Islam: Why is the Holy Qur'an so easy to hijack? Part-IV

 

Part-IV Islam: Why is the Holy Qur'an so easy to hijack?

Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst.org

Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV, PDF

I

Introduction

Part-IV focuses on the scribes of Muslim history and the timelines of both, the “wassael-e-sunni” and the “wassael-e-shia”, namely, all the primary Muslim written sources which exist today. Together these comprise less than a handful of earliest primary written works entirely responsible for the state of Muslim dysfunction today. The understanding of the Religion of Islam today simply cannot be divorced from the work of these fallible hands – none of whom are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. Therefore, to gratuitously assert that the Holy Qur'an, a Book “without doubt”, must depend upon these authors' books to explain itself to mankind, is patently absurd. But what is even more absurd is to base aspects of faith upon these books which are not to be found in the Holy Qur'an. That first absurdity is the sine qua non of all other absurdities plaguing the Muslim mind from antiquity to modernity. It begins with theological dispersion into sectarianism, initially appearing harmless unto itself as merely differences of opinion; quickly mutates into serving narrow imperial interests; and culminates in Muslims killing Muslims to advance those same imperial interests. This is the basic continuum of subversion of the Religion of Islam which is common to both antiquity and modernity.

Understanding the dialectical mechanisms of that Machiavellian process – one which has tied such a Gordian knot on the religion of Islam that even fourteen-fifteen centuries later it is still working its miracle in the service of empire – is the driving motivation in this study. However, if the earlier Parts only succeeded in offending the sensibilities of the gentle mind without inducing cognitive dissonance – its main objective – what follows will also only induce a migraine headache instead of metanoia, the key objective of this study.

As was emphatically reasoned previously, every generation has the new opportunity to start afresh – for the natural cyclical process of birth and death can also have a beneficial cleansing effect upon the baggage of legacy. Why should a new generation born into their own times be shackled by what went before? Which is why the Holy Qur'an itself advocates starting afresh for every man and woman rather than remain shackled by the holiness of others who came before:

“That was a people that hath passed away. They shall reap the fruit of what they did, and ye of what ye do! Of their merits there is no question in your case!” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2:134, repeated again for emphasis in 2:141)

When the Holy Qur'an so clearly vouches for that separation from the people who went before without equivocation: “Of their merits there is no question in your case”, then how can it endorse the acceptance of their workmanship for you to follow for your merit? That would create a contradiction!

Indeed, the Holy Qur'an unequivocally confirms that conclusion with the following explicit warning:

“(On the day) when those who were followed disown those who followed (them), and they behold the doom, and all their aims collapse with them. And those who were but followers will say: If a return were possible for us, we would disown them even as they have disowned us. Thus will Allah show them their own deeds as anguish for them, and they will not emerge from the Fire.” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2:166-167)

It must first be acknowledged at the outset that unlike other Messengers and Prophets, for instance Prophet Jesus and Prophet Moses mentioned among the five Great Prophets in the Holy Qur'an, the Prophet of Islam had remarkably succeeded in creating a ruling state in his own lifetime. Despite the rather humble beginnings in 613 A.D. in Medina, the power of the state for officially documenting Islam's first years and its Messenger's teachings had already come into existence during Prophet Muhammad's own lifetime. That's primarily how and why we have the same pristine text of the Holy Qur'an reaching us today some fourteen-fifteen centuries later as was delivered by the Prophet of Islam and sanctioned by his state power. Without state power during the lifetime of the Messenger himself, the Holy Qur'an would possibly have suffered the same fate as Prophet Jesus' Gospel. We can see that even in that case, it took Emperor Constantine's state power of the Roman empire to set what became the New Testament at the First Council of Nicaea in about 325 A.D. And it further took state power of the emerging British empire during the sixteenth century to further fix it into the King James Version that is today the primary source of the English language Bible in Western Christianity. That same state power of Islam which brought us the Holy Qur'an in its exact pristine state such that all Muslims today agree on that fact, was also put to good use for establishing ad hoc political successions and its copious narratives immediately after the death of the Prophet of Islam. State power can obviously cut both ways! And so can narratives. Deriving articles of faith from the narratives of history is always risky business. For any people.

