Notis: Det följande är en reproduktion av artiklen "Why do they not study the Quran carefully?" i Maj-upplagan 2001 av Submitters Perspective, den månatliga bulletinen av United Submitters International.

Part I

The Quran is God’s Final Testament to the world. It is free from ambiguity and contradictions. In addition to the absence of any conflict in the Quran, God promised to keep the wicked away from it. “None can grasp it except the sincere.” (56:79) Thus, the less than sincere persons who are not satisfied with the Quran alone, as well as those possessed by the devils, are divinely prevented from understanding it. This fact is repeated throughout the Quran (7:146, 17:45, 18:57).

Some people claim that there are discrepancies in the Quran. What these people do is to cite a few verses out of context, then distort them in order to mislead their unquestioning followers who follow them blindly. Unfortunately, they are unaware that the Quran is a protected book designed exclusively for those who sincerely seek to know and appreciate their true God.

It is thus a blessing when a person chooses to appreciate the awesome wisdom of this numerically coded book. Even more rewarding to know is that the book is from the Lord of the universe with its built-in physical evidence to prove that it is truly from God Almighty:

This Quran could not possibly be authored by other than God. It confirms all previous messages, and provides a fully detailed scripture. It is infallible for it comes from the Lord of the universe. (10:37)

An Arabic Quran, without any ambiguity, that they may be righteous.” (39:28)

It is preserved with us in the original master, honorable and full of wisdom.” (43:4)

Why do they not study the Quran carefully, if it were from other than God, they would have found in it numerous contradictions… (4:82)

The understanding of Quran is a special gift from God, which is based on our individual growth and with time and experience.

When he reached maturity and strength, we endowed him with wisdom and knowledge. We thus reward the righteous. (28:14)

In fact, these revelations are clear in the chests of those who possess knowledge; only the wicked will disregard our revelations. (29:49)

Since the Quran is God’s message to all the people, regardless of their languages, the sincere believers who do not know Arabic know the Quran better than the Arabic-speaking disbelievers. (See 41:44). God Himself is the teacher of the Quran (55:1-2). He teaches us what we need at the time He sees fit. “We” here means the students of the Quran who are sincere. The insincere readers of the Quran, who read Quran to find fault with it, are divinely kept away from it. (7:146). They may be directed to find what they asked for:

As for those who reject our revelations, we lead them on without them ever realizing it. I will even encourage them; My scheming is formidable (7:182-183).

Quite scary, is it not? This is because many of them treat the Quran as if it were just an ordinary book or novel and read its passages casually, as if they were reading newspapers. Thus, they are kept confused by it. We would examine to see how easy it is for the insincere readers of the Quran to be led on and to draw their own conclusions from verses that seem to conflict. The following are some five samples of such verses. We will use the Quran itself in reconciling what appear to flow in collision course in these verses. Those, with other than the Most Gracious as their teacher of Quran, would negate the fact that Quran is indeed a flawless numerical scripture.

1. The death of Jesus (4:157-158)

As we read in 4:157 of the Quran, Jews claimed: “…that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.” But God says it is not true, and He gives the answer in the same verse and the next.

…In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him - they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him. (4:157)

Instead, God raised him to Him; God is Almighty, Most Wise. (4:158)

As we mentioned above, those who are not allowed the access of the Quran would easily conclude from the above verses that Jesus’ life was never terminated here on earth. Thus, some storytellers invent baseless hadith to claim that Jesus was substituted with one of his friends who betrayed him during the process of his crucifixion, that he was instead crucified instead of Jesus. And Jesus himself was taken to the third heaven to wait until some time near the end of the world, when he will come back to this earth to complete the Sunnah of Mohammad. Therefore, he must come back here just before the end of the world to complete the Sunnah.

However in the next verse, God explains what really happened.

