Historical Errors in the Koran 2

The Light Shines in the Darkness...

Theological Errors

The Trinity

In Sura 5:73-75, 116, the Koran states that Christians believe that the Trinity is three gods: the Father, Mary, and Jesus (i.e. father, mother, and son). However, Christians only believe in one God Who is revealed in three persons (i.e. hypostasis, not the same as beings). This is clearly a theological error of what Christians actually believe. In fact, this is so much of a glaring error that Muslim translators mistranslate the passage:

“The words “in a Trinity” are not in the Arabic text. Ali puts it in his translation in an attempt to avoid the rather obvious error that Christians believe in three gods.”

- Robert Morey, The Islamic Invasion (Las Vegas, NV: Christian Scholars Press, 1992), p.153.

Of course, Muslim apologists try to get around this passage by claiming that it is only referring to a heretical sect of Christians who did worship three separate deities. Indeed, the Marianites, who venerated Mary quite fervently, and the Collyridians, who worshipped Mary as a goddess, were in existence in Arabia at that time. However, the Koran addresses Christians in general (i.e. the People of the Book), and the majority Christian sect in Arabia at that time were the Nestorians who were orthodox in regards to the Trinity. In fact, when most Muslims (who don’t know what the doctrine of the Trinity actually teaches) are asked what Christians believe concerning God, they say that Christians (lumped all together) believe in three gods! Most Muslims throughout the centuries have always interpreted these verses to mean that orthodox Christians worship three gods (which we don’t).

Son of God or son of God?

Multiple places in the Koran condemn Christians for saying that Jesus was the son of God (Suras 6:101, 9:30, 19:35, 37:151, etc.), but the odd thing is that the Koran misinterprets the Christian term, ‘Son of God’, to mean that God had sexual intercourse with a woman! Nothing could be further from the truth! Christians have never taught that God had intercourse with Mary, but rather, Mary was conceived by the Spirit of God (which is why she is the Virgin Mary). The title, ‘Son of God’, is always used in a figurative sense to describe the relationship within the one Essence which is God.

Just like the Koran’s Trinity blunder, Muslims try to say that these verses are denouncing heretical Christian groups in Arabia, and yet again, the same kind of response follows. The Koran is denouncing all Christians in general because the verse merely says, “The Christians say…” (Sura 9:30). Furthermore, Islamic apologists can’t get around this by saying that the Koran is denouncing the majority of Christians only in Arabia since the majority of Christians in Arabia were the Nestorians (who were orthodox on this issue). Also, when most Muslims are asked what orthodox Christians believe on this subject, they say that Christians believe that God had a “consort” (Sura 6:101).

Ezra, Son of God?

In Sura 9:30, the Koran states that Jews believe that Ezra is the ‘son of God’ just like the Christian claim for Jesus! Anyone who knows anything about Judaism knows that Jews have never believed that anyone was the ‘son of God’ in the same sense that Christians believe Jesus was. The Concise Dictionary of Islam notes:

“There are many details regarding Judaism which are in variance with Jewish belief.”

-The Concise Dictionary of Islam, ed. Cyril Classe (Stacey Inter., London, 1989, pp.229-230.

Muslims argue (yet again) that this is only referring to some sect of Jews in Yemen who believed that Ezra was the son of God. However, there is no evidence that such a group ever existed, and the Muslim sources can only give a hypothesis that they did. The only record we have of such a claim is from a Muslim source who said that there were some Jews who converted to Islam that had such a belief. The only problem with this is that they had converted to Islam, and thus, they were not Jews! Also, the Koran is obviously referring to Jews in general because it merely says, “The Jews say…” and not “these Jews” or “some Jews” (Sura9:30). The Koran is clearly in error.

