Thursday, December 24, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Turning the Tables Pt. 5"


Spending in charity is called in the Quran "lending" to Allah 57:11. It is the best investement that will be amplified and returned manifold 2:261,27:89,6:160 because Allah is just as well as generous.
The HB in Prov19:17 speaks of charity with similar terms when it says 
"He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him his reward".
Bani Adam are Allah's vicegerents 2:30,6:165,35:39 meaning that the real Owner of the Heavens and Earth is Allah 10:55-56 and all things that come under the vicegerent's posession are nothing but trusts 
57:7"spend on others out of that of which He has made you trustees". 
It is a position man ows only to Allah who is the Real owner 6:165,7:10. God says in
 Job41:3"Everything under the heavens is Mine". 

Man has therefore no right to have his own will but he is there to fulfil the will of the delegating Authority when making use of what he has been entrusted with 
102:8"Then, on that Day, you shall certainly be called to account for the blessings and comforts of life". 
It would be dishonesty and treason, if he assumed sovereign powers, or used his trusts according to his own whim, or if he acknowledged another as his sovereign and submitted to his will.
All things in the Heavens and Earth declare Allah's glory 17:44,24:41 and Allah made many of these things subservient to man 45:13, thus honoring him above most of His creation 14:32-33,17:70. 

Possessing something is therefore only from our perspective because in reality nothing ever ceases to be under the mastership of its sustainer in the heaven and earth, and all will eventualy return to Him 2:107,19:65,30:11,19:93,3:83. In the HB, a very eloquent prayer from the prophet-king David starts by acknowledging God's all encompassing ownership and ends with a reminder of the notion that what we think as our possessions are in fact things God has entrusted us with in order to dispose of in righteousness 
1Chr29:11-17"Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, and the might, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and on the earth [is Yours]; Yours is the kingdom and [You are He] Who is exalted over everything as the Leader. And wealth and honor are from before You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is strength and might, and it is in Your hand to magnify and to strengthen all. And now, our God, we give thanks to You, and praise Your glorious Name. Now who am I and who are my people that we should gather up strength to donate like this, for all is from You, and from Your hand we have given it to You...And I know, my God, that You test the heart and You desire equity; I, with the sincerity of my heart, have willingly donated all these; and now I have seen with joy Your people, who are present here, offer willingly to You".
When something falls under someone authority, it in reality never ceases to be in God's ownership, from the instant we posess it to the moment we release it. He could amplify, reduce or take away such posessions as He deems fit 
17:20,30,13:26,35:2"Whatever Allah grants to men of (His) mercy, there is none to withhold it, and what He withholds there is none to send it forth after that, and He is the Mighty, the Wise". 
One is thus left with no excuse to hold on to such trusts whenever the owner requests a portion of it 
57:10"what reason have you that you should not spend in Allah's way? And Allah's is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth". 
"Giving" to Allah, spending in His ways, is nothing but a transfer of trust and the ackowledgement that one should manage them in accordance with the Owner's directives. So when the Quran calls whatever one spends in Allah's ways, ie as commanded by Him for the well-being of the entire community 2:215, and for the cleansing of one's own soul, as "lending" to Allah it is in fact telling the believers that although all things one possesses are ultimately Allah's, and whatever one spends in Allah's way is in reality disposing of such trusts as ordained by the Real Owner, Allah has established a tremendously generous system of multiplying to the borrowers (us) the amount they returned to the Lender (God). 

To call such a system of transfer of trust, a "loan" 57:11,18 strikes the listener in his sense of shame. How greedy and oblivious one has to be that one's master, who made the person rise, grow and thrive from nothing, who really in addition is the true owner of all the person posesses deep down to his own soul, has to "ask" for a "loan" instead of the person itself initiating the action. A more practical example would be that of a father/mother and son/daughter. How selfish, greedy and oblivious a child must be, for the parents to have to ask for a loan instead of the child himself initiating the gesture, in grateful recognition of moral obligations towards those that nurtured him? The weight of the word becomes all the more striking if one considers God's intricate and unfathomable "parenting" and sustaining of humanity.

Clearly that demand for a loan isnt due to a shortage in God's treasury, the possesor of the means by which all things in the heavens and the earth are continuously sustained 15:21. He increases whatever meager ammount given in "loan" exponentially and eternally and He is the One to have given the wealth in the first place. Despite the fact that everything we have is really Allah's, Allah has established a system where he pays back with interest whatever the borrower has been entrusted with if he spends it as ordained by Allah. It is the opposite of riba 
2:276"Allah erases "riba", and He "yurbi" what is given in charity".
Again in the same spirit of tremendous generosity, despite God being the ultimate owner to whom all things eventually return, God describes Himself as "buying" with Paradise, the life of the righteous when they willingly "sell" it to Him by living all the aspect of their lives in God-consciousness 9:111,35:29-30,61:10.

Spending in the way of Allah, as prescribed by Him pleases Him because it is a source of great benefit to His creatures 
2:265"for the strengthening of their souls"
individually and socially 
2:272"and whatever good thing you spend, it is to your own good; and you do not spend but to seek Allah's pleasure". 
The use of the word zakat, steming from z-k-w is very appropriate in such context. Zakat is an act of charity causing the person to mature and bear spiritual fruit 2:261-2,23:1-4. That is why the hypocritical charity or the one done injuriously to the receiver are not only considered void but actually a sin; the aim of zakat isnt solely to answer an external abstract or concrete need but most importantly to raise the giver spiritually. It delivers one's soul from what the Quran considers as among the pitfalls of mankind; avarice and covetousness, the blind pursuit and attachement to worldy benefits. It creates a sense that such assets are in fact tools to achieve spiritual growth 64:15-16.

Whatever pleases Allah does so because of the direct and indirect benefit of a prescribed action on His servants 
39:7"And if you are grateful, He likes it for you". 
This particular verse when it was recited to the believers in Medina, was mocked by the people who considered that it is not theirs but God's duty to feed the poor 36:47, as well as mocked by the Jews 3:181. Allah to them was depicted as poor, seeking to borrow from the rich. They went on boasting of their riches -acquired mostly through their usurious transactions- as compared to the humble assemblies of people close to the prophet, as well as the rest of the believers who were mostly poor to begin with or had sacrificed their wordly belongings to migrate away from the persecution 
5:64"And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up..Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases". 
Here, besides illustrating the materialistic world view where wealth, ease, and status are synonymous with divine approval, Allah is assuring those narrow minded accusers that He will enrich the Muslims materially as well as spiritually. Allah is unambiguously in the Quran the Self Sufficient, Provider of bounties. More particularly in the context of charity and spending in His way the Quran stresses that Allah is Rich. That is why He stands in no need of insincere charity, especially if followed by injury to the receiver, giving him something while increasing his emotional ruin 2:263-4,89:17. This last verse puts honor or any emotional consideration through words of kindness, consolation, affability and guidance to the needy as the foremost requirement due to them. It is only after honor has been given, that physical/material support may be released. 

