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Theme Changer

 Topic: Help Me!

 (Read 77090 times)
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  • Help Me!
     OP - February 04, 2014, 08:07 PM

    First I just want to make sure, that I'm not attention-whoring. I'm so close of liberation from this crap but at the same time I feel like there's no hope. And please, don't just say that I have to skip these feelings, because I cannot. Also please don't go to these good, but quite vaque points such as: If God really existed, he would have written this book in every language. Or If these books really spoke about these things it would say it much clearer. I'm not stupid and I understand those points but while they are valid, they still don't overwhelm the idea that what if these translations are just bad and don't grab the essence of the original text. I'm going to doctor tomorrow, so don't worry about my health. Yeezevee; you are nice & funny person, but now is not the time to call muslims rascals.


    So I have been watching alot of videos and read alot of Quran for the last 4 days. I look at it like: "This is
    man-made for sure" but then I also look sceptically towards my own conclusion and look at the muslim explanations. They always have some meaning in the original Arabic that fits the science. I feel like I'm peed in the eye by them but since I don't speak Arabic I cannot know it for sure.
    This is making me crazy and I just want to die  :( But I'm afraid of that too. So do you guys/girls want to help me check these words/sentences/passages/etc. together and check this stuff with me, maybe refute some apologetic Islamic arguments too, so I can come to conclusion? I have watched videos from TheRationalizer and 'TheIslamMiracle's series of debunking the Quran miracles, but I don't know if they actually know anything about Arabic. Yes I know that God should've created the book in every language, but it doesn't give me peace yet.
    Everyones help is allowed but especially Arabic speakers. I don't know what to do with this crap. I honestly feel like I want to kill myself (I'm not gonna do it though) and it's all because of Islam. I have came to conclusion that according to the Quran, but in the quotes are the Islamic answers that seem to make sense:
    1. Earth is created before heavens, then after those comes stars, thus contradicting science.
    Quote
    First, the word translated "then" is the Arabic word "thumma". It can be rendered "Moreover/Furthermore". It is also true that "thumma" can be rendered "then" (as in a subsequent "and").

    Second, the Arabic word for "he turned" can be rendered as "he turned", " he has turned", or "he had turned". The implication being a past action has occured. See "Written Arabic - An Approach to the Basic Structures" by A.F.L. Beeston Chapter 3, note 22.

    So what does this mean with respect to the verses?

    It means that Surah 2:29 may be read as follows:

    He it is Who created for you all that is on the Earth. Furthermore, he had turned to the heaven and had made them into seven heavens.
    In fact if we assume "thumma" means "then", the sentance could potentially be awkward. (i.e. "...then he had turned...")



    2. The Quran doesn't talk about the Big Bang at all.
    Quote
    Quran 21:30 says:
    "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity (ratq), then We separated (fataq) them, and made from water every living thing?  Then will they not believe?"

    The word ratq means; entity, sewn to, joined together, closed up.
    These all circle around something mixed that has seperate (and also distinct) existence, thus fitting the Big Bang theory.
    The word fataq means; We unstitched, We clove them asunder, We separated, We opened, We expanded.
    The growth of a seed from the soil is one example of the verb 'fataq'.


    3. The Quran claims that earth is flat (like a carpet).
    Quote
    Carpet can also be spread on other than absolutely flat surface. Carpet is generally put on a surface, which is not very comfortable to walk on. The Quran describes the earth crust as a carpet, without which human beings would not be able to survive because of the hot, fluid and hostile environment beneath it. The Quran is thus not only logical, it is mentioning a scientific fact that was discovered by geologists centuries later.
    Arabic is rich language and words have many meanings.

    I also understood that the classical Arabic text can mean just as well that the planet earth was pressed and so it is not ball but exactly like it is.

    4 Sun orbits the earth and has setting-place.
    Quote
    The sun and moon rotate on their own axis. The Arabic verb "sabaha" (yasbahuna) in verse 21:33 means rotation on its own axis. The Arabic word "falak" used for planets and planets' movements in Verse 21:33 can mean movement in its own "celestial sphere." Therefore, verse 21:33 establishes the existence of the Sun’s and Moon’s rotation on their own axis or in their "celestial sphere." The moon completes its rotating motion on its own axis at the same time as it orbits around the earth, i.e. 29.5 days, so that it always has the same side facing us. The sun takes roughly 25 days to revolve on its own axis. There are certain differences in its rotation at its equator and poles, but the sun is animated by a rotating motion.

    and also this proves that the word translated 'reach' doesn't mean place but time.
    Quote


    5. Quran doesn't tell anything special, correct or detailed about embryology.
    Quote
    "We created man from an essence of clay, then We placed him as a drop of fluid in a safe place. Then We made that drop of fluid into a clinging form, and then We made that form into a lump of flesh, and We made that lump into bones, and We clothed those bones with flesh, and later We made him into other forms. Glory be to God the best of creators."

    "Then He made his progeny from an extract of water despised."

    1. A semen-drop. The Arabic word sulala means extract thus referrering to sperm which was not know during those times. Educated people during those days didn't understand difference between semen and sperm which Quran clearly understands.
    2. Clinging substance. Alaqa means leech-like which fits very well. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BN8-h37CMAAEGD5.png
    3. Embryonic lump partly formed and partly unformed.

