Islam – The Religion of Depression and Misery

Did you know that the Quran teaches that Allah has deliberately created many human beings and genies for the express purpose of condemning them to hell?

Whomsoever God guides, he is rightly guided; and whom He leads astray — they are the losers. We have created for Gehenna many jinn and men: they have hearts, but understand not with them; they have eyes, but perceive not with them; they have ears, but they hear not with them. They are like cattle; nay, rather they are further astray. Those — they are the heedless. S. 7:178-179 Arberry

Had thy Lord willed, He would have made mankind one nation; but they continue in their differences excepting those on whom thy Lord has mercy. To that end He created them, and perfectly is fulfilled the word of thy Lord: ‘I shall assuredly fill Gehenna with jinn and men all together.’ S. 11:118-119 Arberry

If We had so willed, We could have given every soul its guidance; but now My Word is realized — “Assuredly I shall fill Gehenna with jinn and men all together.” S. 32:13 Arberry

Did you also know that the Islamic faith is perhaps the only religion which promises that every single person must enter into hell, while failing to give the individual believer the absolute assurance that s/he will be taken out from there?

The human being says, “Shall I be brought to life again after I will die?” Does he not remember that We created him when he did not exist? By your Lord, We will bring them back to life with satan and gather them around hell in large groups. Then We will separate from every group those who were strongly rebellious against the Beneficent God. We know best who deserves greater suffering in hell fire. It is the inevitable decree of your Lord that every one of you will be taken to hell. We will save the pious ones from the hell fire and leave the unjust people therein in crowded groups. S. 19:66-72 Muhammad Sarwar https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st23.htm

Note how the following versions translate the specific verse in question:

and there is not one of you but shall pass through it: a decree from your Lord which must be fulfilled. Wahiduddin Khan https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st38.htm

There is none of you, but ones who go down to it. This had been a thing decreed, that decreed by thy Lord. S. 19:71 Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st46.htm

And all of you will go through it. This is a decree from your Lord that must be fulfilled. Safi Kaskas https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st64.htm

And decidedly not one of you (there is), except that he will go (herded) down to it; that, for your Lord, has been a thing decreed, a must. Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st21.htm

And not from you [(who are mentioned in Verses 19/65-70) would remain outside] but must be one who entered it (i.e., Hell). (This) is unto your Nourisher-Sustainer, a decree, decreed. Dr. Kamal Omar https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st48.htm

There is not one of you but will go down to it. This has been an unavoidable decree of your Lord. Tala A. Itani https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st56.htm

And every single one of you will encounter it. This for your Lord is a certainty that will come to pass. The Monotheist Group (2013 Edition) https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st58.htm

Every one of you will tour the Hell (to feel how awful of a place it is.) Bijan Moeinian https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st11.htm

There is not one of you who shall not go down to it: such is a thing decreed, determined by your Lord. Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st16.htm

And there is none among you who He will not pass through (experience) Hell! This is, by your Rabb, a definite decree. Ahmed Hulusi https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/st63.htm

Not one of you there is, but he shall go down to it; that for thy Lord is a thing decreed, determined. Arberry

There is not one of you who will not go down to it,- that is settled and decided by thy Lord. Palmer

There shall be none of you but shall descend into the same hell: This is an established decree upon thy Lord. Sale

No one is there of you who shall not go down unto it – This is a settled decree with thy Lord – Rodwell

There is not one among you who shall not pass through it: such is the absolute decree of your Lord. N. J. Dawood (2014)

And here is how some of Islam’s greatest commentators explained this passage:

There is not one of you but shall come to it that is but shall enter Hell. That is an inevitability already decreed by your Lord something which He made inevitable and which He decreed; He will not waive it. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn https://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=19&tAyahNo=71&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and underline emphasis ours)

(There is not one of you but shall approach it) there is not a single one of you, to the exclusion of prophets and messengers, save that he will enter it, i.e. hell. (That is a fixed ordinance of your Lord) it is a decree that must necessarily take place. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs https://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=19&tAyahNo=71&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and underline emphasis ours)

There is a major problem with the above commentary. The only persons exempted from going to hell are the Lord Jesus and his blessed mother, since the Muslim scripture plainly states that Allah took Jesus to be with him where he is, and placed his glorious mother on a high and secure place:

When God said, ‘Jesus, I will take thee to Me and will raise thee to Me and I will purify thee of those who believe not. I will set thy followers above the unbelievers till the Resurrection Day. Then unto Me shall you return, and I will decide between you, as to what you were at variance on. S. 3:55 Arberry

God raised him up to Him; God is All-mighty, All-wise. S. 4:158 Arberry

And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign; and We gave them both shelter on high, a place of security and springs. S. 23:50 Hamid S. Aziz https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/23/st15.htm

The fact is that everyone else must enter into hell, including the prophets and messengers, according to the Quran!

