He wrote:Islam and the Sins of the Prophets
My response: Well even more, according to the Bible, Jesus was a hypocrite who compromised his own words and commands when he was put to the Ultimate test by giving "vain repetition" prayers over and over again! Please visit:
www.answering-christianity.com/jesus_hypocrite.htm Anyway, according to Islam, no human being is perfect. Not even Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him himself: "(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, Because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). But what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)?- Or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient, (The Noble Quran, 80:1-5)" "O Prophet! Why holdest thou to be forbidden that which God has made lawful to thee? Thou seekest to please thy consorts. But God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (The Noble Quran, 66:1)" There are more examples that I can provide, but I think these Noble Verses are sufficient enough. Most of the Prophets peace be upon them sinned. Some even sinned terrible sins! It is up to Allah Almighty to forgive whom He pleases: "Has the Story of the Disputants reached thee? Behold, they climbed over the wall of the private chamber; When they entered the presence of David, and he was terrified of them, they said: "Fear not: we are two disputants, one of whom has wronged the other: Decide now between us with truth, and treat us not with injustice, but guide us to the even Path. "This man is my brother: He has nine and ninety ewes, and I have (but) one: Yet he says, 'commit her to my care,' and is (moreover) harsh to me in speech." (David) said: "He has undoubtedly wronged thee in demanding thy (single) ewe to be added to his (flock of) ewes: truly many are the partners (in business) who wrong each other: Not so do those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and how few are they?" And David gathered that We had tried him: he asked forgiveness of his Lord, fell down, bowing (in prostration), and turned (to God in repentance). So We forgave him this (lapse): he enjoyed, indeed, a Near Approach to Us, and a beautiful place of (Final) Return. (The Noble Quran, 38:21-25)" "God forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with God is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed. (The Noble Quran, 4:48)" I as a Muslim can't sit here and say "this sin is unforgivable, and this sin is". It is up to Allah Almighty to decide what sin to forgive and what sin to punish for; as long as it is not a sin of associating partners (gods or idols) with Allah Almighty. This is the only sin that is not forgivable in Islam. Please visit: What is the Wisdom of Islam? Otherwise, it all depends on what the person's intentions were, what situation he/she was in, their age and level of maturity, the severity of the sin on others, and other factors that might have caused the sin: "Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. (The Noble Quran, 99:7-8)" There is no set rule on how the Judgement will happen. Every individual will have his own special and unique case that Allah Almighty will consider. Also, if the person is under 40 years old, Allah Almighty tends to forgive him/her more than if he/she were older: "We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, 'O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favour which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam.' (The Noble Quran, 46:15)" Please visit: The Mercy of Allah Almighty and the Wisdom of the age of 40 in Islam.
He wrote: Many of these issues have already been dealt with. See for example the following articles: We wish to show here that both the Quran and Islamic traditions also present prophets in a less than positive light. It may surprise some of our readers to read that early Muslim sources confirm such stories as David’s act of adultery etc. For instance, both the Quran and the Traditions acknowledge that Abraham lied:
The Ahadith also state that Abraham doubted God:
Another character that is presented in a not so favorable light is Joseph:
The Quran says that Joseph would have desired Potiphar’s wife and as such would have been guilty of adulterous inclinations. The Holy Bible disagrees with the Quran and exonerates Joseph from such slander:
The Quran, in agreement with the Holy Bible, states that Lot tried to protect his guests by telling the people to take his daughters and have their way with them:
Is it not the duty of a father to protect the health, life and honor of his children — if necessary with his own life? Yet here we see Lot offering his virgin daughters to be raped by evil men. Interestingly the Holy Bible also reports this story (cf. Genesis 19:1-9). Yet, amazingly, Muslims say nothing of it. It is obvious why they would not, since this same story also appears in their book! This demonstrates that the Muslim criticism against the Holy Bible is nothing more than a smokescreen in all of these instances, since if the same stories appeared in the Quran they would have never brought up the issue. It exposes the hypocrisy of these Muslim attacks on the Holy Bible since the same Muslims would never accept that this particular story disqualifies the Quran as being from God. As our final example we discuss the story of David and Bathsheba. We find allusions to this event in the Quran:
This story is reminiscent of 2 Samuel 12:1-14 where Nathan exposes David by telling him a parable of a rich man’s unjust act in taking his neighbor’s only ewe, yet with one MAJOR difference. The Quran turns Nathan’s parable into an actual historical event! This is just one more piece of evidence showing how the author of the Quran doesn’t really have a sense of what is historical:
Obviously, two people would think twice before breaking into the chamber of the king to resolve an issue, especially when they are two disputants! It is hard to imagine that the poor one could ever get the rich one to go to the king with him in the first place, even in a regular audience before the king, let alone breaking in illegally. In the real world, the one who suffered the loss/damage may go to the king, present his case, and then the police or palace guards of the king may get the offender and drag him before the court. But it certainly doesn’t happen the way described in the Quran. Hence, a healthy dose of common sense would show that the biblical account is much more credible and realistic. Further aspects of this Quranic story are discussed in the article "I am ALL the Prophets". Returning to our original point, it may surprise our readers to know that the early Muslim expositors had no problem admitting that this Quranic story refers to David and Bathsheba. The following is taken from Al-Tabari:
Here are Muhammad Asad’s comments on David and the two disputants:
What is most interesting about these accounts is that David is said to have killed Uriah before sleeping with Bathsheba. This means that David went so far as to purposefully plan the murder of Uriah in order to take the latter’s wife. The Holy Bible, on the other hand, states that David had already slept with Bathsheba and impregnated her before killing Uriah. The Holy Scriptures also state that David’s killing of Uriah was the last resort, since the king first tried to get Uriah drunk enough to sleep with his wife in order to cover up the fact that David had actually impregnated her (the details about this story is found in 2 Samuel 11-12).
