Is the pure Islamic concept of Monotheism (Tawhid) really so pure? Part V

About Muhammad allowing his feet and hands to be kissed, and his blood to be drank

We have some ahadith where Muhammad allowed his feet and hands to be kissed (79- Tirmidhi 5/72 Nisa’i 7.111; 92-Majma’al- Zawa’id 9:389) and his blood to be drank (Ibn Jurayj, (Qadi ‘Iyad ibn Musa al. Yahsubi, Kitab Ash-shifa bi ta’rif huquq al-Mustafa, Madinah press , Scotland p 35-37) and his saliva to be put on people (Bukhari 3.50.891).

Muhammad actually didn’t permit anyone to prostate in front of him, but it was ok to kiss his feet and hands and to drink his blood!

It is important to note that this goes against his own Scriptures as blood is at any cost to be avoided: Q 2:173; 5:3; 16:115.

Please refer to this post

Please note that Tirmidhi wrote the Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Link), one of the six canonical hadith compilations used in Sunni Islam (Wikipedia)

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Is the pure Islamic concept of Monotheism (Tawhid) really so pure? Part IV

About Allah praying to himselfAbout Allah praying to himself

In Q 1:5 we have:

“ You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything…” (Hilali-Khan)-

But, if the Qur’an is uncreated, eternal, to whom was this prayer directed, and who did it perform? Jinn and angels were still not created. So, does Allah pray to himself?

We will come later on this issue (the different pronouns that Allah apparently gives to himself), but let's just point out these five verses of the Qur’an, where we have the name of Allah in the plural form (Ouli Allahumma): Q 3:26; 5:114; 8:32; 10:10; 39:46; as in Bukhari 2.026.621

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Is the pure Islamic concept of Monotheism (Tawhid) really so pure? Part III

About the Qur'an and Allah having a mother

“God doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: with Him is the Mother of the Book (ommu alkitabi)”. Q 13:39 (Y. Ali); or

“…verily, we have made it an Arabic Qur'an; haply ye will have some sense. And it is in the Mother of the Book (ommi alkitabi) with Us,- high and wise”. Q 43:3-4 (Palmer).

Now, if the Qur’an is eternal, its mother must be eternal as well. But how can a child be just as old as his/her parent?

In the Qur’an we find that God has no consorts (Q 6:100-101). But here it seems that we have a contradiction: the Qur’an actually has a mother. Muslims want to believe that “mother of” is not to be intended physically but metaphorically. And that there is no need to have sexual intercourse to have a "child". You note the irony behind? It’s the same opposition they have against Jesus being the Son of God! If it is to be meant spiritually…well.. this is the same way, Christians mean it. If Allah is the source of the Qur’an, he is as well husband of the Mother of the Qur’an. But if the Qur’an is uncreated, and the Mother of the Qur’an as well, Allah has always been married...

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Is the pure Islamic concept of Monotheism (Tawhid) really so pure? Part II

Of the worship of Muhammad and of other Gods

It is a typical Muslim assertion that Islam has the most pure version of Monotheism (besides the fact that the Qur’an is crystal clear and perfect).

The facts are, that you can find in the Qur’an some verses, where other creatures receive worship that should be due only to God (Q 2:34: to Adam), Q 15:28-32 (to men), Q 12:4 (to Joseph and to Muhammad (Q 12:100, 48:9). It seems that even Jews were more monotheistic than Islam: Yahweh prohibits angels and men to kneel itself in front of the creation, while Allah commands to his angels to kneel down in front of Adam.

Let’s give a look to 48:9 where we can find something very strange (Muhammad associated with Allah): “In order that you (O mankind) may believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you assist and honour him, and (that you) glorify (Allah's) praises morning and afternoon.” (Hilali-Khan).

Pay please attention to the fact that Hilali-Khan (the KSA “version of the Qur’an) have to add into brackets “Allah” , since the construction of the sentence is so unclear to let many Islamic commentators doubt that it is referring to Allah only. In fact, the nearest referent, the closest antecedent of the pronouns, is not Allah but Muhammad. The accusative pronoun in ‘assist  and honour Him’ refers, beyond doubt, to Muhammad, who was mentioned earlier, not to God as the English translator understood it. The risk is of course to commit kuffr (unbelief) and shirk (association with Allah, the only sin that –following Islamic orthodoxy- will never be forgiven). The sentence however makes no sense: God doesn’t need any help, does he? Actually, a simple insertion of a pronoun would have clarified everything. This could show the human origin of the Qur’an.

