Allah’s Violations of His Own Teachings Pt. 2

Here is another installment where we show how Allah clearly violates his very own directives (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/allahs-violation-of-his-own-teachings-pt-1/).

According to the Quran Allah would never allow anyone to take an angel as his/her Lord:

And neither would he enjoin you that you should take the angels and the prophets for lords; what! would he enjoin you with unbelief after you are Muslims? S. 3:80 Shakir

And yet this is precisely what the Islamic scripture accuses Zechariah and Mary of doing, namely, calling upon an angel as their Lord:

Then and there did Zachariah pray to his Lord, saying, `My Lord grant me from Thyself pure offspring; surely thou art the Hearer of Prayer.’ And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the chamber, `ALLAH gives thee glad tidings of Yahya, who shall testify to the truth of a word from ALLAH – noble and chaste and a Prophet, from among the righteous. He said `My Lord, how shall I have a son, when old age has overtaken me already, and my wife is barren?’ He answered, `Such is the way of ALLAH; HE does what HE pleases,’ He said `My Lord, give me a commandment.’ He replied, `The commandment for thee is that thou shalt not speak to men for three days except by signs. And remember thy Lord much and glorify HIM in the evening and in the early morning.’ S. 3:38-41 Sher Ali

In this example, the Baptist’s father addresses Allah as his Lord in his prayer requesting a son. The angels are then sent to respond to Zechariah, notifying him that Allah has answered his prayer. From there, Zechariah continues to engage one of the angels, and even addresses him as his Lord!

This isn’t the only place in the Quran where John’s father is said to have done this:

The mention of thy Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah, when he called on his Lord with a secret calling. Said he, ‘My Lord! verily, my bones are weak, and my head flares with hoariness; – and I never was unfortunate in my prayers to Thee, my Lord! But I fear my heirs after me, and my wife is barren; then grant me from Thee a successor, to be my heir and the heir of the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord! acceptable.’ ‘O Zachariah! verily, we, give thee glad tidings of a son, whose name shall be John. We never made a namesake of his before.’ Said he, ‘My Lord! how can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached through old age to decrepitude?’ He said, ‘Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me, for I created thee at first when yet thou wast nothing.’ Said he, ‘O my Lord! make for me a sign.’ He said, ‘Thy sign is that thou shalt not speak to men for three nights (though) sound.’ S. 19:2-10 Palmer

The Muslim expositors make it clear that it was the angel (specifically Gabriel) who responded to Zechariah:

And so Gabriel called him, saying: (O Zachariah! Lo! We bring you tidings of a son whose name is John) Yahya in Arabic, because he has breathed life (ahya) into his mother’s womb; (We have given the same name to none before (him)) We have not given before a son to Zachariah whose name is John; it is also said that this means: there was no one before him whose name was John. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs, Q. 19:7 http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=19&tAyahNo=7&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and underline emphasis ours)

(He said) Zachariah said to Gabriel: (My Lord!) my master, (How can I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached infirm old age) how can I have a son when my wife is barren and my body has become dry?; it is also said that this means: how can I have a son when my wife is barren and I am seventy two years of age? (Ibid., Q. 19:8 http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=19&tAyahNo=8&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and underline emphasis ours)

(He said) Gabriel said to him: (So (it will be)) just as I have told you. (Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me) i.e. his creation is easy for Me, (even as I created thee) O Zachariah (before) before John, (when thou wast naught). (Ibid., Q. 19:9 http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=19&tAyahNo=9&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2)

“… The Answer of the Angel… <He said:> That is, the angel, in his response to Zakariyya and his was amazement… (‘Thus says your Lord: “It is easy for Me…”’) Meaning the birth of the son will be from you and from this wife of yours and not from any other (woman)… (easy) Meaning, it is simple and easy for Allah to do. Then he (the angel) mentioned to him that which is more amazing than what he was asking about. The angel said that the Lord said…” (Tafsir Ibn Kathirs, Q. 19:9 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2691&Itemid=75; bold and underline emphasis ours)

Now it only makes sense that Allah sent angels to answer Zechariah seeing that this is one of the ways that Allah is said to reveal his will to his servants:

It is not given to any human being that Allah should speak to him unless (it be) by Inspiration, or from behind a veil, or (that) He sends a Messenger to reveal what He wills by His Leave. Verily, He is Most High, Most Wise. S. 42:51 Hilali-Khan

And since angels are identified as messengers,

Allah chooses Messengers from angels and from men. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer. S. 22:75 Hilali-Khan

All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the (only) Originator [or the (only) Creator] of the heavens and the earth, Who made the angels messengers with wings, – two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills. Verily, Allah is Able to do all things. S. 35:1 Hilali-Khan

It is not surprising that they would be the ones sent to communicate with Zechariah about the upcoming birth of his son.

