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Salam all,

Verse 16:25 says those who disbelieve will carry the burdens of their sins as well as the sins of those they misled without knowledge. However, other verses say that no soul shall bear the burden of another.

Is this a contradiction? Thank you in advance

Salam all,

I found the narrative of the Quranic cave sleepers in chapter 18. However, it was a bit confusing and I couldn't understand a few parts of it. Joseph's article on this issue deals more with the location and historicity of the incident than the actual story. Could someone please explain what the story of the people in the cave was?

Mia

Salam all,

This is Quran 47:4:

Yusuf Ali: Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers, smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost.

I hope this verse is referring only to those disbelievers who fight against Islam, right?

Salam, sorry about all these threads, but I came upon this verse:

And they make the jinn associates with Allah, while He created them, and they falsely attribute to Him sons and daughters without knowledge; glory be to Him, and highly exalted is He above what they ascribe (to Him). Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could He have a son when He has no consort, and He (Himself) created everything, and He is the Knower of all things. S. 6:100-101 Shakir

God gave Mary a child while she had no consort. Why does His lack of a consort necessitate that He can't have a child?

It is understood that in the Quran, a "real" begotten child is a biological child. An adopted son does not get his father's name. A "real" son or daughter is biologically related to their parents. However, Jesus had no father. Why does God need a consort for a child?

Please answer this one, it's quite important

[O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person, and from him He created its mate, and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand of it, and the wombs. Surely, Allah is Ever an All­ Watcher over you.]

Salam everyone,

I had a question about verse 4:1. Most of the translations for this verse have lots of brackets in which extra words are added. These words are not part of the original Quranic text. If I took all the brackets out of the translations and presented the un-edited Quranic text, it wouldn't seem to make much sense. I feel like parts of this verse are practically unintelligible without the brackets.

Par example:

O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All ­Watcher over you.

Versus:

O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person, and from him He created its mate, and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand of it, and  the wombs. Surely, Allah is Ever an All­ Watcher over you.

The second version of the verse is truer to the original Arabic, without any reference to gender in the first part of the verse, and it has no added words. However, the last part makes no sense--"Fear Allah through whom ye demand of it, and the wombs"? I can sort of figure out what this means, but it's not really clear.

Does anyone know why this sentence in particular is written so confusingly?

Salam all,

This is verse 8:67...

Sahih International: It is not for a prophet to have captives [of war] until he inflicts a massacre in the land. Some Muslims desire the commodities of this world, but Allah desires [for you] the Hereafter. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.

What do you think the first sentence means? I'd assume the massacre is being inflicted upon those who attacked Muhammad (pbuh) and his troops. However, the context for this isn't given in the verse, and it sounds really harsh. Can anyone explain this?

Salam everyone

Apparently there was a type of lottery used to determine who got to see Pope Francis a while ago. It didn't cost anything and I wouldn't call it gambling, but do you think such a lottery is Quranically allowed?

Also, what about kids' arcade money and stuff like that? It's not really legitimate gambling, but it is related to games of chance. Do you thnk the Quran allows things like that? I don't think there's any harm in kids going to arcades, but I'm just wondering if there's anything against it in the Quran.

Thnx in advance

Salam all,

This website suggests that jinn are actually a type of humans! This idea was suggested by an ex-forum member who I am not going to mention *cough*, but it seems like this strange interpretation actually gets some support among Quran-centric groups. Please tell me what you think of the following article, and whether its views have any real Quranic support:

http://quranaissance.com/was-solomon-superman-there-is-no-basis-for-demonology-in-the-quran/

This article is actually very interesting, although strange and slightly confusing. I don't agree with it, but it does put forward some interesting points. What do you all think?

Salam

There was an incident in the Quran in which the Jews were told to judge by the Torah, because the Torah contained "the plain word of God." Does this mean that the Torah was intact and uncorrupted at the time of Prophet Muhammad? If so, why did the Bible and the Quran need to get revealed if the Torah was still intact, and when was the Torah actually changed?

Thanks in advance

Salam everyone

I've noticed that animals do seem to have a sense of right and wrong. They sacrifice their own lives for their children and things like that.