As reflected in the Hebrew Bible in 
Prov13:8,14:13"The ransom of a man's soul is his wealth, as long as the poor man has not heard a rebuke..He who oppresses a poor man blasphemes his Maker, but he who favors a poor man honors Him". 
The aim of such command is therefore like all commands by Allah for the bettering of the soul and the improvement of our humanity. The gesture in itself, devoid of its human and spiritual import misses the higher purpose 
2:267"O you who believe! spend (benevolently) of the good things that you earn and or what We have brought forth for you out of the earth, and do not aim at what is bad that you may spend (in alms) of it, while you would not take it yourselves unless you have its price lowered, and know that Allah is Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy."

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "Turning the Tables Pt. 5"
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Sam Shamoun "The Prophet of Shirk Strikes Once Again!"


Ellipsis is a well known feature of Quranic sentence construction.
9:31"They have taken their rabbis and their monks (as) Lords besides Allah and the Messiah, son (of) Maryam. And not they were commanded except that they worship One God. (There) is no god except Him. Glory be to Him from what they associate (with Him)."

The ellipsis allows for a more concise statement. Rendered fully it would be
9:31"They have taken their rabbis and their monks (as) Lords besides Allah and the Messiah, son (of) Maryam has been taken too as Lord besides Allah. And not they were commanded except that they worship One God. (There) is no god except Him. Glory be to Him from what they associate (with Him)."

The verse warns to worship only one God, besides Whom there are none and Who has no associates. It would have made no sense to include that warning had it meant that Allah and Jesus are to be worshiped together. Jesus' deification is on a different level than that of the religious scholars. It was appropriate for the verse to mention him appart from that group, especially considering the message of divine unity at the end.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "The Prophet of Shirk Strikes Once Again!"
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Sam Shamoun "How Many Gods Are There in the Quran?"



"Helping Allah" does not denote weakness. One may ask another for help in order to test his commitment and reward him, not necessarily out of need. It is the case in those verses, pointing to Allah's self sufficiency as they end with an emphasis on His might 
22:38-41"Allah will help him who helps His cause; most surely Allah is Strong, Mighty". 
This passage for instance speaks of helping Allah on the battlefield and for the defence of religious sites, mosques, churches and temples where His glorious name is mentionned. Besides the verse's end with a reminder of His all encompassing power, the preceding verses make it clear that 
"Allah will defend those who believe" 
and that 
"Allah is well able to assist them". 
Allah therefore is not in need of human help, and victory only comes from Him. Should the believers help Allah, He will establish and reward them 
22:41"Those who, should We establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and enjoin good and forbid evil; and Allah's is the end of affairs". 
There are thus indicators in the context, the wider sura, let alone the Quran as a whole, on how to understand those Quranic terminologies. One finds similar wordings in previous scriptures. YHWH, through His angel, curses the inhabitants of a village that did not come to God' help at the battlfield 
Judges5:23"Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.'" 
Helping the Lord is a metonym for helping the Israelites in performing His will. 

In 48:7 it says that 
"And Allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is Mighty, Wise"
 then 2 verses later speaks of helping Allah. But that does not mean the outcome of the battle hangs on whether the believers help Allah or not. God will ultimately grant the believers victory and reward them 
48:16"You shall soon be invited (to fight) against a people possessing mighty prowess; you will fight against them until they submit; then if you obey, Allah will grant you a good reward". 
Concretely, this "help to Allah" is done by assisting His divine representative in any given task 
48:18"Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillity on them and rewarded them with a near victory". 
The whole sura fath, contains verses emphasizing that Allah grants victory and reward to those that "help him", meaning that this "help" is only a matter of test 
48:21"Allah has surely encompassed them, and Allah has power over all things".
 Jesus' request to his close circle makes it clear that helping Allah is helping His representative against the opponents and for the establishment of truth 
61:14"O you who believe! be helpers of Allah, as Isa son of Marium said to (his) disciples: Who are my helpers to Allah? The disciples said: We are helpers to Allah". 
Again in sura Hadid it encourages spending in Allah's way all the while making it clear that Allah already owns all things 
"And what reason have you that you should not spend in Allah's way? And Allah's is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth". 
It then speaks of God making available items of warfare as a means of testing those that will help Him and His representative even although 
57:25"surely Allah is Strong, Mighty". 
Allah therefore is in no need of that help, rather requests it so as to test the commitment of the believers and reward them both in this world and the next. In Sura Baqara, after encouraging the believers to defend themselves through the stories of past nations who were commanded likewise to fight in Allah's way, after calling them to contribute to the war effort anyway they can, the Quran ends with a set of verses, the most emphatic being ayat ul kursi 2:255. It reminding the believers that Allah is all powerful sustaining the universe despite its apparent complexities and moments of chaos. He could immidiately end all differences but has decreed that people should arrive to the truth by their own will after it has been clarified 2:256.

The believers receive the religion of Allah through the prophet, he therefore represents the religion and the believers are told to help him while the Quran never says that the prophet is the believer's helper 8:72,9:40,47:7,59:8,7:157. This set of verses shows that supporting Allah means establishing and applying the way revealed to His prophet. This "helping" is a test. Whether one assists Allah or not, the outcome will eventually conform to His will, when all things return to their Creator.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "How Many Gods Are There in the Quran?"
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Original Forgiveness – Did Original Sin Really End with Adam?" (2)


In 7:170-179,46:27 Allah explains that 
"We make clear the communications, and that haply they might return". 
The concept of returning to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is in human nature 7:172, and that man's turning away from Him is an unnatural consequence of his spiritual degeneration. In other instances Allah says that this Quran is "their" reminder, ie with the aim of bringing them back to their true uncorrupted nature that must lead them to recognize divine guidance, bring them back to the way from which they have deviated 23:71,74. 

It is a pervasive notion seen in many Quranic terminologies, as for example the inaba/returning to God 30:33 where the Arabic derived from "noub" means returning again to something. This is because the most fundamental Quranic teaching is that man’s nature is hardwired with monotheism and theology, while polytheism is alien to it. 