My response: As I said above, no human being is perfect. Not even Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him himself: "(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, Because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). But what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)?- Or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient, (The Noble Quran, 80:1-5)" "O Prophet! Why holdest thou to be forbidden that which God has made lawful to thee? Thou seekest to please thy consorts. But God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (The Noble Quran, 66:1)" There are more examples that I can provide, but I think these Noble Verses are sufficient enough. Most of the Prophets peace be upon them sinned. Some even sinned terrible sins! It is up to Allah Almighty to forgive whom He pleases: "Has the Story of the Disputants reached thee? Behold, they climbed over the wall of the private chamber; When they entered the presence of David, and he was terrified of them, they said: "Fear not: we are two disputants, one of whom has wronged the other: Decide now between us with truth, and treat us not with injustice, but guide us to the even Path. "This man is my brother: He has nine and ninety ewes, and I have (but) one: Yet he says, 'commit her to my care,' and is (moreover) harsh to me in speech." (David) said: "He has undoubtedly wronged thee in demanding thy (single) ewe to be added to his (flock of) ewes: truly many are the partners (in business) who wrong each other: Not so do those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and how few are they?" And David gathered that We had tried him: he asked forgiveness of his Lord, fell down, bowing (in prostration), and turned (to God in repentance). So We forgave him this (lapse): he enjoyed, indeed, a Near Approach to Us, and a beautiful place of (Final) Return. (The Noble Quran, 38:21-25)" "God forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with God is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed. (The Noble Quran, 4:48)" I as a Muslim can't sit here and say "this sin is unforgivable, and this sin is". It is up to Allah Almighty to decide what sin to forgive and what sin to punish for; as long as it is not a sin of associating partners (gods or idols) with Allah Almighty. This is the only sin that is not forgivable in Islam. Please visit: What is the Wisdom of Islam? Otherwise, it all depends on what the person's intentions were, what situation he/she was in, their age and level of maturity, the severity of the sin on others, and other factors that might have caused the sin: "Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. (The Noble Quran, 99:7-8)" There is no set rule on how the Judgement will happen. Every individual will have his own special and unique case that Allah Almighty will consider. Also, if the person is under 40 years old, Allah Almighty tends to forgive him/her more than if he/she were older: "We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, 'O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favour which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam.' (The Noble Quran, 46:15)" Please visit: The Mercy of Allah Almighty and the Wisdom of the age of 40 in Islam.
He wrote: The Holy Bible obviously gives the correct version since not only was it written closer to the time these events happened, it is actually the inspired revelation of God, unlike the Quran and ahadith. Aside from that fact, both versions of the story reflect negatively on the integrity of David. Regardless of whether David killed Uriah before or after, he was already guilty of committing adultery in the eyes of God for having lusted after a married woman. (Cf. Matthew 5:27-28,31-32)
My response: The Noble Quran is not concerned about giving detailed narrations about stories like the Bible does. The Noble Quran's only concern is to give the Divine Message of the Absolute Oneness of GOD Almighty, and associating no partners with Him. The Biblical stories that happened with the People of Israel have little place in Islam. We respect them, but we really don't bother much with them. That's why sometimes you see the Noble Quran talks pithy about certain events that occured during the People of Israel's Prophets, because the events themselves are not that important to the Muslims and the Divine Message of Islam.
