Criticism of the Qur'an
Encyclopedia
While the Qur'an
is the scriptural foundation of most forms of Islam
criticism of the Qur'an has frequently occurred. Critics have made allegations of scientific, theological, and historical errors, claims of contradictions in the Qur'an and criticisms of the Qur'an's moral values.
is the literal word of Abraham's God as recited to Muhammad
through the angel Gabriel
. Muhammad, according to tradition, recited perfectly what the angel Gabriel revealed to him for his companions to write down and memorize. Muslims hold that the wording of the Qur'anic text available today corresponds exactly to that revealed to Muhammad in the years 610–632.
Maurice Bucaille
states in The Bible, The Qur'an and Science that "The Qur'anic Revelation has a history which is fundamentally different from the other
two. It spanned a period of some twenty years and, as soon as it was transmitted to
Muhammad by Archangel Gabriel, Believers learned it by heart. It was also written
down during Muhammad's life. The last recensions of the Qur'an were effected under
Caliph Uthman starting some twelve years after the Prophet's death and finishing
twenty-four years after it. They had the advantage of being checked by people who
already knew the text by heart, for they had learned it at the time of the Revelation
itself and had subsequently recited it constantly. Since then, we know that the text has been scrupulously preserved. It does not give rise to any problems of authenticity."
John Wansbrough
believes that the Qur'an is a redaction
in part of other sacred scriptures, in particular the Judaeo-Christian
scriptures. In their book Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World
, Patricia Crone
and Michael Cook
challenge the traditional account of how the Qur'an was compiled, writing that "there is no hard evidence for the existence of the Koran in any form before the last decade of the seventh century." They also question the accuracy of some of the Qur'an's historical accounts. For example, professor Gerd R. Puin
's study of ancient Qur'an manuscripts led him to conclude that the Qur'an is a "cocktail of texts", some of which may have been present a hundred years before Muhammad.
Herbert Berg writes that "Despite John Wansbrough's very cautious and careful inclusion of qualifications such as 'conjectural,' and 'tentative and emphatically provisional', his work is condemned by some. Some of the negative reaction is undoubtedly due to its radicalness... Wansbrough's work has been embraced wholeheartedly by few and has been employed in a piecemeal fashion by many. Many praise his insights and methods, if not all of his conclusions."
It is generally acknowledged that the work of Crone and Cook was a fresh approach in its reconstruction of early Islamic history
, but the theory has been almost universally rejected. Van Ess has dismissed it stating that "a refutation is perhaps unnecessary since the authors make no effort to prove it in detail...Where they are only giving a new interpretation of well-known facts, this is not decisive. But where the accepted facts are consciously put upside down, their approach is disastrous." R. B. Sergeant states that "[Crone and Cook's thesis]… is not only bitterly anti-Islamic in tone, but anti-Arabian. Its superficial fancies are so ridiculous that at first one wonders if it is just a ‘leg pull’, pure ’spoof’." Francis Edwards Peters
states that "Few have failed to be convinced that what is in our copy of the Quran is, in fact, what Muhammad taught, and is expressed in his own words".
In 2006, legal scholar Liaquat Ali Khan claimed that Crone and Cook later explicitly disavowed their earlier book. Patricia Crone in an article published in 2006 provided an update on the evolution of her conceptions since the printing of the thesis in 1976. In the article she acknowledges that Muhammad existed as a historical figure and that the Qur'an represents "utterances" of his that he believed to be revelations. However she states that the Qur'an may not be the complete record of the revelations. She also accepts that oral histories and Muslim historical accounts cannot be totally discounted, but remains skeptical about the traditional account of the Hijrah and the standard view that Muhammad and his tribe were based in Mecca. She describes the difficulty in the handling of the hadith
because of their "amorphous nature" and purpose as documentary evidence for deriving religious law rather than as historical narratives.
Al-Kindi
claimed that the narratives in the Qur'an were "all jumbled together and intermingled" and that this was "an evidence that many different hands have been at work therein, and caused discrepancies, adding or cutting out whatever they liked or disliked". Bell and Watt suggested that the variation in writing style throughout the Qur'an, which sometimes involves the use of rhyming, may have indicated revisions to the text during its compilation. They claimed that there were "abrupt changes in the length of verses; sudden changes of the dramatic situation, with changes of pronoun from singular to plural, from second to third person, and so on". At the same time, however, they noted that "[i]f any great changes by way of addition, suppression or alteration had been made, controversy would almost certainly have arisen; but of that there is little trace." They also note that "Modern study of the Qur'an has not in fact raised any serious question of its authenticity. The style varies, but is almost unmistakable."
Critics reject the idea that the Qur'an is miraculously perfect and impossible to imitate (2:2, 17:88-89, 29:47, 28:49). The Jewish Encyclopedia
, for example, writes: "The language of the Koran is held by the Mohammedans to be a peerless model of perfection. Critics, however, argue that peculiarities can be found in the text. For example, critics note that a sentence in which something is said concerning Allah is sometimes followed immediately by another in which Allah is the speaker (examples of this are suras xvi. 81, xxvii. 61, xxxi. 9, and xliii. 10. Many peculiarities in the positions of words are due to the necessities of rhyme (lxix. 31, lxxiv. 3), while the use of many rare words and new forms may be traced to the same cause (comp. especially xix. 8, 9, 11, 16)." According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, "The dependence of Mohammed upon his Jewish teachers or upon what he heard of the Jewish Haggadah and Jewish practices is now generally conceded."
. Some critics of Islam and many Muslims state that the Qur'an and modern evolutionary theory
are not compatible. This has led to a contribution by Muslims to the creation vs. evolution debate. Some Muslims have pointed to certain Qur'anic verses (such as , , , ) that they think are in fact compatible with evolutionary science, but others think that only creationism
is supported by the Qur'an and the hadith.
Ahmad Dallal, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies
at Georgetown University
, writes that many modern Muslims believe that the Qur'an does make scientific statements, however many classical Muslim commentators and scientists, notably al-Biruni
, assigned to the Qur'an a separate and autonomous realm of its own and held that the Qur'an "does not interfere in the business of science nor does it infringe on the realm of science." These medieval scholars argued for the possibility of multiple scientific explanation
of the natural phenomena, and refused to subordinate the Qur'an to an ever-changing science.
The concept of "abrogation" in the Qur'an is that Allah chose to reveal ayat (singular ayah; means a sign or miracle, commonly a verse in the Qur'an) that supersede earlier ayat in the same Qur'an. The central ayah that deals with abrogation is Surah 2:106:
"None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things."
". Some early Islamic histories recount that as Muhammad was reciting Sūra Al-Najm (Q.53), as revealed to him by the angel Gabriel, Satan
tempted him to utter the following lines after verses 19 and 20: "Have you thought of Allāt
and al-'Uzzā and Manāt
the third, the other; These are the exalted Gharaniq, whose intercession is hoped for." The Allāt, al-'Uzzā and Manāt were three goddesses worshiped by the Meccans. These histories then say that these 'Satanic Verses' were repudiated shortly afterward by Muhammad at the behest of Gabriel. Academic scholars such as William Montgomery Watt
and Alfred Guillaume
argued for its authenticity based upon the implausibility of Muslims fabricating a story so unflattering to their prophet. Watt says that "the story is so strange that it must be true in essentials." On the other hand, John Burton rejected the tradition. In an inverted culmination of Watt's approach, Burton argued for its fictitiousness based upon a demonstration of its actual utility to certain elements of the Muslim community – namely, those legal exegetes seeking an "occasion of revelation" for eradicatory modes of abrogation
.
The incident of the Satanic Verses is put forward by some critics as evidence of the Qur'an's origins as a human work of Muhammad. Maxime Rodinson
describes this as a conscious attempt to achieve a consensus with pagan Arabs, which was then consciously rejected as incompatible with Muhammad's attempts to answer the criticism of contemporary Arab Jews and Christians, linking it with the moment at which Muhammad felt able to adopt a "hostile attitude" towards the pagan Arabs. Rodinson writes that the story of the Satanic Verses is unlikely to be false because it was "one incident, in fact, which may be reasonably accepted as true because the makers of Muslim tradition would not have invented a story with such damaging implications for the revelation as a whole". In a caveat to his acceptance of the incident, William Montgomery Watt, states: "Thus it was not for any worldly motive that Muhammad eventually turned down the offer of the Meccans, but for a genuinely religious reason; not for example, because he could not trust these men nor because any personal ambition would remain unsatisfied, but because acknowledgment of the goddesses would lead to the failure of the cause, of the mission he had been given by God."