Other example where Muhammad finds his place next to Allah: In 17:79, we have that Muhammad will be put on the Maqaman Mahmuda (the highest place in Paradise). Now, it is wildly debated between Islamic scholars if this means that he will stay a step below Allah, or if he will actually really sit on Allah’s throne.

Another example: in 4:65; it seems that submission is due as well to Muhammad. It is enough to read the Tafsirs (comments) of Jalalayn (link) and of ibn Kathir: (link); both state that you have to submit to Muhammad as well. In another tafsir (of Q 8:24), it still seems that replying to Muhammad is more important than praying (link)!

In some ahadith, it seems that Muhammad takes precedence over Allah while praying (link).
We have as well the possibility to have other gods besides Allah (we will touch the issue of Muhammad praying to other gods in one of the next articles (see Satanic verses)?

Let’s take for example Q 3:18: “Allah bears witness that La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), and the angels, and those having knowledge (also give this witness); (He is always) maintaining His creation in Justice. La ilah illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the All-Mighty, the All-Wise” (Hilali-Khan).

Consider again that the authors had to put into brackets “also give witness”, that’s something that doesn’t exist in the original Arabic script. Was the Qur’an not to be said to be clear and eloquent? A miracle that only God could write (Q 16:103; Q 26:192-193)? What actually comes out from the original text is that Allah himself testifies that there are no other Gods than him, angels and men.

Let’s take another example: Q 9:31 where the Jews are accused of taking their rabbis and monks as God besides Allah and Jesus:

“They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords apart from God AND the Messiah Mary's son, and they were commanded to serve but One God; there is no god but He; glory be to Him, above that they associate”. (Arberry)

In Arabic: “Ittakhathoo ahbarahum waruhbanahum arbaban min dooni Allahi WAalmaseeha ibna maryama wama omiroo illa liyaAAbudoo ilahan wahidan la ilaha illa huwa subhanahu Aaamma mushrikoona”

It is amusing to see that the Arabic text doesn’t attack the Christians for taking Jesus as Lord, but rebukes them for taking their monks as lords besides Allah and Jesus.

Because of the way the Arabic text is worded, the above passage is actually saying that Jesus is Lord along with Allah. Hence, the Qur’an’s author ended up confessing that both Allah and Jesus are Lord!

What the text is saying is that the believers have to take Allah and Jesus as their Lord, not the rabbis or monks. The Qur’an is saying that it is wrong to take Jewish rabbis and priests as Lords when their Lord is Allah and Jesus! Translators usually add a comma after Allah or God in order to separate Allah from the Messiah, but in the original Arabic there is no justification for placing this comma into the English translation.

There are as well several verses where Allah glorifies and prays God!!! Please give a look to the following Qur’anic verses: Q 6:114; 17:1-2; 19:34-40; 19:49-64; 37:170-184; 70:38-41. Especially in Q 19:49-64, Allah swears, glorifies and worships Allah who is his Lord and states that he does not come down except by his permission!! Either the author of the Qur’an believes that there are other gods or there should be some bad communication.

Historically, it seems that the “extreme” Qura’nic monotheism is of late evolution. We have the famous satanic verses uttered by Muhammad, where he exalts and praises the sisters of Allah. These verses were later revoked and eliminated, (for more details, on another soon to be published post). The satanic verses were uttered publicly and for obvious reasons, it is very improbable that they were invented by Muslims themselves. Who eliminated and how were these verses “missed”? Islamic orthodoxy supports the idea that there was no evolution of the text. This means that they are obliged to think that everything is very clear since the beginning. But this actually finds some problems with the “satanic verses”. Reality seems that the Islamic monotheism was very vague, at least at the beginning, not incompatible with the existence of lower gods.

