

"As for Ibn Khatal's two singing girls, one was killed and the other ran away until the apostle, asked for immunity, gave it to her."

The other victim of Muhammad was al-Huwayrith Nuqaydh Wahb Qusayy. His story is on page 551 of the Sirat:

"Another was al-Huwayrith Nuqaydh Wahb Qusayy, one of those who used to insult him in Mecca. ... Al-Huwayrith was killed by Ali.

As you see Muhammad had zero tolerance for those who insulted him, mocked him or criticized him. This all points out to his huge ego and the fact that he was a narcissist. He was humiliated in his childhood and hence he could not tolerate criticism, mocking and derision. Anyone who did so paid with his life.

The next was Miqyas Hubaba. In Sirat page 551 we read:

"Another [ordered to be killed] was Miqyas Hubaba because he had killed an Ansari who had killed his brother accidentally, and returned to Quraysh as a polytheist."

page 492 gives more detail of the why he had to be killed:

"Miqyas Subaba came from Mecca as a Muslim, so he professed, saying, "I come to you as a Muslim seeking the bloodwit for my brother who was killed in error." The apostle ordered that he should have the bloodwit for his brother Hisham and he stopped a short while with the apostle. Then he attacked his brother's slayer and killed him and went off to Mecca an apostate."

Miqyas avenged the death of his brother. He obviously was not killed for that. But he was killed because he fooled Muhammad pretending to be a Muslim and then apostatized. Muhammad never forgave those who left him after believing in him.

Page 551 of the Sirat talks about two other victims of Muhammad, Sara and Ikrima:

"And Sara, freed slave of one of the Abdul-Muttalib, and Ikrima Abu Jahl. Sara had insulted him [Muhammad] in Mecca. As for Ikrima, he fled to the Yaman. His wife Umm Hakim Harith Hisham became a Muslim and asked for immunity for him and the apostle gave it. She went to the Yaman in search of him and brought him to the apostle and he accepted Islam." ...

"As for Ibn Khatal's two singing-girls, one was killed and the other ran away until the apostle, asked for immunity, gave it her. Similarly Sara, who lived until in the time of `Umar a mounted soldier trod her down in the valley of Mecca and killed her. Al-Huwayrith was killed by `Ali."

Although Sara was spared by Muhammad, she remained an outcast and later was murdered by a Muslim who as Tabari says:

Al-Tabari's text ("The History of Tabari", volume 8, SUNY, translated by Michael Fishbein, p. 179)

"She lived until someone in the time of Umar b. al-Khattab caused his horse to trample her at Abtah and killed her.

My dear respected friend. I earnestly urge you to read the history of Islam. Many of your misconceptions about Islam are due to your lack of the true knowledge of the history. You rely on your memory and on the tales that you heard from the Mullahs when you sat at their feet listening to them but you distrust the original books of the history. 

 Mr. Pour Hasan's letter is too long and I did not have time to respond to the rest of what he wrote.

You stated(#5):

In Surah 2:256 God tells Mohammad not to impose Islam by force,

"There is no compulsion in religion",

Then again in verse 193 He tells his messenger to kill whoever rejects Islam,

"Fight them until there is no persecution and the religion is God's".

My response(#5):

Again you are taking the verse out of its true context. And taking a few words from a given verse is not showing the true picture that the Koran presents about the subject.

To be fair is to gather all the verses about a given subject and then draw a conclusion based on all the facts – a trend that I followed in my book, “The Corruption of Moslem Minds”.

According to the Koran everyone must be free in this world to choose whether to believe in one God, many gods, or no god. However in the other world there will be consequences. If there were no consequences, then (at least to me) the world would seem wasted.

Also I add again Koran 2:190-193 is suggesting a defensive fight not an offensive fight.

Q2:190

And fight in the way of God with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely God does not love those who exceed the limits.

Q2:191

And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the sacred mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.

Q2:192

But if they desist, then surely God is forgiving, Merciful.

Q2:193

And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for God, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors.

Verses 2:190 to 2:193, does not in any way say compulsion in religion is allowed. Do you see this?

If we are going to be brave and speak out against Mohammad so freely, then we should also be brave and admit when we are clearly wrong. This would actually give us credibility not disqualification.

You stated(#6):

In Surah 29:45 God tells Mohammad to speak nicely to people of the Book (Christians and Jews),

"Argue with people of the book, other than evil doers, only by means of what are better! and say, we believe in what has been sent down to us and sent down to you. Our God is the same as your God, and we are surrendered to Him."

But in Surah 9:29 Allah tells him to fight the people of the Book,

"Fight those who do not believe in God and the last day... and fight People of the Book, who do not accept the religion of truth (Islam) until they pay tribute by hand, being inferior".

My response(#6):

We must put everything Koran says in perspective of its time. Koran is a book to Arabs of 1400 years ago (6:92, 32:2, 42:5, 43:43). And it tells them to fight with those who fight them and not everybody else 13:38 very clearly says for any given time there is a book.

(Koran; 13:38) … For every era has a book.

The righteous reaction could be very different depending on the era that you are living in and how much advancement the society has to enforce that kind of reaction.

So when God tells Mohammad to tell the Arabs of barbaric eras to speak politely to the people of the book, He is teaching great manner to a people that kill their own new born baby because it is a girl.

For that era this was a necessary teaching. Today we all know better.  However when in verse 9:29 God commands them to fight he is talking about fighting against those who fight them first.

(Koran; 9:13) Will you not fight a people who have violated their trust and intended to exile the messenger? They attacked you first! Are you afraid of them? You ought to be even more afraid of God if you are believers.

So this is a mistake that all the so called scholars of Islam have made and you seemed to accept that (when I say mistake, I mean thinking that these verses are absolute, and they must be accepted and copied in all the eras after Mohammad; they accept that to oppress their followers, you accept it to show how wrong Koran is).

And then once the so-called scholar of Islam make their followers to accept that verses of this book are absolute, then they quote any verse out of its context and make their followers kill unjustly for God. And also it gives the opposition to Islam a great tool to disqualify this religion as a compassionate religion.

Well if we accept the whole Koran we will see that the Koran has disqualify this kind of usage of its verses because it clearly says this is not for all times to be copied (3:7-8)

(Koran; 3:7-8) He is the One Who sent you down the book which contains decisive verses. They (form) the basis of the book; while others are allegorical. Those whose hearts are prone to falter follow whatever is allegorical in it, seeking to create dissension by giving (their own) interpretation of it.  Yet only God knows its interpretation; whose who are versed in knowledge say: “We believe in it; it all comes from our Lord!” However only prudent persons bear it in mind.

This verse is of great importance as it will show that we must not follow Koran blindly as the Koran contains many verses that are for Arabs of 1400 years ago. As a matter of fact everything in the Koran is for that time except the verses which is referred to as the basic verses. These verses are exactly similar to the ten commandment of the prophet Moses (7:134)

(Koran; 7:134) And We wrote for him on the tablets of everything an admonition, and a distinguishing of everything: “So take it forcefully, and command thy people to take the fairest of it.  I shall show you the home for immoral people.

This verse claims that everything humans need for guidance was in the tablets that was given to Mosses. This means when Koran claims to be a complete book (16:89, 12:111, 44:1-4, 39:27, 54:5, 61:8), and when it claims to be a book which has the knowledge of guidance (2:1,91,181, 3:3,132, 7:52, 27:1-2, 31:1-2, and many more), it is referring to those verses that explains virtually the 10 commandment.  This is also very clear as we see Koran repeats many times that it contains nothing new from the other religions that God sent down (87:18-19, 41:43, 26:195-198,4:26, 15:10, 20:133, 33:62, 42:13,46:9,48:23). This by no means is referring that the situations that Arabs of 1400 years ago had was exactly like those of other prophets’ eras. Nor does it not mean that these Arabic words used in the Koran are exactly duplicated in Arabic in the Bible or in the Torah.

Some examples are:

(Koran; 41:43) Anything that has been told you is merely what was told (other) messengers before you…

(Koran;26:195-196) (The Koran is) in plain Arabic language. (195) – And most surely the same is in the scriptures of the early men. (196)

And interesting enough it adds that if you have any doubt about it ask the people of the book before it (as you will find same things in their book).

(Koran; 10:94) If you are in any doubt concerning what We have sent down to you, then question those who have read the book before you…

If this brief explanation is kept in our mind then many of the quotations you claim to be contradiction will no longer be that.

Also one last thing I must say about 9:29 is that all the verses that urges Mohammad’s followers of his time to fight is a defensive fight and you must read few verses before or after to be able to see that.

This is why in my book “The Corruption of Moslem Minds”. In chapter 9.3 I have taken all the verses from the Koran where fighting is permitted to the Arabs of 1400 years ago and in all these verses you can clearly states fight with those who fight you (2:190, 22:40 and many more), with justice (49:9, 17:33, 25:68 ) and not to exceed God’s law (8:39)., and to accept peace immediately in any war (47:4, 4:90, 60:8).

You stated(#7):

{Muhammad gives no justification for this discrepancy in Quran and the change in Allah's mood from peaceful to militant, conciliatory to confrontational. Muslim apologists in the West present selectively the kinder verses of the Quran or what is known as the Early Revelation.}

My response(#7):

I already explain this in the SR (Stated/Response) number 6.

However please also consider, that if I make the below statement:

“If a person is kind to me I am going to be Kind to him and then if that same person wants to kill me I will kill him.”

In the above statement I have told you to kill and be kind in the same statement. Does this mean I contradicted myself? Does this means that I change my mind according to what kind of mood I am in? Does this means I am not consistence?

The answer to all the above question is NO.

You stated(#8):

While the Muslim clerics preach the violent verses to their only Muslim audience and claims that those softer verses of the Quran are abrogated and supplanted by the later revelation that contains the harsher verses. The reason given is, as Al Maudoody puts it, "Mohammad became strong enough to move from the stage of weakness to the stage of Jihad".

My response(#8):

If someone pulls a gun on you in the street and says: Do not move or I will shoot, should you move? The smart answer is NO. In the same token if a man is going to for sure kill you and your family and let us say you have a gun and you get a chance to shoot him before he shoots you and your family, should you kill him? The smart answer is YES.

Does the above answer “NO” and the answer after that “YES”, contradict each other?

No one should fight back when they are not strong enough to fight.  But if they are strong enough then depending on the situation of how harsh and persistence your enemy is maybe you should fight back (i.e. fight against terrorism).

You stated(#9):

For 13 years Muhammad preached in Mecca but less than 100 people accepted him. Meccans preferred Al Nadir, another storyteller to Muhammad’s boring warnings of hell. His irreverence to their gods angered the people. Eventually he migrated to Medina where he found a more receptive audience. His followers also joined him and he called them immigrants. At first they were poor and used to work as journeymen in palm plantations of the Jews living in Medina. They used to give some of their food to Muhammad, who often dined on nothing but few dates. The hardship of life in exile was unbearable to Muhammad. He was not interested in work. He had bigger plans. He started raiding the merchant caravans that were carrying goods from Damascus to Mecca. One of these raids that took place at Badr was a big success and the Prophet made a good fortune thereof. Then he planned other highway robberies. He distributed the booty, among those who took part in the battles and kept 20% for himself. He even made money threatening to kill his captives and released them only after receiving ransoms. He assured his followers that if they fall in the battles, they would get more rewards in Paradise. Gradually his fortunes changed. He was no more a weak neglected preacher but a successful marauding chieftain who commanded absolute power over his followers. With this change of fortune Muhammad's message also changed. Here is a comparison between some early verses he wrote in Mecca while weak and some that he wrote in Medina after becoming powerful.

My response(#9):

You see my friend, biased is biased and telling stories like above will not bring us to a realization of anything about the Koran. Your above story, or even a pro-Mohammad’s version, can not substantiate anything about Mohammad. So we should in my opinion avoid them. However to make this point clear and to show that your story can easily been written by a person opposite to you without changing the facts, I will act as that person and retell your story in a different way and just like your story I will not be able to draw any proof about whether Mohammad was a great man or an awful one.

Here is the same story from perspective of a pro Mohammad person:

“For 13 years Mohammad preached in Mecca. One hundred people immediately were braved enough to accept his invitation to accept only one God. Meccans preferred AL Nadir, another great storyteller who is known to remind people of the other world and consequences our actions will have in the other world.

His denial to worship their many gods angered the people. Eventually he was kicked out and forced to move his followers to Medina, his crime was that he wanted to worship the one and only God. In Medina his message had a chance to be heard by so many many and therefore many brave man and woman of God accepted his message. His brave followers also moved to Medina, he called them immigrants.

At first they were poor and used to work as journeymen in the palm plantations of the Jews living in Medina. They used to give some of their food to Muhammad, who often dined on nothing but few dates. The hardship of life in exile was unbearable to Muhammad. He was a working man as he worked long hours under the sun farming an occupation of prophets before him. However God had other plans for him.

Eventually after many years of accepting oppression God gave permission to him and his followers to defend themselves from the aggressors who wanted nothing better than to kill them on the account of their religion. He foght back and he started to raid those who had raided him in the past for too long (give them a  taste of their own medicine). One of these raids that took place at Badr was a big success and the Prophet made a good fortune thereof. As he had proven himself rejecting to accept any wealth in exchange for him stopping his prophecy. As all the prophets of God have other intention in their mind than wealth. 

Then he continued his hard work to stop the enemy with all his might.

He distributed the goods, among those who took part in the battles fairly, and unlike the kings of those times, he gave the goods to those people who had risked their lives for God.  The 20% that God told him to keep was also spent for building a mosque and was spent on the religion that God had commanded him to spread.

He assured his followers that if they fall in the battles, they would get more rewards in Paradise, a promise that was given to all the prophets before him, a promise brought to his followers from God. Gradually his patience and struggles paid off and his fortunes changed. He was no more a weak neglected prophet  but a successful man of God who God gave him absolute power over his followers.

With this change of fortune Muhammad's followers increased, thus forming a great empire so new rules were required to run this great nation.

As you see from the above story I just told, one can not prove or disprove of who Mohammad was.  And this is true about your version of the story also.

You stated(#11):

50:45 We will know what the infidels say: but you are not to compel them

9:123 Oh ye who believe! Murder those of the disbelievers and let them find harshness in you.

My response(#11):

The above listed verses are misquoted.  In your site you posted 3 translations but yet you did not use any of them. In those translations you do not see the word “Murder”. You substitute the word “fight” for “Murder”.

The below are the 3 translations you have provided on your site:

009.123
YUSUFALI: O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.
PICKTHAL: O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).
SHAKIR: O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).

The above verses are similar in contents as the SR #5, which I already explained my views about them.

You Stated(#12):

2:83 Speak good to men... 9:5 Slay the idolaters wherever you find them

My response(#12):

First of all I must say that Chapter 2 verse 83 was not early verses. This chapter was send to Mohammad on  the 22^nd year of his prophecy and the chapter right before that, in the same year was chapter 9. So you are wrong to compare them as early verses to latter once.

However my view about them is explained in SR number 5, 6, and 7.

You stated(#13):

20:103 Therefore be patient with what they say, and celebrate (constantly) the praises of thy Lord

8:65 O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding.

My response(#13):

My view about the above is explained in SR number 5, 6, and 7.

You stated(#14):

5:69 Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry, and the Sabaeans, and those of the Christians, whosoever believes in God and the Last Day, and works righteousness no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow.

9:29 Fight those who do not believe in God and the last day... and fight People of the Book, who do not accept the religion of truth (Islam) until they pay tribute by hand, being inferior"

My response(#14):

The above verse 5:69 was the part of chapter 5 which was the last chapter that was revealed to Mohammad and chapter 9 was revealed about one year before that. So this is not a comparison of early verses to latter once.  This one actually proves the opposite of what you are saying as 5:69 is when Mohammad was in absolutely his highest power, so he is talking about love and compassion at the height of his power. And I think 5:69 is makes us believe that the Koran is sent down by the same one that sent down the Bible, and the Torah.  And it shows how God is trying to unite all people who believe in God and do righteous work without any regard of how they worship God or what religion they choose.

And about 9:29 I explained earlier that the verse does not promote fighting with the non-believer of all times, it promotes defensive fighting against those who tried to kill Mohammad and his followers 1400 years ago.  This is clearly shown if we read early verses before which is 9:13 and states: Fight with those who first brought fight to you.

You stated(#15):

109:6 To you be your religion, and to me my religion"

3:85 Whoso desires another religion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him; in the next world he shall be among the losers."

