Islam in India

   There are a lot of differences among people who follow Islam themselves. Shias and Sunnis often say that the others are not ‘real Muslims’. Ahmadiyas are Muslims who believe that Muhammad was not the final Prophet. They are treated as non-Muslims in Pakistan since they do not believe in the finality of Muhammad’s Prophethood. The basis of the Shia-Sunni divide was actually succession to Muhammad. After Muhammad, his friend and close aid Abu Bakr became the Caliph, but some of Muhammad’s kin felt that they had the claim to the Caliph’s throne.

   There are many things which are very clear but interpreted differently. For example, according to Islam, apostates are to be given death penalty. But then there are many others who try to interpret this differently. The encyclopedia wikipedia on Apostasy in Islam reports : “The Quran itself does not prescribe any earthly punishment for apostasy; Islamic scholarship differs on its punishment, ranging from execution – on an interpretation of certain hadiths – to no punishment at all as long as they “do not work against the Muslim society or nation.”^[1] According to Islamic law apostasy is identified by a list of actions such as conversion to another religion, denying the existence of God, rejecting the prophets, mocking God or the prophets, idol worship, rejecting the sharia, or permitting behavior that is forbidden by the sharia, such as adultery.^[2] “

   Would God who made Islam as his only true religion leave so much ambiguity and difference of opinion among followers of his own true religion about a thing so important as apostasy? Apostates are given death penalty is many places.  This is the legal provision in many Muslim countries even today, like Afghanistan a state supposedly rescued by liberals from the radical Taliban, which gives death penalty for leaving Islam and of course Saudi Arabia where there are laws to punish people for sorcery in today’s 21st century! If there is no compulsion in religion and God can easily make all humans as believers then why should apostates be given death penalty?The Quran in 2:27, 2:39, 3:90-91, 4:89, 9:66, 9:74, 47:25-26 makes it clear that apostates are to be punished. Let us see what it says:

   “Those who break the covenant of Allah after ratifying it, and sever that which Allah ordered to be joined, and (who) make mischief in the earth: Those are they who are the losers. How disbelieve ye in Allah when ye were dead and He gave life to you! Then He will give you death, then life again, and then unto Him ye will return. ” (Quran 2:27-28)

   “They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them”. (Quran 4:89)

   “They swear by Allah that they said nothing (wrong), yet they did say the word of disbelief, and did disbelieve after their Surrender (to Allah). And they purposed that which they could not attain, and they sought revenge only that Allah by His messenger should enrich them of His bounty. If they repent it will be better for them; and if they turn away, Allah will afflict them with a painful doom in the world and the Hereafter, and they have no protecting friend nor helper in the earth. ” (Quran 9:74)

   Let us see wikipedia again:

   “In medieval times, several Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence held that apostasy by a male Muslim is punishable by death, differing on whether to execute the apostate immediately or grant the apostate an initial opportunity to repent and thus avoid penalty. They also differentiated between harmful and harmless apostasy (also known as major and minor apostasy) in accepting repentance.^{[3][citation needed]} However, other scholars also held different views, such as that of Ibrahim al-Nakha’i (d. 715) and Sufyan al-Thawri and their followers, who rejected the death penalty and prescribed indefinite imprisonment until repentance. The hanafi jurist Sarakhsi also called for different punishments between the non-seditious religious apostasy and that of seditious and political nature, or high treason.^[4][5]

   Medieval Islamic scholars also differed on the punishment of a female apostate: death, enslavement, or imprisonment until repentance. Abu Hanifa and his followers refused the death penalty for female apostates, supporting imprisonment until they re-embrace Islam. Hanafi scholars maintain that a female apostate should not be killed because it was forbidden to kill women by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and because women are unlikely to take up arms and endanger the community.^[5]

   According to Wael Hallaq apostasy laws are not derived from the Qur’an.^[6] In modern times, some Islamic scholars oppose any penalty for apostasy, including Gamal Al-Banna,^[7][8] Taha Jabir Alalwani,^[9] and Shabir Ally.^[10] Quran Alone Muslims do not support the apostasy penalty, citing verses from Qur’an which advocate free will.^[11]

   Others believe that the death penalty can only be applied when apostasy is coupled with attempts to “harm” the Muslim community, rejecting the death penalty in other cases. These include,^[1][12][13] Ahmad Shafaat,^[14] Jamal Badawi,^[3] Yusuf Estes,^[15] Javed Ahmad Ghamidi,^[16] and Maliki jurist Abu al-Walid al-Baji.

   However, Zakir Naik stated that if a former Muslim speaks against Islam then that is considered as treason and punishable by death in a country ruled by Islamic law, he also stated that he does not know of any country which is ruled by 100% Islamic law.,^[17][18][19] a view which is held by other contemporary Islamic scholars such as Bilal Philips,^[20] and Yusuf al-Qaradawi,^[21] the latter reduces the punishment to imprisonment till repentance in the case of an apostate who did not proclaim apostasy,^[22] whereas the judgement which is still widely adopted advocates death for every ex-Muslim, for instance, Sheik Muhammad Al-Munajid the owner, writer and administrator for the popular islam-qa.com site advocates that judgement stating that leaving them alive “may encourage others to forsake the truth”.^[23]

   Contemporary reform Muslims such as Quran Alone intellectuals Ahmed Subhy Mansour,^[24] Edip Yuksel,^[25] and Mohammed Shahrour^[26] have suffered from accusations of apostasy and demands to execute them, issued by Islamic clerics such as Mahmoud Ashur, Mustafa Al-Shak’a, Mohammed Ra’fat Othman and Yusif Al-Badri.^[27][28][29]

   Prominent recent examples of writers and activists killed because of apostasy claims include Mahmoud Mohammed Taha,^[30] Faraj Foda,^[31] Rashad Khalifa, Ghorban Tourani, Necati Aydin, Uğur Yüksel, and the Egyptian Nobel prize winner Najib Mahfouz was injured in an attempted assassination, disabling him until his death in 2006.^[32]

   The case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who converted from Islam to Christianity, sparked debate on the issue. While he initially faced the death penalty, he was eventually released as he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.^[33]”

  Naturally, how  can God leave matters so ambiguous in such a crucial thing? Even a cursory reading of wikipedia page on apostasy shows the massive difference of opinion on the subject. In some countries like Malaysia, permission has to be obtained by a Muslim for becoming an apostate. An article on Shia-Sunni divide on wikipedia is here. Would a true God leave so many differences among followers of his religion? He would have made the Quran clear and simple and left no doubt in anyone’s mind on all issues. As a minimum, God can come today, show himself to the rest of the world, or at least send angels on earth to reveal to all Muslims which is the correct form of Islam.

