Acts17apologetics plant interfaith hatred; Hadith says Jews will hide behind rocks?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

The reason why Jews are addressed as monolith, whether in the Quran or their own books and prophets following Moses is that because from all people, and up to this day, no community claims continuity to their ancestors and the rights and obligations placed on them than the Israelites. They were bound as a nation by a covenant in which they entered while being persuaded, one can even say compelled, by the sight of miracles.

The terms of the covenant were that should they breach it, then it would result in their rejection from God's grace as a whole, even if not all of them transgress. However this prided covenant was, and still is, in great majority and even sometimes entirely disregarded, with them only laying claim to the favors which were in fact conditional to obedience  (land grant, divine protection from enemies, light unto the nations etc).

This is actually one other reason to call them out for their sins as a single unit, to show them that if they want to lay claim on the favors conditionally bestowed upon their ancestors, then they should equally recognize as a nation the less glorious parts of their history.

 Another thing to consider is that the Quran, which is often accused of being anti-Jewish or antisemitic actually spares the Israelites and is much more tempered and balanced in its description of their early history than their own scriptures, down to the Christian writings and Jesus' outright insults towards them. Jesus himself was no antisemite, but his followers, the descendants of Greek and Roman pagans, certainly were and gladly used the crude depictions and insults that Jesus reportedly makes of his fellow "vipers" and "sons of satan". Jesus' racial slur is so intense, the general feel of the Gospels so anti-semitic that one can only conclude they had been written by Gentiles.

The Quran speaks of their failures and rebellions under various prophets, as well as their multiple divine destructions, in a passing manner without delving much over the details, as if it is seeking to spare them some dignity, just as it does not report the scale of their prophets' loathing of them. This is among the facets of divine mercy, the like of which was inculcated to the prophet Yusuf/Joseph.

When his brothers and former persecutors were within his powerful grasp, as he had all authority and right to exert justice and revenge, he instead, in his legendary patience, dignity and magnanimity with which God had established him since his youngest years, he still gave them the benefit of the doubt

"Do you remember what you did with Yusuf and his brother while you were jahill?"

Yusuf's tact and mercy manifest in that opening statement by saying, in an investigating, ambiguous tone that what they did was in a time where they were ignorant, meaning that they are expected to know better by now and not repeat the misdeed he passingly alludes to. Second, he doesnt even make it personal by speaking in the first person "me" but instead by alluding to himself in the third person. Then when they recognize him, instead of making them feel the lowest by boasting of how life has vindicated him so that now he is the highest, he immediately attributes his status to God, it is a favor which isnt on account of any personal achievements, he is no different than them. In addition God's favor, he says, is within anybody's reach, not just himself

"surely he who guards (against evil) and is patient (is rewarded) for surely Allah does not waste the reward of those who do good".

One can hardly think of a more intricately humble, merciful address than this, given the circumstances. And the rest of the dialogue, which is more akin to Yusuf giving moral lessons to his brothers without demeaning them, is full of similar wording. When he declared that Allah forgives them, again avoiding to make it personal "I forgive you", and that no blame will henceforth be attached to them, Yusuf remained consistent and respected that declaration a little later on when he saw his childhood vision unfolding, he only mentioned God's favor in protecting him during his years of imprisonment, without saying anything of his much more dangerous ordeal of being thrown in a well by his brothers. Whatever evil had occured between he and his brothers -he is wording the statement so as to leave open the possibility that he might be equally blameable although he never did anything wrong to warrant the cruelty with which his older brothers treated him in his childhood- was because

"Shaitan had sown dissensions between me and my brothers".

Not only he puts himself as potentially having equal share of responsibility for the conflict, he attributes the source of evil to Shaytan, not even his brothers who stand blame free just as he had previously pledged. These kind of intricacies as are contained in just a few verses among many other verses within that specific story of the prophet Yusuf's life, clearly cannot have been devised by any human being orally and publicly transmitting an account without any chance at going back to a previous statement to correct and edit himself to improve his overall eloquence and coherence

"this is of the announcements relating to the unseen (which) We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they resolved upon their affair, and they were devising plans".

This is the kind of divine mercy with which the Quran treats them. When it points out some of the dark periods of their history, it isnt done wantonly or inappropriately but always in a specific context and to draw a moral lesson, both for them as a nation and anyone hearing and reading it. A parallel reading of the list of incidents starting from 2:40, with the same ones related in their books reveals the mild manner in which God has spared them further humiliation by not detailing their dark past.

This past the Quran says was "thrown behind the backs" of their educated elite, unknown to the majority of the Quran's addressees, even among the Jewish laymen of the time. Even if we taken into account the loathsome words that later Muslim scholars, the likes of ibn Qayyim, describe them with; tricksters, conspiracists, liars, slanderers, consumers of usury and bribe, killers and rejecters of prophets etc. every single one of those accusations and more, are directed at them collectively in their own sacred writings.

The Quran also, almost every time it cites one of those past failures, demarcates between the transgressors and the upright among them so as to not condemn them collectively although they have failed collectively to uphold the covenant they were bound to with God as a community.

Those righteous few are in contrast to those that remained truthful to the scriptures in anyway, shape or form it reached them, trying to follow it to the best of their ability. Their sincerity, unprejudiced reading and understanding of their books led them to inevitably believe in the revelation bestowed on the prophet Muhammad 2:121,83,3:113-115,199,4:162,5:13,66,69,83,7:159-170,17:107-9,28:52-4.

That separation is done in the apocalyptic hadiths as well, where in a time where several supernatural events will occur, including inanimate objects and plants pointing to those among them that will side with the dajjal to murder innocents, they are said to be on both sides of the conflict between good and evil. Those on the wrong side (Muslim,B54,H99), in opposition to the returned prophet Jesus will be completely eliminated, together with their allies among all religious groups including Christians and deviant Muslims (Sunan Ibn Majah 179, Sahih Bukhari 1881, Musnad Ahmad 3546, al-Buhur al-Zakhirah 1/493) just as was done to certain rejecters in the prophetic history. The Quran in 17:8 alludes to a future destruction of the mischief makers among them. They will not constitute the entire world Jewish population but a fraction of it that will believe in the dajjal as their promised messiah (Sahih Muslim 2944). The dajjal is thus the arch-deceiver, not an "anti-christ" although among his actions is that he will oppose the returned Jesus, besides opposing the Mahdi and all those that shall side with him.

Their biblical history speaks at length of the wrongdoings of the majority of them, despite the presence of a few righteous among them, and how those sins have often plunged most of their community into suffering, and for several generations, as pledged by God in their scriptures Ex20 and later observed in Jeremiah for instance when the nation was decimated by the sword and famine, from the youngest to the oldest, men and women, if not taken captives.

The principle that God judges men individually, and not in groups does not negate the infliction of collective suffering even because of the misdeeds of a few, and this is an objective reality.  Such reality may repeat itself with any community, including the Muslims 8:25 which is why believers of all times have been urged by their prophets to purge evil from their communities, hasten each other to good deeds and guard one another from evil. Muslims are warned, through examples of the past, to choose very carefully their leaders because when such elite and rulers begin their mischief, they drag most of the community with them in corruption and lead it to destruction

17:16"And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction".