My response(#15):

Verse 109:6 tells Mohammad and even confirms it few more times (2:256, 10:99), that there is no compulsion in religion.  Verse 3:85 says who ever desires any religion than Islam (bear in mind Islam is a religion brought by Abraham (22:78), and Moses and Jesus and his disciples are referred in the Koran as Moslems (3:52, 5:111, many more)). Islam means submission (to God).  So obviously not only Mohammad but all the prophets of God said to their people believe in God or suffer the consequences in the judgment day.

And your previous quote (5:69) proof my point about what God meant by saying no religion but Islam is accepted

(Koran; 5:69) Those who believe and those who are Jews, Sabeans and Christians-anyone who believes in God and the last day, and acts honorably, should have no fear nor will they be saddened.

It is also very crucial that we note that for Mohammad’s time, no excuse will be accepted, however those who don’t believe in Islam today is mainly because it is made up to be a very ugly religion, so those who opposed like yourself is actually bear no guilt as the presentation of Islam to them have been far different than that of prophet Mohammad. This is also true about Judaism and Christianity. For today’s Judaism is presented a lot different to people than it was presented by Mosses himself with all his miracles.

So a lot more is expected of them accepting the plea of God than of us. As they observed all Moses’ miracles first hand, but more than 3000 years later we can not even verify those miracles with physical evidence.

So not only Islam in the Koran is defined as believing in one God, but also the verse we are looking at  is talking to Arabs of 1400 years ago. The Koran repeats more than 70 times that if you believe in God and do good you will go to heaven (2:25,62,82,277, 3:57, 4:57,122,124,173, 5:9,69,93, 7:42, 10:4,9, 11:11,23, 13:29, many more).

You stated(#16):

2:62 Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

9:30 The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!

My response(#16):

This is absolutely not a contradiction, but it may appear to be if we disregard the rest of the Koran.  So please allow me to explain:

In the Koran it says those who change the book and betrayed God’s writing they will be punished.  This is only to those who did this not those who were fooled by this act. For example if someone lies and changes a persons will, he who changes that will be punished not those who respected the altered will and did according to it. This is explain in the Koran as such:

(Koran; 2:181) Whoever then alters it after he has heard it, the sin of it then is only upon those who alter it; surely God is hearing, knowing.

So one must bear in mind that God is not punishing the ones that are ignorant about the alteration of the book. Note the following verse cites one of the reason for sending of Mohammad is this fact that many people of book are following the fault that was presented into the book of God:

(Koran; 5:19) O followers of the book! Indeed Our apostle has come to you explaining to you after a cessation of the apostles, lest you say: There came not to us a giver of good news or a warner, so indeed there has come to you a giver of good news and a warner; …

And the below verse makes it very clear that God is angry with those who lie about Jesus long time ago not the one that did not know about this alteration of the book.

(Koran; 4:157) and (also) for their saying. “We killed God’s messenger Christ Jesus, the son of Mary!” They neither killed nor crucified him, even though it seemed so to them…

Note in the above verse is not saying that the Christians of Mohammad’s time claim they killed Jesus, but about the people of almost 600 years before Mohammad’s time.

Anyhow God is angry with those who alter the Book not the Christian that do good deeds but mistakenly think Jesus was son of God and as you can see God even praises them even though they say Jesus is son of God (3:113-114) and this praise is because of their good actions

(Koran; 3:113) They are not all alike; of the followers of the book there is an upright party; they recite Gods’ communications in the night time and they adore.

(3:114) they believe n God and the last day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and they strive with one another in hastening to good deeds, and those are among the good.

In certain parts of the Koran, God also speaks very angrily toward the believers(107:4-6):

(Koran; 107:4) So woe to the praying ones,

107:5 Who are unmindful of their prayers,

107:6 Who do (good) to be see (hypocrites),

107:7 And withhold the necessaries of life (from needy once)

You see the above statements are not contradicting to the verses that speaks good about the believers but rather shows that believers can also fall in the traps of the devil and become bad, but again this is not contradiction. You will also find in the Koran when it says the believers that do good deeds will find heaven as their eternal home (and it repeats this verse over 70 times, (i.e. 4:57)).

(Koran; 4:57) And those who believe and do good deeds, We will make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them for ever; …

Of course saying God has a son is not accepted by God. This act is no good but the punishment for this act is of the people who initiated this and that is why God is very angry with those who changed the book of God note the following verses about this:

(Koran; 3:41) … neither take a mean price in exchange for My verses…

(3:42) And do not mix up the truth with the falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know (it).

(Koran; 2:59) But those who were unjust changed it for a saying other than that which had been spoken to them, so We sent upon those who were unjust a pestilence from Heaven, because they transgressed.

(Koran; 2:79) It will be too bad for those who write the book down in their own hand, then say: “This is from God!”, so they may sell it for a paltry price.  It will be too bad for them because of what their hands have written.  Too bad for whatever they earn!

(Koran; 2:80) … “Say: “ Have you taken it on oath from God? God never breaks His word. Or are you saying something about God which you really do not know?”

(Koran; 2:174) Those who hide what God has sent down in the book and barter it off for a peltry price only suck fire into their bellies. God will not speak to them on the resurrection day nor will He purify them; they will have painful torment!

Verses like the above one are not rare in the Koran. It shows God’s anger with those who try to alter His book and those who write books to hide the Koran (i.e. Resaleh, or books about Ahadith, etc).

So when God says the Jews, and the Christians are very wrong for saying God has a son and those are people that are deluded from the truth and adds the curse of God is on them, He is talking about the ones that knowingly lied about God.

Again if we list all the verses that there is in the Koran about Jews and Christians we will see that the message you get is opposite of what your conclusion is based on couple of verses you quote. Please note the below verse:

(Koran; 5:15) O people of the book! Indeed Our apostle has come to you making clear to you much of what you concealed of the book and will forgive many of you …

And as I showed above (107:4-7) the believers can have also curse of God on them. We can see today’s Islam has the curse of God on them for leaving the Koran (in my opinion), but yet if any Moslem in any of these countries is a very good person he will definitely go to heaven as it is repeatedly stated in the Koran that “believing in God and good deeds” is all that is required for entering heaven.

You state(#17):

10:99 If it had been thy Lord's Will, they would all have believed, all who are on earth! Wilt thou then compel mankind against their will to believe!

5:11 And as for those who disbelieve and reject Our Signs, they are the people of Hell"

My response(#17):

Again no contradiction is seen above.

If God wanted them all to believe He could have forced them (but He let everyone be free to choose), now at the end of the world they will be judged and then go to Hell for not believing in God.  This is the same in all the religions of God.

But very crucial again is the disbeliever of Mohammad’s time or any time are the people who actually used their minds and came to the conclusion that yes Mohammad was the prophet of God and then said no to him. This is very clear if we look at the two verses about who God thinks is the disbeliever.

(Koran; 8:22) The worst animals before God are the deaf and dumb, those who do not use their mind.

(Koran; 8:55) The worst animals for God     are those who disbelieve and do not even want to believe

So as it is very clear if a man uses his mind and comes to the conclusion that there is no God and yet is a great man and does good deeds all his life then he is not accepted as disbeliever because those who reject God have certain qualities and God has made them clear.

 (Koran; 107:1) Have you seen someone who rejects religion?

(2) That is the person who pushes the orphan aside

(3) and does not promote feeding the needy (3).

And if someone does not believe but has good excuse (which is not accepted when prophets are alive and available to them), then they will be listen to by God (21:24, 27:64, 28:75).

(Koran; 21:24) Yet do they still adopt other gods instead of Him? SAY: “Bring on your proof! …

(Koran; 27:64) … Is there any deity alongside God? SAY: “Bring on your proof if you have been so truthful!”

(Koran; 28:75) We shall drag a witness out of every nation and We shall say: “Bring on your proof!”…

Looking at all these verses together, a person such as yourself who is against prophet Mohammad is blessed if you are honest in your search for truth. And those who say “Salavat (peace be upon Mohammad and …) are cursed for praising Mohammad if they are blindly following a certain path without using their minds.

You state(#18):

29:45 Argue with people of the book, other than evil doers, only by means of what are better! and say, we believe in what has been sent down to us and sent down to you. Our God is the same as your God, and we are surrendered to Him.

9:28 O you who believe! Verily, the Mushrikûn (unbeleivers) are Najasun (impure). So let them not come near Al-Masjid-al-Harâm (at Makkah) after this year, …”

My response(#18):

The 9:28 is said about the Moshrik that brought fight to Mohammad (see verse 9:13).

As we can clearly see it is talking about those people of Mohammad’s time and obviously they did something terrible to Mohammad and his followers. The mistake you made on your conclusion about this verse could have been avoided if you would look at few verses before (i.e. verse 9:13).

You stated(#19):

15:85 Pardon thou, with a gracious pardoning....

14:17 Before him is Hell; and he shall be made to drink boiling water.

My response(#19):

God is a God of gracious and yet justice.  Do good deeds and believe in God you will receive heaven. Do bad deeds and don’t believe in God and you will receive Hell.

Do you actually see a contradiction here?

This is the basis of all religions.  And in religion we must either accept certain higher power or reject.  Doing so is only through faith. If we do then we must accept what that super natural power is saying which is there is a judgment day and in it there will be a Hell and a Heaven. Mosses, Jesus, and Mohammad all clearly said the above verses in their books, the Torah, the Bible, and the Koran.

You stated(#20):

31:15 But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did.

5:33 The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;

My response(#20):

This is similar to SR number18 and 19.

You stated(#21):

6:108 and insult not (Revile not) those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus we made alluring to each people its own doings. In the end they return to their Lord, and we shall then tell them the truth of all that they did

22:19-22 But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads, Where by that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted; And for them are hooked rods of iron. Whenever, in their anguish, they would go forth from thence they are driven back therein and (it is said unto them): Taste the doom of burning.

My response(#21):

This is similar to SR number18 and 19.

You stated(#22):

5:82 Thou wilt find the nearest of them in love to the believers (Muslims) are those who say 'We are Christians'

9:23 O ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love Infidelity above Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong.

My response(#22):

Where do you see a contradiction in the above two verses? I don’t see any.

Also comparing verses from chapter 5 to that of chapter 9 is not comparing early verses to latter ones.

You stated(#23):

60:8 Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.

25:52 So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them herewith with a great endeavor.

My response(#23):

Similar contents as SR number 18 and 19.

However you also made a mistake of thinking 60:8 is the earlier verses when Mohammad was weak and 25:52 is latter verses when he was strong.  Chapter 60 was revealed when Mohammad was in his fourth year in the Madineh (17^th year  of his prophecy) and chapter 25 was revealed to him on the 10^th year of his prophecy when he was in Mecaa.

You stated(#24):

17:53 Say to My servants that they should (only) say those things that are best: for Satan doth sow dissensions among them: For Satan is to man an avowed enemy.

66:9 O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end.

My response(#24):

Verse 66:9 is telling the Prophet to strive against them, because as all the people of the world know, the disbelievers of Mohammad’s time were doing nothing but trying to hurt Mohammad and his followers.  We all know about all the problems they always gave Mohammad and his followers, so for God to allow them to strive against them after all the mean and evil things they did against Mohammad and his followers, is not an odd thing. However this does not give anyone of Mohammad’s followers or after them all the Moslems of the world a green light to act unjustly toward anyone from any faith and if you see all the verses God sent to Mohammad’s followers to act justly, then maybe you would agree with me:

(Koran; 4:135) O you who believe! Be maintainers of justice …

(Koran; 5:8) O you who believe! Be upright for God, bearers of witness with justice …

(Koran; 5:95) … as two just persons among you shall judge …

(Koran; 5:106) … two just persons from among you …

(Koran; 5:115) Your Lord’s word has been completed so far as credibility and justice are concerned…

(Koran; 6:152) Whenever you speak, be just even though it concerns a close relative…

(Koran; 16:90) God commands justice, kindness and giving to near relatives …

(Koran; 42:15) Therefore appeal (to them) and keep straight on just as you have been ordered to …

And as far as these two verses contradicting my response is the same as communication 5 and 6.

You stated(#25):

43:88,89 O Lord, these are people who do not believe,’ Bear with them and wish them ‘peace.’ In the end they shall know their folly.

47:4 When you meet the unbelievers, strike off their heads; then when you have made wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives.

My response(#25):

Same type of allegation as SR number 5 and 6.

Also 47:4 is not quoted completely, you only quoted some part, however the whole verse must be quoted, specially, if the rest of the verse is going to tell something new about that subject.

Below is the whole quotation, and as we see the whole quotation would reveal that when you are in the battle field and are fighting with your enemies (which at that time were the non-believers) then fight them and smite their necks and overcome them until they stop their war, so obviously these are the behaviors that Mohammad’s followers were commanded to do, in the battle field only.  Without the missing part of this verse which was missing from your quote, the reader mistakenly might think different. Let us take a look at this verse:

(Koran; 47:4) So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. That (shall be so); and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others; and (as for) those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will by no means allow their deeds to perish.

You stated(#26):

50:45 We know of best what they say; and you (O Muhammad SAW) are not a tyrant over them (to force them to Belief). But warn by the Qur'ân, him who fears My Threat. 3:28 Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah. except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (to fear) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah.

My response(#26):

If you agree that the Koran has taken believers to be those who do good deeds and the unbeliever to be a person of terrible deeds and character then the above is the wise saying that says: “do not choose your friends among the bad but choose them among the good”. If you do not believe that the believers and nonbelievers are characterized as such in the Koran then please note the following verses:

 (Koran; 107:1) Have you seen someone who rejects religion?

(2) That is the person who pushes the orphan aside

(3) and does not promote feeding the needy.

You stated(#27):

Some Muslim scholars have tried to explain this obvious dichotomy..

Dr. M. Khan the translator of Sahih Bukhari and the Quran into English writes:

“ -----”

So according to Dr. M. Khan in Q. 9:5 Allah ordered Mohammad to cancel all covenants and to fight the pagans, the Jews even the Christians. This is in contrast to what Muhammad wrote earlier.

My response(#27):

With all do respect to this Moslem Scholar I do not agree with any of the Scholars of the Koran as they all miss the point as all the Scholars of Jews missed the point of Torah and tried very hard to kill the next prophet, Jesus. And also the Scholars of Christians as they left the Bible.  The Scholars try to follow the foot step of their fathers and fathers before them and by doing that they ruined the religions that God sent for humanity. That is why

Jesus stated that  this generation are responsible for the lost of Gods work through the prophets.

(Bible; Luke, 11:50-52)  “That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, (50) “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of your generation.(51) – “Woe to you lawyers (religious leaders)! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

You stated(#28):

So first it was “There is no compulsion in religion” (Q. 2:265) and then

"O who believe! shall I direct you to a commerce that which will save you from a painful torment? That you believe in Allah and His Apostle (Mohammad), and that you strive hard and fight in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That will be better for you, if you but knew. If you do so He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into gardens of Eternity - that is the great success" (Q. 61:10-12)

My response(#28):

No compulsion in religion was always observed by Mohammad. Fight and strive against those who want to destroy you was also commanded to Mohammad when he was strong enough to fight the ones who wanted to kill him and his followers. In my opinion there is absolutely no contradiction here.

You stated(#29):

Muhammad demanded from his followers to wage war against people of their own kin. And to justify his killing sprees he said, “oppression is worse than killing”. The following verse was revealed to incite the immigrants to kill their fellow Meccans because they oppressed them forcing them to leave Mecca.

Q. 2:191

You may kill those who wage war against you, and you may evict them whence they evicted you. Oppression is worse than murder. Do not fight them at the Sacred Masjid, unless they attack you therein. If they attack you, you may kill them. This is the just retribution for those disbelievers.

In fact the Meccans were not sympathetic to Muslims. They mocked and teased them but never killed anyone for accepting Islam. The Meccans were polytheists. Polytheism by its nature is tolerant of other beliefs. Only in Ka’na there were 360 gods, each being the patron of different tribe. Apart from the pagan religions there were Jews, Christians, Sabeans and Zoroastrians who lived in Hijaz and not only practiced but also preached their religion freely. The reason the Meccans were upset of Muhammad was not because he was teaching an new religion but because he was insulting the religion of the Meccans and was disrespectful of their beliefs. The reaction of the Meccans was justifiable and normal.