Since there is no mention of any of the temporal rulers who came after the Prophet of Islam in the Holy Qur'an by name, is the Holy Qur'an silent upon such an important existential matter as the Messenger's immediate political succession? Prophet Muhammad, after all, unlike any other Messenger in recorded history who brought a Book, was already an all powerful political ruler when the Holy Qur'an asserted the perfection and completion of its Message in verse 5:3 in 623 A.D. The Messenger died within a few months soon afterwards. Verse 4:59 patently established the existence of some apostolic heirs to whom the Author of the Holy Qur'an had devolved the same command obedience as to the Prophet of Islam. The analysis in this study previously uncovered the logical criterion that such heirs to the Messengership of the Prophet of Islam to act as his successor Exemplars, could only emanate from his Ahlul Bayt. While the fact that the Messenger left apostolic heirs is irrefutable due to the unequivocal declaration of verse 4:59; but that these heirs must be from the Ahlul Bayt is a logical deduction derived from the rest of the Holy Qur'an. Is that deduction principally correct? Can it be logically refuted and the refutation itself stand the acid test of logic from the Holy Qur'an?

Noteworthy here is the uncanny deterministic beauty of the Indeterminates which is always predictable due to the momentous declaration of the Holy Qur'an in verse 3:7. That, Indeterminates tend to take on any meaning the public mind or the pulpit wishes to attribute to them; that, doing so may lead to a false path; that, it is even easy to know that it is a false path if it sows discord among mankind; and that, not all people will understand that point. Therefore, the only rational and final adjudication of Indeterminates, at least for those who do comprehend that point, is by way of empiricism of the Prophet's own explanation. Provided an explanation was given, and also recorded with the same due diligence as the Holy Qur'an for those to come in later times.

After all, the speech of the Messenger, the Speaking Qur'an, the Qur'an-e-Natiq, the Exemplar who “does not err, nor does he go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed,” (Surah An-Najm 53:2-4, see Part-III), commanded the same obligatory obedience for Muslims as the speech of the Author Himself as per the explicit declaration of verse 4:59. Therefore, why should the Messenger's Speech not be accorded the same pristine preservation by Muslim state power after the Messenger's demise as the Holy Qur'an? So the Muslim public mind, too indoctrinated to be skeptical of power, and too lazy to study matters on its own, innocently imagines that the Messenger's acts and speech, just as his life story, are indeed authentically preserved. What's more, of the same exact content as when the Messenger was Exemplifying for his followers in person; sufficiently exact to use fourteen-fifteen centuries later for deriving their religion.

Therefore, it is reasonable to inquire that when a deduction from the Holy Qur'an is singularly logical, is there any empirical evidence from the pen of these scribes to unequivocally adjudicate that logic today?

Specifically, if the Messenger left apostolic heirs to bear the great burden of 4:59, then who are they? And if he did not leave heirs, the Holy Qur'an is falsified for 4:59. Most Muslims would instinctively reject the latter as being repugnant to their religion. Therefore, they are forced to look for the former. By simply asking that right question, Muslims automatically open the doors to understanding the matter for themselves. It is the successful prevention of asking that question throughout history that is remarkable – for the question itself is rather obvious and falls right out of even a simple study of the Holy Qur'an.

The history's scribes have played a most crucial role in documenting, and omitting to document, the reactionary epochs of the first few centuries of the meteoric rise of Islam as a world religion and in fixing the Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an to match that historic rise. It is principally the works of these scribes of history from whence virtually all Muslims, divided into sects and theologies that often violently opposed each other throughout history and continue to do so even today, derive their differentiating understanding of the religion of Islam. Extensive “sharia” systems, i.e., systems of jurisprudence, have evolved along sectarian and partisan boundaries that inevitably anchor their uncommon rulings to what is documented by these early scribes, some of them jurists and scholars themselves. These early scribes carrying the burden of religion upon their backs, sometimes with lashes from state power, and other times in cooperation with state power, followed the same differentiating principle recursively, tracing the genealogy of their own verdicts and narratives to the Prophet of Islam through mostly oral scribes of the earliest period, say the first two centuries of Islam. Generations of these oral scribes became the source material of the first written scribes in subsequent centuries. And it is that latter work which has reached modern times. Therefore, the primary works of these written scribes of history, the sine qua non of sectarianism, is the next focus of forensic examination.

