You can’t understand Islam (meaning ‘devotion to God’) without understanding the Qur’an (meaning ‘reading’ or ‘reciting’) and they say that the best way to understand a book is to read it – so that is what I did.  I wanted to know what it said, not what people said it said, or what certain verses say outside of their context.    I wanted to know what it says because I want to know what Islam is all about – and the Qur’an is the heart of Islam.  If you want the same thing, I would recommend that you read it as well – the whole thing – but, until then, I will share with you what I have found it to say.  My answer to what the Qur’an says, will therefore rely heavily on quotes and I will leave my personal reflections and commentary towards the end.

[If you are wondering why a Christian pastor would be so interested in Islam, check out Journey Into Islam.]

Which Translation

There are a number of translations of the Qur’an available to those non-fluent in Arabic.  I looked for a translation that was highly reputable and even perhaps slightly leftward leaning in order to give the Qur’an and thereby Islam any benefit of the doubt it might need among a western, predominantly Christian audience.

The translation I settled on was Oxford World Classics translation of the Qur’an by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.  The background information below comes either directly from the Qur’an or from Haleem’s introductory notes.

What is the Qur’an?

According to M.A.S. Abdel Haleem:

The Qur’an is the supreme authority in Islam.  It is the fundamental and paramount source of the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion….  This supreme status stems from the belief that the Qur’an is the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places…The Quran is the basis of Islamic Law and theology…The entire religious life of the Muslim world is based around the text of the Qur’an… Muslim children start to learn portions of the Qur’an by heart in their normal schooling: the tradition of learning the entire Qur’an by heart started during the lifetime of the Prophet and continues to the present day. [Underline added] (Haleem, ix)

In many ways the Qur’an is more central to Islam than the Torah is to Judaism or the New Testament is to Christianity, since it is seen as the literal message directly from God for “all times and all places”  unfiltered through cultural perspective, personality, or historical context.

Origins of the Qur’an

The Quran was revealed to a man named Muhammad who was born around the year 570 AD, in the city of Mecca – an important trading city and center for cultic worship among the regional polytheistic religions located near the west coast of modern day Saudi Arabia.  Muhammad was an orphan from the time he was six years old and was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle.  Muhammad learned his trade of being a merchant from his uncle.

In 610 AD, when Muhammad was 40 years old, he had his first revelation of the Qur’an given to him from Allah through the angel Gabriel while he was visiting the Cave of Hira outside of Mecca.  The entire Qur’an was not given to Muhammad all at once but was given a little at a time through a series of trance-like visions throughout his life.  Each of these revelations (called a sura or section) were then written down by someone else, because Muhammad could neither read nor write.

Here is what Haleem says about the revelations:

For the first experience of revelation Muhammad was alone in the cave, but after that the circumstances in which he received revelations were witnessed by others and recorded.  When he experienced the ‘state of revelation’, those around him were able to observe his visible, audible, and sensory reactions.  His face would become flushed and he would fall silent and appear as if his thoughts were far away, his body would become limp as if he were asleep, a humming sound would be heard about him, and sweat would appear on his face, even in winter days.  This state would last for a brief period and as it passed the Prophet would immediately recite new verses of the Qur’an.  The revelation could descend on him as he was walking, sitting, riding, or giving a sermon, and there were occasions when he waited anxiously for it for over a month in answer to a question he was asked, or in comment on an event: the state was clearly not the Prophet’s to command. (Haleem xiv)

Even though these revelations came through Muhammad, they are not in Muhammad’s voice (e.g. “Muhammad said…”) but are spoken or written as if it is the voice of Allah – often with the royal “We” – speaking directly through Muhammad to all believers and all people.

From the time of his first revelation, Muhammad became a prophet and eventually The Prophet.

The Two Qur’ans and Abrogation

In a sense, the Qur’an is composed of two books of revelations, the earlier Mecca suras and the later Medina suras.

This is important for a number of reasons.  The two sets of suras were written in very different circumstances.  In Mecca, Muhammad and his message about his new religion, was met with hostility and distrust making Muhammad and his early followers scorned, eventually persecuted, and finally exiled outsiders.  The Medina suras were written after Muhammad and his followers had been driven out of Mecca and relocated in the far more Islam-friendly city of Medina where Muhammad’s religious, civil, political, and military influence and power continued to grow throughout the remainder of his life.

This distinction between the two Qur’ans is also significant because the two Qur’ans contradict each other on a number of topics and issues.  Internal contradictions in a religious text is far from unique to the Qur’an.  What is somewhat unique though is that the Qur’an contains within itself a method for dealing with these contradictions – Abrogation.  This means that when there is a discrepancy, whatever comes later overrules what came before it.

See:

• “Any revelation We cause to be superseded or forgotten, We replace with something better or similar.” (Sura 2:106 – Medina)
• “Allah erases or confirms whatever He will, and the source of Scripture is with Him.” (Sura 13:39 – Medina)
• “We substitute one revelation for another.” (Sura 16:101 – Mecca)

So in order to understand what the Qur’an says, you have to keep track of what revelations came first and which ones came later.  This is not always as easy as it might sound, because the Qur’an is not arranged in chronological order.  In general it is organized by the length of the sura – the longest ones coming first and the shortest ones coming last.

Thankfully, with a good translation like the one from Oxford World’s Classics, each chapter is identified as either a Mecca sura (earlier) or a Medina sura (later).  This won’t tell you what is an authoritative teaching when there is a conflict between one Mecca sura and another Mecca sura or a Medina sura and another Medina sura, but it is helpful when there is a conflict between a Mecca sura and a Medina sura – go with what is in the Medina sura.

