Criticism of the Qur'an

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2007.

Part of a series on Controversies related to Islam and Muslims

Criticism

Islam · Muhammad · Qur'an · Islamism

Issues

Apostasy · Dhimmi · Eurabia Antisemitism · Domestic violence Islamism · Islamophobia Jihad · Persecution of Muslims Qutbism · Terrorism The Satanic Verses controversy Women in Muslim societies

Notable contemporary critics

Ayaan Hirsi Ali · Irshad Manji Daniel Pipes · Ibn Warraq Philippe de Villiers · Geert Wilders Robert Spencer · Theo van Gogh Afshin Ellian · Hugh Fitzgerald Susanne Winter

Muslims

List of Guantánamo Bay detainees Moazzam Begg · Osama bin Laden

Events since 2001

September 11, 2001 attacks War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Guantanamo Bay detention camp Mecca girl's schools fire Iraq War Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons Qur'an desecration controversy Beheadings of three Christian girls CPT hostage crisis Fox journalists kidnapping Abu Ghraib abuse Egyptian ID card controversy Flying Imams controversy French headscarf ban Imam Rapito Knighthood of Salman Rushdie Pope Benedict XVI controversy Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings Fitna (film) v • d • e

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal word of God as recited to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Critics argue against this belief, and criticize various statements in the Qur'an.^[1]

Contents 1 The origins of the Qur'an 1.1 Historical authenticity of the Qur'an 2 Claim of divine origin 2.1 Confusion over speaker of certain verses 2.2 Criticism of the science in the Qur'an 2.3 Satanic verses 2.4 Claims of internal inconsistency 3 Morality of the Qur'an 3.1 Violence against Women 3.2 Severe punishments 4 Christians and Jews in the Qur'an 4.1 Criticisms 4.2 Responses 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 7.1 Critical sites 7.2 Muslim responses to criticism

[edit] The origins of the Qur'an

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.^[2]

[edit] Historical authenticity of the Qur'an

Main article: Historicity_of_Muhammad#Historical_Authenticity_of_the_Qur'an

See also: Origin and development of the Qur'an

John Wansbrough believes that the Qu’ran is a redaction in part of other sacred scriptures, in particular the Judaeo-Christian scriptures.^[3][4] 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."^[5] 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.^[5]

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."^[6] 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.^[7] 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."^[8] 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’."^[9] 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" because "The search for variants in the partial versions extant before the Caliph Uthman’s alleged recension in the 640s (what can be called the “sources” behind our text) has not yielded any differences of great significance."^[10]

In 2006, legal scholar Liaquat Ali Khan claimed that Crone and Cook later explicitly disavowed their earlier book.^[11][12] 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 Quran 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.^[13]

A Christian Arab named 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"^{[14][opinion needs balancing]} 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"^[15] 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. So clearly does the whole bear the stamp of uniformity that doubts of its genuineness hardly arise."^[16]

[edit] Claim of divine origin

See also: Wahy#The origin of the Qur'an and the question of sincerity of Muhammad

See also: Qur'an miracles

See also: Legends and the Qur'an

Rational sources reject the idea that the Qur'an is miraculously perfect and impossible to imitate. The Jewish Encyclopedia, for example, writes: "The language of the Koran is held by the Mohammedans to be a peerless model of perfection. An impartial observer, however, finds many peculiarities in it. Especially noteworthy is the fact 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)."^[17] According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, "The dependence of Mohammed upon his Jewish teachers or upon what he heard of the Jewish Haggadah and Jewish practises is now generally conceded."^[17]

[edit] 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. They also thought that Surahs 19:64 and 37:161-166 were spoken by angels, describing their being sent by God down to Earth.^[18]

[edit] Criticism of the science in the Qur'an

Main article: Qur'an and Science

Quranic verses 3:59, 35:11, 96:2, 20:55, 6:1, 24:45, 15:26, 7:11, and 19:67 are all related to the origin of mankind. Some critics of Islam and many Muslims state that the Qur'an and modern evolutionary theory are not compatible.^[19][20] This has led to a contribution by Muslims to the creation vs. evolution debate.^[21] Some Muslims have pointed to certain Qur'anic verses (such as 21:30, 71:13-14, 29:19-20, 6:134-136, 10:4) that they think are in fact compatible with evolutionary science,^[22] but others think that only creationism is supported by the Qur'an and the hadith.^[23][24]