Other scholars argue that variances in the Qur'an's explicit intended audiences are irrelevant to claims of divine origin - and for example that Muhummad's wives "specific divine guidance, occasioned by their proximity to the Prophet (Muhammad)" where "Numerous divine reprimands addressed to Muhammad's wives in the Qur'an establish their special responsibility to overcome their human frailties and ensure their individual worthiness", or argue that the Qur'an must be interpreted on more than one level. (See:).
s and rely only on Qur'an – thereby rejecting the sunnah
– are in turn accused of heresy and innovation by orthodox Muslims who themselves say the Qur'an cannot be followed as a stand-alone text.
Orthodox Muslims (sunni and shia) do not see a contradiction between the Qur'an's inability to be applied as a sole, stand-alone text, and the necessity for supplementary texts to practice Islam. Most Muslims point out that the Qur'an repeatedly exhorts Muslims to follow God and the Prophet (4:59; 33:36). Orthodox Muslims interpret the Qur'an's requirement of following Muhammad as following the sunnah, a voluminous corpus of secondary material purportedly explained by Muhammad himself and written down in later decades and centuries. Sunnah also includes exegesis
of later scholars to authoritatively state what comprises Sunnah. Qur'anist Muslims hold the position that the Qur'an is complete in itself and prohibits secondary sources that orthodox Muslims use, stating that following the Muhammad meaning to follow Muhammad's exhortation to accept the Qur'an. Some Islamic sects, such as the Ismaili
, take the Qur'an allegorically, so lack of procedures or detail do not hinder the Qur'an as a guide.
'Completeness' therefore entails different meanings and perceptions.
The Five Pillars of Islam
, considered a bedrock of Islamic practice and identity, has been cited by critics as evidence that Qur'an can not possibly be considered a complete book:
1. Shahada
(Arabic: ) (from the verb , "he witnessed") must be said by all orthodox Muslims as confirmation of their religion or on conversion to Islam. The shahada is an interpolation of different ayah of the Qur'an. Whilst orthodox Muslims state: There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger (in English), there is no Qur'an reference to this specific sentence. Qur'anist Muslims, who reject supplementary sources and rely on the Qur'an alone, thus say a shahada directly from the Qur'an, being There is no god but Allah. To use the Qur'an's shahada, however, is labelled bid'ah or innovation to the point of heresy according to orthodox Islam, which critics point out as an anomaly.
2. Salah, meaning prayer. The Qur'an does not detail the method of prayer. This has led to differences in prayer method between Muslim sects and within madhabs within sects themselves. Most Sunnis insist the hands cross the stomach area whilst standing in prayer, however Shi'ah, Sunnis of the Maliki
madhab and Ibadi
Muslims pray with arms pointed downward. The form of wudu
also differs between sects. There is no guidance in the Qur'an itself on which form of prayer is correct.
Orthodox Muslims refer to supplementary sources for determining the number of rakat- units of bowing and prostrating during contact prayers- and special procedures for certain requests in prayer, such as turning of the cloak in reverse when requesting for rain (found in Al-Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas
). The Qur'an itself gives no mention of these matters.
The Qur'an does not explicitly state the number of times per day a person should pray. Sunni Muslims state the Qur'an mentions five prayer points within the day, whilst some Qur'anists and Shi'ah argue the Qur'an only mentions three points in the day in which to pray (morning (Fajr
), noon (Dhuhr
), and sunset (Maghrib
)). Differences between Muslim sects also arise over when exactly the evening prayer time starts, with Sunnis starting when the sun completely sets beyond the horizon, whilst Shi'ah wait longer until the redness of the eastern sky has passed over the prayer. There are also discrepancies between different Sunni madhabs on valid maghrib prayer times, with some sunnis stating Maghrib prayer time ends when the sun has descended 15 degrees below the horizon, whilst others require 18 degrees.
The Qur'an refers to prayer time by means of the sun's position and light available. In regions where daylight hours differ significantly from the middle-east, as in Scandinavia which has scant daylight in winter and prolonged sunlight in the summer, prayer times by the Qur'an's guidance of the sun's position will differ markedly from those on a lower latitude. The Qur'an's guidance for prayer therefore differs markedly depending on the prayer's spot of longitude.
3. Zakat
, or alms-giving, is repeatedly praised and exhorted in the Qur'an. Orthodox Muslims postulate that 2.5 per cent of a Muslim's wealth be donated annually, under specific conditions. No mention of this number, or practical conditions stipulated in the sunnah, are mentioned within the Qur'an itself. Critics of the Qur'an have pointed to the sunnah's accretion on zakat methodology as evidence of the Qur'an's incompleteness; Qur'anists point to the sunnah's stipulations as an aberration to the Qur'an and an unwitting admission that the Qur'an is incomplete if following the orthodox Islamic path.
4. Sawm
of fasting is a requirement of the Qur'an, but is not mentioned in the same detail as in the sunnah. For example, whilst a menstruating woman is not permitted to fast within orthodox Islam, no prohibition exists in the Qur'an.
5. Hajj
, a pilgrimage required of every able Muslim, is not detailed in the Qur'an. Common practices such as the ritual stoning of Satan in Mina, the shaving of the head, and veneration of the cornerstone of the Ka'aba, have been referred to by some critics as pagan practices embraced by Muhammad, or by some Qur'anists as aberrations introduced after Muhammad died that have become a mainstream practice. Ismailis hold that hajj is not a requirement, and may use the Qur'an as justification for this position.
There is no explicit mention of 'five pillars' of Islam in the Qur'an. It derives from hadith
, yet hadith as a source of theology are never explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an.
Critics point out further examples to cite as evidence of the Qur'an's incompleteness. Orthodox Muslim practices whose prohibitions are completely absent from the Qur'an include:
Practices whose application is debatable among Muslims include:
Critics have cited such rules, found entirely outside the Qur'an itself, to be evidence that the Qur'an cannot be applied as a stand-alone text, and that therefore the Qur'an's claim to completeness is untrue.
, for example, states that "the ethics of Islam are far inferior to those of Judaism
and even more inferior to those of the New Testament" and "that in the ethics of Islam there is a great deal to admire and to approve, is beyond dispute; but of originality or superiority, there is none." William Montgomery Watt however finds Muhammad's changes an improvement for his time and place: "In his day and generation Muhammad was a social reformer, indeed a reformer even in the sphere of morals. He created a new system of social security
and a new family structure, both of which were a vast improvement on what went before. By taking what was best in the morality of the nomad and adapting it for settled communities, he established a religious and social framework for the life of many races of men."
Tension exists between Muslim groups on the use and application of ethics. Liberal Muslims point to the spirit of the Qur'an as a vehicle for continued social change and advancement. Conservative Muslims may find the Qur'an's ethics established, and so change or re-interpretation is an aberration from the ideal ethical standard already established by Muhammad. Thus on the issue of slavery, liberal interpretaters state the Qur'an (through Sunnah) encourages the eventual abolition of slavery, and may thus refer to slavery as an immoral, unethical practice, whilst a conservative Muslim may consider it innovation and blasphemy to refer to a practice approved by the Qur'an as unethical or immoral. Few Muslims advocate slavery, despite Islam's permission for the practice, but other ethical issues long established in the developed world remain controversial amongst Muslims, such as the validity of child marriage, whose practice is discouraged by some Muslims as an antiquated custom like slavery, whilst others cite its blessing and validity within the established Islamic sources [cite sources].
movement argue that when the verses are read in context it clearly appears that the Qur'an prohibits aggression, and allows fighting only in self defense.