My response(#29):

The greatest example of Mohammad being the man of peace and being nothing like how you say he was is that after all the things the Meccans did to him and his followers he captured that town without any bloodshed. In the barbaric eras of those times this was truly revolutionary. Let us say the bad and good and not just choose few things and present them as all it was.

And you again quote 2:191 without mentioning 2:190 which say fight with those who fight you.

You stated(#30):

On the other hand Muhammad could not tolerate anyone making fun of him. What did Muhammad do to those who mocked HIM? He sent assassins to kill them.

My response(#30):

This is pure speculation and will not serve anything.

You stated(#31):

The contradictions in the Quran are not limited to those verses quoted above. This book is full of inconsistencies and errancies.

Here are a few of them:

1. And it just doesn't add up: Sura 4:11-12 and 4:176 state the Qur'anic inheritance law. When a man dies, and is leaving behind three daughters, his two parents and his wife, they will receive the respective shares of 2/3 for the 3 daughters together, 1/3 for the parents together [both according to verse 4:11] and 1/8 for the wife [4:12] which adds up to more than the available estate.

My response(#31):

Before I answer this question, I must say as before, that the system of inheritance and marriage and family that is proposed is for a special condition of 1400 years ago of the Arabs of that time. This by no means is saying that we must obey these laws today. Our conditions are changed (advanced), therefore we must advance those ways also.

Now since these were rules for then if there was question about them Mohammad would have answered it.  So it is not fair to say anything about these laws unless we give Mohammad a chance to defend himself. However if we think these are the rules of God then we must accept when it says these are for Arabs (6:92, 32:3, 42:7, 43:44, and more) of that time and all these verses are changeable (3:7) and for any nation of any time there are its own sets of rules (13:38) let me explain no matter which way you look at these verses it will work and makes sense (even though this does not serve any purpose as we must judge the Koran as whether is a good book of guidance or not and whether it is complete for guidance and whether it is any different than the Bible and the Torah as far as guidance goes, and nothing else).

Verse 4:11 says WHAT THE PARENTS LEAVE SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED AS SUCH:

Verse 4:12 says that if the husband dies then wife gets 1/8.

So let us say the husband dies and leaves X amount of dollars behind:

First: X-1/8X(wife)=7/8X

Then verse 4:11 “WHAT THE PARENTS LEAVE”

Second: 3 daughters get  2/3(7/8X) = 14/24X all the daughters receive (14/24X(1/3))=14/72 for each daughter  and then  for the parents 1/3(7/8X)=7/24X

So let us add it all up 

1/8X (for wife)+14/24X(for 3 daughters)+7/24X(for parents)=X

Now let us look at it other way (some people might say are not right about how we figured the order of it).

First 2/3 for 3 daughter and then 1/3 for parents that adds up to 1. Well since this is only one of the conditions there are millions of others then in this particular case there would be zero inheritance left for the wife (1/8 x 0=0). But the 1/8 is stated so if there is left over from inheritance they would give1/8 to wife (of course wife first gets her dowry before anything is done as the verses about inheritance keep saying after the deductions that needs to be paid to people the diseased person owed to.

But again these are all laws for that time. For example 2:282 talks about writing your business dealing and says what to do in the case there is not enough witnesses. Today these conditions do not exist, therefore better techniques are used which shows advancement of human and God is proud of that.

You stated(#32)

A second example: A man leaves only his mother, his wife and two sisters, then they receive 1/3 [mother, 4:11], 1/4 [wife, 4:12] and 2/3 [the two sisters, 4:176], which again adds up to 15/12 of the available property.

My response(#32)

Same argument as SR number 31.

Very important point in my opinion before we go

through the rest of these assumptions.

Now before going through the rest of the debate, please consider this very important issue that is being ignored and that is (in my opinion) why you have these opinions.

Our lives according to the Koran, the Bible, and the Torah, consists of two parts one in this worldly life and one in the other world. None of the prophets of God said we are here to tell you how things are done in every detail in the other world. They only came to tell us when this world is over our lives start a new beginning, that unlike this world, has no ending and that we must worship the one God. And because of this endlessness then this world becomes negligible, and very short.

This world has many rules that we have physical proof for it, for example the laws of gravitational, if we jump from any given height we fall. The other world therefore must have rules and regulations.  The other world can not be proven with any physical evidence, since no one who has died has ever come back and brought us physical evidence of the other world. This therefore limits our knowledge of the other world. When we quote the Koran or any of the holy books from God, we must understand that we are accepting its main message which is there is a God with absolutely no physical evidence and with pure faith. Therefore accepting God is the first step of accepting the unknown. Now the next step is accepting prophets’ claim of giving us messages from God. This is why we examine their books that are left from them, since all these prophets are not available for our questioning.  Therefore again with no physical proof we accept Mosses, Jesus, or Mohammad as prophets of God.  If their books are full of contradictions then either these are not books from God, or they have been altered during the course of history by men. Now to check whether there are contradictory verses in these books we must absolutely avoid questioning anything that God says about Himself or the other world, because of the lack of knowledge we have about the other world. We must accept with our heart rather than with our mind. However if one proves from the verses of the Koran that this is a book of killing and at the same time verses that God has claimed to be a God of love then these are basis for disqualification of this book. But to take the events that God talks about the other world and try to say these are contradictory is not fair because in the other world things could be completely different than this world. For example God says in the Koran that God’s both hands are open to do what ever He wants (5:64). For us to jump to a conclusion and say then God has two hands is wrong as these are worldly words used to describe the completely different world. Our knowledge is not complete enough to understand God and in the Koran God states no one knows about these things but God (3:7). This by no means is saying no one knows the interpretation of the Koran (interpretation about it’s message of guidance is not needed) but as it is seen in other verses that repeats the same thing which is “no one in heaven or earth knows the unseen except God” (27:65) and when we die we will know too (7:53).

To demonstrate this  limitation of our minds about God and hence the other world consider this: when we compare the number 1 with 1000 then 1,000,000 we immediately understand these numbers and we can do all kinds of manipulations with them.  But right when we get to infinity we get stuck. We know that when we add 10 to 1 we get 11, and when we add 10 to 1000 we get 1010 and so forth.  However when we add 10 to infinity it does not change its value. Even when we divide infinity to thousands of pieces it is still infinity. These are not contradiction in mathematics, but rather a limitation of our minds.  The other world has its laws and God states in the Koran that from the knowledge of that  world (laws of spirit) we have given you very little (17:85).

(Koran; 17:85) They will question thee concerning the Spirit. Say: “The spirit is of the bidding of my Lord. You have been given of knowledge nothing except a little”

So if you tell me anything about that world for example telling me how angels have two or three or four wings? I will simply say that in the other world anything is possible. And neither you nor I have proven anything.

So in many of your arguments against the Koran, you are making pure speculations and you have absolutely no proof of how things are done in the other world.

You stated(#33):

2. How many angels were talking to Mary? When the Qur'an speaks about the announciation of the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary, Sura 3:42,45 speaks about (several) angels while it is only one in Sura 19:17-21.

My response(#33):

One could also speculate that in verse 3:45 God is telling us about many angels coming to Mary and telling her the good news about what the future is holding for her (Jesus as a son). The angels are not there to do anything else.  And in 19:17-21, one angel in the form of a human went to Mary and told her that he was here to give a son from God.

These two events are completely different.

(Koran; 3:42) so the angels said: “Mary, God has selected you and purified you.  He has selected you over (all) the women in the universe.

(Koran; 3:45) Thus the angels said: “Mary, God announces word to you about someone whose name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary….

(Koran; 19:19) He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord: That I will give you a pure boy.

Again note the difference.  More than one angel gave Mary the news about her future.  And later (in the future) one angel was given the mission of going to Mary in the form of a man and told her he was there to give her a pure boy from God.

You stated(#34):

3. Further numerical discrepancies Does Allah's day equal to 1,000 human years (Sura 22:47, 32:5) or 50,000 human years (Sura 70:4)?

My response(#34)

Let me state these verses first:

(Koran; 22:47) And they ask you to hasten on the punishment, and God will by no means fail in His promise, and surely a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you count.

(Koran; 32:5) He regulates the affair from the heaven to the earth; then shall it ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count.

(Koran; 70:4) To Him ascend the angels and the spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years

Again as we have no physical proof of how things are in the other world, then I will make an assumption to justify the above information as you are also making an assumption about the information which is about the other world.

Verse 22:47 says that one day with God is equal to 1,000 years to us.  This is also mentioned in the Bible (Bible; Peter II, 3:8) Which then could mean that heaven and earth was created in six God’s days which comes out to be 6,000 days to a human.  This is an interesting thing for people who are studying the science of the creation of earth.

Verse 32:5 does not say the same thing as 22:47, but it states that once the regulating of the affair from the heaven to the earth is done, one thousand human years later shall it all ascend to God.

And finally, there is very interesting information in verse 70:4. If the ascending of the angels and the spirit means the end of the world, then 50,000 God’s years could be how long the beginning to end is. Again we have no initial reference from this verse of when this 50,000 years starts. But if we assume that from beginning to the end of this world is 50,000 God’s years this becomes very interesting number in human years:

50,000  x 365 x 1000 = 18.25 billion human years

A few months ago I was watching a documentary about Albert Einstein’s theory and other scientists’ theories about the creation of earth from the scientist point of view. According to most scientists the earth is about 18.2 billion years old. It was fascinating to me that the Koran actually gave this number 1400 years ago. But this type information about Gods laws of the other world has no bearing about whether the Koran is a good book for humanity or not

You stated (#35)

--- How many gardens are there in paradise? ONE [as stated in 39:73, 41:30, 57:21, 79:41] or MANY [18:31, 22:23, 35:33, 78:32]?

My response(#35)

Let us first state these verses.

Says one garden:

(Koran; 39:73) And those who are careful of (their duty to) their Lord shall be conveyed to the Garden in companies; until when they come to it, and its doors shall be opened…

(Koran; 41:30) …and receive good news of the Garden which you were promised.

(Koran; 57:21) Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and to a Garden the extensiveness of which is as the extensiveness of the heaven and the earth…

(Koran; 79:41) Then surely the Garden, that is the abode.

Says many garden:

(Koran; 18:31) These it is for whom are Gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow; ornaments shall be given to them therein of bracelets of gold, and they shall wear green robes of fine silk and thick silk brocade interwoven with gold, reclining therein on raised couches; excellent the recompense and goodly there sting-place.

(Koran; 22:23) Surely God will make those who believe and do good deeds enter Gardens beneath which rivers flow; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their garments therein shall be of silk.

(Koran; 35:33) Gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter therein; they shall be made to wear therein bracelets of gold and pearls, and their dress therein shall be silk.

(Koran; 78:32) Gardens and vineyards,

Your speculation is how could God describe heaven as one garden in some verses and many gardens in the other verses.

The above verses could have been describing a very huge Garden as heaven, which according to 57:21 its size is bigger than the length of the sky plus the earth. Surely a garden that is so big can have many other gardens inside it.  Furthermore according to the Koran each person will go to a different level (6:83,132, 8:4, 17:21, 20:75, 46:19).

(Koran; 6:132) And all have degrees according to what they do; and your Lord is not heedless of what they do.

 (Koran; 8:4) are truly believers. They hold rank before their Lord, as well as forgiveness and generous provision,

(Koran; 17:21) Watch how We have permitted some of them to get ahead of others. The hereafter will be greater in (conferring) ranks and even greater in attainment.

(Koran; 46:19) And for all are degrees according to what they did, and that He may pay them back fully their deeds and they shall not be wronged.

So, I would speculate that different degrees could place everyone in their own garden in heaven (that is if one is making it to heaven).  This is also in agreement with the Bible as it says:

(Bible; John, 14:2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; …

You stated (#36)

 --- According to Sura 56:7 there will be THREE distinct groups of people at the Last Judgement, but 90:18-19, 99:6-8, etc. mention only TWO groups.

My response(#36)

There are many verses in the Koran that talks about many different levels that people are going to be in.  That means millions of distinct groups (i.e. 6:83,132, 8:4, 17:21, 20:75, 46:19)

So if there is a different level for every person then God is obviously stating in the Koran that in general there would be the followings:

(Koran; 90:17-19) Then he is those who believe and charge one another to show patience, and charge one another to show compassion.(17) - These are the people of the right hand.(18) – And (as for) those who disbelieve in our verses, they are the people of the left hand. (19)

In the above verse we get the information about were the good people going to be and that is on the right hand (right hand of something we don’t know what?), and it says bad people will be on the left hand. This verse has not said these are the only two groups.

And the next verse states:

(Koran; 99:6-8) On that day men shall come forth in sun dry bodies that they may be shown their works (6) – So he who has done an atom’s weight of good shall see it. (7) – And he who has done an atom’s weight of evil shall see it (8)

The above verse does not talk about any kind of grouping people. It just states an obvious fact. That those who do bad will see that and same with those who do good.

Finally in the last verse there is grouping of the people:

(Koran; 56:7) And you shall be three sorts.

But let us not stop at this and continue reading into 56:8-12

(Koran; 56:8-11) Then (as to) the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand! (8) – And (as to) the companions of the left hand; how wretched are the companion of the left hand! (9) – And the foremost are the foremost, (10) – There are they who are drawn nigh (to God)

So finally on 56:7-11 it specifies the three groups, two of which were already described in the earlier verse (90:17-19). No contradiction at all.

You stated (#37)

 --- There are conflicting views on who takes the souls at death: THE Angel of Death [32:11], THE angels (plural) [47:27] but also "It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death." [39:42]

My response(#37)

(Koran; 32:11) Say: The angel of death who is given charge of you shall cause you to die, then to your Lord you shall be brought back.

(Koran; 47:27) But how will it be when the angels cause them to die smiting their backs.

(Koran; 39:42) God takes the souls at the time of their death

Since you have no proof that it happens only in one way or another so I must speculate also. The important thing is whether the Koran is a good book of guidance or not. Who cares who takes the soul at death.

(Bible mentions (Bible; Mathew; 19:24-26). about a camel going through the eye of a needle.  This is not possible in this world but in the other world anything is possible

(Bible; Mathew)

19:24 – “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

19:25 – When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

19:26 – But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

So I go ahead and assume the following:

As God has many angels to do His work, the angel of death could have many angels working for Him which then referring to those who do some of his work is like referring to Him doing that particular work. For example one bad angel, Iblis (Diabolist), disobeyed God. This angel will have many angels work for him who are called (the Jinn) those who follow him will do his work.  So you could say the devil did it but through many different people or Jinn. These are all speculation about the other world and we are not knowledgeable about the other world.

You stated (#38)

Angels have 2, 3, or 4 pairs of wings [35:1]. But Gabriel had 600 wings. [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number 455]

My response(#38):

(Koran; 35:1) praise is due to God, the originator of the heavens and the earth, the maker of the angels, messengers flying on wings, two, and three, and four…

Whatever Mr. Sahih Bukhari says is his opinion and means nothing when we are trying to see if the Koran contradicts itself or not.  Here Mr. Bukhari makes up or accepts ahadith in order to alter the Koran, therefore he says something that is not founded in the Koran. This is exactly why God says in the Koran “to what hadith (or any saying) will you go to after God and his verses?” (45:6)

You stated(#39):

4. How many days did Allah need to destroy the people of Aad? One day [54:19] or several days [41:16; 69:6,7]

My response(#39):

(Koran; 54:19) Surely We sent on them a tornado in a day of bitter ill-luck,

(Koran; 41:16-17) And as to  Ad, they were destroyed by a roaring, violent blast (16). – Which He made to prevail against them for seven nights and eight days unremittingly…

I believe that the above speculation is wrong. And I also see that verse 54:19 says the tornado came on a day that was bitter ill-luck and verse 41:17 states that this tornado, which came down on them on a day of bitter ill-luck, lasted 7 nights and 8 days.  It seems to be no contradiction at all if we assume that the tornado started in a bitter ill-luck day which is only one day and lasted 8 days…

You stated(#40):

5. Six or eight days of creation? Sura 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, and 25:59 clearly state that God created "the heavens and the earth" in six days. But in 41:9-12 the detailed description of the creation procedure adds up to eight days.

My response(#40):

(Koran; 7:54) Surely your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days

(Koran; 41:9-12) Say: What! Do you indeed disbelieve Him who created the earth in two days…(9) – And He made in it mountains above its surface, and He blessed there in and made therein its foods, in 4 days… (10) – Then He directed Himself to the heaven and it is a vapor, so He said to it and to the earth; Come both, willingly or unwillingly. They both said: We come willingly. (11) – So He ordained them seven heavens in two days, and revealed in every heaven its affair; and We adorned the lower heaven with brilliant star and to guard; that is the decree of the might, the knowing(12).