A hint: Muhammad was thinking, at the beginning, to be under the influence of “bad spirits”. Another time, Muhammad was thinking to have had sexual relationships with all of his women, but actually it wasn’t true (Aisha: “he is under the effect of magic” (Bukhari 8.073.089) (Link)

Excursus: About the use of “wa” (and) in conjunction with the name of Allah:

About the conjunction “wa” (and), that’s the usual Islamic standpoint: This leads us to discuss the Arabic conjunction wa, and the significance it has on how we are to understand the above citations. While commenting on the importance the conjunction had on the Muslim confession of faith (i.e., there is no god but Allah AND Muhammad is his messenger), Qadi 'Iyad Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi noted:

The fact that mention of the Prophet is directly connected to mention of Allah also shows that obedience to the Prophet is connected to obedience to Allah and his name to Allah's name. Allah says, "Obey Allah and His Messenger" (2:32) and "Believe in Allah and His Messenger." (4:136) Allah joins them together using the conjunction WA WHICH IS THE CONJUNCTION OF PARTNERSHIP. IT IS NOT PERMITTED TO USE THIS CONJUNCTION IN CONNECTION WITH ALLAH IN THE CASE OF ANYONE EXCEPT THE PROPHET.

Al-Khattabi said, "The Prophet has guided you to correct behaviour in putting the will of Allah before the will of others. He chose ‘then’ (thumma) which implies sequence and deference as opposed to ‘and’ (wa) WHICH IMPLIES PARTNERSHIP."

Abu Sulayman said, "He disliked the two names being joined together in that way BECAUSE IT IMPLIES EQUALITY."… (Qadi ‘Iyad, Kitab Ash-shifa bi ta'rif huquq al-Mustafa (Healing by the recognition of the Rights of the Chosen One), translation by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley [Madinah Press, Inverness, Scotland, U.K.; third reprint 1991, paperback], p. 8)

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Is the pure Islamic concept of Monotheism (Tawhid) really so pure? Part I

Similarities and misconceptions about Tawhid and the Holy Trinity

First, we have to clear up a big misunderstanding....Is the uniqueness of God simpler to understand that the Trinity? Is the complexity a valid criterion for Truth? Could an “abstruse” concept as the Trinity being man-made? Who is so foolish to invent it?

Let’s start with the basic (and very simple to understand) tenet that Islam is based on the concept of Tawhid (=making one), supposedly the most pure form of Monotheism. Let us now consider that the Qur’an is not only God’s word, but that it is as well uncreated (it is written since the beginning of time on golden tablets that are in heaven, following Islamic orthodoxy), created (sent down to Muhammad) and co-eternal (it was with Allah since the beginning of time and is now in “our hands”). The Qur’an has thus two characteristics: it is eternal and temporal.

The one that we have now, is a copy of the original, thus, co-eternal. Here we have the big questions: How can God be one? If the Qur’an is co-existent and not created, is it like God? Is it even God? It is eternal and temporal: how can a “created” book contain the Word of God that is uncreated? Can the finite contain the infinite? Who dares to say that the concept of Tawhid is still simple? And that Islam is a simple faith?

If the Qur'an is not Allah, then how can it be eternal? How can Allah still be one if the Qur'an is other than him? If it isn’t other than Allah, how can it be distinct from Allah? How many Allahs are there? More importantly, how can something be and not be a specific thing at the same time, e.g. how can the Qur'an be Allah and not be Allah without this being a logical contradiction? Worse: the Qur'an narrates episodes that have occurred within time and space. Since it is eternal, this means that all of these events and speeches were foreordained, which means that players in these episodes did not have free will but were programmed to say and act in accord with what Allah’s uncreated word had already predestined. Thus, whereas Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Word who became flesh, the Qur'an is the eternal Word that became a book! On what logically consistent basis can we reject the Christian belief in the doctrines of the Holy Trinity and the blessed Incarnation as irrational?

When Muslims ask if Jesus is God, we should then ask if the Qur’an is created or uncreated, and what’s the relationship between Qur’an and Allah, and his uniqueness. If the eternal word of God becomes a book (something finite), then it can become as well a human being, can’t it? Can we find in the Qur’an that the Qur’an itself is not God or something else of God? Can our dear Muslim brothers explain more about the essence and the attributes of Tawhid?