As happened in the past, the Almighty may punish a whole nation for the crime of a single individual if that whole nation sanctions it, directly or passively. As stated by Ezekiel in his warnings to Israel, the righteousness of the few will not deliver the guilty when the time comes Ezek14:20, although it may delay it Prov28:2. If the efforts of those few righteous remnants fall on deaf ear and that the decreed punishment is if such a scale that even the righteous cannot escape it, their reckoning will be with God, as the prophet stated 

"If Allah sends punishment upon a nation then it befalls upon the whole population indiscriminately and then they will be resurrected (and judged) according to their deeds. "

Acts17apologetics wont be friends with us; Christians closest to Muslims than Jews?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

Historically, Jewish animosity against Muhammad was such in Medina that they turned against their own religion and their own Semite brethren's pure call to monotheism, preferring to ally with the paganism which Moses and other biblical prophets fought. Their prophets in addition warned them not to ever ally and coexist with pagans ever. They were again going through the same spiritual failures, as their forefathers did when they were influenced by the pagan people's religions although they were supposed to guide the nations

5:80"You will see many of them befriending those who disbelieve; certainly evil is that which their souls have sent before for them, that Allah became displeased with them and in chastisement shall they abide".

The Quran relates how they openly favoured polytheism to Islamic monotheism in order to appease the Meccans. This is unsurprising to anyone familiar with their history as described on their own books, treacherously allying with one another's pagan enemies for the fleeting benefits of this world. The traditions give the reason for that political move, the Meccans were hesitant to form an alliance with the Jews on account of their obvious closeness to Islam. The traditions speak of a delegation of Medinite Jews sent to Mecca after the battle of Uhud and publicly bowed to the Meccan idols in order to comfort them in their position against the Muslims and appease their reluctance 

2:109,4:51"Have you not seen those to whom a portion of the Book has been given? They believe in idols and false deities and say of those who disbelieve: These are better guided in the path than those who believe".

This attitude of the Jews toward Quraysh and their favoring of the latter's paganism over the monotheism of Muhammad was in sharp contrast with the attitude of the Christian Negus of Abyssinia who sheltered and protected the early days persecuted Muslims of Mecca. This is the proper, historically accurate context of

5:82"Certainly you will find the most violent of people in enmity for those who believe (to be) the Jews and those who are polytheists, and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians; this is because there are priests and monks among them and because they do not behave proudly".

Christians in addition, contrary to the Jews, do not hold the arrogant belief of a special relation with God; their "priests and monks" teach them humility . Christians also reject the Jewish notion of unconditional, everlasting chosenness as the leading spiritual nation to mankind, drawing them closer to the Muslim understanding of religion from that aspect.

It is to be noted that in pre-islamic times when the Medinite Arabs of Aws and Khazraj were permanently in a state of war, the Jews of Bani Qaynuqa and Nadir were allied with Khazraj, while the Bani Qurayzah was allied with Al-Aws. Thus, in the course of their warfare, Jews would kill, expell or ransom Jews in alliance with pagans

2:84-85"And when We made a covenant with you: You shall not shed your blood and you shall not turn your people out of your cities; then you gave a promise while you witnessed. Yet you it is who slay your people and turn a party from among you out of their homes, backing each other up against them unlawfully and exceeding the limits; and if they should come to you, as captives you would ransom them-- while their very turning out was unlawful for you".

This attitude was a twofold crime from the viewpoint of Mosaic Law and had already occurred in the course of their history. During the revolt of the Maccabees and Jews had joined the pagan enemy ranks, fighting their own people. Even prior, when they were divided, a party joined the Phillistines and fought their fellow brethren, but changed sides when the situation turned to the other Jews' advantage 1Sam13:21. So lacking in faith had they become towards the end of Solomon's reign and after him, and neglectful of what was once their holiest site that under Jehoash the king of Israel, they invaded and plundered their own temple, taking even hostages among the rival kingdom of Judah, the king included 2Kings14:13-14.

Again later on the king Pekah of Israel would ally himself to Rezin king of Syria to attack and subdue the Judeans of king Ahaz, killing tens of thousands, taking many more captives among their women and children, as well as loots and plunders. They eventually gave up these loots following a severe rebuke from a prophet among them. King Ahaz of Judah in turn allied with the Assyrians to fight back the Israel-Syrian alliance, which proved to be a double edged sword since he became completely subdued to the Assyrian king, paying him from the Temple's riches 2Kings15,2Chron29.

Even while Jeremiah's prophecy of destruction by the Babylonians was being inflicted, when the king of Judah called for the release of all Jewish slaves, including those held by their priests, they reluctantly abided by the command. Their reluctance to free their own brethren was such that moments later they turned back upon their word and forcibly recaptured those freed Jewish slaves Jer34:7-11. Even in such eye opening moments, they still remained obdurate in their disbelief. In the times of Moses, and just as they came out of their Egyptian bondage, they showed similar disdain in freeing their own enslaved brethren Jer34:13-14.

So corrupt and greedy the majority of the elite has always been that, just following the nation's release from the Babylonian captivity, the wealthy would force their poor brethren to sell their own sons and daughters to repay their loans, and would then resell them to the heathen, those pagans whom Moses was instructed to wipe out the face of the earth. The prophet Nehemiah heavily condemned their behavior and urged them to return the children to their families ans cancel the loans they had given to the poor Neh5. This pattern reveals a deep defect in their outlook on life, summed up in the Quran as such

59:13"You are certainly greater in being feared in their hearts than Allah; that is because they are a people who do not understand".

The Medina Jews feared more the prophet's retaliation for their mischievous activities, instead of fearing God. A sensible person knows where ultimate authority comes from. He will avoid every such thing as may call for God's punishment, even if he has to confront enmity along the way. On the other hand, he will come out to accomplish any duty which Allah has enjoined on him, whether he is opposed and hindered by all the powers of the world. But a senseless man, devoid of spirituality thinks strictly in wordly terms, without any higher perspective in mind. To him, divine power is an abstract concept while human power is all that matters.

 They would thus, shortly before the advent of Islam, ransom their mutual captives in obedience to that very same Law and it is this glaring inconsistency to which the Quran alludes next

"..and if they should come to you, as captives you would ransom them, while their very turning out was unlawful for you. Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other?" 

The historicity of the Jews of Yathrib can be divided into 2 main categories, those that arrived much before the common era into the lands of those whom they viewed as their cousins, and those that joined later following the 2nd destruction of the Temple. The community, although split into about 20 tribes with the most prominent being the Qurayza, Nadir and Qaynuqa, was very well established both politically and economically in the fertile areas of Yathrib. They had built fortresses there, in anticipation of possible invasion by neighboring Arab tribes. This was before the Aws and Khazraj reached and settled in the centre of Yathrib. Through a game of alliances, the Jewish tribes tried their best to remain as the main source of power in Yathrib.

At one point, Aws and Khazraj asked the Jews for an agreement of peaceful business cooperation, which was accepted as it did not compromise their political and economical ascendant. They in addition benefited from the expertise of the Arabs in the areas of agriculture and business.   

Soon later, however, a shift in power occurred in Yathrib, due to demographics, with the Arabs starting to seriously outnumber the Jews. They therefore broke their agreement a number of times and attacked some of Aws and Khazraj which prompted these latter 2 to unite, and in addition to ask for the help of Abu Jubayla the king of Qassan, in modern day Syria. With the help of his army they defeated the Jews of Yathrib and from that point on the tribes of Aws and Khazraj remained in power in Yathrib and the Jews continued to live with them in a powerless position.