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."^[25] 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.^[25]

[edit] Satanic verses

Main article: Satanic Verses

Some criticism of the Qur'an has revolved around what are known as the "Satanic Verses". 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.^[26] 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."^[27] 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.^[28]

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 discusses the, 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.^[29] linking it with the moment at which Muhammad felt able to adopt a "hostile attitude" towards the pagan Arabs.^[30] 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".^[31] 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."^[32]

[edit] Claims of internal inconsistency

The Qur'an has come under criticism for what the critics see as contradictory verses in it. The earliest criticism of the Qur'an by pointing out its alleged inconsistencies seems to have happened when the early commentator Ibn Abbas was asked by an unidentified person about apparent Qur'anic contradictions. According to one report Ibn Abbas refused discussing them, and according to other reports he speaks volubly about them. The range of apparently contradictory passages includes abrogating and abrogated verses, matters as the creation of the universe, the nature of God and eschatological events. Those Muslims who defended the Qur'an against the claims of internal inconsistency desired to confirm its divine origin by vindicating the Qur'anic verse 4:82: "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.^[33]

[edit] Morality of the Qur'an

See also: Islamic ethics

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 Encyclopedia, 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."^[34] 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."^[35]

[edit] Violence against Women

Main articles: Islam and Domestic violence and An-Nisa, 34

Verse 4:34 of the Qur'an as translated by Mohammed Habib Shakir reads:

Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.

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.^[36] 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".^[37].

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.) Some Muslims argue that beating is only appropriate if woman has done "an unrighteous, wicked and rebellious act" beyond mere disobedience.^[38] 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.^[39][40][41]

Many Islamic scholars and commentators have emphasized that beatings, where permitted, are not to be harsh^[42][43][44] or even that they should be "more or less symbolic."^[45] According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Ibn Kathir, the consensus of Islamic scholars is that the above verse describes a light beating.^[46][47]

Some jurists argue that even when beating is acceptable under the Qur'an, it is still discountenanced.^[48][49][50]

[edit] Severe punishments

Main article: Hudud

Islam has been criticised for allegedly endorsing cruel and unusual punishments for certain crimes.^{[citation needed]} William Montgomery Watt believes that "such penalties may have been suitable for the age in which Muhammad lived. However, as societies have since progressed and become more peaceful and ordered, they are not suitable any longer."^[51]

The sentence of amputation of the limbs of thieves by Shari'ah courts has been very controversial.^[52] Cases of the death penalty being applied for homosexuality or sodomy in Iran have been condemned by human rights groups and others: "Human rights groups have documented numerous cases in which Iran has executed its citizens on charges of sodomy and adultery.^[53]"

According to John L. Esposito, proof for these crimes is hard to be established.^[54] The explanations given for the severity of punishments includes arguments such as the crimes being "against God and a threat to the moral fabric of the Muslim community". ^[54] According to Esposito, Muslim reformers have argued that such laws should not be applied in a society that poverty, high unemployment, and lack of education may drive people to commit crimes of theft. Furthermore, they argue that these punishments were adapted to and appropriate for the historical and social contexts in which they originated. The eternal part of the message of the Quran however, they argue is its underlying religious principles and values. Once distilled from specific texts in the light of the socio-historical background, these principles and values should find new expressions in terms of the form of punishments, in modernizing societies.^[54][55]

[edit] Christians and Jews in the Qur'an

[edit] Criticisms

Jane Gerber 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 (Qur'an 2:113), the Jewish belief that they alone are beloved of God (Qur'an 5:18), and that only they will achieve salvation (Qur'an 2:111).^[56] According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the Qur'an contains many attacks on Jews and Christians for their refusal to recognize Muhammad as a prophet.^[57] In the Muslim view, the crucifixion of Jesus was an illusion, and thus the Jewish plots against him ended in failure.^[58] In numerous verses (3:63; 3:71; 4:46; 4:160-161; 5:41-44, 5:63-64, 5:82; 6:92)^[59] the Qur'an accuses Jews of altering the Scripture.^[60]