The next traditions show that even Muhammad’s close companions knew that they too would have to go to hell, which caused them great fear and anxiety since they weren’t certain whether they would ever come out from there:

According to Ibn Humayd – Salamah – Muhammad b. Ishaq – Muhammad b. Ja‘far b. al-Zubayr – ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr, who said: The Messenger of God sent his expedition to Mu’tah in Jumada I of the year 8. He put Zayd b. Harithah in command of the men and said, “If Zayd b. Harithah is killed, Ja‘far b. Abi Talib shall be in command of the men; if Ja‘far is killed, ‘Abdallah b. Rawahah shall be in command… When ‘Abdallah b. Rawahah said goodbye with the other commanders of the Messenger of God who were doing so, HE WEPT. They said to him, “What is making you weep, Ibn Rawahah?” He said, “By God, I have no love of this world or excessive love for you, but I heard the Messenger of God recite a verse from the Book of God that mentioned the Fire [of Hell] – ‘Not one of you there is, but he shall go down to it; that for thy Lord is a thing decreed, determined’ – AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW I CAN COME OUT AFTER GOING DOWN.” The Muslims said, “May God accompany you, defend you, and bring you back to us in good health.” … (The History of Al-Tabari: The Victory of Islam, translated by Michael Fishbein [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany 1997], Volume VIII (8), pp. 152-153; bold and capital emphasis ours)

And:

Also narrated by Abdel Razak, narrated by Ibn Ayena, narrated by Ismail Ibn Abu Khalid, narrated by Qais Ibn Abu Hazem who said that Abdallah Ibn Rawaha placed his head on his wife’s lap AND BEGAN TO WEEP, so his wife began to weep also. So he asked her, “Why are you weeping?” She responded, “I saw you weeping and so I started to weep.” He said, “I remembered the saying of Allah – who is glorified and exalted – ‘Not one of you but will pass through it’ (Q. 19:71), AND I DON’T KNOW IF I WILL BE SAVED FROM IT OR NOT.” In another narration it adds the phrase, ‘he said this while he was ill.’

Also narrated by Ibn Jarir, narrated by Abu Kurayb, narrated by Ibn Yaman, narrated by Malik Ibn Maghul, narrated by Ibn Ishaq who said, “Whenever Abu Maysarah would lie down on his bed he would say, ‘I WISH MY MOTHER HAD NEVER BORE ME.’ AND THEN HE WOULD BEGIN TO WEEP. When asked why he was weeping he would respond, ‘WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WOULD ENTER HELL, BUT WE WEREN’T TOLD THAT WE WOULD EXIT FROM IT.’”

Also narrated by Abdallah Ibn Al-Mubarak, narrated by Al-Hassan Al-Basri who said, “A man said to his brother, ‘Have you been told that you shall enter hell?’ The brother answered ‘YES.’ He then asked, ‘Have you also been told that you shall exit from it?’ The brother responded ‘NO.’ So he asked, ‘Then why the laughter?’ The brother responded, ‘I have not seen a person laugh until he joined Allah.’” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=310)

What a depressing religion to believe in! To think that a religion would actually promise its adherents that they all must go to hell, without giving them the assurance that they will ever come out since no one can ever know for certain whether Allah will consider them to be godly enough to be taken out of the fires of hell!

This means that Muslims can never have true peace within their hearts, since they will always live with the fear of knowing that they must go to hell after they die. How, then, can any person ever be happy or joyful believing that hell is the next place they go to once they die?

Contrast this with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, who assures believers that they will never die and experience God’s wrath, since he promises to give his followers his everlasting peace, and assures them that he will never leave nor abandon them:

“‘I will not leave you fatherless. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more. But you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.’… Jesus answered him, ‘If a man loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and WE will come to him, and make OUR home with him… Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:18-19, 23, 27

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, how much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. Furthermore, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:1, 8-11

“For they themselves declare how we were received by you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

“For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

“At my first defense no one stood with me, but everyone forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:16-18

“Let your lives be without love of money, and be content with the things you have. For He has said: ‘I will never leave you, nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5-6

Now this is truly a message of hope, with all those believing it having nothing to fear anymore, not even death, since they know that their Lord and Savior has conquered the grave and therefore lives forever. And because he is alive forevermore, all those who trust in him shall never die but will also live forever and ever in his glorious presence:

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God… He who believes in the Son has eternal life. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:14-18, 36

“Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

“‘All whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and he who comes to Me I will never cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who has sent Me, that of all whom He has given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.’ The Jews then murmured about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus therefore answered them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.’” John 6:37-44

“Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon. But I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. I do not seek glory for Myself. There is One who seeks it and judges. Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he shall never see death.’ Then the Jews said to Him, ‘Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham and the prophets died, and You say, “If a man keeps My word, he shall never taste death.” Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets are dead! Who do You make Yourself out to be?’” John 8:49-53

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’” John 11:23-27

“‘Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also. You know where I am going, and you know the way.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:1-6

“I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may see My glory which You have given Me. For You loved Me before the creation of the world.” John 17:23-24

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the one born of the Father… for whoever is born of God overcomes the world, and the victory that overcomes the world is our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?… If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God which He has given concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this witness in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he does not believe the testimony that God gave about His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:1, 4-5, 9-13

All scriptural citations taken from the Modern English Version (MEV) of the Holy Bible.