Kim Ezra Shienbaum and Jamal Hasan have claimed that a concept of 'Jihad
', defined as 'struggle', has been introduced by the Qur'an. They claim that while Muhummad was in Mecca, he "did not have many supporters and was very weak compared to the Pagans", and "it was at this time he added some 'soft', peaceful verses", where as "almost all the hateful, coercive and intimidating verses later in the Qur’an were made with respect to Jihad" when Muhammad was in Medina (8:38-39, 8:65, 9:29-30, 48:16-22, 4:95, 9:111, 2:216-218, 8:15-17, 9:123, 8:12, 9:5, 2:190-194, 9:73). This interpretation of events is strongly disputed by other scholars, claiming an intention of encouraging self defense in Islamic communities.
Micheline R. Ishay has argued that "the Qur’an justifies wars for self-defense to protect Islamic communities against internal or external aggression by non-Islamic populations, and wars waged against those who 'violate their oaths' by breaking a treaty" (9:12-15, 42:39). Mufti
M. Mukarram Ahmed has also argued that the Qur'an encourages people to fight in self defense (9:38-41, 9:36-37, 4:74). He has also argued that the Qur'an has been used to direct Muslims to make all possible preparations to defend themselves against enemies (8:60).
Shin Chiba and Thomas J. Schoenbaum argue that Islam "does not allow Muslims to fight against those who disagree with them regardless of belief system", but instead "urges its followers to treat such people kindly" (4:90, 8:61, 60:8). Yohanan Friedmann has argued that the Qur'an does not promote fighting for the purposes of religious coercion, although the war as described is "religious" in the sense that the enemies of the Muslims are described as "enemies of God" (8:57-62).
Rodrigue Tremblay
has argued that the Qur'an commands that non-Muslims under a Muslim regime, should "feel themselves subdued" in "a political state of subservience" (4:89). He also argues that the Qur'an may assert freedom within religion (2:256). Nisrine Abiad has argued that the Qur'an incorporates the offence (and due punishment) of "rebellion" into the offence of "highway or armed robbery" (5:33).
George W. Braswell has argued that the Qur'an asserts an idea of Jihad to deal with "a sphere of disobedience, ignorance and war" (47:4, 49:15, 2:244-245).
Michael David Bonner has argued that the "deal between God and those who fight is portrayed as a commercial transaction, either as a loan with interest, or else as a profitable sale of the life of this world in return for the life of the next", where "how much one gains depends on what happens during the transaction", either "paradise if slain in battle, or victory if one survives" (9:52). Critics have argued that the Qur'an was used to coerce Muhammad's followers into fighting when they showed "reluctance to make war", or that it "glorified Jihad in many of the Medinese suras" and "criticized those who fail(ed) to participate in it" (47:20-21).
Ali Ünal
has claimed that the Qur'an praises the companions of Muhammad, for being stern and implacable against the said unbelievers, where in that "period of ignorance and savagery, triumphing over these people was possible by being strong and unyielding."
A critic has argued that in "duty to halt aggression or to strive for the preservation of Islamic principles", fighting may be involved, where the Qur'an encourages them to "fight courageously and steadfastly against recalcitrant states, be they Muslim or non-Muslim." He also argues that the "Qur’anic statement is clear" on the issue of fighting in defense of Islam as "a duty that is to be carried out at all costs", where "God grants security to those Muslims who fight in order to halt or repel aggression" (22:39-42).
Shaikh M. Ghazanfar argues that the Qur'an has been used to teach its followers that "the path to human salvation does not require withdrawal from the world but rather encourages moderation in worldly affairs" (fighting inclusive) (73:20). Shabbir Akhtar has argued that the Qur'an asserts that if a people "fear Muhammad more than they fear God, 'they are a people lacking in sense'" rather than a fear being imposed upon them by God directly (59:13).
Various calls to arms were identified in the Qur'an by US Citizen Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, all of which were cited as "most relevant to my actions on March 3, 2006" (9:44, 9:19, 57:10-11, 8:72-73, 9:120, 3:167-175, 4:66, 4:104, 9:81, 9:93-94, 9:100, 16:110, 61:11-12, 47:35).
The film Submission, which rose to fame after the murder of its director Theo van Gogh
, critiqued this and similar verses of the Qur'an by displaying them painted on the bodies of abused Muslim women. Ayaan Hirsi Ali
, the film's writer, said "it is written in the Koran a woman may be slapped if she is disobedient. This is one of the evils I wish to point out in the film".
Scholars and other defenders of Islam have a variety of responses to these criticisms. (See An-Nisa, 34
for a fuller exegesis on the meaning of the text.) Although the Qur'an does allow a husband to punish his wife for transgressing the bounds given to her by God, the Qur'an and Muhammad still put forth the prescription that the man is only allowed to hit the woman so lightly that it would not leave as much as a faint mark upon her, otherwise the man has himself transgressed divine bounds. Some Muslims argue that beating is only appropriate if a woman has done "an unrighteous, wicked and rebellious act" beyond mere disobedience. In many modern interpretations of the Qur'an, the actions prescribed in 4:34 are to be taken in sequence, and beating is only to be used as a last resort.
Many Islamic scholars and commentators have emphasized that beatings, where permitted, are not to be harsh or even that they should be "more or less symbolic." According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali
and Ibn Kathir
, the consensus of Islamic scholars is that the above verse describes a light beating.
Some jurists argue that even when beating is acceptable under the Qur'an, it is still discountenanced.
Shabbir Akhtar has argued that the Qur'an introduced prohibitions against "the pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide" (16:58, 17:31, 81:8).
Sunni scholars would argue that the Quran and sunnah must be used in conjunction. The hadith state that the only permitted form of beating is a miswaak, a piece of olive branch used for cleaning the teeth,approximately 8 centimetres in length.
interprets that the "Houris" or 'Virgins of Paradise' described in the Qur'an (37:43-49, 38:52, 44:54, 52:20, 55:56, 55:72, 56:35-38, 78:33) fulfill "every conceivable carnal desire". Max I. Dimont interprets that the Houris described in the Qur'an are specifically dedicated to "male pleasure". Henry Martyn claims that the concept of the Houris was chosen to satisfy Mohammed's followers.
Alternatively, Annemarie Schimmel
says that the Qur'anic description of the Houris should be viewed in a context of love; "every pious man who lives according to God's order will enter Paradise where rivers of milk and honey flow in cool, fragrant gardens and virgin beloveds await home..." She also states that the sensuality pictured in the Qur'an is comparable to that offered in sermons by the Eastern Orthodox Church; "its description of Paradise, so often attacked by Christian polemicists because of its sensuality, the Qur'an is not much more colourful than were the sermons on this topic in the Eastern Orthodox Church". She also emphasises that "women and children too participate in the paradisal bliss" (52:21).
Under the Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Qur'an
by Christoph Luxenberg
, the words translating to "Houris" or "Virgins of Paradise" are instead interpreted as "Fruits (grapes)" and "high climbing (wine) bowers... made into first fruits". Alternate interpretations of these Qur'anic verses are offered, including the idea that the Houris should be seen as having a specifically spiritual nature rather than a human nature; "these are all very sensual ideas; but there are also others of a different kind... what can be the object of cohabitation in Paradise as there can be no question of its purpose in the world, the preservation of the race. The solution of this difficulty is found by saying that, although heavenly food, women etc.., have the name in common with their earthly equivalents, it is only by way of metaphorical indication and comparison without actual identity... authors have spiritualized the Houris" and "later literature is able to give many more details of their physical beauty... they are so transparent that the marrow of their bones is visible through sev-enty silken garments. If they expectorate into the world, their spittle becomes musk...".
claims that the Qur'an ascribes negative traits to Jews, such as cowardice, greed, and chicanery. She also alleges that the Qur'an associates Jews with interconfessional strife and rivalry , the Jewish belief that they alone are beloved of God , and that only they will achieve salvation . According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the Qur'an contains many attacks on Jews and Christians for their refusal to recognize Muhammad
as a prophet. In the Muslim view, the crucifixion of Jesus
was an illusion, and thus the Jewish plots against him ended in failure. In numerous verses the Qur'an accuses Jews of altering the Scripture
.
