Incompleteness of the Quran
Quennel Gale
Recently the authors of Answering Islam have begun a section on the incoherence of the Quran and the scrutiny of its divine claim of being “completely detail” on every religious situation. Sam Shamoun sums it up perfectly with this short article that we’ll reproduce in part, with some added emphasis:
From (http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Incoherence/intro.html)
The Qur'an, in many places, claims for itself complete, exhaustive
knowledge. The Qur'an asserts that it basically lacks nothing as far as faith
and religious knowledge is concerned. A careful analysis of the following
verses demonstrates that the Qur'an's self-assessment is that it is a fully
detailed revelation:
And there is no animal in the earth, nor bird that
flies on its two wings, but (they are) communities like yourselves. We have NOT NEGLECTED ANYTHING in
the Book. Then to their Lord they will be gathered. S. 6:38 Maulana
Muhammad Ali
Shall I seek a judge other than Allah, when He it
is Who has sent down to you the Book FULLY
EXPLAINED? ... S. 6:114 M.M. Ali
The likeness of the life of the present is as the
rain which We send down from the skies: by its mingling arises the produce of
the earth- which provides food for men and animals: (It grows) till the earth
is clad with its golden ornaments and is decked out (in beauty): the people to
whom it belongs think they have all powers of disposal over it: There reaches
it Our command by night or by day, and We make it like a harvest clean-mown, as
if it had not flourished only the day before! Thus do We explain the Signs in detail for those who reflect. S.
10:24 Yusuf Ali
In their histories there is certainly a lesson for
men of understanding. It is not a narrative which could be forged, but a
verification of what is before it and a distinct explanation of all things and a guide and a
mercy to a people who believe. S. 12:111 Shakir
Ibn Kathir comments on the last of the above quoted verses:
<and a detailed explanation of everything>
Meaning the allowed, the prohibited, the preferred and the disliked matters.
The Qur'an deals with the acts of worship, the obligatory and recommended
matters, forbids the unlawful
and discourages from the disliked. The Qur'an contains major facts
regarding the existence and about matters of the future in general terms or in
detail. The Qur'an tells us about the Lord, the Exalted and Most Honored, and
about His Names and Attributes and teaches us that Allah is glorified from
being similar in any way to the creation. Hence, the Qur'an is...
<a guide and a mercy for the people who
believe.> with which their hearts are directed from misguidance to
guidance and from deviation to conformance, and with which they seek the mercy
of the Lord of all creation in this life and on the Day of Return. We ask Allah
the Most Great to make us among this group in the life of the present world and
in the Hereafter, on the Day when those who are successful will have faces that
radiate with light, while those whose faces are dark will end up with the
losing deal. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Yusuf; and all the thanks
and praises are due to Allah, and all our trust and reliance are on Him Alone.
(Source)
Yet another verse of the Qur’an states:
... And thee [too, O Prophet,] have We brought
forth to bear witness regarding those [whom thy message may have reached],
inasmuch as We have bestowed from on high upon thee, step by step, this
divine writ, TO MAKE EVERYTHING CLEAR, and to provide guidance and grace
and a glad tiding unto all who have surrendered themselves to God. S. 16:89
Asad
M.M. Ali has an interesting note here:
89b. Brinkman says: "If the Qur'an
explains everything and is a guidance, what need is there for the Sunnah?"
... (Source)
Indeed, a very good question, one which Ali doesn't sufficiently answer. See
the rest of his note. One online Shia commentary writes:
The Holy Prophet, who came with the book (a guide,
a mercy and glad tidings to those who submit themselves to Allah) explaining
all things, is a witness over all the witnesses. In addition to verses
mentioned in the commentary of verse 84 of this surah, please refer to Bani
Israil: 71 and An Nur: 24. (Pooya/M.A. Ali English Commentary; Source)
Ibn Kathir states:
<And We revealed the Book (the Qur'an) to you
as an explanation of everything,> Ibn Mas`ud said: "[Allah] made it
clear that in this Qur'an there is COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE AND ABOUT EVERYTHING."