I would speculate that the first 4 days can include the 2 days of the creation of the earth.

Since our knowledge of what has happened in the creation is so little, any assumptions about whether it is contradiction or not will be judging these events with our limited knowledge, especially compared to the knowledge of the One who created us. As the Koran states: Very little knowledge about the other world is given (17:85).

You stated(#41):

6. Quick or Slow Creation? Allah creates the heavens and the earth in six days [7:54] and many Muslims want to be modern and scientific, and make that six eons, but then again, He creates instantaneously [2:117], "Be! And it is".

My response(#41):

I would assume that when God said “Be!”, then it was. And that could be the beginning of the process and the process could have taken six days. So instantaneously the heaven and earth came on God’s command and during the six days (God’s days) it changed to the form they were (as they were already somewhere) into the new form that they are now.

But again I would be speculating and so are you because neither one of us nor any scientist has yet figured out the process of creation completely.

You stated(#42):

7. Heavens or Earth? Which was created first? First earth and then heaven [2:29], heaven and after that earth [79:27-30].

My response(#42):

Again we are speculating about a science that we have very little knowledge about. So here is my speculation: The big bang theory says that all the stars and planets were at the beginning one big chunk of matter. Maybe in 2:29 He is taking about that matter. And in 79:27-30 it is talking about our earth since in 79:27-30 it talks about the earth that has water and animals.  This could be a perfect explanation but again I am speculating as you are. You can not for sure tell us how it was done and neither can I.

You stated(#43):

8. Calling together or ripping apart? In the process of creation heaven and earth were first apart and are called to come together [41:11], while 21:30 states that they were originally one piece and then ripped apart.

My response(#43):

(Koran; 41:11) Then He directed Himself to the heaven and it is a vapor, so He said to it and to the earth; Come both, willingly or unwillingly. They both said: We come willingly.

(Koran; 21:30) Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were closed up, but We have opened them; and We have made of water everything living, will they not then believe?

I could speculate 21:30 happened first and then 41:11 happened next. However how could you or I question these verses about the beginning of the creation when we have absolutely no way to reason anything about how things were done or is done with God?

You stated(#44):

9. What was man created from? A blood clot [96:1-2], water [21:30, 24:45, 25:54], "sounding" (i.e. burned) clay [15:26], dust [3:59, 30:20, 35:11], nothing [19:67] and this is then denied in 52:35, earth [11:61], a drop of thickened fluid [16:4, 75:37]

My response(#44):

Again this kind of approach involves knowledge of an area that neither you nor anybody has the absolute solution. So I choose to accept the explanation we have in the verses you quote and you could choose not to. Yet neither one of us by doing that is proving anything about the validity of the Koran. Therefore since you don’t know what was before all these creations and how things work after we die then you are wrong to claim the above verses are contradicting. 

However as far as above statement goes, if a blood clot could have been made of clay and if dust and clay are of the same material in the eyes of God and if earth is of that same material then the above statements are all correct.  We don’t know what original matter did God used were, except what He tells us. You can’t prove it wrong, I can’t prove it right. It is by faith that we accept the religion of God, not physical evidence.

You stated(#45):

10. Fully Detailed Or Incomplete? The Qur'an claims for itself to be (fully) detailed, that nothing is left out of the book [6:38, 6:114, 12:111, 16:89 etc.]. However there are plenty of important issues which are left unclear in the Qur'an. This article discusses the confusion found in the quranic statements on wine.

My response(#45):

The Koran is fully complete for the reason that it is sent for. And that reason is guidance for humans (16:89, 12:111, 44:1-4, 39:27, 54:5, 61:8), and nothing else. If the Koran is used for any other purpose, then it will fail to give us what we seek.

About liquor (which includes wine) it is completely clear but the religious leader’s ignorance has turned off the light of God about this subject. As I mentioned before, judging the Koran by looking at a particular law that it gave to Arabs of 1400 years ago for a particular subject is not right.

We must at most learn from these laws and definitely modify them (3:7).

Also I suggest that to see what the Koran says about a given subject we must gather all the verses about that subject to be able to fully understand the position the Koran is taking about that given subject. So now I will attempt to show and prove to you that if you allow the Koran to do its job, then this subject of drinking liquor is also very clear. The darkness that enters into the world of the Koran is from the religious leaders not the Koran itself.

Koran states the following about liquor (which includes wine):

(Koran; 4:43) You who believe, do not attempt to pray while you are drunk, until you know what you are saying …

The above verse only says not to get drunk if you do drink.

(Koran; 2:219) They will ask you about liquor and gambling. Say: In each of them there lies serious vice as well as some benefits for mankind. Yet their vice is greater than their usefulness…

The above verse states there are benefits and harms that will come to mankind from drinking liquor. Its vice is getting drunk and not doing the right thing, which is stated in the verse 2:219. And today we can explore all the medical benefits and harms of alcoholic drinks so we are more prepared to understand the above verse than the Arabs of 1400 years ago.

(Koran; 5:90) You who believe, liquor and gambling, idols and raffles, are only the filthy work of Satan; turn aside from it so that you may prosper.

(Koran; 5:91) Satan only wants to stir up enmity and jealousy among you by means of liquor and gambling, and to hinder you from remembering God and from praying. So will you stop?

Very clearly we see from the above two verses that the Koran is warning the Arabs of 1400 years ago about liquor, because of the same reason that was cited earlier in verse 4:43 and here that reason is stated again which is: “to hinder you from remembering God and from praying”.

Now since the religious leaders want to be politically correct and in line with the ignorance of religious leaders before them, hence they ignore that drinking liquor excessively (only) is bad because one might get drunk, which in turn makes one stop remembering God. And according to the Koran, not remembering God will cause humans to do bad deeds. So to prove that I am right about my conclusion that could be drawn by anyone who is not biased or is not deeply infected by fanatical views of the religious leaders, I will quote the Koran which states repeatedly that you are allowed to eat and drink from all wholesome things as long as you don’t overdo it. (i.e. 2:172,187, 5:88, 7:31, 20:81, 23:51, 67:15). I will quote one of these verses.

(Koran; 7:31) Children of Adam, wear your best clothes to every place of worship (a practice that is observed by Christians in the church)! Eat and drink, yet do not overdo things; He does not love the extravagant.

And that you are allowed to eat and drink all that God has created if you wish except few things that is clearly spelled out (i.e. 2:173, 5:3, 5:145, 16:115)

(Koran; 16:115) He has only forbidden you (from eating) what dies of itself and blood and flesh of swine (wild boar) and that over which any other name than that of God has been invoked…

(Koran; 5:145) Say: “I do not find anything forbidden in what has been revealed to me for anyone needing to eat something, unless it is something that has died (by itself) or it is blood which has already been shed, or swine-that is so filthy!-or a sinful offering that has been consecrated to something besides God…

The above forbidden food and drink are also mentioned in the Bible (Acts 15:29).

(Bible; Acts 15:29) That you obstain from things offered to idols, from blook, from things strangled, …

And if the above is confusing then the Koran offers this:

(Koran; 10:94) If you are in any doubt concerning what We have sent down to you, then question those who has read the book before you..

And what has been sent down to Jesus is hardly saying not to drink wine (John 2:1-10) but rather drink wine but do not get drunk (Timothy I, 3:3 ) as it is also mentioned clearly in the Koran.

(Bible; Timothy I, 3:3) (A bishop must be) Not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;

So to me these are clear as day. A Moslem may drink wine or a little alcoholic drink as long as it is good for his/her health and as long as it does not cause him/her to become drunk.

You stated(#46):

11. To Intercede or Not To Intercede? - That is the Question! The Qur'an makes contradictory statements whether on the Day of Judgment intercession will be possible. No: [2:122-123, 254; 6:51; 82:18-19; etc.]. Yes: [20:109; 34:23; 43:86; 53:26; etc.]. Each position can be further supported by ahadith.

My response(#46):

Ahadith is not to be used in place of the Koran.  For the Koran was sent for our guidance. Therefore to discredit the Koran because of what ahadith says is not right.

As far as talking about the Judgment day, whatever we try to say, could come up with a certain scenario that would put a twist in our understanding.

For example the reason you are thinking some verses are saying interceding is allowed and some say it is not and you assume this is a contradiction, is because you are ignoring the fact that all the verses that say “Yes” are saying “interceding is not allowed except for someone that God allows”. So obviously anything that is not allowed, God can make exception. And to say interceding is only allowed if God wants it, because in general it is not allowed, is not a contradiction. For example verse 20:109 states:

(Koran; 20:109) On that day shall no intercession avail except of him whom the beneficent God allows and whose word He is pleased with.

So the only way we could maybe say there is a contradiction is if God had promoted us to worship others who could intercede for us.

However Koran states not to do your worship for anyone but God or love anything or anyone above God, because intercede is only allowed for those who God named them and God only named Himself to worship for the reason of getting saved. Now in the judgment day whether God names some angel to have the power of interceding or not, remains to be seen. But again, all this does no good in disqualifying the Koran, or in my case, justifying the Koran.

You stated(#47):

12. Where is Allah and his throne? Allah is nearer than the jugular vein [50:16], but he is also on the throne [57:4] which is upon the water [11:7], and at the same time so far away, that it takes between h 1,000 and 50,000 years to reach Him [32:5, 70:4].

My response(#47):

According to the Koran no one knows these answers except God (3:8, 27:65). And the day we see these answers is the day we die (7:53). These must be accepted by faith rather than physical evidence. That is why in Bible, when Jesus is asked “how can a camel go through the eye of a needle, he replies:

(Bible; Mathew 19:26) … “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

You stated(#48):

13. The origin of calamity? Is the evil in our life from Satan [38:41], Ourselves [4:79], or Allah [4:78]?

My response(#48):

Let us assume like this:

Everything is from God. But God allows us to chose and Satan will tempt us to do all the bad that there is.  It is us humans who are allowed to choose to follow whoever we want.

So yes it is from God who allows everything, yes Satan with God’s permission does bring it to us, and yes, we are the ones who can accept or reject it.

No contradiction.

You stated(#49):

14. How merciful is Allah's mercy? He has prescribed mercy for himself [6:12], yet he does not guide some, even though he could [6:35, 14:4].

My response(#49):

For the verses of 6:35 and 14:4, He will not guide you if you don’t allow it. It is your action that makes you receive or not receive His mercy.

(Koran; 6:35) And if their turning away is hard on you, then if you can seek an opening (to go down) into the earth or a ladder (to ascend up) to heaven so that you should bring them a sign and if God had pleased He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance therefore be not of the ignorant.

The above verse says, “and if their turning away…”.  This means they are choosing to turn away. And also as you stated earlier the Koran says there is no compulsion in religion so God is not going to force them into religion. He wants us to be free in our choice in this world (this is our test).  So God is not turning away from anyone.  People turn away from Him.

You stated(#50):

15. Will there be inquiry in Paradise? "neither will they question one another" [23:101] but nevertheless they will be "engaging in mutual inquiry" [52:25], "and they will ... question one another" [37:27].

My response(#50):

Let us speculate that the questioning of each other that is mentioned in 23:101 is completely different type of questioning than the one spoke of in 52:25 and 37:27. Verse 23:101 seems to be between people of Hell while the other is the kind of questioning that will happen between the people in Heaven. However again, since you have no physical proof of either condition, then we should not assume anything about these verses.

You stated(#51):

16. Are angels protectors? "NO protector besides Allah" [2:107, 29:22]. But in Sura 41:31 the angels themselves say: "We are your protectors in this life and the Hereafter." And also in other suras is their role described as guarding [13:11, 50:17-18] and protecting [82:10].

My response(#51):

About verses 2:107 and 29:22, they state God is the only protector.  This is correct and does not contradict the other verses because all things (as is stated in the Koran) are with God’s permission. So even though He is the only protector, the angels are also protecting through God’s command. If the angels are protecting because God commanded them to do so then again it is God who is protecting us.  He commands the protection of humans. 

You stated(#52):

17. Is everything devoutly obedient to Allah? That is the claim in 30:26, but dozens of verses speak of the proud disobedience of Satan [7:11, 15:28-31, 17:61, 20:116, 38:71-74, 18:50] as well of many different human beings who reject His commands and His revelations.

My response(#52):

Again speculation about the other world is baseless without complete knowledge of the other world which you and I both don’t have.

Everything is devout obedience to God. However He gives the power and freedom for us to disobey.  He did the same thing with Satan.

You stated(#53):

18. Does Allah forgive shirk? Shirk is considered the worst of all sins, but the author of the Qur'an seems unable to decide if Allah will ever forgive it or not. No [4:48, 116], Yes [4:153, 25:68-71]. Abraham committed this sin of polytheism as he takes moon, sun, stars to be his Lord [6:76-78], yet Muslims believe that all prophets are without any sin.

My response(#53):

In my opinion these verses are being taken out of its true context:

No sin is unforgivable if one repents before one sees death.

Verses 4:48 and 4:116 are not absolute but rather conditional. And this condition is if a person does not repent before he/she dies. This is explained all over the Koran.  Even in verse 4:48 it states that all sins will be forgiven except Shirk (blasphemy toward God).   The verse right before 4:47 is talking about not waiting too long to accept God and therefore dying as a person that God has brought His curse upon.

These two verses are also in the Bible, which repeatedly states that if you repent you will be forgiven even from blasphemy to God or in Arabic, shirk:

(Bible; Mark, 3:28-29) Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter (28) – But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”

And the above verse is repeated even more firmly in the Bible in Mathew 12:32.

No where in the Koran does it say that even if a person asks for forgiveness before they see their death they will not be forgiven.  It says in the Koran the unbelievers who die as unbelievers will be punished (2:161, 3:90-91).  It’s not referring to the one who becomes a believer before he sees his death.

As far as Abraham goes, if you read the verses again you would see that he did not truly believe in the moon being God, or the sun, he was making a point. And if we don’t take these verses out of its true context and do not stop reading at verse 78, but rather continue to verse 80, we will see that Abraham actually states that he is not committing shirk

(Koran; 6:80) Surely I have turned myself, being upright, wholly to Him who originated the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the earth, and I am not of the polytheists.

However what you are saying about Moslems assuming that all the prophets are without sin you are right. (This is the fault of religious leaders for misinforming Moslems about the Koran.) They are all wrong as the Koran gives several accounts of many prophets sinning (prophet Joseph 12:42, prophet Jonah ) including the prophet Mohammad himself (9:43, 33:37, 66:1).

You stated(#54):

19. The event of worship of the golden calf: The Israelites repented about worshipping the golden calf BEFORE Moses returned from the mountain [7:149], yet they refused to repent but rather continued to worship the calf until Moses came back [20:91]. Does Aaron share in their guilt? No [20:85-90], yes [20:92, 7:151].

My response(#54):

Your understanding of what you read is very different from my understanding.

Verse 7:149 states what they ultimately did after worshiping the calf, and then it tells the specifics of it.

Now as far as verses 20:85-90 goes, what’s said is that Aaron was not guilty as far as accepting the calf as his God. And 20:92 continues with the story and says:

“(Moses) said: O Aaron! What prevented you, when you saw them going astray”;

By no means is Moses asking Aaron why he accepted the calf as his God also.  He is mad at Aaron for not stopping the other calf worshippers.

And the below verse does not state that “yes Aaron shared the guilt of the calf worshipers.”

Take a look for yourself:

(Koran; 7:151) He said: My Lord! Forgive me and my brother and cause us to enter into Thy mercy, and Thou art the most merciful of the merciful ones.

You stated(#55):

20. Was Jonah cast on the desert shore or was he not? "Then We cast him on a desert shore while he was sick" [37:145] "Had not Grace from his Lord reached him, he would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore while he was reprobate." [68:49]

My response(#55):

My speculation rather than my response is:

Yes Jonah was cast on the desert shore. Verses 37:145. and 68:49 state that if it was not for the grace of his Lord, he would have been still blamed after he was cast off on the naked shore.

Casting him on the naked shore is in both verses. Casting him in the naked shore does not mean God has forgiven him and cast him there.  He could have caste him and not forgiven him.

Note it says “While God had forgiven him and cast him on the desert shore”.

You were right if the above had said: “While God had not forgiven him and cast him on the desert shore”.

