I proceed from where I left off (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/28/revisiting-the-issue-of-the-uncreated-quran-pt-1/).
Here’s a quick summary of
the orthodox Islamic view of the Quran:
1. The words of Allah eternally subsist within the essence/nature
of Allah since they are part of his attributes.
2. Allah’s attributes are uncreated and therefore inseparable from
him.
3. Since Allah’s attributes are inseparable they are all divine in
nature.
4. The Quran is the word of Allah.
5. Therefore, the Quran is uncreated, eternally subsists within the
essence of Allah, and therefore inseparable from him.
6. Being the word of Allah, the Quran has the property of being
divine, meaning it is divine speech as opposed to being human, animal, and/or
angelic speech.
7. The Quran consists of a second nature, namely a physical aspect,
one that is temporal and created, since it is also a book.
This now introduces some
insurmountable problems for the Islamic conception of monotheism.
If the Quran is inseparable
from Allah then that means an essential aspect of Allah became a part of
creation by becoming a physical, tangible entity, namely, a book! Therefore,
when Muslims touch the Quran they are actually touching Allah, or at least an
essential part of him. This further means, that when an individual desecrates
the Quran either by burning it, as in the case of the third caliph Uthman,
Or by tearing it shreds,
stomping on it, etc., this means that an essential aspect of Allah is being
desecrated, which therefore means that Allah himself is being desecrated and
dishonored. Therefore, the only way around this dilemma is by claiming that the
Quran is not a part of Allah but completely distinct and separate from him.
However, this introduces a
different set of problems. If the Quran is separate from Allah then this means
that Muslims have two separate uncreated beings in existence. Note the logic of
this argument:
1. Allah and the Quran are uncreated.
2. The Quran is not Allah but separate and distinct from him.
3. Therefore, Allah and the Quran are two eternal beings that exist
independently from one another.
4. For the Quran to have eternally existed independently from Allah
means that Allah has no control over it, since he didn’t create it and it isn’t
a part of him.
5. The Quran, therefore, is autonomous and sovereign in the same
sense and to the same degree that Allah is.
The Quran and its
individual surahs also speak and can appear separately in visible form. Since
the modern Quran consists of 114 chapters, this means that the Muslim
revelation is a multi-personal entity eternally made up of 114 living, conscious
beings and/or persons. Once again, note the problem this raises for the
followers of Muhammad:
1. The Quran and its 114 surahs are conscious, living agents that
can appear in visible form, which can and will speak and/or intercede with
Allah on behalf of others.
2. Since the Quran is uncreated this leaves Muslims with two
options:
·
If
the Quran is separate and independent from Allah and has eternally existed then
this means that there are 115 gods that have existed for all eternity.
·
If the Quran is inseparable
from Allah then this means that the Islamic deity is a multipersonal Being,
consisting of 115 divine persons who can and will appear in visible form.
The Muslim woes are far
from over.
What About Jesus?
The Islamic scripture
plainly testifies that Jesus is the living, personal Word of Allah who came
froth from Allah as a Spirit in order to take on human flesh from Mary:
When the angels said,
‘Mary, God gives thee good tidings of a Word from Him whose name is
Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; high honoured shall he be in this world
and the next, near stationed to God. S. 3:45 Arberry
O People of the Book! Go
not beyond the limits in your way of life and say not about God but The Truth:
That the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was a Messenger of God and His
Word that He cast to Mary and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and
His Messengers. And say not: Three. To refrain yourselves from it is better for
you. There is only One God. Glory be to Him that He have a son! To Him belongs
whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in and on the earth and God sufficed
as a Trustee. S. 4:171 Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/4/st46.htm
The Quran and Islamic
tradition further attest that Jesus is faultless, absolutely pure, and
therefore perfect:
He said: I am only a
messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. S. 19:19
Pickthall
It is related that Abu
Hurayra said… “They will go to ‘Isa and say, ‘O ‘Isa! You are the Messenger of
Allah and HIS WORD which He cast to Maryam and a spirit from Him.
You spoke to people while in the cradle. Intercede with your Lord on our
behalf. Do you not see what we are suffering?’ ‘Isa will say, ‘My Lord is angry
today with such anger as has never existed before nor will again,’ AND
HE DID NOT MENTION A SIN. ‘O my soul! My soul! My soul! Go to someone else.
Go to Muhammad.’” (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari,
Chapter 68. Book of Tafsir https://bewley.virtualave.net/bukhari31.html; bold, capital and underline emphasis ours)
And:
Abu Huraira reported…
“Moses would say to them: Verily my Lord is angry as He had never been angry
before and would never be angry afterwards. I, in fact, killed a person whom I
had not been ordered to kill. I am concerned with myself, I am concerned with
myself. You better go to Jesus. They would come to Jesus and would say: O
Jesus, thou art the messenger of Allah and thou conversed with people in the
cradle, (thou art) HIS WORD which He sent down upon Mary, and (thou
art) the Spirit from Him; so intercede for us with thy Lord. Don’t you see
(the trouble) in which we are? Don’t you see (the misfortune) that has
overtaken us? Jesus would say: Verily, my Lord is angry today as He had never
been angry before or would ever be angry afterwards. HE MENTIONED NO
SIN OF HIS. (He simply said:) I am concerned with myself, I am concerned
with myself; you go to someone else: better go to Muhammad. They would come to
me and say: O Muhammad, thou art the messenger of Allah and the last of the
apostles. Allah has pardoned thee all thy previous and later sins…”
(Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0378 http://searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=001&translator=2&start=0&number=0378; bold and capital emphasis ours)
Here, again, is the
particular quotation from Sunan Abu Dawud, which I cited in the
previous segment:
4127. The Prophet called
the Qur’an the perfect words of Allah. A perfect word cannot be a
created thing. (Sunan Abu Dawud, English translation with
explanatory notes by Prof. Ahmad Hasan [Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, Booksellers
& Exporters; Lahore, Pakistan, 1984], XXXV. Kitab al-Sunnah [Book of Model
Behaviour (of the Prophet)], Chapter 1698: The Qur’an, The Word of Allah, pp.
