Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims

A Guide to the Qur’anic Contradictions, Part 10


Consult complete verses in Online Quran.

(A few readers wanted to know why I am repeating some contradictions. The answer is: I am not repeating; Allah is repeating many verses; I am just following what Allah had done in the Qur’an —Abul Kasem)


 

Sura 54: al-Qamar (The Moon) 
 

54:18-21 
Allah tells the story of the Ad people; how Allah destroyed them in a day. 
Contradiction: 41:16 says Allah destroyed the Ad people in several days. 
Contradiction: 69:6-7 says Allah destroyed the Ad people in seven nights and eight days with a violent storm.

54:23-31 
Allah narrates the history of the Thamud people. One (54:29) person killed the she camel of Salih. Three days after they killed the she-camel, Allah destroyed them with a mighty blast. 
Contradiction: 7:77, 26:157, 91:14 say several people killed the she-camel. 
 

Sura 56: al-Waqia (The Inevitable Event) 

56:7 
Allah will sort out people in three classes. 
Contradiction: 90:17-19 says Allah will sort out people in two distinct groups. 
 

Sura 57: al-Hadid (Iron) 

57:22 
Even before Allah created the heavens and the earth, He had predetermined the fate of everything. 
Contradiction: 44:3-4 says every year, on the night of Laylatul Qadr, angels write down our fate, as decreed by Allah, for the coming year. 
 

Sura 58: Mujadila (The Woman who Pleads) 

58:22 
If they resist Allah and Muhammad, then Muslims cannot take even their fathers, brothers, or sons as friends. These Muslims are the party of Allah; that is, Muslims cannot be friendly with the unbelievers even though they are their blood relations. 
Contradiction: 17:23, 31:15 say respect parents even when they are unbelievers, and attempt to bring back the converts of Islam to idolatry.
 

Sura 60: al-Mumtahan (The Woman to be Examined)

60:10 
Test the believing women refugees; believing women are not lawful wives of the unbelievers; believing men are not lawful husbands of unbelieving women (i.e., Muslim, male cannot marry non-Muslim women.) 
Contradiction: 5:5 says Muslim men can marry women of the people of the Book, i.e., Christian and Jewish women.

60:13 
Do not be friendly with the disbelievers; they are Allah’s enemies. 
Contradiction: 5:82 says closest in friendship are Christians. 
 

Sura 63: al-Munafiqun (Hypocrites)

63:5 
The hypocrites turn back even when Muhammad tells them he will seek Allah’s forgiveness for them. 
Contradiction: 4:107 says Allah does not like disloyalty; He will not forgive the hypocrites. 
 

Sura 65: at-Talaq (Divorce)

65:4-5 
For menopause women, the waiting time for divorce is three months, same for women who are yet to menstruate. A child-girl who is yet to menstruate, her waiting period is three months, same as for a menopause woman; for the pregnant women, the waiting time is until she delivers the child. 
Contradiction: 4:5-6 says orphan girls must reach marriageable age, which is taken as fifteen years, before they could be married. 
 

Sura 66: at-Tahrim (Prohibition)

66:8 
If you repent then Allah will remove ills and will send you to Islamic Paradise under which rivers flow; the believers’ light will radiate in front of them and on to their right side. 
Contradiction: 19:71 says every soul has to pass through Islamic Hell. 
 

Sura 69: al-Haqqa (The Sure Reality, Catastrophe)

69:6-7 
Allah destroyed the Ad people with a furious wind, which lasted seven nights and eight days; they were left as headless bodies.  
Contradiction: 41:16 says the furious wind lasted several days. 
Contradiction: 54:19 says the furious wind lasted one day.

69:25-32 
Those who receive the records on their left hands will regret their past actions; their wealth was of no use. They will be in hell; they will be seized, bound, and marched in a chain of seventy cubits (each cubit will be the forearm's length of an angel—ibn Kathir) long; then burnt in a blazing fire. (It will be entered into his buttocks and pulled out of his mouth. Then they will be arranged on this chain just like locusts are arranged on a stick that is being roasted—ibn Kathir. Insert the chain in his anus and extract it from his mouth—ibn Abbas.) 
Contradiction: 84:10 says they will receive their records behind their backs.

69:35-37 
For the unbelievers their only food in hell will be bitter ones: filth and pus. 
Contradiction: 37:62-66 says unbelievers in Islamic hell will only eat fruits of Zaqqum trees. 
Contradiction: 88:6 says they will eat only bitter Dari. 
 