In fact, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity and the concept of Tawhid are both complex and simple.

Muslims say that Islam prohibits images and idols, and that Muhammad has come to root out idolatry (Sahih al-Bukhari 005.059.583). But actually, Muhammad revered and kissed the Black Stone as other followers of him did (is this not a kind of idolatry? (Bukhari 002.026.667; 02.026.673; 675, 676, 679-680). What is left of the supposed pure form of Uniqueness of God, of Tawhid? Islam actually doesn’t seem to have eradicated idolatry, ma to have replaced it with an own version of polytheism.

In the Qur’an we find some (wrong) notions of the Trinity: For example, the Qura’nic Trinity seems to be: Mary (sic), God and Jesus Christ. If actually the Qur’an is the last revelation, how could it be so wrong on that? Nowhere and nobody ever told in Christianity that Mary was part of the Holy Trinity! Might be, Allah or Muhammad were confused? Or did Muhammad get into contact with an unknown heretical Christian Arabic sect?

Jews, Christians and Muslims agree that there is one God. Of course, about the characteristics...we disagree. And this depends on the Revelation that has been given, and should not depend on human imagination or philosophical speculation, as that’s the case in Shintoism, Hinduism and Buddhism (however it should be said that this shows how the hunger for God is THE main characteristics of all humans, independent of race and culture). 

However, just one religion tells us one important and unique fact: that God came on earth, visited us, and showed and revealed us a lot about him (and lots more of course, he showed us the SUPREME act of love). Jesus confessed to Pilate that He was son of a King, that He was King (not of an earthy kingdom of course) (Marc 14:61-64). This was blasphemy for the Jews. If he hadn’t dared to say that He was God, why then should the Jewish Priests want him to be crucified? But this is not all of the story: he resurrected, and with that He gave again live to his disciples. So they had to ask themselves: who is Jesus? What is his relationship to God? After 50 days we had Pentecost (Whit Sunday, that comes 10 days after Jesus’ Ascension), with the descent of the Holy Spirit. And with that, everything got clear in the mind of the disciples (Mat 16:9-10). Note that this was as well according to the prophecies (Is 52:13-53:12: they had to wait for the Holy Spirit). With Pentecost, they were assured that they were not left alone, and that God would stay with them. In fact Peter (called from Jesus “Khefas” (the rock), the “main” apostle, and first Pope) said explicitly that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Thomas, the disciple that didn’t believe that Jesus had come physically to visit the apostles while they were barricading themselves full of fear for their future, when he put his fingers in Jesus’ ribs wound said: “oh my Lord and my God” (John 20, 26-29).

Actually, the Holy Spirit is already present in the Creation (Genesis 1:2), even the Prophets spoke of Him (Joel 2:28-29), and there are as well some references to the Old Testament (i.e. the Jewish Bible): Psalm 110:1: “the Lord says to my Lord”. Jesus Christ as well already anticipated His coming (John 14-16), telling to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ would still stay with us till the end of time (Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 8:9, 15-9). This let already the first believers think that although God is one, he had some “extra” features. Through these revelations, God revealed a little of Him to us. For Muslims God is “absolute power”. For Christians it is Holiness and Love.

Important note: the Holy Trinity Is not three-deism (like Osiris, Isis, Horus-Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu (Trimurti)). God does not procreate. He creates. He is neither man nor woman, he doesn’t need to be married or to have a sexual relationship to create something. Too often Muslims tell us about their submission to Allah, and that he’s omnipotent, but then, strangely they permit themselves to tell Him what he can do and what he cannot (of course God cannot do a lot of things…but on that later on (one hint: he cannot be unjust). This believe was already there during the early Church, but was fully recognized during the Council of Nicea 325 AD.

To our dear Muslim brothers: The Holy Trinity is not even so difficult to grasp:
- Aren’t’ you 1, but made of 3 dimensions?
- Aren’t you at the same time with one leg in the past, one in the future and one in the present?
- Every point in the universe is unique, but to be defined needs 3 references (even 4 allowing the Relativity Concept of Einstein)?
- The Holy Trinity is not a mathematical formula but…everyone knows that 1+1+1=3. But 1*1*1=1?

- Light has no colour…but let it go through a prism….

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