With that said, note what the Quran says about Mary receiving the news that she was going to conceive and give birth to the Messiah:

When the angels said, `O Mary, ALLAH gives thee glad tidings of a son through a word from HIM; his name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honoured in this world and in the next, and of those who are granted nearness to God; `And he shall speak to the people in the cradle, and when of middle age, and he shall be of the righteous. She said, `My Lord, how shall I have a son, when no man has touch me? He said, `Such is the way of ALLAH. HE creates what HE pleases. When HE decrees a thing HE says to it `Be,’ and it is; And HE will teach him the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; And will send him as a Messenger to the Children of Israel with the Message, `I come to you with a Sign from your Lord, which is, that I will fashion out for you a creation out of clay after the manner of a bird; then I will breath into it a new spirit and it will become a soaring being by the command of ALLAH; and I will heal the night blind and the leprous, and I will quicken the dead by the command of ALLAH; and I will announce to you what you will eat and what you will store up in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you, if you are believers. S. 3:45-49 Sher Ali

Like Zechariah before her, the blessed mother of Christ addresses the angel speaking to her as her very Lord.

Suffice it to say, the Muslim expositors were perplexed by the above passages, specifically Q. 3:40 where Zechariah addresses the angel as his Lord. They were apparently troubled at the idea of a prophet calling an angel his Lord. Note what Muslim writer Mahmoud M. Ayoub says of Q. 3:40:

“Two issues concerned commentators in this verse. The first is the question of whether it is God or Gabriel whom Zechariah addresses as Lord. The second is how Zechariah, as a prophet, could have any doubt in God’s power to cause an old, barren woman to bear a child?

“… Ibn Kathir assumes that Zechariah’s dialogue was with an angel, not with God (Ibn Kathir, II, p. 36).

“Qurtubi begins by relating on the authority of al-Kalbi that the word ‘Lord’ in this verse refers to Gabriel. He says, ‘Zechariah said to Gabriel “my lord,”’ meaning “my master.”’…

“Razi begins with the question of Zechariah’s dialogue and whether it was with God or with Gabriel. The question is important because it concerns the theological debate about God’s transcendence and the problem of anthropomorphism. If God hears and speaks in a manner familiar to human beings, then the question arises as to whether God has similar organs of hearing and speech. Razi argues that it is equally possible that Zechariah was addressing either God or the angel in this verse. He presents two explanations which he attributes to the mufassirun, that is, other commentators. The first is: ‘When the angels called to Zechariah and gave him the good news, he wondered and turned to God for reassurance. Zechariah was actually addressing the angel Gabriel, and not God. The invocation “my lord” is here addressed to a superior or master, and not to God.’” (Ayoub, The Qur‘an and Its Interpreters: The House of ‘Imran [State University of New York (SUNY) Press, Albany, NY 1992], Volume II, pp. 112-113l italicized and underline emphasis ours)

The problem with the claim that Zechariah was merely referring to Gabriel as his master is that the Arabic word for Lord, namely Rabb, is one of the names of Allah that Islamic theology teaches cannot be ascribed to any creature, no matter how exalted s/he may be:

Ar-Rabb: The Lord

Lord: master, owner; chief; the Cherisher, the one who takes care of a thing. Ar-Rabb is the one who puts right, manages, compels and guards. He is the One worshipped. Some scholars say that the name is the greatest name of Allah because of the great number of those who make supplication using it. It reflects the true relationship of a person with his Lord, containing both mastery and kindness, concern, and nurture. (Aisha Bewley, Divine Names http://bewley.virtualave.net/names.html)