Sura 70: al-Maarij (The Ways of Accent, the Ladders)

70:4 
The angels and the spirits ascend to Allah in a day; one day equals fifty thousand human years in Allah’s reckoning. 
Contradiction: 22:47, 32:5 say one day of Allah equals 1,000 human years.  
Contradiction: 50:16 says Allah is closer than the jugular vein. 
 

Sura 76: ad-Dahr (Time) or Insan (Man) 

76:21-22 
The serving boys (Ghilmans) will wear green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, adorned with bracelets/ bangles of silver; Allah will give everyone to drink a pure holy wine (Sharaban Tahura); these will be the rewards for the dwellers of Islamic Paradise 
Contradiction: 5:90 says wine is the handiwork of Satan. 
 

Sura 78: an-Nabaa (The Great News, the Tidings) 

78:23 
The unbelievers will remain in Islamic Hell for ages (Huqb is seventy or eighty years, and every day of it is like one thousand years according to your reckoning in this life—ibn Kathir.). 
Contradiction: 2:167, 20:101, 32:14, 98:6 say the dwellers of Islamic Hell will stay there for eternity. 
 

Sura 83: al-Tatfif or Mutaffiffin (Dealing in Fraud, Unjust)

83:25 
In Islamic Paradise, Allah will quench the thirst of its dwellers with pure, sealed (expensive), exclusive wine. 
Contradiction: 5:90 says wine is Satan’s handiwork. 
 

Sura 88: al-Gashiya (The Overwhelming Event) 

88:6 
For the dwellers of Islamic Hell the only food will be a bitter, thorny, smelly plant, Dari. 
Contradiction: 37:62-66 says the inmates of Islamic Hell will eat only the fruits of Zaqqum tree. 
Contradiction: 69:36 says they will eat only pus and filth.

88:12 
In Islamic Paradise, there is one bubbling spring. 
Contradiction: 18:31 says multiple gardens with rivers flowing underneath. 
 

Sura 90: al-Balad (The City) 

90:17-19 
The believers are the companions of the right hand (paradise); the unbelievers are the companions of the left hand (hell), (two distinct groups of people). 
Contradiction: 56:7 says three distinct groups. 
 

Sura 91: al-Shams (The Sun) 

91:14 
Allah obliterated the Thamud people for rejecting their prophet, and for hamstringing Allah’s she-camel. 
Contradiction: 54:29 says one person killed the she-camel. 
 

Sura 99: al-Zilzal (The Convulsion, the Earthquake) 

99:6-8

Allah will sort out people according to their deeds—good or evil deeds (two distinct groups of people—the people of paradise and the people of hell). 
Contradiction: 56:7 says three distinct groups. 
 

Sura 109: al-Kafirun (those who disbelieve)

109:6 
To you be your way (means disbelief—ibn Kathir), to me is mine (means Islam—ibn Kathir). 
Contradiction: In 3:85 Allah says He only accepts Islam. 
Contradiction: 9:5 says kill the non-Muslims wherever they are found.


Conclusion

It appears that Allah is not sure and confident of Himself. He often hesitates, stumbles and errs of what He wants Muslims to emulate and follow. Just like a human being, Allah is prone to inconsistencies, mistakes and blunders. This demonstrates that the Qur’an cannot be the words of Allah, the all-knowing, perfect, and precise creator of all things in the heavens and on earth. We might wonder how the creator and the sustainer of all things in the Heavens and on earth could construct such a platitude and slovenly written document. 

We cannot imagine what might happen to the universe if this demented, imbecile, imbroglio, hesitant, and imprudent Allah is to rule and run it according to His words and laws in the Qur’an.

How could this unsure, uncertain, and self-doubting Allah send the Qur’an to guide the mankind?

Interestingly, Many Islamists consider these contradictions as Allah’s miracles. 
 

PS: A few Muslim readers have sent this link to refute any contradictions in the Qur’an. I shall recommend the readers to visit these sites. According to the narrator of this document there is not a single contradictory verse in the Qur’an:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsllge0QhQE&feature=channel 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqU4suOQkQc&feature=channel


References: 

  1. Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, Qadi ‘Iyad. Ash-Shifa. Tr. Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley. Medina Press, P.O. Box 5531, Inverness IV5 7YA, Scotland, UK, fifth print 2004.

  2. Walker, Benjamin. 2004. Foundations of Islam. Rupa & Co. New Delhi. First published in Great Britain by Peter Owen Publishers, 1998.