  There are also various differences of opinion on issues such as photography being allowed or banned in Islam (Taliban interpreted it as ‘total ban’ on photography banning television, cameras, photos). If this is wrong and Islam does allow photography and TV, then why would God give Islamic scriptures in a manner whereby followers of his ‘only true religion’ who most genuinely are devoted to his religion and genuinely believe that what they are doing is right and as per God’s command misunderstand Islam and ban TV and internet and take Afghanistan back to the 7th century?

   Or if photography is indeed banned, then why do most Muslim nations allow TV? And then there are issues like wearing veils for women in Islam, men growing beards (whether necessary or not), whether there should be a minimum age for marriage in Muslim countries. Many Muslims who have supported 14 as the age for marriage for girls (which is also very low, it should be at least 16 if not 18 as in India) and those Muslims who have demanded this have been called as ‘apostates’ by others. God could have simply clarified in the Quran and given precise details of what he wanted, how he wanted laws to be applied.

   There are many who genuinely believe that Taliban interpretation of Islam is wrong and that terrorists who killed innocents in the name of Islam and God are not true Muslims. These Muslims who genuinely believe that Islam is a religion of peace believe that Islam is true and is from God, Muhammad was His best and last prophet. The Taliban which is completely different in ideology and practice also genuinely believes what it does and believes that Islam is true and from God and that Muhammad was His best and last Prophet. If this is the case, why would God make a religion in a manner where his genuine followers interpret things differently? God can today send angels and correct one of the two different ideologies which must be wrong- i.e. either Taliban or the people who genuinely believe that Islam is a religion of peace.

   This is a question that is often asked by atheists to believers- “Why doesn’t God simply show Himself to the people to dispel all doubts that He exists ?” Simply showing Himself to humanity will also help a lot of people, since the world runs on hope and optimism. Belief in God often gives people feeling “The Almighty is behind me. He will take care of me”. Even in sad and desperate situations, believers can be optimistic and hopeful and live a happier life. So, it is very important that God show Himself to people so that they at least feel reassured that there is God behind them to help them, if not to prove to mankind that God’s only true religion is Islam.

   Now many believers and people like Dr Zakir Naik have tried to answer this question. We simply quote Zakir Naik :

“The questioner asked a question that he has a friend who believes that there is one supernatural power, but if Islam is right, then why doesn’t Allah come down and say that I am God, worship me, so that everyone would believe???

There is a verse in the Quran in Yunus, Chapter 10, Verse 99:
“If it had been thy Lord’s will, he would have made all human beings as believers,- all who are on earth!….”
It is very easy for him to do that!!! But this is a test we are undergoing… Allah says in Al-Mulk, Chapter 67, Verse 2:
“He Who created Death and Life, that He may test which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;- “
So this life is the test for the hereafter… The human beings are the best of the creations of Allah SWT, he gave us freewill to either go with the orders of Allah SWT or against the orders of Allah SWT… Those who obey Allah SWT and submit their will to Allah SWT are called as Muslims… and those who go against him and disobey him are called as Kafirs(disbelievers)…

For example, if in an examination test, where the students are giving an examination, so one of the students says: “Why is the teacher testing us? Why doesn’t she come and show us all the answers and everyone will write the right answer?”!!! If the teacher comes and dictates the answer, then where is the question of the test??? So the teacher before the test taught you many things… Told you, and now it is you who have to remember back then and ask questions at that time… That is why Allah SWT has revealed the Quran and He has given you signs… Allah SWT says in the Quran in Fussilat, Chapter 41, Verse 53:
“Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the Horizons), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?”... So Allah SWT said that He will show you the truth in the soul of every human being… Now after they come to know the truth, whether they believe or not is their problem… So the teacher before the examination, she teaches that 2+2=4… In the Examination whether you write 3, 5 or 4 it is your problem… So Allah SWT has directly by himself showed you his signs in the Horizons through the sun, through the stars, through his creations and He himself will make it evident, and it is a promise that every human being will believe in one God, BUT after that, do they agree with the commandments or not that is secondary…

So this is a test we are undergoing, those who submit their will to Allah SWT they are called as Muslims, and they will be rewarded in the next life… and those who disobey they will be punished…”

   Naturally this is a ridiculous answer and a ridiculous analogy. Why should God ‘test’ people without proof? Zakir Naik is of course assuming that Allah wrote the Quran. What is the proof of that- since it was dictated by Muhammad, and the Quran contains hundreds of mistakes? A God like Allah who needs Angels like Gabriel to do his work, who lives only in a particular part of the Universe and who cannot even give good stationery to his chosen Messenger to record the Quran and makes his followers write it on palm trees, stones, camel bones in a language where the whole meaning can change with the slightest change in alphabet, and whose book Quran saw many versions within 20 years of the death of Muhammad is of course very unlikely to write the Quran.

   Actually Chapter 41 Verse 53 itself is a proof that Islam is false. “Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the Horizons), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?” But this God did not show any signs, did not re arrange stars in a manner that they read at night “Islam is true”, filled the Quran with errors, mistakes and contradictions, and did absolutely nothing to prove that Islam is from God either during Muhammad’s time or later. Far from showing his signs in the furthest of regions, God actually kept the Muslims (and also the rest of the world) completely unaware about two whole continents of the world- viz South America and North America until nearly 900 years of the birth of Islam! Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered America in 1492 and thought that he had reached India!

   Look at the other passage quoted by Zakir Naik – Chapter 10, Verse 99:
“If it had been thy Lord’s will, he would have made all human beings as believers,- all who are on earth!”

   This is another point which will go against Islam. If God could have easily made all humans as believers then why is the message of Islam ‘convert or kill’ with unbelievers being allowed to remain as “Dhimmis” paying the Jizyah tax in the first instance? The whole Quran contains more than 70 passages urging Muslims to wage war on non-Muslims, convert or kill them and shun them in this life and the next. Apostates i.e. those Muslims who leave Islam are given death penalty. This is the legal provision in many Muslim countries even today, like Afghanistan a state supposedly rescued by liberals from the radical Taliban, which gives death penalty for leaving Islam.

   If there is no compulsion in religion and God can easily make all humans as believers then why should apostates be given death penalty? The Quran in 2:27, 2:39, 3:90-91, 4:89, 9:66, 9:74, 47:25-26 makes it clear that apostates are to be punished. Some passages of the Quran are quoted below:

“8:60 And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to terrorize thereby the enemy of Allah…

8:12 I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.

Unbelievers

2:191, And slay them wherever ye catch them

2:193, And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression

2:216, Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you

3:28, Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah

8:15-16, O ye who believe! when ye meet the Unbelievers in hostile array, never turn your backs to them. If any do turn his back to them on such a day – unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own)- he draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and his abode is Hell,- an evil refuge (indeed)!

