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Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
The inheritance error is a major one for many ex-Muslims. Expanded a little to make clear that the fixes were more complex than apologists are comfortable admitting.
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As the above section explains, night and day in the Quran are a property of the entire heaven rather than a specific phenomena only occurring almost entirely on the surface of the Earth as it rotates and orbits the sun. The Qur'anic description extends to the night covering/veiling the day, chasing it rapidly ({{Quran|7|54}}). And god 'strips' the night of the day ({{Quran|36|37}}). The day and night are also said to successively overlap ({{Quran|39|5}}) or enter into each other ({{Quran|35|13}}, {{Quran|3|27}}, {{Quran|22|61}}, and {{Quran|57|6}}), which some Muslim scholars take as a reference to Earth's rotation though the earth is not mentioned in this process. | As the above section explains, night and day in the Quran are a property of the entire heaven rather than a specific phenomena only occurring almost entirely on the surface of the Earth as it rotates and orbits the sun. The Qur'anic description extends to the night covering/veiling the day, chasing it rapidly ({{Quran|7|54}}). And god 'strips' the night of the day ({{Quran|36|37}}). The day and night are also said to successively overlap ({{Quran|39|5}}) or enter into each other ({{Quran|35|13}}, {{Quran|3|27}}, {{Quran|22|61}}, and {{Quran|57|6}}), which some Muslim scholars take as a reference to Earth's rotation though the earth is not mentioned in this process. | ||
In addition, not only the sun and moon, but the day and night too are each (Kullun, which means "all"<ref>[https://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000256.pdf Lane's Lexicon supplement p. 3002 كُلّ]</ref>) floating/swimming in an orbit/sphere/hemisphere (fee falakin<ref name=" | In addition, not only the sun and moon, but the day and night too are each (Kullun, which means "all"<ref>[https://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000256.pdf Lane's Lexicon supplement p. 3002 كُلّ]</ref>) floating/swimming in an orbit/sphere/hemisphere (fee falakin<ref name="LLFalak" />) in Q. 21:33 and Q. 36:40. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|36|40}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|36|40}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}} | ||
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==Other== | ==Other== | ||
===Unmathematical | ===Unmathematical inheritance laws=== | ||
{{Main|Contradictions in the Quran}} | {{Main|Contradictions in the Quran}} | ||
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4.12: In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one). Thus is it ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Most Forbearing. }} | 4.12: In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one). Thus is it ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Most Forbearing. }} | ||
In a variety of situations, the shares of inheritance outlined in the Quran | In a variety of situations, the shares of inheritance outlined in the Quran leave ambiguities or add up to more than one.<ref>http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/i001.html</ref> | ||
*Wife: 1/8 = 3/24, | *Wife: 1/8 = 3/24, | ||
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*'''Total''' = 27/24=1.125 | *'''Total''' = 27/24=1.125 | ||
To deal with | To deal with situations where the total shares exceed one, Caliph Umar innovated the [https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/222526/the-origion-of-awl-in-inheritance-law post-Quranic 'awl system] whereby the shares are all reduced by the same proportion so that they add up to one. This is often falsely presented in online discourse as the agreed solution for all such scenarios. | ||
In fact, yet another post-Quranic approach was invented when there are no children and the share for the spouse in verse 12 and for the parents in verse 11 was thought to exceed one. | |||
If the deceased is survived only by a spouse and both parents, the spouse receives their full Quranic share (a quarter for a widow, or a half for a widower). Then the shares for the deceased's parents are calculated from the remainder of the estate (a third of the remainder for the mother, two thirds of the remainder for the father). This procedure too is credited to Umar and is used in online inheritance calculators. | |||
Some companions such as Ibn Abbas and Ali advocated a different approach in this scenario: both the spouse and the mother receive their full Quranic shares of the original estate (a quarter / half, and a third, respectively). Then the remainder after that goes to the father. This was rejected by the majority, who assumed the father cannot inherit less than the mother and interpreted the inheritance for parents in verse 11 as though the word "only" was present (seen in brackets in the above translation).<ref>A. Hussain, ''The Islamic Law of Succession'', Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2005, pp. 169-173</ref> | |||
Critics also note that an inheritance contradiction occurs between the above verses and {{Quran|4|176}}, a verse oddly appended to the end of the surah (see discussion at end of the main article). | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||