The Qur'an contains all kinds of beneficial knowledge, such as reports of what
happened in the past, information about what is yet to come, what is lawful and
unlawful, and what people need to know about their worldly affairs, their
religion, their livelihood in this world, and their destiny in the Hereafter. (Source)
Two more verses from the Qur'an:
He does propound to you a similitude from your own
(experience): do ye have partners among those whom your right hands possess, to
share as equals in the wealth We have bestowed on you? Do ye fear them as ye
fear each other? Thus do we explain the Signs in detail to a people that
understand. S. 30:28
A Scripture whereof the verses are expounded,
a Lecture in Arabic for people who have knowledge, S. 41:3 Pickthall
The cumulative effect of all these passages has led many Muslims to the
conclusion that all one needs is the Qur'an, which in turn has led to a steady
rise of "Qur'an only" Muslims. There are several distinct groups of
"Qur'an only" Muslims, but they all have this in common: they reject
the assertion that the hadiths and sirah literature are necessary and vital for
a proper understanding of the Qur'an. Note, for instance, the statements of the
following Muslim writer regarding 16:89:
There cannot be any words clearer than this. When
He says "liKULLI Shai’iw" that means EVERYTHING. If the Qur’an itself
is supposed to explain everything, what does it mean to explain the Qur’an by
other books? In other words, the above verse is saying that there is NOTHING
that is not explained by the Qur’an. The Muslim who says that "not everything
is in the Qur’an", must sit down and contemplate on these Ayaats and
reflect on the logical consequences of his statement.
And:
The Muslim, when confronted with these Ayaat,
adopts a more defensive approach and revises his earlier statements by saying
"Yes, the Qur’an is complete and has everything and is easy to understand,
but it LACKS DETAILS. And to get the details we must resort to the books of
Hadith". The Qur'an again refutes this statement...
The discussion should end here for if the Qur’an is
COMPLETE, and EASY and has DETAILS of everything that we need for Guidance,
then there is no need to look at another book for Guidance. I must add here
that people should be encouraged to talk with each other and share ideas - the
problem occurs when individual's ideas are taken as sources of Guidance in
ADDITION to the Qur’an. This is exactly what Allah tells them:
"Is it not enough for them that We have
revealed to you the Book, which is recited to them? Most surely there is a
mercy in this and a reminder for a people who believe" (29:51)
The Muslim, however, refuses this "Mercy"
and ties himself up in shackles of Hadith and tradition, and insists that the
Book of Allah is not enough for him. With all of the above evidence, he still
cannot give up Hadith. In the following chapters we will look at some of the
other arguments put forth by the proponents of Hadith. (Source)
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As Mr. Shamoun has sufficiently shown, the Quran by its own
claim is “a scripture that explains
everything in detail”. Hence, we can
rightfully conclude if there isn’t a religious topic not discussed in the Quran
then Allah is either a liar or worse yet, allows it without committing the
fallacy of arguing from “silence”. The Holy Bible is often maligned by Muslims
because of its detailed history of mankind and their actions, including some
alleged embarrassing events like
The Book of Leviticus elaborates on forbidden sexual practices:
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak
to the Israelites and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God. You must not do as
they do in
Of the decrees demanded by God to be kept, one such horrific practice that is forbidden in the Bible is the practice of Bestiality:
"'DO NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH AN ANIMAL and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion. "'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you. "'EVERYONE who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and DO NOT FOLLOW ANY of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.'" Leviticus 18:23-30
The practice of Bestiality is explicitly condemned in the Torah, no such room for ambiguity. The command is clear; no such practice is permitted under any circumstance. We want to reiterate what Allah says:
And there is no animal in the earth, nor bird that
flies on its two wings, but (they are) communities like yourselves. We have NOT NEGLECTED ANYTHING in
the Book. Then to their Lord they will be gathered. S. 6:38 Maulana
Muhammad Ali
According to the Quran, nothing was neglected to be explained by Allah within the pages of its text. Hence, if we find nothing mentioned against a particular practice then
Or
If you read the entire text of the Quran, itself, the “fully-explained” scripture of Allah, the god of Muhammad, where “nothing is neglected to be explained”, we find that there is NO MENTION AGAINST THE PRACTICE OF BESTIALITY! This leaves Muslims in an obvious dilemma! They either have to admit that the Quran is false in saying that it explains everything (making Allah a liar) or accept the fact that bestiality isn’t outright forbidden by Allah in the Quran. Since many Islamic propagandists love attacking the Bible, what excuse can they make for Allah forgetting to even mention this evil practice as forbidden in the Quran? Can they show us from the Quran alone that this practice is forbidden? No. This obviously proves that the Quran is incoherent, incomplete and obviously false in its self-proclaimed statements about being “fully detailed” and “complete”. Some Muslims have realized the problem this poses for Islam, for example this Muslim website tries to explain this away:
Islam and homosexuality
Mikail Juma Tariq
As Salaamu Alaikum! (The peace of
God be with you!)
Homosexuality is wrong, a sin, in Islam.