[edit] Responses

The main Qur'anic statement that Muslim Scholars hold is the following verse from the verse 62 of Surah Al-Baqara which states:

"Those who believe, the Jews, Christians and Sabians - 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 Suat Yildirim, Qur’an gave Jews and Christians a special and honored place. (Qur'an 29:46) ^[61]. Moreover, he states that Quran 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 (Qur'an 5:82-83)" ^[62]. - However, this does not account for Muslim-Hindu or Muslim-Buddhist relations. Karen Armstrong mentions that there are "far more numerous passages in Quran" 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) ^[63].

Regarding the "apes" verses, Muslim scholars disagree on the meanings of these verses. Some believe Jews were actually turned into apes and pigs, while others believe they began to act like animals.^[64] 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.^[65]

[edit] See also

• The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Koran
• The relation between Islam and science
• Islamic extremist terrorism
• Islam and slavery
• Apostasy in Islam
• Women in Islam
• Creation-evolution controversy
• War against Islam

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Critical sites The Skeptics Annotated Qur'an

[edit] Muslim responses to criticism Five Common Myths About Islam - globalexchange.org USC MSA website

v • d • e Islam topics Beliefs God in Islam · Tawhid · Muhammad · Prophets of Islam Five Pillars Shahadah · Salah · Sawm · Zakat · Hajj History & leaders Timeline of Muslim history · Ahl al-Bayt · Sahaba · Shi'a Imams · Caliphs: Rashidun Caliphs, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Ottomans · Caliphates: Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad, Abbasid, Caliphate of Cordoba, Fatimid, Ottoman Empire · Conquests · Golden Age · Agricultural Revolution Religious texts Qur'an · Sunnah · Hadith Denominations Sunni · Shia · Sufism · Ibadi Life and Culture Animals · Art · Calendar · Children · Holidays · Mosques · Philosophy · Political aspects · Science · Women · Islamic studies · Islam by country Law & Jurisprudence Baligh · Cleanliness · Criminal · Dhabiĥa · Dhimmi · Divorce · Diet · Economics: Banking, Economic history, Murabaha, Riba · Ethics · Etiquette · Gambling · Gender segregation · Ghusl · Honorifics · Hudud · Hygiene: Miswak, Toilet, Wudu, Najis · Inheritance · Jizya · Leadership · Marital: Marriage contract, Nikah, Nikah Mut‘ah · Mahr · Mahram · Ma malakat aymanukum · Military: Prisoners of war · Slavery · Political · Sexuality: Masturbation, Sexual techniques · Sukuk · Takaful · Tayammum · Theological: Kalam · Zina · Sources Islamic studies Agriculture · Arts: Arabesque, Architecture, Calligraphy, Music, Pottery · Creationism · Feminism · Golden Age · Literature: Poetry · Philosophy: Early philosophy, Modern philosophy, Eschatology, Ethics, Theology · Sciences: Alchemy, Astrology, Astronomy, Economics, Islam and science, Mathematics, Medicine, Psychology · Sociology: Early sociology · Shu'ubiyya · Sports · Conversion of mosques · Historiography · Inventions Other religions Christianity · Hinduism · Jainism · Judaism · Sikhism Related topics Apostasy · Controversies · Criticism of Islam · Criticism of Muhammad · Criticism of the Qur'an · Islamism · Islamophobia · Islamic terrorism · Islamic view of miracles · Islam and antisemitism · Domestic violence · Persecution of Muslims · Qur'an and miracles · Qutbism

v • d • e Criticism of religion Belief systems Atheism  · Buddhism  · Christianity  · Hinduism  · Islam  · Judaism  · Monotheism  · Mormonism  · Scientology Organizations Catholic Church  · Seventh-day Adventist Church · Jehovah's Witnesses Texts Bible  · Qur'an People Jesus  · Moses  · Muhammad