The concept of Allah "misguiding" is then introduced, through the parable 
7:175"of him to whom We give Our communications, but he withdraws himself from them, so the Shaitan overtakes him, so he is of those who go astray". 
Because they first turned their backs to the guiding light leading them to the straigth path, and followed a different path, disputed about Allah without knowledge and deliberately misused and misinterpreted His guidance, innovated in religion 6:140,22:4,74:31 the shaitan/evil entities among the men and jinns managed to overtake them and lead them further away from the correct path. Such people are 
"unjust to their own souls" 
and indulging in spiritual self-destruction, willfuly opening up the door to the whisperings of evil beings. They are responsible for their straying and the statement that Allah causes their "idlal" means He abandons them altogether to thread the wrong path they have freely decided to walk on despite all warnings to the contrary 
7:178,186"Whomsoever Allah causes to be lost/yudil, there is no guide for him; and He leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on". 
In the background in which the Quran was revealed, the word idlal from d-l-l carried strong implications, since being lost in the desert would most often result in a painful death.
Once truth has been clearly made distinct from error, a volitional entity cannot be coerced into accepting a proposition against its will 2:256,18:29. God "misguides" them by removing His guidance 53:30, providing them what they wish for and leaving them to walk the path they freely choose 
2:257,7:30"A part has He guided aright and (as for another) part, error is justly their due, surely they took the Shaitans for guardians beside Allah, and they think that they are followers of the right". 
At that point, rejection of the right path, causes one to enter into a path where warnings and signs of truth, the light of guidance and the correct spiritual direction are absent 
24:40,59:19,64:6,9:67"they have forsaken Allah, so He has forsaken them". 
The only active guidance left on that path is that from the evil guardians spoken of above, now more than readily taken as open friends, yet they truly are the weakest of all guardians 29:41. The feebleness of their opposition is likened in 9:32 to the puff from a person's mouth attempting to extinguish a strong light. No matter their plots and machinations looking complex and elaborate on the outside, they are as a spider's web taken away by a breeze, while Allah's guardianship which they have rejected is 
31:22"the firmest thing upon which one can lay hold"
 elsewhere described as an extended rope of salvation which the believers are urged to hold fast by 3:101-3,4:175,22:78 and warned not to sell for a small price once they have tied themselves with it, to God 2:27,3:77,5:7.
As demonstrated through the history of previous nations upon whom revelation was bestowed, as soon as they forsook their covenant with God, they became disunited and their comunity disintegrated. This disunion is counted in the Quran as a divine punishement 6:65. The use of the spider's web, as well as other insect habitations, to convey the sense of fraility of a false system is found in previous scriptures too Job8:14,27:18. 

Allah's guardianship is the strongest foundation upon which one can build his spirituality 
9:109"Is he, therefore, better who lays his foundation on fear of Allah and (His) good pleasure, or he who lays his foundation on the edge of a cracking hollowed bank, so it broke down with him into the fire of hell; and Allah does not guide the unjust people". 
Allah remains the Watcher over them despite them having rejected His guardianship and turned away, thinking they have any ability to really choose a protector other than the sole keeper of all that exists 42:6,9,48. 

Clearly, Allah's turning away from those who initially willfully turned away from His guidance, is what causes their misguidance. Just as with divine guidance, divine misguidance is always contingent on an initial willful action. The lights of guidance are turned off, not haphazardly but in consequence of persistent rejection, which leaves nothing but darkness. That is the definition of divine misguidance/abandonement 
10:11"We leave those alone who hope not for Our meeting in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on".
 As plainly stated in 7:170-179, Allah sends guidance to all indiscriminately so He cannot be spoken of as arbitrarily "leading astray" as stated here regarding the Thamud nation 
41:17"We showed them the right way, but they chose error above guidance". 

The objects of idlal are therefore always those who have already turned away and chose the wrong path
 14:27,40:34,68:7"Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course" 
or 
45:23"Allah has made him err having knowledge" 
ie knowing what he has done previously to deserve being left in error 
"him who takes his low desire for his god". 
When the prophet David in the HB admonishes the entire nation through his own son Solomon, he very eloquently describes this notion. God sends guidance to all but does not insist on those that shut themselves to it 
1Chr28:9"And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and worship Him with a whole heart and with an eager soul, for the Lord seeks all hearts, and He understands the thoughts of every creation; if you seek Him, He will be found to you, and if you forsake Him, He will abandon you forever".

Similarly in 7:16,15:39 after Iblis' curse, he says it is Allah who "ighwa" -literally "made him err". How was this done? Indirectly and not arbitrarily, not by compeling Iblis to sin but by puting him in a situation where his own arrogance and prejudice were exposed. The choice was of course his, to either obey or disobey the command. He chose rebellion and his reasons given to God after he was given the chance to explain himself were evil and totally unjustified.

This is a central theme in the Quran, that God aids all people in the direction that they want to take. The notion is also present throughout the HB, as in 
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Sam Shamoun "Original Forgiveness – Did Original Sin Really End with Adam?" (1)


In accordance with the divinely established system of freewill, guidance is a condition of Allah's will in the sense that He has decreed that He will guide only those who seek guidance. This is a very common Quranic terminology, for example it is stated that God grants success in the hereafter to 
22:14"those who believe and do good deeds" 
and the sentence ends with 
"Allah does what He pleases".
Doing what He pleases in relation to success in the hereafter does not mean designating people haphazardly or arbitrarily regardless of their condition, but it means doing what He pleases in regards to the decreeing of laws and enforcing them, laws according to which 
"Allah will cause those who believe and do good deeds to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow".
Divine guidance is a grace from God with which He rewards all who desire to be guided, reflecting that desire through certain sincere actions 
28:56,24:46"from on high have We bestowed messages clearly showing the truth; but God guides onto a straight way [only] him that wills [to be guided]". 
The ever recurrent divine statement 
"Allah yahdi man yasha" 
lit. means 
"Allah guides whom wills". 
Linguistically, it can equally be rendered as 
"Allah guides whom He wills" 
but it is closer both implicitly and explicitly to 
"Allah guides whom wills to be guided" 
since there are instances where the phrase is used with God as the direct subject 74:56. Both renditions still however carry the same meaning: Allah knows those who are willing and deserving His spiritual guidance and He will grant it to them 
28:56"Allah guides whom He will/Allah yahdi man yasha and He knows best those who are willing to be guided". 
This is the major point often missed by non-Muslims coming across this peculiar Quranic terminology, as well as some Muslims themselves who advocate predestination; the overarching principle in terms of freewill and causality is that God does as He said He will do, not as others want him to do. This is the meaning of God doing "what He wills". The prophets throughout the Quran have captured that notion to their people, including Jesus 
5:116"If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise". 
God doing "what He wills" to His creatures is connected to His might and wisdom; He will never do an injustice to anyone 
4:40"Surely Allah does not do injustice to the weight of an atom, and if it is a good deed He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward".
Further, by making the "release" of guidance strictly in God's will, contingent upon criteria He alone validates, leaves no room for pride, boldness and complacency in anyone regarding the matter. The expression appears in similar contexts in order to negate all prejudice, when speaking of forgiveness 5:18 or prophetic guidance 3:73-4.

It is a central theme of the Quran, sometimes inside a larger sura or in the form of an entire sura as in the fatiha, to teach the believer how to seek Allah's guidance. 
 