What The Qur’an Says

Below I have outlined some of the major themes and messages of the Qur’an.  In each section I begin by summarizing what the Qur’an says on the topic and follow up with a list of sample verses from the Qur’an on the topic.  When a quote is overly long, it is summarized.  Any notes written beside a text in italics are my own.

Anytime Heleem references Allah in his translation of the Qur’an, he uses the term “God,” and you will see that in the quotes from the Qur’an.  In any of my summaries or notes, I use the term Allah to refer to the god of the Qur’an.  While “allah’ is simply the Arabic word for ‘god’ and has been used to refer to any number of deities in the Arabic language for thousands of years – including Arab Christians referring to their God – I am making the distinction between ‘God’ and ‘Allah’ because the context in which I am writing, ‘God’ is most often thought of as the Christian God – the God represented in Jesus Christ – and ‘Allah’ is most often thought of as the God whose voice is found in the Qur’an and whose ideal is expressed in the life of Muhammad.  Anyone who has read the New Testament Gospels and the Qur’an would quickly tell you ‘Allah’ and ‘God’ are as dissimilar as Muhammad and Jesus.  They are not the same and the distinction is important.

At the very end, I will give my concluding thoughts and reflections.

The Primary Message of the Qur’an

The primary message of the Qur’an is that all people should be completely devoted and submitted to Allah alone, believe that Muhammad is His Prophet, pray the prescribed prayers, give the prescribed alms, make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and fight for Allah’s cause.

Allah of the Qur’an

It may surprise some people to read this, but the primary image of Allah in the Qur’an is one of a source of inescapable terror and cruelty.  On almost every page of the Qur’an, the all controlling, all knowing Allah threatens torment and suffering on those who displease him, both in this life, and eternally in the life to come.  Many of these threats are horrifyingly graphic – Allah actively shoving screaming people into the fire, stoking it hotter, and pouring molten liquids over their bodies, faces, and down their throats.  Allah commands his followers to kill, decapitate, crucify, and mutilate those with whom they have religious disagreements.  Allah loves those who fight for his cause and rejects anyone who refuses to fight for him.

From Allah’s perspective there appears to be only two types of people in the world, those who believe him and are faithful and the unbelievers.  The faithful have human worth and value in Allah’s eyes but the unbelievers do not.

While Allah will have mercy on those who repent and submit to him, he doesn’t express compassion for the disbelievers destined for suffering and torment.  Instead, Allah repeatedly expresses rage, hate, and disgust for everyone who doesn’t believe the messages given to Muhammad. The most contemptible people in Allah’s eyes are those who do not believe him.

• “Be mindful of God, for His punishment is severe.” (5:2 Medina)
• “Those who reject faith and deny Our revelations will inhabit the blazing Fire” (5:9 Medina)
• “Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot, or banishment from the land: a terrible disgrace for them in this world and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter.” (5:33 Medina)
• “Cut off the hands of thieves, whether they are man or woman, as punishment for what they have done – a deterrent from God: God is almighty and wise.” (5:38 Medina)
• “Such are those who are damned by their own actions” they will have boiling water to drink and a painful punishment, because they used to defy God. (6:70 Mecca)
• “’I am with you: give the believers firmness; I shall put fear into the hearts of the disbelievers – cut off their heads and all their fingers.’ That was because they opposed God and his Messenger, and if anyone opposes God and His Messenger, God punishes them severely – ‘That is what you get! Taste that!’ – and the torment of the Fire awaits the disbelievers.” (8:12-14 Medina)
• “Know that God is severe in His punishment.” (8:25 Medina)
• “The worst creatures in the sight of God are those who reject Him and will not believe.” (8:55)
• “God has knowledge of everything; control of the heavens and earth belongs to God; He alone gives life and death; you have no ally or helper other than Him.” (9:115-116 Medina)
• “Yet it is not right for all the believers to go out to battle together: from each community, a group should go out to gain understanding of their religion, so that they can teach their people when they return and so that they can guard themselves against evil. You who believe, fight the disbelievers near you and let them find you standing firm: be aware that God is aware of those who are mindful of Him.” (9:122-123 Medina)
• “Those who invent lies about God will not prosper. They may have a little enjoyment in this world, but they will return to Us. Then We shall make them taste severe torment for persisting in blasphemy.” (10:69-70 Mecca)
• “The wretched ones will be in the Fire, sighing and groaning, there to remain for as long as the heavens and the earth endure, unless your Lord wills otherwise: your Lord carries out whatever he wills.” (11:106-107 Mecca)
• “These are the ones who deny their Lord, who will wear iron collars around their necks and be the inhabitants of the Fire, there to remain.” (13:5 Medina)
• “You Prophet will see the guilty on that Day, bound together in fetters, in garments of pitch, faces covered in fire. All will be judged so that God may reward each soul as it deserves: God is swift in his reckoning.” (14:49-50 Mecca)
• “Whenever the fire dies down, We shall make it blaze more fiercely for them. This is what they will get for rejecting Our signs.” (17:97-98 Mecca)
• “Who could be more unjust than someone who makes up lies about God?” (18:15 Mecca)
• “We have prepared a Fire for the wrongdoers that will envelop them from all sides. If they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like molten metal, scalding their faces.  What a terrible drink!  What a painful resting place!” (18:29 Mecca)
• “I shall certainly cut off your alternate hands and feet, then crucify you on the trunks of palm trees. You will know for certain which of us has the fiercer and more lasting punishment.” (20:71 Mecca)
• “There [in Hell] the disbelievers will be groaning piteously.” (21:100 Mecca)
• “Garments of fire will be tailored for those who disbelieve; scalding water will be poured over their heads, melting their insides as well as their skins; there will be iron crooks to restrain them; whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape, they will be pushed back in and told, ‘Taste the suffering of the Fire.’” (22:19-22 Mecca)
• “God controls the outcome of all events.” (22:41 Mecca)
• “The Fire will scorch their faces and their lips will be twisted in pain.” (23:104 Mecca)
• “Who could be more wicked than the person who invents lies about God, or denies the truth when it comes to him?” (29:68 Mecca)
• “When they see the torment, they will fall silent with regret, and We shall put iron collars on the disbelievers’ necks.” (34:33 Mecca)
• “God leaves whoever He will to stray and guides whoever He will.” (35:8 Mecca)
• People in the Garden, or paradise, will be able to look down and see the disbelievers they know suffering in Hell and will feel grateful and glad they are not with them. (37:50-57 Mecca)
• “But those who disbelieved will be told, “When you were called to the faith and rejected it, God’s disgust with you was even greater than the self-disgust you feel today.’” (40:10 Mecca)
• The tree of Zaqqum (an evil tree) will be food for the sinners: hot as molten metal, it boils in their bellies like seething water. ‘Take him! Thrust him into the depths of Hell!  Pour over his head a torment of scalding water!’ ‘Taste this, you powerful respected man! This is what you doubted.’” (44:43-50 Mecca)
• “Those who follow him are firm against disbelievers and tender towards each other.” (48:29 Medina)
• “God truly loves those who fight in solid lines for His cause, like a well-compacted building.” (61:4 Medina)
• “Misfortune can only happen with God’s permission.” (64:11 Medina)

