Can God Make these Errors?

The miracle of the Qur’an is that so many people believe it! …

Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a direct utterance of Allah (God). Because God is infallible, one would expect the Qur’an to be infallible also. However, by examining the Qur’an, we are faced by many statements that go against the undisputed facts of science. It would be unacceptable if such errors were attributed to a learned human being, worse yet to attribute them to the Omniscient God. The list of the errors in the Qur’an is very long, and are discussed in full detail in other books. Here, we have a limited space to list only a few samples. Our goal is to question whether God can make such errors, whether God was in fact the author of the Qur’an.

Geographical Errors

Earth, Heaven and Mountains
"He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs." Surah 31:10

The Sun sets in a spring
"Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness." Surah 18:86

Historical Errors

Pharaoh built the tower of Babel in Egypt
"Pharaoh said: "O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that I may mount up to the god of Moses: but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!" Surah 28:38

Alexander the Great was a prophet
"They ask thee concerning Zul-qarnain (Alexander the Great) Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story." Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends. One (such) way he followed, Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness." Surah 18:83-88

Ethical Errors

Legalizing perjury
"God will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts; and He is Oft-forgiving, Most Forbearing." Surah 2:225

Legalizing murder
"O Apostle! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding." Surah 8:65

Legalizing deceit
"God will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but He will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If that is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths ye have sworn. But keep to your oaths. Thus doth God make clear to you His signs, that ye may be grateful." Surah 5:89

Scientific Errors

A corps leaning on a staff for a year
"Then, when We decreed (Solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the Jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task)." Surah 34:14

A nap lasting three hundred and nine years
"So they stayed in their Cave three hundred years, and (some) add nine (more)" Surah 18:9-26

Legal Errors

Scourging the witness
"And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors;-" Surah 24:4

God ordains taking spoils
"And know that out of all the booty that ye may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to God,- and to the Apostle, and to near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer,- if ye do believe in God and in the revelation We sent down to Our servant on the Day of Testing,- the Day of the meeting of the two forces. For God hath power over all things." Surah 8:41

Since the Bible came first, and since there is every reason to believe that the Bible was kept uncorrupted, Muslim theologians have lots of explaining to do with regard to such contradictions and errors in their Book.

Is There a Mathematical Miracle in the Qur’an?

This is in response to what was published in an Internet site:"Mathematical Miracle of Qur’an": www.submission.org

We would like to draw your attention to the following:

The Qur’an assures more than once, that the Holy Bible (Old Testament and New Testament) was descended by God Himself: "And He sent down the law (of Moses), and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind" [Al Omran 3/3-4].

It describes the Bible also as Al Zekr Al Hakim, i.e. the message, in its statement: "Before thee, also, the messengers we sent were but men, to whom we granted inspiration: if ye realize this not, ask of those who possess the message «Al Zekr»" [Al Anbeyaa 21/7], and "This is the message «Al Zekr» of those with me, and message «Al Zekr» of those before me" [Al Anbeyaa 21/24]. The Qur’an also admits that God preserves the Bible because it is descended by Him, i.e. His «Tanzeel»: "We have sent down the message «Al Zekr» and we will assuredly guard it" [Al Hajar 15/9].

The Holy Bible, which the Qur’an admits that it is authentic, and that it's kept by God, says: "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the law" [Luke 16/17], which means that the word of God in the Old Testament cannot be changed. It is also mentioned that Jesus Christ, i.e. «Issa Al Massih», says about his word: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" [Mathew 24/35]. As you see here that Jesus Christ describes his word as eternal, which is not applicable except for God Himself. This means that the word of Jesus Christ in the New Testament can never be changed as well. This is the belief of Christians in the word of the Holy Bible, with its two Testaments, which no creature on earth could change or falsify. That is because it is the word of God, and the Qur’an itself confirms this belief. Hence, if someone comes 600 years after the descent (incarnation) of Jesus Christ, which is the most glorious incident in the history of humanity, and this person wants to change the events of the history, or some of the teachings of the Holy Bible, or to interpret it in a different way other than what Jesus Christ taught. This person has to get the proof for what he says, especially if it were not coinciding with the recorded history over the years. On the other hand, we have to take very good care not to be deceived by him, even if he were an angel from heaven, as the Holy Bible teaches: "Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a Gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned" [Galatians 1/7-8]. Besides, it was mentioned in «Bustan El Ruhban» (The Garden of Monks) book, that many times Satan himself dared to take the image of an angel, to deceive the monks and to divert them from their belief. The Holy Bible also confirms: "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light!" [2Corinthians 11/14].