    Such wasn't known to man of that time regardless of education and even less to Muhammad.


    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #1 - February 04, 2014, 08:28 PM

    Why do people think that only translations of Arabic language from the Quran is always wrong, if it contains inaccuracies and immorality? Listen, God himself had said that the Quran is mubeen or clear. You don't need to be a scholar to interpret this-

    4:34 (Y. Ali) Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).

    -www.islamicity.com

    As for the scientific facts and rebuttals of the Islamic apologists, there are plenty here in CEM to tackle it. Believe me just because the conventional translations are wrong in your eyes, that doesn't mean that they are incorrect. And please take it easy. Don't lose your hope just because you are confused. Consider it a part of your journey towards the truth. And best of luck Afro.
  • Help Me!
     Reply #2 - February 04, 2014, 08:42 PM

    Thank you Rubaya, your words were sweet to my senses. I'm so close to cry because I feel like I have no hope but happily I have.
    Could we (CEMB, not just you and me) maybe go through many problems of the Quran in this thread and very carefully examine them beginning from the classical Arabic to textual context and then also how early muslims understood it.
    So let's start from 'Was earth created before heavens according to the Quran?'.
    I love all of you, I don't know where I would be without you  hugs

    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #3 - February 04, 2014, 08:49 PM

    I love all of you, I don't know where I would be without you  hugs

    Same herehugs.
  • Help Me!
     Reply #4 - February 04, 2014, 09:23 PM

    Quote
    They always have some meaning in the original Arabic that fits the science.


    That is not true. They always have a way of making it fit what they think the science is, but very often they get the science wrong. The claim that the quran descibes an egg shaped earth is one such example. This particular claim is propagated by the website Answering-Christianity. A site where some of the other lies above also come from.

    1. Whichever order the quran has the earth and the heavens, it still comes nowhere near to a modern scientific account.

    2. Whoever wrote that has no idea what the big bang is.
    All the quran says is "the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, [and they separated]".
    Hundreds of other creation myths expressed the exact same idea. In our prescientific history, it has been a natural thing for humans to conclude based on their limited observations and limited common sense. To me, that idea looks nothing like the big bang theory, and everything like myth.
    "p.346 "One of the most widespread motifs in creation myths is that of the separation of Heaven (or Sky) and Earth."
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/39813719/Creation-Myths-of-the-World

    3. Earth is spread out like a carpet = the spherical earth has a hot molten core and solid crust?
    i see no connection between these two concepts.

    4. "The Arabic verb "sabaha" (yasbahuna) in verse 21:33 means rotation on its own axis."
    This is the words of Osama Abdullah from Answering-Christianity.
    I would not take a single claim from him without checking it. See if you can find this definition in a dictionary. Then it might be worth addressing.
    Until then, I will assume it is the same as every other definition and claim i have heard from him - a lie.

    5. I dont think 'leech like' is a good description of an embryo. I think any blob can reasonably be compared to any other blob type thing such as a leech. But if you think it is accurate and detailed, then it is still only describing what can plainly be observed by anybody. All that is required is that somebody has seen a miscarriage, or has dissected a body, or butchered a pregnant animal.
    What is impressive about a vague (and debatable) physical description of something that can been seen with no special equipment?


  • Help Me!
     Reply #5 - February 04, 2014, 09:52 PM

    Thank you brother. Though you don't have hot chick as your avatar, I still love you.
    Not trying to sound weird or anything but I honestly love everyone, even those propaganda spreading rascals. When you go as deep as I was 20 minutes ago, you understand how much power others have to make you happy.
    I gave my mother a hug like I was a baby and I almost cried from happiness  Cheesy And now I already see more clearly.
    But could we go through through these claims and then some after them more methodically. Like how exactly the thing went according to science, then the context of the Quran, then checking the Arabic text and then early muslim understanding of these things. So let's go 1st first, shall we? I know it might sound stupid but I think it would help me to relax.

    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #6 - February 04, 2014, 10:05 PM


    1. Earth is created before heavens, then after those comes stars, thus contradicting science.

    First, the word translated "then" is the Arabic word "thumma". It can be rendered "Moreover/Furthermore". It is also true that "thumma" can be rendered "then" (as in a subsequent "and").

    Second, the Arabic word for "he turned" can be rendered as "he turned", " he has turned", or "he had turned". The implication being a past action has occured. See "Written Arabic - An Approach to the Basic Structures" by A.F.L. Beeston Chapter 3, note 22.

    So what does this mean with respect to the verses?

    It means that Surah 2:29 may be read as follows:

    He it is Who created for you all that is on the Earth. Furthermore, he had turned to the heaven and had made them into seven heavens.
    In fact if we assume "thumma" means "then", the sentance could potentially be awkward. (i.e. "...then he had turned...")



    First of all, why does any of this matter?
    Are we trying to ascertain whether this is an error? If so, I don't think there is any point. There is always some other way you can interpret any verse to rescue it from error. The quran ensures of this by being as meaningless as ambiguous as possible.
    You do not need to prove the quran wrong. Muslims need to prove it to be miraculous. Not just correct. Miraculous.

