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f) Further examples

Compare what the Quran says in the following verses:

(i) “What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And ever is Allah appreciative and knowing.” (Q 4:147)

(ii) “Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We (Allah) punish until We sent a messenger.” (Q 17:15)

(iii) “[We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers. And ever is Allah exalted in might and wise. (Q 4:165)

(iv) “And for every nation there is a messenger. So when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them in justice, and they will not be wronged” (Q 10:47).

(v) “And most of the people, although you strive [for it], are not believers.” (Q 12:103)

So Allah doesn’t really need to punish people if they are grateful (i) - one must wonder about the coherence of the statement - and he never punishes them until he sends a messenger (ii), and he has sent a messenger to every nation (iv). If Allah wants to save everybody then, there is a very easy way; he should have never sent any messenger. This way people would have an argument (Q 4:165) and Allah wouldn’t punish them, because they have had no warning (Q 17:15), and if Allah knows most of humanity are going to be unbelievers anyway (Q 12:103), isn’t he wasting his time sending messengers?

In a Christian worldview it makes perfect sense to evangelize people, because people are damned by default and they need to be redeemed. But in Islam it makes no sense whatsoever, as people are not damned until they reject the messenger, so why send one?

The Quran also teaches “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (Q 3:85). Therefore all the messengers Allah has sent to people are of no avail. Of course Muslims can easily say that all other messengers were in fact Muslims, but that would destroy the whole foundation of Islam; apart from belief in the Quran, a key requirement for Muslims (enshrined in the shahada or declaration of faith, one of the five pillars of Islam) is to believe in Mohammed, and another is to perform the pilgrimage if physically able (Hajj, another of the five pillars, associated with the life of Mohammed) once in a lifetime. So here are the problems. If a Muslim says that these things are not required to be a Muslim, then we don’t need Mohammad or the Quran. If they are required, then all other nations who have never heard about Mohammad are damned. But they can’t be damned if they follow the messengers sent to them earlier (Q. 10:47); but if they did follow any messenger other than Mohammad, then they are still damned, as Islam is the only accepted religion (Q. 3:85) and they cannot fulfill the requirements established by Mohammed, because they live before him. Confused yet?

In short, the Islamic worldview is extremely incoherent and inconsistent. At this point, Muslims typically come back to me with the prepackaged answer: “You don’t understand Arabic.” Well if I, an Arabic native speaker, who grew up as a Muslim and studied Islam with some highly trained Muslim scholars don’t understand Islam or Arabic, what does that say about the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world who don’t know a word of Arabic? And what does that say about the Quran’s statement “[a]nd indeed, the Quran is the revelation of the Lord of the worlds. The trustworthy spirit has brought it down, upon your heart, [O Muhammad] - that you may be of the warners. In a clear Arabic language” (Q 26:192-196). The same sentiment about the clarity of the “Arabic” Quran is mentioned in the Quran many many times (Q 16:103 -- 41:3 -- 20:13 -- 41:44 -- 13:37 -- 12:2 -- 43:3 -- 42:7 -- 39:28 -- 46:12).

That makes the charge “You don’t know Arabic” rather interesting; either Allah is lying and the Quran isn’t in clear Arabic, or Allah is the best at miscommunication, because whatever he meant by “clear” is anything but that.

There are many more examples of the inability of Islam to provide a stable foundation for knowledge, of its incoherence and of its inconsistency. The more we study what the Islamic worldview is, the more it demonstrates its own folly.