This explains why Muhammad expressly forbade calling anyone other than Allah their Rabb:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, “You should not say, ‘Feed your lord (Rabbaka), help your lord in performing ablution, or give water to your lord’, but should say, ‘my master (e.g. Feed your master instead of lord etc.), (Saiyidi),’ or ‘my guardian (Maulai),’ and one should not say, ‘my slave (Abdi),’ or ‘my girl-slave (Amati),’ but should say, ‘my lad (Fatai), my lass (Fatati),’ and ‘my boy (Ghulami).’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 46, Number 728 http://searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=46&translator=1&start=0&number=728)

Narrated AbuHurayrah:
The Prophet said: None of you must say: “My slave” (abdi) and “My slave-woman” (amati), and a slave must not say: “My lord” (rabbi or rabbati). The master (of a slave) should say: “My young man” (fataya) and “My young woman” (fatati), and a slave should say “My master” (sayyidi) and “My mistress” (sayyidati), for you are all (Allah’s) slaves and the Lord is Allah, Most High. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 4957 http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/hadith/abudawud/041-sat.php)

As such, by permitting his prophet and maidservant to address the angel as Rabb Allah was encouraging them to commit the unforgiveable sin of shirk, which is the sin of associating others along with Allah in his exclusive attributes and names (cf. Q. 2:22; 4:48, 116; 39:53).

In light of the foregoing, it is rather clear that this is another time that Allah went against his own teachings. And this also shows that, contrary to the assertion of Muslims, the Quran acknowledges that there are other Lords besides Allah.

 Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/allahs-violations-of-his-own-teachings-pt-2/

IHS

Allah’s Violations of His Own Teachings Pt. 1

In this new series I will be documenting how Allah is an inconsistent and hypocritical deity, one who breaks his own rules and goes against his very own directives.

Allah orders the angels to worship Adam

According to the Quran Allah actually commanded all of his angels to bow down in worship to Adam in recognition of the fact that the Muslim god created him with his own hands and breathed his spirit into him:

And when We said to the angels, “Fall down and worship Adam (osjudoo li-adama),” they worshipped all (fasajadoo), save Eblis, who refused: S. 20:116 Rodwell

When thy Lord said unto the angels, verily I am about to create man of clay: When I shall have formed him, therefore, and shall have breathed my spirit into him, do ye fall down and worship him (sajideena). And all the angels worshipped [him] (fasajada), in general; except Eblis, [who] was puffed up with pride, and became an unbeliever. [God] said [unto him], O Eblis, what hindreth thee from worshipping (tasjuda) that which I have created with my hands? Art thou elated with vain pride? Or art thou [really] one of exalted merit? S. 38:71-75 Sale – cf. Q. 2:34; 7:11-12; 17:61; 18:50

Here we have Adam receiving the exact same worship, which only the Islamic deity is supposed to receive according to the Quran:

And when it is said to them: “Prostrate to the Most Beneficent (Allah) (usjudu lilrahmani)!” They say: “And what is the Most Beneficent? Shall we fall down in prostration (anasjudu) to that which you (O Muhammad) command us?” And it increases in them only aversion. S. 25:60 Hilali-Khan

Whereupon the magicians prostrated themselves, worshipping (sajideena), [and] said, we believe in the Lord of all creatures, the Lord of Moses and of Aaron. S. 26:46-48 Sale – cf. 7:120-122

Among the signs [of his power are] the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon. Worship not (la tasjudu) the sun, neither the moon: But worship (wa’usjudu) God, who hath created them; if ye serve him. S. 41:37 Sale

This next text is quite instructive:

O you who believe! Bow down (irka’u), and prostrate yourselves (wa’usjudu), and worship (wa’ubudu) your Lord and do good that you may be successful. S. 22:77 Hilali-Khan

Note how prostration (sujud) is directly tied in with worship (ibadah), which is precisely why Muhammad expressly forbade anyone from prostrating to another besides Allah:

211400: It is not permissible to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, even if it is only by way of veneration and showing respect

Is there a hadith in which it says that a man prostrated before the Prophet and the Prophet told him not to do that?

Published Date: 2016-07-13

Praise be to Allah

The Companions of the Prophet used to honour him and venerate him, and venerate his Sunnah. In the early days of Islam, when some of them saw that the People of the Book prostrated to their bishops and patriarchs, they thought that the Prophet was more deserving of that, out of respect for him and veneration of him. But the Prophet forbade them to prostrate to him.