Man has to first choose by himself the basic guidance that has been made available to all human beings, as pledged to Adam, in various forms such as revelations or scriptures 
4:174"O People, surely there has come to you manifest proof from your Lord and We have sent to you clear light". 
This verse manifests the supplicant's prayer in sura fatiha, where he asks God for guidance towards the right way. After having been exposed to this indiscriminate divine guidance, one is free to accept it as there is no coercion in religion 2:256,18:29. The finding of the right direction therefore originates first through man's own choice and inner struggle 
47:17,91:7-8,13:11"surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition". 
Once that basic, indiscriminate guidance is accepted, God further increases in guidance those that seek Him 
3:101,4:175"Then as for those who believe in Allah and hold fast by Him, He will cause them to enter into His mercy and grace and guide them to Himself on a right path". 
This is Allah's internal guidance. It is contingent on man's initial willingness to be guided, which is reflected in deeds and attitude. Countless verses reflect that notion including 2:213,4:69,5:16, 6:117,10:9,12:22,19:76,28:56,29:69,31:4-5,42:13,53:30,58:22,64:11,68:7 and many more verses where Allah declares that He best knows who are the followers of the right way and strive therein from those who choose to go astray, those who incline to truth, who obey and believe in Him, the doers of good, worship Him with certainty of heart, those who turn to Him and those who give priority to true faith above any other principle that may contradict it. These are the people that He guides, impresses faith on their hearts, bestows on them wisdom and knowledge 28:14 (as similarly stated by Solomon in Prov2:7), His mercy and grace 4:70,175. 

These are the ones whose breasts are expanded so as to give them inner certainty and create a favorable receptacle for guidance 6:125,18:13,39:22-23. The most eminent of prophets such as Moses and Muhammad similarly had their chest expanded as they set themselves to face the tyrants of their times 20:25,94:1. The servants of God are further tranquilized, healed, and strengthened in their hearts 10:57,48:4. Just as the believing youths who had fled their land on account of the religious persecution and hid in a cave were increased and established in guidance 18:13-4. Solomon in the HB stated concerning God's guidance 
Prov3:8"it shall be healing for your navel and marrow for your bones". 
Long before, as Solomon was placed on the throne and shouldered with the responsibility of building the Temple, David his father admonished the nation through him, reminding him of that notion of conditional divine guidance 
1Chr28:9"And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and worship Him with a whole heart and with an eager soul, for the Lord seeks all hearts, and He understands the thoughts of every creation; if you seek Him, He will be found to you, and if you forsake Him, He will abandon you forever".

God's communications become self-evident to the rightly guided 29:49, making their "steps firm" 14:27,47:7 during their ascent to moral heights. Although this ascent may seem like an uphill climb, it ultimately leads to a pure, happy and fulfilled life for the God-conscious, whether in this world or the next 16:97,90:11-18,92:7. 

Those that reject Resurrection and the Hereafter on the other hand live in mental torture as regards the higher meanings of all occurrences in this life 34:7-8. Contrary to those whose hearts are at peace and who walk firmly the path of this world, evil entities make the disbelievers' step "slippery" 3:155, an imagery employed in previous scriptures Jer23:12,Ps35:6 and sometimes attributed to God Ps73:18. This is because the righteous' way is enlightened while the one of the wicked is dark and crooked regardless of his perception of it, as here stated by Solomon 
Prov5:18-19"But the way of the righteous is like the light of dawn; it shines ever brighter until the day is perfect. The way of the wicked is like pitch darkness; they do not know on what they stumble". 

The notion of God guiding the righteous who walk in His way, making their steps firm by leveling and smoothing their path is expressed in the Hebrew Bible Isa26:7,Ps4:8,18:33,27:11,143:8,Jer31:8. David supplicated God for that 
Ps5:9"O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness; because of those who lie in wait for me, make Your way straight before me". 
The effect was that God
 Ps18:37"enlarged my step[s] beneath me, and my ankles have not slipped". 
Solomon depicted the one who attains spiritual and moral heights 
Prov3:23"Then you shall go securely on your way, and your foot shall not stumble". 
The prophet Habakkuk said concerning the uplifting nature of divine guidance 
Hab3:19"The Sovereign Lord is my strength, He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights".
The rightly guided ones are given a clear discernement of right and wrong during that process 
6:122,7:201,47:17,57:28"and make for you a light with which you will walk". 
It is God-consciousness that prevents man from being misled into the path of the spiritually unaware. Elsewhere the Quran is very appropriately referred to as al-Furqan/the Criterion, precisely for its endowing the believer with the correct insight to discriminate between right and wrong 
25:1,45:20"This (Quran) is visions for the people and guidance and mercy for a people who are certain"
 and answer the call of 
8:24"that which gives you life; and know that Allah intervenes between man and his heart". 
In a hadith, the prophet Muhammad quotes Allah 
"My servant continues to draw closer to Me with voluntary acts of worship until he becomes beloved to Me. And when I love him, I become the hearing with which he hears, and the seeing with which he sees". 
It is interesting to note that in the hereafter, this spiritual light will become physical light. Only those who possessed it in this life will be able to use it to find their way in the hereafter. That sharpness of spiritual insight endowed upon those God deems fit is such that faith and righteousness become the dearest of values while unbelief and transgression become hated 49:7-8. 

Love of Truth and aversion towards everything false and sinful is the natural outcome of the acceptance of the straight path. One becomes in a heightened state of spiritual awareness, constantly longing to be increased in divine knowledge and wisdom. It is however important to keep in view that the Quran here is not speaking of hatred towards the sinful person itself. There are countless verses encouraging rectitude and compassion indiscriminately even towards one's enemies, and regardless of the person's religion or lack thereof. Religious hatred is hatred for evil and evil deeds. This again, demonstrates the supreme pragmatism of the Quran; infatuated love and destructive hatred completely miss the mark. One hates for the sake of God and loves for the sake of God. One hates the evil deed because it harms the sinner, just as one loves the good deed because it brings one closer to guidance. 

The HB surely echoes the theme of religious hatred although it amalgamates hatred towards the individual itself as reflected in David's 
Psalms119:104-5,139:21-22"From Your precepts I shall gain understanding; therefore, I hate all ways of falsehood. Your words are a lamp for my foot, and light for my path...Did I not hate Your enemies, O Lord? With those who rise up against You, I quarrel. I hate them with utmost hatred; they have become my enemies". 

Solomon reflected that notion too Proverbs2:7-10,13:5. Again in 2Sam22, the prophet David speaks of God's guidance as the lamp by which one walks in darkness, levelling the obstacles along the path, 
making every step firm, a rock, forteress and shield of salvation. In his later days, he would state 
Ps19:9"the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes". 
It is obedience to God's commandements, meaning initial action and proof of submission to the divine will, that then causes one's inner self to be lit up. And just as transgression is hated by the upright, to turn away from it is just as hated by the spiritually dead Prov13:19.

The Quran, which repeatedly says it is a guidance for mankind, also says that its guidance is conditional on the internal disposition of the one who approaches it. That internal disposition is nurtured through deep reflection on the physical signs in the heavens and the earth, leading one to acknowledgement the unseen realities, such as a higher purpose of existence, the existence of a Creator and the inevitable return to Him. Finally one has to display sincerity in his thoughts and deeds, which characterizes itself through the person's readiness to put the revealed teachings into practice 2:1-4,45:1-6.

The same is stated by Jesus in his sermon Matt5 where he describes the bestowal of God's spiritual blessings as being contingent on righteousness and spiritual awareness. He says the same in the bags of gold parable where a master favors his servants with wealth proportionate to their abilities, like God favors his servants whom he graces with guidance depending on their degree of spiritual awareness. The more God-conscious in their faith and behavior, the more they are granted spiritual insight. The spiritually blind get nothing and are kept away from guidance as often stated by Jesus Mk4:10-12,Matt7:6,13:13-15.

