Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Alleged Linguistic Mistakes in The Quran

By: Maged Taman

1- Where is "They Said"

لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ وَأَسَرُّواْ النَّجْوَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ هَلْ هَذَا إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ أَفَتَأْتُونَ السِّحْرَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ (21:3)
Basit - Hussari - Minshawi
Lahiyatan quloobuhum waasarroo alnnajwa allatheena thalamoo hal hatha illa basharun mithlukum afatatoona alssihra waantum tubsiroona


21:3 (Asad) their hearts set on passing ­delights; yet they who are [thus] bent on wrongdoing conceal their innermost thoughts [3] [when they say to one another], “Is this [Muhammad] anything but a mortal like yourselves? Will you, then, yield to [his] spellbinding eloquence with your eyes open?’’ [4]

God in this verse did not day say: [when they say to one another] it is the translator words since in this time the wrong doers are talking to themselves or between themsleves but not to Muslims or Muhammad but God let us all know. That is why it is preceeded by the injust or worng doers.

2- Why the verse uses the pleural form of the verb for the single:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ وَالصَّابِؤُونَ وَالنَّصَارَى مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (5:69)

5:69 (Picktall) Lo! those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Sabaeans, and Christians whosoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

God in this verses talk about all those people from various religions any of them who believe and do the good deeds, you expect he will say: no fear shall come upon him not them. However, God went to the individual since faith and good deeds is more accurate to each of us as well it is one path then generalized again to make it just to every group of people who believed in one God and did the good deeds.

3- Why the Sabeans are different in verse 5:69 and 2:62 below:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ وَالنَّصَارَى وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحاً فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

It could be this was the way the Arab says it it has two way of spelling. At time of the prophet the Arab who knew their language did not object to that. They were very versed in the Arabic language.

4- A Confusing verse:

لَّـكِنِ الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ مِنْهُمْ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَالْمُقِيمِينَ الصَّلاَةَ وَالْمُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ أُوْلَـئِكَ سَنُؤْتِيهِمْ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا (4:162)

4:162 (Picktall) But those of them who are firm in knowledge and the believers believe in that which is revealed unto thee, and that which was revealed before thee, the diligent in prayer and those who pay the poor due, the believers in Allah and the Last Day. Upon these We shall bestow immense reward.

This is not confusing it is two sentences, God spoke about those firm of knowledge of the Jews, he was taking about them in the previous verse 4:161 and the Muslims or believers as both of them believe in the Quran and the previous books. Then the second sentences he talked about those who pray, pau to the poor and believe have great reward. The second sentence could also refine those with the greatest reward those who believe and steady in prayer and giving the poor.

5- Why the verb change from those of two to more than two:
قَالُوا إِنْ هَذَانِ لَسَاحِرَانِ يُرِيدَانِ أَن يُخْرِجَاكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِكُم بِسِحْرِهِمَا وَيَذْهَبَا بِطَرِيقَتِكُمُ الْمُثْلَى (20:63)

20:63 (Picktall) They said: Lo! these are two wizards who would drive you out from your country by their magic, and destroy your best traditions;

the "error" in this verse, as is stated by the error finder is:
The word saahiraan should be saahirayn.

The word saahiraan was declined incorrectly because the word inna in the beginning of the nominal sentence causes a form of declension called "nasb" to the nominative and the "yeh" is the "sign of nasb".
At close examination of the actual verse, as it appears in the Qur'an, it, however, becomes obvious that the whole objection is unfounded. The referred verse does not even read as the author has stated. The reading as it appears in the Qur'an is:
"Qaalu in haazaani la-saahiraani ..." (Ta Ha 20: 63)

6- Is Jesus from dust:

إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِندَ اللّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِن تُرَابٍ ثِمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ (3:59)

3:59 (Asad) Verily, in the sight of God, the nature of Jesus is as the nature of Adam, whom He created out of dust and then said unto him, "Be" - and he is. [47]

According to Muhammad Assad (a great Muslim scholar and converted Jew): Lit., "The parable of Jesus is as the parable of Adam...", etc. The expression mathal (rendered above as "nature") is often metaphorically employed to denote the state or condition (of a person or a thing), and is in this sense - as the commentators have pointed out - synonymous with sifah (the "quality" or "nature" of a thing). As is evident from the sequence, the above passage is part of an argument against the Christian doctrine of the divinity of Jesus. The Qur'an stresses here, as in many other places, the fact that Jesus, like Adam - by which name, in this context, the whole human race is meant - was only a mortal "created out of dust", i.e., out of substances, both organic and inorganic, which are found in their elementary forms on and in the earth. Cf. also 18:37, 22:5, 30:20, 35:11, 40:67, where the Qur'an speaks of all human beings as "created out of dust". That "Adam" stands here for the human race is clearly implied in the use of the present tense in the last word of this sentence.(Quran Ref: 3:59 )

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