Ibn Maajah (1853) and al-Bayhaqi (14711) narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa said: When Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal came from Syria, he prostrated to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), who said, “What is this, O Mu‘aadh?” He said, I went to Syria and saw them prostrating to their archbishops and patriarchs, and I wanted to do that for you. The Messenger of Allah said, “Do not do that. If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands. By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no woman can fulfil her duty towards Allah until she fulfils her duty towards her husband. If he asks her (for intimacy) even if she is on her camel saddle, she should not refuse.”

This version was narrated by Ibn Maajah, and was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.

Abu Dawood (2140) and al-Haakim (2763) narrated that Qays ibn Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I went to al-Heerah and saw them prostrating to a noble of theirs (i.e., a courageous knight who was prominent among them). I thought: The Messenger of Allah is more deserving that people should prostrate to him. So I came to the Messenger of Allah and said: I went to al-Heerah and saw them prostrating to a noble of theirs, but you are the Messenger of Allah and are more deserving that people should prostrate to you. He said: “Do not do that. If I were to instruct anyone to prostrate to anyone, I would have instructed women to prostrate to their husbands, because of the rights that Allah has given them over them.”

Classed as saheeh by al-Haakim, and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him. Also classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

Ibn Hibbaan (4162) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah entered one of the gardens of the Ansaar, where he saw two restless camels. The Messenger of Allah draw close to them and they knelt down and lay their necks on the ground. Those who were with him said: They have prostrated to him. The Messenger of Allah said: “It is not appropriate for anyone to prostrate to anyone else. If it were appropriate for anyone to prostrate to anyone else, I would have instructed the wife to prostrate to her husband, because of the great rights that Allah has given him over her.”

Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel (7/54)

Thus the Prophet explained to them that prostration should ONLY be to Allah, and that venerating people and honouring them should not be done by prostrating to them.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz said:

Prostration is for Allah ALONE, and the law of Muhammad is the most perfect and most complete of laws, according to which it is not permissible to prostrate to anyone or anything OTHER THAN ALLAH, either by way of greeting or by way of worship. As for worship, it cannot be devoted to any except Allah alone, according to all laws and teachings, but in the past prostration was used as a greeting and by way of honouring people, as the parents and brothers of Yoosuf did, and as the angels did to Adam. This was by way of greeting and showing respect, not by way of worship. But according to the law of Muhammad, Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has forbidden that and has made prostration for Allah ALONE, may He be glorified and exalted; it is not permissible to prostrate to anyone else, either the Prophets or others, to the extent that Muhammad forbade anyone to prostrate to him and stated that prostration is for Allah ALONE, may He be glorified and exalted.

End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (4/112-113)

For more information on the issue of prostrating to anyone or anything other than Allah, please see the answer to question no. 229780

And Allah knows best. (Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid, Islam Question and Answer https://islamqa.info/en/211400; bold, underline and capital emphasis ours)

Suffice it to say, the Muslims were not oblivious to the problem these texts posed for the Quran’s repeated insistence that Allah is the only being worthy of such worship. As the following Christian author explains:

“The story, as a whole, involves a difficult issue. Why did God order all His angels to fall prostrate before a being inferior to them in nature? The manner of prostration is reserved for the worship of God. It was not proper, therefore, to employ it in showing respect to creatures, including Adam. Realizing the problem involved in the use of the term ‘Sajda’ (prostration) in the passage under discussion, Jalal al-Din made the following observation:

The original word signifies properly, to prostrate one self till the forehead touches the ground, which is the humblest posture of adoration and strictly due to God only; but it is sometimes used to express civil worship or homage which may be paid to creatures. (W.T. Wherry, A Comprehensive Commentary on the Quran, Vol. I, p. 301 http://answering-islam.org/Books/Wherry/Commentary1/chap2.htm)

“Despite Jalal al-Din’s apology, strictly speaking, ‘Sajda’ (prostration) is due only to God. That is why the commentator did not support adequately the exception he has made to the rule, from the Koran. The ‘Wahhabis,’ who consider themselves strict Muslims and true Monotheists, forbid worship of any creature. God alone deserves to be worshipped, according to them. They would not allow ‘Sajda’ to a civil authority–the kind of prostration which is meant to be used in prayers to God…. Moreover, it is true that strictly speaking prostration before any being other than God is a practice against monotheism and spirit of the Koran, as Wahhabis would say.” (Abdiyah Abdul-Haqq, Sharing Your Faith with a Muslim [Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, MN 1980], p. 78; bold emphasis ours)

Hence, if prostration is a religious act reserved for the worship of Allah alone then this must have always been the case right from the very beginning.