Qur'anic statements which portray Christians and Jews in a negative image (9:30, 5:72, 3:85, 4:150, 58:22) include verse 30 of Al-Tawba which states:
Although there is a verse stating that believing Christians and Jews will be rewarded as a result of their belief in God (2:62), there are other verses such as:(verse 85 of Al-i'Imran):
which denies the validity of their religions as they are practiced now.
s and Jews in a positive image in Surah Baqarah, Chapter No. 2, Verse No. 62:
According to Surah Ankabut, the Qur'an
gave Jews and Christians a special and honored place. . Moreover, he states that the Qur'an mentions that Christians were the "nearest to Muslims in love, because their priests and monks are not proud, and because they listen to and recognize the truth of what the Messenger (Muhammad
) has brought ". Karen Armstrong
mentions that there are "far more numerous passages in the Qur'an" which speak positively of the Jews and their great prophets, than those which were against the "rebellious Jewish tribes of Medina" (during Muhammad's time).
Regarding the verses which tell that Jews were turned into apes, Muslim scholars disagree on the meanings. Some believe Jews were actually turned into apes and pigs, while others believe they began to act like animals. Sayyid Abul Ala
believes this punishment was not meant for all Jews, and that they were only meant for the Jewish inhabitants that were sinning at the time.
Criticism
Controversies
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
is the scriptural foundation of most forms of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
criticism of the Qur'an has frequently occurred. Critics have made allegations of scientific, theological, and historical errors, claims of contradictions in the Qur'an and criticisms of the Qur'an's moral values.
Historical authenticity
Most Muslims believe that the Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
is the literal word of Abraham's God as recited to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
through the angel Gabriel
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
. Muhammad, according to tradition, recited perfectly what the angel Gabriel revealed to him for his companions to write down and memorize. Muslims hold that the wording of the Qur'anic text available today corresponds exactly to that revealed to Muhammad in the years 610–632.
Maurice Bucaille
Maurice Bucaille
Maurice Bucaille , son of Maurice and Marie Bucaille, was a French medical doctor, member of the French Society of Egyptology, and an author. Bucaille practiced medicine from 1945–82 and was a specialist in gastroenterology. In 1973, Bucaille was appointed family physician to King Faisal of Saudi...
states in The Bible, The Qur'an and Science that "The Qur'anic Revelation has a history which is fundamentally different from the other
two. It spanned a period of some twenty years and, as soon as it was transmitted to
Muhammad by Archangel Gabriel, Believers learned it by heart. It was also written
down during Muhammad's life. The last recensions of the Qur'an were effected under
Caliph Uthman starting some twelve years after the Prophet's death and finishing
twenty-four years after it. They had the advantage of being checked by people who
already knew the text by heart, for they had learned it at the time of the Revelation
itself and had subsequently recited it constantly. Since then, we know that the text has been scrupulously preserved. It does not give rise to any problems of authenticity."
John Wansbrough
John Wansbrough
John Edward Wansbrough was an American historian who taught at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies . Wansbrough's emphasis was on the critique of traditional accounts of the origins of Islam...
believes that the Qur'an is a redaction
Redaction
Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple source texts are combined and subjected to minor alteration to make them into a single work. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent work...
in part of other sacred scriptures, in particular the Judaeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
scriptures. In their book Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World
Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World
Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World is a controversial, scholarly book on the early history of Islam written by the historians Patricia Crone and Michael Cook...
, Patricia Crone
Patricia Crone
Patricia Crone, Ph.D., is a scholar, author, Orientalist, and historian of early Islamic history working at the Institute for Advanced Study. She established herself as a major challenger to the established narrative of the early history of Islam.- Career :Patricia Crone completed her...
and Michael Cook
Michael Cook (historian)
Michael Allan Cook is an English-Scottish historian and scholar of Islamic history. He has co-authored a book with Patricia Crone, notably Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World....
challenge the traditional account of how the Qur'an was compiled, writing that "there is no hard evidence for the existence of the Koran in any form before the last decade of the seventh century." They also question the accuracy of some of the Qur'an's historical accounts. For example, professor Gerd R. Puin
Gerd R. Puin
Gerd Rüdiger Puin is a German scholar and an authority on Qur'anic historical orthography, the study and scholarly interpretation of ancient manuscripts. He is also specialist in Arabic paleography...
's study of ancient Qur'an manuscripts led him to conclude that the Qur'an is a "cocktail of texts", some of which may have been present a hundred years before Muhammad.
It is generally acknowledged that the work of Crone and Cook was a fresh approach in its reconstruction of early Islamic history
Muslim history
Muslim history is the history of Muslim people. In the history of Islam the followers of the religion of Islam have impacted political history, economic history, and military history...
, but the theory has been almost universally rejected. Van Ess has dismissed it stating that "a refutation is perhaps unnecessary since the authors make no effort to prove it in detail...Where they are only giving a new interpretation of well-known facts, this is not decisive. But where the accepted facts are consciously put upside down, their approach is disastrous." R. B. Sergeant states that "[Crone and Cook's thesis]… is not only bitterly anti-Islamic in tone, but anti-Arabian. Its superficial fancies are so ridiculous that at first one wonders if it is just a ‘leg pull’, pure ’spoof’." Francis Edwards Peters
Francis Edwards Peters
Francis Edward Peters , who generally publishes as F.E. Peters, is Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and History at New York University.Peters studied at St...
states that "Few have failed to be convinced that what is in our copy of the Quran is, in fact, what Muhammad taught, and is expressed in his own words".
In 2006, legal scholar Liaquat Ali Khan claimed that Crone and Cook later explicitly disavowed their earlier book. Patricia Crone in an article published in 2006 provided an update on the evolution of her conceptions since the printing of the thesis in 1976. In the article she acknowledges that Muhammad existed as a historical figure and that the Qur'an represents "utterances" of his that he believed to be revelations. However she states that the Qur'an may not be the complete record of the revelations. She also accepts that oral histories and Muslim historical accounts cannot be totally discounted, but remains skeptical about the traditional account of the Hijrah and the standard view that Muhammad and his tribe were based in Mecca. She describes the difficulty in the handling of the hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
because of their "amorphous nature" and purpose as documentary evidence for deriving religious law rather than as historical narratives.
Al-Kindi
Al-Kindi
' , known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy" for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion...
claimed that the narratives in the Qur'an were "all jumbled together and intermingled" and that this was "an evidence that many different hands have been at work therein, and caused discrepancies, adding or cutting out whatever they liked or disliked". Bell and Watt suggested that the variation in writing style throughout the Qur'an, which sometimes involves the use of rhyming, may have indicated revisions to the text during its compilation. They claimed that there were "abrupt changes in the length of verses; sudden changes of the dramatic situation, with changes of pronoun from singular to plural, from second to third person, and so on". At the same time, however, they noted that "[i]f any great changes by way of addition, suppression or alteration had been made, controversy would almost certainly have arisen; but of that there is little trace." They also note that "Modern study of the Qur'an has not in fact raised any serious question of its authenticity. The style varies, but is almost unmistakable."
Claim of divine origin
Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
, for example, writes: "The language of the Koran is held by the Mohammedans to be a peerless model of perfection. Critics, however, argue that peculiarities can be found in the text. For example, critics note that a sentence in which something is said concerning Allah is sometimes followed immediately by another in which Allah is the speaker (examples of this are suras xvi. 81, xxvii. 61, xxxi. 9, and xliii. 10. Many peculiarities in the positions of words are due to the necessities of rhyme (lxix. 31, lxxiv. 3), while the use of many rare words and new forms may be traced to the same cause (comp. especially xix. 8, 9, 11, 16)." According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, "The dependence of Mohammed upon his Jewish teachers or upon what he heard of the Jewish Haggadah and Jewish practices is now generally conceded."
Confusion over speaker of certain verses
Bell and Watt thought that cases where the speaker is swearing an oath by God, such as surahs 75:1-2 and 90:1, seem unlikely to be coming from God. Verses 19:64 and 37:161-166 were spoken by angels, describing their being sent by God down to Earth but this all is only limited to his own thought.Science in the Qur'an
Qur'anic verses , , , , , , , , and are all related to the origin of mankindHuman evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
. Some critics of Islam and many Muslims state that the Qur'an and modern evolutionary theory
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
are not compatible. This has led to a contribution by Muslims to the creation vs. evolution debate. Some Muslims have pointed to certain Qur'anic verses (such as , , , ) that they think are in fact compatible with evolutionary science, but others think that only creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
is supported by the Qur'an and the hadith.