This leads us to the next point: the Qur’an came without any evidence that proves its credibility. In spite of its promise that God will send miracles to prove it, up till now this promise was not fulfilled, not even by one miracle. Humanity waited a long time for this miracle, but nothing came out. That pushed «Al Azhar Al Sharif», the famous Islamic university, to declare that Islam is the religion of the reason, and that there are no miracles in Islam but Qur’an, which is the only miracle, and the only proof of Islam's authenticity. Since then, we hear a lot of sayings that claim that the Qur’an predicted some of the scientific discoveries, even when these discoveries are proved wrong later. For instance, when it was discovered that the atom was indivisible, and then when it was proved divisible; in both cases it was said to be a miracle of the Qur’an. Nowadays you're coming up with the idea of 'letter measuring'. This is an old Jewish thought; it is a mistrusted unofficial procedure, and it cannot be scientifically proved. Although you call the Jews infidels, you still follow their barren ways. You're still trying to prove the credibility of the Qur’an from the Qur’an itself. Here, «Al Azhar Al Sharif», and you, missed a very important point, which is: Any book needs proofs from outside it to prove it authentic. That's only logical, since every witness needs a judge to judge his testimony, or else the whole case is spoilt.

In spite of all that, a quick look regarding what you said concerning the mathematical miracle of Qur’an, makes us doubt its scientific credibility. From the very beginning many mistakes, contradictions, and making ups are noticed, among which are the following: You mentioned that the number 19 is the signature of God on the nature, demonstrating that the period of pregnancy is 38 weeks, which is the multiple of 19 x 2. The truth is that the pregnancy period lies between 37 and 40 weeks, but you chose the number 38 because it suits you better.

The days of the week are 7, and that's not a multiple of 19.

The months of the year are 12, as the Qur’an says: "The number of months in the sight of Allah (God) is twelve (in a year)" [Al Tawba 9/36], and that's not a multiple or a factor of 19.

The same can be said about the word 'God' «Allah», whom you claim that 19 is his signature, is repeated 2690 times. This number includes the word «Allah» written in the «Basmalah» of «Surat Al Fatiha» only, which means without the word «Allah» in the «Basmalah» of the rest of the «Suras», because they are not considered 'numbered verses', except in «Surat Al Fatiha». The number, 2690 is not divisible by 19. And even if we include the word «Allah» stated in the «Basmalah» of the rest of the «Suras», the total will be 2802 times, which is still indivisible by 19.

You said that the number 19 represents the beginning and the end (the Alpha and the Omega), and that's why it's the symbol of God, since number '1' is the beginning of the numerals and number '9' is their end. Here we ask where is the 'zero' in your calculations??? Especially that you said that the sum of 1+ 9 is 10, then the number 'zero' exists, or in fact it is the actual beginning of the numbers. Besides, all the numerical mathematical formulas and geometrical measurements, show that everything starts from 'zero' and not from '1'. Hence if you don't consider that the zero exists, then all your calculations are wrong!

You said that the word 'one' «Wahed» which means the one God, is mentioned 19 times in the Qur’an; But the truth is that «Wahed» which means the one God is repeated 22 times and not 19 times. As for the word «Wahed» with different meanings than the one above, is repeated 8 times, which is not a factor 19. And if we add both numbers 22+8 the result is 30, which is also indivisible by 19.

You mentioned that the '1' and the '9' are written in a similar way in all the languages of the world. Just a quick look to the Roman and the Chinese numbers makes you realize that you're terribly mistaken.

You said that the «Basmalah», (i.e. In the name of God the all merciful «Besm Allah Al Rahman Al Rahim»), consists of 19 letters. This is only true if we neglect the «Alif» (A) in «Al Rahman» which is drawn over the word, and if we neglect the doubling of «Al Lam» (L) for the word «Allah» and that of «Al Raa» (R) for the word «Al Rahim».

The word "Messenger" «Al Rasoul» is mentioned 236 times, and that is indivisible by 19

The word "Mohamed" who's the founder of Islam, is mentioned only 4 times, and that has no relation to 19.