This is when the enmity between Aws and Khazraj started. According to some historians, aiming to reclaim their power, the Jews of Yathrib were the main cause of this enmity between the two tribes. The Jews had not only become disunited, but through a game of alliance and incitements among the Aws and Khazraj, they were competing with one another to regain dominion over the city, which led to the previously mentioned wars among Jews. This enmity and the fights that were caused by it continued till when Aws and Khazraj decided to invite the Prophet of Islam to their city.

The migration of the Prophet changed the whole scenario in Yathrib which then was renamed Medina.

This self-contradiction, this favoring of idolatry over monotheism and the encouragement of pagan forces to rise against the monotheistic forces would reach its peak in the Month of Shawwal 5/626 when the Jewish leaders of Bani Nadir and Qaynuqa who were mercifully left to migrate with their wealth and families after their defeat in battle, and settle in Khaybar, covenanted with the leaders of Quraysh (promising them a whole year's crop from their Jewish settlement of Khaybar in case of victory), Kinanah and Ghatafan tribes among others to unite as one front against the Muslims. It is to be noted, the Jews of Khaybar did not show any hostility toward the Muslims until the leaders of Banu Nadir -Salam ibn Abu al Haqiq, Kinanah ibn Abu al Haqiq/Huqayq (also named ibn al Rabi'), and Huyayy ibn Akhtab- settled among them. The Muslims were struck with panic when news of the huge coalition of almost all tribes of the Arabian Peninsula (enemies and allies alike) were preparing to attack Medina.

The Prophet consulted with Salman the Persian, and decided to dig a trench in preparation. All Muslims were put at at task, including the Prophet who worked with his hands alongside his companions lifting the dirt, encouraging the Muslim workers, and exhorting everyone to multiply his effort. The women and children were removed to the interior and placed within fortified walls. The battle known as Battle of the Trench/Ditch/Confederates or al-Khandaq/Ahzab started.

Acts17apologetics find the firm Quran; the criterion of indiscriminate justice?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

The Quran is indiscriminate in its criticism of those that neglect the divine revelations. It accuses Muslims of holding deep hypocritical belief 2:8-11,4:60-2. They agree that all revelations have brought the truth from God but nevertheless

"seek to rule by the taghut/bad rule".

Whenever evil befalls them on account of their distortions, they justify their mishandling the law with concepts alien and in opposition to the Quran, that they were but "peace-makers" seeking to create "good and harmony". These Muslims, like their predecessors among the people of the book, are no true believers unless they surrender their judgement entirely and full heartedly to God's justice and wisdom 4:65. Any other type of reasoning stemming from a non divine source results in falsehood

4:105"Surely We have revealed the Book to you with the truth that you may judge between people by means of that which Allah has taught you".

Acting contrary to God's instructions is bound to cause failure, first and foremost to the person itself, whether in this world or the next. It is a vain and erroneous pursuit as equally stated in the Hebrew Bible 1Samm12:20-21. That is why the Quran often describes the sinners as

"people who commit injustice against their own selves".

I will now address the hadith brought up by this youtuber.

As shown earlier the notion of upholding equity and justice at all costs 4:58 and never knowingly siding with the guilty 4:105-7 was reflected in the orders given to the prophet, to judge equitably between all people approaching him be it from the Muslim munafiqeen (hypocrites) or the people of the book. This is because in Islam good and evil are absolute values. They don’t depend on who does them or who these are done to. Human values apply to all humans, not only to Muslims. The Quran itself enforces that principle, as in the aforementioned verses, or in its examples of relatives of illustrious people who will be judged impartially for their deeds. The prophet himself told his daughter

"O! Fatima, don’t think that you will be favored by Allah because you are the daughter of His Messenger. You will stand before your Creator on the basis of your own deeds".

Members of the Jewish community were sent to the prophet Muhammad, by their religious authorities, with a hidden agenda, trying to settle grave disputes in matters heavily punishable in the light of the Torah. This was just another of their ploys to avoid its harsh laws, hoping that the prophet might have a different ruling

"they alter the words from their places, saying: If you are given this, take it, and if you are not given this, be cautious".

This compromising, complacent attitude is a deeply ingrained transgression they have been committing ever since the law was bestowed upon them and throughout their history, despite the scolding of the prophets and the few righteous remnants among them whom the Quran mentions and praises

7:169-170"Then there came after them an evil posterity who inherited the Book, taking only the frail good of this low life and saying: It will be forgiven us. And if the like good came to them, they would take it (too). Was not a promise taken from them in the Book that they would not speak anything about Allah but the truth, and they have read what is in it; and the abode of the hereafter is better for those who guard (against evil). Do you not then understand? And as for those who hold fast by the Book and keep up prayer, surely We do not waste the reward of the righteous" 

Virtually all prophets that came to them decried the corruption of their elite, their neglect towards their own justice system. Yet the prophet was not under any obligation to judge their matters when their intent was to use him as a pawn for their low desires 5:41-43. The prophet was nevertheless commanded to judge between them with equity should he decide so, notwithstanding their severe enmity towards him and the fact they were always plotting with the enemies of Islam with the hope of uprooting and exterminating it. 

One famous incident is that of 

"A Jew and a Jewess were brought to Allah's Apostle on a charge of committing an illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet asked them. "What is the legal punishment (for this sin) in your Book (Torah)?" They replied, "Our priests have innovated the punishment of blackening the faces with charcoal and Tajbiya." 'Abdullah bin Salam said, "O Allah's Apostle, tell them to bring the Torah." The Torah was brought, and then one of the Jews put his hand over the Divine Verse of the Rajam (stoning to death) and started reading what preceded and what followed it. On that, Ibn Salam said to the Jew, "Lift up your hand." Behold! The Divine Verse of the Rajam was under his hand. So Allah's Apostle ordered that the two (sinners) be stoned to death, and so they were stoned. Ibn 'Umar added: So both of them were stoned at the Balat and I saw the Jew sheltering the Jewess". 

According to another version, when the Torah was brought to the prophet who was now seeking to expose the innovations of the rabbis in the specific matter of punishment for adultery, he first respectfully put it on a cushion then said 

"I believed in you and in Him Who revealed you". 

 A holistic understand of both the hadith corpus and the Quran demonstrates that this statement of the prophet is not to be taken in the absolute sense. When in Medina he noticed that Jews would come and read the Torah and explain it to the Muslims, he advised them to adopt a neutral stance, neither believing nor disbelieving in it 

"Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, 'We believe in Allah and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.' " 

This is because the scriptures of the Jews are an amalgam of truth and falsehood, the truthful parts being covered by the statement "whatever is revealed to you". Ibn Abbas would reprimand the Muslims who would seek information from the people of the book in religious matters, on the basis that

 "Allah has told you that the people of the scripture changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, 'It is from Allah,' to sell it for a little gain. Does not the knowledge which has come to you prevent you from asking them about anything?" 

The Quran, the prophet, the companions therefore all advise caution when approaching the previous scriptures, as they contain both truth, which the prophet confirmed and revered in the aforementioned statements, and falsehood.

The prophet then proceeded with exposing the learned ones by making them read by themselves the truthful part of the Torah which they had been hiding 

"Bring me one who is learned among you. Then a young man was brought. The transmitter then mentioned the rest of the tradition of stoning". 

This hadith depicting the prophet's reverence for the Torah should this be understood in light of other ahadith, as well as the many Quran passages stating that the Torah isnt absolutely corrupt, that despite the manipulations it still contains remnants of truth, hence the Quran being its guardian/muhaymin. The prophet declared his belief not in the entire Torah, but in the specific ruling on the punishment for adultery, and which Ibn Salam, the Jewish convert to Islam instantly recognized as the "divine verse".