    So now we go on to consider whether this verse has the potential to prove the book to be miraculous.
    If we are really generous, and we accept all of the Muslim's definitions, interpretations and arguments, then at best, the verse got the order of the universe and the earth right. There are only three options to begin with. Either the universe was first; or the Earth was first; or they both happened at the same time. So a genuine idiot who knows nothing, has a 33% of getting the correct answer. Is this the kind of thing that passes for miraculous these days? Well, not for me, and I suggest not for you either.

    So we already know from the outset, that this verse probably cannot 'prove' the quran wrong, and neither can it prove it to be miraculous. So what exactly would we be trying to find out? What can we learn from analysing this verse in more detail?

    You also might like to consider the fact that there is another clue here that the quran is myth.
    "He it is Who created for you all that is on the Earth. Furthermore, he had turned to the heaven and had made them into seven heavens."

    The idea that there are seven heavens is a really common idea found throughout mythology. It is so common, that it has been categorised in the motif index of folk literature as mythological motif number: A651.1.4.
    It was commonly believed that there are seven heavens because from the point of view of a person living in prescientific times, there are seven 'things' in the sky that seem to orbit the earth: The five planets that could be seen at the time, and the sun and the moon. All of these objects 'look like' they orbit the earth, and so that was believed to be the case. Each one in its own celestial sphere, or heaven.

    The fact that the quran refers to seven heavens, just like Irish, Sumatran, and Siberian myths did, is a huge clue that the quran is myth. It is also a huge clue that the quran is geocentric.  Those who pretend that the quran is science would not be able to offer an explanation for 7 heavens that assumes less, and explains more, than the perfectly obvious explanation that the quran is a geocentric creation myth like an other.
  • Help Me!
     Reply #7 - February 04, 2014, 10:11 PM

    Yes, I love it. That is exactly what I meant. Really good point.
    I hadn't even thought in my agony that for goodness' sake even idiot has 33% chance of getting it right.

    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #8 - February 04, 2014, 10:20 PM

    Religion is a set of beliefs. Beliefs are not facts. If the Quran were truly the word of God (presuming that the God really exists) it's meaning would be very clear whether you read it in Arabic or in translation in any language. It's meaning will be clear - there would not be any need for interpretation. It would mean the same to any one who reads it, there would not be any disagreement. The fact that the Quran needs to be interpreted and read in a certain context proves that the Quran is flawed book written by a man or men.

    वासुदैव कुटुम्बकम्
    Entire World is One Family
    سارا سنسار ايک پريوار ہے
  • Help Me!
     Reply #9 - February 04, 2014, 10:34 PM

    1. Thumma mean then, not moreover. Their assertion incorrect.

    2. The earth and the 'heavens' (word just means sky) was never an are not separated. The idea that the sky and earth were conjoined and then broken apart was a common preislamic idea in many a number of middle eastern religions (including the bible). It's not the big bang and it doesn't match up to our current understanding of cosmology.

    3. The earth is not a carpet. The earth's crust might relate to a rolled up carpet around a ball but the quran does not claim that 'only the nearer layer' or what have you. This idea seems to be taken from the flat earth model.

    4. "The Arabic verb "sabaha" (yasbahuna) in verse 21:33 means rotation on its own axis."

    I just took a look at lane's lexicon and it just means swim/float. They even reference both verses with an explanation on pg. 1289.

    5. Embryology stuff: http://embryologyinthequran.blogspot.com/

    Short answer but I hope that helped

  • Help Me!
     Reply #10 - February 05, 2014, 03:23 AM

    Quote
    4. "The Arabic verb "sabaha" (yasbahuna) in verse 21:33 means rotation on its own axis."
    This is the words of Osama Abdullah from Answering-Christianity.
    I would not take a single claim from him without checking it. See if you can find this definition in a dictionary. Then it might be worth addressing.
    Until then, I will assume it is the same as every other definition and claim i have heard from him - a lie.


    The word sabaha/yasbahu means to swim or float, as one would do in water and as the sun and moon appear to be doing across the sky. To imply it has anything to do with rotating on an axis is a complete and unfounded lie.

    Nothing in the Qur’an ever suggests knowledge of the universe beyond what would be available from the point of view of a 7th century desert observer. Ever.

  • Help Me!
     Reply #11 - February 05, 2014, 06:30 AM

    Meet Chuck. Chuck is a Muslim with a degree in physics. Apparently he is a scholar as well. Chuck is asked by one of the people that promoted many of these science claims what he thinks about these claims. Here is what Chuck said.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8e66Vejkw

    He refutes one of the very people who started these miracle claims. He goes off topic to other points about education and the over reliance on authority figures to answer questions. Miracle claims are about proselytizing, put forward by proselytizers not scholars, not scientists, not historian or linguists. He says a lot of insightful points so watch the whole video.

  • Help Me!
     Reply #12 - February 05, 2014, 06:39 AM

    1. Thumma mean then, not moreover. Their assertion incorrect.


    I found this:

    Quote
    أعجبني ما صنعت اليوم
     ثم ما صنعت أمس أعجب

    The translation:

    “What today came up made me amazed
    ‘then’ what yesterday came up was even more amazing”

    I am sure you agree that Thumma (then) in this poem cannot mean sequence because yesterday comes before today not after it.

