Monday, December 28, 2009

Alleged Internal Contradictions in the Qur'an

From: www.load-islam.com

By : Ansar Al-'Adl

Throughout the history of humanity, we see a continued pattern. Our Lord and Creator created us out of love, and placed us on this planet as His Viceroy, to enjoin what is good and to forbidwhat is evil. We maintain our loving connection with God through sincere worship to Him. Humanity is being tested through this life on earth. Those of us who believe in God and do righteous deeds will be rewarded in the next life. But those who persist in evil, even after recieving warnings, will be punished in the next life.Man has continually deviated from the true path of righteousness, to become enslaved by his personal desires.

Thus, God appoints Prophets and Messengers among humanity, who recieve divine revelation, to call people back to the path of truth, the path of loving submission to Our Creator. God's Messengers recieved the word of God, His message and commandments for humanity.Muslims believe all of God's Messenger preached the same message of Islam (submission to the One God). This includes Prophet Adam, Prophet Noah, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus, and God's final messenger Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon them all.

The Qur'an is God's last revelation to humanity, revealed to Prophet Muhammad pbuh, and is the spoken words of God, which He has vowed to preserve throughout time. All previous messages including the Torah and the Injeel were only intended for their respective nations and served as test for their respective nation to preseve the message. Unfortunately, this test was not succesfully completed and the previous messages have become corrupted, tampered and mixed with the work of human beings. This is why God has sent the Qur'an to confirm the truth, but reject all deviation that has crept in. It is a criterion. The test of the Qur'an is not its preservation, but in spreading the message to all nations.

Much has been said about the Qur'an, and both Muslims and Non-Muslims have praised it for its perfection and beauty. One may read about what has been said about the Qur'an, here.The question arises, how can one be assured that a book is from God?There are a number of reasons and much evidence which proves that the Qur'an is the word of God. These have been explored in many books, and on many websites, including here. For the purpose of this article, we will examine one of those reasons - consistency.

We must remember that the Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad pbuh over a period of 23 years. During that time, he passed through widely diverse periods of struggle and peace. It is inconceivable that any human being would be able to remain consistent in their teachings and thoughts during this period of time. All human beings go through development and evolution in their thoughts and works. It is natural to obsevre such changes, and we would expect to see even greater changes in the teachings of a man through periods of persecution, peace, migration, success, suffering, unity, support, opposition, etc.Yet the Qur'an is free of all such human defficiencies and inconsistencies. And the only reason is because it is a revelation from Our Creator, Most Merciful.
20:4 A revelation from Him Who created the earth and the heavens on high.
69:41-43 It is not the word of a poet: little it is ye believe! Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little admonition it is ye receive. (This is) a Message sent down from the Lord of the Worlds.
The Qur'an, itself, provides us with this criteria to use in evalutating its claim of divine origin:
4:82 Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy/inconsistency.

This criteria is acknowledged in previous revelations as well.
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace...."
God is perfect, and therefore we should expect inerrancy and perfection in His words. This article will demonstrate, God willingly, that the Qur'an is free of such inconsistencies and human deficiencies, and therefore can only be the word of God, Glorified and Exalted.Often, we will see that there are multiple interpretations and explanations of certain verses. Consequently, we shall frequently present more than one explanation, each being sufficient to refute the allegation on its own.

The Inheritance Law
The Number of Angels Speaking to Mary
On The Length of God's Days
The Number of Gardens in Paradise
The Number of Groups on Judgement Day
Who Takes the Soul at Death
The Number of Wings on Angels
The Number of Days Taken to Create the Universe
Was Creation Quick or Slow
Which was created first: the Heavens or Earth ?
'Called Together' or 'Ripped Apart'?
The Time Taken to Destroy the 'Aad
What was Man Created from?
Where is Allah
On the Origin of Calamity
The Mercy and Guidance of Allah
Will there be Inquiry in Paradise?
Are Angels Protectors
Is Everything Devoutly Obedient to Allah?
Does Allah Forgive Shirk?
Did Abraham Commit Shirk?
Worshipping the Same or a Different God?
The Sequence of Events in the Calf-worship of the Children of Israel
Guilt of Aaron in the Calf-Worship?
Was Jonah Cast on the Desert Shore?
The Reference to the Injeel at the time of Moses
Concerning the Food for the Inhabitants of Hell
Forgiveness for Slander of Chaste Women
How the Disbelievers will Recieve their Record on Judgement Day
Can Angels Disobey - the case of Iblis
Can Angels Disobey - the case of Harut and Marut
Angel Gabriel and the 'Holy Spirit'
Confirming the Old Revelation or Substituting it?
The Qur'an's Pure Arabic and the Presence of Foreign Words
The Qur'an Being Contained in Previous Revelations
Lot's Wife Being Called 'an Old Woman'
The Response of Lot's Nation
Is the Punishment and Mercy of Allah Arbitrary?
The Fate of Noah's Family
Was Noah Driven Out?
Regarding Pharoah's Fate
Pharoah's Repentance
Abrogation and the Unalterable Word of God
Whom Allah Guides
Salvation for Non-Muslims

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