"And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered" ~ 6.38

This verse seems to indicate that animals are also tested on this earth. Animals might understand love and sacrifice, but they can't actually do anything wrong, can they? Lions only kill deer for food. This is not wrong. How can animals be tested if they can't do anything wrong?

Also, many animals suffer for no fault of their own. Even in prehistoric times when humans weren't around, animals were hurt by other animals. Why would this happen when animals cannot be "tested with suffering", per se?

God's justice extends to all things, including animals. However, I don't see the justice in making animals suffer when they cannot be tested.

What do you think?

Salam all

While going through a philosophy discussion in a certain class, a few rather disconcerting points were brought up. I don't personally agree with any of these arguments and I consider a few of them to be utterly ridiculous, but I thought I should show these to you all, to see if there's any way to logically refute them. (All of the following points are paraphrased since I don't remember exactly what was said, but the gist of the argument is there.) The red is my thoughts.

1) The only reason something is considered good is because it is in accordance with God's will. Agreed. However, what if God's will is to do injustice and cruelty to His creation? Such a what-if contention is unsupported and wholly hypothetical, but I can't find a way to logically refute its possibility. If such behavior could potentially be God's will, then there is no reason to believe in a loving, kind God. OK. I am genuinely disturbed now.

2) Let's say that God's traits are kindness and mercy. If these traits are essentially deterministic, then why should we worship and admire God for having them? It's like admiring a Kardashian just because they're beautiful, isn't it? This comparison is unwarranted, but the question still stands.

3) If God is perfectly loving, then He should love evil people too, right? Apparently the Bible says God loves everyone unconditionally, but the Quran says He does not love evildoers. In my opinion, the Quranic representation of God's love just shows that He is fair, but others may disagree.

I would very much appreciate the opinions of other forum members on these arguments, especially #1, which seems to be the most difficult to logically refute. Note that quoting scripture doesn't work as a defense in this case, since the argument is not based on scripture.

Thanks!

Salam
This might seem like a strange question, but many verses, such as 27:91, switch to Muhammad's point of view abruptly with no apparent transition. This verse isn't directing Muhammad so say anything, it seems to be directly said by him. Some people use this to say he wrote the Quran himself, because parts of it are seemingly written from his point of view. What are the views of other members on this?

I'm certainly not saying that he wrote it. I'm just saying that some people think he did, because there are many verses that are apparently written from his point of view.

Salam
The Quran says Mary was the daughter of Imran. However, isn't it generally accepted that Imran was the father of Moses? It also says Mary is Aaron's sister, but isn't Aaron the brother of Moses? Miriam was apparently a sister of Moses, and many people say the Quran confuses Mary and Miriam. Even Wikipedia, which is supposedly unbiased, says this. In the Bible, Joachim is Mary's father. Is Joachim the same as Imran, or did the Bible get it wrong? Also, why do Mary and Miriam appear to have been switched around in the Quran? They're different people, so this shouldn't have happened. Any ideas?

According to the Quran, shirk isn't forgiven if maintained until death. What if you don't realize you're doing it, like if you're raised in a Catholic household and you believe in the Trinity? Believing in the Trinity is shirk, but what if you don't know that? Would you get forgiven?

Salam

I was reading this Nat Geo article that caught my attention. Neanderthals lived for a long time before modern humans, and apparently they could speak, conducted funeral rituals, drew pictures, etc. They sound quite human to me, but they lived separately from "modern humans" for thousands of years.

Apparently today's humans have Neanderthal DNA, indicating a common ancestor between the 2 subspecies. However, Adam and Eve were the first humans, weren't they? And all other humans were descended from them? This is my understanding of the issue from monotheistic scripture. So is it possible that Adam and Eve were the common ancestors of modern humans and Neanderthals, and they sort of evolved into these 2 different races as time passed?

However, a common ancestor of both subspecies would have been distinctly simpler than even Neanderthals. It's unclear whether such an ancestor would have been able to speak, let alone be a vicegerent of God.

So what happened with this whole evolution thing, and where did Adam and Eve come in? Were they before both Neanderthals and modern humans, or what? Neanderthals and modern humans had to share ancestor(s), since they're related. However it's unclear whether these ancestors were Adam and Eve, or if they were even human.