    Thumma here simply means ‘moreover’ just as ‘then’ in English sometimes imply the same meaning (e.g. I did not have any money, then I did not have my car either).

    In fact there are some experts in the Arabic language that say in applications of Thumma like this, the previous event comes after the later event and this is to emphasize on what is being said (i.e. inviting the attention of the reader/listener).

    Based on this, the Thumma in the verse 41:11 can simply translated as ‘more over’. This means the Almighty after mentioning the creation of earth, says that moreover I also did what I did in creation of heavens.

    As I wrote above, the language of the Qur’an is not a scientific language but a guiding language. For an Arab that hears these verses, mentioning of earth first, makes much sense. This is not only because that is where he resides but also because the description of earth and then the sky above it is very much like the description of a piece of land and the tent above it, which is a very familiar image for an Arab of the time. This most probably had a very nice poetic effect on the mind of the addressees at the time.

    If you still have any doubts about whether the author of the Qur’an knew that heavens were created before earth, then I invite you to look at this verse:

    ءَ أَنتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ  بَنَئهَا
    رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّئهَا
    وَ أَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَ أَخْرَجَ ضحُئهَا
    وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَالِكَ دَحَئهَا

    “Are you the harder to create or the heaven? He made it
    He raised high its height, then put it into a right state
    And He made dark its night and brought out its light
    And the earth, He expanded it after that”
    (79:27-30)

     Please note, unlike the word Thumma, the phrase Ba’da Zalika (بعد ذلک) only has one meaning: “After that”.أعجبني ما صنعت اليوم
     ثم ما صنعت أمس أعجب

    The translation:

    “What today came up made me amazed
    ‘then’ what yesterday came up was even more amazing”

    I am sure you agree that Thumma (then) in this poem cannot mean sequence because yesterday comes before today not after it.

    Thumma here simply means ‘moreover’ just as ‘then’ in English sometimes imply the same meaning (e.g. I did not have any money, then I did not have my car either).

    In fact there are some experts in the Arabic language that say in applications of Thumma like this, the previous event comes after the later event and this is to emphasize on what is being said (i.e. inviting the attention of the reader/listener).

    Based on this, the Thumma in the verse 41:11 can simply translated as ‘more over’. This means the Almighty after mentioning the creation of earth, says that moreover I also did what I did in creation of heavens.

    As I wrote above, the language of the Qur’an is not a scientific language but a guiding language. For an Arab that hears these verses, mentioning of earth first, makes much sense. This is not only because that is where he resides but also because the description of earth and then the sky above it is very much like the description of a piece of land and the tent above it, which is a very familiar image for an Arab of the time. This most probably had a very nice poetic effect on the mind of the addressees at the time.

    If you still have any doubts about whether the author of the Qur’an knew that heavens were created before earth, then I invite you to look at this verse:

    ءَ أَنتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ  بَنَئهَا
    رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّئهَا
    وَ أَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَ أَخْرَجَ ضحُئهَا
    وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَالِكَ دَحَئهَا

    “Are you the harder to create or the heaven? He made it
    He raised high its height, then put it into a right state
    And He made dark its night and brought out its light
    And the earth, He expanded it after that”
    (79:27-30)

     Please note, unlike the word Thumma, the phrase Ba’da Zalika (بعد ذلک) only has one meaning: “After that”.


    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #13 - February 05, 2014, 07:06 AM

    Apply more so to the Quranic description of an embryo. Does "more so" make sense in context. See what you link is taking one word in a certain context and applying this meaning to another context.

    thumma” 

    Then; i.e. afterward, or afterwards, a particle, or conjunction denoting order and delay; mostly used as a conjunction indicating a sequence in line or order to be rendered as then; thereafter; thereupon.

    References:
    An Arabic-English Lexicon, E.W. Lane, volume one, pp. 350 - 352
    The Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an, 1st edition, Abdul Mannan Omar p. 84

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/then

    More so is an incorrect definition. More so is used as a sentence connector and order sequence. "I did not have any money, then I did not have my car either" is a poorly formed sentence.   This sentence is still a sequence as there is a cause, no money, have an effect on something else, car. "I'm paid a generous salary, and then there's the money I've made at the races" This is the proper form as there is no sequence link between these two sources of money. Considering these verses share the same context one can not apply the addition meaning. Also this is using English words and grammar on Arabic. First off this shows that the author has no knowledge of Arabic and a very basic understanding of English. Now English is more worst class but even I can see the issues with this sentence in English and shoehorning foreign grammar into another language.
  • Help Me!
     Reply #14 - February 05, 2014, 08:55 AM

    I wish people would lay this "thumma" issue to rest for good and all.

    If thumma means anything else but "then" or "subsequently", then every Arabic teacher across the world should be fired from their jobs.

    He's no friend to the friendless
    And he's the mother of grief
    There's only sorrow for tomorrow
    Surely life is too brief
  • Help Me!
     Reply #15 - February 05, 2014, 09:35 AM

    I sympathize with you Siunaa, but I wish you could see that this is nothing else than an obsession. I had this obsession myself and eventually Islamic opression swallowed me completely. I believe that you eventually will let this go and not make the same mistakes as I did, but your time can be spent so much more productive and better for you personally.