It is this corruption in the absolute sense, which some scholars might have been referring to when they said, while commenting on the above report 

"if the Torah was corrupted he would not have placed it on the pillow and he would not have said: I believe in you and in the one who revealed you". 

This is speaking of complete corruption, which is not what the Muslims believe happened to previous scriptures and traditions. 

These scholars also stated that the Torah cannot be corrupted, based on the verse saying God's words cannot be changed 6:115. 

Obviously any worldly copy of the Torah can be altered. But so long as there exists the possibility for the original to be reproduced, God's words remain unaffected, only the copy of these words. 

The Quran is the speech of Allah, and that speech is with Allah, uncreated, eternal, unchanged like any other attribute of His. The analogy of God's speech to the Quran we touch with our hands or recite from our minds, is as God's mercy which manifests in tangible and abstract things. Both types of manifestations are created means through which God's uncreated attributes of speech and mercy are made known to humans. These attributes arent limited to those particular manifestations 

31:27"and If all the trees on the earth were pens, and the sea replenished with seven more seas [were ink], the words of Allah would not be spent". 

God's speech is therefore unexhaustive. It can potentially bring into existence a limitless number of words of revelation, among them the Hebrew Torah of Moses or the Arabic Quran of Muhammad 

14:4"And We did not send any messenger but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly". 

Allah further states about the revelation to Muhammad, that He 

43:3"made it an Arabic Quran". 

The eternal speech of Allah takes on in this world the form that is relevant to the divine purpose. The Arabic Quran was thus not continuously spoken since eternity. It is the manifestation in time of God's eternal attribute of speech. Just like we may say a healthy newborn is the manifestation in time of God's eternal attribute of mercy.

Assuming for argument's sake that all things in the heavens and the earth are destroyed, including all Torahs and Qurans, the mother of the book that contains all revelations, and even the preserved tablet/lawh mahfuz. So long as the potential to generate a true Quran and Torah exists, then Allah's words that were revealed to Moses and Muhammad remain unaffected. As stated earlier, the physical and abstract things in which God's attributes manifest in this world do not exhaust the attributes themselves, neither do these manifestations share the uncreated essence of the attributes they are representing. This is the problem of Trinitarians. Jesus, a created being, is not merely a manifestation of God's word, rather he incarnates it fully, becoming this divine "person" with contradictory attributes Trinitarian thinkers have been struggling to explain for over 2000 years. Christians are quick to try and parallel the notion of uncreatedness of God's speech as manifested in the Quran, with their idea derived from the Gospel of John where God's uncreated word manifested in Jesus. The two concepts, arent comparable.  Further, why would trinitarians even need the Quran to explain the logical and philosophical problems of their theology.

Not a single group within Islam says the Quran was a separate entity floating around next to God since eternity past. This is how some Christians, with their trinitarian worldview, misrepresent the statement that the word of Allah is uncreated. In Christianity, the word is not an attribute but a divine person among others like the father and holy spirit, each with distinct attributes. One man with multiple attributes isnt many men just as One God with multiple attributes isnt many gods. This is tawhid. Yet Trinity says each person is divine but with different attributes, resulting in 3 different gods. The analogy Christians attempt between tawhid and trinity stops at the word of God being eternal. Christians made that word a person with attributes among other distinct persons, while Muslims kept the word as an attribute among others within the essence of the One God. As an aside, since the word or speech of God is not an attribute within the divine essence but a separate divine entity along with 2 others, does it mean that only this divine entity called "word or speech" has the ability to speak and that the other 2 divine entities are mute?

 If God's word is a separate divine entity that became flesh in Jesus, what about the words uttered by Jesus who is now divine? Are his words separate divine entities? Further, if the Torah is God's word, as Jews and Christians believe, does that make it divine as Jesus is? These are the kinds of problems Trinitarians are entangled with due to their conjectures on ambiguous matters, instead of relying on firm statements on God's oneness and unity. Muslims on the other hand, despite the early disputes as to whether the Quran was created or not, never went out of the way to declare the attributes of God, like His word, separate divine entities. No Muslim ever believed God's speech to be a separate conscious part. The reason why this issue is often brought up by Trinitarians is that the Quran is the only book that claims to be Allah's direct speech. The Bible doesnt make that claim. The closest one finds is an anonymous claim made about Jesus being God's word. Muslims on the other hand stick to clear and firm statements of scriptures to define their cardinal beliefs, including that "nothing is like a likeness of Him".

A statement attributed to ibn abbas says 

“No one can corrupt the text by removing any of Allah’s words from his Books, but they corrupted it by misinterpreting it”. 

This is a known defective narration and is not even a commentary on verse 2:79 speaking of textual corruption. It is in reference to the verse about the preserved heavenly tablet, where all the revealed scriptures are inscribed. None can change the words therein but only twist their meaning. In an authentic hadith however, Ibn Abbas said 2:79 was in reference to the people of the book corrupting the words of their scriptures that are in their hands.

Objectively speaking anyone can remove and alter words from any text at any point in time. And if that is done when not enough human and textual witnesses can independently detect that corruption, then it can easily be disseminated and passed off as true. That is what happened during the successive destructions of the Israelite nation, followed by the attempts of their scribes to re-write what was lost.

While agreeing with that opinion, al-Razi said 

"It is impossible to have a conspiracy to change or alter the word of God in all of these copies without missing any copy. Such a conspiracy will not be logical or possible". 

Al-Razi here is talking of a time when previous scriptures, although in their corrupt state (see his commentary on 5:41), were already widely disseminated and could be independently attested by countless witnesses. Nobody could remove Allah's word nor any other man-made word from it then, without being detected. Corruption of the Torah at that point became only possible through misinterpretation.

Similarly, some stated that the Torah cannot be corrupted, based on the verse saying God's words cannot be changed 6:115. Again, any worldly copy of the Torah can be altered. But so long as there exists the possibility for the original to be reproduced, God's words remain unaffected, only the copy of these words. 

Acts17apologetics confirm Jesus' claims; Jewish hypocrisy?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

The Quran condemns only the people that write the scriptures and manipulate it with their own hands. This is one of the miraculous qualities of the Quran, where it never assaults the Torah or Injeel in the context of corruption, but it lays blame always on the scribes. The Torah and Injeel are revealed by God, and considering the Torah and Injeel are from the same source as the one who revealed the Quran, it is only natural that the Quran never attacks the text per say.

This respect of past scriptures is reflected when the Quran mentions how the Medinite Jews often brought their legal cases in front of the prophet. It is to be noted that these Jews had not become full-fledged subjects of the Islamic state. Their relations with that state were based on agreements according to which the Jews were to enjoy internal autonomy, and their disputes were to be decided by their own judges and in accordance with their own laws. They were not legally bound to place their disputes either before the Prophet for adjudication or before the judges appointed by him.

But in cases where it appeared against their interests to have their disputes judged according to their own religious laws they approached the prophet who was not obligated to arbitrate their matters yet he was commanded to

5:42"judge between them with equity"

should he decide to. This is the prophet's moral rectitude and the Quran's impartial justice, despite these very Jews' open enmity towards the Muslims and their alliances with the pagans in an effort to urpoot Islam. By approaching him, their hope was that he might have a different ruling than what their scriptures stipulated, and they had already adopted this attitude before the Quran by neglecting the rulings of their scriptures and even adopting pagan laws 5:43,45,50.

