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Quranism: Difference between revisions
→Verses that have no meaning and/or make no sense
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{{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).}} | {{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).}} | ||
This verse somewhat begs the question of what, exactly, it is that the Messenger commands, since the Qur'anists themselves subscribe to the idea that the Qur'an is the word of [[Allah (God)]] himself and not just Muhammad's inspired word. The Qur’an also commands Muslims to follow the Messenger’s example, yet the only place this example is established is in the Sunnah. Without the Hadith, one cannot know Muhammad. Without knowing Muhammad, there is no [[Uswa Hasana]]. Doubting the hadith thus opens up multiple lines of doubt about | This verse somewhat begs the question of what, exactly, it is that the Messenger commands, since the Qur'anists themselves subscribe to the idea that the Qur'an is the word of [[Allah (God)]] himself and not just Muhammad's inspired word. The Qur’an also commands Muslims to follow the Messenger’s example, yet the only place this example is established is in the Sunnah. Without the Hadith, one cannot know Muhammad. Without knowing Muhammad, there is no [[Uswa Hasana]]. Doubting the hadith thus opens up multiple lines of doubt about entirety of Islam. If one rejects the hadiths, that in-turn rejects Islam as a system by going against the orders of the Qur'an and, in the eyes of most Muslims, renders the rejecter an apostate/murtad/kafir (whichever may apply). Ultimately, to remain faithful to Allah and the Qur'an in the traditional sense, there is no alternative to the Sunnah of the prophet as embodied in the hadith. | ||
Islam means [[The Meaning of Islam|submission]] (contrary to popular belief that it means ''peace''), and more specifically it means ''submission to the will of Allah.'' | Islam means [[The Meaning of Islam|submission]] (contrary to popular belief that it means ''peace''), and more specifically it means ''submission to the will of Allah.'' Qur'an-only Muslims believe that the Qur'an clearly defines what exactly Allah's will is. But the case is not so clear. | ||
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]]. | 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]]. | ||
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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. | 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. | ||
It can be argued that Qur'an only Muslims often reject the Hadith, a fundamental aspect of mainstream Islam, simply due to it preserving the norms of the early Islamic community which are in flagrant contradiction to modern, liberal mores around consent, sexuality, freedom of belief, and human rights. They may deny this as the reason behind their rejection of Hadith, but this appears to fit the idea by many | It can be argued that Qur'an only Muslims often reject the Hadith, a fundamental aspect of mainstream Islam, simply due to it preserving the norms of the early Islamic community which are in flagrant contradiction to modern, liberal mores around consent, sexuality, freedom of belief, and human rights. They may deny this as the reason behind their rejection of Hadith, but this appears to fit the idea by many Quranists who accept Hadith essentially as a historical source for the emergence of Islam but dismiss it as a religious or law-giving one. Critics argue this approach is logically unfeasible - either the Hadith are a valid source of information for Muslims, or they are not. One should not be able to pick and choose which bits to keep and which bits to ignore when the 'good' and the 'bad' all originate from the same sources. | ||
===Other verses=== | ===Other verses=== | ||
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<BR>1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle.”}} | <BR>1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle.”}} | ||
These are Muhammad's words and are not found within the Qur'an. Therefore, Islam’s First Pillar is without basis in the | These are Muhammad's words and are not found within the Qur'an. Therefore, Islam’s First Pillar is without basis in the absence of the works of Muslim historians Ibn Ishaq (704-770 AD) and al-Tabari (838-923 AD). If there is no definition as to what the [[Shahadah]] should be (or indeed if there is one at all), it can be any arbitrary phrase in any language (or not be carried out at all). In fact there are at-least three different shahadahs used by various Qur'anist sects. | ||
===Salah=== | ===Salah=== | ||
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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]. | 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]. | ||
''' | There is no actual direct concept of a political caliph (khilafah) in the Quran, which is central to both of the two most widespread branches of Islam, Sunni and Shi'i Islam. One can see all the ways this word is used on Quran Corpus [https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=xlf here] in the 'noun' sections, denoting general successors rather than the political leader of the Muslim community. In fact the term did not denote a distinct political or religious institution during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. It began to acquire its later meaning and to take shape as an institution after Muhammad’s death.<ref>''[https://www.britannica.com/topic/caliph Caliph Entry]'' | Definition & History | Britannica | Professor Asma Afsaruddin</ref> | ||
== 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. | 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. | ||
=== Abrogation === | |||
Scholars of Islam developed the principle of [[Naskh (Abrogation)]] which is used to reconcile seemingly contradictory commandments ''(e.g. see: [[List of Abrogations in the Qur'an]])'' in the Quran. This is where an earlier verse is 'abrogated' by new verses, and becomes no longer valid as the latest verse now applies. | |||
The main issue specifically for Quranists is that the Quran itself does not come in [[:en:Chronological_Order_of_the_Qur'an|chronological order]] of the time of revelation, but mostly follows a pattern of longer Surahs at the beginning getting shorter as one goes through the book. Only by using extra-Quranic material from traditions is it possible to come up with an order to know which ruling would abrogate which. | |||
For example, many classical Islamic scholars (such as Ibn Kathir)<ref>[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/4.15 ''Ibn Kathir Tafsir on Verse 4:15.''] Ibn Kathir d.1373</ref> believe that the verse commanding women to be confined to house arrest until death for a vague 'lewdness' (l-fāḥishata) charge: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|15}}|If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way}} | |||
Was then abrogated by a newly mentioned punishment for adultery: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|24|2}}|The [unmarried] woman or [unmarried] man found guilty of sexual intercourse - lash each one of them with a hundred lashes, and do not be taken by pity for them in the religion of Allah, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day.}} | |||
But there is no obvious way to reconcile this without the extra traditions. | |||
=== 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> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|37|1-4}}|“By those ranged in ranks. Then those who drive away with reproof. And those who recite a reminder. Lo! Your Lord is surely One.”}} | |||
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> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|52|1-4}}|By the mountain, And a book inscribed, In parchment spread open, And the frequented house}} | |||
And again: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|79|1-5}}|By those who extract violently, And those who draw out gently, by those that swim serenely, and those that outstrip suddenly, And those who glide swimming, And those who race each other (in) a race, by those that direct an affair!}} | |||
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. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|36}}|The number of months with God is twelve in accordance with God's law since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these four are holy. This is the straight reckoning. So do not exceed yourselves during them; but fight the idolaters to the end as they fight you in like manner; and remember, God is with those Who preserve themselves from evil and do the right.}} | |||
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> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|105|1-5}}|Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with the army of the elephants? Did He not put their scheme into ruin? and send against them flocks of birds. Which hit them with stones of baked clay, thus making them like chewed-up straw?}}As are the first four verses of surah 90, as there is nothing to link the oath with the city of Mecca and it's meaning to Muhammad without extra-Quranic material. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|90|1-4}}|Nay! I swear by this city, | |||
And you (are) free (to dwell) in this city. | |||
And the begetter and what he begot. | |||
Certainly, We have created man (to be) in hardship.}} | |||
==Criticism of hadiths== | ==Criticism of hadiths== | ||