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Islam and Scripture: Difference between revisions
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===Contents of the Quran=== | ===Contents of the Quran=== | ||
====Al-Fatiha==== | ====Al-Fatiha==== | ||
{{Main|Al-Fatiha}}The | {{Main|Al-Fatiha}}The most recognizable and most often recited chapter, or ''surah'', of the Quran is the first chapter which is entitled ''al-Fatiha'', or the Opener. Muslims are required to recite the chapter seventeen times a day (over 5,000 times a year) at the opening of every unit of the daily prayers. The chapter is very brief and reads as follows: | ||
{{Quote|{{quran-range|1|1|7}}|In (the) name (of) Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praises and thanks (be) to Allah, the Lord of the universe The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. (The) Master (of the) Day (of the) Judgment. You Alone we worship, and You Alone we ask for help. Guide us (to) the path, the straight. (The) path (of) those You have bestowed (Your) Favors on them, not (of) '''those who earned (Your) wrath on themselves''' and not (of) '''those who go astray'''.}} | |||
The final portion of the surah is also the most controversial, as hadith literature has traditionally held Muhammad to interpret the group described as 'having earned God's wrath' as referring to the Jews and the group described as 'having gone astray' as referring to the Christians. Some contemporary translations, such as that of Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali go so far as to incorporate this explanation into the text itself, writing, "''Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).''" In recent times, a few modern Islamic scholars have felt troubled by this interpretation and have suggested de-emphasizing the hadith-based interpretations, which implicate the Jews as objects of God's wrath and the Christians as being misguided, in favor of a more generic and thus less hostile reading. | |||
====Child marriage==== | ====Child marriage==== | ||
{{Main|Child Marriage in the Qur'an}}The Qur'an | {{Main|Child Marriage in the Qur'an}}The Quran, in laying out the rules of divorce, provides also the procedure for divorcing pre-pubescent girls and in doing so affirms the hadith accounts and near-universal formulations of Islamic law which endorse child marriage and permit the [[Rape in Islamic Law|marital rape]] and [[Wife Beating in the Qur'an|beating]] of child brides. The relevant verse is {{Quran|65|4}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|65|4}}|And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, '''and of those too who have not had their <i>courses</i>'''; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.}}The verse discusses the ''Iddat'' (العدة), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months. | ||
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====Muqatta'at==== | |||
{{Main|Muqatta'at}}''Muqatta`āt'' (Arabic): مقطعات, are unique letter combinations that begin certain chapters of the Quran. Muqatta`āt, literally, means abbreviated or shortened. They are also known as ''Fawātih'' (فواتح) or openers as they form the opening verse of the respective chapters. In Arabic language, these letters are written together like a word, but each letter is pronounced separately. While the letters appear joined together in print, they do not form a meaningful Arabic word, and are held by traditional Islamic scholars as having a metaphysical meaning 'beyond human comprehension' and which therefore serve as reminders of human ignorance. Historians have generally found these arguments unconvincing and have advanced a variety of (as yet inconclusive) alternative hypotheses. ''Muqatta'at'' have been and continue to be a topic of intense research and academic discussions in Islamic literature and Quranic studies. | |||
====The final message of the Quran==== | ====The final message of the Quran==== | ||
Chapter 9 of the Qur'an- '' | Chapter 9 of the Qur'an - a''l-Taubah'' (Repentance) - is considered to be the final substantive revelation contributed to the Quran. The only surah (chapter) said to have been revealed after this is a''l-Nasr'' (Victory), which consists of only three short verses and says nothing new in terms of doctrine or law. That chapter 9 is openly militant and contains what are arguably the most controversial verses regarding Jihad in the Quran, while also being something to the effect of "God's closing statement, has served as an explanation for the expansionist and imperial form that Islam finally took by the time Muhammad died. The develops the narrative whereby the world is divided into the domain of believers (''Dar al-Islam'') and unbelievers (''dar al-kufr'') or war (''dar al-harb''), the latter of which must ultimately be conquered and transformed into the former. Modern Islamic movements that have emphasized the militant and imperial elements in Islam have drawn heavily on the 'conclusive' ideas presented in this Surah. Traditional scholars, while operating in a different context, also read the chapter in a similar way and generally agreed that it's expansionist/imperial message could be taken as abrogating any other verses in the Quran which can be taken to advance a non-expansionist/imperial ideal. | ||
==Criticism of the Quran== | ==Criticism of the Quran== | ||
===Contradictions=== | ===Contradictions=== | ||