1325-26; bold emphasis mine)
Let’s break down the logic
of this Islamic assertion:
1. Allah’s words are perfect.
2. A perfect word cannot be a created thing.
3. Jesus is the perfect Word of Allah.
4. Jesus, therefore, cannot be a created thing but must be eternal
by nature.
5. Since Jesus is uncreated he must have eternally subsisted as an
essential aspect of Allah’s being/nature, and therefore inseparable from Allah.
6. Allah’s words are divine in nature.
7. Since Jesus is Allah’s word he must, therefore, be divine in
essence.
8. Islamic theology concurs that God is the only being who has
eternally existed.
9. Jesus, must, therefore, be God while also being distinct from
the God whose eternal Word he happens to be.
In other words, the Quran
and Islamic traditions are merely echoing what the Apostle John wrote by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God. All things were created through Him,
and without Him nothing was created that was created. In Him was life,
and the life was the light of mankind… The true Light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him… The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the
glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has seen
God at any time. The only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him
known.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14, 18
“That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have touched, concerning the Word of
life—the life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it,
and announce to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and
was revealed to us—we declare to you that which we have seen and heard, that
you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the
Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:1-3
“He is clothed with a robe
dipped in blood. His name is called The Word of God.”
Revelation 19:13
Muhammad was merely parroting
John’s Logos Christology, which identifies Jesus as the eternal Word of God
whom the Father employed to create all things and who then tabernacled in the
blessed, consecrated womb of Mary, his beloved mother, in order to take on
human flesh from her by the power of the Holy Spirit:
“Now the birth of Jesus
Christ happened this way: After His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child by the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public
example, had in mind to divorce her privately. But while he thought on these
things, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, ‘Joseph, son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for He who is
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you
shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their
sins.’ Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had spoken
through the prophet, saying, ‘A virgin shall be with child, and will bear a
Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is interpreted,
‘God with us.’ Then Joseph, being awakened from sleep, did as the angel
of the Lord had commanded him, and remained with his wife, and did
not know her until she had given birth to her firstborn Son. And he
called His name JESUS.” Matthew 1:18-25
“In the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the
virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are
highly favored. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.’ When she
saw him, she was troubled by his words, and considered in her mind what kind of
greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for
you have found favor with God. Listen, you will conceive in your womb and bear
a Son and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be
called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give Him the
throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
And of His kingdom there will be no end.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can
this be, since I do not know a man?’ The angel answered her, ‘The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow
you. Therefore the Holy One who will be born will be called the Son
of God.’” Luke 1:26-35
To recap what we have
learned:
Islamic tradition teaches
that the Quran is the uncreated speech of Allah and inseparable from him.
It further proclaims that
the Quran consists of a second part, one that is physical, tangible, and
therefore a part of creation, since it is also a book.
Since the Quran cannot be
separated from Allah, this means that an essential part of Allah’s own being
has become physical, and therefore is now a part of creation.
This makes the Muslim
revelation similar to the biblical proclamation that Jesus is the eternal Word
who became flesh, one divine Person with two distinct natures, who is inseparable
from God.
The Islamic sources
actually agree with the biblical revelation in that both the Quran and ahadith
affirm that Jesus is indeed the eternal Word of Allah who proceeded forth from
him as a Spirit and entered into Mary’s blessed womb in order to take on human
nature.
The ahadith also testify
that each of the 114 chapters of the Quran is a distinct center of
consciousness that can speak and pray, and which can appear separately in
visible form.
This means that, according
to the Islamic “revelation,” Allah does not exist as a singular person, but is
rather a multi personal Being who eternally subsists in at least 116 divine
persons, namely, Allah, the 114 surahs of the Quran, and Jesus.
Therefore Muslims, you have
some insurmountable problems!
So much for the assertion
that Islam teaches absolute, pure monotheism.
Further Reading
The Quran: The
Islamic Counterfeit To Jesus Christ (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/05/21/the-quran-the-islamic-counterfeit-to-jesus-christ/)
The Inlibration of
the Word Pt. 1 (https://answeringislam.net/authors/shamoun/inlibration1.html), Pt. 2 (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/17/the-inlibration-of-the-word-pt-1/)
The Quran Confirms
the Prehuman Existence And Incarnation of Christ Pt. 1 (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/05/the-quran-confirms-the-prehuman-existence-and-incarnation-of-christ/), Pt. 2 (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/05/22/the-quran-confirms-the-prehuman-existence-and-incarnation-of-christ-pt-2/)
Even More Proof from
the Quran that Jesus is God Incarnate! Pt. 1 (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/even-more-proof-from-the-quran-that-jesus-is-god-incarnate-pt-1/), Pt. 2 (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/even-more-proof-from-the-quran-that-jesus-is-god-incarnate-pt-2/)
IHS
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