Of that there really can be no dispute. See the excellent articles already
on-line cited at the end of this article for the citations from the Qur'an. The
point of this article is to try to put this into some reasonable perspective.
Sex outside of marriage is forbidden. It does not matter
whether it is fornication, adultery, bestiality, pederasty or
homosexuality. Many homosexuals claim they
were born that way, they can't help being homosexual. The truth is that man has
an urge for sexual gratification. As rationalizing (more than rational) beings,
people will always try to find a justification for any activity which they find
enjoyable. As to the claim by some homosexuals that it is genetic, this has
been decisively disproven. Studies have shown that children of homosexuals are
no more likely to be homosexual than any other children. If it were hereditary,
many more of them would be homosexual. In our society, homosexuality frequently
seems to result from a failed male role model, a father who is abusive or
grossly negligent. Bestiality and pederasty are certainly natural as well.
Every society has men who use children sexually. Everywhere sheep or goats are
kept, they are used for sex. So the argument that homosexuality is natural or
inborn has little persuasive power for Muslims… (Source)
Though discussing homosexuality, the Muslim apologist has no basis for claims about bestiality. He just lumps it under the idea “sex outside marriage”. The obvious problem is that THE QURAN DOESN’T FORBID BESTIALITY NOR PRESCRIBES A PUNISHMENT FOR IT. There is nothing about the punishment for bestiality in the Hadith collections of Muwatta, Bukhari or Muslim. This source gives more detail on this issue:
Death Penalty for Bestiality
There is nothing about the punishment
for bestiality in Muwatta, Bukhari or Muslim. We find some ahadith on the
subject in books of Abu Da`ud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad and, of these muhaddithun those who do express opinions on the authenticity of ahadith they
record, do not have a favorable opinion of these particular ahadith.
There is essentially one hadith
prescribing death penalty for bestiality:
‘Abd Allah bin Muhammad al-Nufayli
related to us: ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bin
Muhammad related to us: ‘Amr bin Abi
‘Amr related to me from ‘Ikrimah
from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of God said: “If anyone has sexual intercourse with an
animal, kill him and kill it along with him.” (‘Ikrimah) said: “I asked him (Ibn ‘Abbas): ‘Why the animal?’ He replied: ‘I think (the Prophet) disapproved of its
flesh being eaten when such a thing had been done to it’ [1].” Abu Da`ud said, This is not
strong. (Abu Da`ud 3871)
Narrations of this hadith with variations are
also found in Tirmidhi (1374), Ibn Majah (2554), and Musnad Ahmad (2294, 2591).
They all are narrated from ‘Amr bin Abi ‘Amr from ‘Ikrimah from Ibn ‘Abbas. One
narration in Ahmad comes from ‘Abbad
bin Mansur instead of ‘Amr bin
Abi ‘Amr but in that narration THE
PROPHET IS NOT MENTIONED and the words quoted are understood to be the words
Ibn ‘Abbas:
‘Abd al-Wahhab related to us: ‘Abbad bin Mansur
informed us from ‘Ikrimah from Ibn ‘Abbas that concerning the one who
has sex with an animal he said:
“kill the fa`il and maf`ul bihi”.
(Ahmad 2597)
But in al-Hakim a narration from the same ‘Abbad bin Mansur from
‘Ikrimah in which the saying of Ibn ‘Abbas BECOMES A HADITH OF THE PROPHET:
From‘Abbad bin Mansur from
‘Ikrimah from Ibn ‘Abbas that he mentioned (dhakara) the Prophet that concerning the one who has sex with
an animal he said: “kill the fa`il
and maf`ul bihi” (Al-Hakim, quoted from ‘Awn al-Ma‘bud 3869).
Note that this narration is the same as
the one from Ahmad except for the words,
“he mentioned the Prophet”. These words are awkward and vague, not
clearly stating that the death penalty was prescribed by the Prophet. They are a timid attempt to turn a view
attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas into a hadith.
