From Chapter 12 – Does God Exist? © 2020 by Emory Lynn.
Has God taken the initiative to enter our world, reveal himself and his intentions, and provide guidance for our lives? What revelations and prophecies in the Old Testament, New Testament and/or Qur’an serve as actual evidence that God has done these things, thus verifying that he really exists? We’ve already looked at numerous prophecies/promises/predictions in the Old and New Testaments that failed. Many times historical events did not play out as they were prophesized. In Chapter 2 (Old Testament) we looked at the veracity of God’s revelations to Abraham and Moses and found many problems with their alleged divine origin. In Chapter 3 (New Testament) we saw that some of Jesus’ and Paul’s predictions failed to come true, most notably the imminent return of Christ. Let’s now take a look at some of the revelations Muhammad claimed to have received from the archangel Gabriel and see how believable they are.
In the Introduction to the Haleem English translation of the Qur’an is this explanation of how Muhammad provided “evidence” that he was receiving revelations from Gabriel and not just making it up. Sometimes he would allow others to accompany him in the cave so they could observe and record what he was experiencing:
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 be would fall silent and appear as if his thoughts were far away, his body would become limp as if it were asleep, a humming sound would he heard about him, and sweat would appear on his face, even on 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.
Was this evidence of actual revelations received from Gabriel, or was it rehearsed theatrics aimed to dupe the gullible, or was it the display of an illness, perhaps the ability to self-trigger a temporal lobe epilepsy event (an ailment Muhammad is widely believed to have suffered from)? There is evidence in the Qur’an itself that the revelations were not actually from God. The Qur’an is supposed to be the God’s final word and is supposed to have existed in heaven from eternity past. You would therefore think that parts of the Qur’an would definitely not be written to purposely repeal earlier parts. But according to one source there are 564 abrogations in the Qur’an.15 To abrogate means to repeal, abolish or replace. By far most scholars concede that there are abrogations in the Qur’an and Hadiths. The Qur’an even reveals its policy for making abrogations:
Any revelation We cause to be superseded or forgotten, We replace with something better or similar. (2:106)
When We substitute one revelation for another—and God knows best what he reveals—they say, “You are just making it up,” but most of them have no knowledge. (16:101)
The chronology of the Qur’an is difficult to pin down because chapters are predominantly arranged according to length; even within chapters, verses are not always arranged in chronological order. Because of this and differences in interpretation of scripture, Islamic scholars offer a wide range for the number of abrogations in the Qur’an. However, some should be obvious to anyone:
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 with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve. (2:62)
(Note: Comments in brackets were inserted in the Haleem English translation of the Qur’an for clarification, except for those inserted by this author which are designated with an *.) This verse was obviously replaced by:
If anyone accepts a religion other than [Islam] complete devotion to God, it will not be accepted from him: he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter. (3:85)
There is one verse that has repealed several other verses. It’s called the verse of the sword:
When the [four] forbidden months are over, wherever you encounter the 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)
The forbidden months are the most sacred months in Islam, when offensive war is forbidden. Without abrogation the verse of the sword appears to be in direct conflict with several other verses, such as:
Whoever obeys the Messenger obeys God. If some pay no heed, We have not sent you to be their keeper. (4:80)
When you come across people who speak with scorn about Our revelations, turn away from them until they move on to another topic. If Satan should make you forget, then, when you have remembered, do not sit with those who are doing wrong. (6:68)
Do not give in to the disbelievers and the hypocrites, ignore the harm they cause you and put your trust in God. God is enough to trust. (33:48)
The infamous verse of the sword has enormous relevance to modern Islam. Militant Muslims who endorse terrorism (ISIS, Taliban, al-Qaeda, etc.) take the verse very seriously, assuming that it canceled or abrogated earlier verses promoting peaceful coexistence with non-Muslims. Thankfully most Muslims believe the other verses are still relevant and promote Islam as a religion of peace. This leaves one to wonder how an omnipotent, omniscient and all-good God could be the author of such a confusing and potentially terror-promoting book. Also, one must wonder if Muhammad was deliberately abrogating revelations in order to account for contemporary issues and his ability to confront them. The earliest revelations, written when Muhammad was weak militarily, are the most tolerant and compassionate. As his influence and military strength grew his revelations permitted more aggressive action against non-Muslims. His latest revelations, revealed when Muhammad commanded the military strength to back them up, made killing in the name of God obligatory.
There is a telltale verse in the Qur’an that strongly suggests Muhammad made up revelations to serve his personal agenda. Muslim men were allowed up to four wives (4:3), but Muhammad had many more, and was criticized for it. How did he justify the special privilege for only himself? With this revelation:
Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives whose bride gift you have paid, and any slaves God has assigned to you through war, and the daughters of your uncles and aunts on your father’s and mother’s sides [* first cousins] who migrated with you. 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 … (33:50)
How much sense does it make for scripture, that has supposedly existed for eternity, to contain revelations that applied only to one seventh-century Arabian man who was the very person who delivered the revelations uncorroborated to his fellow Arabians?
A glaring deficiency in the believability of Muhammad’s revelations in the Qur’an is evident in the circular nature of the whole shebang:
- Muhammad is God’s messenger because the Qur’an says so.
- The Qur’an is God’s word because the messenger says so.
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Often prophets had sufficient motives for inventing revelations from God. If Abraham and Moses actually existed, they created theocracies and gained authority over the Hebrews. Moses laid down the laws that would govern Hebrew society, which allowed him to be the governor. To maintain authority and demand adherence to God’s will, Moses several times killed or threatened to kill fellow Hebrews. Moses, without any corroboration, gave God’s will, in the form of the Law of Moses, to the Hebrew people. If the documentary hypothesis (that explains the non-historicity of Abraham’s and Moses’ authorship of any of the Old Testament, discussed in Chapter 2) is correct (it certainly is), then the alleged revelations of Abraham and Moses were written many centuries after the fact, thus severely crippling their credibility.
Revelations are exposed as inventions when erroneous worldviews common to the contemporary culture are perpetuated. For example, the early revelations bearing witness to God’s existence in the Bible and Qur’an are deeply embedded in the context of special creation that is now known conclusively to be untrue. If the God of Abraham exists, he did not reveal himself in the creation accounts of Genesis. Revelations that truly originate from an all-knowing God should provide insight into realities unknown at the time, such as Earth not being the center of the universe. A body of revelation that fails to correct even one of the innumerable erroneous conceptions of physical reality common at the time is a body of revelation that exudes the telltale sign of human fabrication.
Notes:
15. John Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, (Edinburgh University Press, 1990), pp 184-87.
