Contradictions in the Quran: Difference between revisions

{{QualityScore|Lead=3|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=3|References=4}}A recurring [[:Category:Criticism of Islam|criticism]] of the [[Qur'an|Quran]] is that it, as is argued of many other religious scriptures, contains '''contradictory pronouncements'''. The occurrence of these contradictions, critics argue, is particularly problematic in the case of the Quran because the Islamic tradition holds it to be the the direct, unmediated word of [[Allah]], or God. Indeed, {{Quran|4|82}} makes the confident assertion: "Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction." As such, theologians hold it to be timeless, infallible, and preeminently true - so true, in fact, that in reading it one is said to witness a miracle first hand. The contradictions proposed by critics militate against this doctrine. The critics hold that at least some of these contradictions are irresolvable through any reasonable interpretation and that, to resolve them, exegetes must resort to incredible interpretations. While some of the proposed contradictions, critics admit, may be resolved through the doctrine of [[Naskh (Abrogation)|abrogation]], whereby Allah is said to override his previous instructions (through, for instance, permitting [[alcohol]] at one point and prohibiting at another), many other contradictions are not resolvable in this manner. Indeed, the Islamic tradition holds that the doctrine of abrogation is only applicable in cases of law and not theology - what Allah says at any point with regards to the divine, the hereafter, history, the day of judgement, or other such non-legal matters, must (and, the tradition holds, does) always hold true. Critics, however, have stated that many, including some of the most problematic, of the proposed contradictions are precisely of the theological, and not legal, variety.  

Many stories in the Quran are repeated in other surahs. This risks ample opportunity for a human author or editor to unwittingly introduce contradictions between the parallel narratives. Indeed this is the case. Most of the examples in this section are from the following article where they are discussed in more depth, with further insights and examples.<BR />

[https://quranvariants.wordpress.com/narrative-contradictions-in-the-quran/ Narrative Contradictions in the Quran] - [https://quranvariants.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/narrative-contradictions-in-the-quran-1.pdf (Direct pdf download link)]  

Academic scholars have noticed that the author or editor of the Quran appears to have combined in 2:36-39 the stories of Adam in 7:22-25 and 20:121-124, with the awkward result that Allah tells Adam and company to go down from paradise twice, in verses 2:36 and 2:38.<ref>Witztum, Joseph. 2011. [https://www.docdroid.net/EBk1ghM/the-syriac-milieu-of-the-quran-the-recasting-of-biblical-narratives-pdf The Syriac Milieu of the Qur’ ̄an: The Recasting of Biblical Narratives] Ph.D. thesis, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. pp. 69-79</ref> In Surah 7 Adam requests forgiveness from Allah, but does not say whether Allah did forgive him. Instead, it immediately proceeds to the command to descend in 7:24, taken word for word by 2:36 in the Arabic text. Surah 20 on the other hand has Adam forgiven before the command to descend (part of a longer section narrated chronologically). Surah 2 appears to fix the ambiguity in surah 7 by inserting Allah's forgiveness after (fa - see note above) the part of the descent command from surah 7, which can be seen also partly in 20:123 where the forgiveness has already occurred.

{{Quran-range|37|87|97}} contains a simpler version of the story in which Abraham smashes the idols in {{Quran-range|21|57|68}}. The two versions conflict in terms of where the events take place. In surah 37, everything takes place at the location of the idols. After some dialogue, we see in verse 90 “Then they turned away from him, departing” (fatawallaw ʿanhu mud'birīna); Abraham then smashes the idols; and “Then they came toward him, hastening” (fa-aqbalū ilayhi yaziffūna). Lane's Lexicon entry for the conjunction fa used at the start of 37:94 explains that in such usage as we see here, fa conveys proximate and uninterrupted succession.<ref>fa - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000105.pdf Lane's Lexicon pp. 2321-2323]</ref>

In contrast, the longer surah 21 version has the people return to find the smashed idols but Abraham is no longer present there. They send a party to bring him, and then back amidst the idols he shows them the folly of their ways. So in that version it is Abraham who comes to them.

1) In Surah 11 and Surah 51 Abraham's fear comes after the angels do not take the food and it is at that point that they reassure him of their mission (either to the people of Lot or to bring him the good tidings). In surah 15 however, Abraham expresses his fear as they arrive exchanging greetings of peace.

2) Abraham's wife receives the good tidings either directly (Surah 11) or indirectly having overhead the tidings given to Abraham (Surah 51). Her immediate reaction is the same in both versions.

3) In 51:28 (and 15:53) Abraham is only given tidings of a learned boy (singular), which his wife overhears, whereas in 11:71 his wife is given tidings both of Isaac and of Jacob. Again, it is notable that her same immediate reaction is given in 51:29 and 11:72, so these are portraying the same moment.

4) In 11:70 the angels calm Abraham's fear by telling him that they have been sent to the people of Lot. Later, in verse 74, he argues with them on behalf of the people of Lot (qawmi lūṭin, again) perhaps having already understood their intention earlier. In surahs 15 and 51 they instead respond to Abraham's fear with the good tidings and it is only later in 15:57 and 51:31 that he seems to learn of their next mission when he asks “Then what” (famā) is their next business.