 

Muhammad in the Qur’an

There are really two Muhammads in the Qur’an – a Mecca Muhammad and a Medina Muhammad. In Mecca, Muhammad was one of Allah’s messengers – another in a long line of messengers. As he was told to state in the Mecca sura 46:9, “I am nothing new among God’s messengers.”  In Medina, Muhammad became The Messenger – essentially a god-king to be shown deference and obeyed without question the way Allah is to revered and obeyed.

In Mecca, Muhammad had his first revelation of the Qur’an and from there began sharing whatever he received from Allah first with his relatives then with the rest of the city inhabitants. The majority of Mecca heard Muhammad’s message from Allah with skepticism and contempt.  They accused him of being a liar, a madman, and someone possessed by a demon.

Relations between Muhammad, his burgeoning group of followers and the rest of the inhabitants in Mecca  (primarily polytheists along with some Christians and Jews) went from bad to worse – from ridicule and contempt, to a boycott on Muslim businesses, to an eventual assassination attempt on Muhammad’s life.  Haleem suggests that this could have been because those who were making money off of Mecca being a religious center and pilgrimage site for the polytheistic religions saw Muhammad and his new religion as a threat to their wealth and influence.  The fact that the boycott against Muhammad and his followers was so successful suggests that Islam might not have been such a threat to the polytheistic establishment’s wealth and influence at that time, and therefore not an adequate explanation for the hostilities Muhammad experienced (Haleem, xi).

An alternative explanation for the rift between Muhammad and the majority of the Meccan population is easily seen in the Qur’an – Muhammad was constantly threatening and ridiculing people for their faith – whether polytheistic, Jewish, or Christian.  This is the same kind of behavior that Muhammad and his followers would later persecute and kill people for when they spoke against or ridiculed Allah or His Prophet.

Eventually Muhammad and many of his followers migrated to Medina where the people were more receptive to his message.  Here, Muhammad’s religious, civil, political, and military influence and power continued to grow throughout the remainder of his life and this is reflected in the Qur’an.  In Medina Muhammad goes from a messenger to The Messenger or The Prophet.  Here in the Qur’an, Allah instructs people to “obey God and the Messenger,” without question (4:59, 4:115), to never insult God’s Messenger on pain of agonizing torment (9:61), follow him as a war leader, and afford him special sexual rights (33:50-52).  In sura 48:10, Allah says, “Those who pledge loyalty to you Prophet are actually pledging loyalty to God Himself.”

Muhammad essentially becomes a god-king among his people and is held up as the unquestioned role model for Muslim people.

• “Obey God and the Messenger…If you are in any dispute over any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger.” (4:59 Medina)
• “Whoever obeys God and the Messenger will be among those He has blessed” (4:69 Medina)
• “Whoever obeys the Messenger obeys God” (4:80 Medina)
• “If anyone opposes the Messenger, after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a path other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on his chosen path – We shall burn him in Hell, an evil destination.” (4:115 Medina)
• “Know that one-fifth of your battle gains belong to God and the Messenger, to close relatives and orphans, to the needy and travelers.” (8:41 Medina)
• “An agonizing torment awaits those who insult God’s Messenger. They swear by God in order to please you believers: if they were true believers it would be more fitting for them to please God and His Messenger.  Do they not know that whoever opposes God and His Messenger will go to the Fire of Hell and stay there?  That is a supreme disgrace.” (9:61-63 Medina)
• “Every community is sent a messenger, and when their messenger comes, they will be judged justly; they will not be wronged.” (10:47 Mecca Note: In the Mecca suras Muhammad is often portrayed as a messenger of God in a long line of messengers sent to every generation and community of people. It is in Medina that he becomes The Messenger.)
• “Their recompense for having disbelieved and made fun of My messages and my messengers will be Hell.” (18:106 Mecca)
• “These are the ones who will prosper: whoever obeys God and His Messenger, stands in awe of God, and keeps his duty to Him will be triumphant.” (24:51-52)
• “People, do not regard the Messenger’s summons to you as being like one of you summoning another … and those who go against his order should beware lest a trial afflict them or they receive a painful torment.” (24:63 Medina)
• “The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often.” (33:21 Medina)
• “When God and His Messenger have decided on a matter that concerns them, it is not fitting for any believing man or woman to claim freedom of choice in the matter.” (33:36 Medina)
• “Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives whose bride gift you have paid, and any slaves God has given you through war, and the daughters of your uncles and aunts on your father’s and mother’s side… Also any believing woman who has offered herself to the Prophet waiving any bride-gift and whom the Prophet wishes to wed – this is only for you Prophet and not the rest of the beliers: We know exactly what We have made obligatory for them concerning their wives and slave girls.” (33:50 Medina. Note the special sexual rights afforded to the prophet and the taking and raping of slaves being condoned.)
• “You Prophet are not permitted to take any further wives, nor to exchange the wives you have for others, even if these attract you with their beauty. But this does not apply to your slave-girls: God is watchful over all.” (33:52 Medina. Note: Taking a wife would mean having to pay a bride price.)
• “I am nothing new among God’s messengers.” (46:9 Mecca)
• “Those who pledge loyalty to you Prophet are actually pledging loyalty to God Himself.” (48:10 Medina).