8:17, It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but Allah’s: in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial from Himself

8:65, O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers

9:5, But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the idolators wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.

9:73, O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,- an evil refuge indeed

9:123, O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.

8:39, And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere.”

   These are just a few of the many passages of the Quran where Muslims are ordered to convert or kill unbelievers. If God can make all humans believers, then why does He force Muslims to do his work of killing and converting unbelievers when He could have done so Himself? Also, this same God does the following :

• * Intentionally preventing unbelievers from knowing the truth-> 6:25 6:110
• * Intentionally preventing unbelievers from Understanding Quran-> 17:45-76
• * It is God who causes people to err and He punishes them for that-> 17:97
• * God could guide, if he chose to, but did not-> 6:35
• * Intentionally misguiding those whom he pleases to->14:4
• * Willfully misguiding some-> 16:93
• * God causes human to err-> 4:143 7:178
• * God deceiving human-> 4:142

   So God deliberately keeps unbelievers away from Islam and then punishes them for that- this is sadism. And if this is the case, then how can unbelievers ‘fail the test’ when their fate is already sealed by God?

   What a ridiculous analogy of students and teachers! Students are tested to know how much they have learnt and progressed, or many times tests are kept just for the reason that students may study (practice tests) for the big tests (For example, giving Mock tests before taking the actual exam). Before the test, students know that there is going to be a test and try their best to prepare for it. Did God tell all humans before their birth that Islam is true, that their lives on earth will be a test, and they have to pass his test of faith by following his religion correctly?

   Students saying “Teacher should show us the answers” would completely end the meaning of the test, how would God showing Himself to humans end the meaning of Our ‘test’? On the contrary, it would be a very good thing, since it should prove to humanity that God exists and that he indeed is testing us, and this would enable humans to consciously follow Islam to pass the ‘test’ of God. A God who doesn’t even inform humans about ‘testing’ them and throws them in Hell forever for failing his tests is not a true God.

   Also, students are ‘tested’ for 2 things- to know how much knowledge they have gained, which is very essential for their progress, and often to make them study and improve their performance in the final big exam. For what reason would God ‘test’ mankind? God being Omniscient would already know everything about mankind. And then such a God who ‘tests’ people keeps nearly 80 % of the people unaware about his own true religion, keeps continents like North and South America unknown to the rest of the world for nearly 900 years after Islam’s birth!

   In this case, Zakir Naik has given a ridiculous analogy that asking “Why doesn’t God show Himself” is like students asking “Why doesn’t the teacher show us the answers in a test?” Firstly, the fact that life is a test is assumed by Zakir Naik, which is completely unproven and most likely untrue. Secondly, here asking God to show himself is like asking the TEACHER to show herself, the teacher who takes the test is expected to show herself. We are not asking for answers of the questions to be shown. Zakir Naik is not a scholar but a showman, he has a great memory and can impress the audience temporarily with his words. He has been completely exposed here by Ali Sina.

   This is a video of a debate between Zakir Naik’s guru Abdullah Thariq in a debate with Mahendra Pal Arya in full:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zIujH5R9m0

   Again we must quote the virus thing. Tiny invisible viruses living somewhere on a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean are being ‘tested’ by God without even being told that they are being tested and God doesn’t even show Himself to them. Man has been around for lakhs of years on this earth, and yet there is not a single instance recorded of God showing Himself to humanity. God is supposed to be omnipresent and be able to do all the things. Would a true God play hide-and-seek with humans and not show Himself to mankind ever since the birth of mankind?

   Also, there are so many crimes committed in the name of God by misguided followers who genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing and spreading faith in God. Those who destroy idols of Tulja Bhavani in Tuljapur genuinely believe that they did a sacred and a very good thing, whereas the others who are devotees of Goddess Tulja Bhavani (like Chhatrapati Shivaji was) will feel exactly the opposite. At least one of these two must be wrong. Now God should show Himself here and directly tell the wrong group that the other group is right and to stop destruction in His name.

   Many claim that the radical Muslims who killed unbelievers in 26/11 and 9/11 did not follow true Islam. But they genuinely believed that they were following true Islam and doing the right thing for God. Now, God being omniscient would have known that innocent people were going to be killed by radicals (either from his own true religion, or from a false religion) and should have shown Himself to these radicals and told them not to kill in his name!

   Even assuming that God chose Muhammad as his Prophet and wants all humans to follow Islam and is so concerned about tiny humans believing in His Messenger and obeying His Messenger that he will throw all those who don’t do so in Hell forever, there are very easy ways for an Omnipotent and Omniscient being like God to do so. Of course, again it must be remembered that this is like the Creator of all the Oceans of the world insisting that tiny invisible viruses on a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean believing in the Prophethood of a fellow virus. Let us assume that Islam is true and God indeed wants people to follow Islam- and that Muhammad was indeed a Prophet.

   Why doesn’t God do anything today to prove that Islam is true? Muhammad claimed that one night, he rode on a winged horse that took him from Masjidu’l Haram (the temple of Ka’ba) to Msjidu’l Aqsa (in Jerusalem) and from there to the seventh heaven where he was shown the hell and the paradise and then taken to the presence of Allah. This story that is commonly accepted by Muslims and is known as Mi’raj is also confirmed in the Quran

Glory to (Allah)
Who did take His Servant for

a journey by night,
From the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque.
– Quran 17:1

   There are many problems with this story which we will not look right now, but just mention that many of Muhammad’s followers left him after he made this claim, realizing that he was lying. But some Muslims, blinded by faith have tried to defend this as well. And in this, they say “Belief in supernatural things will make others know that such a trip is possible”. (Actually, such pathetic arguments from amateurs like the person who has tried to defend Muhammad’s Miraj will only make the desperate defenders look even more silly). But the point here is- Belief in Supernatural things.

   If God is capable of doing supernatural things like Muhammad’s Miraj, why does not do anything supernatural NOW to simply prove that Islam is true? Why people like Dr Zakir Naik are needed to ‘understand Islam’ (whereas Zakir Naik is a showman with excellent memory using ridiculous arguments to promote his own business) today and answer many questions- such as “Who created God?” (Ridiculous analogy and laughable arguments by Zakir Naik) or “Why doesn’t God show himself?“

   Today, God doesn’t have to show himself to prove that Islam is true. He can rearrange stars so that at night they read “Islam is true. Follow it. I, God, have rearranged stars so as to make mankind know that my religion is Islam”. Simple and clear! Or he can send angels down to earth such as Gabriel and make them say to humanity, “We are sent by God to show mankind that Islam is true.” Or He can raise Muhammad from his grave and make him appear before everybody and say “God has raised me again to show mankind that Islam is true”. Of course, there are many ways in which God can send his message and convey that Islam is true.