Further Reading

The Quran on Muslims entering Hell https://answeringislam.net/Shamoun/muslims_in_hell.htm

Quran Contradiction: Will All Muslims Go to Hell? https://www.answeringislam.net/Quran/Contra/muslims_in_hell2.htm

Will All Muslims Go to Hell According to the Quran? https://www.answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/rebuttals/zawadi/muslims_in_hell.html

Will All Muslims Go to Hell? https://www.answeringislam.net/Responses/Osama/karim_in_hell.htm

Will Muslims Enter Hell? An Analysis of the Conflicting Hadith Reports https://www.answeringislam.net/Shamoun/muslims_in_hell_ahadith.htm

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/09/islam-the-religion-of-sadness-and-misery/

IHS

The Quranic Affirmation of the Holy Bible Revisited Pt. 2

 Addressing the objections of a Muslim greenhorn

We continue from where we previously left off https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/01/the-quranic-affirmation-of-the-holy-bible-revisited-pt-1/.

Unfortunately for this greenhorn, his very own Islamic traditions and scholars confirm that the Quran has been badly corrupted and is missing much of its contents.

For instance, in the Muqaddamah of Q. 33, Jalaluddin as-Suyuti recorded a statement from Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 161 A. H), as narrated by his student Abd al-Razaq al-Sanani (d. 211 A. H.):

 وأخرج عبد الرزاق عن الثوري قال : بلغنا ان ناسا من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم كانوا يقرأون القرآن أصيبوا يوم مسيلمة فذهبت حروف من القرآن

“Abd al-Razaq narrated from Al-Thawri that he said: ‘I have come to know that people from the Sahaba of the Prophet who used to recite the Quran were killed on the day of Musaylama and with their deaths letters from the Quran were lost (Zahab).’” (Tafsir Dur al-Manthur, Muqaddamah of Surah Ahzab, Volume 6, p. 558)

The Muhammadan has to contend with the fact according to the foregoing narration, specific verses that were known only to a particular group of Muslims disappeared when these individuals were killed in battle!

And here are two reports which speak of the missing verse of stoning in connection with the loss of much of the Quran:

“Abd al-Razzak in Al-Musannaf from Ibn Abbas said: Umar bin Al-Khattab ordered a person to gather people for Salat of Jama’at. He then ascended on a pulpit, praised Allah and said: ‘O people! Do not get afraid about the verse of Al-Rajm because it is a verse that was revealed in the book of Allah and we recited it but it was lost [Zahab], WITH MUCH OF THE QURAN GONE WITH MUHAMMAD; and the proof of that is that the prophet would stone, and Abu Bakr would stone, and I have stoned and there will come people from this nation who would deny the stoning.’” (Tafsir Dur al-Manthur, Muqadmah of Surah Ahzab)

And:

Zirr ibn Hubaish reported: “Ubayy ibn Ka’b said to me, ‘What is the extent of Suratul-Ahzab?’ I said, ‘Seventy, or seventy-three verses’. He said, ‘Yet it used to be equal to Suratul-Baqarah and in it we recited the verse of stoning’. I said, ‘And what is the verse of stoning’? He replied, ‘The fornicators among the married men (ash-shaikh) and married women (ash-shaikhah), stone them as an exemplary punishment from Allah, and Allah is Mighty and Wise.”‘ (Al-Itqan fi ‘ulum al-Quran, p. 524)

In case this neophyte calls into question these reports on the grounds that they happen to be false, we will merely quote what Jalaluddin as-Suyuti himself stated in the preface of his book Dur al-Manthur concerning the veracity of the reports found all throughout:

“Praise be to Allah… who has given me the ability to conduct a commentary of his great book based on what I have received of the transmitted reports with high valued chains.”

There are other sources which confirm that much of the Quran has been lost, never to be discovered again:

“Umar bin al-Khattab asked about a verse of Allah’s book, they answered: ‘It was with a man who got killed on day of Yamama (battle)’. He (Umar) said: ‘We all shall return to Allah’. Then he ordered to collect the Quran, therefore he was the first one who collected it in one book.” (Kanz ul Ummal, Volume 2, p. 574)

Umar was once looking for the text of a specific verse of the Qur’an he vaguely remembered. To his deep sorrow, he discovered that the only person who had any record of that verse had been killed in the battle of Yamama and that the verse was consequently lost. (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif, p. 10 – see also as-Suyuti’s al-Itqan fi ‘ulum al-Quran, volume 1, p. 204)

Al-Bukhari corroborates the above reports:

III: The Collection of the Qur’an

4702. It is related that Zayd ibn Thabit said, “After the slaughter of people in the Battle of Yamama, Abu Bakr sent for me. ‘Umar was with him. Abu Bakr said, ”Umar came to me and said, “Many Qur’an reciters were killed in the Battle of Yamama, and I fear that heavy casualties will be inflicted on the Qur’an reciters in other places and therefore much of the Qur’an will be lost. I think that you should collect the Qur’an together.”‘ Abu Bakr said, ‘I said to ‘Umar, “How can I do something which the Messenger of Allah did not do?” ‘Umar said, “By Allah, it is better.” ‘Umar kept at me about it until Allah opened my breast to that. I think what ‘Umar thinks about that.'”