It will be witnessed in what follows that Muslim scholarship at its earliest written sources which have reached us today, while living through the vicissitudes of “imperial mobilizations” of rulers and dynastic empires that soon followed the early succession period, grotesquely suffers from both, historiography by partisans of power, and hagiography by partisans of victims of that power. That is the common characteristic of the primary epistemology in virtually all Muslim scholarship – just as it is in any scholarship of any people emotionally attached to their subject. While such attachments can lend considerable insight denied to outsiders of that time and space, emotions and sympathies, it can also take away some measure of objectivity. That is not to say that outsiders are any more objective. As we have witnessed, that scholarship can just as easily suffer from other psychological cataracts, such as the all too familiar “orientalism” (looking at the East with jaundiced eyes), “occidentalism” (looking at the West with jaundiced eyes), not to forget deliberate demonization, obfuscation, and myth construction with half-truths, quarter-truths, and fundamental lies wrapped in veneers of truth.

Therefore, all history, even in its most pristine narrative form, harbors a germ of falsehood and has to be prudently examined with a forensic eye to improve its reality to myth ratio. Sometimes, a narrative may capture a world of events to accurately express the perception of reality, like Plato's depiction of the trial and defence of Socrates; but it cannot be shown that Socrates ever uttered any of those sentences which Plato attributes to him in his famous trilogy: The Apologia, The Crito and The Phædo, all of which have reference to the trial, imprisonment and death of Socrates. At other times, there are fundamental impediments to capturing the reality as it actually is, rather than as it is perceived – and once again Plato gives a defining example of it in his classic Simile of the Cave in his most seminal book: The Republic.

Here is the fundamental problem. It was first described by this author in his deconstruction of the Zionist conquest of Palestine, in the pamphlet: How to Return to Palestine.

Begin Excerpt

As a practicing engineer – used to examining complex systems in order to build them – turned social scientist, puzzled by this bizarre empiricism of the slaughter of the goy in massive numbers and the systematic destruction of their power-base, with the Jews successively coming out on top after each slaughter-cycle in such a short span, I decided to probe deeper. This paper is the result of my progressively refined research into this question since that very day of infamy, September 11, 2001. Since the day when I had decided to dump all a priori pre-suppositions, and all pied-pipers, and had curled up with William Shirer's Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, and Hitler's Mein Kampf, to attempt to comprehend the Nazi's self-inflicted Operation Canned Goods as a pretext for their war of German Lebensraum. I have, by now, studied countless historical narratives to understand current affairs and empirical matters always cloaked in deception. My comprehension today is layered upon facts uncovered by many a rational, un-afraid detective who has tread this path before me.

But it is not mere facts which create perspectives. Although, no doubt, facts must be built upon in order to be empirical in one's analysis. In an age when:

• “deception is the state of mind and the mind of state”;
• when power decides what is fact and what is recorded as fact in its primary documentation and in the popular Press, which in turn are subsequently used by others down the chain of narrators echoing what was by fiat deemed to be fact, as absolute fact, without being cognizant of that very fact of fiat;
• when the enactment of puppetshows is construed as displaying “facts”, and recorded as such by historians;

facts by themselves are meaningless in such a landscape when “waging war by way of deception” upon the public is the norm rather than the exception.

So, for instance, is it a fact that '19 Muslim Jihadis' rammed hijacked airplanes into two tall buildings bringing both of them down into their own footprint (watch wtc1, wtc2), bringing a third tall building down into its own footprint a few hours later without even hitting it (watch wtc7)? In this example, the scientific observation that three very tall buildings comprising millions of tons of steel exploded into powder and/or collapsed into their own footprint at near free-fall speed, is an unarguable empirical fact. And the only fact. The rest, who dunnit, how it was done, and why it was done, as officially recorded in the current affairs books and the Press, are assertions by the fiat of power using its control of the narrative, i.e., the Mighty Wurlitzer. The official narratives of today are the absolute facts of the historians of tomorrow with no minority report on the official record. Popular dissenting voices of course are merely 'conspiracy theories' (tinyurl.com/Anatomy-Conspiracy-Theory), shortly to be medically diagnosed as victims of delusions suffering from mental illnesses for which medical and legal groundwork is now being laid.

As George Orwell shrewdly but accurately observed in the opening of his seminal prognostications in “1984”:

“Who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present, controls the past”

Therefore, empirically, control of the narrative of history, as of current affairs, has been the imperative of all empires. It is a tool as old as hegemony, as old as mankind. Only fools, and imperial scholars in the service of empire, regardless of their garb, ignore it.