   He can do some things which are undoable by humans- like first telling humanity that he will be splitting the moon and then splitting it, and then again re-joining it, or declaring to mankind that He will show that something can enter a blackhole and come out of it (send an angel there and bring him out and show mankind this) or stopping the rotation of a planet like Mercury around the sun! But absolutely nothing of this sort is done.

   This writer recalls talking to a Christian classmate in college about proof that Jesus was the SON of God. She said, “If God gives proof, then everyone will belief. The true test of faith is to believe without proof”. If that is the case, then it is admitting that there is NO PROOF AT ALL that the religion is true! Will a true God send messengers without proof when there are hundreds of charlatans and imposters and hoax prophets? But then, some other Muslims say that Quran is the proof that Islam is from God, when it has in reality hundreds of mistakes. Now if God does give proof that Islam is from Him, then surely He can do so in many ways some of which are mentioned above!

   Belgium-based world famous scholar Dr Koenraad Elst has written in a chapter “How to deal with Islam” in his book “BJP vis-a-vis Hindu resurgence” (Voice of India, 1997):

   “This fact becomes more than obvious when one studies the context in which these revelations come to Muhammad. One finds that Allah never fails to confirm what his Prophet is planning to do in order to serve the latter’s cause in a particular situation. Aisha, the favorite wife of the prophet had seen through the game and summed up her observation reported by all orthodox traditionalists ‘Truly your God seems to have rushed in answering your prayers’. Dayananda Saraswati was not wrong when he characterized the Allah of the Quran as Muhammad’s domestic servant.”

   However, here one sentence must be added. It is not easy for a Muslim (i.e. a Muhammadan) to bear much criticism of Muhammad (let alone see Muhammad for who he was). It is like telling a child that his father is a rapist, murderer and a thief. A child who adulates his father will not be able to accept it even if all the proofs in the world are shown to him. He will instead call you a liar, hate you for hurting him, curse you and may explode in anger and hit you physically. A Muslim will genuinely believe that Muhammad was the MOST PERFECT person, kind and compassionate, merciful. He will genuinely believe that Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights (even though the truth is exactly the opposite), that Muhammad stopped the practice of female infanticide, that Arabs used to quarrel with themselves and get drunk, Muhammad banned drinking of alcohol, united the people and improved their lives and showed them the true path to God, banned slavery and freed people (whereas the reality is exactly the opposite, Islam and Muhammad enslaved people).

   A Muslim would generally admire and respect Muhammad more than his own parents. To understand this matter, a Christian reader should imagine being told that Jesus was a rapist, murderer and a thief, or a Buddhist being told the same about Buddha, or a Dalit being told the same about Ambedkar. A Hindu should imagine being told the same about Chhatrapati Shivaji, Swami Vivekananda, Krishna, Rama etc. That is why Pakistan has the draconian Blasphemy Law (which gives death for insulting Muhammad). We saw recently how a Governor was shot dead by his own bodyguard for supporting scrapping of the Blasphemy Law and how the murderer was treated like a hero, that the judge who sentenced him to death had to flee Pakistan. The Danish cartoons on Muhammad in early 2006 also shook the whole world resulting in nearly 100 deaths worldwide. This shows how strong the spell of Muhammad is on Muslims.

   Coming to Muhammad, there are so many cases which can be told as proof that Muhammad made up the verses to serve his own cause.

1) One day Muhammad visited one of his wives, Hafsah, the daughter of Omar. He saw Mariyah, Hafsah’s Coptic maid. He sent Hafsah out telling her that her father wanted to see her. When she went out, he called Mariyah and had sex with her in Hafsah’s bed. Hafsah found out that her father had not send for her and returned to find her illustrious husband, naked, between the legs of her maid. She screamed and started making a scandal. Muhammad tried to calm down his hysteric wife and promised her not to approach Mariyah again while pulling up his pants, and asked her to keep the incident, a secret. Hafsah informed Aisha who with a group of other co-wives confronted Muhammad. Then Muhammad claimed, God revealed Surah 66 Tahrim (‘Banning’) in which he “rebuked” Muhammad telling him:

Q.66: -5.
1. O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has made lawful to you, seeking to please your wives? And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
2. Allâh has already ordained for you (O men), the dissolution of your oaths. And Allâh is your Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.) and He is the All-Knower, the All-Wise.
3. And (remember) when the Prophet (SAW) disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives (Hafsah), so when she told it (to another i.e. ‘Aishah), and Allâh made it known to him, he informed part thereof and left a part. Then when he told her (Hafsah) thereof, she said: “Who told you this?” He said: “The All-Knower, the All-Aware (Allâh) has told me”.
4. If you two (wives of the Prophet SAW, namely ‘Aishah and Hafsah turn in repentance to Allâh, (it will be better for you), your hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet SAW likes), but if you help one another against him (Muhammad SAW), then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.), and Jibrael (Gabriel), and the righteous among the believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers.
5. It may be if he divorced you (all) that his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you, Muslims (who submit to Allâh), believers, obedient to Allâh, turning to Allâh in repentance, worshipping Allâh sincerely, fasting or emigrants (for Allâh’s sake), previously married and virgins.“ [Tarikh Tabari also see Bukhari 3.43.648 ]

Isn’t Allah nice to his prophet? He rebukes him for banning himself to have sex with Mariyah when Allah has made this lawful to him. Then he tells his beloved prophet that he does not have to keep his words just to appease a bunch of women. Go ahead Allâh has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths. Allah even tells his beloved prophet to divorce all of his uppity wives if they are not obedient and content with his sexual escapades and marry lots of other women who will be better.

Any person with an iota of common sense will know that Muhammad made up these verses to serve his cause. It is here that Aisha is reported to have said “Truly your God seems to have been very quick in answering your prayers”.

2) In one case, Muhammad wanted to have intercourse with the wife of his foster son Zaid. Here Allah revealed the following in the Quran:

33.37 “Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of Allah and thy favour: “Retain you (in wedlock) your wife, and fear Allah.” But you did hide in your heart that which Allah was about to make manifest: you did fear the people, but it is more fitting that you should fear Allah. Then when Zaid had dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), We joined her in marriage to you: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the Believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality) (their marriage) with them. And Allah’s command must be fulfilled. “

How wise! The noblest institution of child adoption is annulled because Muhammad wanted to have sex with the wife of his foster son. When this incident is brought up, many Muslims claim that Muhammad did nothing, God commanded him to marry the wife of his foster son, in Chapter 33, and God’s order had to be followed!