 

Relations with Jews and Christians and other Outsiders

Allah has a very interesting relationship with Jews and Christians.  Allah instructs Muhammad to tell the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), “Say, ‘People of the Book, let us arrive at a statement that is common to us all” we worship God alone, we ascribe no partner to Him, and none of us takes others besides God as lords’” (3:64 Medina) and “Each community has its own direction to which it turns: race to do good deeds and wherever you are, God will bring you together.  God has power to do everything” (2:148 Medina).

If that is where things stopped the Qur’an would have a very unifying, space giving, and peace building message, but it doesn’t.

The Qur’an goes on to accuse any beliefs that Christians or Jews hold that are contrary to the message of the Qur’an as blasphemy and lies about God.  People of the Book should not deny God’s revelations through Muhammad or discourage anyone else from believing. Allah goes on to threaten Jews and Christians with an agonizing torment (4:160-162).  Through Muhammad, Allah tells his followers that Jews are full of treachery and to not become allies with Jews or Christians (5:13, 5:51).  Eventually, through Muhammad, Allah begins commanding his followers to persecute and kill any Jews and Christians who will not convert (9:29).

It is a disturbing movement from, “Hey, we’re all friends and we basically worship the same God and believe basically the same things,” to “You have to stop believing and talking about these things because they are offensive to my beliefs,” to “If you don’t abandon your Jewish or Christian beliefs and practices and become a Muslim, then I’ll make you suffer or die for it.”

Another oddity is that Islam is considered an Abrahamic religion, but the only thing the Qur’an has in common with The Bible (Christianity) and the Tanakh (Judaism) is the reuse of some character names.  The Qur’an tells or retells a number of Biblical stories with character names straight out of the Bible but the Qur’an’s versions of the stories and representation of the characters are never accurate.  Almost every character and their story are written to be proto-Muhammads – messengers of Allah who came before Muhammad to a particular group of people with the same message that Muhammad was given.  Almost every time the people who this proto-Muhammad (“Lot,” “Noah,” “Jesus,” etc.) and his message were sent to rejected the message and the messenger and suffered the consequences for it.  These stories of characters with Biblical names are cautionary tales of not believing and obeying The Prophet.

Abraham is a particularly interesting one, because the pilgrimage to Mecca that is so central in the Qur’an is based on the belief that Abraham went there and established it as a holy site (3:96).  That never happened, not by a long shot, at least not the Abraham in the Bible.

The Qur’an seemingly starts as a message of peace and reconciliation among the Muslims, Jews, and Christians, but it soon turns, threatening, deadly, and bizarre.

• “The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians (a monotheistic religious community) – all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good – will have their rewards from their Lord.” (2:62 Medina, see also 5:69)
• “Each community has its own direction to which it turns: race to do good deeds and wherever you are, God will bring you together. God has power to do everything.” (2:148 Medina)
• “Say, ‘People of the Book, let us arrive at a statement that is common to us all” we worship God alone, we ascribe no partner to Him, and none of us takes others besides God as lords.’” (3:64 Medina)
• “Say, ‘People of the Book, why do you turn the believers away from God’s path and try to make it crooked, when you yourselves should be witnesses to the truth? God is not heedless of anything you do.’” (3:99 Medina)
• “As for those who ignore God and His messengers and want to make a distinction between them, saying, ‘We believe in some but not in others,’ seeking a middle way, they are really disbelievers. We have prepared a humiliating punishment for those who disbelieve.” (4:150-151 Medina)
• “For those of them (Jews) who reject the truth we have prepared an agonizing torment. But those of them who are well grounded in knowledge and have faith to believe in what has been revealed to you [Muhammad]…to them We shall give a great reward.” (4:160-162 Medina)
• “People of the Book, do not go to excess in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God… do not speak of a ‘Trinity’ – stop… God is the one God, He is far above having a son…The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God.” (4:171-172 Medina)
• “You [Prophet] will always find treachery in all but a few of them (Jews). (5:13 Medina)
• “People of the Book, Our Messenger comes to you now, after a break in the sequence of messengers, to make things clear for you.” (5:19 Medina)
• “You who believe, do not take the Jews or Christians as allies” (5:51 Medina)
• “You who believe, if any of you go back on your faith, God will soon replace you with people He loves and who love Him, people who are humble towards the believers, hard on the disbelievers, and who strive in God’s way without fearing anyone’s reproach.” (5:54 Medina)
• The Messiah himself said, ‘Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ If anyone associates others with God, God will forbid them from the Garden, and Hell will be his home.” (5:72 Medina)
• Those people who say that God is the third of three are defying the truth: there is only One God. If they do not stop what they are saying, a painful punishment will afflict those of them who persist.
• “Who does greater wrong than someone who fabricates a lie against God or denies His revelation?” (6:21 Mecca)
• “The worst creatures in the sight of God are those who reject Him and will not believe.” (8:55)
• “Believers, do not take your fathers and brothers as allies if they prefer disbelief to faith.” (9:23 Medina).
• “Fight those People of the Book who do not believe in God and the Last Day, who do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, who do not obey the rule of justice, until they pay the tax (jizya) promptly and agree to submit.” (9:29 Medina)
• “Do not wrong yourselves in these [sacred] months – though you may fight the idolaters at any time, if they first fight you.” (9:36 Medina)
• “Believers, why, when it is said to you, ‘Go and fight in God’s cause,’ do you feel weighted down to the ground? Do you prefer this world to the life to come? How small the enjoyment of this world is, compared with the life to come! If you do not go out and fight, God will punish you severely.” (9:38-39 Medina)
• “Those who deny God’s Revelation and their meeting with Him have no hope of receiving My grace: they will have a grievous torment.” (29:23 Mecca)
• “Though all [The People of the Book] were ordered to do was worship God alone, sincerely devoting their religion to Him as people of true faith, keep up the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, for that is the true religion. Those who disbelieve among the People of the Book and the idolaters will have the Fire of Hell, there to remain.  They are the worst of people.” (98:5-6 Medina)