:''Main Article:'' ''[[Contradictions in the Quran]]'' | :''Main Article:'' ''[[Contradictions in the Quran]]'' | ||
{{ | While the Quran straightforwardly states that it consistent to a degree that evidences its own divinity, critics have argued argued otherwise, pointing out a large number of what would, in absence of extremely creative exegetical interpretations, appear to be contradictions that suggest a non-divine origin of the Quran. A large, polemical discourse has emerged around these and similar proposed contradictions which primarily takes the form of online articles, online videos, and Islamic evangelical preaching.{{Quote|{{Quran|4|82}}|"Why don't they contemplate upon the Qur'an? Had it been originated from anyone besides God, then it would have been abundant with inconsistencies and contradictions"}} | ||
===Scientific errors=== | |||
{{Main|Scientific Errors in the Quran}}A common criticism of the [[Quran]], [[Scientific Errors in the Hadith|as with the Hadith]], is that it contains numerous [[Islam and Science|scientific]] and historical errors, with no obvious attempts to differentiate its understanding of the natural world and historical events from the common folklore and misconceptions of the people living in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. Modern responses typically appeal to metaphor, alternative meanings, or [[w:Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenological]] interpretations of such verses. They also argue that the wording needed to be acceptable to people of its time. Critics typically argue that an all-knowing, perfect communicator would nevertheless have been able to avoid statements in the Quran that reinforced misconceptions of the time, caused future generations to have doubts about its perfection, and on a scale that critics contend is an overwhelming weakness. | |||
===Misrepresentations of the Quran in English=== | |||
{{Main|Misrepresentations of Islamic Scripture (English)}}Critics have pointed out that translations of the Quran in English in general, and particularly those translations used in evangelical and interfaith contexts, have distorted the plain meaning of the most controversial and troubling verses in the Quran while at the same time idealizing those verse which, when read a certain way, appeal to modern values, presumably to make it appear more acceptable to a Western audience. Verses most often distorted include {{Quran|5|32}} (which regards murder), {{Quran|2|256}} (which regards religious tolerance), {{Quran|2|195}} (which regards participation in Jihad), {{Quran|8|61}} (which regards military reconciliation), {{Quran|2|79}} (which regards the 'corruption of previous scriptures'), {{Quran|4|3}} (which regards the treatment of wives and orphans), {{Quran|2|190}} (which regards defensive Jihad), {{Quran|4|129}} (which regards the treatment of wives), {{Quran-range|109|1|6}} (which regards pluralism), {{Quran|2|62}} (which regards the salvation of 'people of the book'), and {{Quran|2|62}} (which regards the extent of Jihad).{{Quote|Qur'an|“If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”<ref>Jacob Bender - [http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/print/jewish_muslim_dialogue_and_the_value_of_peace/ Jewish-Muslim Dialogue and the Value of Peace] - The American Muslim, July 19, 2007</ref>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|5|32}}|On that account: '''We ordained for the Children of Israel''' that if anyone slew a person - unless it be in retaliation for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew all mankind: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all humanity. }} | |||
===Mistranslations of the Quran in English=== | ===Mistranslations of the Quran in English=== | ||
{{Main|Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English)}} | {{Main|Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English)}}In some cases, published English translations of the Quran have opted for incorrect translations. Critics have suggested that this is for the same evangelical and interfaith-based reasons for which the scripture is often misrepresented in the first place. Translations with apparently deliberate errors include well known editions, such as the Yusuf Ali, Rashad Khalifa, and Muhammad Asad translations. Whereas scripture, critics argue, is frequently misrepresented in various contexts in the name of various levels of expedience, published mistranslations tend to deliberately err only in those instances where the original text poses a very acute challenge to Western values and sensibilities, particularly with respect to human rights and science. The verses most often distorted in published translations include {{Quran|4|34}} (which regards wife-beating), {{Quran|67|5}} (which regards the nature of stars, meteors, and/or comets), {{Quran|86|7}} (which regards the origin of semen), {{Quran|21|91}} & {{Quran|66|12}} (which regard the birth of Jesus), {{Quran|3|52}} (which describes Allah as 'the best deceiver'), and the various verses which employ the word ''qatal'', which means 'kill', 'massacre', or 'slaughter'. | ||
The pages listed below cover some of these mistranslations individually:{{col-float|width=25em}} | |||
*[[Beat your Wives or Separate from Them - Quran 4-34|Beat your Wives or "Separate from Them"? (Qur'an 4:34)]] | *[[Beat your Wives or Separate from Them - Quran 4-34|Beat your Wives or "Separate from Them"? (Qur'an 4:34)]] | ||