There are so many such passages in the Quran.Below are given just two more.

“Prophet, We have made lawful to you the wives to whom you have granted dowries and the slave girls whom God had given as booty; the daughters of your paternal and maternal uncles and of your paternal and maternal aunts who fled with you; and any believing woman who gives herself to the Prophet and whom the Prophet wishes to take in marriage. This privilege is yours alone, being granted to no other believer. We well know the duties we have imposed on the faithful concerning their wives and slave-girls. We grant you this privilege so that none may blame you. God is forgiving and merciful. (Quran 33:50 )

 You may put of any of your wives you please and take to your bed any of them your please. Nor is it unlawful for you to receive any of those whom you have temporarily set aside. That is more proper, so that they may be contented and not vexed, and may all be pleased with what you give them. (Quran 33:51 )”

This also carries another very important thing “Slave girls whom God had given to you as a booty are lawful to you”. This means that the Quranic God supports the institution of slavery and gives slave girls as gifts to Muhammad. Firstly, no God can be a supporter of slavery, this line itself is a clear proof that the Quran is not from God, since nowhere does it oppose slavery and institutionalizes slavery. This also conclusively disproves the claim by some Muslims that Muhammad ended slavery or that Islam abolished slavery. And secondly, it is very obvious by common sense that Muhammad made up these verses to serve his own cause.

   Aisha, the favorite wife of Muhammad had seen through this game. A Hadith reports:

   “Narrated Aisha:
“I used to look down upon those ladies who had given themselves to Allah’s Apostle and I used to say, ‘Can a lady give herself (to a man)?’ But when Allah revealed: ‘You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily).’ (33.51) I said (to the Prophet), ‘I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires.’“ (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 311).”

   And as we have seen Swami Dayananda Saraswati say earlier “Why does this verse inculcate faith in Mohammad along with that in God, when the Mohammadans profess to believe in none but God, and hold that none is worthy of sharing homage with Him ? Hence they can not call God Incomparable. If it be argued that this verse only teaches that people should have faith in Mohammad as a Prophet, we should kike to know where is the necessity of Mohammad (being regarded as a Prophet). If God cannot accomplish his desired object without making him His Prophet, he is certainly powerless.” (p. 672 of Dayananda Saraswati’s book Satyartha Prakash of 1875, English translation)

   “Now (the Mohammadan) God Himself has made Mohammad His partner (in Divine honours, etc.) and has Himself declared this fact in the Quran. God is so much attached to Mohammad that He has made him His partner even in paradise. It is useless to call the Mohammadan God Independent when He is dependent upon Mohammad for every little thing. Such things can never be found in a revealed book.”

   Dayananda Saraswati continues “Now reader mark ! How clever Mohammad is ! He makes his God say in this verse that God will love those who follow Mohammad and even their sins will be forgiven. This shows that the heart of Mohammad was not pure. It appears that Mohammad (made or) had the Quran made in order to serve his selfish interests.” (p. 670)

   “Now mark the prejudice of God and of His Prophet ! Mohammad like other men of his stamp, was well aware that if he did not stamp his religion with divine authority it would never flourish, nor would he or his followers be able to obtain help and power which might help them to live a life of ease and luxury. All this goes to show that Mohammad knew only too well how to compass his selfish ends and to deprive others of their due-a fact which proves that he was no well-wisher of humanity. Such a man can never command the trust and confidence of good and enlightened men.” (p. 674)

   “Who but the Mohammedan God would be so unjust in fighting and helping others to do the same and so active in causing breaches of peace ? Now look at this religion, which sanctions wholesale robbery for the benefit of the Prophet! Are these people any better than thugs ? God participates in the crime of robbery when he takes his share of the loot. He brings disgrace on Himself by favouring such dacoits. We are at a loss to understand whence came such a book, such a God and such a Prophet in order to disturb the happy relations between different nations of the world and thereby, inflict great suffering on them. Had not such faiths flourished in the world, all would have lived in peace with each other.” (p. 680-81)

   As we have said, imagine us as the creator of the vast Pacific Ocean. The earth is like a drop of water in the ocean of all the oceans of the world. Then humans on earth are as insignificant as ants. Imagine some very very small viruses (so small that they are invisible) in a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific and if one of the viruses claims to other viruses that he is our Messenger and that we keep making it legal for that virus to dissolve his oaths, marry his foster son’s wife, legalize him to marry slave girls, loot etc!

   Why didn’t God turn Muhammad into a  scholar overnight and provide him with good stationery to record the Quran instead of relying on Muhammad’s supporters’  memory, many of whom got killed in the Battle of Yamana [Riddah i.e. Apostasy] in AD October 632 and forcing them to write the Quran on palm leaves, stones and other such places? One basic question that will be asked is this- “Why did Allah choose Muhammad as a vehicle or medium to record the Quran when Allah knew that Muhammad was illiterate? Or at least, why did Allah not turn Muhammad into a great scholar overnight and provide him with good stationery to record the Quran?”

   The Quran is what Muhammad dictated. In the translation of the Quran by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall (Pickthall’s translation is considered as very authentic), the following things are mentioned in the “Introduction” before the Quran’s first chapter:

   “All the surahs of the Koran had been recorded in writing before the Prophet’s death, and many Muslims had committed the whole Koran to memory. But the written surahs were dispersed among the people; and when, in a battle which took place during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr- that is to say, within two years of the Prophet’s death-a large number of those who knew the whole Koran by heart were killed, a collection of the whole Koran was made and put in writing. In the Caliphate of Othman, all existing copies of surahs were called in, and an authoritative version, based on Abu Bakr’s collection and the testimony of those who had the whole Koran by heart, was compiled exactly in the present form and order, which is regarded as traditional and as the arrangement of the Prophet himself, the Caliph Othman and his helpers being Comrades of the Prophet and the most devout students of the Revelation. The Koran has thus been very carefully preserved.” (Page xxviii of Pickthall’s translation of Quran, Madhur Sandesh Sangam, New Delhi, India, 1995)

   Sadly for them, the information given in this translation by British Muslim Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall clearly proves exactly the opposite. Carefully read the sentences written in bold by us. “But written Surahs were dispersed among the people”. What is the guarantee that all Surahs were compiled and none were lost? Or that no extra Surahs were added which were not there? Arabic is a language where the whole meaning of the sentence can change with the slightest change in shape of the alphabet. In this translation of the Quran, Pickthall also admits “Within 2 years of the Prophet’s death a large number of people who knew the whole Koran by heart were killed”. Here he is talking of the Battle of Yamana [Riddah i.e. Apostasy] in Arabia in late 632- early 633 AD when Arabia rose in revolt against Islam and gallantly fought Muslims.