Similarly to "Allah yahdi man yasha", in 42:13 Allah says that 
"yahdi man yunib" 
meaning 
"he who turns". 
Just like "man yasha", "man yunib" must be referring to the people not to Allah, because they are doing the action of Inabah (turning to Allah) 
13:27"Surely Allah makes him who will go astray, and guides to Himself those who turn (to Him)/man anaba". 
Therefore similarly "man yashaa", must mean those who already believe and who want to be guided by Allah 
22:54"and most surely Allah is the Guide (hadi) of those who believe, into a right path". 
That Quranic expression "Allah yahdi man yasha" or "Allah yahdi man yunib" is also used in other variants such as "Allah yahdi man yurid" and demonstrates again that principle of Allah guiding whom wills to be guided. For example in 6:104 Allah states that each one is free to follow the communications when they come to them and then through 22:16 Allah declares to have sent the Quran containing clear arguments, Allah guides through it "man yurid"/he who wills.
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Sam Shamoun "Allah and his Messenger Fail A Scientific Test"


There are several wordings of this hadith. 

It occurred when Umm Sulaim, a woman from the Ansar, boldly came to the prophet 
"Messenger of God, God is not ashamed of the truth. Is any washing necessary for a woman when she has a sexual dream?” 
The prophet tells her women, like men, should purify if they see the liquid discharge when they wake up. Umm Salama the prophet's wife, who was also present, felt ashamed about the topic of discussion, trying to pass off the notion of wet dreams for females as something she was unaware off 
"You have embarrassed the women. Do women experience wet dreams?". 
Aisha, who was also present, was equally embarrassed, telling the questionner 
"May your hand be covered with dust and injured". 
The prophet rebuked them both 
"Leave her alone. In what way does the child resemble her but for the fact that when her water/MAA' is dominant, the born child resembles his maternal uncles but if the water/MAA' of the man was dominant, the born child should resemble his paternal uncles". 
Water is a very general term that can mean several things in that context, including sperm, vaginal discharge, follicular fluid, and even genes. In other versions of the hadith, there is clarification of the discharge that is meant as being involved in genetics 
"Muslim added in the version of Umm Sulaim, "The man’s liquid is coarse and white, the woman’s fine and yellow, so the resemblance comes from the one which prevails or comes first". 
What transpires from this is the prophet's cool-headed response despite the awkwardness of the moment. He tells the woman what to do in her situation then follows by rhetorically rebuking his condescending wives; he confirms the notion of female wet dreams during which discharge may be emitted, then, further presses on the very topic of female discharge which his wives found embarrassing, by saying which type of liquid is involved in genetics. 

This idea of dominance as a factor that determines physical attributes in a future child is seen in a similar hadith that occurs on a different occasion 
"The water of the man is white and the water/MAA' of the woman is yellow. When they get together, if the sperm/MANNI of the man dominates the sperm/MANNI of the woman, the child is male, by the permission of Allah, and if the sperm of the woman dominates the sperm of the man, the child is a female by the permission of Allah". 
The Arabic "manni" never refers to female secretion, but only to the male's. For a woman it is maa', as in the first part of the hadith. Here again the idea of dominance is implied. Sperm carries male and female chromosomes. At some point, within one sperm cell, one of the chromosomes is inactivated in favour of another who then becomes dominant. The future child's gender is therefore determined, among other things, by whether a sperm with a dominant gender characteristic overcomes the sperm with the opposite dominant gender characteristic.

Interestingly the prophet mentioned that physical traits also go beyond the direct implication of the parents
“A man from Banu Fazarah came to the Messenger of Allah, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, my wife has given birth to a black boy! The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Do you have camels?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘What color are they?’ He said: ‘Red.’ He said: ‘Are there any grey ones among them?’ He said: ‘Yes, there are some grey ones among them.’ He said: ‘Where does that come from?’ He said: ‘Perhaps it is hereditary.’ He said: ‘Likewise, perhaps this is hereditary! “
In another narration, the prophet attributed a woman's impregnation/sowing to one partner, regardless of being "watered" by different men while pregnant 
"It is not lawful for a man who believes in God and the last day to water what another has sown with his water". 
It is an ethically, morally detestable thing to do even though physically, the most a sexual partner's semen can do in this case is to "water" what has already been sown. 
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Session on the Deification of Muhammad Pt. 2" (2)


True faith must have precedence over anything and anyone that could cause one to deviate from the straight path 58:22,64:14. That is why Jesus stated he came to severe kinship ties Matt10:34,Lk14:26. See also Micah7:6,Matt30:21-36 for the severing of family ties when they become disbelievers and opponents of the faith. The following Quranic statement follows the same principle 
33:6"The Prophet has a greater claim on the faithful than they have on themselves, and his wives are (as) their mothers". 
It is the prophet that provides the perfect example to follow 
33:21"for him who hopes in Allah and the latter day and remembers Allah much". 
It is thus logical that love of God and the one representing His will must take precedence over any other emotional attachment 9:24. Loving God and His messenger of course does not entail loving them both equally. Muslims love their prophet because he is God's foremost representative. They love him because of their love for Allah 
3:31"Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful". 
This is captured through the typical Quranic use of elliptical sentence structure in (word for word)
9:62"They swear by Allah to you to please you. And Allah and His Messenger has more right that they should please Him, if they are believers".
 Here the love for Allah eclipses the love for the messenger, which is implicit. The full rendition of the verse without the ellipsis would be
 9:62"They swear to you (plur.) by Allah that they might please you (plur.) and, Allah has a greater right that they should please Him, and His Messenger has a greater right too that they should please him, if they are believers". 
The essence of the religion of Islam is one where there is reciprocal love between Allah and His devoted servants 5:54. It is the driving force that pushes one to be compassionate towards one's fellow human being 76:27. Allah in fact is the source of love, whether it is the spiritual love among brethren in faith 19:96 or the instinctive, natural love between a man and a woman 30:21. 

There is no ambiguity that the object of worship is Allah, Who makes His will known through His prophet.

