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Q&As with Joseph Islam - Information Only / History of the Holy Quran is based on AHadith ?

« on: March 06, 2018, 07:15:14 AM »

Dear Br. Joseph Islam,

Salamun 'Alaikum,

I have pasted my thought below about "History of the Holy Quran if should be based on AHadith" for your kind review;

"History of the Holy Quran is coming from AHadith that says Khalifa Uthman (RA) burned the Holy Quran? Are AHadith collections books of history? Really! When did the Ahadith receive the status of history book? Or has it ever been considered a book of history?

But unfortunately, not just a great number of Muslims today believe in many stories told in the Ahadith collections, like the Bukhari's collection, that the stories there also bear historical significance; many non-Muslims also take that as facts and some virulent missionaries try to utilize that against Islam. 

There are many noticeable problems in this story. The story of Quranic compilation as stated in Bukhary and other Ahadith collections tell us how the Quran has been written on rock, palm leaves, bones of dead animals, animal skins, pieces of wood and so on, depicting a distorted image of the final revelation of God that has been subjected to negligent treatment to that extent, while history tells us that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has had a group of scribes headed by Zayd bin Thabith and given the utmost importance of the Quran to the Prophet (pbuh), it makes no sense to me that the scribes had nothing to write down the verses and they resorted to use those materials. Majority of the ancients mushafs of the Quran that are preserved in various places in the world are written on parchments, which includes the recently discovered oldest 18 pages manuscript in University of Birmingham, UK. 

Another problem is that the AHadith also tells us how the custodianship of the Quran passed on to Khalifa Abu Bakr onward to Khalifa Umar and instead of to Khalifa Uthman, suddenly breaking the rank, to Hafsa binte Umar? Moreover, instead of safekeeping in the custody of Khalifa Uthman, it was returned to Hafsa binte Umar.

More problematic part of the AHadith statement is that,

"Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt."

And the general inference drawn on this statement by most Muslim and non-Muslims alike is that, since all copies were burnt, we do not find any of those versions of Quran any longer. Is it feasible that everybody obeyed the command of Khalifa Uthman and burned their copies of Quran without any opposition, while Khalifa Uthman had a number of people vehemently opposing his rule and moreover he was assassinated by his opponents. 

All these stories sounds nonsensical to me that are rampantly out there, over-shadowing the facts on the compilation of the Quran, which the history now tells us that it was not just written down immediately but also compiled during the lifetime of the Prophet (pbuh) and I believe it wholeheartedly for many good reasons. "

With Best Regards,

Shah Mohammad

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Q&As with Joseph Islam - Information Only / Re: Contradiction between 41:9 - 41:12 and 79:27 -79:32?

« on: February 16, 2018, 06:40:00 AM »

Brother Athman/ Brother Hamzeh,

Salamun 'Alaikum.

Thanks to both of you for your help in answering this puzzling issue. In the meantime, along with the reading of brother Joseph Islams article, I have read many articles on this issue written by a number of faithful persons and together I came up with the followings;
...
As a presumptive skeptics of Quran, that individual have argued that because verse 041:009 begin with a general description of the earth followed by verses 041:010 which elaborate the creation of the earth in verses 041:009 that a sequential series of events is being established and thus verses 041:011 and 041:012 follow the sequence. We shall see how this statement falls flat on its face in light of all the evidence!

First, The Ayah 41:009-41:010 appears to be in a sequential order. In the ayah 41:9 Allah is questioning us if we indeed disbelieve in his ability to create the earth in two days and if we attribute any other entities equal to him, while giving us a description of the creation of earth. In the ayah 41:10, He gave a more detailed description of the creation of mountains and creature on earth that took a total of four days. Wait it gets better, the Quran did not intend for these verses to be interpreted sequentially because if one does the math the periods add up to eight and not six (2+4+2), thus, rendering these verses a mere description of non-sequential overlapping events. Surely, Allah could count to six. Hence, because we have overlapping events we must take this into account when we try to put together an account (see below) of the creation process. The Quran does not lay down a definitive sequence of events in 41:9-12 or any other place in the Quran. For example, it does not say First he did this, Second he did this, Third he did this, Fourth he did this, Fifth he did this, and Sixth he did this, giving us the total of the 6 periods of creation mentioned in many places in the Quran (7:54, 10:3, 11:7, 25:59, 32:4, 57:4, 50:38). Incidentally, each time we are told that creation is completed in six periods the word heaven always precedes the word earth.

Second, it is interesting to note that Surah 41:9-12 is probably the most descriptive Surah with regard to the creation of the Universe. However, the statement that creation was completed in 6 periods is never reiterated at the beginning of 41:9-12 or any other place in this chapter. Consequently, the statement appears seven times in the Quran, thus suggesting that these verses were not intended to be viewed as A COMPLETE SEQUENTIAL ACCOUNT (see below) of creation. If it were, one would expect the statement to appear again at the beginning of verse nine or at the very least somewhere in the chapter, but it doesn’t; you wonder why?

Third, the translation of the Ayah 41:009-41:010 as given above, started with the word “Then”, an incorrect translation of the Arabic word “Thumma”. In the given context it should rather be “So” or “And” or "Moreover". So, the Ayah 41:009-41:010 is not sequenced to the Ayah 41:011-41:012. In the Ayah 41:011 Allah directed Himself to BOTH the heaven and the earth asking BOTH of them to come into being. Here in this ayah the creation of the heaven and the earth is in a sequential order.

Fourth, the earth could not possibly be the first thing created in the sequence because 79:27-30 states that in no uncertain terms beyond a shadow of a doubt that Allah created the heavens before the earth. Hence, these verses are not a sequential account of the 6 periods of creation and thus must be viewed both jointly and severally in relation to the whole Quranic account of creation. The word "Then" in verses 2:29 and 41:11 is "Thumma" again comes into play in these verses; it can mean "And" or "Also" or "Moreover." Many translators of the Quran incorrectly use the word "Then". The sentence structure clearly breaks and the facts are separate accounts. So, we can conclude that there is no contradiction between 41:9 - 41:12 and 79:27 -79:32.

...

Though not quite contented with the above explanations, at this moment I have some satisfaction with it. May ALLAH (swt) guide all of us.

I would highly appreciate any comments, feedback on it.

Best regards,

3

Q&As with Joseph Islam - Information Only / Contradiction between 41:9 - 41:12 and 79:27 -79:32?

« on: February 08, 2018, 11:35:48 PM »

Dear Brother Joseph Islam,

Salamun 'Alaikum.

I have read a claim made by a non-Muslim in a YouTube video comment and I pasted that claim below (url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2n7cEvUvkA);

" Quran is not from God, it contradicts itself and is a WTF book. For example  : In Surah 41:9 - 41:12    First were created the Mountains and the food chain, then Heaven and Stars. But in Surah 79:27 -79:32   First were created Heaven and Stars, then follows the creation of Mountains and food chain.
      
41:9 Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds."
41:10 And He placed on the earth firmly set MOUNTAINS over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures'] SUSTENANCE in four days without distinction - for [the information] of those who ask.
41:11 Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly."
41:12 And He completed them as seven heavens within two days and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
 
79:27 Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it.
79:28 He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.
79:29 And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.
79:30 And after that He spread the earth.
79:31 He extracted from it its WATER and its PASTURE,
79:32 And the MOUNTAINS He set firmly
79:33 As PROVISION for you and your grazing livestock. "

I have been researching on this claim with an intention to refute it but I am stuck at places. May I ask you to please look into this claim and provide us your thoughtful opinion on it?

Warm regards,

Shah Mohammad