  3. Tafsir ibn Abbas and Jalalyn: http://www.altafsir.com/

  4. The three translations of the Qur’an: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/reference.html

  5. www.qtafsir.com

  6. Maududi: http://www.tafheem.net/main.html

  7. Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir (exegesis) of the Qur’an: www.qtafsir.com


 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10


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Name: Anti Clot
Subject: Contradictions
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 03:23:02 -0500

Comment

The reason behind the contradictions is easy: The quran wasn´t composed by god and not even by Muhammad alone. It is a collection of many texts from many different oral traditions. That´s also the reason why many stories (Moses and Pharao and others) appear more than once while differing in some points.


Name: Anti Clot
Subject: Correction
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 03:50:50 -0500

Comment

There is a contradiction in this article: It is part 10 and not part 9. :-)


Name: Anti Clot
Subject: Quran
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 04:56:51 -0500

Comment

To believe that the quran is written by god is like believing that dogs and cats are in real more intelligent than humans but always pretending to be more stupid. It is really challenging.


Name: amar khan
Subject: to abdul kasem
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 06:01:03 -0500

Comment

great work dear i was thinking that you will end up in 3 or 4 parts but you have written 10 parts. i think almost all contradictions are included. but still hate verses are remaining............


Name: Muslim
Subject: Reply
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 06:09:55 -0500

Comment

54:18-21 Can't several days be 7 or 8 days? besides it's unlucky days and not several days thus can be many 54:23-31 This is balaagah, one person can kill another being but responsibility is upon whoever supported and provided a ground


Name: Muslim
Subject: Reply
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 06:32:50 -0500

Comment

56:7 mentions 3 groups ie.) Right and left hand and the prophets and their successors while in 90 it mentions two groups and does not say there isn't a third group ie.) right and left 57:22 mentions it is all recorded in a book ie.) Not predestined fate but laws are predestined... in 44 it's is not mentioned about this book of law but the Quran which was revealed in it's full form to the H.P by the way book of law is a system taught to us which explains the consequences of our deeds and how it affects our fate... the tafseer presented here is wrong thus please clarify and all answers can be obtained from Pooya/Ali commentary found on al-islam.org or even downloadable from duas.org (file name is quran explained) Ask these questions to learned people, don't post it on websites like to ayatullah makarim shirazi or syed ammar nakhshwani - both have their websites so that all things can be easily clarified


Name: Anti Clot
Subject: Theological Contradiction in the Quran
Date: Friday March 20, 2009
Time: 16:10:25 -0500

Comment

Islam believes that Jesus was only a Prophet, right? Nothing more than a human being, right? But why was he capable of creating birds from clay during his childhood, according to the quran? This resembles very much the creation of Adam by God according to both the bible and the quran. There was also a Thomas Gospel in existence before the "revealation" of the quran, called the Infant Gospel of Thomas, available in Greek and Arabic, and the intention of these texts was nothing but to express that Jesus was the Incarnation of God who was also capable of creating living creatures. But why did this records became part of the quran? It does not serve the islamic doctrine that Jesus was not the son of god. This fact reveals that the final redactors of the quran had no knowledge about such theological problems. Perhaps these traditions where incorporated into the quran because they are not included in the bible or because Muhammad intended to corporate with certain christian tribes which were prepared to join him. But if we consider that god was the author of the quran, this story does not make any sense at all. Common humans and even propehts are not able to create living beings from clay (or mud).


Name: prince1
Subject:
Date: Saturday March 21, 2009
Time: 02:21:12 -0500

Comment

mohamed accepted the bible as the word of god and the quran says that no one can alter or change the words of god . so i dont understand why muslims claims that the bible has been changed . this believe contradict quran . and making the auther of quran so weak and can not make up his mind . the fact there is contradictions between the bible and quran and other contradictions withen quran itself . so the muslims should be honest with themself and recognize this problem . they must know that the real god is so powerful so no human can dare to change his words . and the real god very wise so he will not contradict himself or abrogate his words .


Name: Muslim Responses
Subject: Abul Kasem's copy-paste idiocy exposed!
Date: Wednesday March 25, 2009
Time: 11:12:19 -0500

Comment

Part-1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU0gJEzDRco&feature=related Part-2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ChsQJ4bAX0&feature=related


Name: Karl Maisner
Subject: Indonesian government admits Quran contradiction
Date: Friday March 27, 2009
Time: 19:18:11 -0500

Comment

The Indonesian professor Dr. Nasruddin Umar, who is also the Director of Islamic development of the Indonesian Ministry of Islamic Religious Affairs has indicated in February 2009 that in the Quran, the inheritance rules are contradictory or unfair. Some surahs state that it should be 2 parts for male heirs and 1 part for female heirs. But towards the Indonesian media, he suggested 1:1. See: http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/hukum/2009/02/03/brk,20090203-158230,id.html


 
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