Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah Al-Baqarah Verses 104-106.

Happy Al-Zutt Remembrance Day! Unfortunately, while I was writing this post, I completely forgot that this installation of Flippin’ Fatwa Friday would fall on this hilarious new holiday, which means that sadly (or thankfully, depending on how you look at it), we will not be talking about Muhammad’s midnight rendezvous with the thirty men of Al-Zutt. Instead, today’s takedown of the Quran can be summed up in these words: abrogation, abrogation, abrogation.

Oh, and a short ego trip, plus some tyranny. Let’s get into the passage.

104. O you who believe! Say not (while addressing the Prophet), “Ra’ina!” (Listen to us – a word used also for showing disrespect for the person addressed), rather say (an equivocal phrase), “Unzurna!” (- we beg your attention), and listen to him attentively, (that you stand not in need of any such phrases that have double meanings, one in a good sense, the other in a bad one). Indeed, there awaits the disbelievers a grievous punishment. 105. Neither those from among the people of the Scripture who disbelieved, nor the polytheists like that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord. But Allah singles out for his mercy whomsoever he wishes (to recieve his mercy), and Allah is of abounding bounty. 106. Whatever Message we abrogate or abandon it, we bring a better (Message) than that or (at least) the like of it. Do you not know that Allah is indeed Possessor of power to do all he will.

Thankfully, this is a short passage today, but it brings three points. The first one is fairly minor, with the instructions about how to address Muhammad. To me, this is just Exhibit A about how Muhammad’s ego was the size of a planet. Why would Allah be giving instructions about how to address Muhammad? We see this type of thing nowhere in the Bible, not in the prophets, not in the histories and chronicles, not in the psalms or wisdom literature, not in the Epistles, not in the Gospels, nowhere. But for some reason, it’s in the Quran. Strange, how instructions on how to address a mere “prophet” are in a book allegedly revealed by a god….

The second point is verse 105 talking about how Allah “singles out for his mercy whosoever he wishes (to receive his mercy).” As a Christian, there’s actually a big debate in the Christian community about this. Some Christians say that you are predestined in some way by God to receive Christ, and thus, receive God’s mercy. Others say that God knows what you’re going to do but never predestined you to do so (I’m in this camp, but that’s a topic for a different blog post). Either way you look at it, unless you’re hardcore in the predestination camp and believe everything has been predestined, God is still good.

Meanwhile, the same cannot be said about Islam. You have no choice in the matter. Allah decides before you’re conceived whether you’ll accept Islam or not. He decides who goes to Hell before they’re even born. This is supported by the hadith Sahih Muslim 2662, which says:

There is happiness for this child who is a bird from amongst the birds of Paradise. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: Don’t you know that Allah created the Paradise and He created the Hell and He created the dwellers for this (Paradise) and the denizens for this (Hell)? [2662c] Allah’s Messenger, there is happiness for this child who is a bird from the birds of Paradise for it committed no sin nor has he reached the age when one can commit sin. He said: ‘A’isha, per adventure, it may be otherwise, because God created for Paradise those who are fit for it while they were yet in their father’s loins and created for Hell those who are to go to Hell. He created them for Hell while they were yet in their father’s loins.

This means that not only is there no free will period, but Allah is dooming his creation to Hell on a whim. Every bad thing you do that leads there is just the will of Allah. It’s literally the excuse of “the devil made me do it,” only call the devil Allah.

Does this sound like a just god? How can a good god claim to be good, abounding in mercy, being the truth, and then turn around and doom the majority of humanity on a whim, giving them no freewill whatsoever? This is purely evil and also has far-reaching implications on the rest of Islam. The Adam and Eve story – for example – no longer becomes about how Adam and Eve, operating by free will ate of the Tree of Good and Evil because they found the false promises of Satan better than the promises of God. Instead, the fault rests solely on Allah because he destined that evil act to happen by this logic.

Then there’s the verse on abrogation. Not only does this debunk the claim from prominent Muslims such as Ali Dawah that abrogation doesn’t happen in Islam, but it also shows something much more sinister about Allah’s character.

He changes.

As Christians, we can say that God is our Rock because He never changes. His Word is concrete. He doesn’t go around changing His mind about things.

Allah, on the other hand, does change. He must abrogate his own word as human activity changes. For example, look at the peaceful verses in the Quran about not murdering people and treating the Jews and Christians well. Those are nice, right? But once Surah 9 comes along – a surah that was revealed towards the end of Muhammad’s life – all of that is abrogated. Allah apparently decided that actually the Jews and everyone else need to die after telling everyone to be tolerant of them.

Doesn’t that make you wonder what else Allah will change his mind on? Isn’t it odd that he’ll change the rules to fit Muhammad’s needs? It seems like the rules matter as much to Allah as they do to Calvin during a good game of Calvin-ball (sorry for the dated Calvin and Hobbes reference). Allah’s rules are as fickle as the wind because if he suddenly doesn’t like one set of rules, he can just change them.

Does that sound like a god that you can trust with your salvation?

Until next time,

M.J.