It is even doubtful that Ibn ‘Abbas held this
view, since in the following narration, Ibn ‘Abbas in fact says something
completely different:
Ahmad bin Yunus related to us that Sharik, Abu al-Ahwas and Abu
Bakr bin ‘Ayyash related to them from
‘Asim (bin Bahdalah Abi al-Najud) from Abu Razin from Ibn ‘Abbas who said:
“THERE IS NO PRESCRIBED PUNISHMENT for one who
has sexual intercourse with an animal.” Abu Da`ud said: “‘Ata also said so.” Al-Hakam said: “I think he should be flogged, but the number should not reach
the prescribed punishment (for zina`, that is, 100 lashes)”. Al-Hasan said: “He is like al-zan.” Adu Da`ud said: “This
hadith of ‘Asim weakens the
hadith of ‘Amr bin ‘Amr.” (Abu Da`ud 3872)
The following facts about the above narrations, when taken together, leave little doubt that the hadith prescribing the death penalty for sex with animals is a fabrication resulting from some mistake or an outright lie: (Source) (PUNISHMENT FOR ADULTERY IN ISLAM; By: Dr. Ahmad Shafaat)
Dr. Shafaat was honest enough to admit that the alleged prescribed punishment for bestiality in the Hadith is a fabrication! Hence, neither the Quran nor the Hadith forbids bestiality! If this was the Holy Bible in this predicament Jews and Christians would be castrated by Muslim apologists and propagandists! Therefore Muslims don’t have a line of defense from both the Quran nor the Hadith to prohibit bestiality! If any Muslim claims that bestiality is prohibited by the Quran and the Hadith, he is outright lying to you. NO LAW BY ALLAH OR MUHAMMAD EXIST AGAINST THIS PRACTICE! Dr. Shafaat continues by given reasons as to why these hadiths are false:
First, the hadith is
narrated only on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas (d. 68) in the first generation,
only on the authority of ‘Ikrimah (d. 104) in the second generation, and then
mostly from ‘Amr bin Abi ‘Amr (d. 144) in the third generation and very rarely
from ‘Abbad bin Mansur (d. 152). Imams Malik, Bukhari,
Muslim either did not know about it or did not trust it.
Second, narrators in
the third generations, ‘Amr bin Abi ‘Amr and ‘Abbad bin Mansur, are not
reliable. Abu Zur‘ah al-Razi considers ‘Amr bin Abi ‘Amr thiqah and Abu Hatim, Ibn
‘Adi and Ahmad say la bas
bi hi. But al-Nasa`i
considers him munkar and says he is
not strong. Bukhari said that ‘Amr
bin Abi ‘Amr is trustworthy but he has wrongly attributed to ‘Ikrimah
several traditions. Yahya bin Ma‘in
and al-‘Ajli also called him thiqah
but rejected the ahadith he narrated from ‘Ikrimah from Ibn ‘Abbas. The views
of scholars about ‘Abbad
bin Mansur are even more
negative. Thus he is described as da‘if
al-hadith by Abu Hatim, laysa bi
shay` by Yahya bin Ma‘in, layyin
by al-Razi and munkar al-hadith, qadri,
mudallis by Ahmad.
Third, in one
narration in Musnad Ahmad, also from ‘Ikrimah from Ibn ‘Abbas, the “hadith” is found as a saying of Ibn
‘Abbas and NOT a saying of the Holy Prophet. So there is a distinct
possibility that an opinion of Ibn ‘Abbas was attributed to the Prophet by a
later transmitter such as ‘Amr bin Abi ‘Amr.
Fourth, it
is doubtful that Ibn ‘Abbas believed in the death penalty for bestiality, since
in another tradition Ibn ‘Abbas himself says clearly, “there is no prescribed
punishment for sex with an animal”.
Fifth, as
noted in ‘Awn al-Ma‘bud, the four Sunni schools of fiqh are unanimous that death is not
prescribed for one who commits sexual intercourse with an animal, but may
be given some other punishment (yu‘azzar
wa la yuqtal). Such an agreement among the fuqaha` would have been difficult to develop if they generally knew and
accepted a hadith, in which the Prophet
ordered to kill the one who has sex with an animal.
Although, in view of the above
considerations, there can be little doubt the hadith in question is a false
hadith, yet some later scholars accept the hadith and then try to reconcile it
with the opinion of the fuqaha`. Thus some
say that killing is mentioned in the hadith only as a threat not meant to be
carried out. Some say that the killing of the man is only a threat but killing
of the animal is to be carried out in actuality. In contrast to such artificial
explanations of later scholars, Abu Da`ud and Tirmidhi themselves show better
sense. Abu Da`ud, facing the obvious, declares: the tradition of ‘Asim (in which it is denied that
there is any prescribed punishment for sex with animals) weakens the tradition
of ‘Amr bin Abi ‘Amr (in which the death penalty is prescribed). Tirmidhi also shows reservation about the hadith by noting: “We do not find this hadith except from ‘Amr
bin ‘Amr and he from ‘Ikrimah and he from Ibn ‘Abbas and he from the Prophet.”