 

Care for Orphans and the Poor

The concern that Allah has for orphans and the poor is one of the bright spots of the Qur’an.  Through Muhammad, Allah is very insistent that people give financially to look out for the poor, the orphans, and widows.  He is very specific and detailed about looking out for the interest of orphans and warning people who are care takers of their property while they are under age to not take advantage of them.  It is interesting to recognize this while also remembering that Muhammad was orphaned from the time he was six years old.

• “The truly good are those who believe in God and the Last Day, in the angels, the Scripture, and the prophets; who give away some of their wealth, however much they cherish it, to their relatives, to orphans, the needy, travelers and beggars, and to liberate those in bondage; those who keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms; who keep pledges whenever they make them; who are steadfast in misfortune, adversity, and times of danger.” (2:177 Medina)
• “Whatever good things you give should be for your parents, close relatives, orphans, the needy, and travelers. God is well aware of whatever good you do.” (2:215 – Medina)
• “None of you [believers will attain true piety unless you give out of what you cherish: whatever you give, God knows about it very well.” (3:92 Medina)
• “Give orphans their property, do not replace their good things with Bad, and do not consume their property along with your own.”
• “Let those who would fear for the future of their own helpless children, if they were to die, show the same concern for orphans; let them be mindful and speak out for justice.” (4:9 Medina)
• “Know that one-fifth of your battle gains belong to God and the Messenger, to close relatives and orphans, to the needy and travelers.” (8:41 Medina)
• “Alms are meant only for the poor, the needy, those who administer them, those whose hearts need winning over, to free slaves and help those in debt, for God’s cause, and for travelers in need.” (9:60 Medina)
• “Do not kill your children for fear of poverty – We shall provide for them and for you – killing them is a great sin… Do not go near the orphan’s property, except with the best of intentions.” (17:31,34 Mecca)
• “What will explain to you what the steep (righteous) path is? It is to free a slave, to feed at a time of hunger an orphaned relative or a poor person in distress, and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfast compassion.” (90:12-17 Mecca)

 

Torture

As previously mentioned and shown, throughout the Qur’an, Allah is continually threatening unending torture to those that displease him – often in horrifying detail – but there are a several places where he also commands his devoted followers to mutilate and torture people.

• “Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot, or banishment from the land: a terrible disgrace for them in this world and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter.” (5:33 Medina)
• “Cut off the hands of thieves, whether they are man or woman, as punishment for what they have done – a deterrent from God: God is almighty and wise.” (5:38 Medina)
• “’I am with you: give the believers firmness; I shall put fear into the hearts of the disbelievers – cut off their heads and all their fingers.’ That was because they opposed God and his Messenger, and if anyone opposes God and His Messenger, God punishes them severely – ‘That is what you get! Taste that!’ – and the torment of the Fire awaits the disbelievers.” (8:12-14 Medina)

 

War & Religious Killing

The list of quotes included in this section is long because this is a major topic in the Qur’an.  Sometimes Allah commands killing as self-defense or as a reprisal on enemies when believers have been attacked and sometimes killing is commanded in response to persecution. What constitutes persecution is a troublingly ambiguous concept in the Qur’an and therefore defining what exactly requires violent retaliation from one devoted to Allah may be hard to determine.  It appears at times that all that is needed for something to be considered persecution and therefore justification for killing is the existence of a non-Muslim (8:39, 33:60-61).

Based on the Qur’an it is hard to see how fighting and killing are not central to the life of a believer.  On numerous instances Allah says things to the believers like, “Fighting has been ordained for you, though it is hard for you” and “Let those of you who are willing to trade the life of this world for the life to come, fight in God’s way,” and “God has purchased the persons and possessions of the believers in return for the Garden – they fight in God’s way: they kill and are killed” (2:216-217, 4:74, 9:111).  In sura 9:122, Allah tells believers that they should go into battle to gain understanding of their religion. Those who fight for Allah and die are promised a reward and those who run away are promised God’s wrath and the torment of Hell (3:169-170, 8:15-16).