Ahmad Dallal, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, writes that many modern Muslims believe that the Qur'an does make scientific statements, however many classical Muslim commentators and scientists, notably al-Biruni
Al-Biruni
Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-BīrūnīArabic spelling. . The intermediate form Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī is often used in academic literature...
, assigned to the Qur'an a separate and autonomous realm of its own and held that the Qur'an "does not interfere in the business of science nor does it infringe on the realm of science." These medieval scholars argued for the possibility of multiple scientific explanation
Models of scientific inquiry
In the philosophy of science, models of scientific inquiry have two functions: first, to provide a descriptive account of how scientific inquiry is carried out in practice, and second, to provide an explanatory account of why scientific inquiry succeeds as well as it appears to do in arriving at...
of the natural phenomena, and refused to subordinate the Qur'an to an ever-changing science.
Abrogation
Naskh (نسخ) is an Arabic language word usually translated as "abrogation"; it shares the same root as the words appearing in the phrase al-nāsikh wal-mansūkh (الناسخ والمنسوخ, "the abrogater and the abrogated [verses]").The concept of "abrogation" in the Qur'an is that Allah chose to reveal ayat (singular ayah; means a sign or miracle, commonly a verse in the Qur'an) that supersede earlier ayat in the same Qur'an. The central ayah that deals with abrogation is Surah 2:106:
"None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things."
Satanic verses
Some criticism of the Qur'an has revolved around what are known as the "Satanic VersesSatanic Verses
The Satanic Verses was a purported incident where a small number of apparently pagan verses were temporarily included in the Qur'an by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, only to be later removed...
". Some early Islamic histories recount that as Muhammad was reciting Sūra Al-Najm (Q.53), as revealed to him by the angel Gabriel, Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
tempted him to utter the following lines after verses 19 and 20: "Have you thought of Allāt
Allāt
' or ' was a Pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is mentioned in the Qur'an , which indicates that pre-Islamic Arabs considered her as one of the daughters of Allah along with Manāt and al-‘Uzzá....
and al-'Uzzā and Manāt
Manat
Manat may refer to* Azerbaijani manat, unit of currency in Azerbaijan* Turkmenistani manat, unit of currency in Turkmenistan* The designation of the Soviet ruble in both Azerbaijani and Turkmen* Manāt, the goddess of fate and destiny in pre-Islamic Arabia...
the third, the other; These are the exalted Gharaniq, whose intercession is hoped for." The Allāt, al-'Uzzā and Manāt were three goddesses worshiped by the Meccans. These histories then say that these 'Satanic Verses' were repudiated shortly afterward by Muhammad at the behest of Gabriel. Academic scholars such as William Montgomery Watt
William Montgomery Watt
William Montgomery Watt was a Scottish historian, an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
and Alfred Guillaume
Alfred Guillaume
Alfred Guillaume was an Arabist and Islamic scholar.-Career:Guillaume took up Arabic after studying Theology and Oriental Languages at the University of Oxford. In the First World War he served in France and then in the Arab Bureau in Cairo...
argued for its authenticity based upon the implausibility of Muslims fabricating a story so unflattering to their prophet. Watt says that "the story is so strange that it must be true in essentials." On the other hand, John Burton rejected the tradition. In an inverted culmination of Watt's approach, Burton argued for its fictitiousness based upon a demonstration of its actual utility to certain elements of the Muslim community – namely, those legal exegetes seeking an "occasion of revelation" for eradicatory modes of abrogation
Naskh (exegesis)
Naskh is an Arabic language word usually translated as "abrogation"; it shares the same root as the words appearing in the phrase al-nāsikh wal-mansūkh...
.
The incident of the Satanic Verses is put forward by some critics as evidence of the Qur'an's origins as a human work of Muhammad. Maxime Rodinson
Maxime Rodinson
Maxime Rodinson was a French Marxist historian, sociologist and orientalist. He was the son of a Russian-Polish clothing trader and his wife who both died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. After studying oriental languages, he became a professor of Ethiopian at EPHE...
describes this as a conscious attempt to achieve a consensus with pagan Arabs, which was then consciously rejected as incompatible with Muhammad's attempts to answer the criticism of contemporary Arab Jews and Christians, linking it with the moment at which Muhammad felt able to adopt a "hostile attitude" towards the pagan Arabs. Rodinson writes that the story of the Satanic Verses is unlikely to be false because it was "one incident, in fact, which may be reasonably accepted as true because the makers of Muslim tradition would not have invented a story with such damaging implications for the revelation as a whole". In a caveat to his acceptance of the incident, William Montgomery Watt, states: "Thus it was not for any worldly motive that Muhammad eventually turned down the offer of the Meccans, but for a genuinely religious reason; not for example, because he could not trust these men nor because any personal ambition would remain unsatisfied, but because acknowledgment of the goddesses would lead to the failure of the cause, of the mission he had been given by God."
"If it [i.e. the Qur'an] had been from someone other than God, they would have found much contradiction in it." This encouragement of Muhammad's enemies to claim inconsistency and contradiction, is argued, was pronounced in a hostile environment during the Qur'an's revelation.
Intended audience
Some verses of the Qur'an are assumed to be directed towards all of Muhammad's followers while other verses are directed more specifically towards Muhammad and his wives (33:28, 33:50, 49:2, 58:1, 58:9 66:3).Other scholars argue that variances in the Qur'an's explicit intended audiences are irrelevant to claims of divine origin - and for example that Muhummad's wives "specific divine guidance, occasioned by their proximity to the Prophet (Muhammad)" where "Numerous divine reprimands addressed to Muhammad's wives in the Qur'an establish their special responsibility to overcome their human frailties and ensure their individual worthiness", or argue that the Qur'an must be interpreted on more than one level. (See:).
Incompleteness
The Qur'an describes itself as complete, as the revealed book fully detailed (Qur'an 6:11-116; 7:52). This invites criticism from some because of the Qur'an's lack of detail, or complete absence of mention of mainstream practices listed below. Qur'anist Muslims who reject secondary sourceSecondary source
In scholarship, a secondary source is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source of the information being discussed; a primary source can be a person with direct...
s and rely only on Qur'an – thereby rejecting the sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
– are in turn accused of heresy and innovation by orthodox Muslims who themselves say the Qur'an cannot be followed as a stand-alone text.
Orthodox Muslims (sunni and shia) do not see a contradiction between the Qur'an's inability to be applied as a sole, stand-alone text, and the necessity for supplementary texts to practice Islam. Most Muslims point out that the Qur'an repeatedly exhorts Muslims to follow God and the Prophet (4:59; 33:36). Orthodox Muslims interpret the Qur'an's requirement of following Muhammad as following the sunnah, a voluminous corpus of secondary material purportedly explained by Muhammad himself and written down in later decades and centuries. Sunnah also includes exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
of later scholars to authoritatively state what comprises Sunnah. Qur'anist Muslims hold the position that the Qur'an is complete in itself and prohibits secondary sources that orthodox Muslims use, stating that following the Muhammad meaning to follow Muhammad's exhortation to accept the Qur'an. Some Islamic sects, such as the Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
, take the Qur'an allegorically, so lack of procedures or detail do not hinder the Qur'an as a guide.
'Completeness' therefore entails different meanings and perceptions.
The Five Pillars of Islam
Five Pillars of Islam
The Pillars of Islam are basic concepts and duties for accepting the religion for the Muslims.The Shi'i and Sunni both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts, but the Shi'a do not refer to them by the same name .-Pillars of Shia:According to Shia Islam, the...
, considered a bedrock of Islamic practice and identity, has been cited by critics as evidence that Qur'an can not possibly be considered a complete book:
1. Shahada
Shahada
The Shahada , means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed"/testification; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet...
