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"Allah's book, who wrote it?"Reader comment on item: Counting Islamists Submitted by Lactantius Jr (United Kingdom), Nov 17, 2008 at 09:00 To Masood Concerning the number 19 in the Qur'an, Gehard Nehls has published a paper you may want to look at, "The Mysterious 19 in the Quran A Critical Evaluation" http://www.answering-islam.org/Nehls/Ask/number19.html and in it, he makes the very significant comment that, "Surely, if the number 19 were a divinely chosen seal on the Qur'an, Surah 19:19 would give the ultimate message of the Qur'an, and what does it say there? It speaks of the ‘holy son' Jesus!!" "(The angel) said, ‘I am only a messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.'" (Hilali-Khan Other translators saying, "faultless" (Pickthall) "holy" (Yusuf Ali) "pure" (Shakir) "righteous" (Sher Ali) "pure" (Khalifa) "most pure" (Arberry) "pure" (Palmer) "holy" (Rodwell) "holy" (Sale) The Qur'anic Arabic word "Zakkiya" implying that Jesus was totally without sin. And turning to what Islam says about the source of the Qur'an, that's where extremely significant problems are revealed, with first off, the contradictions within the Qur'an itself, whether the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad all at once, or piecemeal, Surah's 2:185; 44:1-7 and 97:1-5 saying it was all sent down on one specific night, yet these are contradicted by the following passages, which say the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal, Surah's 17:105-106 and 25:32 Troubling as this contradiction is, even more troubling, is who Muhammad thought the spirit appearing to him in the cave really was. Few people are aware of Muhammad's suicide attempts, caused by him being frantic with fear at his encounters with the spirit in the cave who claimed to be the angel Gabriel., but Muhammad, thinking that this spirit was in fact the devil, intended to kill himself by throwing himself off a mountain cliff, and it was only the intervention of "the angel Gabriel" which dissuaded him. These events are recorded in the Qur'an, the Sahi Hadith of Bukhari, and in Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat Rasulallah," and documented by Silas in his publication titled "Muhammad's Suicide Attempts" at, http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/suicide.htm This wasn't the only time Muhammad had troubling encounters with satan or evil spirits, the episode of the "satanic verses" also being well documented within Islams's most authoritative documents, and it is inescapable that the accounts contained in them have extremely disturbing implications for the true source of the Qur'an. The challenge of Surah 2:23 to "produce a Surah like it" has been met, and met by the devil in answer to Surah 17:88 and that Muhammad spoke satan's words, that neither he nor anyone listening to them being recited, could distinguish from other words of Allah is well documented in the Islamic sources, all four of Muhammad's early biographers recording the details in their Sirat literature, there are references in the Sahi Hadith to it, and there are specific references to it in the Qur'an. The context of these "satanic verses" is that while Muhammad was in Mecca, his followers were few, and his movement grew painfully slowly. According to early and treasured biographical and historical accounts of Muhammad, authored by competent Muslim scholars (such as the writings of at-Tabari and Ibn Sa'd), Muhammad longed for better relations and reconciliation with his community. Thereafter, the accounts continue, Allah revealed Surah 53 to Muhammad up to and including verses. 19, 20. These two verses reading: "Have ye thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza And Manat, the third, the other?" 53:19,20 Then, originally, the verses (known today as the satanic verses) followed: "These are the exalted cranes (intermediaries) Whose intercession is to be hoped for." The cranes whose intercession was recognized were, of course, the three deities. The same accounts tell us that after this revelation was completed, Muhammad, his followers and the pagan Arabs all prostrated. Tensions eased, reconciliation was at hand, and all were delighted. But Muhammad soon retracted the reconciliation—how soon is not clear. For the account continues that Jibril (Gabriel), the angel of revelation, informed Muhammad that Satan had used Muhammad's desire for reconciliation with the pagan leaders to insert into the revelation of Allah the verses about the interceding cranes, otherwise called "the satanic verses". The verses which follow, not the satanic verses, serve as the proper sequence to 53:19,20 (above): Are yours the males and His the females? That indeed were an unfair division! 53:21,22 In other words: When you Arabs have sons (whom you prefer to daughters!), how unfair of you to say that Allah has daughters! The idea of a plurality of gods or goddesses or sons or daughters of Allah is ridiculous. Allah alone is God. The three goddesses are false. Of course, the ramifications are large and very troubling. How many other of the words in the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad by satan? Muhammad had strange spiritual encounters. Was it really the angel Gabriel choking Muhammad in the cave, and appearing to him to persuade him not to commit suicide? The word of the living God recorded in the Bible saying, "And no wonder! satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14 Who was the spirit that appeared to Muhammad in the cave? Was Muhammad right in his initial belief that it was the devil? The devil being good at lying, the Lord Jesus Christ saying of him, "For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44 This is what the all-holy living God says about "angels" preaching "another gospel" than the New Testament Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8-9 Is Islam's denial of the Lord Jesus Christ's identity, satan's stronghold on more than a billion people? Are Muslims following one of the false prophets that the Lord Jesus Christ foretold would appear and deceive many? "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?" Matthew 7:15-16 "Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are My followers.And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people." Matthew 24:9-11 "But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve." 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 "Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead." 1 Timothy 4:1-2 "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 Jesus said that false prophets would arise, and that they would deceive many. There are currently more than a billion Muslims in the world, and Islam is one of the world's fastest growing religions. This means that Muhammad is the greatest false prophet of all time, and the most obvious fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy. The Apostle Paul said that satan masquerades as an angel of light, and if Muhammad had been aware of this, he would have perhaps trusted his first instinct, when a spirit claiming to be the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared to him, Muhammad's first impression of his "revelations" being that he was under demonic attack. This is a clear fulfillment of the Apostle Paul's words, Paul also saying that people would give heed to "seducing spirits" and "doctrines of devils," with Muhammad's "satanic verses" providing a striking example of this, and with Muhammad claiming that satan had put those words on his lips, the question has to be asked, how many other words did satan put on his lips, that neither Muhammad nor anyone else could distinguish from Allah's words, and which are still in the Qur'an? With kind regards and best wishes Lactantius Jr Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (772) on this item
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