The Torah contains many harsh laws that were instituted on the Israelites because of their transgressions, and hard heartedness per the Quran, in order to contain them. Jesus in the NT alludes in certain places to this principle Mk10:5.

This hypocrisy of the religious elite and treachery towards their divine revelations which Jesus tried rectifying, is mentionned in the Quran

2:44"do you enjoin men to be good and neglect your own souls while you read the Book; have you then no sense?".

Throughout time and in order to escape these self-imposed heavy burdens, they went on hairsplitting each commandement further. Explicit punishements, such as death sentences were substituted for other punishements of their own inventions. They use (and still do) the excuse that the Temple must be standing for many laws to be applicable. This innovation is easily exposed through the fact that the Temple was never around at the time of Moses' execution of the Israelites found worshiping the calf, the institutions of death sentences for adultery, rebellious children, breaking the Sabath etc.

In Numb11 Moses asked God to spare him the burden of prophethood on such rebellious people. He was so convinced as to their tendency to disobey, that in Deut31:25-29 he swears before heaven and earth they will find a way to corrupt the revelation. Jeremiah condemned the scribes for their mishandling the law Jer8:8. Jeremiah here is accusing the scribes that they mishandled "the law of the LORD" with their lying pens, not with their mouths. He's tellin them how can they claim to have it when they have handled it falsely, meaning that book they have in their hands isnt the original Law but one that has been tampered with. That tampering does not have to be absolute and neither does the verse say so. It speaks of partial corruption of the overall text.

There is a reason why in the 2nd century, the early church father and messianic apologist Justin Martyr, accuses with explicit examples, the Jews of having physically altered passages of the HB, including within the book of Jeremiah, because they found them confusing. In his dialogue with a contemporary Jew named Trypho, Justin first alludes to the disagreement Jews had over the Septuagint Greek translation of the HB. A cursory reading of the text besides the Torah, reveals the Christian agenda of the unknown translators, especially within the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Christians in turn accused the Jews of shamelessly obscuring messianic passages in reference to Jesus. Justin tells Trypho;

“I certainly do not trust your teachers when they refuse to admit that the translation of the Scriptures made by the seventy elders at the court of King Ptolemy of Egypt is a correct one, and attempt to make their own translation. You should also know that they have deleted entire passages from the version composed by those elders at the court of Ptolemy, in which it is clearly indicated that the Crucified One was foretold as God and man, and as about to suffer death on the cross. But, since I know that all you Jews deny the authenticity of these passages, I will not start a discussion about them, but I will limit the controversy to those passages which you admit as genuine. Thus far, you have admitted the authenticity of all my quotations, except this, ‘Behold, a virgin will conceive,’ which you claim reads, ‘Behold, a young woman will conceive.’ And I promised to show that this prophecy was not spoken of Hezekiah, as you were taught, but of my Christ. This I now intend to prove.” “Before you do,” interrupted Trypho, “we would like you to quote some of the passages you claim were entirely omitted [from the elders” translation] “Since you asked,” I replied, “here is an example. They have deleted the following passage in which Ezra expounded the law of the Passover: ‘And Ezra said to the people: This Passover is our Savior and refuge. And if you have understood, and it has entered into your hearts, that we are about to humiliate Him on a cross, and afterwards hope in Him, then this place will never be forsaken, saith the Lord of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, nor listen to His teaching, you will be the laughing-stock of the Gentiles’. They have also expunged these words from Jeremiah: ‘I was as a meek lamb that is carried to be a sacrificial victim; they devised counsels against Me, saying: Come, let us put wood on His bread, and cut Him off from the land of the living, and let His name be remembered no more’ [Jer 11.19]. Since this passage from the words of Jeremiah is still found in some copies of Scripture in the Jewish synagogues (for it was deleted only a short time ago), and since it is also proved from these words that the Jews planned to crucify Christ Himself and to slay Him, and since He is shown, as was likewise prophesied by Isaiah, as led like a lamb to slaughter, and in accordance with this passage He is marked as ‘an innocent lamb,’ they are so confused by such words that they resort to blasphemy. Similarly have they removed the following words from the writings of the same Jeremiah: ‘The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, remembered His dead who slept in their graves, and He descended to preach to them His salvation’ “Furthermore, from a verse of the ninety-fifth Psalm of David they have left out the short phrase, ‘from the tree.’ For they have changed the verse, ‘Say to the Gentiles: The Lord has reigned from the tree,’ to ‘Say to the Gentiles: The Lord has reigned’ [Ps 95.10]. [2] Now, no one of your people was ever said to have reigned as God and King over the Gentiles, except the Crucified One, who (as the Holy Spirit testifies in the same Psalm) was freed from death by His resurrection, and thus showed that He is not like gods of the Gentiles, for they are but the idols of demons. [3] To clarify this point, I will repeat the whole Psalm for you....“Only God knows,” remarked Trypho, “whether or not our leaders have deleted portions of the Scriptures as you say. But such an assertion seems incredible.”

What this passage of Jer8:8 establishes beyond doubt, is that there was at least some physically corrupted writings passed off as the real Torah, and Jeremiah exposed the authors of these documents. Elsewhere Jeremiah laments over the false prophets among them's oral misinterpretation of the Law

Jer23:9-36"They use their tongues and say, "He Says".

What transpires from Jeremiah's repeated condemnations is that the Jews of his time and most probably before, mishandled both textually and orally the writings of the prophets. Some of these corrupted writings and their authors were exposed, thankfully to the prophets that were continuously sent among them in an almost uninterrupted manner, and the presence of righteous remnants among them, that kept the Torah. But this is far from solving the problem. Jeremiah appeals to the uncorrupted text available to them, urging them to abide by it despite and they majoritarily resist his calls, trying even to kill him Jer26.

The greater implication here is that when crimes are exposed at an advanced stage, that it is found out it is done on a large scale, even institutionalized as is the case with the corrupt scholars in the time of Jeremiah, it often means one is only dealing with the tip of the iceberg. No sooner would Jeremiah turn his back, or pass away, the criminals would continue doing what they did before and during his presence among them.

As reflected by Moses when he predicted their future disobedience

Deut31:27"If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!"

To further corroborate the corrupt leaders went as far as burning Jeremiah's scroll Jer36:23, and even though it was divinely re-writen later Jer36:27-32, something the text never says reoccured in Biblical history, it reveals the complete careless attitude of the comunity's most prominent figures towards sacred texts. There is a reason why Jeremiah says in Jer7:21 that even though God had spoken to them, they

"went backward and not forward".

This shows their constant tendency to leave the right path. One cannot but question, how long would the fringe righteous remnants resist and be able to maintain the integrity of the inherited written and oral tradition in such a heavily corrupt environement? About 600 years later and after prophethood ceased for 400 years, meaning a very long period where these deceitful leaders and supposed maintainers of the scriptures were left on their own, Jesus rose and echoed Jeremiah's lamentations, probably in a harsher tone than any of their prophets. How could the Torah and the oral tradition be rightfully preserved when those very ones supposed to keep it and faithfully transmit it were rotten spiritually, like a tomb

Matt23"full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean"?