Among the major tenets that came with every prophet was unconditional obedience to them in the sphere of the religion. God's infaillible representatives, who selflessly spend every drop of their energy, night and day, for the purpose of causing spiritual awakening in their nation, are to be obeyed 
5:12,3:50,71:3,26:106-108,124-126,142-144,161-163,177-179,4:64"And We did not send any messenger but that he should be obeyed by Allah's permission". 
This obedience must be without hesitation 4:65 because their qualities of wisdom and authority were granted by God 
6:84-90"These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance". 
The most glaring example of retribution and evil to befall a people who are hesitant to obey their prophet is that of the Israelites who were sent to wander 40 years in the desert and prevented entry to the promised land for having shown distrust in their prophet. Obeying the prophets in the sphere of religion and divine instructions is therefore tantamount to obeying the One who sent them 
3:31,4:80"Whoever obeys the Messenger, he indeed obeys Allah, and whoever turns back, so We have not sent you as a keeper over them". 
In that area, a prophet's will is one that stems from God's will 53:3-4. It is natural then that it overrules someone's own will whether public or private 33:6. We thus find that the closest followers of the prophets, the most sincere and devout, were ready to give up everything, including their lives as instructed by these messengers of God 
"Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah said, “The wealth of no one has benefited me as much as the wealth of Abu Bakr.” Abu Bakr wept and he said, “My life and my wealth are only for you, O Messenger of Allah."" 
These followers understood very well that the will of a prophet stems directly from Allah's will and thus sacrificing their lives as commanded by these prophets was synonymous to laying down their lives to the One that sent them 
6:162"Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds".
As Jesus said 
Jn14:6"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". 
This obedience to prophets is reflected in the Torah that lists among the 613 commandements revealed at Sinai, the obligation to obey the prophet's instructions, and not doubt or test his promises and warnings Deut6:16,18:15. Belief in God and His prophets are inseparable the fulfill the conditions of correct faith. Here in the words of the righteous king Jehoshaphat 
2Chr20:20"Hear me, O Judeans and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be believed; believe in His prophets, and you will prosper". 
Rejecting any of God's messengers is equal to rejecting God 
6:33,2:98,59:4"they acted in opposition to Allah and His Messenger, and whoever acts in opposition to Allah, then surely Allah is severe in retributing (evil)". 
See the Hebrew Bible in Ps2:12 speaking of accepting David with sincerity of heart as God's anointed or incur God's anger. Obedience is the one and only area in which God and His prophets are one in principle. It just is a practical reality, which is why we have many verses speaking in one breath of obedience to Allah and His messengers. Allah is the issuing Authority and the messenger is the means by which divine authority is implemented. There are no ambiguities between the role and position of each, just as no confusion exists when verses lump in one group God, the messenger and the believers
 63:8"And to Allah belongs [all] honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know".
This required obedience is why prophets and messengers, even prior to their calling, had to be unique examples of moral qualities and worthiness, virtue among their nations 3:161,164,33:21,68:4,21:51,74-90 recognized as such and chosen for that 6:87. They already possess a heightened sensitivity to spirituality. During their mission, their high morality became a means by which their addressees were purified 
3:164"Certainly Allah conferred a benefit upon the believers when He raised among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His communications and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error". 
This is reflected in the rabbinical writings on Prov13:17 which they believe is in reference to Moses 
"A wicked messenger falls into evil, but a faithful emissary brings healing". 

Muhammad for example was notoriously known as al-amin (the trustworthy). He carried that principle so firmly in his life that later on during prophethood someone asked him, 
‘Is it possible that a Muslim may be a coward?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ They asked, ‘Is it possible that a Muslim may commit adultery?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ They asked him, ‘What is it that a Muslim cannot possibly do?’ He replied, ‘A Muslim cannot tell a lie". 
When the Meccan pagans were busy renovating the Kaaba, the black stone had to be removed from its socle and when the work was finished each tribe and clan wanted the exclusive privilege of placing it back on its socle. The verbal dispute almost turned to a civil war until Muhammad, prior to his prophetic call, intervened and was directly accepted as mediator and was unanimously given the much sought after responsibility to place the black stone in its place. His integrity was such that when he migrated from Mecca, and because even at that advanced stage of antagonism between him and the polytheists he was still trusted with his own persecutors’ belongings with him for safekeeping, he instructed Ali to stay behind in Mecca, in order to return all these people's trusts. Ali stayed back for three days and three nights to complete his task and then migrated in turn. 

Contrast this behavior with the supposed divine order to the Israelites, according to the Biblical narrative, to take all of their previous masters' belongings in their escape.
The prophet Muhammad had a pattern of high conduct which he maintained throughout his life, especially in regards to trusts. When he was asked about the picking up of a "Luqata" (fallen lost thing) he replied,
 "Recognize and remember its tying material and its container, and make public announcement (about it) for one year, then utilize it but give it to its owner if he comes".
 The Quran, which the messenger embodied, stresses the importance of maintaining justice indiscriminately, upholding covenants and trusts, respecting one's word.


Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "Session on the Deification of Muhammad Pt. 2"
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Sam Shamoun "Session on the Deification of Muhammad Pt. 2" (1)



Humans, like every creation, are a manifestation of God's attributes. They in turn are encouraged to try and emulate some of those attributes as best as possible, such as generosity, mercy and forgiveness. So they are in a sense in "God's image". Similarily, Man has the ability to create, like the Creator of all things does, but in reality he is only reshaping what God previously created. He can judge, be good, show mercy but not and never in an equal manner to God 
2:115"so whichever way you turn, there is the Face of Allah". 
So clearly one can see God's face in all of creation, because all things reflect His attributes to some degree. Humans, and more particularily their face, reflects God's image just as the rest of creation does
 “Do not say ‘May Allaah deform your face’, for the son of Adam was created in the image of the Most Merciful". 
The similitude does not pertain to physical resemblence but in the way the divine attributes manifests. The face contains the foremost elements that allow perception, relfexion and action. The Eyes for instance allow the brain to perceive and process the surrounding signs, shaping our thoughts that are then expressed with speech. Only God however is able to manifest these shared attributes, like the aforementionned sight and speech, to infinite perfection. The manner, the "how" in which this is done is unfathomable to our minds 
42:11"nothing like a likeness of Him". 
Just as the human face reflects God's image, the prophet said 
“The first group to enter Paradise will be in the image of the moon”. 
The intent is obviously that they will manifest some of the moon's attributes like radiance and glorious appearance, as the Quran describes them beaming with light. They will however retain their specific human form, which is completely different than that of the moon. The prophet even described the righteous as being the embodiement of Allah 
"Allah Almighty said: My servant continues to grow closer to me with extra good works until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks". 
The senses and limbs remain that of a human being but due to his righteousness and the ensuing divine guidance, each perception, expression and action is done with a level of spiritual awareness so high that it reflects God's attributes and will.
 
