Questions for Muslims

Why does the Qur'an have commands from God that directly contradict one another?

Do the following Surahs not contradict themselves? If God is absolutely perfect, that means his laws, character and teaching cannot be improved on. There is no need to change perfection! Abrogation of God’s decrees proves God is less than perfect, so why does the Qur’an say it will replace a revelation with something better and also say no one can alter God’s words? Is it not just an excuse for Muhammad to do whatever he wills?

“None of our revelations do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but we substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that God Hath power over all things?” -Surah 2:106

“... there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of God ...” -Surah 6:34

Was Jesus raised up to Allah, or did he die? Which one is it?

“That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of God’; but they killed him not, nor crucified him … God raised him up unto Himself …” -Surah 4:157-158

“’So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)’! Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth …” -Surah 19:33-34

Why did Muhammad disobey Allah’s command to only have four wives and instead had eleven and showed no holy restraint by having sex with them all the same night? 

“Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one …” -Surah 4:3

“’The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.’ I asked Anas, ‘Had the Prophet the strength for it?’ Anas replied, ‘We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men).’” -al-Bukhari Vol 1, Book 5, Num 268

Can anyone who is thinking rationally believe these Aya’s? If clear statements like this can be excused as figurative to cover errors, why should you believe in any clear statements of the Qur’an?

“… when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water …” -Surah 18:86

“Now let man but think from what he is created! He is created from a drop emitted - Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs …” -Surah 86:5-7

Can anyone actually believe the sun set in the mud? If the earth even got near the sun it would be incinerated. Sperm is not created between the backbone and ribs; it is created in the testicles. That is why castration guarantees sterilization.

Why do Muslims say the Bible is corrupt when the Qur’an says it can be trusted as a guide and a light?

“… We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God.” -Surah 5:46

“It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step) in truth the Book confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this as a guide to mankind …” -Surah 3:3

The Qur’an states that it was Allah’s will that Muhammad would lust after his adopted son’s wife. Are you not perplexed that Allah would cause the divorce of his adopted son Zaid’s marriage and then Muhammad would marry his wife?

“Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of God and thy favour: ‘Retain thou (in wedlock) thy wife, and fear God.’ But thou didst hide in thy heart that which God was about to make manifest: thou didst fear the people, but it is more fitting that thou shouldst fear God. Then when Zaid had dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), We joined her in marriage to thee (Muhammad) in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the Believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons …” -Surah 33:37

Are Muslims aware that it is recorded in their earliest authoritative sources that Muhammad worshipped pagan gods, thus committing shirk, and he then blamed Satan for tricking him? What other teachings has Satan tricked Muhammad with?

“Have ye seen Lat. and ‘Uzza, And another, the third (goddess), Manat?” -Surah 53:19-20

“When the Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods … the Muslims prostrated themselves when their prophet prostrated confirming what he brought and obeying his command, and the polytheists of Quraysh and others who were in the mosque prostrated when they heard the mention of their gods, so that everyone in the mosque believer and unbeliever prostrated … and Quraysh went out, delighted at what had been said about their gods, saying, Muhammad has spoken of our gods in splendid fashion … Then Gabriel came to the apostle and said, ‘What have you done, Muhammad? You have read to these people something I did not bring you from God and you have said what He did not say to you’ ... Satan interjected something into his (Muhammad) desires as he had on his tongue. So God annulled what Satan had suggested.” -Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, Sirat Rasul Allah translated by A. Guillaume, Pg 165-166

If Muhammad is perfect and sinless, why did he ask for God’s forgiveness? And why was Muhammad uncertain he would go to Paradise? Does God send perfect people to Hell? Why follow Muhammad if he doesn’t even know if he will be in Paradise?

“That God may forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow; fulfill His favour to thee; and guide thee on the Straight Way …” -Surah 48:2

“Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying: ‘By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.’” -al-Bukhari, Vol 8, Book 75, Num 319

“Uthman fell ill and I nursed him till he died ... On that the Prophet said, ‘How do you know that Allah has honored him?’ I replied, ‘I do not know. May my father and my mother be sacrificed for you, O Allah’s Apostle! But who else is worthy of it (if not ‘Uthman)?’ He said, ‘As to him, by Allah, death has overtaken him, and I hope the best for him. By Allah, though I am the Apostle of Allah, yet I do not know what Allah will do to me …’” -al-Bukhari Vol 5, Book 58, Num 266

If stating the Shahadah “There is no true god (deity) but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God” is the essential testimony to become Muslim, why don’t we find this exact statement in the Qur’an? This is the first pillar of Islam, so why does it not exist in the Qur’an?

The Qur’an says it is pure Arabic “while this is Arabic, pure and clear” Surah 16:103, and the Qur’an is eternal “In a guarded tablet” Surah 85:22.

However, al-Suyuti, one of the most prolific writers on Islam, states in his book The Perfection in Qur’an Sciences “that there are 275 non Arabic words in the Quran, and those words can’t be connected by any meaning to the Arabic language ...”

How can Arabic be an eternal language and borrow words from other languages? The Qur’an you have today cannot exist without the foreign words that are in it! So is the Qur’an wrong that it is pure Arabic and eternal?

Why is Mecca, the home of the Kaaba Islam’s most holy site, never mentioned in the Qur’an? If Islam is certain Jerusalem belongs to the Muslims, why is Jerusalem never mentioned in the Qur’an but mentioned in the Bible over 750 times?

Do you really believe Allah despises women and thinks so little of them that it is okay for their husbands to beat them, to commit marital rape whenever they desire, and that most women are in Hell and are stupid? 

Is it not more likely Muhammad has convenient revelations so he can control women? Aisha accused Muhammad of these convenient revelations “I said (to the Prophet), ‘I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires.’” al-Bukhari Vol 6, Book 60, Num 311

“Righteous women are therefore obedient ... And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them.” -Surah 4:34

“Your women are a tillage for you, so come to your tillage whenever you like.” -Surah 2:223

“’… as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).’ They asked, ‘Why is it so, O Allah’s Apostle?’ He replied, ‘You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you ...’” -al-Bukhari Vol 1, Book 6, Num 301

Why did Muhammad believe he was possessed and want to commit suicide after his encounter with Gabriel the Angel? Why didn’t Muhammad follow the advice of the Injil warning that Satan appears as an angel of light and investigate thoroughly if his revelation was truly from God?

“So I [Muhammad] read it, and he [Gabriel] departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart … Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an [ecstatic] poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, ‘Woe is me poet or possessed - Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.’ So I went forth to do so and then when I was midway on the mountain, I heard a voice from heaven saying ‘O Muhammad! thou are the apostle of God and I am Gabriel.’” -Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, Sirat Rasul Allah translated by A. Guillaume, Pg 106

“Your companion is not crazy (Muhammad): certainly he saw him (Gabriel) on the manifest horizon, and he is not miserly concerning the Unseen. And it is not the speech of an outcast Satan.” -Surah 81:22-25 

“For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” -2 Cor 11:14