2. The Presidency of Islamic Researchers, IFTA, Call and Guidance: Eds. The Holy Quran: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary, (Saudi Arabia: King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex). Surah 16:125. Hereafter, quotes from this version of the Quran will be parenthetically inserted within the text following the verse(s) cited - without additional notation.
3. The alleged unsurpassable beauty and uniqueness of the Quran is an argument made within the Quran in Surah 52:34, 10:37, 38 and 17:88. The matter is highly subjective from the eyes of a non-Muslim who has read the Quran. And I question whether the beauty or uniqueness of a work lends credence to its inspiration - one need only think of Homer's works, or some of the plays of Shakespeare. Beauty would be expected of an inspired book, but comparisons of beauty are difficult to make.
4. The amazing spread of Islam was an argument which I did not pursue for a simple reason: Islam has suffered major declines since its formation. If growth is a sign of the truth of Islam, then shrinkage would be falsification. Rather than have the absurdity of a religious system which is alternately true and false, I simply dismiss the argument as weak. I should also note that those who point to the recent growth in numbers of Muslims often neglect mentioning that, like Roman Catholics, most Muslims are "born into the faith" by the virtue of having Muslim parents. The majority of the growth in the Muslim world is to be found in the fact that Muslim countries are, to a large extent, third world countries with high birth rates. Even much of the growth in North America is due to less restrictive immigration policies which resulted in more Muslims migrating to Canada and the US.
5. See Appendix C.
6. I do not critique this argument as Muslims themselves are not in agreement on whether Muhammad was literate or not. The debate focuses on whether the words "unlettered" (7:157, 158) and "unlearned" refer to illiteracy or an unfamiliarity with the Biblical text. The same labels are used to describe others in 3:20 and 62:2. Those who maintain Muhammad was very likely literate sometimes refer to 62:2 where Muhammad is sent to the "unlettered," but the focus is on him teaching from the Quran, not encouraging literacy. This interpretation seems to be driven from the difficulty of imagining how a successful and intelligent businessman was able to build a trading empire without being able to read. Those who maintain that he could not read, usually cite 29:48 (see note 34) and hold that this is a major argument for the truth of the Quran. I agree with both. Surah 29:48 seems very clear that Muhammad could not read, yet I agree it is hard to believe that he built up his caravan business as an illiterate man. If he was truly illiterate, the caravan business seems to be the greatest feat of the two - the Quran could simply have been dictated to a follower. And there is substantial evidence that it was. I conclude however that the Quran does teach his illiteracy.
7. I found this interesting quote: "We have no quarrel with the Islamic position that since the Recension of Uthman that Quran has remained intact. However, because of the destruction of all deviant copies no one can know with any certainty if he present Quran is exactly the same as what Muhammad gave them. Bevan Jones in his work The People of the Mosque, succinctly answers the Muslim argument for the alleged miraculous preservation of the Quran: 'But while it may be that no other work has remained for twelve centuries with so pure a text, it is probably equally true that no other has suffered so drastic a purging." Found in Gudel, Joseph P. "To Every Muslim an Answer," Forward, Winter 1986, p.22.
8. Bucaille, Maurice. The Bible, The Quran, and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge, trans.: Alastair D. Pannell and Maurice Bucaille. (Tripoli: The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamarihiyah, 1987).
9. The publisher's opinion, found note on the rear flyleaf of the cover.
10. I found it humourous that the very scholars which Bucaille cites to support his criticisms of the Bible are equally critical of the Quran. Also defective is his habit of equating Catholicism with Christianity.
11. The only fallacy of significant proportions which is not related directly to science in the Quran is that of ignoratio elenchi - he assumes that the refutation of his opponents position gives his own validity. The only exception to this logical fallacy is found where the negation of the opponent's position logically implies not only a contradiction - but one's own position. This is only possible in certain situations where there are only two positions. In the case of Islam and Christianity this is obviously not the case. The limited scope and specific design of this paper precludes, of course, any assessment of the legitimacy of Bucaille's claims regarding Christianity and the Bible.
12. Op. cit. p. 129.
13. Scientific Accuracy of the Quran Amazes University of Toronto Professor: The Quran and the Study of Embryology, (Toronto: Islamic Information and Da'wah Centre International).
14. Ally, Shabir. Common Questions People ask About Islam, (Toronto: Islamic Information and Da'wah Centre International, 1994). p. 16; and The Quran, The Holy Book of God, (Ottawa: The Council of Muslim Communities of Canada, 1982).
15. The words which the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write to Timothy are very applicable to this topic: "...Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith." I Timothy 6:17.
16. The 'special' wonder is the truths about human development. Both Bucaille and Keith Moore from U of T cite Surahs 2:223, 22:5, 23:12-16, 32:8, 39:6, 53:45-46, 75:37, 76:2; Bucaille alone cites 2:222, 8:32, 16:4, 32:9, 35:11, 40:67, 71:14, 75:38-39; 77:20-21, 82:6-8, 86:6-7, 96:1-2, and Moore mentions 39:6. I do not assume that this list is exhaustive.
17. Bucaille, p. 197.
18. Ibid. p. 212, 215 etc.
19. Fallacy first brought to my attention in Ronald Nash's "Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions?" Christian Research Journal, Winter (1994), 13.
20. Scientific Accuracy of the Quran Amazes University of Toronto Professor: The Quran and the Study of Embryology, (Toronto: Islamic Information and Da'wah Centre International).
