Quranism: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|{{Quran|4|80}}|'''He who obeys the Messenger, obeys Allah''': But if any turn away, We have not sent thee to watch over their (evil deeds).}}

For one thing, the Qur'an is full of [[Contradictions in the Quran|contradictory verses]] and commands; sometimes commanding believers to seek out and kill pagans ({{Quran|9|5}}), other times commanding Muslims to leave pagans to practice their polytheistic religions in peace ({{Quran|109|1-6}}). Without the Hadith and the Sirah to give context to the [[Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)]] , the doctrine of [[Abrogation (Naskh)|Abrogation]] becomes untenable as there exists no clear timeline of which verses were revealed at which time and the Qur'an itself provides little to no evidence in this regard. The pacifist can decide to take from it a peaceful message by deliberately ignoring or twisting violent verses whereas the sadist can easily interpret a violent message by focusing on such verses as are found in Surah 9.  Both Muslims could be selectively justified by the Qur'an because of its contradictory messages from [[Chronological_Order_of_the_Qur'an|Muhammad-in-Mecca versus Muhammad-in-Medina]].

The often-levelled charge by the Qur'an-only sects that "Sunni's and Shi'ite's are following a deviant form of Islam by introducing these man-made books," is also questionable, considering most of the narrators of hadith are the very same people who passed down the Qur'an itself. The first Muslims ([[Sahabah]]- companions of Muhammad, which include all four [[Caliph|Rightly Guided Caliphs]]) who partook in the Hijra to [[Medina]], ''were not'' Qur'an-only Muslims as far as we can tell, nor the generation of Muslims that followed the death of Muhammad (the [[Tabi'un]]). As far back as the Rashidun Caliphs, the idea of "Sunnah" was salient although this idea changed rapidly in the first centuries of Islam. Recording and sorting through these narrations in written form was to codify and clarify already existing beliefs - though admittedly much later than the time of Muhammad, with the majority of compilations recorded in the 9th century (for a history on this, see the Britannica entry on [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hadith Hadith]), leading to many [[Mawdu' (Fabricated) and Daif (Weak) Hadiths|Mawdu' (Fabricated) and Da'if (Weak) Hadiths]] being recorded.  

===Other verses===

The message (Qur'an) is explained and elaborated upon by the Prophet. Preserving the message (Qur'an) also requires preserving the Sunnah which explains the message, as the previous verse states.

<BR>1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle.”}}

===Salah===

=== Sunni-Shia Split ===

There is nothing mentioned about how religious leaders are rightfully meant to be chosen, nor how religious laws are meant to be administered. With no direct instructions for a successor, or how to chose one (or them) in the Quran, there was a civil war almost immediately after Muhammad's death - which according to traditional accounts lead to the Sunni-Shia split. A quick summary of this can be read in this history.com [https://www.history.com/news/sunni-shia-divide-islam-muslim article].  

== Other issues ==

=== '''Characters in the Quran''' ===

There are also characters supposedly contemporary to Muhammad such as [[Abu Lahab]] ({{Quran|111|1}} (and his wife {{Quran|111|4}})) and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayd_ibn_Haritha_al-Kalbi Zayd] ({{Quran|33|37}}), who have no equivalents in biblical literature to refer to, that are named but not introduced formally - so the meaning of the verses and who they are is highly obscure (if not impossible to understand fully) without secondary literature.

=== Verses that have no meaning and/or make no sense ===

Many verses lack any clear meaning without further context, a few (of many) are given below. For example it is impossible to know what the following verses are talking about by themselves (tafsirs generally link them to angels, though the third verse is sometimes also linked to humans reciting the Quran).<ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/37.1 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 31:1].'' Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.</ref><ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/37.1 Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Verse 37:1-5]''. Ibn Kathir d 1373.</ref>   

Similarly the versus below are often given fanciful/mythological explanations by commentators, far beyond would ever be possible to gather from the Quran itself:<ref>[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/52.1 ''Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Verse 52:1-16''.] Ibn Kathir d. 1373.</ref> <ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/52.4 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 52:4.]'' Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.</ref>

There is no explanation of what the ten nights are.

{{Quote|{{Quran|89|1-3}}|“By the break of dawn, And ten nights, And the even and the odd,}}Nor the four months.

Even the whole of Surah 105 (Surah of the Elephant) is left unexplained, which we have to look to traditions and commentaries for the meaning and what it is referring to.<ref>E.g. ''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/105.1 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 105:1.]'' (Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.) summarises the general story.</ref>

==Criticism of hadiths==

The entire method of verifying isnads<ref>https://www.britannica.com/topic/isnad</ref> (a chain of narrators leading back to the prophet or his companions), and therefore the hadith, as being classed as authentic, good, weak or fabricated is also never mentioned in the Qur'an. These tell the reader whether they should be followed or not, so are of utter importance to the religion. However as Britannica notes, these are also a non-contemporary (to Muhammad or early companion's of his) invention:{{Quote|{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/isnad |title=Britannica entry on 'Isnads'}}|During Muhammad’s lifetime and after his death, hadiths were usually quoted by his Companions and contemporaries and were not prefaced by isnāds; only after a generation or two (c. 700 CE) did the isnād appear to enhance the weight of its text. In the 2nd century AH (after 720 CE), when the example of the Prophet as embodied in hadiths—rather than local custom as developed in Muslim communities—was established as the norm (sunnah) for an Islamic way of life, a wholesale creation of hadiths, all “substantiated” by elaborate isnāds, resulted. Since hadiths were the basis of virtually all Islamic scholarship, especially Qurʾānic exegesis (tafsīr) and legal theory (fiqh), Muslim scholars had to determine scientifically which of them were authentic. This was done by a careful scrutiny of the isnāds, rating each hadith according to the completeness of its chain of transmitters and the reliability and orthodoxy of its authorities.}}This has resulted in many different large collections across different books, which examining them all and personally scrutinising these chains being such an enormous task, it is usually simply left to scholars to issue rulings on matters, rather than a personal reading.

{{Quote|{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/isnad |title= Britannica entry on 'ʿilm al-ḥadīth'}}|Many scholars produced collections of hadiths, the earliest compilation being the great Musnad of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, arranged by isnād. But only six collections, known as al-kutub al-sittah (“the six books”), arranged by matn—those of al-Bukhārī (died 870), Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (died 875), Abū Dāʾūd (died 888), al-Tirmidhī (died 892), Ibn Mājāh (died 886), and al-Nasāʾī (died 915)—came to be recognized as canonical in orthodox Islam, though the books of al-Bukhārī and Muslim enjoy a prestige that virtually eclipses the other four.}}

==See Also==

*[http://www.faithfreedom.org/debates/EdipYukselindex.htm Debate - Edip Yuksel vs. Ali Sina] - ''Dr. Edip Yuksel, is a prominent member of the submitters (Qur'an-Only Muslims).''

===Links from Muslims===