(Arabic: ) (from the verb , "he witnessed") must be said by all orthodox Muslims as confirmation of their religion or on conversion to Islam. The shahada is an interpolation of different ayah of the Qur'an. Whilst orthodox Muslims state: There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger (in English), there is no Qur'an reference to this specific sentence. Qur'anist Muslims, who reject supplementary sources and rely on the Qur'an alone, thus say a shahada directly from the Qur'an, being There is no god but Allah. To use the Qur'an's shahada, however, is labelled bid'ah or innovation to the point of heresy according to orthodox Islam, which critics point out as an anomaly.
2. Salah, meaning prayer. The Qur'an does not detail the method of prayer. This has led to differences in prayer method between Muslim sects and within madhabs within sects themselves. Most Sunnis insist the hands cross the stomach area whilst standing in prayer, however Shi'ah, Sunnis of the Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
madhab and Ibadi
Ibadi
The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shia denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman and Zanzibar...
Muslims pray with arms pointed downward. The form of wudu
Wudu
Wuḍhu is the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body using water often in preparation for formal prayers...
also differs between sects. There is no guidance in the Qur'an itself on which form of prayer is correct.
Orthodox Muslims refer to supplementary sources for determining the number of rakat- units of bowing and prostrating during contact prayers- and special procedures for certain requests in prayer, such as turning of the cloak in reverse when requesting for rain (found in Al-Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas
Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik ibn Abī 'Āmir al-Asbahī is known as "Imam Malik," the "Sheikh of Islam", the "Proof of the Community," and "Imam of the Abode of Emigration." He was one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam...
). The Qur'an itself gives no mention of these matters.
The Qur'an does not explicitly state the number of times per day a person should pray. Sunni Muslims state the Qur'an mentions five prayer points within the day, whilst some Qur'anists and Shi'ah argue the Qur'an only mentions three points in the day in which to pray (morning (Fajr
Fajr
The Fajr prayer is the first of the five daily prayers offered by practising Muslims. The five daily prayers collectively form one pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam, in Sunni Islam, and one of the ten Practices of the Religion according to Shia Islam.The Fajr prayer is mentioned by name in the...
), noon (Dhuhr
Dhuhr
The dhuhr prayer is the prayer after midday Performed daily by practicing Muslims, it is the second of the five daily prayers...
), and sunset (Maghrib
Maghrib
The Maghrib prayer , prayed just after sunset, is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.The formal daily prayers of Islam comprise different numbers of units, called rak'at. The Maghrib prayer has three obligatory rak'at. The first two fard rak'at are prayed...
)). Differences between Muslim sects also arise over when exactly the evening prayer time starts, with Sunnis starting when the sun completely sets beyond the horizon, whilst Shi'ah wait longer until the redness of the eastern sky has passed over the prayer. There are also discrepancies between different Sunni madhabs on valid maghrib prayer times, with some sunnis stating Maghrib prayer time ends when the sun has descended 15 degrees below the horizon, whilst others require 18 degrees.
The Qur'an refers to prayer time by means of the sun's position and light available. In regions where daylight hours differ significantly from the middle-east, as in Scandinavia which has scant daylight in winter and prolonged sunlight in the summer, prayer times by the Qur'an's guidance of the sun's position will differ markedly from those on a lower latitude. The Qur'an's guidance for prayer therefore differs markedly depending on the prayer's spot of longitude.
3. Zakat
Zakat
Zakāt , one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a fixed portion of one's wealth to charity, generally to the poor and needy.-History:Zakat, a practice initiated by Muhammed himself, has played an important role throughout Islamic history...
, or alms-giving, is repeatedly praised and exhorted in the Qur'an. Orthodox Muslims postulate that 2.5 per cent of a Muslim's wealth be donated annually, under specific conditions. No mention of this number, or practical conditions stipulated in the sunnah, are mentioned within the Qur'an itself. Critics of the Qur'an have pointed to the sunnah's accretion on zakat methodology as evidence of the Qur'an's incompleteness; Qur'anists point to the sunnah's stipulations as an aberration to the Qur'an and an unwitting admission that the Qur'an is incomplete if following the orthodox Islamic path.
4. Sawm
Sawm
Sawm is an Arabic word for fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means to abstain from eating, drinking , having sex and anything against Islamic law...
of fasting is a requirement of the Qur'an, but is not mentioned in the same detail as in the sunnah. For example, whilst a menstruating woman is not permitted to fast within orthodox Islam, no prohibition exists in the Qur'an.
5. Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, a pilgrimage required of every able Muslim, is not detailed in the Qur'an. Common practices such as the ritual stoning of Satan in Mina, the shaving of the head, and veneration of the cornerstone of the Ka'aba, have been referred to by some critics as pagan practices embraced by Muhammad, or by some Qur'anists as aberrations introduced after Muhammad died that have become a mainstream practice. Ismailis hold that hajj is not a requirement, and may use the Qur'an as justification for this position.
There is no explicit mention of 'five pillars' of Islam in the Qur'an. It derives from hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
, yet hadith as a source of theology are never explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an.
Critics point out further examples to cite as evidence of the Qur'an's incompleteness. Orthodox Muslim practices whose prohibitions are completely absent from the Qur'an include:
- the stoning of adulterers;
- prohibition of menstruating women from praying or entering a mosque;
- classifying of dogs as unclean animals;
- circumcision of either male or female;
- mention of any person who shi'ah consider the divinely-guided Imams;
- the mention of ahadith, whose rejection entails heresy to the point of apostasy according to orthodox Islamic sources;
- clothing restrictions, such as of men wearing silk, gold jewellery, or yellow clothes;
- performing and listening to music.
- games of competition unrelated to military exercise, such as chess.
Practices whose application is debatable among Muslims include:
- hijabHijabThe word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
, ranging from a non-requirement amongst some revisionist Muslims, to mandatory by most Muslims, to being a minimum requirement with the face-covering niqabNiqabA niqab is a cloth which covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of sartorial hijāb...
preferred amongst other Muslims; - whether variations in arm positioning during prayer are optional (as with the Maliki madhab), or prohibited (as with the HanbaliHanbaliThe Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...
madhab); - to whom unclaimed inheritance may be bequeathed to when the Qur'an's formula for division of inheritance leaves amounts outstanding;
Critics have cited such rules, found entirely outside the Qur'an itself, to be evidence that the Qur'an cannot be applied as a stand-alone text, and that therefore the Qur'an's claim to completeness is untrue.
Morality
According to some critics, the morality of the Qur'an, like the life story of Muhammad, appears to be a moral regression, by the standards of the moral traditions of Judaism and Christianity it says that it builds upon. The Catholic EncyclopediaCatholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
, for example, states that "the ethics of Islam are far inferior to those of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and even more inferior to those of the New Testament" and "that in the ethics of Islam there is a great deal to admire and to approve, is beyond dispute; but of originality or superiority, there is none." William Montgomery Watt however finds Muhammad's changes an improvement for his time and place: "In his day and generation Muhammad was a social reformer, indeed a reformer even in the sphere of morals. He created a new system of social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
and a new family structure, both of which were a vast improvement on what went before. By taking what was best in the morality of the nomad and adapting it for settled communities, he established a religious and social framework for the life of many races of men."
Tension exists between Muslim groups on the use and application of ethics. Liberal Muslims point to the spirit of the Qur'an as a vehicle for continued social change and advancement. Conservative Muslims may find the Qur'an's ethics established, and so change or re-interpretation is an aberration from the ideal ethical standard already established by Muhammad. Thus on the issue of slavery, liberal interpretaters state the Qur'an (through Sunnah) encourages the eventual abolition of slavery, and may thus refer to slavery as an immoral, unethical practice, whilst a conservative Muslim may consider it innovation and blasphemy to refer to a practice approved by the Qur'an as unethical or immoral. Few Muslims advocate slavery, despite Islam's permission for the practice, but other ethical issues long established in the developed world remain controversial amongst Muslims, such as the validity of child marriage, whose practice is discouraged by some Muslims as an antiquated custom like slavery, whilst others cite its blessing and validity within the established Islamic sources [cite sources].