Similar principles are stated in the Hebrew Bible by the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah Jer10:6,Isa40:18. Being in God's image simply means in the HB to reflect God's attributes in some way. The HB states that when man "became like one of us" he had gained knowledge of good and evil (after eating from the tree). This means that humans being "like God" or in His image is about knowledge, which the Quran explicitly states was mercifully ingrained in man from the beginning, not hidden from him in a forbidden tree. As the "serpent" says in Genesis 
"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil".
What humans "create" (the verb is used for humans too 29:17) is nothing more than the combination and reshaping of what Allah has already created. That is why He is the best of creators 37:125,23:14. 
He is 
2:117"badeeu/Innovator and initiator of the heavens and the earth" 
meaning that in His case, contrary to all creative endeavours, He creates without any blueprint, preexisting inspiration, experience, simply through His word
"and if HE decreed an order done, He only says be and it is". 
In an absolute, pure sense the capacity to create thus belongs to God alone and this is the underlying notion behind other statements like God being the best of those who show mercy 2:163,23:109,118,59:22 despite others being merciful too 9:128,57:27. Virtue can be assigned to humans, such as the dwellers of heaven 76:5 but the truly virtuous is Allah 52:58. He is the best of the forgivers although others might and should forgive 2:263,7:155, the best of the providers 5:114,34:39 the best of judges 10:109 because he is 11:45,95:8"the most just/wisest of judges". In contrast to the limits of worldly helpers 61:14,3:52,47:13 He is the best of helpers 3:150 being the Almighty that can never be defeated. Again, Allah is the all mighty and all strong 42:19 but obviously many among His creatures also possess strength and might in varying degrees, the angel Gabriel being one of the strongest 53:5. Some think they have glory and sometimes they do but in reality all glory is Allah's 35:5. In the same vein, although all creatures have life and can be termed as "living", the true, ultimate life belongs to God only. He is the ever-living/al hayy 2:255,40:65. The prophet Daniel states in the Aramaic in which the text was recorded 
Dan6:26"elaha hayya qayyam". 
The words carry several implications, including the pervasive pattern throughout the Quran of God being the sole self-sufficient, uncreated, independant entity. He relies on none other than Himself to subsit and will perdure even when all things perish 55:26-7,28:88. Al hayy/the ever living is also a description meant at distinguishing Allah from false deities, as is done in the HB Joshua3:10,1Sam17:26,1Sam17:36,Jer10:9-10,etc., whether they be inanimate entities or living creatures that made themselves or were made into objects of worship 16:20-1. They are neither alive nor are able to keep others alive, they do not exist of their own accord nor can keep others into existence. Their existence depends at all times on the self-sustaining source of all life, Allah. These appellations therefore when used in their absolute sense, can only be meant for God 
7:180,20:8"to Him belong the most perfect names".

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Monday, December 21, 2020

Sam Shamoun "Exposing More of Islam’s Scientific Blunders and Fairytales"


When speaking of the formation and shaping of the sama' (all that is above the earth; atmosphere and beyond) as we know it today, we read in 79:27-33 that it was done before the earth was made hospitable for the humans with water, plants, and animals. 

This process of accommodating earth to human life took 4 ayyam 41:10, while the prior shaping of the earth itself took 2 ayyam 41:9. This shaping of the earth initiated together with the universe 41:11. God in this verse tells both entities to come forth from their primordial state, not towards eachother but each on their own, to which they submitted. For the heaven, this resulted in its layering and filling with the celestial bodies in 2 ayyam 42:12 and for the earth, as already stated a few verses earlier in 41:9, it resulted in its finalization just prior to accommodating it for human life 41:10. 

Although a superficial reading results in a total of 8 ayyam of creation, yet a closer look reveals otherwise. 

41:9-10 is sequential, totalizing 6 ayyam of creation (2 to shape the earth followed by 4 to make it suitable for human life). As already stated, the universe as we known it was formed prior to earth's accommodation for life 79:27-33 meaning 42:12 giving 2 ayyam for the universe's formation cannot have occurred after the 6 ayyam cited earlier for shaping earth and making it habitable. 

41:9-10 and 41:11-12 are therefore not sequentially connected, hence the use of thumma/moreover to link both passages. Both these passages contain reference to an overlapping timeline; the 2 ayyam to shape the earth in 41:9 is simultaneous to the 2 ayyam to form the sama' (all that is above the earth; atmosphere and beyond) 41:12, after which came the 4 ayyam to make the earth habitable, thus totalizing 6 ayyam of creation. 

The fact that 41:9-10 and 41:11-12 are not sequential is further seen from 41:9-10; although the earth has already been formed and adapted for life, the following passage goes back in time when both heaven and earth were in their primordial state. The heaven is named while still unformed just like its earth counterpart is named while still unformed 
41:11"Moreover, He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth: Come both, willingly or compelled. They both said: We have come willingly". 
It then goes on to broadly speak of the universe's development but not the earth's. Its shaping, the stage just prior to making it suitable for human life was already stated a few verses earlier in 41:9.

This type of literary construction is common in the Quran. In 2:29 the timeline of events is not sequential, hence the use again of thumma/moreover. Attention is first directed to the near and tangible provisions of life before switching man's focus to the great encompassing entity above. 

The Quran here isnt trying to convey scientific knowledge but to instil spiritual awareness in connection with the observable nature, by emphasizing different aspects, with each aspect having its own sequence. It first attracts attention to God's blessings close at hand and its gradual development 41:9-10 then directs the eye to the distant surrounding greatness and its gradual development 41:11-12, without the 2 being connected sequentially. 

The Quran uses many times this literary device, when it wants to switch emphasis from one aspect to another, although both may exist simultaneously. It states for example in 
68:13"Oppressive, moreover/thumma of bad character"
 or in 90:17 after enumerating some of the benevolent and righteous acts a believer should perform it says 
"Moreover/thumma he is of those who believe"
 again this does not denote a sequence rather is focusing on each aspects independently, then laying more stress on correct faith. Same in 
81:21"One (to be) obeyed, moreover/thumma faithful in trust".
As to the word yawm, there is ample evidence from the language, the Quran, and ahadith that it conveys the concept of "completion of a task". When speaking of the length of the day of resurrection, although it is referred to as a "Day", it should be noted that it will not be anything like the space and time experienced before, due to the changes in the order of the universe. In the hadith, speaking of the dajjal, the prophet stated 
"We said: Allah's Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth? He said: For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your days". 
In the Quran too, the concept of day/yawm is used for any period of time 22:47,16:77 from a moment 55:29 to fifty thousand years 70:4 and is dependent on the completion of a specific task. So although the Day of judgement is called yawm, the expiration of that day will depend on the completion of the task of judging mankind, even if that task might go on for many current earthly days. That is why the prophet in certain ahadith compares the single day of resurrection to fifty thousand earthly years.
The same notion applies for the ayyam of creation. Ibn Kathir reports an opinion attributed to ibn Abbas where he recites 22:47"And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count" then says that this relativity of time started when heavens and earth were completed. Obviously, counting time on earth prior was not possible, and hence one could not compare human time relatively to God. But this does not mean that time with God could not be relative to other processes in the universe, as is stated in 70:4.

Whether among the commentators or the companions, we find different opinions on the general sequence of creation; if earth came prior to heaven or vice versa, or even simultaneously. The verses in question are open to interpretation and are not crucial matters of salvation for the prophet to have insisted on a definite view. Ibn Kathir, although favouring the position that earth was created before the heavens, attests to earlier views 
"It is said that "Then'' in the Ayah (2:29) relates only to the order of reciting the information being given, it does not relate to the order that the events being mentioned took place, this was reported from Ibn `Abbas by `Ali bin Abi Talhah". 
This is the view according to which heaven and earth were simultaneously created. Al Qurtubi, prior to ibn Kathir also cites this view, while adopting the position of heaven preexisting the earth. His conclusion is based on Qataadah's statement that the heavenly smoke was created before the earth 41:11"Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke.."