    You have been partly convinced (even though you yourself perhaps don't think about it or realize it) that you cannot trust your inner moral compass, what is right and wrong according to reason and rational thinking,  and that some ambiguous verses that supposedly supports "scientific claims" are anything to keep your hopes up for a transcendent god named allah.

    First of all, the quran is filled with scientific and historical errors despite apologetic attempts to "explain away" these. Second of all, even though we take these über-ambiguous verses and just accept that they are correct. So what? Greek scientists and philosophers had partly (sometimes even far more superior) come to the same conclusions 1000 years before Mo. And when it all comes down, isn't the actual moral, theological and spiritual content of the quran and hadith far more important than Mo's realization that the heavens were created before earth?

    So what if "thumma" means "subsequently" or not? Do you really support slavery, misogyny and women's subjugation? Do you support the idea of Muslim supremacy (which you cannot escape from if you accept Islamic doctrines).

    I have a daughter, and when I actually sat down and really thought about it (really thought about it, not repeating like a parrot what I was supposed to believe), I could never accept Mo, with his morality and notion of what is good and right, as an absolute authority as he should be viewed according to Islamic aqeedah. Would I marry my daughter off to a deformed and ugly midget (Julaybib) just because Mo felt sorry for him not having someone to fuck and thus "advised" a couple to give their daughter to Julaybib for marriage? Could you ever believe in such a man as a man of god? Just think about it and what that action really means... That is enough, not including far worse incidents and teachings.

    "The healthiest people I know are those who are the first to label themselves fucked up." - three
  • Help Me!
     Reply #16 - February 05, 2014, 09:42 AM

    But could we go through through these claims and then some after them more methodically. Like how exactly the thing went according to science, then the context of the Quran, then checking the Arabic text and then early muslim understanding of these things. So let's go 1st first, shall we? I know it might sound stupid but I think it would help me to relax.



    Think about it this way: Given that Muslims have had the Quran since the 7th and 8th centuries, then how can the scientific miracles discourse account for the fact that for nearly 1400 years no muslim ever noticed, or failed to understand, that these "scientific" insights were immanent in the text, and could have acted as a guide to their scientific researches and study into the way that the world works/is structured; how did Muslims miss out on the obvious civilisational and human benefits that this realisation would have produced?

    How can one account for the fact that in spite of intense Muslim study of the text, the development of linguistic, exegetical and hermeneutic tools for decoding the message where it was obscure, libraries full of works explaining the Quran, a work composed in the natural language of Muslims no less - Arabic -  and for nearly 1400 years Muslims had failed to undersand their own holy book, and it required non-muslims, ignorant of Arabic, Quran and Islamic principles to illuminate the "true" meaning of certain verses?

  • Help Me!
     Reply #17 - February 05, 2014, 09:47 AM

    I wish people would lay this "thumma" issue to rest for good and all.

    If thumma means anything else but "then" or "subsequently", then every Arabic teacher across the world should be fired from their jobs.


    But what about this 'thumma':

    صنعت اليوم
     ثم ما صنعت أمس أعجب

    “What today came up made me amazed
    then’ what yesterday came up was even more amazing”


    Doesn't this prove that thumma doesn't mean 'then'?

    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #18 - February 05, 2014, 10:11 AM

    So what about this? Also how does it mention that we are of the water since majority of us is water.

    Quote
    Quran 21:30 says:
    "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity (ratq), then We separated (fataq) them, and made from water every living thing?  Then will they not believe?"

    The word ratq means; entity, sewn to, joined together, closed up.
    These all circle around something mixed that has seperate (and also distinct) existence, thus fitting the Big Bang theory.
    The word fataq means; We unstitched, We clove them asunder, We separated, We opened, We expanded.
    The growth of a seed from the soil is one example of the verb 'fataq'.


    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #19 - February 05, 2014, 10:24 AM

    I found this:


    that is a great finding  Siunaa Maailmaa .,  let me add that link  here Scientific Error in the Qur'an  by   Abdullah Rahim

    Abdullah Rahim has done a good job at that site  exploring-islam.com


    but I honestly love everyone, even those propaganda spreading rascals............

     Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy..  I too love RASCALS  Siunaa , but I want them grow up

    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim
     
  • Help Me!
     Reply #20 - February 05, 2014, 10:26 AM

    But what about this 'thumma':

    صنعت اليوم
     ثم ما صنعت أمس أعجب

    “What today came up made me amazed
    then’ what yesterday came up was even more amazing”


    Doesn't this prove that thumma doesn't mean 'then'?


    What it proves is that either this poet messed up, or (most likely) he was taking liberties with the language to prove a point. Poets do that. Poetry is not a grammatical reference.

    And doesn't it sound a little bit dodgy to you that a person would use a piece of poetry to try to validate their own interpretation of the Qur'an (which is supposed to be the be-all-end-all of Arabic language)?