   In this battle, the Muslims would have surely lost and Arabia freed from Islam (and perhaps the whole world) had it not been for treachery from Muslims when the woman leading the Apostates (Salma) was killed treacherously, and seeing her dead the soldiers lost courage.  Islam’s victories in India and in many other places were also largely due to treachery (Example, Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in AD 1192 through treachery, after losing for the first time, in 1190-91 he was pardoned and allowed to go with the promise that he would not attack again, which he predictably violated, and attacked Prithviraj at night and this is how Islam began its rule in India).  But though the non-Muslims lost, a large number of Muslims were killed in this battle in late 632 AD, many of whom had learnt the Quran by heart, which has been admitted by Pickthall.

   “In the Caliphate of Othman, all existing copies of surahs were called in, and an authoritative version, based on Abu Bakr’s collection and the testimony of those who had the whole Koran by heart, was compiled…” This shows that there were many different versions of the Quran in use by that time, during Othman’s rule (644-656 AD).  Othman ordered all other versions to be destroyed. Now the very fact that within so few as 20 years of Muhammad’s death there were different versions of the Quran and there was no one to check or guarantee that Othman’s version was exactly as Muhammad said! That is, Othman had to do the job of compiling the Quran which should have ideally been done properly by Muhammad.

   If God sent Muhammad down to the people with His Message and his book if guidance viz the Quran would he have made it so difficult for the humans? He would have first made Muhammad a scholar capable of reading and writing overnight, being the Almighty and then provided Muhammad and all Muslims good stationery to record the Quran instead of relying on Muhammad’s companions to write  on palm leaves, on shoulder-blade bones of camels and on stones and memorize it, and then have a large number of those who had memorized it killed in the Battle of Yamana.

   There was no single copy of the Quran existing during Muhammad’s own lifetime in a written form! Muhammad was asked many times by Meccans to perform any miracles to prove that He was a Messenger of God, such as making his God flow rivers of milk, and Muhammad used to say “I cannot perform any miracles,  I am only a mortal messenger. My only miracle is the Quran.”  (Muhammad need not have had to perform any miracles, couldn’t GOD have flown rivers of milk to prove Muhammad’s Prophethood to the people?) But this ‘only miracle’ of Muhammad also was not present in his own life-time in a proper book form!

     There is conclusive evidence that parts of the Quran are lost. Authentic Hadith reports Aisha, the favourite wife of Muhammad, as well as others like Umar, revealing that there was once a ‘Verse of stoning’ (Rajm) which prescribed stoning to death for adultery. This is no longer found in the accepted texts of the Quran and the penalty for adultery is only 100 lashes. But Islamic law still prescribes this penalty.

    As a matter of fact, even this tradition, that Othman ended everything and finalized the Quran before AD 656 and that nothing has changed in the Quran ever since, may also be wrong. Wansbrough (“Quranic Studies” Wansbrough, J. Oxford, 1977) showed that far from being fixed in the seventh century, the definitive text of Koran had still not been achieved even as late as the later part of the ninth century. Thus, a statement of Muslim creed, Fiqh Akbar I, dated to the middle of eighth century, does not refer to the Koran at all, which is quite surprising. The ninth century also saw the first collections of the ancient Arab poetry seeing the light of day, in which too there are instances of manipulation, as alleged by some scholars. In fact, there is a strong opinion among many scholars that the Quran was actually finalized in AD 933.

   It is the accepted tradition that Angel Gabriel communicated the Quran to Muhammad in pure Arabic from God. In other words, God sent down the Quran to Muhammad through Angel Gabriel in Arabic. Actually, when Muhammad first got such an experience, he thought he had been possessed by a ghost and thought of committing suicide! But it was his wife Khadija who convinced him that He had been chosen as a Prophet. This is another clear proof that Islam is not from God.

   Had God sent an Angel, say Gabriel, to Muhammad to convey to Quran, he would have made Gabriel convey this clearly to Muhammad instead of making Muhammad think that he had been possessed by a demon and driving him to the point of suicide. The very fact that his wife told him that he had become a Prophet and Muhammad himself thought of suicide shows that Muhammad was not chosen as God’s Prophet.

   But let us assume that Angel Gabriel did indeed come to Muhammad, sent down by God to reveal the Quran. The ordinary Meccans, Muhammad’s own contemporaries, were almost unanimous in dismissing his revelations as anything but divine. Barring a handful of followers, not more than 70 or 80 people in 12 years of preaching from AD 610 to AD 622, everyone dismissed Muhammad’s claims of receiving Divine messages. Here, if Angel Gabriel really did visit Muhammad for these 12 years, and he and God saw that people are ridiculing Muhammad and dismissing his claims, Gabriel could have easily shown Himself to all Meccans and revealed the Quran to all of them. Even one paranormal act could have been sufficient in showing that Muhammad received Divine messages from God.

   But Angel Gabriel showed Himself only to Muhammad and Muhammad dictated the Quran! This clearly shows that there was absolutely nothing done which could not have been done by humans. There is of course, no proof at all that Angel Gabriel visited Muhammad carrying God’s messages. It could be that Muhammad genuinely believed what he felt, as modern scholars claim ‘TLE’. But if Gabriel went all the way from God to Muhammad and back, he could easily have revealed the Quran to everyone, instead of only to Muhammad.

   An authentic Hadith, Bukhari Vol 4, Book 54, Number 440 says:

   “Aisha said that the Prophet said to her ‘O ‘Aisha’ This is Gabriel and he sends his (greetings) salutations to you.’ ‘Aisha said, ‘Salutations (Greetings) to him…’ and addressing the Prophet she said, ‘You see what I don’t see.’“

   It means that Aisha could not see Gabriel and she said this to Muhammad directly.

  As we have seen Dayananda Saraswati observe, the author of the Quran was not God, it was not even any learned or intelligent person. It was someone with a very limited knowledge and understanding. One who thought that God resides at a particular location in this Universe and is not Omnipresent, that God needs Angels to carry his messages.

   The size of earth in the visible universe is like a drop of water in the entire ocean, of all the oceans in the world. Or like a sand grain in the seashore, of all the seashores of the world. Would the creator of such a vast universe be bothered if tiny humans living on a tiny planet worship Him as the only God and follow Muhammad or not? A journey by an airplane gives an indication as to how insignificant we are even on this earth. Looking down from an airplane, humans seem less than ants. Imagine ourselves as the creator of all the sand particles on the seashore of all the seashores of the world. Would we be so concerned that tiny creatures living on one tiny particle somewhere unknown follow us and if they don’t worship us, would we burn them in Hell? Or would we be so concerned about tiny viruses living on a drop of water somewhere deep down in the Pacific Ocean?