War and peace
The Qur'an's teachings on matters of war and peace have become topics of heated discussion in recent years. On the one hand, some critics interpret that certain verses of the Qur'an sanction military action against unbelievers as a whole both during the lifetime of Muhammad and after. The Qur'an said "fight in the name of your religion with those who fight against you." On the other hand, other scholars argue that such verses of the Qur'an are interpreted out of context, and Muslims of the small AhmadiyyaAhmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
movement argue that when the verses are read in context it clearly appears that the Qur'an prohibits aggression, and allows fighting only in self defense.
Kim Ezra Shienbaum and Jamal Hasan have claimed that a concept of 'Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
', defined as 'struggle', has been introduced by the Qur'an. They claim that while Muhummad was in Mecca, he "did not have many supporters and was very weak compared to the Pagans", and "it was at this time he added some 'soft', peaceful verses", where as "almost all the hateful, coercive and intimidating verses later in the Qur’an were made with respect to Jihad" when Muhammad was in Medina (8:38-39, 8:65, 9:29-30, 48:16-22, 4:95, 9:111, 2:216-218, 8:15-17, 9:123, 8:12, 9:5, 2:190-194, 9:73). This interpretation of events is strongly disputed by other scholars, claiming an intention of encouraging self defense in Islamic communities.
Micheline R. Ishay has argued that "the Qur’an justifies wars for self-defense to protect Islamic communities against internal or external aggression by non-Islamic populations, and wars waged against those who 'violate their oaths' by breaking a treaty" (9:12-15, 42:39). Mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
M. Mukarram Ahmed has also argued that the Qur'an encourages people to fight in self defense (9:38-41, 9:36-37, 4:74). He has also argued that the Qur'an has been used to direct Muslims to make all possible preparations to defend themselves against enemies (8:60).
Shin Chiba and Thomas J. Schoenbaum argue that Islam "does not allow Muslims to fight against those who disagree with them regardless of belief system", but instead "urges its followers to treat such people kindly" (4:90, 8:61, 60:8). Yohanan Friedmann has argued that the Qur'an does not promote fighting for the purposes of religious coercion, although the war as described is "religious" in the sense that the enemies of the Muslims are described as "enemies of God" (8:57-62).
Rodrigue Tremblay
Rodrigue Tremblay
Rodrigue Tremblay is a Canadian-born economist, humanist and political figure. He taught economics at the Université de Montréal. He specializes in macroeconomics, international trade and finance, and public finance. He is a prolific author of books in economics and politics.- Biography :Born in...
has argued that the Qur'an commands that non-Muslims under a Muslim regime, should "feel themselves subdued" in "a political state of subservience" (4:89). He also argues that the Qur'an may assert freedom within religion (2:256). Nisrine Abiad has argued that the Qur'an incorporates the offence (and due punishment) of "rebellion" into the offence of "highway or armed robbery" (5:33).
George W. Braswell has argued that the Qur'an asserts an idea of Jihad to deal with "a sphere of disobedience, ignorance and war" (47:4, 49:15, 2:244-245).
Michael David Bonner has argued that the "deal between God and those who fight is portrayed as a commercial transaction, either as a loan with interest, or else as a profitable sale of the life of this world in return for the life of the next", where "how much one gains depends on what happens during the transaction", either "paradise if slain in battle, or victory if one survives" (9:52). Critics have argued that the Qur'an was used to coerce Muhammad's followers into fighting when they showed "reluctance to make war", or that it "glorified Jihad in many of the Medinese suras" and "criticized those who fail(ed) to participate in it" (47:20-21).
Ali Ünal
Ali Ünal
Ali Ünal is a Turkish author born on 19 January 1955 in Uşak province of Turkey.He often associated with the Gülen Movement, a modernist Islamic group in Turkey...
has claimed that the Qur'an praises the companions of Muhammad, for being stern and implacable against the said unbelievers, where in that "period of ignorance and savagery, triumphing over these people was possible by being strong and unyielding."
A critic has argued that in "duty to halt aggression or to strive for the preservation of Islamic principles", fighting may be involved, where the Qur'an encourages them to "fight courageously and steadfastly against recalcitrant states, be they Muslim or non-Muslim." He also argues that the "Qur’anic statement is clear" on the issue of fighting in defense of Islam as "a duty that is to be carried out at all costs", where "God grants security to those Muslims who fight in order to halt or repel aggression" (22:39-42).
Shaikh M. Ghazanfar argues that the Qur'an has been used to teach its followers that "the path to human salvation does not require withdrawal from the world but rather encourages moderation in worldly affairs" (fighting inclusive) (73:20). Shabbir Akhtar has argued that the Qur'an asserts that if a people "fear Muhammad more than they fear God, 'they are a people lacking in sense'" rather than a fear being imposed upon them by God directly (59:13).
Various calls to arms were identified in the Qur'an by US Citizen Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, all of which were cited as "most relevant to my actions on March 3, 2006" (9:44, 9:19, 57:10-11, 8:72-73, 9:120, 3:167-175, 4:66, 4:104, 9:81, 9:93-94, 9:100, 16:110, 61:11-12, 47:35).
Violence against women
Verse of the Qur'an as translated by Ali Quli Qara'i reads:- Men are the managers of women, because of the advantage Allah has granted some of them over others, and by virtue of their spending out of their wealth. So righteous women are obedient, care-taking in the absence [of their husbands] of what Allah has enjoined [them] to guard. As for those [wives] whose misconduct you fear, [first] advise them, and [if ineffective] keep away from them in the bed, and [as the last resort] beat them. Then if they obey you, do not seek any course [of action] against them. Indeed Allah is all-exalted, all-great.
The film Submission, which rose to fame after the murder of its director Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
, critiqued this and similar verses of the Qur'an by displaying them painted on the bodies of abused Muslim women. Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Magan Ali is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer, politician who strongly opposes circumcision and female genital cutting. She is the daughter of the Somali politician and opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse and is a founder of the women's rights organisation the AHA...
, the film's writer, said "it is written in the Koran a woman may be slapped if she is disobedient. This is one of the evils I wish to point out in the film".
Scholars and other defenders of Islam have a variety of responses to these criticisms. (See An-Nisa, 34
An-Nisa, 34
In the Qur'an, verse 34 of Surah an-Nisa concerns the issue of marital relations in Islam. This verse is interpreted by some Muslims as giving women complete control over their own income and property, while obliging men to be responsible for maintaining their female relatives...
for a fuller exegesis on the meaning of the text.) Although the Qur'an does allow a husband to punish his wife for transgressing the bounds given to her by God, the Qur'an and Muhammad still put forth the prescription that the man is only allowed to hit the woman so lightly that it would not leave as much as a faint mark upon her, otherwise the man has himself transgressed divine bounds. Some Muslims argue that beating is only appropriate if a woman has done "an unrighteous, wicked and rebellious act" beyond mere disobedience. In many modern interpretations of the Qur'an, the actions prescribed in 4:34 are to be taken in sequence, and beating is only to be used as a last resort.
Many Islamic scholars and commentators have emphasized that beatings, where permitted, are not to be harsh or even that they should be "more or less symbolic." According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, FRSL was an Indian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an is one of the most widely-known and used in the English-speaking world....
and Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...
, the consensus of Islamic scholars is that the above verse describes a light beating.
Some jurists argue that even when beating is acceptable under the Qur'an, it is still discountenanced.
Shabbir Akhtar has argued that the Qur'an introduced prohibitions against "the pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide" (16:58, 17:31, 81:8).
Sunni scholars would argue that the Quran and sunnah must be used in conjunction. The hadith state that the only permitted form of beating is a miswaak, a piece of olive branch used for cleaning the teeth,approximately 8 centimetres in length.
Houris
Daniel AliDaniel Ali
Daniel Ali is an Iraqi Kurdish author, speaker and Islamic scholar. He was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and lived through the ethnic cleansing and Anfal campaign during the Baathist period from 1975 to 1988. He has written two books Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics Daniel Ali (born 1959) is an Iraqi...
interprets that the "Houris" or 'Virgins of Paradise' described in the Qur'an (37:43-49, 38:52, 44:54, 52:20, 55:56, 55:72, 56:35-38, 78:33) fulfill "every conceivable carnal desire". Max I. Dimont interprets that the Houris described in the Qur'an are specifically dedicated to "male pleasure". Henry Martyn claims that the concept of the Houris was chosen to satisfy Mohammed's followers.