Where do you draw the line between evolution and religion? Adam and Eve had to be fully human, but I'm not even sure what constitutes a "fully human" being at that time.

Bonjour and salam:)

"And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord before the punishment comes upon you suddenly while you do not perceive"--39.55

Isn't all of the Quran "the best"?

So why is it saying to specifically follow the best of what God revealed? Everything that God revealed is the best, right?

I'd like to know the opinions of other forum members on this issue:)

[pursues its course to an appointed time]

Salam,

I created a new thread about geocentrism from the previous one, because people were getting off-topic.

It seems from the following Quranic verses that the Quran supports the idea of a stationary Earth and a revolving Sun and moon. This may be an error in interpretation or understanding, so can someone please clarify what the following verses mean:

"Allah is he who raised the heavens without any pillars that you see, and he is firm in power and he made the sun and the moon subservient to you; each one pursues its course to an appointed time; He regulates the affair, making clear the signs that you may be certain of meeting your Lord." -13.2

"The sun and moon follow courses exactly computed." -55.5

"He who made the earth a fixed place and set amidst it rivers and appointed for it firm mountains and placed a partition between the two seas. Is there a god with God? Nay, but the most of them have no knowledge." -27.61

It seems like these verses indicate that the Earth is stationary while the Sun and moon move, although not necessarily around it.


The other issue is with the idea of Earth being flat. Several Quranic verses say that the Earth is "spread out like a carpet." I understand that this can still mean it is spherical, because you can "spread out" whip cream on a spherical apple. However, verse 88:20 uses a different word, "sutihat," to describe the earth. This word was also translated as "spread out" in Quranic translations, but Arabic classical dictionaries say that its primary definition is "flattened" or "made flat."

"And at the Earth, how it is spread out [or flattened, 'sutihat']?" -88.20


It seems like certain Quranic verses indicate the theory of geocentrism, and also apparently indicate that Earth is flat. Again, this is probably an error in my own interpretation or literal definition. Can someone please clarify this issue?

[continued to rule afterward]

Salam

I think this question might be better off in the Women section, so if I put it in the wrong place, I can move it--but it does primarily concern a variety of Quranic verses.

I'm going to start off by citing some verse numbers on women:

4:34--suggests male leadership in marital relationship (natural roles, not discrimination)
2:228--same thing
49:13--only good deeds make a person superior, not gender or anything else
27:23--introduces Queen of Sheba, a female ruler
27:30-31--Queen of Sheba was smart and cautious

What I'm getting at here is that the Quran delegates leadership to men, but it seems to honor the Queen of Sheba. It talks about how she accepted Islam and presumably continued to rule afterward.

Prophethood was arguably only delegated to men, because of the physical and leadership burdens. However God did send messages to women via Himself or angels (Mary, Moses' mother).

Can a woman generally be head of state according to the Quran? Also, what is their position in relation to men?

[know that they don't.]

Salam

Quran 63:1-10 describes elaborates on the characteristics of hypocrites. These verses describe them as people who pretend to believe and follow the Quran but really don't, and they know that they don't.

I guess this definition applies to a lot of so-called "scholars" alive today, who use twisted translations of the Quran and know that they're doing it. However, there are a lot of terrorists and people who kill others in the name of Islam, and I can't decide whether they're hypocritical or just insanely ignorant. They truly believe that they're fighting in the way of God, even though they're oppressing people and killing other Muslims. But they really believe they're doing good deeds and are going to go to heaven. (If you want to see more on this, look up bin Laden's letter to his 9/11 killers. He promised them that they were earning the rewards of Allah by murdering civilians.)

I was wondering if the definition of hypocrisy given in the Quran applies to such people. A hypocrite must know that they're not really following the Quran, right? Or else they're just ignorant and aren't really hypocrites...? Just wondering.

Before I start: I'm warning everyone, this is going to be long. Very long. Please bear with me and I sincerely apologize if you get bored. 

I want to share my journey with all of you, because I feel like I should tell people about this.

I grew up in a semi-traditional Sunni household. My mom was a convert; my dad was born into a Muslim family. I lived in a melting-pot city with a mix of people from different races, especially Asians. Somehow, everyone automatically knew I was Muslim when they saw me. It wasn't because of my name; I'm certain of that. It probably had something to do with my Syrian or Arabian appearance. Either way, when I was a little kid I was blissfully unaware of all the negative things people had to say about Islam, because they avoided saying those things around me. I didn't know what 9/11 was until I turned 9, and even then I didn't know that radical "Muslims" had initiated it.