15:66 And We conveyed to him [the decree] of that matter: that those [sinners] would be eliminated by early morning.<BR />

1) In surah 15, the angels tell Lot when they first arrive that they are there to save him and his family from the punishment to come. A mob arrives trying to take the visitors and Lot attempts to placate them by offering his daughters. In Q. 11, the sequence of events is very expressly the other way around, with the mob events occurring first, which leads to the angels explaining how they will save them. Although 15:67 starts with the "And" conjunction (like some of the previous verses), the suspicion of contradiction in Q. 15 is well justified from the textual sequence of the elements (this is, after all, a narrative), and from what naturally reads like the angels explaining themselves upon their arrival in the first few verses. This is even apparent from the way Lot addresses them as "people unknown" (qawmun munkarūna) in 15:62, mirroring the way Abraham addressed them when he greeted them in 51:25 (see above).

2) Another contradiction concerns the context in which they tell Lot of their mission to save him and his family. In 15:61-66, the angels reveal this in response to him addressing them as people unknown / strange when they first come to him, alluding in verse 63 to Lot's pleadings to the people in other passages. In surah 11, instead they reveal this to ease the fear he expresses about the mob.

All three versions have “O Moses, Indeed, I am Allah” as a common element in the Arabic. However, there is otherwise little attempt at consistency in the variant stories. In surah 27, Allah is introduced as “Lord of the worlds” in the 3rd person and introduces himself with the common element along with another title. In surah 28 we see the opposite sequence with the “Lord of the Worlds” title used in the 1st person after the common introduction.

After the golden calf incident, Moses grabs Aaron, who makes two very different pleadings in surahs 7 and 20. It is possible with some awkwardness to harmonise that he gave the two different excuses, one after the other, though it is further worth noting that in both accounts Aaron's protest begins with the common address “O son of my mother” as Moses grabs him.

|And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after [my departure]. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and '''seized his brother by [the hair of] his head, pulling him toward him. [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother''', indeed the people oppressed me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."

20:94 [Aaron] said, "'''O son of my mother''', do not seize [me] by my beard or by my head.''' Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe [or await] my word.' "<BR />

===Command to the children of Israel upon reaching a town===

In very similar passages in which Muhammad is asked to mention an episode occurring some time after the exodus from Egypt, parallel verses invert the order in which Allah quotes himself telling the children of Israel to enter a city gate bowing humbly and request relief of their burdens. Ironically, the next verse in each case complains about Allah's words being changed.

 

{| class="wikitable"  width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="1" align="center"

! scope=col style="width: 50%;" |{{Quran-range|2|58|59}}

! scope=col style="width: 50%;" |{{Quran-range|7|161|162}}

|- style="vertical-align: top;"

|2:58 And [recall] when We said, "Enter this city and eat from it wherever you will in [ease and] abundance, and <span style="color:#0000FF">enter the gate bowing humbly</span> and say, <span style="color:#008000">'Relieve us of our burdens.'</span> We will [then] forgive your sins for you, and We will increase the doers of good [in goodness and reward]."<BR />

2:59 But those who wronged changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them, so We sent down upon those who wronged a punishment from the sky because they were defiantly disobeying.

|7:161 And [mention, O Muhammad], when it was said to them, "Dwell in this city and eat from it wherever you will and say, <span style="color:#008000">'Relieve us of our burdens,'</span> and <span style="color:#0000FF">enter the gate bowing humbly</span>; We will [then] forgive you your sins. We will increase the doers of good [in goodness and reward]."<BR />

|}

! scope=col style="width: 33%;" |{{Quran-range|27|7|9}}

! scope=col style="width: 33%;" |{{Quran-range|28|29|30}}

However, all other descriptions of Aad's destruction except for 41:13 say that it was by means of a violent wind over a day or number of days, which uprooted its people like trees and left only ruined homes.

Upon a throne

===Could Allah have a son?===

If Allah had willed to choose a son,

He created all things, and He hath full knowledge of all things  }}

 

 

{{Quote|{{cite quran|19|20|end=21|style=ref}}|She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed."}}

 

 

{{Quote|{{Quran|6|101}}|To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: How can He have a son when He hath no consort? He created all things, and He hath full knowledge of all things.}}

 

 

 

They say: "Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord?" Say: "The Unseen is only for Allah (to know), then wait ye: I too will wait with you." }}

 

No, Solomon can too

 

Said an 'Ifrit, of the Jinns: "I will bring it to thee before thou rise from thy council: indeed I have full strength for the purpose, and may be trusted." }}

{{Quote|{{Quran|25|70}}|

Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, }}

Allah does not send angels near disbelievers

{{Quote|{{Quran|15|8}}|

We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated. }}

===How long did it take Allah to create heaven and earth?===

===How long will the unbelievers think they remained on Earth?===

{{Quote|{{Quran|79|46}}|It will be, on the Day they see it, as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|30|55|56}}|And the Day the Hour appears the criminals will swear they had remained but an hour. Thus they were deluded. But those who were given knowledge and faith will say, "You remained the extent of Allah 's decree until the Day of Resurrection, and this is the Day of Resurrection, but you did not used to know."}}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|20|102|104}}|The Day the Horn will be blown. And We will gather the criminals, that Day, blue-eyed. They will murmur among themselves, "You remained not but ten [days in the world]." We are most knowing of what they say when the best of them in manner will say, "You remained not but one day."}}