Zayd continued, “Abu Bakr said, ‘You are an intelligent young man and we have no suspicion about you. You used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah. Therefore you are to search out the Qur’an and collect it.’ By Allah, if he had obliged me to move one of the mountains, that would not have been weightier for me than what he commanded to do of collecting the Qur’an. I said, ‘How can you do something which the Messenger of Allah did not do?‘ Abu Bakr said, ‘By Allah, it is better.’ Abu Bakr continued to keep at me until Allah opened my breast to what Allah had opened the breasts of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. So I began to search out the Qur’an and collect it from the palm stalks, thin white stones, and the breasts of men until I found end of Surat at-Tawba with Khuzayma al-Ansari WHICH I DID NOT FIND WITH ANYONE ELSE: ‘A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is distressful to him…’ (9:128)” The copy of the Qur’an in which the Qur’an was collected remained in the possession of Abu Bakr until Allah took him, and then it was with ‘Umar until Allah took him, and then it was with Hafsa bint ‘Umar.” (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, Chapter 69. Book of Virtues of the Qur’an https://bewley.virtualave.net/bukhari34.html; capital and underline emphasis ours)

Keep in mind Zaid’s claim that Q. 9:128-129 was not found with anyone but a single Muslim named Khuzaima al-Ansari, since we’ll have more to say about this text a little later.

Here is another tradition which testifies that most of the original Quran’s contents no longer exist:

“Ismail bin Ibrahim narrated from Ayub from Naf’i from Ibn Umar who said: ‘Verily among you people one would say that he has found the Quran while he is unaware of what the total quantity of the Quran was, because most of the Quran has been lost. Rather one should say that verily he has found the Quran that has appeared.’” (Fadhail al-Quran, by Qasim bin Salam (d. 222 A.H.), Volume 2, p. 135)

The following authorities all cite this particular narration:

Al-Itqan fi ‘ulum al-Quran by Suyuti, rendered into Urdu by Maulana Muhammad Haleem Ansari, Volume 2, p. 64 (Idara Islamiat, Lahore).

And here is an English translation of this specific report taken from another version of the Itqan:

It is reported from Ismail ibn Ibrahim from Ayyub from Naafi from Ibn Umar who said: “Let none of you say ‘I have acquired the whole of the Qur’an‘. How does he know what all of it is when much of the Qur’an has disappeared? Rather let him say ‘I have acquired what has survived.'” (Al-Itqan, p. 524)

Tafsir Dur al-Manthur Volume 1, p. 106.

Tafsir Ruh al-Mani, Volume 1, p. 25.

And here is what the scholars said about the transmitters of the foregoing report:

Ismail bin Ibrahim 

Dahabi said, “Hujja” (Al-Kashif, Volume 1 p. 242).

Ibn Hajar said, “Thiqah” (Taqrib al-Tahdib, Volume 1, p. 90).

Ayyub al-Sakhtiani

Dahabi said, “The master of scholars’ (Siar alam al-nubala, Volume 6, p. 15).

Ibn Hajar said, “Thiqah Thabt Hujja” (Taqrib al-Tahdib, Volume 1, p. 116).

Naafi

Dahabi said, “The Imam of Tabi’in” (Al-Kashif, volume 2, p. 315).

Ibn Hajar said, “Thiqah Thabt” (Taqrib al-Tahdib, Volume 2, p. 239).

The words Thiqah, Thabt and Hujja are used to describe men of integrity who were deemed to be completely reliable and trustworthy in narrating hadiths.

And just in case this same Muhammadan greenhorn wants to argue that the word Zahab doesn’t mean that verses of the Quran are lost or have disappeared, but rather that they have been abrogated, here is that same narration from al-Bukhari,which we cited earlier, that refutes this lie:

أرسل إلي أبو بكر مقتل أهل اليمامة وعنده عمر فقال أبو بكر إن عمر أتاني فقال إن القتل قد استحر يوم اليمامة بالناس وإني أخشى أن يستحر القتل بالقراء في المواطن فيذهب كثير من القرآن إلا أن تجمعوه وإني لأرى أن تجمع ۔۔۔

Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me when the people of Yamama had been killed (i.e., a number of the Prophet’s Companions who fought against Musailama). (I went to him) and found ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), “Umar has come to me and said: ‘Casualties were heavy among the Qurra’ of the Qur’an (i.e. those who knew the Quran by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yamama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra’ on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur’an may be lost (Zahab). Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qur’an be collected.’ I said to `Umar, ‘How can you do something which Allah’s Apostle did not do?’ `Umar said, ‘By Allah, that is a good project.’ `Umar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which `Umar had realized.” Then Abu Bakr said (to me), “You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah’s Messenger. So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur’an and collect it in one book.” By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur’an. Then I said to Abu Bakr, “How will you do something which Allah’s Messenger did not do?” Abu Bakr replied, “By Allah, it is a good project.” Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and `Umar. So I started looking for the Qur’an and collecting it from (what was written on) palm stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last Verse of Surat at-Tauba (Repentance) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The Verse is: ‘Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty… (till the end of Surat-Baraa’ (at-Tauba) (9.128-129). Then the complete manuscripts (copy) of the Qur’an remained with Abu Bakr till he died, then with `Umar till the end of his life, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of `Umar.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 509 https://sunnah.com/bukhari/66/8)

Umar was obviously not worried about verses being abrogated, but was afraid that passages would vanish without a trace.