You stated(#56):

21. Moses and the Injil? Jesus is born more than 1,000 years after Moses, but in 7:157 Allah speaks to Moses about what is written in the Injil [the book given to Jesus].

My response(#56):

Let us look at 7:157.

(Koran; 7:157) those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet whom they will find written down for them in the Torah and the Bible (or the new testament). He commands them to be decent and forbids them dishonor. He permits them wholesome things and prohibits them evil things, and relieves them of their obligation and the shackles which have lain upon them. Those who believe in him, revere him and support him, and follow the light which was sent down with him; those will be successful.

I don’t see anything in this verse about God speaking to Moses about the Injil (the Bible).

You stated(#57):

22. Can slander of chaste women be forgiven? Yes [24:5], No [24:23].

My response(#57):

(Koran; 24:23) Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware, are cursed in this world and the hereafter, and they shall have agrievous chastisement.

(Koran; 24:5) Except those who repent after this and act a right, for surely God is forgiving, merciful.

I think the verses are clear enough and do not need an explanation. 24:5 is saying “Yes they will be forgiven if they repent.”

You stated(#58):

23. How do we receive the record on Judgment Day? On Judgement day the lost people are given the Record (of their bad deeds): Behind their back [84:10], or in their left hand [69:25].

My response(#58):

Again you are speculating about the other world that we don’t have any knowledge about. This will not serve anything. However since we are in this trend of speculation, allow me to speculate that the letter is given to them from their back into their left hand. I think we could easily demonstrate this. I also think we are really getting off the subject on whether or not the Koran is a book that can guide people, and whether or not this is a book that promotes love rather than hate?

You stated(#59):

24. Can angels disobey? No angel is arrogant, they all obey Allah [16:49-50], but: "And behold, we said to the ANGELS: 'Bow down to Adam'. And THEY bowed down, EXCEPT Iblis. He refused and was haughty." [2:34].

My response(#59):

(Koran; 16:49-50) Whatever is in heaven and whatever is on earth worships God, whether they are animals or angels, and they do not act proudly;

Your speculation about the other world leaves me no choice but to speculate myself simply to show another side to this.

I speculate that when the above verse says everything worship God, whether they are animal or angels, it is speaking about the relationship between God and God’s creations.  So when it talks about how they will not act proudly, it is talking about acting proudly towards God, not the other creatures.

Iblis did not act proudly toward God but rather towards Adam.  And he told God, “I will only bow down to you.”  So Iblis worshipped God too and did not act proudly toward worshiping God.  He only acted proudly toward Adam when asked to bow down to him.

You stated(#60):

25. Three contradictions in 2:97 and 16:101-103 Who brings the revelation from Allah to Muhammad? The ANGEL Gabriel [2:97], or the Holy Spirit [16:102]? The new revelation confirms the old [2:97] or substitutes it [16:101]? The Qur'an is PURE Arabic [16:103] but there are numerous foreign, non-Arabic words in it.

My response(#60):

Again, we are speculating about the other world without any knowledge about it.

So I will speculate and say this about your speculations:

That Holy Spirit means a spirit that is holy and Gabriel was definitely a Holy Spirit.

About the confirmation or substitutions, I already explained that the Koran states clearly that some of its verses are the basis for all others and that all other verses are for the Arabs of that time (3:7-8). And those basic verses cannot substitute, but they confirm the basic laws given in the old books also. And these basic verses are the same as what was given to the prophet Moses and was written on the tablets (7:145). This is because when God speaks about these rules given to Moses, He says these writings were an explanation of all things people needed for guidance. Therefore there is no contradiction if we read the rest of the Koran.

Also about the Arabic language that was used, the Koran does not say what you claim:

(Koran; 16:101) And certainly We know that they say: Only a mortal teaches him. The tongue of him whom they reproach is barbarous, and this is clear Arabic tongue.

It does not say “PURE,” it says “CLEAR.”

And if we let the Koran be what it claims to be, that is a book of guidance, then for guidance it is very clear.

You stated(#61):

26. The infinite loop problem Sura 26:192,195,196: "It (the Qur'an) is indeed a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds, ... in clear Arabic speech and indeed IT (the Qur'an) is in the writings of the earlier (prophets)." Now, the 'earlier writings' are the Torah and the Injil for example, written in Hebrew and Greek. HOW can an ARABIC Qur'an be contained in books of other languages? Furthermore, it would have to contain this very passage of the Qur'an since the Qur'an is properly contained in them. Hence these earlier writings have to be contained in yet other earlier writings and we are in an infinite loop, which is absurd.

My response(#61):

Again I’m going back to what I believe the scholars of Islam, and with all do respect, you too, are overseeing.

The Koran claims there are basic verses or basic laws that must be observed in order to be guided. Those verses are not changeable and they are all talked about in the earlier books (i.e. the laws of being kind to the neighbor, the laws of charity, the laws that commands us to worship the one God, etc). But as far as the rest of the Koran goes those are words to Arabs of 1400 years ago and some of the communications between them and the prophet Mohammad (i.e. 9:81,103, 24:63, 33:32,53, 49:2,5, 72:19-23). These verses of course are not in the earlier books. And no where in the Koran does it state that this Arabic version is in any earlier books in Arabic. As a matter of fact it states the opposite. It says that all the prophets were sent in the language of their own people (14:4) and that every nation has its own book (13:38). So when the Koran talks about the affairs of the Arab people of Mohammad’s time, those are verses that are not in any other book and are directed only to them and their time. And they are definitely changeable laws. However when it talks about God’s laws of kindness and worshipping, etc., it says that these are not changeable.  These laws are the same throughout the whole Koran, and they are the same as well in all the other earlier books that was sent from God (i.e. Bible, Torah, etc.).

You stated(#62):

27. "An old woman" and God's character About the story of Lot: "So we delivered him and his family, - all except an old woman who lingered behind." [Sura 26:170-171] And again: "But we saved him and his family, except his wife: she was of those who lagged behind. [Sura 7:83]. Either this is a contradiction or if indeed Lot's wife is derogatorily called "an old woman" then this does not show much respect for her as a wife of a prophet.

My response(#62):

If the prophet Lot is old, and his wife is old, I see no reason God can’t call her an old woman and call him an old man. And even if she was derogatorily called that, it is because obviously she went against God’s will and was not one of those who got saved.  But there is nothing derogatory about being old.

You stated(#63):

28. More problems with the story of Lot "And his people gave NO answer but this: They said, "Drive them out of your city.  These are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!" [Sura 7:82 & 27:56]. Yet: "But his people gave NO answer but this: They said: "Bring us the Wrath of Allah if thou tells the truth." [Sura 29:29]. Obviously these answers are different.

My response(#63):

Again I believe these kinds of speculations will not serve our study of the Koran.

I believe both answers could have been given and the same question could have been proposed to these people.

Picking apart each word in an effort to find anything against the Koran will cause us to miss the great message of love that the Koran brings.  Same with the Bible, and the Torah.

You stated(#64):

29. The "pleasure" of Allah? Is God's action of punishment or mercy and guidance or

misguidance arbitrary?

My response(#64):

God’s action is merciful and for guidance. He showed His mercy when He created us when we were nothing. After being created, if we want more mercy, we must obey Him.  And if we want punishment and His curse, then we must disobey Him.

You stated(#65):

30. Did Abraham smash the idols? The accounts of Abraham, Suras 19:41-49, 6:74-83 differ quite a bit from Sura 21:51-59. While in Sura 21 Abraham confronts his people strongly, and even destroys the idols, in Sura 19 Abraham shuts up after his father threatens him to stone him for speaking out against the idols. And he seems not only to become silent, but even to leave the area ("turning away from them all").

My response(#65):

This is the same kind of speculation about a certain story in the Koran. God gives some parts of the story of some prophets only. From that part we must draw a conclusion. For example about the prophet Abraham, we know he went against idols and urged his people to do the same, which they would not turn away. You are speculating that these events happened in a certain order and with certain speed and that will serve no purpose. I could easily disqualify this by giving some information about the missing piece. This is not how we should go about testing the teaching of the Koran about whether this is a book of love or hate.

These so called contradictions are only contradictions if you make lots of assumptions.  I can easily make different assumptions to show the opposite.

You stated(#66):

31. What about Noah's son? According to Sura 21:76, Noah and his family is saved from the flood, and Sura 37:77 confirms that his seed survived. But Sura 11:42-43 reports that Noah's son drowns.

My response(#66):

If you read few verse down from 11:42-43, then you get the whole picture. I am talking about 11:45-46.

(Koran; 11:45-46) Noah called upon his Lord and said: “My Lord, my son belonged to my own family, while Your promise is true, and You are the wisest Judge!”(45) – He said: “O Noah! Surely he is not of your family; surely he is (the doer of) other than good deeds…(46)

So verse 11:45-46 shows that in God’s eyes he was not considered of his family because he was not a believer. And believers are characterized as doers of good deeds. So since he was not a doer of good deeds, God did not consider him a believer or Noah’s son.

You stated(#67):

32. Was Noah driven out? "Before them *the people of Noah* rejected (their messenger): They rejected our servant and said, 'Here is One possessed!' And he was driven out." [Sura 54:9] Now, if he is driven out [expelled from their country] how come they can scoff at him while he is building the ark since we read "Forthwith he (starts) constructing the Ark: Every time that the Chiefs of *his people* passed by him, they threw ridicule on him." [Sura 11:38] He cannot be both: Driven out and near enough that they can regularly pass by.

My response(#67):

Driven out how far? From where to where? These are the assumptions I believe you are making that makes the above look like a contradiction.

Was he driven far enough that no one could see or contact him anymore? After all it sounds like they were on an island.  Maybe even a very small island.

And the verse does not say they passed by him regularly.  Nor does it refer to how often. So there is lots of room here to make assumptions about things that does not alter the moral of the story. 

You stated(#68):

33. Pharaoh's Magicians: Muslims or Rejectors of Faith? Did the Magicians of Pharaoh, Egyptians, become believers in the God of Moses [7:103-126; 20:56-73; S. 26:29-51] or did only Israelites believe in Moses [10:83]?

My response(#68):

If you read this story completely in the Koran, which is repeated several times, you will see that at the very beginning the magicians became Moslems and accepted the God of Moses.  Then it says that after all the miracles God sent, only some Israelites believed in Moses. This is way after magicians became Moslems and Pharaoh killed them.  So I don’t see any contradiction.

You stated(#69):

34. Pharaoh's repentance in the face of death? According to Sura 10:90-92, Pharaoh repented "in the sight of death" and was saved. But Sura 4:18 says that such a thing can't happen.

My response(#69):

Verse 10:90-92 does never say Pharaoh was saved.

(Koran; 10:90-92) And we made the children of Israel to pass through the sea, then Pharaoh and his hosts followed them for oppression and tyranny; until when drowning over took him, he said: I believe that there is no god but He in Whom the children of Israel believe and I am of those who submit (90) – What! now! And indeed you disobeyed before and you were of the mischief-makers. (91) – But We will this day deliver you with your body that you may be a sign to those after you, and most surely the majority of the people are heedless to Our communications.

I don’t see anywhere where it says that his plea of forgiveness was accepted.  As a matter of fact the Koran states that Pharaoh and his followers were not saved (3:11, 7:103, 8:52, 8:54, 10:75, 20:79, 29:39), thus in agreement with 4:18.

You stated(#70):

35. Abrogation? "The words of the Lord are perfect in truth and justice; there is NONE who can change His words." [Sura 6:115] Also see 6:34 and 10:64. But then Allah (Muhammad?) sees the need to exchange some of them for "better ones" [Sura 2:106, 16:101]. And it is not for ignorant people to question Allah because of such practices!

My response(#70):

This is exactly what I have been saying about all the verses of the Koran that are not the basic ones. The Koran changes those that are not basic from how the laws of old times were to better ways. We also have a duty to find better ways than the ways that are presented in the Koran to the Arabs of 1400 years. However the basic laws are not changeable and those are the basic rules which are the essence of God’s teaching. That is why God says that the Koran is nothing but what was told in the books before it (4:26, 15:9-10, 20:133, 21:2, 26:193-196, and more). But at the same time the Koran says God’s verses can be changed since there were many things that were forbidden to Jews that God changed.  The Koran tells them they are now allowed what was once forbidden (3:50). Through the Koran God has said there many harsh laws that are now changed to easy ones (7:157).

You stated(#71):

36. Guiding to truth? "Say: 'God - He guides to the truth; and which is worthier to be followed ...?" [Sura 10:35] But how much is left over of this worthiness when we also read: "Allah leads astray whom he pleases, and he guides whom He pleases, ..." [Sura 14:4]. And how do we know in which of Allah's categories of pleasure we fall? How sure can a Muslim be that he is one of those guided right and not one of those led astray?

My response(#71):

Those who do not use their minds to figure out things are nonbelievers (8:22, 8:55). So those 2 verses before 14:2 that states “woe upon the nonbelievers” is about those who try to stop people from God’s path, those who want to dim the light that clearly shows God’s path. Those are the ones that God will let stray.

More verses to confirm this is available else where in the Koran (2:10)

You stated(#72):

37. What is the punishment for adultery? Flogging with a 100 stripes (men and women) [24:2], "confine them to houses until death do claim them (lifelong house arrest - for the women) [4:15]. For men: "If they repent and amend, leave them alone" [4:16]. 24:2 contradicts both the procedure for women and men in Sura 4. And why is the punishment for women and men equal in Sura 24 but different in Sura 4?

My response(#72):

In my opinion there is no contradiction if you look at all the verses in their own context.

(Koran; 24:2) Flog both the adulterous woman and the adulterous man with a hundred lashes…

This verse is for the Arabs of 1400 years ago. They had no police system, nor any jails. Their limited resources to make and enforce laws, and their barbaric lifestyle, makes this rule a good one.

(Koran; 4:15) Should any of your women commit some sexual offence, collect evidence about them from four among yourselves. If they so testify then confine the women to their houses until death claims them or God grants them some other way out.

Verse 4:15 does not state that you should not flog the adulterous wives before you confine them to their houses. So there are no contradictions as far as the kind of punishment goes.

And as far as equality that you see in 24:2 and think that is missing from 4:15, I must say the system of family that is proposed in the Koran is this:  Men give dowry, women receive dowry, men pay for their wives and childrens clothing, women breast feed the kids if they choose, and women take care of the children. If these rules are changed to better serve men and women and family life this is excellent (3:7), so the equality is there however when a men finds his wife betraying the available resources only allowed them to carry the law in that way. So if the roles of who takes care of the children and who brings the money home were reversed, and if it was the women giving dowries and men receiving them, then if a women came home and found her husband cheating, then she could first have him flogged with a hundred lashes before confining him to her house until he died. 

You stated(#73):

38. Will Christians enter Paradise or go to Hell? Sura 2:62 and 5:69 say "Yes", Sura 5:72 (just 3 verses later) and 3:85 say "No".

My response(#73):

The Christians who do good will enter paradise.  This is true about all people of all faiths and the Koran states this in verse 2:62 and repeats it in verse 5:69 (this is were the beauty of the Koran must be appreciated as it does not put even its own followers above anyone).

However the act of saying God has a son is a sin and Christians commit this sin.  But obviously those who altered the book of God and knew they were going against God’s word, will be punished.  The ones that follow this act because they truly believe they are doing right, will not be punished.

And also verse 3:85 states that no religion but Islam will be accepted. But again you are taking this verse out of its context as all over the Koran it clearly states that Islam means “acceptance of God.”  And it states that Moses, Jesus and all their followers and other prophets and their followers were all Moslems! (2:112,128,131,132,133,136,208, 3:19,20,52, many more)

This is very clear as God says the same thing about those Moslems who perform worship but in their worship they have nothing but God in their hearts (107:4-7).

We can divide the Christians into a few groups according to the Koran. Each one of these groups will be dealt with in a separate way so God’s true justice can be done.

1) The Christians who were of Mohammad’s time and saw Mohammad and realized he is the messenger of God (2:197).

2) Christians who long time ago (soon after disappearance of Jesus) altered his sayings (2:79).

3) Christians who did not alter their book but followed their book in hopes of making God happy (5:15).

When more is given, more is required.  The above three groups will be punished differently according to justice even though they were all labeled as Christians.

You stated(#74):

39. God alone or also men? Clear or incomprehensible? The Qur'an is "clear Arabic speech." [16:103] Yet "NONE knows its interpretation, save only Allah." [3:7]. Actually, "men of understanding do grasp it." [3:7]

My response(#74):

I already explained this.