A day or part of a day

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|23|112|114}}|[Allah] will say, "How long did you remain on earth in number of years?" They will say, "We remained a day or part of a day; ask those who enumerate." He will say, "You stayed not but a little - if only you had known.}}

===What happens to mountains on ''Qiyamah''?===

 

{{Quote|{{Quran|78|20}}|

And the mountains are removed and will be [but] a mirage.}}

 

 

 

{{Quote|{{Quran|27|85}}|

And the Word will be fulfilled against them, because of their wrong-doing, and they will be unable to speak}}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|77|34-38}}|Woe, that Day, to the deniers. This is a Day they will not speak, Nor will it be permitted for them to make an excuse. Woe, that Day, to the deniers. This is the Day of Judgement; We will have assembled you and the former peoples.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|36|65}}|

That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to us, and their feet bear witness, to all that they did. }}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|37|20|28}}|They will say, "O woe to us! This is the Day of Recompense." [They will be told], "This is the Day of Judgement which you used to deny." [The angels will be ordered], "Gather those who committed wrong, their kinds, and what they used to worship Other than Allah, and guide them to the path of Hellfire And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned." [They will be asked], "What is [wrong] with you? Why do you not help each other?" But they, that Day, are in surrender. And they will approach one another blaming each other. They will say, "Indeed, you used to come at us from the right."}}

Then as for he who is given his record in his right hand, He will be judged with an easy account And return to his people in happiness. But as for he who is given his record behind his back, He will cry out for destruction And [enter to] burn in a Blaze.}}

 

 

 

 

 

 

===Is there a fate other than Heaven or Hell?===

 

 

 

 

Between them is a veil. And on the Heights are men who know them all by their marks. And they call unto the dwellers of the Garden: Peace be unto you! They enter it not although they hope (to enter).}}

 

===Is intercession possible?===

===Who was the first Muslim?===

Muhammad (the square brackets is a commentary not present in the Arabic)

{{Quote|{{Quran|6|163}}|No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first [among you] of the Muslims."}}

One Muslim is more powerful than 10 non-Muslims

One Muslim can overcome two non-Muslims

Yes

===Is drinking alcohol okay?===

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|83|22|26}}|Indeed, the righteous (will be) surely in bliss, On thrones observing. You will recognize in their faces (the) radiance (of) bliss. They will be given to drink of a pure wine sealed, Its seal (will be of) musk. And for that let aspire the aspirers.}}

 

 

{{Quote|{{Quran|47|15}}|A parable (of) Paradise which is promised (to) the righteous. Therein (are) rivers of water not polluted, and rivers of milk not changes its taste, and rivers of wine delicious for (the) drinkers, and rivers of honey purified, and for them therein of all fruits and forgiveness from their Lord like he who (will) abide forever in the Fire and they will be given to drink water boiling so it cuts into pieces their intestines.}}

 

Yes, as long as you're not praying

No, it is bad

No, it is a severe sin

Yes

Yes, unless the disbelievers pay you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

===How should unbelievers be treated?===

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. }}

 

 

 

And if they contend with you that you should associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them, and keep company with them in this world kindly, and follow the way of him who turns to Me, then to Me is your return, then will I inform you of what you did }}

 

 

O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers. }}

===Should Muslims have Christians for friends?===

No, letters such as those at the start have an incomprehensible meaning

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|4|11|12}}|Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females, and if there be women more than two, then theirs is two-thirds of the inheritance, and if there be one (only) then the half. And to each of his parents a sixth of the inheritance, if he have a son; and if he have no son and his parents are his heirs, then to his mother appertaineth the third; and if he have brethren, then to his mother appertaineth the sixth, after any legacy he may have bequeathed, or debt (hath been paid). Your parents and your children: Ye know not which of them is nearer unto you in usefulness. It is an injunction from Allah. Lo! Allah is Knower, Wise.

<br>

And unto you belongeth a half of that which your wives leave, if they have no child; but if they have a child then unto you the fourth of that which they leave, after any legacy they may have bequeathed, or debt (they may have contracted, hath been paid). And unto them belongeth the fourth of that which ye leave if ye have no child, but if ye have a child then the eighth of that which ye leave, after any legacy ye may have bequeathed, or debt (ye may have contracted, hath been paid). And if a man or a woman have a distant heir (having left neither parent nor child), and he (or she) have a brother or a sister (only on the mother's side) then to each of them twain (the brother and the sister) the sixth, and if they be more than two, then they shall be sharers in the third, after any legacy that may have been bequeathed or debt (contracted) not injuring (the heirs by willing away more than a third of the heritage) hath been paid. A commandment from Allah. Allah is Knower, Indulgent.}}