He wrote: Hence, we fail to see how the Muslim theory exonerates David in any way. Premeditated murder with the intention to take the wife of another man is clearly a major sin. Now a Muslim may claim that according to Asad, Ali swore to flog anyone who passed this story on, which indicates that the first Muslims rejected such stories. On the contrary, Asad doesn’t say that Ali rejected the story wholesale, but simply rejected the story as narrated by the story-tellers. Someone else may want to reject these traditions completely. If so, we pose the following two questions:
The Holy Bible tells us:
By acknowledging that Solomon is David’s son, the Quran has no choice but to agree with the biblical account that Bathsheba was his mother. That is unless, of course, Muslims want to claim that Solomon had no mother! Either that or the Muslims must claim that Bathsheba wasn’t Solomon’s mother, or that Bathsheba and David were legitimately married without having committed adultery. But to opt for the latter view, one must still answer question 1. These factors prove that the Quran is an incomplete and imperfect record. In light of the foregoing, this one fact remains. The earliest Quranic expositors believed that David did sleep with Bathsheba and that Uriah was murdered at the orders of David. This concludes our examination of the Muslim arguments. In the service of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, our risen Lord of eternal glory, forever and ever. Amen. Come Lord Jesus, come. We love you risen Savior.
My response: As I mentioned above, no human being is perfect. Not even Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him himself: "(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, Because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). But what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)?- Or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient, (The Noble Quran, 80:1-5)" "O Prophet! Why holdest thou to be forbidden that which God has made lawful to thee? Thou seekest to please thy consorts. But God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (The Noble Quran, 66:1)" There are more examples that I can provide, but I think these Noble Verses are sufficient enough. Most of the Prophets peace be upon them sinned. Some even sinned terrible sins! It is up to Allah Almighty to forgive whom He pleases: "Has the Story of the Disputants reached thee? Behold, they climbed over the wall of the private chamber; When they entered the presence of David, and he was terrified of them, they said: "Fear not: we are two disputants, one of whom has wronged the other: Decide now between us with truth, and treat us not with injustice, but guide us to the even Path. "This man is my brother: He has nine and ninety ewes, and I have (but) one: Yet he says, 'commit her to my care,' and is (moreover) harsh to me in speech." (David) said: "He has undoubtedly wronged thee in demanding thy (single) ewe to be added to his (flock of) ewes: truly many are the partners (in business) who wrong each other: Not so do those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and how few are they?" And David gathered that We had tried him: he asked forgiveness of his Lord, fell down, bowing (in prostration), and turned (to God in repentance). So We forgave him this (lapse): he enjoyed, indeed, a Near Approach to Us, and a beautiful place of (Final) Return. (The Noble Quran, 38:21-25)" "God forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with God is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed. (The Noble Quran, 4:48)" I as a Muslim can't sit here and say "this sin is unforgivable, and this sin is". It is up to Allah Almighty to decide what sin to forgive and what sin to punish for; as long as it is not a sin of associating partners (gods or idols) with Allah Almighty. This is the only sin that is not forgivable in Islam. Please visit: What is the Wisdom of Islam? Otherwise, it all depends on what the person's intentions were, what situation he/she was in, their age and level of maturity, the severity of the sin on others, and other factors that might have caused the sin: "Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. (The Noble Quran, 99:7-8)" There is no set rule on how the Judgement will happen. Every individual will have his own special and unique case that Allah Almighty will consider. Also, if the person is under 40 years old, Allah Almighty tends to forgive him/her more than if he/she were older: "We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, 'O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favour which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam.' (The Noble Quran, 46:15)" Please visit: The Mercy of Allah Almighty and the Wisdom of the age of 40 in Islam.
He wrote: Here, we present the remaining part of Al-Tabari’s account regarding the story of the two disputants and its relation to David’s sin:
My response: Again, see my above response. There is nothing of substance here that you have presented against the Noble Quran. All you did was criticize some Muslims' corrupted views toward considering Prophets as perfect, sinless and infallible. These Muslims have obviously been corrupted with the Bible's corrupted ideology about religious leaders being perfect, sinless and infallible. Let us look at what the Bible says: "The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment. (From the NIV Bible, 1 Corinthians 2:15)" So, it is not really Islam that teaches such corruption, even though some Muslims do fall into that sin. It is the corrupted Bible that teaches that there will always be perfect, sinless and infallible people that we must glorify and praise. This by itself can be considered as associating partners with GOD Almighty, because you would be glorifying and praising people as if they have reached the ultimate level of perfection. Such trash does not exist in Islam, and only exists in the Bible.
|