The communication of God through the Koran can be split into two different kinds.

1) Basic verses (not changeable)

2) Other verses (which is different for different eras and must be adjusted according to societies needs and limit).

Also the communication given in the Koran talks about two different worlds.

A) Verses that talk about this world: A world that can be understood by human minds and that can be researched and all things in it can be proven with physical evidence.

B) Verses that talk about the other world: A world that we have very little knowledge about and that God gave us very little information about it. This lack of knowledge is on purpose. This is because we have to use our faith to accept it. Things about this world are impossible to prove with physical evidence. God is part of this other world.

So when the Koran talks about this world, no one knows the complete meaning but God. When the Koran says that it is a very clear book and anyone can comprehend it, it is talking about its main message which is about guidance, and it is about the verses of type A.

You stated(#75):

40. Was Pharaoh Drowned or Saved when chasing Moses and the Israelites? Saved [10:92], drowned [28:40, 17:103, 43:55].

My response(#75):

Verse 10:92 never says he was saved. The word saved is never mentioned in this verse. Take a look.

(Koran; 10:92) However today We will preserve you in your body so you may be a sign to anyone who comes after you.  Yet many people are quite heedless of Our signs.

I believe you mistakenly misquoted this.

The above verse said the body of the Pharaoh was not sunk in the water and lost, but rather his body was preserved after his death and sent to the shore so his people could see what happens when a man as powerful as Pharaoh goes against God.  The verse does not state that he did not drown. This you assume because you did not mention the two verses before and you took verse 10:92 out of its context. To put this verse back into its context I quote verse 10:90:

(Koran; 10:90) So We brought the children of Israel across the sea.  Pharaoh and his armies had them followed in hot pursuit and fought (them) off until, as drowning overtook him, he said: “I believe that there is no deity except the one Whom the children of Israel believe in. I am (now) a Moslem.

(Koran; 10:91) Now, you had disobeyed before and been a mischief-maker!

(Koran; 10:92) However today We will preserve you in your body so you may be a sign to anyone who comes after you.  Yet many people are quite heedless of Our signs.

I believe you mistakenly misquoted this.

You stated(#76):

41. When Commanded Pharaoh the Killing of the Sons? When Moses was a Prophet and spoke God's truth to Pharaoh [40:23-25] or when he was still an infant [20:38-39]?

My response(#76):

Verses 40:23-25 says that when Moses and his brother brought Pharaoh clear signs from God, that Pharaoh ordered “Kill the sons of those who have believed along with him, and let their women live”. And this rule he also commanded when Moses was an infant. Where does it say in the Koran that this was only commanded by Pharaoh? Only on one occasion. According to the above verses it appears that Pharaoh commanded the killing of the sons twice; once when Moses was an infant, and once as it is described in the 40:23-25.

.

You stated(#77):

42. When/how are the fates determined? "The night of power is better than a thousand months. The angels and spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees." [97:3,4] "Lo! We revealed it on a blessed night." [44:3] To Muslims, the "Night of Power" is a blessed night on which fates are settled and on which everything relating to life, death, etc., which occurs throughout the year is decreed. It is said to be the night on which Allah's decrees for the year are brought down to the earthly plane. In other words, matters of creation are decreed a year at a time. Contradicting this, Sura 57:22 says, "No affliction befalls in the earth or in your selves, but it is in a Book before we create it." This means it is written in the Preserved Tablet, being totally fixed in Allah's knowledge before anyone was created. All of the above is contradicted by "And every man's fate We have fastened to his own neck." This says that man alone is responsible for what he does and what happens to him. [17:13]

My response(#77):

Same as before I believe the other world has a set of rules that is not explained to us in any detail at all. Therefore we must just read these verses and remind ourselves of the power that God has not made physical. When in the Bible Jesus casts Demons (Bad Jinns) out of people, this is not physically explainable. Or when a dumb person asks him to cure him and Jesus spits in his mouth and tells him to go wash it in a given river.  There are many acts that has no explanation in the physical world that we must accept. The Koran also gives us little information about the other world (17:85). So speculating is not going to give us an answer as to whether Koran is contradicting itself or not.

And about our fate being known by God before we are created, God’s knowledge about us does not predetermine our fate. It is because He is so powerful and His power is not comprehendible by humans. It does not mean that His accounts of the other world are wrong. He is infinite, we are not. Infinite is not comprehendible. Infinite can not get larger no matter how much you add to it and won’t decrease no matter how many times you divided to many pieces. These do not make sense with our material world.  We either accept the teachings of God and his prophets, or we don’t. If we don’t we better have a good excuse or on the judgment day we will be sorry. And whether we believe in Him or not we must accept to do good deeds because our instinct says being good is the way to be (because God blew from His spirit in us).  This is the most crucial of all because whether we do good deeds or not shows whether we were sincere about our conclusion whether there is a God or not.

You stated(#78):

43. Wine: Good or bad? Strong drink and ... are only an infamy of Satan's handiwork. [5:90, also 2:219]. Yet on the other hand in Paradise are rivers of wine [47:15, also 83:22,25]. How does Satan's handiwork get into Paradise?

My response(#78):

The other world as I mentioned before has completely different rules and is a completely different situation.

However about liquor, whatever Koran has said has been completely misrepresented by the so-called scholars of Islam and I have explained that earlier (SR #45).

You stated(#79):

44. Good News of Painful Torture? Obviously, annoucing torment and suffering to anyone is bad news, not good news. However, the Qur'an announces the good news of painful torment [3:21, 4:138, 9:3, 9:34, 31:7, 45:8, and 84:24].

My response(#79):

When the enemies of Mohammad were killing Mohammad’s people just because they wanted to accept one God, and when they made fun of Mohammad and his followers, then God made fun of them, saying in a sarcastic manner that their reward is the good news of painful torture.

You stated(#80):

45. Will all Muslims go to Hell? According to Sura 19:71 every Muslim will go to Hell (for at least some time), while another passage states that those who die in Jihad will go to Paradise immediately.

My response(#80):

Let us look at this verse and few before to see what it says:

(Koran; 19:63) This is the garden which We cause those of Our servants to inherit who guard.

(64) We never descend except at your Lord’s command. He owns whatever is in front of us and whatever is behind us, and whatever lies in between. Your Lord is not forgetful,

(65) (for He is) the Lord of heaven and earth and what ever lies in between them! So serve Him and persevere in His worship. Do you know of any other title for Him?

(66) Everyman says: “When I die will I be brought forth alive (again)?”

(67) Does man not recall that We already created him once when he was nothing?

(68) By your Lord, We shall summon both them and the devils; then We shall parade them forth to crouch around Hell!

(69) Then We will most certainly draw forth from every sect of them him who is most exorbitantly rebellious against the beneficent God.

(70) Thus We are quite aware as to who are closest to roasting in it;

(71) there is not one of you but he will be led up to it. That is a decree determined by your Lord.

The above verses (before 19:71) clearly say that all will be going to Hell. However before that it is talking about the people who deserve to be in Hell and have disobeyed the Lord. So among those “who most exorbitantly rebellious (19:69)” there will be no one that will not enter Hell, not among all people.

Notice the similar situation about the verse below when it talks about man:

(Koran; 103:2) Most surely man is in loss,

(3) Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.

The Koran should not be translated by so-called religious leaders because they do a very bad job. They translate with the intention to prove what they want to prove from the made-up ahadith.   And they want to prove all the falsehood that they learned from religious leaders before them. The Koran should be translated by someone who is unbiased and who is an expert in Arabic.

The translations that are out there today are not consistent, and someone like yourself who is rightfully disgusted with today’s Islam, will use the inconsistencies to prove your point of the Koran being contradictory.

. This is why I don’t rely on one translation and I always check the key words in the dictionary to make sure no one is inserting their point of view into the Koran.

You stated(#81):

46. Will Jesus burn in Hell? Jesus is raised to Allah, [Sura 4:158], near stationed with him [Sura 3:45], worshiped by millions of Christians, yet Sura 21:98 says, that all that are worshiped by men besides Allah will burn in Hell together with those who worship them.

My response(#81):

There are all false statements about these verses. Let us take a look.

(Koran; 3:45) When the angels said: O Marium surely God gives you good news with a word from Him (of one) whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to God).

(Koran; 4:157) … they did not kill him (Jesus) …No one is certain they Killed him!

(Koran; 4:158) Rather God lifted him up towards Himself. God is Powerful, Wise!

The next verse states:

(Koran; 3:45) Thus the angels said: “Mary, God announces word to you about someone whose name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, (who is) well regarded in this world and the hereafter, and one of those drawn near (to God).

Furthermore:

(21:97)And the true promise shall draw nigh, then lo~ the eyes of those who disbelieved shall be fixedly open: O woe to us! Surely we were in a state of heedlessness as to this; nay, we were unjust.

(21:98) Surely you and what you worship besides God are the firewood of Hell; to it you shall come.

In the above verses I don’t see where you think it says “worshipped by millions of Christians, yet Sura 21:98”

You stated(#82):

47. Jinns and men created for worship or for Hell? Created only to serve God [Sura 51:56], many of them made for Hell [Sura 7:179].

My response(#82):

We could speculate that they could serve God in Hell.

You stated(#83):

48. Who is the father of Jesus? A more involved argument that is difficult to summarize in one sentence.

My response(#83):

God is everyone’s Heavenly Father and therefore Jesus’ too.

These lengthy arguments are what our debate should not consist of.  It should consist of you trying to prove to me that the Koran is a book that is promoting violence not peace, hate not love, and so on.

You stated(#84):

49. Begetting and Self-sufficiency A self-contradiction on account of confused terminology.

My response(#84):

We don’t need to go this deep to get to the main message of the Koran .

And to prove to ourselves that the Koran is a clear book about guidance, all we have to do is a simple test.  This means all we have to do is to find an Arabic speaking non-Moslem person and ask them about the confused terminology, and ask them if they are missing the message of Koran because of the so-called confused terminology.

You stated(#85):

50. Could Allah have a son? Sura 39:4 affirms and Sura 6:101 denies this possibility.

My response(#85):

(Koran; 39:4) If God had wanted to adopt a son, He would select anyone He wished from what He has created. Glory be to Him! He is God Alone, the irresistible!

Do you really going to tell me you think the above said God is saying He has a son?

You stated(#86):

51. Did Jesus Die already? Surah 3:144 states that all messengers died before

Muhammad. But 4:158 claims that Jesus was raised to God (alive?).

My response(#86):

Verse 3:144 does not say that all prophets before Mohammad have already died. It says that messengers have passed away before him. This does not mean that one or more could not have been alive.

Let us take a look at this verse:

(Koran; 3:144) Mohammad is only a messenger. Messengers have passed away before him. If he should die or be killed, will you (all) revert to your old ways? Anyone who turns on his heels will never injure God in any way, while God will reward the grateful.

The above verse is not talking about how many messengers die or if all died before Mohammad. The message is simply that messengers before him have died and he will too.  So God is asking Mohammad’s followers if Mohammad dies would they go back to their old ways.

You stated(#87):

52. One Creator or many? The Qur'an uses twice the phrase that Allah is "the best of creators" [23:14, 37:125]. What other creators are in mind? On the other hand, many verses make clear that Allah alone is "the creator of all things" [e.g. 39:62]. There is nothing left for others to be a creator of.

My response(#87):

This all depends on what people consider to be a creator. If a person thinks that one who builds a house is the creator of that house, then Koran is saying that God is the best creator among those whom we think are creators. This is also mentioned about those who try to trick people.  The Koran states to let them use all their plots because God is the best plotter.

You stated(#88):

53. From among all nations or from Abraham's seed? Surah 29:27 states that all prophets came Abraham's seed. But 16:36 claims that Allah raised messengers from among every people.

My response(#88):

It appears that you misquoted again. Verse 29:27 does not say all prophets came from Abraham’s seed. Let’s take a look:

(Koran; 29:27) We bestowed Isaac and Jacob on him, and granted prophet hood and the book to his offspring. We gave him his payment in this world while in the here after he will be among the honorable.

You stated(#89):

54. Marrying the wives of adopted sons? It is important that Muslims can marry the divorced wives of adopted sons [Sura 33:37], yet it is forbidden to adopt sons [Sura 33:4-5].

My response(#89):

It appears that you misquoted again. Verse 33:4-5 does not say you are not allowed to adopt sons.  It says that you can not tell the adopted sons that you are their biological dad.  You must be honest with them. However adopting them and referring to them as your adopted sons is not forbidden.

You stated(#90):

55. Messengers were never sent to other than their own people? So it is claimed in Sura 14:4 and 30:47. However, the Bible and the Qur'an, and the Muslim traditions confirm that Jonah was sent to a different nation.

My response(#90):

Where is your verse to support that?

I think the following verse  will show the opposite of what you are quoting about the Koran,  (Also I think most Moslems traditions are against the Koran).

(Koran; 10:98) If only there had been a town which believed and whose faith had benefited it besides Jonah’s people…

You stated(#91):

56. Messengers Amongst the Jinns and Angels? Allah sent only men as messengers [Suras 12:109, 21:7-8, 25:20-21] but there seemingly are messengers from Jinns and Angels [6:130; 11:69,77; 22:75; etc., see article for details].

My response(#91):

The mistake here is you are thinking that whoever is sent down by God as a “RASOL” or is called a messenger is not necessarily a prophet to people.

The following scenarios all could be true and would allow the above verses not to be contradicting.

There could be messengers from Jinns that was sent to Jinns as prophets to them. There could be messengers from humans sent down to Jinns and humans. There could be messengers sent to humans to prophets to tell prophets what message to give to people.

Their could be messengers from angels sent to people to carry out a death sentence as it was to the people of prophet Lot.

You stated(#92):

57. Another eleven contradictions...

Source: http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/index.html#internal

My response(#92):

With your permission let us debate about the ones we have here, and then we can get to more.

You stated(#93):

Are Hadith necessary?

You wrote “I am against any Hadith being the source of guidance. I believe the Koran when it claims to be a complete book for guidance. I would also add that no Hadith is needed to complete the Koran”

I agree with you that it is a mistake to take Hadith a source of guidance. Hadiths were collections of the stories about Muhammad and they are not the revealed word of God. So they should not have been taken as sources of guidance. However they are the sources of information about Muhammad. They are the only history left of the prophet. Although the Hadith should not be taken as the source of guidance, they have historic value.

My response(#93):

They only have historic value if you can prove that they are true. And as we know. this is not the case at all.

You stated(#94):

There are two categories of Muslims. Those who accept the authenticity of the Quran and the Hadith with no ifs or buts, and those who deny the Hadith, partially or totally and try to reinterpret the Quran in ways completely opposite to its apparent meaning so that it become acceptable to a reasonable mind.

For 1200 years Bukhari’s collection of hadithes was regarded (and still is) by the majority of the Muslims, only second to the Quran. Apart from the Quran, Muslims, especially the Sunnis, regard Hadithes as the source of guidance. The hadithes are stories of the life of Muhammad, collected by scholars in the second and third century after the Hijra. The most famous and revered ones are those of Bukhari and his student Muslim. They are called Sahih (correct, sound or authenticated) they went through a process of authentication called Ilmul Hadith. However there is a new trend amongst some of the Muslims especially the submitters who deny the authenticity of hadithes all together. They would go as far as to call the eminent compilers of the hadithes liars and charlatans. The point is that these writers did not invent these stories to deserve such disparaging title; they simply collected them and preserved them.

The early Muslim scholars accepted a hadith as Sahih only when its authenticity was established on the basis of both Fann-i-Riwaayat (The art of sequence of narration) and Fann-i-Daraayat (The art of logical concordance). Moreover a Hadith should not have contradicted the Sunnah and the Quran. I am not interested and none of us is any more qualified to determine the methodology that was used for accepting or rejecting a Hadith based on Fann-i-Riwaayat. These are old stories. All those who reported them are dead more than a thousand years ago and we have no way to verify their trustworthiness. At this moment the only method left to determine the sihhat (soundness) of a Hadith is Fann-i-Daraayat and its compatibility with the Quran. Asif Iftikhar writes “Therefore, a Hadith can be regarded as a source of religious guidance only `if the basis of that Hadith exists in the Quran or the Sunnah or the established principles of human nature and intellect. Moreover, it should not be contradictory to any of these bases” (from The Authenticity of Hadith)

My response(#94):

Since I only agree with what the Koran, the Bible, and the Torah says, and since I disregard anyone or anything else to be the source of my guidance, I decided not to allow these so-called scholars to decide for me how to live my life.  And since the Koran is very clear about its guidance, then who needs to spend thousands of hours sorting through what these religious leaders claim to be from Mohammad?  They have nothing but nonsense that they claim is from Mohammad. Maybe the followers of scholars can agree with them but I don’t.  Dr. Shafa, in his book “From Khomeni to Kollani”, cites ten thousand hadiths which so-called scholars conveniently made up to serve their own purposes.  If you read this book you will see that the hadith is not from God. To prove how these rules are opposite from the Koran, I compared them to 3000 rules of Mr. Khomeni’s resaleh.  This is in my book “The Corruption of Moslem Minds” chapter 11.