As to the hadith in Muslim describing 7 literal days of creation, it was rejected by the scholars of the field, including those more authoritative than Muslim such as Bukhari, for both the matn/content and isnad/narrator chain. The hadith is narrated differently in an-Nasa'i 
"Verily Allah created heavens and the earths and whatever is between them in six days. Then he ascended to the Throne on the seventh day. He created the clay on Saturday and He created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He created al makruh on Tuesday and created nur on Wednesday and He caused the animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam (peace be upon him) after 'Asr on Friday; the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, i. e. between afternoon and night". 
Here it begins with the creation of the heavens and the earth in 6 ayyam, before mentioning the weekdays corresponding to each arrangement. This means the ayyam of creation and arrangement are different, just as in the Quran. The mention of weekdays does not indicate which came first, just the specific day on which each arrangement was completed. In Quranic terminology, creation, even through God's creative word "Be" does not entail instantaneous apparition. Most of the time it includes a process. For example trees created on Monday means it started at any given time in the past, then finished on a Monday. Similarily, ibn al Jawzi narrates a majority opinion in regards to Adam's creation 
"the time that came upon him was forty years when was shaped out from clay yet the spirit was not breathed into him". 
This understanding is in congruence with the Quranic notion of process in the act of creation. The 2 hadith read together imply that Adam's creation initiated at an undetermined time then ended 40 years later on a friday. Another thing to note is that the things listed for every weekday is obviously not exhaustive. The arrangement of the earth doesnt consist of simply clay, mountains, trees etc. The hadith is deliberately selecting things that were created on different days, including Saturday. The point being, as noted by several early authorities, that God's power and implication in the universe and the life of man never ceased or diminished at any moment, as implied with the Biblical notion of the Sabbath which ended God's week of work. The selection of saturday where clay, the elemental origin of humanity was created, as the first day to be cited instead of the last, is highly symbolic from that perspective. As a final point to note, the hadith is focused on the creation of things on the earth. It is unconcerned with the heavens and what they contain. The nur spoken of means light but also entails something positive. It is placed in the hadith opposite to makruh, meaning something disliked.

Finally, one might ask the reason for this gradual process of creation and accommodation of the earth. The answer is that our material world is subjected to the effects of time, which was itself created at the start of the universe. Since then, a chain of processes precedes every occurrence and every thing is contingent on another. This in itself is proof for God's existence as a necessary being who is beyond contingency and infinite regress.

Space and time in our universe evidently came into being with the creation of this universe. The same could have occurred beyond our universe. Stephen Hawking once wrote: 
“Events before the Big Bang are simply not defined, because there’s no way one could measure what happened at them. Since events before the Big Bang have no observational consequences, one may as well cut them out of the theory and say that time began at the Big Bang"
Space and time ultimately came into being at a certain point, since God, the necessary being precedes all things 
"I said: 'O Messenger of Allah! Where was our Lord before He created His creation?' He said: 'He was in ama' (word evoking nothingness) - no air was under him, no air was above him, and He created His Throne upon the water". 
Even though the creation of the liquid matter/maa' isnt stated, the first part of the prophet's speech implies it is a creation, and it could not have existed from eternity past
 "Allah ordained the measures (of quality) of the creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, as His Throne was upon water". 
We see here that time must have somehow preexisted our universe, as is the case for spatial dimension that contained a liquid entity/maa'. Nobody except Allah knows the reality and function of that primordial fluid/liquid. It can be inferred that it has a potential that is subdued to His will, as conveyed through the image of the throne above it. When the command is issued, the potential that is in the water begins to be realized 
21:30"and made from water every living thing". 
The prophet equally stated in a discussion "I said: O Messenger of Allah, when I see you I feel happy and content, tell me about everything.'' He said "Everything was created from water".

As to the throne, an entity sustained by Allah 9:129,23:116 and whose reality and function are only known to Him, it must have also needed space. 

We also notice the existence of realms beyond our created universe. And just as we read in the Quran and ahadith of a sequence in the ayyam of creation in the context of this universe, when we read of something created first in a realm beyond our universe, we must have a holistic grasp of all ahadith on the matter so as to establish an overall sequence of creation across all realms. 

As was previously seen, first there was Allah, then the throne was created above the water. Sequentially, we thus have Allah, in a realm beyond comprehension, where He always was and always will be, then water then throne, in a realm of their own. We also read that Allah first created the pen 
“Verily the first of what Allah created was the Pen. He said to it: “Write.” So it wrote what will be forever.’” 
The pen would thus have been created first in its own realm, beyond that of the primordial water and the throne, and prior to our own realm
 "O Allah's Messenger (ï·º)! We have come to ask you about this matter (i.e. the start of creations)." He said, "First of all, there was nothing but Allah, His throne was over the water, and He wrote everything in the Book (in the Heaven) and created the Heavens and the Earth." 
It is understood here that Allah preceded all things, including the entities spoken of prior to the creation of heavens and earth. In another version 
"Then the Prophet (ï·º) started taking about the beginning of creation and the Throne”. 
Both creation (of heavens and earth) and the throne had a beginning. 

As a side note, all ahadith speaking of the prophet going beyond the farthest limits of creation, the Lot Tree (Sidrat Al-Muntaha), during his ascension to heaven, and that he saw God's throne on which was written on one of its pillars his own name, are weak reports. Similarly, the story that Adam saw Muhammad’s name written on Allah’s throne has been unequivocally disproved as forged or weak by scholars of hadith, including ibn Taymiyyah, and al-Albani.


Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "Exposing More of Islam’s Scientific Blunders and Fairytales"

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Sam Shamoun "The prophet of Plagiarism proves that Jesus is God in the Flesh!"


The Quran leaves no room to the kind of conjecture trinitarians are known for when approaching their Bible, let alone the Quran. Christians feel comforted whenever they superficially approach the Quran and find their cherished Christological themes. They are sometimes bold enough to assume the Quran is confirming their doctrines. After all, none other than Jesus is referred to as God's word, His messiah or a RUH from Allah. But by doing so Christians are missing the consistent Quranic approach of taking up the major trinitarian themes and labels associated to Jesus, then recasts them in a monotheistic, unitarian perspective. It is the case with the kalima, just as with the RUH/spirit or the name "messiah". Jesus is not the literal nor metaphorical "son of God" but simply, the son of Mary as Christians themselves cannot deny. Similarly, Jesus is stripped from any intrinsic power as regards his ascension and ability to perform miracles. The same goes for Jesus' ascension or his ability to perform miracles. 

Being the muhaymin/guardian of the previous scriptures and traditions, the Quran could not leave those themes unaddressed. And it does so in an impactful way, using them just as is done in Christian scriptures, while redifining them so as to deny their Christological background. 

That corrective function goes beyond these aforementioned pillars of Christology. In the Gospels' eschatology, the trinitarian godhead is at the forefront and Jesus is given the leading role of judgement by his "father" Matt25,26. In the Quran, no possible ambiguity exists as to Allah's supremacy on that day, whether in terms of glory, authority or judgement.

Further reading


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