After Jeremiah, who exposed the tip of the iceberg of corruption, and especially after 400 years where prophethood was interrupted up till Jesus' time, the scriptures in the hands of the Jews were only Torah and book of the prophets by name, not by contents. Although there still remained guidance and truth in these books, one cannot legitimately say their integrity was safeguarded.                                                                                                      
               
That attitude, disregard and hypocrisy of the divine law, as shown above, went on even down to the time of the prophet Muhammad. The Quran itself says Muhammad is not under any obligation to judge their matters, especially after it has exposed their hypocrisy, and their attempts to use him as a pawn for their own whims and desires 5:42. The Quran refers to how they come to Muhammad to settle their own disputes, yet they possess the Torah, the very Book they proclaim to adhere to and say is from God

5:43"And how do they make you a judge and they have the Taurat wherein is Allah's judgment? Yet they turn back after that, and these are not the believers"

or

3:187"And when Allah made a covenant with those who were given the Book: "You shall certainly make it known to men and you shall not hide it"; but they cast it behind their backs and took a small price for it; so evil is that which they buy".

That hypocrisy and disregard for the revealed law was repeatedly exposed and condemned by the Hebrew prophets, as Jeremiah quoted earlier, or the likes of Nehemiah in an almost identical wording as is done throughout the Quran

Neh9:26"And they disobeyed and rebelled against You, and they cast Your Law behind their backs, and they slew Your prophets who warned them, to bring them back to You, and they committed great provocations".

This neglect of their own justice system is a deeply ingrained habit of theirs, going back to the times of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others who repeatedly condemned this attitude of the corrupt elite. Here are the words of the prophet Amos

"They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed...Those who turn justice to wormwood, and who leave righteousness on the ground...For I know that your transgressions are many, and your sins are mighty; you who oppress the just, taking ransom, and turning aside the needy in the gate"

or Micah

"The prince asks, and the judge is in the payment, and the great man speaks what is in his heart-and they weave the web".

Acts17apologetics seeks hadith confirmation; Muhammad declares belief in current Torah?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

Here this youtuber attempts to misrepresent how the Quran views past scriptures. He then grossly misinterprets a historic incident involving Jewish adulters approaching the prophet for arbitration.

The discontinuation of the line of prophethood is among the reasons that necessitated the protection of the final revelation to mankind, a revelation containing all previous books 98:2-3 as here reflected in the declaration of faith

2:177"believe in Allah and the last day and the angels and the Book and the prophets".  

3:23,5:44,4:44,51"Have you not considered those to whom a portion of the Book has been given? They buy error and desire that you should go astray from the way".

This indicates that the Torah and Injil were not the final words of God, but portions of one Book 6:156, sent throughout time upon several individuals 6:84-90, and all are part of one Book called the Mother of the Book/umm al kitab which the Quran is also part of

43:4,13:39,2:236"and remember Allah's favour to you, and that which He has revealed to you of the Book".

The previous revelations forecasted the final revelation in the form of the Quran 4:47. This draws attention to an important truth: all the revealed scriptures contain the same spiritual and moral principles. They cannot contradict eachother and their only differences reside in that they were made to conform to the language of the addressees

26:192-6"And most surely this is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The Faithful Spirit has descended with it, Upon your heart that you may be of the warners, In plain Arabic language. And most surely the same is in the scriptures of the ancients".

The Quran then verifies the truth of these divine portions of the one Book and offers a clear global explanation of it

10:37,20:133"Has not there come to them a clear evidence of what is in the previous books?".

This is why it is said to be the Guardian and Arbitrer/Muhaymin and a clear explanation of THE Book (singular) of which past scriptures including the Quran are part of 5:48-9,10:37. This single scripture containing all past revelations as well as the Quran is said to be highly secure, purified and preserved, exalted and honored, inaccessible to evil interference and only between the hands of the most honourable custodians 26:193,56:77-80,80:13-16,81:19-21,88:22. It has been engraved in the lawh mahfuz/the preserved tablet 85:21-2, hence it being referred to in the opening verses of sura baqara as it is dhaalika al kitab/that book or writing, denoting distance through the pronoun, because its katb/writing is done in a far heavenly place.

In contrast the Quran speaks of this/hadha al Quran denoting closeness because its recitation is being done in this world. Another instance of the Quran's surgical use of words. The Quran, being from the same God and containing the same basic wisdom and truths of ancient scriptures 6:91,26:196,29:46 speaks highly about the Torah and Injeel. They are referred to as sources of mercy, wisdom, guidance and light 5:43,44,46,7:154,11:17,28:43,46:12 as well as criterions of truth and falsehood (furqan) clarifying all things 2:53,21:48,28:43,37:117.

It even cites them sometimes as sources of guidance hand in hand with the Quran 28:48-9. Because again, they are never said to be totally corrupted. Read with the knowledge of the Quran, whose function is to be the muhaymin/protector and arbitrer, one can discern the guiding parts of previous oral and written traditions from the portion that were corrupted, either purposefully or through neglect.

In 46:12 it says the Torah came prior to the Quran, as a guide and mercy. It is this guiding and merciful aspect of the Torah that the statement musaddiqan/declaring true, refers to, not simply the Torah. It doesnt say declaring "it" true. This is seen by the rest of the verse, paralelling the guidance and mercy of the Torah with the Quran being a warner and giver of glad tidings. Again we see, the Quran only confirms the truthful aspects of past oral and written traditions, which the Quran never claims were entirely blotted out.

This restricted aspect of the Quran's confirmation of the Torah is made clear in 6:154-7. The passage starts again with a praise of the Torah as being a book of mercy and guidance, followed by a parallel statement about the Quran, echoing stricly the merciful and guiding aspect of the Torah

"And this is a Book We have revealed, blessed; therefore follow it and be God-conscious that mercy may be shown to you".

The Torah contains many things that are neither guiding, nor sources of mercy, and other things that erroneous or even outright blasphemous about God and His prophets. The Quran does not confirm these things, and sometimes openly rejects them.

Acts17apologetics encourage Quranic Zionism; Islam endorses Jewish promised land?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

In a clear prophecy of Muslim domination and rule over the Holy Land of Mecca, Allah declares in no uncertain terms that He will make the righteous, successors in the land, and establish them as a nation. This was done with previous nations before, including the Israelites. But if these Muslims do not show gratefulness and keep their duty towards God, they will be dealt with as transgressors and will be uprooted 6:165,24:55. This is because God's favor upon a people is by virtue of righteousness and as a test of faith

8:34"And what (excuse) have they that Allah should not chastise them while they hinder (men) from the Sacred Mosque and they are not (fit to be) guardians of it; its guardians are only those who guard (against evil), but most of them do not know". 

The Quran reminds the Israelites of one their painful periods of humiliation and bondage under the Egyptians, followed by their freedom, the destruction of their oppressors and them being made to inherit all of the good things their oppressors deprived them from for centuries, including their lands 7:137,26:57-9. The Pharao of the Quran, although unnamed, clearly points to him being RamessesII, who controlled vast regions in the area, including the land of Canaan upon which he exerted a particularly tight grip. His dominion was completely taken away and given as inheritence to the Israelites. They could have theoretically chosen to dwell anywhere in that vast kingdom but have understandingly been directed to an area away from where they had been enslaved, in order to start afresh, and in order to fulfill the promise made to their forefathers of settling them in Canaan.

A warning is issued together with that remembrance, stressing that God's favor could be taken away from them at anytime

7:129"then He will see how you act"

just as He uprooted nations in the past and raised other people in their stead to inherit the land. This happened to them again and again as attested in their own history, of successive destructions, scattering and enslavement, even up to the days of the prophet Muhammad. God through His prophet uprooted them from their lands for having associated themselves in battle with the enemies of monotheism, those same polytheistic people whom Moses had ordered them to oust from Canaan 33:26-7.