However, if Muslims contend that it was allowed at the beginning (as the website “Islam and Question” we cited above tries to argue) then they need to explain why did Allah prohibit it later on when he had initially permitted – in fact, in the case o Adam and the angels even directly and explicitly commanded – his creatures to show such reverence to others besides him? Why did Allah only decide to restrict such acts at some later point, specifically at the time of Muhammad?

Do Muslims really want us to believe that something that is classified as an act of shirk at a later point in time wasn’t considered shirk earlier on? What changed, the definition of shirk or the nature of worship? Perhaps both?

Besides, if bowing down to someone besides Allah was permissible at the beginning then Muslims can’t say that this is an action which is to be given only to their god since, if it were, such a religious act would have always been restricted to God from the very start.

After all, it makes no sense to say that prostrating to creatures was initially permitted since we are not speaking of ceremonial laws such as washing, or even dietary restrictions, which can change as time goes by. We are dealing with the nature of worship. As such, worship is one of those aspects of theology that remains consistent and is not affected by time or culture.

The fact is that the story of Adam turns Allah into a mushrik who actually commanded his creatures to commit shirk in their worship.

 

Joseph and Muhammad – Allah’s Partners in Adoration

This isn’t the only problem that Allah faces since the Islamic sources indicate that the Muslim deity went as far as to cause both animate and inanimate objects to worship Joseph,

For once Yusuf said to his father -Ya’qub (Jacob)- “O my father, a vividly descriptive image was presented to my mind in my sleep portraying eleven planets, the sun and the moon bowing to the ground in reverence and obeisance to me (sajideena)“… And he raised aloft his parents to his -the vizier’s- seat of dignity and Authority and there and then did all of them bow to the ground in respect, reverence and admiration (sujjadan). There, said Yusuf to his father: “O father, this is the interpretation of my vision which was brought before my mind’s eyes during sleep, and Allah has verified it and made it come true.”… S. 12:4, 100 Al-Muntakhab http://islamawakened.com/quran/12/st1.htm

And Muhammad:

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith – 963

Narrated Aisha
Once when Allah’s Messenger was with a number of the Emigrants and Helpers a camel came and prostrated itself before him. Thereupon his companions said, “Messenger of Allah beasts and trees prostrate themselves before you, but we have the greatest right to do so.” He replied, “Worship your Lord and honour your brother. If I were to order anyone to prostrate himself before another, I should order a woman to prostrate herself before her husband. If he were to order her to convey stones from a yellow mountain to a black one, or from a black mountain to a white one, it would be incumbent on her to do so.” Ahmad transmitted it. (ALIM Online Version http://www.alim.org/library/hadith/TIR/963)

Astonishingly, the very objects that are depicted as worshiping Joseph and Muhammad are the exact same ones, which the Quran says are worshiping Allah!

Have they not regarded all things that God has created casting their shadows to the right and to the left, bowing themselves (sujjadan) before God in all lowliness? To God bows (yasjudu) everything in the heavens, and every creature crawling on the earth, and the angels. They have not waxed proud; S. 16:48-49 Arberry

Do you not see how all who dwell in the heavens and the earth bow down in worship (yasjudu) to Allah, including the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the animals, and a large number of people, even a large number of those deserving the punishment. He who is humbled by Allah has none who can raise him to honor; surely Allah does what He pleases. S. 22:18 Farook Malik

One again has to wonder why would Muhammad’s god order his creation to show the same kind of reverence and submission to mere human beings when this directly conflicts with the Islamic teaching that everything and everyone is supposed to worship only Allah, e.g. Tauhid al-Uluhiyyah/Ibadah?

We will leave it for the Muslims to solve this mess of theirs.

It is time to proceed to the next part in my series (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/allahs-violations-of-his-own-teachings-pt-2/)

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/allahs-violation-of-his-own-teachings-pt-1/

IHS