Alternatively, Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel, SI, HI, was a well known and very influential German Orientalist and scholar, who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.-Early life:...
says that the Qur'anic description of the Houris should be viewed in a context of love; "every pious man who lives according to God's order will enter Paradise where rivers of milk and honey flow in cool, fragrant gardens and virgin beloveds await home..." She also states that the sensuality pictured in the Qur'an is comparable to that offered in sermons by the Eastern Orthodox Church; "its description of Paradise, so often attacked by Christian polemicists because of its sensuality, the Qur'an is not much more colourful than were the sermons on this topic in the Eastern Orthodox Church". She also emphasises that "women and children too participate in the paradisal bliss" (52:21).
Under the Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Qur'an
The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Qur'an
The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Koran English Edition of 2007 The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Koran English Edition of 2007 The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution...
by Christoph Luxenberg
Christoph Luxenberg
Christoph Luxenberg is the pseudonym of the author ofThe Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Qur'an and several articles in anthologies about early Islam....
, the words translating to "Houris" or "Virgins of Paradise" are instead interpreted as "Fruits (grapes)" and "high climbing (wine) bowers... made into first fruits". Alternate interpretations of these Qur'anic verses are offered, including the idea that the Houris should be seen as having a specifically spiritual nature rather than a human nature; "these are all very sensual ideas; but there are also others of a different kind... what can be the object of cohabitation in Paradise as there can be no question of its purpose in the world, the preservation of the race. The solution of this difficulty is found by saying that, although heavenly food, women etc.., have the name in common with their earthly equivalents, it is only by way of metaphorical indication and comparison without actual identity... authors have spiritualized the Houris" and "later literature is able to give many more details of their physical beauty... they are so transparent that the marrow of their bones is visible through sev-enty silken garments. If they expectorate into the world, their spittle becomes musk...".
Criticisms
Jane GerberJane Gerber
Jane S. Gerber is a professor of Jewish history and the director of the Institute for Sephardic Studies at City University of New York. She is also the author of many books, including Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience, and other books. Gerber was formerly the president of the...
claims that the Qur'an ascribes negative traits to Jews, such as cowardice, greed, and chicanery. She also alleges that the Qur'an associates Jews with interconfessional strife and rivalry , the Jewish belief that they alone are beloved of God , and that only they will achieve salvation . According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the Qur'an contains many attacks on Jews and Christians for their refusal to recognize Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
as a prophet. In the Muslim view, the crucifixion of Jesus
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
was an illusion, and thus the Jewish plots against him ended in failure. In numerous verses the Qur'an accuses Jews of altering the Scripture
Tahrif
Taḥrīf is an Arabic term used by Muslims with regard to irreparable alterations Islamic tradition claims Jews and Christians have made to Biblical manuscripts, specifically those that make up the Tawrat , Zabur and Injil .Traditional Muslim scholars, based on Qur'anic and other traditions, maintain...
.
Qur'anic statements which portray Christians and Jews in a negative image (9:30, 5:72, 3:85, 4:150, 58:22) include verse 30 of Al-Tawba which states:
"And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of God; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of God; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may God destroy them; how they are turned away!"
Although there is a verse stating that believing Christians and Jews will be rewarded as a result of their belief in God (2:62), there are other verses such as:(verse 85 of Al-i'Imran):
"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers."
which denies the validity of their religions as they are practiced now.
Responses
The main Qur'anic statement that Muslim scholars hold portray ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s and Jews in a positive image in Surah Baqarah, Chapter No. 2, Verse No. 62:
"Those who believe, the Jews, Christians and SabiansSabiansThe Sabians of Middle Eastern tradition were a monotheistic Abrahamic religious group mentioned three times in the Quran: "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." In the Hadith they are nothing but converts to Islam, while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of...
- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord. They need not fear, nor shall they grieve."
According to Surah Ankabut, the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
gave Jews and Christians a special and honored place. . Moreover, he states that the Qur'an mentions that Christians were the "nearest to Muslims in love, because their priests and monks are not proud, and because they listen to and recognize the truth of what the Messenger (Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
) has brought ". Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong FRSL , is a British author and commentator who is the author of twelve books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic nun, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and mystical faith...
mentions that there are "far more numerous passages in the Qur'an" which speak positively of the Jews and their great prophets, than those which were against the "rebellious Jewish tribes of Medina" (during Muhammad's time).
Regarding the verses which tell that Jews were turned into apes, Muslim scholars disagree on the meanings. Some believe Jews were actually turned into apes and pigs, while others believe they began to act like animals. Sayyid Abul Ala
Abul Ala Maududi
Syed Abul A'ala Maududi , also known as Molana or Shaikh Syed Abul A'ala Mawdudi, was a Sunni Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher, and a major 20th century Islamist thinker. He was also a prominent political figure in Pakistan and was the first...
believes this punishment was not meant for all Jews, and that they were only meant for the Jewish inhabitants that were sinning at the time.
See also
- Qur'an and science
- Creation–evolution controversy
- Criticism of the BibleCriticism of the BibleThis article is about criticism of the Bible as a source of information or ethical guidance. It will vary slightly depending on whether the focus is on the Old Testament, the letters of New Testament or the Canonical gospels...
- The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Koran
- War against Islam
Criticism
- Apostasy in IslamApostasy in IslamApostasy in Islam is commonly defined in Islam as the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam...
- Censorship by religionCensorship by religionCensorship by religion is a form of censorship where freedom of expression is controlled or limited using religious authority or on the basis of the teachings of the religion. This form of censorship has a long history and is practiced in many societies and by many religions...
- Criticism of MuhammadCriticism of MuhammadCriticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century, when Muhammad was decried by his non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism. During the Middle Ages he was frequently demonized in European and other non-Muslim polemics...
- Criticism of the Morality of Islam
- Homosexuality and IslamHomosexuality and IslamLGBT topics and Islam are influenced by both the cultural-legal history of the nations with a large Muslim population, along with how specific passages in the Qur'an and statements attributed to the prophet Muhammad are interpreted. The mainstream interpretation of Qur'anic verses and hadith...
- Islam and antisemitism
- Islam and domestic violenceIslam and domestic violenceThe relationship between Islam and domestic violence is disputed. Even among Muslims, the uses and interpretations of shari’a, the moral code and religious law of Islam, lack consensus....
- Islam and slaveryIslam and SlaveryIslamic views on slavery first developed out of the slavery practices of pre-Islamic Arabia. During the wars between different states/tribes in various parts of the world, prisoners/captives were either killed or enslaved...
- Islamic terrorism
- IslamofascismIslamofascismThe term Islamofascism is a neologism which draws an analogy between the ideological characteristics of specific Islamist movements from the turn of the 21st century on, and a broad range of European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism.-Origins of...
- Women in IslamWomen in IslamThe study of women in Islam investigates the role of women within the religion of Islam. The complex relationship between women and Islam is defined by Islamic texts, the history and culture of the Muslim world...
Controversies
- Islamic view of Ezra, concerns the claim in surah 9:30 of the Qur'an that the Jews believe Ezra (Uzair) is the son of God
Critical sites
- The Skeptics Annotated Qur'an
- TheQuran.com
- Explore the Qur'an
- In the Name of Allah Analysis of the Qur'an
- Answering Islam
- Faithfreedom.org
Muslim responses to criticism
- The Proofs of the Authenticity and divinity of the Quran
- Women's Rights in Islam, All Misconceptions about Women in Islam
- Islamic Awareness website
- http://muslim-responses.com/
- http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/
- http://www.mostmerciful.com/
- Five Common Myths About Islam - globalexchange.org
- USC CMJE website
- M Mohar AliMuhammad Mohar AliMuhammad Mohar Ali was a scholar of Islam and history of Muslims in Bengal and India.-Academic career:Mohar Ali was born in 1932 in Khulna in Bengal. Studying at Dhaka University, he obtained a degree in History in 1952 and Masters in 1953...
, The Qur'an and the Orientalists : An Examination of Their Main Theories and Assumptions (2004). ISBN 0-9540369-7-2