Haleem argues that all the commands for violence in the Qur’an are actually for restrained self-defense.  After reading the Qur’an, this is hard to accept.  Without looking at any other historical sources, it would also be difficult to explain how through the practice of restrained self-defense, Muhammad and his followers were able to launch one of the most rapid and extensive conquests the world has ever seen.   In Haleem’s own words, “The Islamic State stretched by the end of its first century from Spain, across North Africa, to Sind in north-west India.  In later centuries it expanded further still to include large parts of East and West Africa, India, Central and South-East Asia, and parts of China” (xiii).  This alone suggests religiously motivated killing and conquest are a central part of Islam and the teachings of the Qur’an.

Killing also appears to be mandated for those who leave Islam (apostasy) (4:89). This Qur’anic command makes sense why, according to Pew Research, killing people for leaving Islam is still a major issue among Muslims today.

• “Fight in God’s cause against those who fight you, but do not overstep the limits…Kill them whenever you encounter them, and drive them out from where they drove you out, for persecution is more serious than killing. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they fight you there.  If they do fight you [at the Sacred Mosque], kill them – this is what such disbelievers deserve – but if they stop, then God is most forgiving and merciful.  Fight them until there is no more persecution…If they cease hostilities, there can be no [further] hostility, except towards aggressors…So if anyone commits aggression against you, attack him as he attacked you, but be mindful of God, and know that He is with those who are mindful of Him.” (2:190-195)
• “Fighting has been ordained for you, though it is hard for you. You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: God knows and you do not.  They ask you [Prophet] about fighting in the sacred month.  Say, Fighting in that month is a great offense, but to bar others from God’s path, to disbelieve in Him, prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and expel its people, are still greater offences in God’s eyes: persecution is worse than killing.” (2:216-217 Medina)
• “[Prophet], remember when you left your home at dawn to assign battle positions to the believers.” (3:121 Medina)
• “You who believe, do not be like those who disbelieved and said of their brothers who went out on a journey or a raid, ‘If only they had stayed with us they would not have died or been killed,’ for God will make such thoughts a source of anguish in their hearts. It is God who gives life and death; God sees everything you do.” (3:156 Medina)
• “[Prophet], do not think of those who have been killed in God’s way as dead. They are alive with their Lord, well provided for, happy with what God has given them of His favor; rejoicing that for those they have left behind who have yet to join them there is no fear, now will they grieve.” (3:169-170 Medina)
• “Let those of you who are willing to trade the life of this world for the life to come, fight in God’s way. To anyone who fights in God’s way, whether killed or victorious, We shall give a great reward.  Why should you not fight in God’s cause and for those oppressed men, women, and children who cry out, ‘Lord, rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors! By Your grace, give us a protector and give us a helper!’?  The believers fight for God’s cause, while those who reject faith fight for an unjust cause.” (4:74-76 Medina)
• “If they turn [from the faith], then seize and kill them wherever you encounter them. Take none of them as an ally or supporter.” (4:89 Medina)
• “Those believers who stay at home [and don’t go to war], apart from those with an incapacity, are not equal to those who commit themselves and their possessions to striving in God’s way…high ranks conferred by Him, as well as forgiveness, and mercy: God is most forgiving and merciful.” (4:95-96 Medina)
• “We decreed to the Children of Israel that if anyone kills a person – unless in retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land – it is as if he kills all mankind, while if any saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind.” (5:32 Medina)
• “’I am with you: give the believers firmness; I shall put fear into the hearts of the disbelievers – cut off their heads and all their fingers.’ That was because they opposed God and his Messenger, and if anyone opposes God and His Messenger, God punishes them severely – ‘That is what you get! Taste that!’ – and the torment of the Fire awaits the disbelievers.” (8:12-14 Medina)
• Believers, when you meet the disbelievers in battle, never turn your backs on them: if anyone does so on such a day – unless maneuvering to fight or to join a fighting group – he incurs the wrath of God, and Hell will be his home, a wretched destination!” (8:15-16 Medina)
• “[Believers], fight [the disbelievers] until there is no more persecution, and all worship is devoted to God alone.” (8:39 Medina)
• “Know that one-fifth of your battle gains belong to God and the Messenger, to close relatives and orphans, to the needy and travelers.” (8:41 Medina)
• “So enjoy in a good and lawful manner the things you have gained in war and be mindful of God: He is forgiving and merciful.” (8:69 Medina)
• “When the four forbidden months are over, wherever you encounter idolaters, kill them, seize them, besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post; but if they repent, maintain the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, let them go on their way, for God is most forgiving and merciful.” (9:5 Medina. Note: This command is in regards to a group of polytheists with whom the Muslims made a peace treaty, but the polytheists appear to have broken it in some way. The commanded response is to wait till the terms of the treaty are up and then slaughter any who refuse to convert.)
• “If they repent, keep up the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, then they are your brothers in faith: We make the messages clear for people to understand. But if they break their oath after having made an agreement with you and revile your religion, then fight these leaders of disbelief.” (9:11-12 Medina)
• “Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be tough with them. Hell is their final home – an evil destination!  They swear by God that they did not, but they certainly did speak words of defiance and become defiant after having submitted.”  (9:73-74 Medina)
• “So Prophet, if God brings you back to a group of them, who ask you for permission to go out, say, ‘You will never go out and fight an enemy with me: you chose to sit at home the first time, so remain with those who stay behind. Do not hold prayers for them if they die, and do not stand by their graves: they disbelieved in God and His Messenger and died rebellious.” (9:83-84 Medina)
• “God has purchased the persons and possessions of the believers in return for the Garden – they fight in God’s way: they kill and are killed.” (9:111 Medina)
• “Yet it is not right for all the believers to go out to battle together: from each community, a group should go out to gain understanding of their religion, so that they can teach their people when they return and so that they can guard themselves against evil. You who believe, fight the disbelievers near you and let them find you standing firm: be aware that God is aware of those who are mindful of Him.” (9:122-123 Medina)
• “If you believers have to respond to an attack, make your response proportionate, but it is best to stand fast.” (16:126 Mecca. Note: This is an earlier revelation. See notes on Abrogation above.)
• “Those who have been attacked are permitted to take up arms because they have been wronged.” (22:39 Mecca. Note: This is an earlier revelation. See notes on Abrogation above.)
• “The servants of the Lord of Mercy are those who walk humbly on the earth, and who, when aggressive people address them, reply with words of peace.” (25:63-64 Mecca. Note: This is an earlier revelation. See notes on Abrogation above.)
• “If the hypocrites, the sick at heart, and those who spread lies in the city do not desist, We shall rouse you Prophet against them, and then they will only be your neighbors in this city for a short while. They will be rejected.  Wherever they are found, they will be arrested and put to death.” (33:60-61 Medina)
• “God truly loves those who fight in solid lines for His cause, like a well-compacted building.” (61:4 Medina)