Ergo, it follows that the purported facts of history, as well as of current affairs, have to be treated as being more akin to clues, at times false clues and red herrings as in a crime scene, rather than as statements of fact. Therefore, the most rational model for understanding history and its linkages to current affairs, is the forensic one. Like the forensic eye of a crime detective, such as Agatha Christie's famous character Hercule Poirot, pondering upon the interconnections of clues, statements of purported eyewitnesses, drawing deductions, making logical inferences, and using new methods for uncovering unknown clues not visible to the naked eye in the visible light spectrum, such as employing ultraviolet and infrared regions of the spectrum to see what the naked eye can't perceive – all part and parcel of the forensics employed for apprehending a convoluted crime, solving a puzzle.

Thus, studying history and current affairs is like studying a crime scene or solving a puzzle. Its path is almost like the weaving of the many horizontal and vertical threads on a loom to fashion a carpet, or knit a Jacquard. That fashions a perspective from the underlying clues borne of empiricism. Weaving many perspectives from the same empirical elements, just like weaving many carpets from the same colored threads, is possible. And just like some detectives are plain wrong, and one right in identifying the real criminal, the same challenges beset the study of history. To find that right one master criminal, or the right perspective which explains the engagement of power and its narrative, surrounded tous azimuth by an endless trail of false clues, patsies taking the fall, and lies turned into sacred truths.

To the extent that a perspective is empirical, cohesive, is able to coherently resolve the riddles of power and its infestations of the mind, it cannot be refuted by mere assertions, threats, and calumny. It can stand in a court of law on its own merit, provided of course, it isn't a kangaroo court administering the sovereign's justice, a Military Tribunal administering the victor's justice, or a tournament of justice run by the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.

End Excerpt

We can easily appreciate from the preceding analysis of historiography that conclusions derived from the records of history must always remain tentative; subject to refinement – for history can just as much lie as it can tell the truth. But even that truth, when history does factually convey it, is often merely a chronicle of visible events, dates and places, who came into and out of power when, which battles were fought and won, speeches that were handed down, etc. It is almost always devoid of any examination of the hidden forces and invisible motivations that shaped those events, sometimes near, sometimes far, and sometimes disparate. There is obviously never an examination of history as a crime scene. Sometimes, truth from fiction is as indiscernible for history as it is for current affairs. GIGO epistemology straightforwardly ensures that outcome – garbage of current affairs manufactured by the Mighty Wurlitzer (see tinyurl.com/MightyWurlitzer) becomes the veritable records of history for future generations to examine as “truths”.

We can even experience that for ourselves today in how myths masquerade as truth from all pulpits in the service of power. What makes the past pulpits any more holier, any more different? It is the same God now as was then. The same gods too. And the same man, as well as the same superman.

Ergo, if today we see deceit with our own eyes in the inflection of power and its narratives, it is foolish to expect that the past was any different. The fact is that it isn't any different. To assert exceptionalism that it is some how different when it comes to Muslims, that these ancient scholars and scribes were extra holy, immune to human tendencies empirically understood today from the many disciplines of social sciences – from psychology to sociology, from psychological warfare to the banality of evil – and that these past scribes left a veritable trail of guidance which should be followed by future generations, contradicts the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an itself. See verses 2:134, and 2:166--167 of Surah Al-Baqara quoted above.

Which is also why every sensible Muslim scholarship today, virtually across all sects, does not treat the works of these ancient Muslim scribes as being as authentic as the Holy Qur'an. The problem is that it almost universally also treats many of these works as being only slightly less authentic than the Holy Qur'an! While the Holy Qur'an is the foundation of faith for Muslims, history too has been parsed on the yardstick of faith more than on the yardstick of intellectual rigor, to create a severely crippled epistemology. The tragedy is that Muslim faith is based more on that crippled epistemology than on the Determinates of the Holy Qur'an itself.

The primary written scribes and scholars of Muslim history did indeed develop some reasonable rejection criterion to filter out the preceding epochs' historical noise when chronicling facts and events – material which patently conflicted with the Holy Qur'an, or the empirical reality, and thus was just too easily falsified because of it as more myth than historical reality – in sound historical scholarship. However, these very same holy scribes of “Islam” also found imaginative ways of filling in the many Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an with the most atrocious and absurd acceptance criterion deemed to be “signals”, in totally bogus penmanship. By modern standards these cannot stand up to any rigorous intellectual scrutiny. Today we'd call such scholarship “hearsay”, i.e., “he said, she said”. An entire pious industry got developed on hearsay with specious rules to confer some legitimacy to quackery. Were the same processes applied today to any other matter, or as rules of evidence in legal court to understand a crime, it would be dismissed as nothing but hearsay; quackery wearing the pious robe of faith. Concatenated with the holy works of successive generations of even more imaginative Arab, Persian, and Indian subcontinental scribes incestuously employing GIGO epistemology (i.e., Garbage-In Garbage-Out) on these handful of earliest written sources, these together succeeded in inducing the cognitive and spiritual infiltration of the religion of Islam.