This is because God is not bound unconditionally to anything and may easily replace a people with another 14:19-20,35:16-17 just like the rulers and people of Pharao were wiped out and replaced with other competing nations 44:25-29. The land of Palestine, blessed since the times of Abraham 21:71,81,5:21,7:137 was entrusted to the Israelites on the condition that they

2:58"Enter this qariya (applied to a place of gathering and settlement be it a town or a village 6:92,42:7,47:13,34:18)..and enter the gate making obeisance, and say, forgiveness".

Their obstination in refusing to abide by the terms of the covenant, and upon their straying from the right path and repeated transgressions despite the continuous sending of prophets to them, led to their destruction and expulsion by the same God who had given them this land 2:59-60. It is to be noted, the land was blessed, in the words of the Quran 21:71"to all people" meaning that anyone can potentially be given authority over it. The only condition, because it is a sacred land, the inhabitants have to live in it according to the landowner's rules.

The Israelites were thus given that land for 2 reasons; to test their gratefulness and God-awareness, as well as to uproot through them, the nations that previously inhabited it, and who became unworthy of it. The very reason, per the Torah, For God deciding to uproot and exterminate those nations, then settling the Israelites instead, was not because of the Abrahamic covenant, but because these nations had become sinners, unworthy to reside in a land previously declared sacred Gen15:16,Deut9,1Sam4:7. The Canaanite were relatives of the Israelites. They were Abrahamic descendants, such as the Moabites descendants of Lot and Edomites whose father is Esau. There is no reason to assume that these Abrahamic tribes did not emulate their common forefather by worshiping YHWH. But as the generations passed they corrupted that worship until God sent another Abrahamic branch, the Israelites, to uproot and replace them.

Similarly Jethro was a Midianite-Kenite. Midian was the son of Abraham, and Kenite in reference to Adam's son, Cain whose descendants lived among all the people of the Levant. Jethro was thus a non Israelite semite, descendant of Arabham, who had kept the Abrahamic legacy. He proclaims to Moses that YHWH is greater than all false deities Ex18:7-12.

When the Muslims were made successors in the land of Mecca, they were repeatedly warned that if they transgress they will be swiftly requited. Just as was done with the Israelites and nations before them, That is because in a universal system based on Truth, falsehood is bound to perish

 34:49,21:16-8,14:19"Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He please He will take you off and bring a new creation".

They will be replaced by the One encompassing them as He encompasses the whole earth, capable of erasing them completely then re-establish a similarly great human creation, even better yet in make, should He want to 6:165,70:40-1,76:28. Similar warnings were issued to the Israelites, as seen earlier, should they neglect the spiritual duties for which they were established in a land 7:137,26:57-9,Deut8:19-20,Deut28-31. The same forceful way the previous landowners were dislodged, due to their wickedness Deut9, could be repeated with them 

Amos9:7"To Me, O Israelites, you are just like the Ethiopians—declares YHWH. True, I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but also the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir". 

Previous nations that were similarly established, then rejected their prophets were destroyed and others were raised in their stead as trustees of God's favours 

10:71-3,44:26,7:69,74,137,100"Is it not clear to those who inherit the earth after its (former) residents that if We please We would afflict them on account of their faults". 

The HB uses a very appropriate metaphor to describe that pattern, picturing a sacred land becoming sick of its inhabitants' practices to the point it cannot contain them anymore

 Lev18:24-8"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants..." 

Lev20:22-3"And you shall observe all My statutes and all My ordinances, and fulfill them, then the Land, to which I am bringing you to dwell therein, will not vomit you out. You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am sending away from before you, for they committed all these [sins], and I was disgusted with them".

The prophet Solomon Prov2:21-22 and before him David spoke of that reality

 Ps37:9-11"evildoers shall be cut off, and those who hope for the Lord-they will inherit the land. A short while longer and the wicked man is not here, and you shall look at his place and he is not there. But the humble shall inherit the land, and they shall delight in much peace".

The heritage of the earth in this worldly life is neither permanent nor everlasting. It is merely bestowed as a trial for different communities. That is why, everlasting heritage of the "land" is only possible in the Hereafter, in Heaven where those that will be established, the righteous believers, will never falter in their spirituality 21:105,39:73-4.

When God calls his covenant "everlasting", it means HE will never abrogate it, so long as the terms of that covenant are fulfilled. As soon as there is a breech in the agreement from either side, it becomes void, like with any agreement. For example in 1Sam2:30 we read

"Therefore," says the Lord, God of Israel, "I said, 'Your house and the house of your father will walk before Me forever,' but now, says the Lord: Far be it from Me, for those who honor Me shall I honor, and those who despise Me will be disgraced".

Where does YHWH state the absurdity He will keep blessing them with honor, and favors regardless of their behavior? God clearly states in Deuteronomy he would take back all blessings and favors, replace them with punishment and humiliation, if such were the case. But God is also merciful and honors any of his servants that sincerely repents and mends his ways. That is why the Israelites were brought back to a position of honor among the nations after they were destroyed and scattered the first time, when they realized their errors and repented. But as they proved themselves again unworthy of divine favors, they were humiliated a second time and their Temple turned into a garbage dump.

Acts17apologetics seek the best system; Islam promotes human brotherhood?

In answer to the video "Three Quran Verses Every Jew Should Know (David Wood)"

The ordinance in the Quran, of avoiding unjust murder, clearly has a universal connotation both for unjustly murdering or preserving a soul. Anyone familiar even on a most basic level with the Quran knows that among its most pervasive themes is the fact that to God, the value of a human, regardless of social status, gender or race only depends on righteousness in deeds and God-consciousness/taqwa 2:221,4:1,135,5:48,25:77,34:37,42:23,49:13.

The Quran appeals to the believers' taqwa/God-consciousness in maintaining indiscriminate justice

"though it may be against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives"

or even "against a hated people"

5:2"and let not hatred of a people..incite you to exceed the limits, and help one another in goodness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression".

These verses came down at a time where Muslims were living in Medina under the constant threat of war, in an unceasing atmosphere of plotting and suspicions between all parties, including the Jews.

Yet the Quran tells the Muslims not to give up justice for scapegoating, and baseless stereotypes. There are many examples to corroborate from the prophet's life and early companions. For instance the prophet once ruled in favor of a Jew to whom a companion owed money, on the Jew's own terms despite having full authority to give a more lenient ruling in favor of his close companion.

The disregard for justice, or the abuse of power from a dominant position towards any human being was an attitude severely reprimanded by the prophet to the point he said

"If anyone wrongs a person protected by a covenant, violates his rights, burdens him with more work than he is able to do, or takes something from him without his consent, then I will plead for him on the Day of Resurrection".

Once a case of theft was brought before him by a close companion for a lenient verdict

 "When Usama spoke to Allah's Messenger about that matter, Allah's Messenger said, "Do you intercede (with me) to violate one of the legal punishment of Allah?" Then he got up and addressed the people, saying, "O people! The nations before you went astray because if a noble person committed theft, they used to leave him, but if a weak person among them committed theft, they used to inflict the legal punishment on him. By Allah, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad committed theft, Muhammad will cut off her hand".

The corruption of the justice system to gain favors in a society or usurp other people's rights is forbidden 2:188. The verse 4:105 is cited in a historical context where the prophet judged a matter in favor of a Jew against the Muslim despite the tense situation between the 2 groups at the time. This is in contrast with the attitude of the Jewish elite who moulded their religious system so as to allow differentiation between Israelites and non-Israelites in their dealings Deut15,23,24,etc.