It is necessary that when the weakness of a hadith reaches the level shown above we should have the courage to call it a false hadith, something that many scholars do not do. The authentic teaching of Islam, meant to guide humanity for all times to come, could not have been transmitted in this weak way. If we do not declare such ahadith as false then this means that we cannot free ourselves from the errors and lies of some Muslims in the past and therefore cannot faithfully interpret and implement what God and his Messenger have taught us. This in turn means that we cannot move forward as a civilization. (Source) (PUNISHMENT FOR ADULTERY IN ISLAM; By: Dr. Ahmad Shafaat)
This is utterly amazing. Muslims had to invent lies to attribute back to
Muhammad and Ibn Abbas, because both the Quran and the Hadith failed to address
the embarrassing practice of “Bestiality”! Apparently there were Muslims having
sex with animals and justifying their actions because their holy scripture didn’t
prohibit it! They understood the fact that the Quran was fully detailed and
clear so, if Bestiality isn’t mentioned or forbidden then it is okay to commit
it since they wouldn’t want to make Allah a liar! So where does the forbiddance
of Bestiality come from? Dr. Shafaat gives us the answer:
The real source of the
death penalty for bestiality
We have
shown above that the death penalty FOR BESTIALITY DOES NOT COME FROM GOD AND
HIS MESSENGER. So where does it come from? The most likely
answer is that the penalty was borrowed from the Jewish tradition. Compare
the “hadith” discussed above and what the Bible says. The “hadith” says:
“If anyone has sexual intercourse with an
animal, kill him and kill it along with him.” (Abu Da`ud)
In the Bible we read:
If a man has sexual relations with an
animal, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the animal. (Lev 20:5)
The
parallel is striking and, in view of the fact that the hadith is not authentic,
strongly suggests that some Muslims took the penalty from the Biblical
tradition and shamelessly attributed it to the Prophet of Islam.
Some
scholars, such as Dr. Israr in our times, opine that a law found in earlier
revelations remains valid in the Islamic Shari‘ah unless it is expressly
modified and they use this principle to justify rajm for adultery. But it is easy to see that this opinion is
incorrect:
The principle that Muslims are bound by the earlier laws unless they are abrogated or modified by the Islamic sources clearly has far reaching consequences for the practice of Islam. It is therefore expected to be stated clearly in the Qur`an or at least in some demonstrably authentic ahadith and we also expect scholars to generally accept it. But we find no statement of the principle in the Qur`an and the authentic ahadith. And the fact that the scholars have generally rejected the death penalty for bestiality despite the fact that this penalty is explicitly stated in the Torah and even in some ahadith shows that the scholars do not accept the principle. (Source) (PUNISHMENT FOR ADULTERY IN ISLAM; By: Dr. Ahmad Shafaat)
Need we say more?
It is obvious that Islam in its traditions and holy scripture say nothing about
the practice of bestiality! Muslims knew about this so to cover up the embarrassment,
they lied and attributed false hadiths back to Muhammad and Ibn Abbas! There
would be no need for them to do this if Muslims weren’t committing these same
very acts due to Allah and the fully detailed Quran, not mentioning any
punishment or forbiddance against this practice! This also brings up further
problems for Islam. If Muslims were willing to lie to save face, what other
hadiths and verses in the Quran were fabricated? And to think, they have the
nerve to criticize the Holy Bible and its authenticated message with such a
shady and vague religion like Islam! It has been thoroughly proven that:
THE QURAN NOR HADITH FORBIDS BESTIALITY & MUSLIMS LIED TO COVER THIS
EMBARRASSMENT!
Any Muslim apologists who loves attacking the Bible, has this very same
scripture to thank, for forbidden a sick practice their own “complete” holy
scripture failed to forbid! In Christianity Bestiality is forbidden, in Islam
IT ISN’T FORBIDDEN UNLESS ONE TURNS BACK TO THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE! So when a
Muslim attacks the Bible he is attacking a book that forbids “having sex with
animals” while extolling a book that “doesn’t forbid this sick practice”! What
more can we say? The Quran lies when it says it’s fully detailed and there is
no prescribed punishment or forbiddance of Bestiality in the Quran or Islam.
You’ve got to turn to the Holy Bible to find this! Thank God for the Bible, his
true and complete Holy Scripture. The Quran says this about Muhammad:
Surely
in the Messenger of God you have a good
example. S. 33:21
Following Muhammad’s good example, we can have sex with animals and not worry anything about it, for it isn’t forbidden in Islam! God Bless all.
Quennel Gale at queball20@yahoo.com