   Imagine one such small creature who lives in a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean telling others that he is the Messenger of the Creator of all oceans i.e. us and if other viruses (which are so tiny that they are invisible) do not follow him, we will roast them in Hell forever.

   How ridiculous would it sound?

   A well-known scholar and perhaps the most knowledgeable person on Islam in the world today, Ali Sina, has given an apt analogy. Imagine if there is an ant colony somewhere in our garden. Would we burn ants in fire and torture them if they don’t worship us as the only Savior? Our garden and ants are still very significant, as compared to humans and the Universe. Our Milky Way galaxy is utterly insignificant in it. Then our solar system is an invisible speck inside this galaxy and then there is Earth. Even the sun, which we see everyday, is some 15 crore (i.e. 150 million) kilometer away from the earth, and it takes light a good 8 minutes to reach the earth from the sun. What is our significance in this universe? Nothing! Would the maker of such a vast universe be offended if we humans don’t worship him? It is utterly foolish to say such a thing.

   The Hubble Space Telescope has detected galaxies that are 46 billion light years away from each direction of the Earth. That is an expanse of 92 billion light years from one side of the observable universe to the other side. The observable universe, which is 92 billion light years wide is not all the universe. The complete universe is much, much bigger. According to some calculation, the whole universe would have grown to some 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times the size of the observable universe. That is 10 followed by 24 zeros. Put in another way, the complete universe is to the observable universe, as the observable universe is to an atom.

   Now, let us assume that the Creator (Assuming God exists) of this vast universe does indeed want all humans to worship Him as the only God and follow his only true religion. Surely He can do so in better ways. He can create mankind in a manner whereby everyone is born with belief suited to Him. He can alter human brain in a manner whereby everyone will naturally worship Him as the only God and follow His last Messenger. Or He can show Himself to humanity, or at least send His angels to show them to humanity.

   It is the basic belief of Islam that Islam is the way to Heaven, the door to Eternal Paradise, while not accepting Islam is the way to Hell Fire- also eternal. The sufferings in Hell are mentioned in the Quran many times (Chapter 22 Verses 19-22 are a bit too horrific!), and the whole Quran is full of sentences like “For the disbelievers there is a painful doom”. There are also Muslims desperate to spread ‘The Message of Islam’ in India- through leaflets on railway stations, and other things urging Hindus to give up idolatory and polytheism and recognizing Islam as the only true religion of God since ‘God will not accept anything other than Islam’ (Quran 3:85). Even a cursory visit to the website www.islamreligion.com which is a website made for non-Muslims and massively advertized on the internet makes this point very clear. Often the question is asked- “What about the people who are unaware of Islam?”

   The leaflets and Muslims who try their best to ‘spread the message of Islam’ say that their job is only to spread the message of Islam- ‘there is no compulsion in religion’ (Quran 2:256) which is of course, false, since such passages are early Meccan verses when Muhammad’s followers were in a minority . As for people who are unaware about Islam, some say “God will judge such people by their deeds and decide whether they will go to Hell or Heaven. As for those who were aware about Islam but did not convert to it, Eternal Hell is the only place where God will send them. As for believers, i.e. Muslims, God will send good people to Heaven directly, evil-doers in Hell for a period of time depending on their deeds and then transfer them to Eternal Heaven because they followed the true religion of God”.

   There are many who believe that all non-Muslims will automatically go to Hell, irrespective of whether they are aware of Islam or not. Not believing in God and Muhammad as his Final Prophet is sufficient crime for Eternal hell, even though they may not have even heard of Muhammad ever. If one assumes that all non-Muslims go to Hell irrespective of whether they are aware of Islam or not, then this leads one to ask- Why would God not even keep some people aware of Islam, give them a chance to accept Muhammad’s Prophethood and directly burn them in Hell for eternity for no fault of theirs? Even Muslims who write letters to the editor in English weekly Organiser, which is run by RSS activists, have written that “Message of Islam has not reached India”. This was written by Tanvir Fatima in one her letters.

   Now the question comes- “Would the Almighty God leave 80 % people in the world unaware of the Message of his own true religion?” Islam has been present in India since more than 1300 years, the first attack was in AD 636 and the first mosque was built in Kerala in 629 AD, during Muhammad’s own lifetime. Even after so many years in India, ruling considerable part of the country for more than 500 years (AD 1206- 1707), how has the message of Islam not reached the Indian people? Most Indians, even today in this age of Internet, are totally unaware about the basic ideologies of Islam, its strong hatred for idolatry, its belief in a exclusive, jealous God, its belief in Eternal Heaven and Hell and Day of Judgment, or its massive adulation and following of Muhammad etc.

   As an example, let us say breaking of idols. Since Islam considers idolatry as an unforgivable sin (believing that worshiping God in the form of an idol or symbol is equal to worshiping someone other than God, and this makes the exclusive God jealous) it would rejoice at breaking of idols of Tulja Bhavani (of whom Chhatrapati Shivaji was a great devotee) in her sacred city of Tuljapur. But Hindus- then as well as now-would consider this as an unforgivable sin, as an insult of Goddess Bhavani and genuinely believe that idol breakers would be punished by God for such an act. If this is the situation in a place like India, where Islam has been present for more than 1300 years, then what can be said about places where Islam did not even touch until recently, like South America, or Australia/ New Zealand?

   As in 1991 AD, Muslims constituted 19.9 % of the world population. This percentage has grown tremendously with time, especially in the past 100 years,and even more since the holocaust and genocide and elimination of virtually all Hindus from Pakistan (from 20 % in 1947 to 1 % now) and Bangladesh (29 % in 1947 to less than 10 % now). This global Muslim population must have been something like 15 % till a 100 years ago and even lesser and lesser as we go back in time.

   Now out of the remaining 85% non-Muslims of the world, most of them were unaware of the Message of Islam, its ideology and beliefs! And a majority were not even aware about Islam’s existence! Poor, illiterate people of South America, or North American’s original residents till, say, at least AD 1800 (more than a thousand years since Islam’s birth), were not even aware about existence of any such religion in any part of the world! Even today, only a little more than 20 % of the world is Muslim and most of the remaining non-Muslims are unaware about Islam’s message and ideologies.

   If Islam was really from God, would he have kept an overwhelming majority of the humans unaware about his only true religion? He, being all-powerful, all-knowing could have easily found a way to make South Americans and North Americans and the rest of the world aware about Islam and its message right since the beginning of Islam. He could have also easily aided Muslims in spreading Islam’s message to these places, and helped them discover these places in the first place, instead of allowing Christopher Columbus to discover America in 1492, nearly 900 years after the birth of Islam!