    He's no friend to the friendless
    And he's the mother of grief
    There's only sorrow for tomorrow
    Surely life is too brief
  • Help Me!
     Reply #21 - February 05, 2014, 10:46 AM

    Yes, in no other language have I come across that linguists take poetry as a grammatical reference. If we are arguingthat the quran takes poetic liberties in regards with grammar, then there is nothing wrong with this. But don't try to put meaning in a word that doesn't belong there in order to "explain" how a seemingly scientifically incorrect verse is actual "scientific". As someone has already mentioned in other threads, quranic reading is highly subjective and during the history of quranic exegesis people have read these verses mostly at face value. Which of course meant that some Muslim scholars argued that the earth is flat etc etc etc Roll Eyes   

    "The healthiest people I know are those who are the first to label themselves fucked up." - three
  • Help Me!
     Reply #22 - February 05, 2014, 11:33 AM

    Siunaa

    The conception of water as the primary element of creation is very ancient - compare with the Enuma Elish and Genesis, both of which use similar kinds of imagery. The Greek philosopher Thales had posited that all things were created from water back in the early 6th century BCE, a good 1200 years prior to the writing and compilation of the Quran.

    From Sura 21:

    Have not the unbelievers then beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all sewn up, and then We unstitched them and of water fashioned every living thing?

    From  Sura 23:

    We created man of an extraction of clay...

    From Sura 40:

    It is He who created you  of dust, then of a sperm-drop...

    Can you see the inconsistencies? Can you see that some people might indulge in all kinds of linguistic-apologetic contortions to explain away the problem?
  • Help Me!
     Reply #23 - February 05, 2014, 12:52 PM

    Here are passages about earth and possible material whether it's flat or not. These are from literal translation except the first one:

    Quote
    37:7 The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and Lord of the easts.

    Quote
    15:19 And the earth, We have spread it and cast therein firm mountains and caused to grow therein everything well balanced

    Quote
    20:53 The One who made for you the earth as a bed and inserted therein ways and sent down water from the sky...

    Quote
    43:10 The One who made for you the earth as a bed and inserted therein ways so that you may be guided...

    Quote
    50:7 And the earth, We have spread it out and cast therein firm mountains and caused to grow therein every beautiful kind...

    Quote
    71:19-20 And Allah has made you earth an expanse, so that you might go along therein in wide paths.

    Quote
    78:6-7 Have not We made the earth a resting place and the mountains (as) pegs?

    Quote
    79:30-31 And after that (the heavens) He spread the earth and He brought from it, its water and its pasture.


    Does those really even imply that earth is flat? Or just that he made the face of the earth wide so humans have more place to be in?

    I ask many stupid questions frequently.
    I am curious, that's why I ask many questions.
    I am overly curious, that's why I ask stupid questions.
    I lack patience, that's why I ask frequently.
    So forgive me and answer me Smiley
  • Help Me!
     Reply #24 - February 05, 2014, 12:52 PM

    Siunaa

    The conception of water as the primary element of creation is very ancient - compare with the Enuma Elish and Genesis, both of which use similar kinds of imagery. The Greek philosopher Thales had posited that all things were created from water back in the early 6th century BCE, a good 1200 years prior to the writing and compilation of the Quran.
    From Sura 21:

    Have not the unbelievers then beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all sewn up, and then We unstitched them and of water fashioned every living thing?

    From  Sura 23:

    We created man of an extraction of clay...

    From Sura 40:

    It is He who created you  of dust, then of a sperm-drop...
    Can you see the inconsistencies? Can you see that some people might indulge in all kinds of linguistic-apologetic contortions to explain away the problem?

    that is a good one josephus .,  That verse on the water and biology bothered me for a long time until I read Thales. Off course by that time I knew there were serious problems with Quran.   Quran  still bother me  in the sense ((NOT AS WORD OF allah doll))   as an historical document of that time  Question is wo added such so-called scientific statements  in to Quran?

     We know Quran as a document put together way after death of alleged Prophet of Islam.,  There must be some  Christian/Jewish /Greek traveler guy  who knew   the works of Greeks such as Thales and some how these writers of Quran mixed that good old Greek "curious  observation of nature" in to the Quran.  Anyways let me add some links on  Thales work here

    http://home.wlu.edu/~mahonj/Ancient_Philosophers/Thales.htm
    http://www.math.tamu.edu/~dallen/masters/Greek/thales.pdf
    http://www2.palomar.edu/users/jfmartin/Adobe/Knowledge/Thales.pdf
    http://www.robertnowlan.com/pdfs/Thales.pdf
    http://www.fredonia.edu/department/geosciences/chapter3-greeks-fin.pdf


    he was a great guy., If the world  would have noticed his works of  that time and  followed him,  his Scientific works,  His Philosophical  thoughts  and along with his students., By now Human race would have been  living on Mars  and religions/cults/shamans and their shamanism  would have buried under the sand....

    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim
     
  • Help Me!
     Reply #25 - February 05, 2014, 01:00 PM

    how does it mention that we are of the water since majority of us is water.


    I think that would have been evident to just about anyone living in the desert.
  • Help Me!
     Reply #26 - February 05, 2014, 01:02 PM

    Does those really even imply that earth is flat? Or just that he made the face of the earth wide so humans have more place to be in?