Allah is Rabbul Alamin, the sustainer of all that exists everywhere. His presence in all that exists means that even the smallest degree of injustice displeases the Just Lord of the worlds 22:10.

Rabbinic conjecture on the other hand has discriminated between Jews and non-Jews, in the value of a life as well as in moral obligations. In that particular issue of value of a human life, they modified the universality of the principle to make it apply solely to a Jewish soul, that consequently takes on a more sacred character

"whosoever destroys a single soul of Israel, Scripture imputes [guilt] to him as though he had destroyed a complete world; and whosoever preserves a single soul of Israel, Scripture ascribes [merit] to him as though he had preserved a complete world".

The Quran further adds a clause of self-defence and application of justice to the moral principle, a clause which is present in the law of and teachings of every prophet of God

"unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land".

The earliest Muslim leaders and scholars thus understood the verse as having an indiscriminate application. For example the caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz is reported to have left a Muslim murderer's life in the hands of the non-Muslim victim's family. Before him, the caliph Umar ibn al Khattab warned that

"if one of you were to give a gesture of safety to an idolater and he came trusting you and you killed him, then I would execute you for it".

When the prophet reportedly

"judged that a believer should not be killed for killing a disbeliever"

it isnt speaking in an unrestricted sense, but as agreed by many hadith scholars, and schools of law, in the case a Muslim soldier independently kills the soldiers of a hostile army in a declared war. This hadith, as a side note, is a classical case of the prophet speaking in an unspecified context, answering/reacting to an unknown question/situation/remark and thus the only way for someone to ascertain the meaning of the report is to take into consideration the whole corpus of hadith and historical records, establishing a pattern of actions from the noble prophet, as well as the overarching Quran commands, to arrive at the correct interpretation. Based on that holistic approach, the classical schools of law derived different conclusions; while most Hanafi jurists argued that qisas applies between 2 individuals regardless of status (slave/free person) or religion, Malikis or Hanbalis only validate qisas between Muslims. This however did not, and never meant that a crime committed against someone not covered by qisas, implied that the crime would remain without consequences, whether worldly through the justice system, or before God Who sanctified the soul of every innocent human being, indiscriminately 5:32. A hadith sometimes cited to demonstrate discrimination in qisas among Muslims themselves on the basis of social status, is the one where Zinba'/Zanba Abi Rawh found his servant boy with his own servant girl 

"so he became jealous of him, and cut off his penis". 

In answer, the prophet freed the slave from his owner, writing a testimony that he shall be financially supported by the state for as long as he lived. Qisas here didnt apply as the slave committed a wrong against his guardian and was entitled to punishment, but not in the manner and harshness his guardian inflicted on him. We thus see that in an incident which isnt exactly adapted to a qisas situation, because the one of lesser status had committed a crime against the free person and was thus deserving of retaliation, the prophet still made the free person bear the consequences for his harshness, in addition making the state itself responsible for the slave. One can only wonder then, what would have been the prophet's reaction in an actual situation of qisas, ie where the slave committed no crime whatsoever and was unjustly harmed in the same manner by a free person? The prophet and the Quran's positions as regards the just and kind treatment of slaves are well known 

"The Prophet Said: If anyone kills his slave, we shall kill him, and if anyone cuts off the nose of his slave, we shall cut off his nose" (graded unreliable by al-Albani although at-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim disagree by validating it). 

The same al-Hasan who transmitted the hadith later became forgetful according to the scholars, saying that "A free man should not be subjected to retaliation in return for a slave". The retaliation spoken of here being murder. It is to be noted that the jurists werent making their legal deductions in a vacuum. The society of the time was patriarchal, with the head of the household responsible for maintaining the direct and extended family, as well as possibly one or more servants under his care. So in terms of social repercussions, the death of the free had far more negative implications than the slave. It would lead to more harm in the long run, leaving the remaining household under the responsibility of the state. That is why the jurists who discriminated in qisas applied the same reasoning to dhimmis (non-Muslims citizen of the Islamic state) and their own slaves. It is to avoid reaching that difficult situation that while discussing the law of qisas even between people in general, the Quran favours pardon and reconciliation, while never taking away the victim's right to resort to equal retribution. In modern civil suits for homicide, compensation is most often calculated based upon the expected income that is now lost. Just as the Muslim jurists did when applying qisas, according to the economic realities of the time. The same considerations are taken into account in the laws of inheritance.

When Al-Mughirah murdered and took the wealth of idolaters before converting to Islam and pledging allegiance to the prophet, the latter accepted his pledge but rejected his wealth as unlawfully acquired, regardless of the victim's religion

"As for your Islam, we have accepted it. As for the property, it is the wealth of treachery and we have no need for it".

The passage 5:27-32 is a direct address to the Bani Israel of the prophet Muhammad's time who, like their forefathers to whom the ordinance was forcefully "written upon" because of their complete disregard for the sanctity of human life to the point they even murdered the prophets sent to them, planned time after time to kill their innocent Ishmaelite brother out of pure jealousy that God had now raised a prophet outside of their line.

They subconsciously know about their unworthiness, which is time and again pointed in their own books. Like Cain, they could not see that all this, their removal as being the torch bearers of truth in favor of a new nation, was due to their persistence in transgression and lack of God-consciousness, as their own history bears testimony to. The passage is meant at opening their eyes to their spiritual condition, and warning them of the severity of the sin they were planning on committing and how remorseful and helpless they would then become. 

For a lapse of time following his crime, a murderer stays in bewilderment and shock, even denial, before something either from within or outside of him triggers back his consciousness and brings him back to reality, after which most often than not, he becomes filled with sorrow and remorse. That psychological dimension is unknown to the transmitters of the story in the HB who describe Cain as unconcerned with his brother's murder until the surrealistic and naive intervention of God and his dialogue with Cain Gen4:9-12.

In Cain's case, that trigger was the sight of a crow digging the earth to show him how to cover "sawata akheehi"/the shamefulness of his brother (ie his nakedness). The word sawata stems from S-Y-Hamza or S-W-Hamza meaning a shameful thing. That thing is determined by the context. That sight took him out of his state of shock and plunged him in regrets, seeing that besides the injustice he had just committed towards his own brother, he had in addition left him exposed in a shameful, disgraceful way 5:31.

In fact in the Quran, one of the graces of Allah to human beings is the very burial of corpses

80:21"Then He causes him to die, then assigns to him a grave".

If the manner to dispose of corpses was unknown, they would humiliatingly remain putrid on the ground, and the beasts and birds would feast on them, which would be a horrible debasement. On a more general note, besides this passage indicating the importance of disposing of the dead in a dignified way, the Quran is completely silent on funerary rites and burial preparation. Cain thus proceeded to dispose properly of his dead brother's corpse, while regretting his crime.

The HB, though it implies that Cain buried his brother by speaking of the ground's "concealment" of the effects of the murder that was only known to Cain Gen4:10-11, does not speak of the encounter with the crow, and nor does Cain appear to be regretful at anytime. He even attempts to fool God who questioned him on his brother's whereabouts, minimizing the severity of his sin Gen4:9,13 and finally God as a consequence of the murder absurdly gives him a prolonged time of respite under divine protection, allowing him to be fruitful and prosperous in a new location to which he was "banished" Gen4:15-24.