   That even after nearly 1400 years after its birth, and massive killings in wars, enslaving people, forcibly converting the entire populations to Islam (Islamic scripture itself is quite unambiguous about the manner in which Islam was forced on the people by Muhammad and his supporters) -regions North and West of Arabia succumbed immediately after Muhammad’s death, areas like Turkey were subdued in AD 960, only little more than 20 % of the world follows Islam, shows that it is definitely not from God.

   If God willed and Islam was truly his religion, he would have easily made everyone aware about Islam and its ideologies in the present form (i.e. the Quran containing so many errors and contradictions). The word ‘present form’ is used because doing supernatural things to prove Islam’s truth such as rearranging stars to make them read “Islam is true- it is from God and I have rearranged stars to make you aware of it” or to order Angel Gabriel to show himself to everyone to today- is not being mentioned at all! To this many Muslims would argue, that God ‘tests’ Muslims to do their duty and spread his message. Such an argument too could have a little merit had there been at least 20 % followers of God’s true religion everywhere in the world -to spread the message of Islam in places like South America and North America throughout Islam’s 1400 years.

   In all places where Islam’s message has spread, through sword or through preaching, it has been entirely due to humans and it has reached a mere 20 % of the world in 1400 years.

Quran mistakes Jesus’ mother Mary for Moses’ sister Mariam

 There is a passage in the Quran that describes the mother of Jesus of Nazareth as the sister of Aaron. It goes like this: “At length she brought (the babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O Mary! Truly a strange thing has thou brought! O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a man of evil, nor your mother a woman unchaste!’” (Sura 19:27-28).

But Aaron, the brother of Moses, lived and died centuries before Mary, the mother of Jesus was born; and Aaron’s sister was Miriam, not Mary. There is a time gap of more than 12 centuries between Jesus’ mother Mary and Moses’ sister Miriam. In the Arabic language, the word for Mary and Miriam is the same word (Maryam), perhaps the cause of this mistake. It is an error that an Arab of the 7^th Century might make, to mistake Mary for Miriam, but not a mistake that the all-knowing Allah would make.

 The above error was discovered during Muhammad’s lifetime, and it was brought to his attention. He had an answer for it.

 His explanation went as follows: “The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.” (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book on General Behaviour (Kitable Al-Adab), Book 025, Number 5326).

 There is no way that Muhammad could have known that this was the reason that Mary was called “sister of Aaron” in the Quran unless Allah told him. Mary is never addressed anywhere (and for any reason) as “the sister of Aaron” in any of the Jewish or Christian scriptures. So either Allah gave this explanation to Muhammad as the reason why Mary was addressed in the Quran as “the sister of Aaron,” or Muhammad lied.

   If we believe that Allah told this to Muhammad, then we have to wonder why, to avoid the appearance of an error in the Quran, Allah didn’t explain the use of the phrase “sister of Aaron” right in the Quran in the first place. For example, why didn’t the Quran say something like this: “At length she brought (the babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O Mary! Truly a strange thing has thou brought!’ And addressing her with a pious name of old, they said, ‘O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a man of evil, nor your mother a woman unchaste’”? Surely Allah, being the greatest of all poets, could have found a beautiful, perfect way to explain this issue in the Quran.

   Allah has many attributes, but “stupid” is not one of them. Why did Allah allow His perfect book to be doubted and attacked for describing Mary as “the sister of Aaron” when Allah could have easily fixed the problem beforehand right in the Quran? Because Allah did not fix this passage, many believe that Muhammad was lying to cover a mistake that he, not Allah, had made. Note that Muhammad’s explanation nullifies all other possible explanations, such as the possibility that the brother of Mary mentioned in the Quran was a different “Aaron” from the brother of Moses.

  Also note that the Quran is claimed to be a perfect book, but contains an imperfection that could have easily been corrected within the book itself, creating a contradiction of the most fundamental sort.

 Surely Allah knew that the phrase “sister of Aaron” would be read as a mistake by many readers. He knew that the Arabic word for Miriam and Mary was the same word, pointing to an Arab (and who else but Muhammad?) as the likely source of this passage. For all these reasons, Allah had every incentive to correct this problem in the Quran so that it would not look like Muhammad’s mistake; but He didn’t correct it.

   Therefore, we conclude that Allah did not write the Quran.

   However it is very likely that this hadith (in which Muhammad gives this explanation) was forged and falsely attributed to Muhammad. It may be an attempt to whitewash Muhammad’s error.

   Original link is this

   And unfortunately, this blunder is repeated again in Chapter 66 Verse 12 of the Quran. Nowhere in the Quran are Mary and Mariam mentioned as different characters. It should have been made clear in the Quran that even though the word is the same in Arabic, Mary the  Mother of Jesus lived more than 12 centuries after Mariam, the sister of Moses. Simple and clear! The Quran repeatedly claims to be a “clear book” (5:15), “easy to understand” (44:58 , 54:22 , 54:32, 54:40), “explained in detail” (6:114), “conveyed clearly” (5:16, 10:15), and with “no doubt” in it (2:1). Isn’t it clear that it mistakes Mary for Moses’ sister Miriam?

   For a more detailed study of this massive blunder of the Quran, open this link.

   However, in this case, one point we find worth mentioning is this. Perhaps the best exposure of mistakes in the Quran are made in the websites  www.answering-islam.org and in www.1000mistakes.com

   They seem to be even better than websites of former Muslims like www.faithfreedom.org or www.islam-watch.org  in trying to prove that Islam is false. These sites, answering-islam and 1000mistakes.com are run by Christians who say “Christ is the way”.  Some Muslims have tried to refute these sites and launched their own sites- like answering-christianity.com  They point out mistakes in the Bible and try to refute errors in the Quran.

    For neutral observers, both are partly in the right and partly in the wrong. They are both right when they point out errors in the others religious book viz. The Holy Bible and The Holy Quran. But their forcible defense in bending all rules of logic to forcibly explain the unexplainable, deny the undeniable and defend the indefensible errors in their own book are wrong.

   As a matter of fact, Hindu religious books too contain many errors, contradictions and mistakes and things which are not acceptable by today’s modern standards. But Hindus are free to reject such sentences in their religious books and follow modern civil laws, since Hinduism does not insist in blind belief without reason and blindly following a book accepting it as the “Word of God”. This freedom of thought of accepting or rejecting any or all of what is given is the beauty of Hinduism. And it is this free thinking, given in Hinduism (not in Islam and Christianity which insist on blind faith), which will liberate the world in the 21st century.