Non-crucifixion of Jesus

The Koran states that Jesus was never crucified (Sura 4:157). However, this not only contradicts the Bible but also secular history! We have ancient documents by Christians and pagans recording that the ancient Christians believed that Jesus was crucified for their sins. Of course, Muhammad probably got this belief from the Docetic-Gnostic Gospel of Thomas which also teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross but that an earthly likeness of Him took His place:

“In some cases the “material” which forms the substance of the Quranic narrative, details of the creeds of Christianity and Judaism for example, does not correspond to those religion’s own understanding of their beliefs. This could be said, for example, of the notion of the Trinity found in the Quran, the story of Satan’s refusal to bow down to Adam, the Docetist view of the crucifixion, all of which can be traced to the dogmas of Gnostic sects, which are heretical in relationship to orthodox Christianity and Judaism. The Trinity “seen” in the Quran is not the Trinity of the Apostle’s Creed, or of the Nicene Creed.”

- The Concise Dictionary of Islam, ed. Cyril Classe (Stacey Inter.,London, 1989, p.2.

The only “Christian” group that ever believed that Jesus was not crucified was Gnosticism, and it only denied the crucifixion because it taught that Jesus wasn’t even human! [Also, see the article on the accurate transmission of the Bible.] For more detailed reading on this subject, go here:

www.answering-islam.org/Cross/index.html

Astronomical/Geological/Biological Errors

Stars Thrown at Jinn

There are several places in the Koran which state that God creates shooting stars to throw at evil jinn and devils who are eavesdropping upon heaven (Suras 15:16-18, 37:6-8, 55:33-35, 67:5)! In reality of course, shooting stars (i.e. comets) are large bodies of ice and dust that make repeated trips around our solar system due to the gravitational pull of the sun and the planets. Only the superstitious mind of the 7^th century would think that heaven was physically* up in the stars and that comets would be used to throw at evil spirits peeking into heaven! [*I have no problem with the belief in the Koran and the Bible that people “ascend” into heaven. They go up into a cloud and disappear (i.e. ‘teleport’ or whatever to the heavenly realm; Acts 1:9). Also, I don’t have a problem with the use of looking up to heaven in prayer as imagery of God being above (i.e. sovereign over) the earth. However, I do have a problem with the belief that the heavens (i.e. the stars, planets, etc.) are the same as heaven.]

The Setting and Rising of the Sun

According to Sura 18:86, Dhu’l-Qarneyn traveled until he reached the place where the sun sets, and he found that it set in a muddy spring! He then traveled until he reached the place where the sun rises, and found a people who got scorched due to its close proximity (v. 90). Of course, the obvious error here is that the sun does not set in a muddy spring, and it does not rise from any place on earth! Muhammad obviously got this erroneous information from the pre-Islamic Christian legend, The Romance of Alexander (see the article on the sources of the Koran).

Muslims try to defend the Koran by saying that this is just poetry and that the Koran never meant it to be a statement of historical reality. However, the passage reads just like all the other passages on the Biblical characters and other stories that were meant to be taken literally. Note that its beginning is just like the other stories in the Koran:

“They will ask thee of Dhu’l-Qarneyn. Say: I shall recite unto you a remembrance of him.”

-Sura 18:83

More importantly, Hadiths and early Muslim commentators have interpreted this passage literally: www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/sun_set.html

http://debate.domini.org/newton/spring.html

Mountains as Tent Pegs

In several passages in the Koran, God placed mountains on the earth to act like tent pegs to prevent earthquakes (Suras 16:15, 21:31, and especially 78:6-7). Even Yusuf Ali, the Muslim translator and apologist, translates it this way:

“Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, and the mountains as pegs?”

-Sura 78:6-7

To the person who doesn’t know much about geology, this seems like it would make sense. However, we know that the creation of mountains comes about at places where the earth’s plates collide. The places where these plates meet actually cause earthquakes!

Where Do Semen Emanate From?

According to Sura 86:6-7, male semen proceed from a place “between the backbone and the ribs” during sexual intercourse! Of course, sperm issues from the testicles, not the bowel area. The Muslim attempt to get around this is a giant stretch that clearly twists the original meaning of the passage. The statement in the Koran is completely in line with the biological beliefs of the ancient and medieval world (such as the Greek physician, Hippocrates).

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Some helpful online reading can be found here:

www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/index.html#external

http://debate.domini.org/newton/