 

Women

Through the Qur’an, Allah reveals a subjugating and demeaning view of women.  Husbands are commanded to beat their wives and cut them off sexually if the husbands are afraid of them getting uppity (4:34).  Do any other rights that women might be afforded in the Qur’an matter if someone has the right to beat them?  Can women, particularly married women, be considered free or fully human if someone has the right to beat them?  A wife being cut off sexually by her husband might be considered a joke in another culture, but in the polygamist culture sanctioned by Allah through the Qur’an it is a more serious matter because a husband would likely have other wives or slave-girls to have sex with (4:3, 23:1-7).  This situation is made all the more serious by the ease with which a wife can be divorced, abandoned, and separated from her children if her husband grows tired of her – the children belong to the husband (65:1-7).  Even if the wife has just given birth to her baby, her husband can take the baby from her and kick her out as long as he has abstained from relations with her for the proper period of time (65:1-7).

Other examples of Allah’s prescribed subjugating and demeaning treatment of women through Muhammad include a woman’s word as a witness is only worth half that of a man’s (2:282), a daughter gets half the inheritance of a son (4:3), a woman is only allowed to show her face and hands in public or to strangers (24:30-31), it is a woman’s fault if she is raped or pimped out for profit (24:33), marriage and divorce is permitted to pre-menstrual girls (65:4), it is not considered wrong to rape a slave-girl that you own (23:1-7), and while believing and faithful women will also be admitted to The Garden, or paradise, just like men, one of the rewards of The Garden is to be given beautiful virgin women as partners – not a thoughtful consideration for most women (37:48-49, 44:51-54, 52:20).

Muhammad had multiple wives and slave-girls.

• “Call in two men as witnesses. If two men are not there, then call one man and two women out of those you approve as witnesses, so that if one of the two women should forget the other can remind her.” (2:282 Medina)
• “You may marry whichever women seem good to you, two, three, or four. If you fear that you cannot be equitable to them, then marry only one or a woman you take in battle.” (4:3 Medina)
• “God commands you that a son should have the equivalent share of two daughters.” (4:11 Medina)
• “If you wish to replace one wife with another, do not take back any of her bride-gift, even if you have given her a great amount of gold.” (4:20 Medina)
• If a slave woman is married, you can have sex with her (4:24 Medina)
• “Our Lord! You will truly humiliate those You commit to the fire.” (3:192 Medina)
• “If you fear high-handedness from your wives, remind them of the teachings of God, then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them. If they obey you, you have no right to act against them: God is most high and great.” (4:34 Medina)
• “If a wife fears high-handedness or alienation from her husband, neither of them will be blamed if they come to a peaceful settlement (divorce) for peace is best” (4:128 Medina)
• “For the earthquake of the Last Hour will be a mighty thing; on the Day you see it, every nursing mother will think no more of her baby, every pregnant female will miscarry.” (22:1-2 Mecca. Note: This is so characteristically different than what we see in Jesus, where he is warning about the coming sack of Jerusalem and voices concern and compassion for pregnant women and nursing mothers in Matthew 24 and Luke 21).
• “The faithful have succeeded: those who pray humbly. Who shun frivolity, who pay the prescribed alms, who guard their chastity except with their spouses or their slaves – with these they are not to blame, but those who seek to go beyond this are exceeding the limits.” (23:1-7 Mecca)
• It is permissible for women to only show their faces and hands in public or in front of strangers (24:30-31 Medina)
• “Do not force your slave-girls into prostitution, when they themselves wish to remain honorable, in your quest for the short-term gains of this world, although, if they are forced, God will be forgiving and merciful to them.” (24:33 Medina. Note: this implies that the fault for being pimped out by your owner is the woman’s fault.)
• “Another of His signs is that He created spouses from among yourselves for you to live with in tranquility: He ordained love and kindness between you.” (30:21 Mecca)
• “Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives whose bride gift you have paid, and any slaves God has given you through war, and the daughters of your uncles and aunts on your father’s and mother’s side… Also any believing woman who has offered herself to the Prophet waiving any bride-gift and whom the Prophet wishes to wed – this is only for you Prophet and not the rest of the believers: We know exactly what We have made obligatory for them concerning their wives and slave girls.” (33:50 Medina. Note the special sexual rights afforded to the prophet and the taking and raping of slaves being condoned.)
• “You Prophet are not permitted to take any further wives, nor to exchange the wives you have for others, even if these attract you with their beauty. But this does not apply to your slave-girls: God is watchful over all.” (33:52 Medina. Note: Taking a wife would mean having to pay a bride price.)
• Believing and faithful women will also be admitted to The Garden, or paradise, just like men, however one of the rewards of The Garden is to be given beautiful virgin women as partners. (37:48-49 Mecca. See also 44:51-54 Mecca and 52:20 Mecca)
• Addressing the pagan belief that Allah has daughters. “Now Muhammad, ask the disbelievers: is it true that your Lord has daughters, while they choose sons for themselves? Did We create the angels as females while they were watching?  No indeed!  It is on of their lies when they say, ‘God has begotten.’ How they lie!  Did He truly choose daughters in preference to sons?  What is the matter with you?” (37:149-154 Mecca. Note: According to Haleem, the pagan Arabs were ashamed to have daughters. It appears that Allah feels the same way.)
• “Has He taken daughters for yourself and favored you with sons? When one of them is given news of the birth of a daughter, such as he so readily ascribes to the Lord of Mercy, his face grows dark and he is filled with gloom.” (43:16-17 Mecca)
• Marriage and divorce is permitted to pre-menstrual girls (65:4 Medina)
• Wives can be divorced and set out at will after a prescribed waiting period – left to depend on God alone for their provision, safety, and life. (65:1-3 Medina)
• When a woman is divorced and set out, the children stay with the husband, since they belong to him. Husbands should not set their pregnant wives out until they have given birth and “if they suckle your infants, pay them for it.” (65:6-7 Medina)

