tafsir... Plato

Submitted by Taj (United States), May 5, 2008 at 20:11

Plato:

Allah has already informed you in the Koran that infidels like me are dumb and without intelligence. So I request that you reword your above comment in more idiot-proof words.

I don't think you are dumb or un-intelligent, nor does the Quran render these attributes to "infidels"...

This would mean that we can question their action as they need not have been rightly guided. When will any Muslim admit that the Prophet's actions are also questionable? His massacre of the banu Quaraiza, his assassination of critics, his marrying a child and so on.

I have never stated that their actions couldn't be questioned - but any questioning should not be presumptuous or prejudiced...as for Muhammad, there are some actions that can be "questioned" - he himself questioned his own actions at turns, however there is a faithful assumption that his actions as they pertain to religious matters are/were guided by God - yet even then they were questioned and at many turns these (respectful) questions were considered and answered. BTW, the Banu Quraiza were not massacred, Aisha was actually a teenager at marriage, and many critics of the Prophet lived unharmed, only those who committed sedition were punished or executed...

You should at least have given us some of the merits of Islam. Let me list a few of its faults:

I would not call your list either comprehensive nor a list of "faults"...In address to them:

1. Women condemned to a lower grade than men, 2:228 is not a condemnation - it is an acknowledgment of the reality that males are created a degree stronger physically than women and thus are given more responsibility, such as having to spend their wealth to support women and not vice versa (the commentary to this verse is another verse 4:34)

2. the ban on alcohol, etc, being inocuous is a matter of opinion - however, while an outright ban does not occur, the Quran certainly and singularly establishes the virtue of abolition and makes the freeing of slaves and act of devotion as well as expiation

3. 18:57 is not about God preventing from understanding the Quran...what is mentioned the "communications" or "signs" God gave - which could be anything...After the person rejects this, then they are "sealed"..notice that according to the next verse, this "punishment" is not eternal as you think...

4. Not sure how you find 9:111 a "flaw" - as the verse itself points out, martydom is a virtue in all the Abrahamic faiths...sacrificing the very thing you were given for the sake of the One who gives it is not something to be fearful of...sorry

5. That certain quranic verses have hidden meanings is generally considered simply a sign of Allah's position of absolute knowledge - the object of such examples is meant to instill humility in believers as well as drawing the line in the sand, so to speak, differentiating us as the creation and God as the Creator...

Regards!

Taj

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