Ever since I was a child, I liked asking questions that my parents couldn't answer. Once I asked my mom at the age of five or six, "Can God find a difference between two pictures in which there is no difference?"

"That doesn't make any sense," my mom told me. She went around for the rest of the day looking slightly confused.

My parents were pretty lenient. They liked music, although they admitted that there were hadiths forbidding it. I played piano, sang, and took art classes. This mortified some of my Muslim friends, of which I had a lot. One girl, Samra, would tell me music was haram every time she came to my house and saw the piano in the guestroom. She started wearing hijab at the age of 12, which was a pity because she had the most beautiful reddish hair. She insinuated that I should do the same (wear hijab) unless I wanted to go to hell.

Around this time I stopped going to Sunday school. I didn't like praying because I didn't understand why I should do it, and I would lie to get out of it. I was an academically gifted child (perhaps too gifted) who believed that schoolwork was more important than kindness and charity. My parents decided that something must be done.

They made me take online Quran classes with a sheikh who seemed nice at first. He encouraged me to ask questions, but every time I asked anything, he either pretended not to understand me or else actually didn't understand me. I'd been taught dogmatically that people should only recite the Quran in Arabic and that doing so in English is rather pointless. Even so, I demanded translation classes instead. My dad conceded. I started learning an incredibly misogynistic, violently inclined, insanely inaccurate translation of the Quran, and I was horrified. I was old enough by then to understand that the doctrines being introduced in this translation were just plain wrong. I started doing my own research.

After a long time (like several weeks/months) of doing a little research a day, I came across Joseph's website. My dad had always been a fan of his and I became interested after I realized that this Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam guy was the same one my little sisters listened to in the car. I read a lot of articles, figured out a lot of life-changing stuff, and finally realized that other people needed to know about this.

It was around this time that ISIS started getting on the news, every single day. It drove me berserk. My teacher singled me out, asking how I and the other Muslims in the class felt about these crazy extremists. I said they were lunatics because I couldn't find any other words to describe them. My Honors History teacher demonstrated how lucky we were to live in America by telling us about the horrors of Sharia law. He showed us videos of terrorists on CNN News, holding up guns in one hand and glittery copies of the Quran in the other.

I started feeling kind of hopeless, like no matter what the Obama Administration did or how many drone attacks they launched, the lunatic terrorists would still be out there killing people. I began reading the Quran more, especially Surahs Mary and Imran for some reason. The Quran says Allah grants respite to disbelievers for a while, then He destroys them. (Can't cite exact verse right now.) I'm still wondering when the respite of these disbelievers is going to end, and I'm still wondering what exactly they are--hypocrites, mentally ill wackos, or what?!

Anyway, one of my mom's friends was very scared at this time because her relatives, who live in Iraq, were under ISIS rule and there's a lot of warfare and insanity going on there right now. She called my mom a few times, crying about it, because her family wasn't faring too well from what I could tell. This led me to ask questions about why God would allow such horrible things to happen to people. Joseph had articles for that, too.

What I've taken from this is that the Quran actually has answers for everyone's questions, whether directly or indirectly. One day I was wondering if God would allow women to be astronauts (don't ask; it's another long story), and I came across this verse:

Yusuf Ali: O ye assembly of Jinns and men! If it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, pass ye! not without authority shall ye be able to pass! -55.33

It's like the answer to my question was handed to me on a golden platter, wrapped up in fancy Christmas paper with a big red bow on top. Explicit permission for NASA granted.

I'm still concerned about a few things. Even the Quran-centric community is divided into the 19-code-obsessed people and the people who just follow the Quran, alleged miraculous code or not. They differ over ridiculously tiny issues. How are we going to fix this, and how can we enlighten more people?

Also, why doesn't God make the community of His sincere believers bigger? He says He could've made everyone believe if He'd wanted to, but He decided not to for whatever reason. Still, He says His sincere believers will be given dominance. I want to see that happen in my lifetime.

Hugs and apologies for an overly long story