It is that first historical noise and rulership precedents harvested due to the Indeterminates in the name of religion, and subsequently amplified in every age according to each epoch's natural proclivity to perpetuate their own socialization biases and self-interests, which has continually shackled the understanding of the religion of Islam into the “foolish nonsense” the Holy Qur'an vouches:

'Then the Messenger will say: “O my Lord! Truly my people took this Qur'an for just foolish nonsense.”' (Surah Al-Furqaan, 25:30 )

A useful backdrop to cradle the examination of these works of fallible minds and hands is to simultaneously conduct a rational thought experiment: If all these primary written books were to get suddenly wiped off from the face of existence by a magical hand, what understanding of the religion of Islam would be left behind for mankind? That understanding is principally what is being taught by the Author of the Holy Qur'an in His Book to all succeeding generations after the epoch of the Prophet of Islam.

Since the Author did not mandate the existence of these primary written works in the Holy Qur'an when He asserted that He perfected the religion of Islam: “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (Surah Al-Maeda 5:3), these books of fallible minds and hands are therefore irrelevant to the Author of the Holy Qur'an. What the Author of the Holy Qur'an deems irrelevant, the enlightened Muslim mind cannot justify as relevant. Only the perversely indoctrinated mind naturally gravitates towards the absurd, unable to see the absurdity of arguing against the Book which it also believes as the untampered word of God!

At the same time, another useful backdrop to keep in mind are the discoveries made previously in this study: that indeed, while the Author did not mandate the existence of these books written by fallible hands in the Holy Qur'an, He mandated two things to the people of the time which are not further documented in the Holy Qur'an: “O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you.” (Surah an-Nisaa' 4:59). To obey the Messenger means to follow his directives as the Exemplar of the Holy Qur'an, and the same meaning for “those charged with authority among you”. Furthermore, verse 5:35 of Surah Al-Maeda stated the requirement of seeking ( الْوَسِيلَةَ ) categorically, unbounded by time and space, even if the “Wasilah” itself is unspecified in the verse. But since the Author deliberately chose not to record their Exemplariness, their decisions and directives in the Holy Qur'an, it follows that their Exemplariness, and their decisions and directives, could arguably only have been pertinent for the peoples living in the respective epochs of the Messenger and “those charged with authority among you”. That is because the public already knew who was meant – but we no longer know without resorting to the fallible and partisan scribes of history. That sensible inference is of course tempered and even discouraged by the categorical statement of 5:35 as previously examined.

However, if only for a moment, we entertain the aforementioned thought experiment, we suddenly observe that remarkably, both shia and sunni differentiation immediately goes away. Obviously this is only a thought experiment and not about to transpire in the real world, but it lends clarity to the matter as to the primary source of sectarian schism among the sects. Once that seed was planted millennia ago by the Holy Qur'an itself, the natural outcome with the passage of time is the mushrooming divergence into all sorts of beliefs and practices that is simply not in the Holy Qur'an. At least, not in the Holy Qur'an that is completed to perfection by the verse 5:3. And that Holy Qur'an is deliberately ambiguous on many fronts as the Indeterminates already examined in Part-II.

With the aforementioned thought experiment at the back of one's mind, the proportionate significance of these primary written books potentially rematerializes. These primary works, commentaries upon these primary works, and commentaries upon commentaries ad infinitum, no longer define articles, expositions and prescriptions of faith that is narrated by fallible minds and hands. Rather, this historical legacy is now treated as the revealing and well documented history of a people who rose to political power from the pagan sands of Arabia under the leadership of a monotheistic Prophet, and who dominated the affairs of the known world for nearly a millennia through several empires that ruled in the name of the religion brought by their Prophet.

In that rational and commonsensical perspective, these historical narratives and commentaries, compilation of prayers and invocations, and wisdom taught through parables and anecdotes, can finally be studied and benefitted from accordingly, as a treasure trove of Muslim heritage like any other peoples' heritage: an amalgam of officialdom, reportage, recording of prior events often carried by word of mouth for generations, narratives explaining those events, folklore, myths, fiction, half truths, quarter truths, and grains of truth sprinkled in the mix as veritable statements of empirical fact.

That is how history principally is --- a narrative --- the professional pulpits' self-serving endeavors throughout the ages to extract divine interpretations out of it to administer a fossilized religion to the public notwithstanding.

