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« on: April 29, 2017, 04:16:11 AM »
As-salāmu 'alaykum brother Joseph!
I found this online, I would be grateful if you who have immense knowledge and have helped many people with your fabulous articles and of course, your time. Can you please read this and give some answers? JazakAllāh.
The aim of this article is to expose some ridiculous claims and failed challenges made by the Quran, and its constant appeal to human ignorance of science and worldly facts.
(I) Quran's self defeating challenge to find contradictions in it:
4:82 - Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah , they would have found within it much contradiction.
The most interesting thing about this challenge is that one only needs to go back four verses to see how it fails miserably. Here we have back to back verses contradicting each other:
4:78 - Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allah "; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you." Say, "All [things] are from Allah." So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?
In the above verse, Allah criticizes people for accepting that good is from Allah while blaming others for evil. Allah affirms that all things (good and evil) are from himself. However in the very next verse Allah contradicts this, claiming that any evil that befalls a person is from the person himself.
4:79 - What comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself. And We have sent you, [O Muhammad], to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allah as Witness.
Now let's go to another clear contradiction - whether intercession (the act of a person requesting forgiveness for the sins of another person to save the latter from hell fire) will be acceptable on the day of judgement.
The following three verses clearly say NO to ANY sort of intercession being acceptable on the judgement day:
2:48 - And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be taken from it, nor will they be aided.
2:123 - And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, and no compensation will be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be aided.
6:51 - And warn by the Qur'an those who fear that they will be gathered before their Lord - for them besides Him will be no protector and no intercessor - that they might become righteous.
The following three verses however say YES to the idea that intercession is acceptable - to those whom Allah permits:
20:109 - That Day, no intercession will benefit except [that of] one to whom the Most Merciful has given permission and has accepted his word.
34:23 - And intercession does not benefit with Him except for one whom He permits.
53:26 - And how many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession will not avail at all except [only] after Allah has permitted [it] to whom He wills and approves.
(II) The challenge to bring a Surah (chapter) like one in the Quran:
2:23 to 2:24 - And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a Surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.
10:38 - Or do they say [about the Prophet], "He invented it?" Say, "Then bring forth a surah like it and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides Allah , if you should be truthful."
Notice that Allah challenges those who doubt the Quran to produce a chapter like one in the book, claiming that this challenge cannot be ever met. Let's put aside all the magnificent poetries, philosophical writings, and delightful novels and stories that people have produced over the ages from time immemorial. The sheer stupidity of this challenge can be shown by simply looking at certain chapters in the Quran. Let's take a look at one of them - chapter 111 of the Quran:
111:1 to 111:5 - May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he. His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained. He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame. And his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood. Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber.
And that's it - the whole chapter. How beautiful! A whole chapter dedicated just to condemn some guy and his wife into hellfire and torture. Anyone can easily produce a much more valuable chapter than this. Nothing more needs to be added here.
(III) How the Quran tries to validate itself, appealing to human ignorance:
13:2 - It is Allah who erected the heavens without pillars that you [can] see; then He established Himself above the Throne and made subject the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. He arranges [each] matter; He details the signs that you may, of the meeting with your Lord, be certain.
Implies that the "heavens" or objects that we can see in the atmosphere or beyond like planets or stars (depending on how people translate the word heavens) have invisible pillars supporting them from Earth. For those who argue that it implies no pillars at all, then the verse conveys that the atmosphere or celestial objects just being there is something miraculous. Either way this verse directly appeals to human ignorance of the basics of how gravity works.
16:15 - And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you, and [made] rivers and roads, that you may be guided.
Mountains are in fact formed in the least stable parts of the Earth, and such regions are more prone to earthquakes or landslides. The claim of mountains holding the Earth firm is hence a laughable one. Also notice how Allah claims that rivers and roads were made so that humans would be guided. This is a strange enough claim with rivers, but seriously was Allah unaware that it was humans who made the roads on Earth?
16:79 - Do they not see the birds controlled in the atmosphere of the sky? None holds them up except Allah. Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.
Back then, people really didn't know the basics of aerodynamics. Hence the idea that it is God who holds the birds up in the sky from falling down would seem credible and wonderful to those who hear it. This is projected as a sign for people to validate the Quran.
31:31 - Do you not see that ships sail through the sea by the favor of Allah that He may show you of His signs? Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful.
Again, claiming that ships sailing through the sea and not sinking is by the favor of Allah. We can see one of the repeated attempts at self-validation over here. Of course, the ignorance of basic hydrodynamics can make this feel wonderful.
(IV) Some dubious claims that any believer should think about:
15:26 - And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud.
Claims that humans were created from clay by shaping black mud.
16:8 - And [He created] the horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and [as] adornment.
Claims that horses, mules and donkeys were created by God for humans to ride and decoration or show.
CONCLUSION: I'm not stressing much on the scientific or factual inaccuracy here, but rather the ridiculous nature of these claims made by the Quran. I invite anyone who believes in the divine nature of the Quran to ponder over these claims and the failed attempts at self-validation. It should be pretty clear to anyone who reads over this article with an unbiased mind that the Quran cannot possibly be from a divine being, if at all a divine being exists.