Muslims mostly killed Dr. Rashad Khalifa, the discoverer of this so-called great miracle, and mostly because of this same issue. This is the greatest evidence that the Muslim researchers themselves doubted his discovery.

This quick overview shows you that the basis on which your theory is built, is a weak one, and that's without going into unnecessary details. Not to mention that this belief is too far from being scientific, and was never adopted by any official Islamic university or organization in the whole world, even after 25 years of his pretended discovered miracle.

This leads us to a very important point, which is the nagging need, internal and personal, of Muslims, for a miracle which proves the truth of what was said. This was clear with the people contemporary to Mohamed, when they asked him to show them a miracle, and he answered that he was human being just like them, who does not do miracles. When this answer was not satisfactory, he resorted to giving them a promise that God will show them His miracles in the horizon (far future), and that these miracles will be inside each one of them (internal miracles). When they grumbled against this answer, he was forced to challenge 'Humans' «Al Ens», and 'Sprites' «Al Jinn», with the verses and Surahs of Qur’an. (We would like to ask here, why this challenge didn't include 'Devils' also?). Many have faced this challenge throughout the years, but they never announced it because they feared Muslims' harm (As we could see from the trials of Muslims, to reveal the personality of 'the Challenger' to harm him, just as they intended to do with 'Salman Roushdy').

Thanks to God, things never remain the same: Those who were the greatest empire in the world until 1923, lost their power, which moved to other nations. Before this year, they had dominated the world with their absolute power and had taken away freedom from people, which God gave them. Recently, the means of communication around the globe developed to an extent that was never thought possible. With these new means, the possibility for every human being to express his thoughts with total freedom, and without fear from injuries and violence of the sword, progressed greatly. This freedom encouraged many to accept the challenge and to announce it to whole world in total freedom. Thus, a man took on the challenge of Qur’an that says that no one can ever come up with a «Sura» like it. He invented four «Suras» of high resemblance to the style and wording of the Qur’an and called it "Sura like it", and he published it on one of the "AOL" sites. He called himself "the challenger", so that his personality remains unknown to remain safe from the violence of Muslims. The most important point is that this man invented these «Suras», to draw the attention of Muslims to the fact that we cannot count on the existing challenge in the Qur’an to prove its credibility. And due to the great resemblance between these four «Suras» and the style of the Qur’an, all Muslims revolted violently because they could not expect such a great resemblance. Even «Al Azhar» revolted, and being the oldest and greatest Islamic official and international institute, took the responsibility of suing 'The Challenger'. And since his identity was not known, «Al Azhar» could only sue the publishing company AOL. In order to have a concrete evidence to accuse AOL, Dr. Omar Abdel Halim, the director of the economics center at «Al Azhar» university, announced: "The falsification of Qur’an resembled the wording and the format of the Qur’anic arrangements, that's why it should be a work of a professional organization and not of an amateur" (Al-Ahram newspaper dated 27/6/1998 page 1, and Al-Ahram newspaper dated 28/6/1998 page 2, colon «Sandook Al Donia»). This means that this work resembled so much The Qur’an to a professional extent. This confession is enough for us from an official trustworthy Islamic institute.

However, the greatest miracle of Qur’an, is not one of those miracles, you are trying to attribute to it. Instead, it is its strange power to make its believers believe in things without a single sign or proof. It makes them cancel their minds, to be able to believe in it, with indolent hearts and passive souls. Moreover, it pushes them to commit hateful acts in the name of God and religion, which would be rejected by any living human conscience. These acts are committed under strange religious terms, such as: hurting bodies in the name of «Al Hodood» (penance or religious punishment), killing men in the name of «Al Redda» (apostasy), invading and occupying cities to settle them in the name of «Al Fath» (religious conquest), killing their dwellers and scaring them in the name of «Al Jihad» (Holy militancy), and many more acts in other strange terms. Yet, the most important point of this greatest miracle is that the Muslims are committing these acts in the name of God, which gives them a strong justification to keep their conscience quiet about what they are doing.

In fact, there is no possible way to have real peace and calm at heart, without the presence of the king of peace himself, The Lord Jesus Christ.

http://www.islamreview.com/articles/miracleofquran.shtml

IHS