Sadly for Umar and the rest of the Muslims, his fears came true since much of the Quran has been lost, never to be recovered again.

For instance, in the short section on the codex (mushaf) of Abdullah Ibn Umar, in speaking of the differences in the readings between Abdullah ibn Masud and the other companions of Muhammad, Muslim scholar Ibn Abi Dawud quotes Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash as saying:

Many of the companions of the Prophet of Allah had their own reading of the Qur’an, but they died and their readings disappeared soon afterwards. (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif, p. 83)

And:

Many (of the passages) of the Qur’an that were sent down were known by those who died on the day of Yamama… but they were not known (by those who) survived them, nor were they written down, nor had Abu Bakr, Umar or Uthman (by that time) collected the Qur’an, nor were they found with even one (person) after them. (Kitab al-Masahif, p. 23)

According to Daraqutni, the author of the Book al-Masahif, Abdullah bin Sulaiman bin Al-Ashath bin Ishaq Al-Sajastani, the son of Abu Dawud, who was the author of Sunan Abu Dawud, was Thiqa (Tadhkirat Al-Huffaz, Volume 2, p. 771; Tarikh Baghdad, Volume 9, p. 468).

Imam Dhahabi also declared him Thiqa (Al-Siar fi Al’am Al-Nubala, Volume 14, p. 505).

Abu Hamid bin Asad Al-Maktib said, “I never saw someone in knowledge like Abdullah bin Al-Ashath” (Tarikh Baghdad, Volume 9, p. 465).

Speaking of Abdullah ibn Masud, we are told that Muhammad personally singled him out along with Ubayy ibn Kabb as two of the best men to learn the Quran from:

Narrated Masriq:

‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr mentioned ‘Abdullah bin Masud and said, “I shall ever love that man, for I heard the Prophet saying, ‘Take (learn) the Qur’an from four: ‘Abdullah bin Masud, Salim, Mu’adh and Ubai bin Ka’b.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 521 https://sunnah.com/bukhari/66/21)

And yet the Quran that this greenhorn reads omits and adds many verses and phrases included or not contained in Abdullah’s mushaf (codex).

For instance, al-Bukhari reports that the following verse,

And the creation of the male and the female, S. 92:3

Contains an extra clause, which was not recognized and accepted by Abdullah and some other men who had learned the Quran directly from Muhammad:

Narrated Alqama:

I went to Sham and was offering a two-Rak’at prayer; I said, “O Allah! Bless me with a (pious) companion.” Then I saw an old man coming towards me, and when he came near I said, (to myself), “I hope Allah has given me my request.” The man asked (me), “Where are you from?” I replied, “I am from the people of Kufa.” He said, “Weren’t there amongst you the Carrier of the (Prophet’s) shoes, Siwak and the ablution water container? Weren’t there amongst you the man who was given Allah’s Refuge from the Satan? And weren’t there amongst you the man who used to keep the (Prophet’s) secrets which nobody else knew? How did Ibn Um ‘Abd (i.e. ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud) use to recite Surat-al-lail (the Night: 92)?” I recited:–

“By the Night as it envelops By the Day as it appears in brightness. And by male and female.” (92.1-3) On that, Abu Darda said, “BY ALLAH, the Prophet made me read the Verse IN THIS WAY after listening to him, but these people (of Sham) TRIED THEIR BEST to let me say something different.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 57, Number 105 https://sunnah.com/bukhari/62/108)

And here is a case where a part of a verse is missing:

“The prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers…” S. 33:6

The late Muslim translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali records that the Quran of Ubayy b. Ka‘b, a companion of Muhammad and considered to be one of the best reciters/readers,

Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas: ‘Umar said, Ubai was the best of us in the recitation (of the Qur’an) yet we leave some of what he recites.’ Ubai says, ‘I have taken it from the mouth of Allah’s Apostle and will not leave for anything whatever.’ But Allah said: None of Our revelations do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten but We substitute something better or similar (2.106).” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 527 https://sunnah.com/bukhari/66/27)

Included a clause that was attested by other Muslim readers:

“In spiritual relationship the Prophet is entitled to more respect and consideration than blood-relations. The Believers should follow him rather than their fathers or mothers or brothers, where there is conflict of duties. He is even nearer – closer to our real interests – than our own selves. IN SOME QIRAATS, LIKE THAT OF UBAI IBN KA’B, occur also the words ‘and he is a father to them,’ which imply his spiritual relationship and connect on with the words, ‘and his wives are their mothers.’ Thus his spiritual fatherhood would be contrasted pointedly with the repudiation of the vulgar superstition of calling any one like Zaid ibn Haritha by the appellation Zaid ibn Muhammad (xxxiii. 40): such an appellation is really disrespectful to the Prophet.” (Ali, The Holy Qur’an, p. 1104, fn. 3674; bold and capital emphasis ours)

The following renowned Muslim authority and jurist admitted that:

… An unusual reading of the Qur’an includes, “He is a father to them,” but it is no longer recited since it is AT VARIANCE with the version of ‘Uthman. (Muhammad Messenger of Allah (Ash-Shifa of Qadi ‘Iyad), Qadi ‘Iyad Musa al-Yahsubi, translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley [Madinah Press, Inverness, Scotland, U.K. 1991; third reprint, paperback], pp. 29-30; bold and capital emphasis ours)

Interestingly, the late Muslim scholar and Quran translator Muhammad Asad actually inserted this variant within brackets into his English version:

“The Prophet has a higher claim on the believers than [they have on] their own selves, [seeing that he is as a father to them] and his wives are their mothers…”

Here is his reason why he chose to add this to his version:

Thus, connecting with the preceding mention of voluntary, elective relationships (as con­trasted with those by blood), this verse points to the highest manifestation of an elective, spiritual relationship: that of the God-inspired Prophet and the person who freely chooses to follow him. The Prophet himself is reported to have said: “None of you has real faith unless I am dearer unto him than his father, and his child, and all mankind” (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Anas, with several almost identical versions in other compilations). The Companions invariably regarded the Prophet as the spiritual father of his community. Some of them – e.g., IBN MASUD (as quoted by Zamakhshari) or Ubayy ibn Kab, Ibn Abbas and Muawiyah (as quoted by Ibn Kathir) – hardly ever recited the above verse without adding, by way of explanation[sic], “seeing that he is [as] a father to them”; and many of the tabi in – including Mujahid, Qatadah, lkrimah and Al-Hasan (cf. Tabari and Ibn Kathir) – did the same: hence my interpolation, between brackets, of this phrase. (However, see also verse 40 of this surah and the corresponding note.) As regards the status of the Prophet’s wives as the “mothers of the believers”, this arises primarily from the fact of their having shared the life of God’s Apostle in its most intimate aspect. Consequently, they could not remarry after his death (see verse 53 below), since all the believers were, spiritually, their “children”. (Bold and underline emphasis ours)

Hence, both of the top Quranic reciters and compilers that Muhammad pointed people to had this clause in their recensions, which is omitted from the Arabic versions of the Qurans that this greenhorn reads from!

In fact, the following narrations all claim that Q. 33 (Surah Ahzab) initially had approximately one hundred thirty to two hundred more verses that are now all gone and have disappeared from sight:

“Ubai bin Ka’ab inquired of someone: ‘How many verses were there in the chapter of al-Ahzab?’ He replied, ‘72 or 73 verses.’ Ubai bin Ka’b then said: ‘I had seen this Surah more or equal to Surah Baqarah.” (Tafsir Dur al-Manthur, Volume 6, p. 558)

“Aisha narrated that during the lifetime of the prophet 200 verses were recited in Surah Ahzab but when Uthman collected the Mushaf, he only succeeded in locating the present number of verses.” (Tafsir Dur al-Manthur, Volume 6, p. 560)

“Aisha narrates: ‘Surah Ahzab contained 200 verses during the lifetime of Prophet but when the Quran was collected we only found the amount that can be found in the present Quran.” (Tafsir Qurtubi, Volume 7, p. 113)

The Muhammadan’s woes are far from over.

According to Imam Muslim, there was a chapter equal to the length of Surah Bara’at (chapter 9) that has since disappeared:

Abu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash’ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur’an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you.We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara’at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it: “If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust.” And we used so recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and I have forgotten it, but remember (this much) out of it: “Oh people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise” (lxi 2.) and “that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection” (xvii. 13). (Sahih Muslim, Book 005, Number 2286 https://sunnah.com/muslim/12/156; bold and underline emphasis ours)

Another source quotes Ubay ibn Kabb as claiming that Muhammad told him:

“Certainly the Almighty commanded me to read the Quran before you,” and he read, “The unbelievers from the people of the Book and should the son of Adam ask for a valley full of wealth and I grant it to him, he would ask for another valley. And if I grant him that, he would ask for a third valley. Nothing would fill the abdomen of the son of Adam except the soil. God accepts the repentance of anyone who repents. The religion in the eyes of God is the Hanafiyah rather than Yahudiyya (Judaism) or Nasraniya (Christianity). Whoever does good, his goodness will not be denied.” (Al-Mustadrak by al-Hakim, section of commentary on the Quran, Volume 2, p. 224, Number 2889)

Al-Hakim stated that, “This is an authentic Hadith.” And in his commentary on al-Mustadrak, al-Dhahabi also considered it authentic.

We, thus, have an entire surah, which contained at least 127 verses, that has altogether vanished from the Quran, along with another chapter that is long gone!

Speaking of Q. 9, certain reports claim that this surah was approximately the same size as Q. 2, a chapter that contains 286 verses. And yet surah 9 only has 128 verses, which means that it is missing over hundred verses!