Everyone among the people of the scripture was required to believe in him before his death. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them. (4:159)

God is the only living witness for what really happened at the time, and He is the author of this book to give us the accurate account of the issue. We learned from the verses, therefore, that just as in the death of any righteous person, Jesus the human being was put to death. However, his real self, the soul, was raised to God. Additionally, we noted that Jesus would not come back here until the Day of Judgment when he will serve as a witness against his enemies. Since the Quran is a fully detailed scripture, if we are not completely satisfied with the explanation in this particular verse, there is information that is more detailed in the following supporting verses:

God will say, “O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, `Make me and my mother idols beside God?” He will say, “Be You glorified. I could not utter what was not right. Had I said it, You already would have known it. You know my thoughts, and I do not know Your thoughts. You know all the secrets. I told them only what You commanded me to say, that: ‘You shall worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ I was a witness among them for as long as I lived with them. When You terminated my life on earth, You became the Watcher over them. You witness all things.” (5:116-117)

Also we read in another verse:

Thus, God said, "O Jesus, I am terminating your life, raising you to Me, and ridding you of the disbelievers”… (3:55)

Therefore, there is no ambiguity regarding the death of Jesus.

2. No one’s life is cut short (35:11)

…Whenever a messenger went to them with anything they disliked, some of them they rejected, and some they killed. (5:70)

No one dies except by God’s leave, at a predetermined time … (3:145)

No one survives for a long life and no one’s life is snapped short, except in accordance with a pre-existing record, this is easy for God. (35:11)

We learn from the Quran that God is the One who does everything. Nothing happens except in accordance with His will:

Absolutely, He controls all creations and all commands. Most exalted is God, Lord of the Universe. (7:54)

It was not you who killed them, God is the One who killed them. It was not you who threw when you threw; God is the One who threw. But He thus gives the believers a chance to earn a lot of credit. God is Hearer, Omniscient. (8:17)

It is safe here to say, nobody has the power to kill or terminate anyone’s life but God Himself.

If you suffer hardship, the enemy also suffers the same hardship. We alternate the days of victory and defeat among the people. God thus distinguishes the true believers, and blesses some of you with martyrdom. God dislikes injustice. (3:140).

Again, we need a careful review of the verses we have just quoted above to fully understand how the system of God works. We noted that God grants martyrdom to a believer as a blessing from Him. God is the One who created death to use as a means by which we all return to Him. It is not how we die, but where we go when we die.

Imagine you are an astronaut and placed on a spaceship for some time on space. One day some of your colleagues on earth climbed up to get you. They informed you that you have been appointed for a position of prominence here on earth, where you will occupy this new position of honor in perfect security, as a reward for your accomplishment while on the spaceship. Remember too, that here on earth which is to be your permanent abode, you will not carry containers of oxygen as you did in space. Furthermore, you will get everything you ever wished for. Would this be the moment of sadness for you? Or rather happiness?

(At the time of his death) he was told, “Enter Paradise.” He said, “Oh, I wish my people knew. That my Lord has forgiven me, and made me honorable.” (36:26-27)

We are told in the Quran, that the righteous who depart our planet earth and were admitted back into paradise would wish that their relatives knew and stop worrying. However, our question still remains: why would the Most Gracious God punish people who commit the act of murder? Once again, our only source of answer for every question we raise is the Quran itself.

They never implore beside God any other god, nor do they kill any person – for God has made life sacred – except in the course of justice. Nor do they commit adultery. Those who commit these offenses will have to pay. (25:68)

No believer shall kill another believer, unless it is an accident. … anyone who kills a believer intentionally, his retribution is hell... (4:92-93)

From the above verses, God’s laws are clear, and anyone who defies these laws is punished. However, it is not about the death itself that killers are punished, but the actual intention and the wickedness in the heart of an individual to commit the crimes. As we know, Moses killed someone by mistake. He immediately repented to God, and God forgave him. God’s commands and orders are the supreme laws; disobeying any of them intentionally incurs severe consequences.

[To be cont’d]