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(→Verses that have no meaning and/or make no sense: Added a similar issue with the last two prayer verses of solely relying on the Quran.) |
(→Verses that have no meaning and/or make no sense: Furthered issues with God being the speaker from reading solely the Qur'an alone.) |
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The same issue occurs with the final two 'prayer' surahs, 113 ({{Quran|113|1-5}}) and 114 ({{Quran|114|1-6}}), although these at least open with the statement 'say' (''qul'' قول')<ref>[https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_2994.pdf قول] - Lane's Lexicon pp. 2294</ref> however there is no context given for why, when and where they are supposed to be said found in the Qur'an. | The same issue occurs with the final two 'prayer' surahs, 113 ({{Quran|113|1-5}}) and 114 ({{Quran|114|1-6}}), although these at least open with the statement 'say' (''qul'' قول')<ref>[https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_2994.pdf قول] - Lane's Lexicon pp. 2294</ref> however there is no context given for why, when and where they are supposed to be said found in the Qur'an. | ||
Even the whole of Surah 105 (Surah of the Elephant) is left unexplained, which we have to look to traditions and commentaries for the meaning and what it is referring to.<ref>E.g. ''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/105.1 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 105:1.]'' (Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.) summarises the general story.</ref> | In fact this happens to many verses throughout the Qur'an, where only later traditions clarify that the whole book is meant to be from Allah, and not just the parts of it that can be gained from reading the Qur'an alone; such as swearing oaths on himself, angels speaking, and the regular (and unnaturally sounding) third person voice. | ||
{{Quote|Bell, Richard., and W. Montgomery. Watt. Introduction to the Quran. Edinburgh, 1977. pp. 66-67|The assumption that God is himself the speaker in every passage, however leads to difficulties. Frequently God is referred to in the third person. It is no doubt allowable for a speaker to refer to himself in the third person occasionally, but the extent to which we find the Prophet apparently being addressed and told about God as a third person, is unusual. It has, in fact, been made a matter of ridicule that in the Quran God is made to swear by himself. That he uses oaths in some of the passages beginning, “I swear (not)…” can hardly be denied [e.g., 75.1, 2; 90.1].…“By thy Lord,” however, is difficult in the mouth of God…. Now there is one passage which everyone acknowledges to be spoken by angels, namely 19.64: “We come not down but by command of thy Lord; to him belongs what is before us and what is behind us and what is between that; nor is thy Lord forgetful, Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them; so serve him, and endure patiently in his service; knowest thou to him a namesake?” | |||
In 37.161-166 it is almost equally clear that angels are the speakers. This, once admitted, may be extended to passages in which it is not so clear. In fact, difficulties in many passages are removed by interpreting the “we” of angels rather than of God himself speaking in the plural of majesty. It is not always easy to distinguish between the two, and nice questions sometimes arise in places where there is a sudden change from God being spoken of in the third person to “we” claiming to do things usually ascribed to God, e.g., 6.99; 25.45.}} | |||
Not mentioned are also verses that seem to be spoken by the jinn in surah 72 (surah al-jinn)<ref>Durie, Mark. The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion pp. 25. (pp. 116 Kindle Edition). Lexington Books. | |||
..There are conversations reported between the Messenger and others and between believers and disbelievers, and there are often rapid switches between different conversations. ''There are even conversations where jinn speak to each other (Q72)...''</ref> beginning from verse 8 onwards, which one would not see as coming from Allah without extra-Quranic appeals.Even the whole of Surah 105 (Surah of the Elephant) is left unexplained, which we have to look to traditions and commentaries for the meaning and what it is referring to.<ref>E.g. ''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/105.1 Tafsir Jalalayn on verse 105:1.]'' (Al Jalalayn / Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti. Published in 1505.) summarises the general story.</ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|105|1-5}}|Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with the army of the elephants? | {{Quote|{{Quran|105|1-5}}|Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with the army of the elephants? | ||
Did He not put their scheme into ruin? | Did He not put their scheme into ruin? |
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