There is an online social app called Discord, and I spend quite a lot of time on there with the name ‘I reject Islam, ask me why’. By using this method to talk with Muslim they tend to all ask the same question, Why do you reject Islam? I could always say something stupid about Aisha and Muhammad being immoral, or how there are two creators in the Quran, or even just how Islam is a negative effect on the world. But I don’t use any of those. What I normally say is that the Quran makes numerous claims, but if you double-check these claims, they are found to be incorrect, and that is an issue because the Quran claims to be infallible. This argument is simple to use and understand, so I wanted to make a post on it, and with all the verses I use.
Foundation Of The Argument
To set the foundation of the argument, we need to look at the Quran verses and what Muslims say about the Quran
-Quran Verses-
Quran verses claiming to be infallible and the words of Allah-
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’ān? If it had been from [any] other than Allāh, they would have found within it much contradiction.
Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Qur’ān], and indeed, We will be its guardian.
Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy.
Muslims Claiming That The Quran Is The Word of God
The Quran is the word of Allah and is not created.
It is a fact that the Quran is the word of Allah.
Kalam Allah (Divine Speech): this means that these words are a direct communication from the Creator and Master of every living being.
-Thoughts-
Here we have Quran verses and Muslims saying that Allah’s words are infallible, and now let’s get into the main claims.
-The Main Claims That The Quran Makes-
There are numerous claims that the Quran makes that are just wrong, but we are just going to be covering 5 of them.
- Claim 1: “Jesus was never put to death.”
- Claim 2: “Muhammad is described in the Torah and Gospels.”
- Claim 3: “And the mountains as stakes?”
- Claim 4: “Semen originates between the backbone and ribs.”
- Claim 5: “Allah’s words are without error”
Now, without further ado, let’s get into the claims.
“Jesus was never put to death.”
That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah”;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-
This Surah claims that Jesus was never put to death, but there’s an issue with this. Jesus was historically put to death, and just to clear any doubts about that, let’s look at the overwhelming evidence for it.
-Evidence for Jesus’s death-
Let’s look at some claims from people who were around the time or a little bit after the time(that aren’t from the Bible)
- Cornelius Tacitus Book: 15 chap: 44 (14-68 AD) (Christus=Jesus)
“abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus…” - Antiquities of the Jews Book 18, Chap 3, Sec 3. (93-94 AD)
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was (the) Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.” - Lucian of Samosata : THE PASSING OF PEREGRINUS (95-165 AD)(look at sec 11)
“It was then that he learned the wondrous lore of the Christians, by associating with their priests and scribes in Palestine. And—how else could it be?—in a trice he made them all look like children, for he was prophet, cult-leader, head of the synagogue, and everything, all by himself. He inter preted and explained some of their books and even composed many, and they revered him as a god, made use of him as a lawgiver, and set him down as a protector, next after that other, to be sure, whom they still worship, the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world.” - A Letter of Mara, Son of Serapion. (73 AD) (look at page 3)
“Or the Jews by the murder of their Wise King, seeing that from that very time their kingdom was driven away from them?” - Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin: Folio 43a (201<1342 AD) (Yeshu = Jesus) (herald = Messenger)
”it was taught: On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged…” - Flavius Josephus THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS :Index. (93-96 AD) (Book 11) (Chap 7, sec 1)
“Accordingly, Bagoses made use of this pretense, and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jesus.“
Here we have 6 different sources from completely different demographics that say Jesus was put to death. So the claim that the Quran makes that Jesus was never put to death is completely wrong. But nevertheless, let’s look at some common rebuttals to the claim.
-Common rebuttals to the claim-
Muslisms will try everything to put this claim to death, but none are able to.
Look at these sources that agree with me
Some muslims that have watched some YouTube videos about this claim may have found some of the other sources that say Jesus was never put to death, and we are going to be looking at some of the sources.
- The Apocalypse of Peter: (2nd–3rd century). Many Muslims will try and use the Apocalypse of Peter to say that Jesus was never put to death. Quoting parts of the text outside of the context of the manuscript. Although the Apocalypse of Peter does say Jesus was not put to death, it’s not for the same reason; the Apocalypse of Peter speaks of Jesus not dying because he is God, and he is to dvine to die. So if Muslims want to use this text to say that Jesus was never put to death, they will also have to say that he’s God, but they can’t do that.
- The Gospel of Barnabas: (16th–17th century). The Gospel of Barnabas is used more often by Muslim to say that Jesus was never put to death. But there are so many issues with this manuscript.
1: This manuscript is considered a Muslim forgery.1
2: This text is considered a pseudepigraph and is too late to have been written by the biblical Barnabas.