This thought experiment is just something to keep at the back of one's mind while perusing what follows. It lends useful perspective that, just as the Muslim mind imputes these same considerations to the compilation of the Bible for instance, that perhaps their own hagiographic historiography ought to be subjected to that same yardstick. If the Muslim pulpit has a problem with the Bible introducing the alien concept of Trinity from Islam's point of view, what egotistical considerations of godly exceptionalism prevents it from reflecting on what, and how much, could have infiltrated into the religion of Islam's own theology in the guise of pious penmanship of holy scribes? The entire domain of eschatology, the domain of savior, the domain of statements attributed to the Prophet of Islam that he might never have made, are all in this category. Conversely, the statements made by the Prophet of Islam as its Exemplar and not recorded due to political considerations, or distorted, or not emphasized to their contextual significance, are also in the same category. No religion may be extracted from that compendium of what is --- to claim its station holier than the Bible! When one has the Holy Qur'an, why would a Muslim mind reach for its bible version – except just out of curiosity or to inform oneself of the rich heritage?

It is for the Muslim mind to adjudicate how much it is willing to be controlled by its socialization biases by birth, how much by incestuously self-reinforcing GIGO epistemology of its pulpits, and how much by the empirical understanding before it using that magnificent mind itself to adjudicate matters.

Since most people are just ordinary human beings and not the ever logical and all rational Mr. Spock of Part-II, perhaps they don't wish to be rational, logical, and all left-brained; perhaps our emotional makeup is what primarily defines our existence for many of us. If that wasn't the case at least to some extent, there'd hardly be any reason to believe in the Unseen in the first place which requires far more than logical empiricism to apprehend. The Author of the Holy Qur'an clearly understands that fact about human beings. After all, He does indeed claim in His Book that it is “A Revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.” (56:80); and that it is He Who Fashioned man:

“He Who has made everything which He has created most good: He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay, (32:07)	ٱلَّذِىٓ أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ خَلَقَهُۥ ۖ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنِ مِن طِينٍ
And made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised: (32:08)	ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُۥ مِن سُلَٰلَةٍ مِّن مَّآءٍ مَّهِينٍ
But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give!” (Surah As-Sajdah 32:09)	ثُمَّ سَوَّىٰهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِهِۦ ۖ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

Caption Surah As-Sajdah verses 32:7-9 declaring that the Author of the Holy Qur'an fashioned man in due proportion (and not as a random event)

Therefore, when “He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding)”, He surely must also Know the psychological bent of every human mind, borne of its natural socialization and cultural programming due to being born in a specific nation and specific tribe. The Author therefore also Knows the “fitrat”, i.e., nature, of every man, specifically, what he is susceptible to. Only because of the empirical fact of natural socialization by birth, that the Author of the Holy Qur'an strongly Countenances the pursuit of: فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ , instead of theological upmanship, clearly predicting that the human mind that He Fashioned, and that He Knows well, will face grave difficulty overcoming its natural programming without expending considerable striving.

Therefore, those unable to fully indulge in such strenuous mental (and spiritual) effort should instead be guided on the following Determinate path rather than embark on some self-appointed la mission civilisatrice:

“If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.” (Surah Al-Maeda, verse fragment 5:48)

One can decide for oneself what one is now, and rather strive to be: a programmed robot unable to reason beyond the worldview inherited, meaning 98% of the Muslim mind; or trenchantly able to confront that programming by reasoning just one single step beyond?

In the first case, the path is clear:

• Strive to implement verse 5:48 of Surah Al-Maeda without taxing one's mind, imagination, and emotional makeup too much. One may stay happily attached to one's own sect (by birth or by inclination), fiqh, books, and set of beliefs, and instead, focus on pursuing فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ in this life in relationship to others. Let the Afterlife take care of its own – and should one disagree with others in matters of faith: “it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.” That does not mean to dig up one's favored interpretation from the Holy Qur'an to condemn others, but rather, to build consensus on the common Determinates of the Holy Qur'an and leave the Indeterminates to people as their own choice. But do keep in mind the Author's promise that one shall be raised with the Imam one followed: “One day We shall call together all human beings with their (respective) Imams” ( يَوْمَ نَدْعُو كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ ) (Surah al-Israa' 17:71). The word “Imam” according to The Arabic-English dictionary of the Holy Qur'an in this scribe's reference is defined as: “Leader; President; Any object that is followed, whether a human being or a book or a highway”. The “imam” one follows is obviously one's choice. Permit the same right to choice to others without passing judgment, and suddenly, for the vast majority of Muslim public divided into sectarianism from birth, we get one hundred different self-righteous sects able to live peaceably with each other, accommodating each other, and competing with each other “as in a race in all virtues.” Surely the Biblical follower would be looking at this remarkable religion of Islam with some envy – given the burden put upon the poor Crusading soldier to go save everyone's soul in order to save his own! In Islam, worry about your own soul. Obviously, this commonsense has never transpired among any people, and is surely not about to transpire among Muslims either – left to their own devices. See the Path Forward in Part-III.