    Personally, I don't claim flat earth is an error in the quran, because it is a huge myth that everybody in history believed in a flat earth. The true shape of the earth has been common knowledge for thousands of years.
    There are a number of very simple methods for determining the shape of the earth. The ancient Greeks had already pretty accurately measured it's circumference.
    Instead of looking for an error here, isn't it enough to observe that even if the quran does describe a spherical earth, this is still only knowledge from the time and earlier?

    I am more certain that the quran describes a geocentric universe than a flat earth. If you really want to find errors, then I would investigate the quran's apparent understanding of the orbits of the sun and earth.




  • Help Me!
     Reply #27 - February 05, 2014, 01:03 PM

    Let me tell you, I'm a native Arabic speaker. I've learned to speak and read Arabic and English simultaneously, and I'm pretty good with languages. I was one of the top students in my class in Arabic studies.

    Ancient Arabic is not the amazing language that Muslims make it out to be. In fact, it's not at all practical for daily use. It's outdated, and not very expressive. The language evolved to modern Arabic for a reason. The fact that barely anyone speaks ancient Arabic is a good way for Muslims to make claims about what the words mean, and no one can really refute it.

    The claim that the Quran contained scientific miracles is a recent one. The Quran never gave anyone special knowledge about the universe. It never led the Muslims to a scientific revolution with the vast amount of scientific miracles it's supposed to have. It barely did anyone any good, especially in the science department. It promoted ancient ideas that have been proven to be false, such as the sky being a giant physical dome that will be torn apart on the day of judgement, and the stars being missiles that are used to keep the demons at bay.

    Even as a natively Arabic Muslim, many verses in the Quran bugged me, because they seemed scientifically implausible. Even Arabic speaking Muslims have to make an effort to make sense of it. It only impresses those who make an effort to be impressed.
  • Help Me!
     Reply #28 - February 05, 2014, 01:31 PM

    Quote
    So what about this? Also how does it mention that we are of the water since majority of us is water.


    I think that would have been evident to just about anyone living in the desert.


    Well let us put that verse from  al-Anbiya` 21:30  on the table
    Quote
    Quote
         أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا   
    مِنَ الْمَاءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ   

    Awa lam yara allatheena kafaroo anna alssamawati waal-arda kanata ratqan fafataqnahuma wajaAAalna mina alma-i kulla shay-in hayyin afala yu/minoona


    Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning

    Muhammad Asad: ARE, THEN, they who are bent on denying the truth not aware that the heavens and the earth were [once] one single entity, which We then parted asunder? – and [that] We made out of water every living thing? Will they not, then, [begin to] believe?

    M. M. Pickthall: Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?   

    Shakirl: Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were closed up, but We have opened them; and We have made of water everything living, will they not then believe?   

    Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)l: Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?

    Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)l: Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?

    Dr. Laleh Bakhtiarl: Consider not those who were ungrateful that the heavens and the earth had been interwoven and We unstitched them? And We made every living thing of water. Will they, then, not believe?

    Wahiduddin Khanl:[/u] Do not those who deny the truth see that the heavens and the earth were joined together and that We then split them asunder? And that We have made every living thing out of water? Will they still not believe?

    T.B.Irvingl: Have not those who disbelieve seen how Heaven and Earth were once one solid mass which We ripped apart? We have made every living thing out of water. Will they still not believe?   

    [Al-Muntakhab: Do the infidels who deny Allah not see into the creation of the universe - the heavens and the earth-! Both were one mass and We split them asunder* and We made every living being dependent upon water**. We made it an essential component or constituent of every living cell. Will they -the infidels- not be brought to their senses and realize that there is a Creator!

    [The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition): Did those who reject not see that the heavens and the Earth were one piece and We tore them apart And that We made from the water everything that lives. Will they not believe   

    Abdel Haleeml: Are the disbelievers not aware that the heavens and the earth used to be joined together and that We ripped them apart, that We made every living thing from water? Will they not believe?

    Abdul Majid Daryabadil: Have not these who disbelieve considered that the heavens and the earth were closed up, then We rent them? And We have made of water everything living; will they not then believe?

    Ahmed Alil: Do not these unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were an integrated mass, then We split them and made every living thing from water? Will they not believe even then?   

    Aisha Bewleyl: Do those who are kafir not see that the heavens and the earth were sewn together and then We unstitched them and that We made from water every living thing? So will they not have iman?

    Ali Ünall: Do those who disbelieve ever consider that the heavens and the earth were at first one piece, and then We parted them as separate entities; and that We have made every living thing from water? Will they still not come to believe?

    Ali Quli Qara'il: Have the faithless not regarded that the heavens and the earth were interwoven and We unravelled them, and We made every living thing out of water? Will they not then have faith?   

    Hamid S. Azizl: Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, and We parted them; and We made every living thing from water. Will they then not believe?   

    Muhammad Mahmoud Ghalil: And have not the ones who disbelieved seen that the heavens and the earth were an integrated (mass), then We unseamed them, and of water We have made every living thing? Would they then not believe?'

    Muhammad Sarwarl: Have the unbelievers not ever considered that the heavens and the earth were one piece and that We tore them apart from one another. From water We have created all living things. Will they then have no faith?