With the last two points, we can conclude that the Gospel of Barnabas would not be historically accurate.
I was made to appear as if he was put to death
If you go back to the verse and look at the part highlighted in purple, you will see it says “but so it was made to appear to them.” With the verse saying this, Muslims will say that it only appeared that he was put to death, but it never actually happened. But the BIG issue with this is that if you look at this verse as a historical claim, it does not hold up.
Here, let’s put this into perspective: a historical event happens, then 600 years later, some book is like “na fam, that never happened, it only looked like it happened, oh my source? Trust me, bro”. Just think how ridiculous that is, and that is what the Quran is doing here.
“Muhammad is described in the Torah and Gospels.”
Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with them. He will enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, and honour him, and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful.
I’ve made multble post on this topic, so I won’t go too deep on this, but if you want a deep dive on this i will link the post-
(Why Muhammad Will Never Be In The Bible) (Is Muhammad Foretold In The Bible?)
This verse says that Muhammad will be described in the Torah and the Gospels (which are different parts of the Bible), but if you double-check this claim by reading the torah and gosples, Muhammad is nowhere to be found.
“And the mountains as stakes?”
Have We not made the earth a resting place?
And the mountains as stakes?
-Tafsirs-
(And the mountains as pegs) meaning, He made them as pegs for the earth to hold it in place, make it stable and firm. This is so that it may be suitable for dwelling and not quake with those who are in it
This Surah says that Allah made mountains to stop the earth from moving. But if you do a tiny bit of research, you would know it’s quite the opposite. Mountains are formed because of earth movements.
Mountains form through a variety of complex and varied geological processes primarily driven by the movement of tectonic plates.
“Semen originates between the backbone and ribs.”
He was created from a fluid, ejected,
Emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.
-Tafsirs-
(He is created from a water gushing forth.) meaning, the sexual fluid that comes out bursting forth from the man and the woman. Thus, the child is produced from both of them by the permission of Allah. Due to this Allah says,
(Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.) meaning, the backbone (or loins) of the man and the ribs of the woman, which is referring to her chest. Shabib bin Bishr reported from `Ikrimah who narrated from Ibn `Abbas that he said,
(Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.) “The backbone of the man and the ribs of the woman. It (the fluid) is yellow and fine in texture. The child will not be born except from both of them (i.e., their sexual fluids).”
the response is: He was created from a gushing fluid, gushing forth from the man and the woman into the womb,
issuing from between the loins, of the man, and the breast-bones, of the woman.
When the human individual was created, he was created from water thrown and spilled, a water that came forth from the back of the man and from the bones within the woman’s breast.
Ibn Kathir says, “meaning, the sexual fluid that comes out bursting forth from the man and the woman. Thus, the child is produced from both of them by the permission of Allah.” Ibn Kathir is saying that both the man and the woman need to orgasm for the baby to appear, and if he is saying that Surah 86:6-7 is making that claim, then the Quran is even more worng then I thought.
Just in case some of you don’t know, only the man needs to orgasm for a baby to appear.2
All three of these Tafsirs say that the fluid from the backbone of a man and the chest of a women, create a baby. Which, if you know anything about the human body, you would know that’s not how that works. And no, I will not be providing a study for that. I really don’t need “how does sex work?” on my computer.
“Allah’s words are without error.”
Indeed, those who disbelieve in the message [i.e., the Qur’ān]1 after it has come to them… And indeed, it is a mighty Book.
Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy.
-Tafsirs-
(And verily, it is an honorable well-fortified respected Book.) means, it is protected and preserved, and nobody can produce anything like it.
(Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it,) means, there is no way to corrupt it, because it has been sent down by the Lord of the worlds. Allah says:
These verses are saying that there can be no error in the Quran. But as we just saw, there are plenty of errors in the Quran. And this is just one side of the dice; we can also look at the internal contradictions within the Quran, the historical contradictions, the logical contradictions, and the scientific contradictions. But that’s not what this post is for.
End Thoughts-
We looked at five different claims that the Quran makes that are wrong, and we prove them wrong by history, logic, and science. If one of these claims that the Quran makes is wrong, it destroys the whole Quran and the religion of Islam. How so? Well, the Quran claims to be the words of Allah, and it claims that Allah is without error, but if there is an error in the Quran, then Allah is either a liar or doesn’t know anything about his creation, so then he would not be all-knowing, and that would destroy the whole idea of the Quranic God. So if these claims that the Quran makes are false (which they are), then Islam is false.
Thank you for reading.
-Footnotes-
- Wikipeta: Gospel of Barnabas ↩︎
- Optimizing natural fertility: a committee opinion
“Although female orgasm may promote sperm transport, there is no known relationship between orgasm and fertility.” ↩︎
