Re: Discussion about "My Ordeal with the Qur'an"
Reply #146 - May 02, 2010, 06:30 PM
Next bit of chapter two. Again not checked it through.
btw I really like the way this guy writes, he is clearly someone who knows the Qur'an and Islam inside out!
Chapter 2 (cont...)
As for the reasons that led me to doubt in the Qur'an, they are because of of it's contradictions, generalisations , popmous rhetoric, and fecetious phrases that have no meaning. The grammatical and stylistic errors that the classical scholars were at their wits end trying to find explanations. And others, both scientific and historical that I consider the Lord of the worlds above making. Just as the Qur'an is full of rhetorical explosive charges , verbal bombs, that create such an extreme uproar that ears almost become deaf but after deep analysis and despite what it contains of sweetness and charm and alluring beauty, it is pale, emaciated, little content, lacking substance, bubbles in the air, radiating beams of light like fireworks, except that they soon extinguish and fall to the ground spent, leaving behind it pitch dark.
It is as though it is a bolt of lightening glistening with fury - then fizzles out and it is as though it never shone
(a line from a poem by Ibn Sina)
Many of the prose of the masters of eloquence (classical literati) and even the doggrel of soothsayers is better - a thousand times - than many of the Qur'an verses that are of nonsensical language, stuffed full of fairy tales, that the Qur'anic commentators - and strangely, amongst them Mu'tazilites - became masters at dealing with and defending.
There remains another matter and it isn't the last. It is the matter of the indictment of the Qur'an upon the Qur'an. For the narrative of the Qur'an is confused - and how confused - for how abundant is the confusion of the Qur'an. "The Almighty" said: "And if this was from other than Allah you would have found a lot of contradiction."
The Qur'an has passed the guilty verdict upon itself! For that which it contains of contradictions goes beyond the limit of 'a lot'. Nay it is the centre of every disparity and contradiction. The amount of disparities and contradictions in any book in the world has never reached the level of the Qur'an. Yet despite this they want us to believe that there is no disparity nor contradiction in the Qur'an. We must ignore the evidence to believe that which does not agree with reason nor with the evidence in the manner of "Believe Allah and disbelieve the stomach of your brother" (Reference to a hadith where someone came to the prophet complaining of his brothers stomach/bowel problem, the prophet said 'give him honey' - but the guy returned saying it has got worse, so the prophet said 'give him honey' this happened twice more - finally the prophet said 'believe Allah and disbelieve the stomach of your brother'.) and if you don't (ignore evidence and reason) then you will see and hear that which will not please you.
Topic: Discussion about "My Ordeal with the Qur'an"