You stated(#95):

Q.18:86

Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."

89

Then followed he (another) way,

90

Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.

Obviously Sun rises and sets in ALL places, or actually no place at all. One doesn’t have to go "another way" to find it rising. This gives us the clue that Muhammad really believed that the Earth is flat and the sun moves in the sky rising from one place and setting in another.

My response(#95):

All stories told in the Koran are told so we can learn a moral lesson from it. In this case I feel that you are missing the moral of the story. I don’t know what place on earth God is referring to as the place where the sun was set.  I don’t know when God created the earth, or where the first place was on earth that received the first sun rays. Maybe that is the place God allocated as the place where the sun rises? The moral of the story is not about which direction they walked.

I am baffled by the fact that in this story God is telling the people that due to the weather conditions of their place on earth, they are to wear no clothing.  Yet the Moslems of today’s world are so sensitive about covering the women from head to toe even in the hottest days of the summer!

You stated(#96):

But how can we be sure this is how Muhammad envisioned the shape of the Earth? The answer can be found in another Hadith.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 54, Number 421

Narrated Abu Dhar:

The Prophet asked me at sunset, "Do you know where the sun goes (at the time of sunset)?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." He said, "It goes (i.e. travels) till it prostrates Itself underneath the Throne and takes the permission to rise again, and it is permitted and then (a time will come when) it will be about to prostrate itself but its prostration will not be accepted, and it will ask permission to go on its course but it will not be permitted, but it will be ordered to return whence it has come and so it will rise in the west. And that is the interpretation of the Statement of Allah: "And the sun Runs its fixed course For a term (decreed). that is The Decree of (Allah) The Exalted in Might, The All-Knowing." (Q. 6: 3 

Okay. Here we have a case in Hadith that is confirmed by the Quran, which is again ratified by another Hadith and once more demonstrated in the Quran. Is this Hadith against the science and commonsense? It sure is. However, it is not against the Quran. Therefore the message conveyed by the Hadith is wrong, despite the fact that it is an authenticated Hadith.

If we have any doubts about what Muhammad really thought of the shape of the Earth, we can safely put them to rest when we read the following verses.

My response(#96):

Again hadith is not needed to clear anything worth talking about. Religions need to be limited to what God intended them to be. And that is to be the only a way of reminding ourselves of God as much as we can and to do good deeds. Moslem religious leaders of today only care about making business and obtaining great wealth and power.  If religions were limited to only the books of God, then all these religions would have been united (Jews, Christians, and Islam). However the opposite has happened. More people have been killed and murdered in the name of religion than anything else.

Jewish and Christian religious leaders have managed to alter the book of God and create new gods and change the way of old religions. However this altering of the book did not happened to Islam, as you can not find one word different in all the versions of the Koran, beginning from the earliest version to now. So the Moslem religious leaders have had to come up with something new since they were not able to alter their book. This is why they have ahadith. If you read a book called “From Khomeni to Koleni” by Dr. Shafa, you will see ten thousand hadiths that has no meaningful message for humanity.  And they are all not anywhere in the Koran.  And in most cases, they are completely opposite of the Koran.

You stated(#97):

Q. 78: 6

Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse,

7

And the mountains as pegs?

The “expanse” gives an idea of something flat. The Arabic word used in the Quran is Mehad, (bed). All the beds that I have seen so far were flat, none of them where spherical. Also the mountains are not pegs keeping the earth from shaking as the prophet used to think.

My response(#97):

(Koran; 78:6-7) Have we not laid the earth out as a cradle

(Koran; 78:7) and (set) the mountains up as kingpins?

Your claim about the above verses is pure speculation.

Here is mine:

Cradle is a better description for Mehad, because even if you take the meaning “bed”, this means a place of rest. So it means we made earth as a place of rest.

And if you look at a cradle, you will see that it rocks back and forth. And earth as it goes through its orbit, rocks back and forth about 15 degrees. This is a perfect description. As far as the mountains go they could have spiritual meaning as the Koran has stated that the mountains are angels of God as is the lightening.  And the Bible also states that all things worship God. So how these are angels of God and how they stabilize earth is not something that can be proven or disprove from the above description given.

You state(#98):

Don’t these Hadithes, backed by these verses from the Quran, clearly describe a flat Earth, with the Sun rising from one end and setting in the muddy waters on the opposite end? Is there a Throne somewhere that the Sun goes under it to get permission? What Throne was Muhammad talking about? When and how the Sun prostrates itself? This concept sounds ridiculous to us; yet in the old ages everyone believed in a flat Earth, floating on waters surrounded by high mountains beyond which one could fall into an endless abyss, etc. and the whole story made perfect sense to those who heard it.

In fact this story is not an invention of Muhammad. Most of the Prophet’s stories were part of the folklore that he had heard somewhere else. In a book entitled The Oldest Stories in the Word, Theodor H. Gaster has compiled the lore of the Babylonian, the Hittite and the Canaanite people of 3500 years ago. These stories were lost for centuries and finally found and unearthed in the last century. They were deciphered and printed in 1952. The similarities of those old stories and the stories in the Quran, including the above Hadith, are astonishing. They help us understand the origin of the Quran as well as that of the Bible. The Quran has no divine origin, what Muhammad told people were stories he heard from others, old stories that were part of the tradition of the people of his time.

My response(#98):

Again when God speaks about how He does things and how His power works, we need to remember that we have no information about the other world or about God’s power. So we can not prove or disprove of the accounts He gave about how He runs His show.  However if you don’t believe that the Koran is a book from God, then all the above could be a good speculation. Especially without having any knowledge about how God’s power actually works.

You stated(#99):

Miracles

There are also many hadiths attributing miracles to the prophet. What should we make of them?

My response(#99):

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We should discard them immediately and pay absolutely no attention to them as if they don’t exist.

You state(#100):

The point is that we cannot dismiss the authenticity of a Hadith based on our commonsense.

My response(#100):

They are many hadith that can be easily dismissed based on our commonsense. The one that can not be dismissed based on our commonsense can not be validated base on our commonsense either.

You state(#101):

 Today’s Muslims have taken for granted that Muhammad was the messenger of God and therefore he could not be wrong.

My response(#101):

That I agree with you. However if He is the messenger of God then this does not create any problems. But altering His message that is given in the Koran will create problems (i.e. taking verses out of their true context to promote killing, promoting husbands to beat their wives, etc.).

You state(#102):

To examine the truth of the claim of Muhammad, we have to decide which side we are standing. Are we part of the defense team or are we part of the jury? The majority of Muslims, as you would expect, choose to be part of the defense team. They are not interested to know whether Muhammad was right or he was an impostor. That question does not even arise in their minds. They already “know”, for they were told, that he was the messenger of God and they have accepted it as a fact. Choosing to remain in that position, they naturally would not know the truth and are not in a position to see it.

My response(#102):

I agree with you. However I also, with all due respect, feel that you are on the offense team against Mohammad. But he was a prophet of God and all these things that you can not make sense of about the other world that is talked about in the Koran, are things that can not be understood with this world’s measures. And what if you become so disgusted (rightfully) with today’s Islam, that you don’t allow yourself to see that the Koran actually has stated more than 70 times that in order to go to heaven, one must believe in God and do good deeds? And what if all the verses about fighting are truly statements intended for the Arabs of those times to stop the killing?

I believe we all must not fall into a trap of being one-dimensional, which is me only believing what I think is right, and you only believing what you think is right.

You stated(#103):

Today more educated Muslims find many absurdities in the hadithes and their first reaction is to deny them. However, since the majority of the hadithes are nonsensical, the growing consensus is to deny all the hadithes and vilify the unfortunate Bukhari and Muslim who were revered for over a millennium. This is unfair. Bukhari and Muslim, along with other Muhaditheen (collectors of Hadith) did not invent these hadithes but recorded them as they were told. It is not right to shoot the messenger if the message in unpleasing.

My response(#103):

Before I would let some hadith guide me instead of the Koran guiding me (which I believe is a book from God), you must prove to me beyond a shadow of doubt that,

“Muhaditheen (collectors of hadith) did not invent these ahadith but recorded them as they were told”.

I accept the Koran as a book of guidance, and I have used its message to become a better person every day (even though I have a very long way to go to be considered good). So I have no reason to accept any other message than all the united messages of the Koran, the Bible, and the Torah.

You stated(#104):

And it is highly unethical to defile these scholars and deny what they painstakingly collected, because what they reported blemish Muhammad. Some of these reports are fabricated and false but many of them are true. Because many of these hadithes are of dubious nature, we should not rely on them as religious source of guidance but to dismiss them as historic source is committing a grave mistake. These hadithes are all we have about the life of the Prophet. They narrate the stories of the historic Muhammad. They should not be taken as a substitute to the Quran (assuming that this is a revealed book) but they are the biography of the Prophet. If you deny all the hadiths how can you prove the historicity of the Prophet?

My response(#104):

Our debate is about whether or not I am wrong about thinking that the Koran is great book of God, and whether or not it is the book for human guidance. I think that with all the issues we have presented here, we have enough things to debate about for now. Once we have “resolved” all these, and if, at the end our debate I see proof by you that the Koran is not from God and is not guiding its followers to the right path, then I will stop the promotion of my book and I will thank you for the awakening you have given me. If I prove to you that you are wrong about what messages you think the Koran is promoting, then hopefully you will start promoting the true message of Koran and urge everyone to follow.

So let us focus on the Koran first.

You stated(#105):

If all those stories are false and someone with an amazing wit has forged them, then perhaps someone equally malignant has fabricated the Quran, and the whole Islam is nothing but a fanciful tale. Without the Ahadith, we know nothing of Muhammad, his life and his history. Without hadith, Muslims have no way of knowing how to perform their prayers or fast. These are pillars of Islam.

My response(#105):

Moslems are already performing their prayers and fasting opposite of how Koran has commanded them to, because they are listening to all these ahadith which is darkening the light of Koran. The Koran states that when you follow it, it will cause the followers to reach leadership on the earth and many good things will happen for them (24:55). A quick look at the situation of the Moslems of the world shows us clearly that they are not following the book correctly. The reason for this is simply that no one is even reading the Koran! Everyone listens to their religious leaders who tell them some kind of hadith or other man-made commandments (Bible; Mark; 7:7-13).

(Bible; Mark 7:7) And in vain they worship Me (Jesus), teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

(8) – “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…

(9) – He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

(7:13) – “Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. 

You stated(#106):

Doubt everything, find your own light!

My response(#106):

I agree completely. Find your own light without listening to all these religious leaders. And do it by following God and believing that the Koran is from Him. Read the Koran for yourself and do not believe what anyone has to say about what it says. Read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

You stated (#107)

In support to your claim that the Hadiths should be discarded completely you quoted these verses:

About the Koran being a complete book:

“ … We have sent the book down to you to explain everything, and for guidance and mercy … (16:89)”. “In it [the Koran] every wise matter is set forth (44:3)” – There are more than ten similar verses.

About being against Hadith:

“Some men buy up some HADITH to mislead others from God’s way without having any knowledge …(31:6)". “In what HADITH, then, after (Koran), will they believe? (77:49)". - There are more than twenty-five verses like these.

As we saw the first claim that Quran is complete is false.

My response(#107)

I feel you are ignoring the fact that the Koran introduces itself more than 28 times as a book for guidance. And you also are drawing a conclusion that the Koran is not complete. My honorable friend, you should not take a few words here and there from the Koran and draw a conclusion of your choice. This is what today’s religious leaders of Islam do to promote what they want. In order to be just and fair to the Koran, when we talk about a given subject we must take all the verses about that subject, place them together and read them all before we take a stand. For example, if the Koran says that “being good is bad if you are only pretending to be good”, then you should not only quote “being good is bad” and say this is a contradiction and think you have proved your point.

You stated(#108)

Quran contains a myriad of contradictions and opposing verses.

It is not a clear book at all. It is obtuse and confusing. The evidence of that are hundred of sects that have splintered from it. If the book was clear as it claims then why so many sects and interpretations.

My response(#108)

I have explained many times in my book, “The Corruption of Moslem Minds” that the religious leaders have perverted the Koran’s messages so that they could make a business out of this religion, and they could abuse their followers for generations to come.

The Koran’s simple message of love is “BE GOOD”. This does not need any interpretations.

All the religions have a main message from God, “BELIEVE IN GOD AND DO GOOD”.

It is not any more complicated than this.

The religion is about teaching its followers that no matter what you are doing everyday, don’t forget that your Heavenly Father who created you, is watching.  He wants you to be good and pass this little worldly test – a test that will determine whether you were good or bad while you were on earth. That is it.

You stated (#109)

You have written a book to prove all the Ayatollahs and the Mullahs have it wrong. Why should so many people err so grievously if the Quran is as clear as you claim?

My response(#109)

Throughout the history of mankind, religions have always been abused by men who claim they are in charge. They abuse their followers by enforcing harsh rules on them. The vast majority of Moslems have never read the Koran even once in their own language. And those who do read never read it to see what it says.  They read it because they think reciting it brings them blessings from God. You are Iranian and if you are familiar with Iranians, then you know I am right.

You stated(#110)

As for your second claim that the Quran says Ahadith are misleading and the believers should only believe in the Quran, I am afraid you are confusing the hadithes that people used to tell each other during the time of Muhammad with those that later were collected by Muslims about him. Hadith in Arabic means story. In the above verse Muhammad is telling his contemporaries not to listen to other story tellers and follow what he says. He is trying to eliminate and discredit his competitors. He is not talking about the stories that later were told about him. These stories were not yet told.

My response(#110)

In this explanation you actually agreed with me that the Koran was sent to the Arabs of 1400 years ago.  And when Mohammad told his people anything, he was communicating with them.  However you are wrong about these verses. I will quote them again and you can see that for yourself:

(Koran; 31:6) Some men buy up some HADITH to mislead others from God’s way without having any knowledge …

(Koran; 77:49) In what HADITH, then, after (Koran), will they believe?

The above disqualifies any stories or sayings (hadith from before or after) to be used to substitute the Koran. This is exactly what religious leaders do with today’s stories that they use as hadith. Even if the stories told now as hadith are different now, none of them can substitute the Koran.

And if you would put all the verses about a given subject together, then you would clearly see what the Koran says about that given subject. You are ignoring other parts of the Koran about this subject. 

About the Koran being a complete book:

(Koran; 16:89)  … We have sent the book down to you to explain everything, and for guidance and mercy …

(Koran: 44:3) every wise matter is set forth

If you are a Moslem who believes in the Koran, then the above 4 verses completely urges Moslems of the world to reject what so-called religious scholars are telling them about their hadith which is: “Islam is not complete without ahadith”.

My response(#111)

The Koran claims to be a book that asks its followers not to worship anything but the one true God. It also states that by obeying this book you will be guided to be good and that by being good you will go to Heaven.  This is also the same message given by all the prophets. The Koran states more than 70 times:  “Believe in God and do good and you will enter Heaven.” The Koran also says over and over that all the verses that you think Sha’ne Nozool is needed, are for the Arabs of 1400 years ago.

One should not ignore the main part of the Koran (i.e. the Ten Commandments given to Moses) that needs no explaining.

Please show me the verse that you do not understand or that is not clear to you when the Koran talks about doing good deeds.  The below verses were obtained from only one of the Koran’s chapter.  Look how many beautiful verses you are ignoring about the facts I am talking about:

-   “Give to charity (2:2)”

-   “Remind yourself of God and worship Him (2:2)”

-   “Do not do corruption in the land (2:11)”

-   “Do not break God’s covenant after pledging to keep it (2:27)”

-   “Do not hide the truth while you know it(2:42)”

-   “Do not teach good while doing bad (2:43)”

-   “Repent from all the bad that you have done(2:54)”

-   “Do not write a book and say this is from God (i.e. ahadith,resaleh)(2:78)”

-   “Do not do bad deeds (2:81)”

-   “Do good deeds (2:82)”

-   “Do not worship any god but the one true God (2:83)”.

