Tuesday, July 5, 2016

The Quran's Inconsistencies and Its Self Refutation regarding the Gospel

            Christian Apologetical arguments against Islam seem much rarer than the arguments addressed towards Atheists, Eliminative Materialists, and Skeptics in general. I’ve always felt a particular pull towards Islam, probably due to it being less compromising towards the principles of Modernism and more willing to stand firm. Nevertheless, I have spent a good amount of time studying it, and through my studies I found numerous flaws within it. These flaws are not just moral, but found within the Quran itself, contradictory statements proving it surely is not the word of God.


To begin, we find that the Quran states Allah is Abraham’s God, the same God of the Torah and the Gospel. As stated in Surah 3 Verses 3-4 -

 Verse 3 – “He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel” Continued in Verse 4 – “Before, as guidance for the people. And He revealed the Criterion [i.e., the Quran].

And in Surah 29 Verse 46 –

Verse 46 -  “And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, “We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.

From this, it follows that Muhammad’s God must be identical with the God of those who follow the Torah and the Gospel, and Muhammad must be successor of the Prophets who came before him, which is stated in Surah 7 Verse 157 -  

Verse 157 - “Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [i.e., mentioned] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel”

Besides the fact that Muhammad is never mentioned in the Gospel, and what Muslims typically claim refers to his coming actually refers to the Holy Spirit, the issue is with a few other Quranic verses. First is Surah 18 Verse 27 -

Verse 27 -  “And recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words, and never will you find in other than Him a refuge.”

This verse states that Allah’s words cannot be changed, yet as mentioned above in Surah 3 Verses 3-4, Allah also revealed the Torah and the Gospel, so how were they corrupted, as it states no one can change Allah’s words.
           
Muslims can attempt to dismiss this through claiming ‘His words’ in this verse refer to the Quran itself but it does not state that Allah’s Book cannot be corrupted, but Allah’s words. And even if we allow such a statement, it does not help the Muslim cause. For it no one can alter Allah’s book, then Allah himself altered his previous books (the Torah and the Gospel)! Allah himself would be the deceiver, leading people to Shirk, Idolatry.

We can already see the Quran contradict itself by saying the Torah and the Gospel are Allah’s words but now are corrupted and that we only have partially true scriptures (Surah 7 Verse 157). But it gets worse. The Muslim rebuttal is that the modern Gospel has bits of truth in it from the Injil, the Gospel which Allah supposedly revealed to Jesus. And that this Gospel that the Quran refers to is different from one we have today.

First, this is contradicted because no such Gospel has ever been discovered. The same Gospel Muhammad had during his time alive is the same Gospel of today! And even if there was a different Gospel, an unaltered Gospel at that time, it would be illogical for Muhammad or the Quran not clarify that a vast superiority of the other Gospels in circulation were fakes.  Even worse, Allah declares in Surah 10 Verse 94 –

Verse 94 -  “So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scriptures before you”

Why would Allah tell Muhammad to ask followers of the Gospel and Torah if he doubted he was a Prophet? It would imply that those Scriptures are true if Muhammad’s Prophet status is true. Even further Surah 5 Verse 46-47 -

Verse 46 -  “And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, son of Mary, confirming what which came before him in the Torah and We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light confirming that which preceded it of the Torah as guidance and instruction for the righteous”

Verse 47 – “And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein”

And in Surah 5 Verse 68 – “” Say, “O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord.””

The Quran says we stand on nothing until we uphold our own books and we are to judge by what Allah has revealed to us in our own book. Why would we judge the Quran on a flawed Gospel as mentioned in Surah 7 Verse 157? Is Allah telling us to judge with a false book? If the book isn't false, then why does the Quran  contradict and attempt to disprove it? And if we are to judge by it, it has authority over the Quran, but then how did it become corrupted if Allah's words cannot be corrupted? Let's see how the Gospel contradicts the Quran-
           
John 1-1 “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

Which contradicts Tawhid.

Mathew 28:19 – “Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Mathew 11:27 -  All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.”


Both contradict -

Surah 4 Verse 171 – “O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the Truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a  command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say “Three”; desist- it is better for you. Indeed,  Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above a son.”

This Quranic verse contradicts both Christ’s nature as God and second person of the Trinity and the fact that Jesus was the Father’s son. The Quran even states Christ was never even crucified in Surah 4 Verses 157-158 -

Verse 157 -  “And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain”

Verse 158 – “Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise”


This is obviously false by Gospel standards, let alone it makes no sense why Allah would allow for all of Jesus’s followers to be deceived into believing he was crucified while Allah actually raised him up. It would make more sense for Allah to allow the disciples to see such a glorious event, rather than to trick them. All of these biblical verses along with others contradict the Quranic verse -  

Mark 15: 25 “ And it was the third hour, and they crucified him”

Mark 15:37 “And Jesus having cried out with a loud voice, gave up the ghost”(died after Crucifixion)

Luke 24:6-7 6 - “He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spoke unto you, when he was in Galilee, 7- Saying: The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again”


Through this the Quran obviously disproves itself. Because if the Quran states that the Gospel is true, the Quran must be false because it contradicts the Gospel. But if the Gospel is false, then the Quran is also false, as the Quran asserts the validity and truth of the Gospel. And since there exists no other Gospel but one Gospel, the Bible, Islam is false. The Quran is self-refuting.




                        All Quranic translations are from The Saheeh International Version






           







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