    Muhammad Taqi Usmanil: Did the disbelievers not observe that the heavens and the earth were closed, then We opened them? And We created from water every living thing. Would they still not believe?

    Shabbir Ahmedl: Are not the disbelievers willing to consider that the heavens and the earth used to be one solid mass that We exploded into parting (79:30) and We made out of water every living thing? (24:45). Will they not then (some day) believe? (Numerous celestial bodies came into being and started swimming along in their orbits (21:33), (36:40)).

    Syed Vickar Ahamedl: Do the disbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one), before We tore them apart? We made every living thing from water. Then, will they not believe?

    Umm Muhammad (Sahih International) Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?   

    Farook Malikl: [/u] Have not the unbelievers ever considered that the skies and the earth were once one mass, then We split them asunder? And We have created every living thing from water. Will they still not believe?

    Dr. Munir Munsheyl: Do the unbelievers not consider the fact that the heavens and the earth were joined together? We split them asunder! And from water, We created every living being! Do they not believe (that)?

    Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadril: And have the disbelievers not seen that the whole heavenly universe and the earth were (all) joined together as one unit, and then We split them apart? And We originated (the life of) living organism (on earth) from water. So do they not accept faith (even after learning these facts brought forth by the Qur’an)?

    Dr. Kamal Omarl: Have not those who have disbelieved realised that the heavens and the earth were both joined together (as one mass), then We separated the two? And We have made from water every living thing. Will they not then Believe?   

    Talal A. Itani (new translation)l:    Do the disbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were one mass, and We tore them apart? And We made from water every living thing. Will they not believe?

    Bilal Muhammad (2013 Edition): Do the unbelievers fail to see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, before we split them apart? We made every living thing from water. Will they not then believe?

    Maududi: Did the unbelievers (who do not accept the teaching of the Prophet) not realize that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass, then We tore them apart, and We made every living being out of water? Will they, then, not believe (that We created all this)?

    [The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition): Have those who rejected not seen that the heavens and the earth were one piece, so We split them apart? And that We have made from the water everything that lives. Will they not believe?   

    Bijan Moeinian: Are those who have chosen the disbelief not aware of the fact that at the beginning everything in the universe was densely concentrated (so concentrated that could pass through the eye of a needle,) then I exploded it into existence?1 Do they not know that I have created everything living species from the water? What is their excuse now in order to choose the disbelief?   

    Faridul Haque:   Did not the disbelievers observe that the heavens and the earth were together, so We parted them, and we made every living thing from water? So will they not accept faith?

    Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah: Have the unbelievers not seen that the heavens and the earth were sewn up as one (solid) mass, then We unstitched them, and that We made every living thing of water? Will they not believe!   

    Maulana Muhammad Ali: Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were closed up, so We rent them. And We made from water everything living. Will they not then believe?   


    Muhammad Ahmed - Samira: Did those who disbelieved not see that the skies/space and the earth/Planet Earth, they (B) were joined , so We split/ruptured them (B) , and We made/created from the water every thing alive/living, so do they not believe?

    Sher Ali: Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were a closed up-mass, then WE opened them out? And WE made of water every living thing. Will they not then believe?   

    Rashad Khalifa: Do the unbelievers not realize that the heaven and the earth used to be one solid mass that we exploded into existence? And from water we made all living things. Would they believe?   
     
    Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi): Did not the disbelievers observe that the heavens and the earth were together, so We parted them, and we made every living thing from water? So will they not accept faith?

    Amatul Rahman Omar: Do those who disbelieve not see that the heavens and the earth were (once) one mass all closed up, then We rent them apart. And it is from water that We created all life. Will they not believe (in the face of all this).

    Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali: Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece, then We parted them? And We have made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?

    Arthur John Arberry: Have not the unbelievers then beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all sewn up, and then We unstitched them and of water fashioned every living thing? Will they not believe?

    Edward Henry Palmer: Do not those who misbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were both solid, and we burst them asunder; and we made from water every living thing - will they then not believe?

    George Sale: Do not the unbelievers therefore know, that the heavens and the earth were solid, and We clave the same in sunder; and made every living thing of water? Will they not therefore believe?   

    John Medows Rodwell: Do not the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were both a solid mass, and that we clave them asunder, and that by means of water we give life to everything? Will they not then believe?

    N J Dawood : Are the disbelievers unaware that the heavens and the earth were but one solid mass which We tore asunder, and that We made every living thing from water? Will they not have faith?

     
    Sayyid Qutb: Are the unbelievers unaware that the heaven and the earth were once one single entity, which We then parted asunder? We have made out of water every living thing. Will they not, then, believe?

    Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli: Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and We made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe?


    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim
     
  • Help Me!
     Reply #29 - February 05, 2014, 01:36 PM

    Let me tell you, I'm a native Arabic speaker. I've learned to speak and read Arabic and English simultaneously, ...............


      It only impresses those who ..............

    And  That is usually when some one sings Quran such as   Sheikh Qari ‘Abdul-Basit ‘Abdus-Samad (1927–1988)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxQ_jeXVJWc

    and off course many songs, a ton of music  from many countries/cultures/languages impresses me

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLFgbR7A-2g

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbFV07LteXw

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhPIF8PgKs


    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim
     
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