21. Bucaille, p. 164.
22. Surah 2:65 and 7:163-166, see Ali's note 79; 21:30 see note 2691 - text cites formation from water (reminiscent of the ancient Greek, Thales) not a preponderance of water; see the Golden calf in 20:90-100 actually mooing. See Ali's note. Note also the descriptions of sun and moon, etc. in 35:13, 36:38, and 39:5 etc. Any of these texts can easily be interpreted in an unscientific way with Newtonian or Relativity theory in astronomy.
23. Words such as "claim" are not meant in the loaded sense, and are used by Muslims themselves. Please keep in mind when reading this section that this is meant to be a constuctive critique, and I am simply pointing out an unorthodox defence here.
24. Why God's Book Cannot Contain Error (Toronto: Islamic Information and Da'wah Centre International). See also Basit Ahmad, The Integrity of the Quranic Text, Bucaille's work, and almost every other Muslim book, missive or pamphlet that touches on the subject of the Quran.
25. This point is very important. The Quran is held to be error free, but not necessarily simple in all areas. Surah 3:7 tells us in part that "in it are verses, basic or fundamental, clear; they are the foundation of the Book: others are not entirely clear. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is not entirely clear. Seeking discord, and searching for its interpretation, but no one knows its true meaning except for Allah." The rest of the verse informs us that the men of knowledge will accept the Message as true in spite of their inability to understand it. Ali's note informs us that "commentators usually understand the verses of established meaning to refer to the categorical orders of the law. He personally says that the meaning may be wider, advocating that the mother or the foundation of the book "must include the very foundation on which the law rests, the essence of Allah's Message..." Note 347. It is obvious that if we are to limit our understanding of the Quran to the law, then this part of the paper dealing with the infallibility of the Quran is a waste of time - for then no one can know if this book is true. With Ali, I hold that it is key to our understanding of even the law, to know that things such as inspiration can be understood, and that the mysteries refer to the absolute transcendence of Allah and the anthropomorphisms found in verses like 2:115 - or the predestination question in light of 35:8 and 18:29.
26. Six days in Surah 10:3, 7:54, 11:7, 25:59 etc. compared with 2+2+4 days in 4:9-12. This of course is not a contradiction if one advocates that each day is an epoch as Ali does in note 1031.
27. Man is sometimes described as being created from water or alternatively from clay: 38:76.
28. Haman was the right hand man to Ahasueras - not Pharaoh.
29. It is interesting to note that Yusuf Ali, in his two appendices on alleged Biblical corruption cites a number of scholars. I noticed the famed scholar, Sir Frederick Kenyon, cited as an authority twice. So I looked up a number of his works and found that he supported the authenticity of scriptures, first century dating of the New Testament, argues that the Gospel of John is written by John (p.25) and is, humanly speaking, the most reliable of the four gospels. The Bible and Modern Scholarship. cf. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts: A history of the Text and its Translations, and The Text of the Greek Bible. It is also interesting to note that Muslims who appeal to "higher criticism" (which Kenyon rejects) in their attack on the Bible, reject similar analysis of the Quran. Also humourous to note, are the logical binds that apologists are left with. Ali, for example, cites a passage in Genesis to demonstrate that a passage in Genesis is corrupted.
30. In addition to holding dated theories of textual criticism, the Jesus Seminar is not exactly filled with scholars: see Blomberg, Craig L. "The Seventy Four 'Scholars': Who Does The Jesus Seminar Really Speak For?" Christian Research Journal, (Christian Research Institute: Fall, 1994), p. 34.
31. Ahmed Deedat even went so far as to hand out copies of Awake! - the popular magazine of the door-knocking "Jehovah's Witnesses" cult (erroneously labelling them as "Christian")! What the Bible Says About Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), (Internet Production) note 15 - the first one. He has two "note 15's". Others cite liberal or neo-Orthodox productions such as the New American Bible - a Roman Catholic version: The Bible and the Quran Compared: Part 1 - Word of Man or Word of God?. A similar tactic is used in World Religions: A Comparative Study - Some Forgotten Sayings of Jesus. Again, most sources quoted are Roman Catholic.
32. Specifically the Torah, Gospels and Psalms. The Psalms may be less obvious, but 4:163, 5:78 and 21:105 all seem to support their inclusion as Scripture for Muslims.
33. See Why God's Word Cannot Contain Error (Toronto: Islamic Information and Da'wah Centre International).
34. Basit Ahmad, The Integrity of the Quranic Text.
35. Surah 3:34.
36. Surah 18:27.
37. Often the texts are referred to as "inspired."
38. The Quran may even teach in Surah 4:163 that the books of Job, Jonah and the Proverbs are inspired; 5:78 and 21:105 the Psalms, and 5:113 gives further support to the book of Proverbs. This passage could be referring to the revelation of nature or parts of the Quran which were in existence at the time it was written.
39. Surah 5:68.
40. Surah 3:93.
41. Surah 21:7.
42. Surah 3:76.
43. Surahs 2:59, 79, 174; 11:110; 6:91 and 5:44. Texts by apologists like Yusuf Ali support biblical corruption in their translation and in their notes. Translations by "non-apologists" however do not support this mode of translation. For example, 11:110 says that "differences arose therein" while others say "regarding it" - yet the context and the remainder of the verse show that the problem was obedience to the text - not the text itself. Even in the popular 6:91, Muhammad is reminding the Jews that the Torah they tried to hide and forget still taught them many things - things which could only have come from God. It must be noted again, that if these texts do teach the corruption of previous revelation, then the Quran asserts a very problematic contradiction.
44. We are also left a little puzzled as to why Muhammad would direct his opponents back to the Torah, Gospels and the "people of the book" for confirmation of truth - surely a prophet of Allah would be aware of the textual defects and instead warn his followers not to be deceived by the texts.
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