Slavery

On several occasions in the Qur’an Allah mentions freeing slaves as an admirable act, but slavery is also condoned throughout the Qur’an and Muhammad kept slaves and likely took slaves in battle.  This is a problem in a book that is seen as Allah’s revealed word meant for all times and all places and it is a troubling practice in a person who is revered as the ultimate role model for how to live.

• “If anyone kills a believer by mistake he must free one Muslim slave and pay compensation to the victim’s relatives, unless they charitably forgo it.” (4:92 Medina)
• “Alms are meant only for the poor, the needy, those who administer them, those whose hearts need winning over, to free slaves and help those in debt, for God’s cause, and for travelers in need.” (9:60)
• “Do not force your slave-girls into prostitution, when they themselves wish to remain honorable, in your quest for the short-term gains of this world, although, if they are forced, God will be forgiving and merciful to them.” (24:33 Medina. Note: this implies that the fault for being pimped out by your owner is the woman’s fault.)
• “Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives whose bride gift you have paid, and any slaves God has given you through war, and the daughters of your uncles and aunts on your father’s and mother’s side… Also any believing woman who has offered herself to the Prophet waiving any bride-gift and whom the Prophet wishes to wed – this is only for you Prophet and not the rest of the believers: We know exactly what We have made obligatory for them concerning their wives and slave girls.” (33:50 Medina. Note the special sexual rights afforded to the prophet and the taking and raping of slaves being condoned.)
• “You Prophet are not permitted to take any further wives, nor to exchange the wives you have for others, even if these attract you with their beauty. But this does not apply to your slave-girls: God is watchful over all.” (33:52 Medina. Note: Taking a wife would mean having to pay a bride price.)
• “[Those right with God] guard their chastity from all but their spouses or their slave-girls… but those whose desires exceed this limit are truly transgressors.” (70:29-31 Mecca)
• “What will explain to you what the steep (righteous) path is? It is to free a slave, to feed at a time of hunger an orphaned relative or a poor person in distress, and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfast compassion.” (90:12-17 Mecca)

Concluding Thoughts & Personal Reflections

1. I was surprised by what I found in the Qur’an. It is a far darker book, with scarier implications for humanity and our world than I had anticipated.
2. The Allah and Muhammad that I found in the Qur’an do not reflect the personality, worldview, ethics, and values of the Muslims that I know. These people seem far more like Jesus in their love, compassion, kindness, and humility than they do like the Allah or Muhammad found in the Qur’an. See Meet a Muslim.
3. I do unfortunately see the Qur’an reflected in the activity of ISIS and BoKo Haram, the governments of Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the customs of many people groups throughout Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
4. I am concerned for people who have grown up repeating these texts over and over and over again, and that this is the only God they know. They don’t know about the God who loves them, loves the outsider, and gave up his very self to save broken people living in a broken world.  Their understanding of what a merciful and forgiving God is like (and what those words mean) would be fundamentally different than that expressed through Jesus.
5. I am struck by the startling difference between Jesus and Muhammad. One came to set the captives free, the other took slaves, one offered up his dignity to serve others, the other used his influence to have others serve him, one died on the cross for other, one put others on crosses, one wins obedience through love and sacrifice, the other demands obedience through terror, one suffered for the good of others, the other made people suffer, one says ‘Come and die,’ the other says, ‘Go and kill,’ one set the stage for the equal treatment of women and the ending of slavery, while the other anchored the subjugation of women and the practice of slavery deeply into the world.  The differences are staggering.
6. I recognize that Christians, including myself, do some pretty bad, pretty un-Jesus-like things sometimes, despite the fact that Jesus is our role model. To me, it seems it would be a lot harder to know and choose the right thing when following a role model who encourages many of the darkest parts of our nature.
7. In the introduction Abdel Haleem says that religious scriptures are notoriously “open to endless interpretation and enlisted to justify all shades of opinion…which can be further complicated with mistranslation” (xxvi). This is true, and after reading the Qur’an this idea makes me nervous because even if I am missing something – and I always have more to learn – the Qur’an is clearly a religious scripture that is particularly susceptible to dangerous interpretations.
   

[Check out an impromptu discussion on this post with Phillip Stokes, PhD – an Assistant Professor of Arabic at the University of Texas]