In the second case the journey is more strenuous:

• One surely can get out of one's own shoes and endeavor to look at one's own epistemology with the same measure of objectivity that one employs to condemn others'. This new path does require expending strenuous mental activity. Firstly, in becoming cognizant of one's own socialization and perception biases. That requires a heightened degree of self-awareness, an acute penchant for intellectual honesty, and an intellect that is able to bear witness against its own self and its heroes. Such an intellect is not born pre-built anymore than a child is born with its clothes on. It has to be developed and sharpened on the anvil of ego suppression in an honest search for truth, especially for the objective study of any matter that one is emotionally attached to. Only with an intellect that soars on Mt. Fuji in purposeful honesty, can one put the necessary scrutinizing filters on to cancel out one's socialization biases in order to create some detachment between the subject under study and the observer. It is a road much less traveled by the Muslim mind – scholar and laity alike – perpetually weaned on the scholarship of incestuous self-reinforcement. But it may serendipitously take one to wherever it will:

'I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.'
(The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)

Only the journey of a people on that road not taken can eventually lead to the fulfillment of the divine prayer: “Our Lord! make of us Muslims, bowing to Thy (Will), and of our progeny a Muslim nation, bowing to Thy (will);” (2:128) --- for all the roads taken obviously have not!

We begin next with the timeline of all the known primary written works of Muslim history in existence. Let the evidence speak for itself.

Continued in Part-V

Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/Hijacking-Quran-pt4

Source URL: http://faith-humanbeingsfirst.blogspot.com/2011/08/islam-why-is-quran-easy-to-hijack-pt4.html

Alternate URL: http://print-humanbeingsfirst.blogspot.com/2011/08/islam-why-is-quran-easy-to-hijack-pt4.html

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Source PDF: http://humanbeingsfirst.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/islam-why-is-quran-easy-to-hijack-pt4-by-zahir-ebrahim.pdf

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The author, an ordinary researcher and writer on contemporary geopolitics, a minor justice activist, grew up in Pakistan, studied EECS at MIT, engineered for a while in high-tech Silicon Valley ( http://tinyurl.com/zahir-patents ), and retired early to pursue other responsible interests. His maiden 2003 book was rejected by numerous publishers and can be read on the web at http://PrisonersoftheCave.org. He may be reached at http://Humanbeingsfirst.org. Verbatim reproduction license at http://humanbeingsfirst.org#Copyright.

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First Published Friday, August 19, 2011, 19th day of Ramadan in the US, Muslim year 1432 | Last Revised February 2013 (Material which was previously in Part-II revised and expanded into this Part-IV)

Last Updated 02/11/2013 12:10:17 am 6364

Part-IV Islam: Why is the Holy Qur'an so easy to hijack? 14/14

Islam: Why is the Holy Qur'an so easy to hijack? Part-III

 

Part-III Islam: Why is the Holy Qur'an so easy to hijack?

Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst.org

Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV, PDF

I

Continuing seamlessly from where Part-II left off, Mr. Spock probes deeper into the question guiding this inquiry using his new nomenclature: Determinate and Indeterminate. The key question guiding this inquiry is restated:

What are the inherent impediments for studying the message of the Holy Qur'an which make the Book so amenable to self-serving interpretation, socialization, and even bastardization by anyone?