-   “Be kind to your parents(2:83)”

-   “Be kind to a needy person (2:83)”

-   “Talk with kindness (2:83)”

-   “Do not kill one another (2:84)”

-   “Forgive your those who do you wrong(2:109)”

-   “Exercise patience especially when going through hard time(2:155)”

-   “Do not follow the footstep of your forefathers if they were wrong(2:170)”

-   “Use your mind (2:171)”

-   “Do not eat the animals that are killed for gods (2:172)”

-   “Do not drink blood(2:172)”

-   “Do not hide God’s verses that is sent to you (2:173)”

-   “Help the orphans (2:176)”

-   “Help those who ask for your help (2:176)”

-   “Help your relatives (2:176)”

-   “Keep your promises (2:176)”

-   “Do not change a person’s will after they have passed away (2:181)”

-   “Fast for a certain number of days (2:184)”

-   “Do not take each others wealth in vanity so that you may sinfully consume (2:188)”

-   “Fight with those who fight you (2:190)”

-   “Obey God (2:208)”

-   “Do not take a non-believer as your wife (2:221)”

-   “Cleanse yourself, God loves clean people (2:222)”

-   “Do not swear to God and lie (2:224)”

-   “Make peace between people (2:224)”

-   “Do not force religion on each other (2:258)”

-   “Talk with kindness (2:263)”

-   “Do not misbehave sexually (2:268)”

-   “If a person owes you money and they can’t pay back on time, then give them more time to pay back or forgive their debt if you can (2:280)”

The above verses are all from just ONE chapter of the Koran (chapter 2 which contains over 280 verses).  As you can imagine, there are over 6,000 verses in the entire Koran that are meant to guide humans to be good.  You are disqualifying all the good that the Koran has offered for the past and the future. You are simply taking verses out of their true context or you misquote them.  You are drawing your own conclusions.  Do you see any good in the Koran’s teachings? Are you maybe becoming so set in your ways that whenever you read the Koran you want to find contradiction?

Please note the following verse:

(Koran; 2:27) God does not hesitate to compare things to a mosquito nor to anything bigger than it.  Those who believe realize that it is the truth from their Lord, while those who disbelieve say: “What does God want in such a comparison?” …

As you can easily see, the list of beautiful verses of this book goes on and on.  There are many good things that came out of the Koran to help the evil people of ancient times.  And this help continued for 1400 years.  Nothing in this world has ever been able to set so many people on a good path in life as the Koran.  The same can be said for the Bible and the Torah.

However you fail to mention all these good things about the teachings of the Koran and you fail to give credit to Mohammed when credit is due. What you did not fail to do however, is to accept the false picture of Islam and explore every bit of it.  You are only looking at the distorted picture of Islam (which has NOTHING to do with the Koran).

So I ask you, are you being fair when you fail to acknowledge ANY good that came from Mohammad and the Koran?  For example, Mohammad ended the killing of baby girls who were being murdered simply because of their gender.  And Mecca was captured without any bloodshed when Mohammad was at the height of his power.

The problem with the three great religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) is that the messages of their books have been perverted by religious leaders.  The religious leaders are evil doers, and they lie about their books and set their followers on a terrible path of destruction. This abuse can in no way, be contributed to be the fault of any true teaching of the Koran.

I challenge you to put together any teaching in the Koran that you see as being the killer of Islam.  

In the above verses I listed so many moral teachings that this book has brought to the Moslems of the world in just one of its chapters. Yet the Koran contains more than 100 chapters! And again, all the bad that you see in the world of Islam today has nothing to do with the Koran.

Our lack of understanding about how the world was created, or about how many wings are on an angel, etc., does not prove that the Koran is a book of hate and destruction. No one can say that they are killing to make God happy because the Koran claims angels have 3 wings but they found out that they have 9 wings.

You stated(#112)

As you see, despite the fact that you do not like many of the hadithes, despite the fact that they embarrass you as they reveal Muhammad to be a monster, you cannot get rid of the Hadithes. They are essential to Islam as is the Quran.

My response(#112)

If I accept that what you are saying is true about the Koran being essential to Islam, then I can stop right here. Because if the Koran is essential to Islam, and if I accept the Koran to be the book that represents Islam (as it claims to), then I must accept its rejection of hadith. The Koran rejects hadith. 

And commonsense dictates that if I accept the Koran as the book of God, and if it claims to be complete for guidance, then hadith would be nothing but extra information (which can not increase my guidance).  This is especially true if hadith is in direct contradiction with the Koran (which it is).

You stated(#113)

It is through these hadithes that we know who was Muhammad, who was his father and who was his mother, how he lived his childhood and what did he do when he grew up. How he started his prophecy and how his religion grew. That information is not contained in the Quran. It can only be found in the Hadith, Sirat-e Rassoul and other early books of history such as al Waqidi and al Tabari. These books are not the revelations of God. They are written by ordinary men, but without them, the Quran becomes meaningless.

My response(#113)

Again, the Koran is a complete book of guidance and has all the rules for guidance in it.

Nowhere in the Koran does it say we must know who Mohammad was, who his father and mother were, and so forth. Common sense also dictates that for me to be guided to any prophet I must study their book and see what it contains.  Why would the biography of the prophet be of importance?  Right now you nor I know much about the each other’s life, yet it’s our ideas that we are becoming familiar with. A person’s ideas are the greatest part of him/her. 

If you tell me how a good person should be, I can easily accept or not accept your idea, without knowing what kind of person you are.

You stated (#114)

Now once again, I ask you to read the stories of Safiayh, Juwayriah, Mariah and Zeinab. And tell me how is it possible for someone who has claimed to be the “most honorable messenger” (Q. 81.19) and “a Mercy for all creatures”, (Q. 21:107) to behave so dishonorably or ruthlessly or criminally?

Is this the “sublime morals”? (Q. 68:4). Is this “ a good example to follow” (Q. 33:21).

My response(#114)

If the story is right, and you choose to completely overlook what era Mohammad was in and what the situation of that era was like, then you are right. Mohammad was anything but moral and he was a pervert and everything else you say.

You stated(#115):

Once again let me reiterate that I am very honored that you accepted to debate with me. This by itself is a revelation of your sincerity and innate goodness. I have sent invitations to many Islamic scholars and apologists. Professor John Esposito, Karen Armstrong, Professor Michael Sells and professor Yusuf Abdu Rashid are some of them. None of these scholars responded. This only shows that they are afraid to debate. I do not claim to be a scholar, but this site has a lot of readership. Shouldn’t these people at least come to put me straight to save the good name of Islam? If I am so mistaken why these scholars do not come to shed light and clarify my errors? That is why my friend I have such a deep respect for you and salute you for your courage, integrity and sincerity.

My response(#115)

First of all I do not feel that you are the reason Islam has a bad name.  In my opinion Islam’s name has been very bad for a long time.

Second of all, I thank you for your kind words.  In my opinion you are blessed every time you say bad things about Mohammad and the Koran because the self-proclaimed scholars of this religion have totally ruined Islam in your eyes. You are looking at it and bravely tearing down their house that they built based on years of alterations of Gods laws. You are a man who is totally against the Koran and for that you bring thousands of reasons and you are more familiar with the Koran than one million of these ayatollahs. 

But my friend I think with all do respect to you that what you are saying about the Koran is not correct. In showing the world that today’s Islam is very ugly, I will be honored to contribute in this cause.

However I do not agree with what you see as the true message of the Koran.  It’s tragic that the Koran’s true messages are no longer studied by Moslems.

I am blessed by God for you to invite me to debate. At the end if I don’t teach you anything new, or if I don’t learn anything from you (which I already feel I have), I still think we both should be proud that we gave it our all.  We used our minds to make sense of all the Koran has claimed. Obviously one of us is wrong. But definitely we both are blessed by God for trying to understand.

The Koran repeatedly states that God wants reasoning from men (8:22). Even an atheist will not go to hell if he can give good reason to God for his belief (21:24, 27:64, 28:75).

For example, Darwin spent a lifetime trying to prove his theory that there is no God.  He used physical evidence to teach his theory.  I believe that he is definitely blessed by God for his work because he used the mind that God gave him rather than just following the footstep of others blindly.

Closing:

In closing I would like to say a few things and would be honored to hear your reply.

First of all when we are talking about the other world, we have no way of proving anything about it with physical evidence. Therefore, it is impossible to interpret the Koran when it speaks of the spirit world (3:7) because we are given very little knowledge (17:85).

To disqualify the Koran (or any holy book) which is believed to be from God based on what we see as contradictions of its verses about the other world is an impossible task. We simply do not, and will never have, enough information. So if we are going to show any contradictions between the Koran’s verses about the other world it must be from comparing its verses to the books that are also believed to have come from God (the Torah and the Bible).

As I mentioned throughout the debate, the way I present the Koran is the way that the Koran presents itself.  I do not have my own ideas or theories. Almost all Moslems of the world are taking the route they have learned from the religious leaders before them.  They have strayed from the Koran more than they know.

To understand the Koran and to be able to let this book help us, and to not allow this humans to hold us back from advancing in every direction, we must learn the true message of the Koran.

The Bible, the Torah, and the Koran have great moral values.  The Koran did give answers to the Arabs of 1400 years ago on how to advance their physical life to the next level, but the next level may be only the advancement from 1400 years ago to 1300 years ago. So obviously these rules can not be applied for the sake of physical advancement of today’s world.  However it remains to be a great book of guidance.

These verses about the rules for primitive Arabs of 1400 years ago must be improved to meet the needs of today’s societies.

If we even try to use those ancient rules in today’s world, we will ultimately mold our society into the society of 1400 years ago. The clear example of this is verse 8:60

(Koran; 8:60) And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of God…

This verse does not talk about the enemies humans have today.  In today’s battle field the enemy is much more equipped and wiser than that of the Arabs of 1400 years ago. So we must be advanced in our understanding of this verse.  I don’t mean to change the writings of the Koran, but to establish our own rules and laws that advance today’s societies.

An example of this is the rules of washing before prayer. God told the Arabs (who knew nothing about hygiene), to at least clean themselves before each prayer.  He told them to wash at least their face and hands and to brush their hands through their hair and along the top of their feet (I’m assuming He had them brush the tops of their heads and feet to remove the sand that had accumulated.) This by no means dictates for us to imitate this act (which almost all Moslems ridiculously do today). We don’t live in the same harsh conditions anymore, and most of us have easy access to daily showers. Interestingly enough, the verse about this kind of washing (VOZOO) explains that God commands you to do this act for the purpose of becoming clean.  Yet religious leaders cite thousands of hadith about this washing claiming it has spiritual effect.  This is nonsense because the Koran does not say anything about the spiritual effect. And obviously the hadith about washing goes against simple common sense.  (Similar rituals can be found in Jewish laws).

The following are a few verses for Moslems to observe before reading the Koran:

1)      Most of the Koran is for the Arabs of 1400 years ago.  Only the basic laws of righteousness and morality are God’s universal laws for all times.

2)      The Koran must not be altered and its recommendations about certain situations are only for the people of Mohammad’s era (except the basic laws).  The recommendations or laws must be modified to meet the needs of our today’s society (3:7). We must use basic common sense to see how much the Arabs of 1400 years ago needed such different laws (13:38).

3)      The basic laws mentioned above are mother of all verses in the Koran (3:7). These verses all say the same things as the ten commandments of prophet Moses does (7:143)

4)      We can not just use the Koran, or the Bible, or the Torah to advance a society in every direction. We can use these books only to guide humans about morality and to remind humans to be moral in everything they do every day of their lives. Advancing in other ways (i.e. education, technology, science, etc.) is for believers and nonbelievers to strive for through hard work and tremendous will.

5)      It is not necessary for the Koran’s verses about the other world to be studied in order for one to understand its plea to humans to be just, fair, kind, loving, and beautiful. These verses just give a little information about the world that we will enter after we die.

Having said all the above, it is important to remember that when in the old eras a prophet came to humanity to bring a message from God, the prophet was expected to follow what God commanded him. And what God commanded prophets to do sometimes will not make sense to us. For example, God commanded Abraham to kill his beloved son just to prove to God that he was loyal. It would seem that if God knows everything, then He should have known that Abraham was loyal and that there was no need to test him. But this is why we can not judge this story with our common sense.  We cannot truly understand God or why He does what He does.  And if we disqualify God because of this story and we truly believe that there is no God, then we have a valid reason to be a non-believer. Whether our excuse will be accepted or not is whether or not our actions confirm our sincerity. It does not mean that since we don’t agree with the story of Abraham that we are going to be a cruel person all our lives.  Just because we don’t agree with how God dealt with Abraham, it doesn’t mean we are going to kill anyone who disagrees with us.

If we accept Abraham as a prophet of God and if we are sure God is the one urging him to kill his son as a sacrifice to him then everything about this story must be accepted by faith alone. And if we do so then our mind can reason and justify our faith accordingly. A example of this justification could be as follows:

“I believe that there may have been a moral lesson God was trying to teach humans when he commanded Abraham to kill his son.  I believe God wanted to tell us that He expects us to trust him with all our hearts no matter what may happen in our lives.  In this world there is much injustice.  People suffer incredibly.  It is not fair how innocent people have had to suffer.  Yet God wants us to trust Him, not to spend our time trying to figure out why God would let something happen that we don’t see as fair.  I also believe that God wanted us to see that we are never going to understand Him or what He does completely.  Abraham could not understand why God wanted him to slay his beloved son.  He was devastated at the commandment God gave him.  Yet somewhere in the midst of his confusion and faith, he found the will to trust God.”

Now back to our debate issues:

Throughout the debate you cite many verses in the Koran that you believe contradict each other. I believe that the laws of Koran are laws that should be observed and that the laws of Koran for human guidance do not contradict.

Please note the following from the Bible:

1) The law of God to Moses was that “one should wash once hands before eating.”

2) Jewish religious leaders asked Jesus if He had come to change the laws of Moses he stated:

(Bible; Mathew, 5:17) Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

(Bible; Mathew, 5:17-18) Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. – For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

3) And yet Jesus and his disciples did not obey (i.e. washing hands before eating):

(Bible; Mark, 7:5) Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?

(Mark, 7:15) There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man

(20) And he said, What comes out of a man, that defiles a man

(21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

(22) Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness

(23) All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

So whether or not a person chooses to continue the practice of washing hands before eating will not help or hinder him to refrain from evil (i.e., covetousness, wickedness, deceit, many more).

It was very important for the people of 3000 years ago to remember to wash their hands because they were so ignorant about hygiene. But surely, 1000 years later they got the hang of it and were ready to move on to more important issues.

So Jesus is simply telling the followers of Moses to not be so strict and fanatical, and to move on to more important issues like learning to avoid many other important sins.

This is not a contradiction as we move from the eras of 3000 years ago to the eras of 2000 years ago.

If Moslems have had kept these above simple facts in mind then the Koran would have served them.  Moslem countries would be way ahead of other countries and believers would be way ahead of non-believers.  But it is amazing that the Koran predicts that MOSLEMS of the world will not be advanced in the world but that CHRISTIANS will!  A prediction that has obviously came true!

(Koran; 3:55) So God said: “Jesus, I shall gather you up and lift you towards Me, and purify you from those who disbelieve, and place those who follow you ahead of those who disbelieve until Resurrection day. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall decide among you (all) concerning anything you have been disagreeing about.

The Mohammad that you portray as a man who would do anything and promise anything to his followers to get to the top actually tells his followers that after all is said and done, it will be prophet Jesus’ followers who will be ultimately victorious.

So I now ask you to allow us to continue debating all the points you made about the Koran one by one.

The Koran claims to not be contradictory (4:82), and it claims that Mohammad was a great man (68:4, 33:21, 21:107, 81:19). If I can prove to you that the Koran really is a great book of guidance (just like the Bible and the Torah are), and if I can prove that it promotes peace and non-violence and that it only allows us to defend ourselves against those who want to destroy us, then can you accept the about two claims?   If you can then, you and I should definitely join forces to reach out to all the Moslems of the world and let them know why their religion has become so ugly.

I will be waiting for your response.  Again I am very honored that you have picked me to debate with. I have already learned so much from you.

Thank you very much,

Sincerely yours always,

Nader Pourhassan

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