“Malik said among what had been narrated by Ibn Wahb and Ibn Al Qasim and Ibn Abdul Hakam is that when the first part of Surat Bara’at was lost, ‘Bismillah Al Rahman Al Raheem’ was also lost along with it. It has also been narrated from Ibn Ajlan that he heard that Surat Bara’at was equal to the length of Surat Al Baqarah or approximately equal to it, so the part was gone and because of that ‘Bismillah Al Rahman Al Raheem’ wasn’t written between them (between the lost and the remaining part).” (Tafsir al-Qurtubi, Volume 8, p. 62, Surah Bara`t [Chapter 9])

Jalaludin as-Suyuti, quoting scholars like Tabarani, Hakim and Ibn Shaibah, stated that:

 عن حذيفة رضي الله عنه قال : التي تسمون سورة التوبة هي سورة العذاب والله ما تركت أحدا إلا نالت منه ولا تقرأون منها مما كنا نقرأ إلا ربعها

“Hudhaifah narrated that the Surah which you call Tawbah is actually Surah ‘Azaab [wrath] and you just recite ONE FOURTH of what we used to recite.” (Tafsir Dur al-Manthur, Volume 3 p. 208)

That’s not all. There are at least two modern Quran translations that reject the textual veracity of 9:128-129, which are supposed to be the last two verses of the chapter:

009:127 The numerical structure of the Quran leads us to accept this chapter having 127 verses, rather than 129, and it rejects the additional statements found in modern manuscripts, which are written here in italics. This major correction is imposed on us by the Quran’s own testimony, by its authenticating system. The correction made by the numerical structure of the Quran is also supported by numerous historical events and repots. See, Chapter 74 and the Appendix On it Nineteen (Quran – A Reformist Translation, p. 163 http://www.studyquran.org/resources/Quran_Reformist_Translation.pdf; underline)

And:

Nineteen years after the Prophet Muhammad’s death, during the reign of Khalifa `Uthman, a committee of scribes was appointed to make several copies of the Quran to be dispatched to the new Muslim lands. The copies were to be made from the original Quran which was written by Muhammad’s hand (Appendix 28).

This committee was supervised by `Uthman Ibn `Affaan, `Ali Ibn Abi Taaleb, Zeid Ibn Thaabet, Ubayy Ibn Ka`ab, `Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubair, Sa`eed Ibn Al-`Aas, and `Abdul Rahman Ibn Al-Haareth Ibn Heshaam. The Prophet, of course, had written the Quran in its chronological order of revelation (Appendix 23), together with the necessary instructions to place every piece in its proper position. The last sura revealed in Medina was Sura 9. Only Sura 110, a very short sura, was revealed after Sura 9, in Mina.

The committee of scribes finally came to Sura 9, and put it in its proper place. One of the scribes suggested adding a couple of verses to honor the Prophet. The majority of scribes agreed. `Ali was outraged. He vehemently maintained that the word of God, written down by the hand of His final prophet, must never be altered.

Ali’s protest is documented in many references, but I cite and reproduce here the classic reference AL ITQAAN FEE ‘ULUM AL QURAN by Jalaluddin Al-Suyuty, Al-Azhareyyah Press, Cairo, Egypt, 1318 AH, Page 59.

Translation: `Ali was asked: “Why are you staying home?” He said, “Something has been added to the Quran, and I have pledged never to put on my street clothes, except for the prayer, until the Quran is restored.”

The horrendous dimensions of this crime can be realized once we look at the consequences:

1.       `Uthman was assassinated, and `Ali was installed as the fourth Khalifa.

2.       A 50-year war erupted between the new Khalifa and his supporters on one side, and the Mohammedan distorters of the Quran on the other side.

3.       `Ali was martyred, and eventually his family, the prophet Muhammad’s family, except for some women and children, were killed.

4.       The disaster culminated in the infamous Battle of Karbala, where `Ali’s son, Hussein, and his family were massacred.

5.       The Muslims were deprived of the pure, unaltered, Quran for 1400 years.

The distorters of the Quran finally won the war, and the “official” history that came to us represented the victors’ point of view. This apparent victory for God’s enemies was, of course, in accordance with God’s will. In just two decades after the Prophet’s death, the idol worshipers who were defeated by the Prophet in the conquest of Mecca (632 AD) reverted to idolatry. Ironically, this time around their idol was the Prophet himself. Such idol worshipers obviously did not deserve to possess the pure Quran. Hence the blessed martyrdom of the true believers who tried to restore the Quran, and the apparent victory for the distorters of God’s word.

The first peace time ruler after this lengthy and disastrous war was Marwan Ibn Al Hakam (died 65 AH/684 AD). One of the first duties he performed was to destroy the original Quran, the one that was so scrupulously written by the Prophet’s own hand, “fearing it might become the cause of NEW disputes” [see `ULUM AL-QURAN, by Ahmad von Denffer, Islamic Foundation, Leicester, United Kingdom, 1983, Page 56.]. The question an intelligent person must ask is: “If the original Quran were identical to the Quran in circulation at that time, why did Marwan Ibn Al-Hakam have to destroy it?!“

Upon examining the oldest Islamic references, we realize that the false injections, 9:128-129, were always suspect. For example, we read in Bukhary’s famous Hadith, and Al-Suyuty’s famous Itqaan, that every single verse in the Quran was verified by a multiplicity of witnesses “except Verses 128 and 129 of Sura 9; they were found only with Khuzeimah Ibn Thaabet Al-Ansaary.” When some people questioned this improper exception, someone came up with a Hadith stating that “the testimony of Khuzeimah equals the testimony of two men!!!“

Strangely, the false injections 9:128-129 are labeled in the traditional Quran printings as “Meccan”.

The Title Figure of Sura 9 from a standard Quran, showing that this sura is Medinan, “except for the last two verses; they are Meccan”!!!

How could these `Meccan’ verses be found with Khuzeimah, a late `Medinan’ Muslim?! How could a Medinan sura contain Meccan verses, when the universal convention has been to label as `Medinan’ all revelations after the Prophet’s Hijerah from Mecca??!! Despite these discrepancies, plus many more glaring contradictions associated with Verses 9:128-129, no one dared to question their authenticity… (Rashad Khalifa, Tampering With the Word of God, Part 1 https://submission.org/App24.html; bold and underline emphasis ours)

What makes Khalifa’s Quran rather interesting is that in his version, surah 9 ends at verse 127!

The greenhorn may wish to brush aside the claim of Khalifa and his followers that Q. 9:128-129 are interpolations on the grounds that the former was a heretic since he claimed to be the messenger, which the Quran announced would eventually come to unlock the Quran’s so-called miraculous mathematical structure of the number 19. (Sadly, Khalifa would eventually be murdered in cold blood in a Tucson, AZ mosque for this claim by a devout “orthodox” Muslim).

The problem that this neophyte faces is that Khalifa and those who follow him weren’t/aren’t merely basing their argument on the so-called number 19 code supposedly found in the Quran. As the excerpt from Khalifa’s appendix shows, their objection is also based on specific Sunni narrations, which amply testify that these verses were found with only one person, thereby calling into question their textual veracity. In fact, we even cited a report from al-Bukhari which plainly stated that that these verses were only found among a single Muslim named Khuzaimi ibn Thabit al-Ansari. The readers can scroll back to read this narration for themselves.

We conclude this part of our rebuttal with the following embarrassing, in fact humiliating, tale:

Sunan Ibn Majah

The Chapters on Marriage

It was narrated that ‘Aishah said:

“The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed¹, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in AND ATE IT.”

¹: These verses were abrogated in recitation but not ruling. Other ahadith establish the number for fosterage to be 5.

Grade: HASAN (Darussalam)

English reference: Vol. 3, Book 9, Hadith 1944

Arabic reference: Book 9, Hadith 2020 (Sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/urn/1262630; capital and underline emphasis ours)

Here is a narration that says a sheep devoured a chapter, which contained the missing verses on stoning and on the issue of women allowing adults to suckle their breasts ten times, none of which can be found in the Quran anymore!

The reason why this proves to be so humiliating for Muhammadans like this greenhorn is because the Quran claims that Allah has sworn to preserve his revelations (cf. Q. 6:115; 15:9; 18:27; 75:16-19). And yet Allah seemed to be utterly helpless in preventing a docile animal from destroying the only copy of the Quran which contained two important verses that he sent down for the benefit of his community!

So much for the Muslim claim that the Quran is the only religious scripture that has been perfectly preserved.

Therefore, if this Muhammadan greenhorn applies his objection consistently then he has to admit that his Quran cannot be the word of God (which it isn’t but for other reasons). The Islamic tradition affirms that the Muslim scripture has been so badly corrupted to the extent that neither this neophyte nor any other Muhammadan can ever say with confidence that they have the original Quran word for word, intact, in the exact same form in which Muhammad composed it.

In other words, if Mark’s Gospel is inauthentic because certain scholars question whether the longer ending is genuine then no Muslim can ever trust the Quran and take what it says at face value.

For more on the corruption of the Quran, we recommend the following articles and rebuttals:

The Irreparable Loss of much of the Quran https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/quran_lost.html

The Quran testifies to its own Textual Corruption! https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/corruption_testimony.html

The Incomplete and Imperfect Quran https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/incomplete_imperfect.html

Another Open Challenge to Muslims Pt. 2. https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/anonymousquran2.html, Pt. 3 https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/anonymousquran3.html

The Compilation and Textual Veracity of the Quran https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/quran_compilation.html

The Seven Ahruf and Multiple Qiraat – A Quranic Perspective https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/ahruf_quirat.html

Even More Proof for the Quran’s Textual Corruption https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/09/even-more-proof-for-the-qurans-textual-corruption/

Shiite Islam and the Corruption of the Quranic Text https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/17/shiite-islam-and-the-corruption-of-the-quranic-text/

We also highly recommend the following online resource:

Who believes the Quran has been a victim of Tahreef? http://www.shiapen.com/comprehensive/tahreef.html

Thanks to Mustafa Shahin’s Shia brothers for producing such a comprehensive response where they quote authentic Sunni traditions to prove that the Quran has been badly corrupted, citing Islamic sources which emphatically testify that there are missing chapters, verses, words omitted from certain verses etc., as well as things added that shouldn’t be there.

With that red herring out of the way we are ready to respond to the rest of this neophyte’s nonsense.

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/01/the-quranic-affirmation-of-the-holy-bible-revisited-pt-2/

IHS