The purpose in Part-III is to illustrate the inherent difficulties in comprehending the Speech of the Author of the Holy Qur'an due to its Indeterminates, and how to even begin to decipher the Message by logical reasoning from the Holy Qur'an itself without resorting to any outside sources, and without resorting to speculation and baseless interpretation that fly in the face of the prima facie meaning of the verses. Technically, this process of reasoning from the Holy Qur'an is sometimes referred to as “tawil” ( تَأْوِيلِهِ ). And just like there is poor scholarship and outstanding scholarship, there is also poor “tawil” which indulges in baseless speculation and self-serving interpretation of the metaphorical verses ( آيَاتٌ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ ) and even the categorical verses ( آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ ), and outstanding non speculative “tawil” which confines itself to the logical reasoning based on the prima facie meaning of the verses as demonstrated by Mr. Spock. It is mandated by the Holy Qur'an itself to the “men of understanding” ( أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ ) in Surah Aal-'Imran 3:7 for correctly deciphering the Determinates of its Divine Guidance System. Mr. Spock will discover to what extent can that logical reasoning process of deciphering the Holy Qur'an take the inquiry after which matters become patently Indeterminate, and what sensible lessons may be drawn from this conspicuous limitation of the Divine Book that continually plagues all those among mankind who are not the “Ar-Rasikhoon-fil-ilm” ( الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ ) referenced in the Holy Qur'an (3:7, 4:162).

The focus of exposition continues to remain the exploration of verses that have fueled sectarianism. The text draws on Part-II when making reference to verses already quoted, with the phrase “quoted above”.

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II

Sociological factors and contextless verses

Being a well-traveled science officer aboard the Starship Enterprise and having visited many different worlds and civilizations in their differing stages of sociological development throughout the traversable universe, Mr. Spock is well aware that the general knowledge of history and other sociological material can always lend some context to any matter when it pertains to living creatures.

But Spock is also well aware from the blood-drenched history of early civilizations that history is typically written by the victors of history. Only the works of those scribes typically survive in the libraries or in the cultural memory of the majority of the people, who either echo, or don't challenge, the core-axioms of the victors. All narratives consequently harbor a germ of untruth and falsehood in them even when they appear to narrate honestly, due to ingrained biases, vested interests, loyalties, infidelities, and other psychologically and sociologically induced tendencies of the living authors. (This is explored in more depth in Part-IV.) Mr. Spock also well understood that this characteristic was common to most if not all species in the universe he had visited. Even the history of his own planet, despite being all logic and event based, was not devoid of falsehoods and power-plays of hidden motivations of his peoples – for good and evil are merely tools for the superior intellect to achieve its end. Whether an end is noble or not is merely the moralizing semantics put on it by those who wish to see matters in that light. Whereas, in reality, these have no a priori moral and spiritual bounds put on them by creatures who lack the right-half brain function to feel, to empathize, and to moralize. (See Morality derived from the Intellect leads to Enslavement!)

In addition, human beings especially, are among the most subjective and highly malleable of cognitive creatures. Mr. Spock well knows after his lifelong sojourn among them that it is the race of mankind, more than any other cognitive race in the vast expanse of the universe, that most naturally espouses irrational feelings, uncalled for emotions, loves, hates, anxieties, fears, wants, sense of belonging, and are often driven by hidden subconscious motivations of which they themselves remain cognitively unaware of. These psychological forces and innate proclivity towards partisanship, tribalism, ethnocentrism, and ideological alliance shared with relevant political community, etc., naturally color their perception of events, epochs, and history which they record as its scholars, no differently than those who sanction or orchestrate those events, epochs, and history as the “history's actors”. No scientist, historian, sociological commentator and scholar is immune from these psychological forces.

Its undesirable consequence to accurate scholarship is that myths and falsehoods get easily amplified with successive generation of historians just as much as unpopular truths get easily attenuated. The truth of these words is beyond doubt. It is in fact self-evident. It can be witnessed in the scholarship of any people and any civilization among mankind. Just the straightforward observation that heroes of one civilization often turn out to be the villains of another, and vice versa, is sufficient to create caution in the mind of the non dogmatic student of both history and current affairs that even the most scholarly narratives minimally have to be studied with the forensic eye of scrutiny. Without awareness of psychological and sociological forces, the human student seeking understanding of history is as compelled to 'United We Stand' with the narratives due to “group-think” as the narrators themselves. Mr. Spock fortunately is not human.

For the case at hand, Mr. Spock discovers that no written records exist of the early period of the advent of Islam until after more than a century of the death of its Prophet. Several generations until then, as was noted by the first historians writing of that period some two centuries later, had carried the Sunnah of the Prophet of Islam, the Qur'anic directive “Obey the Messenger”, in their cultural memories, or word of mouth, and passed them from father to son, mother to daughter, generation after generation, due to the tyranny of the Muslim rulers who were crafting dynastic empires on Islam. These rulers, it was evident, had themselves sanctioned historical narratives and compilations of Sunnah which were not inimical to their own ruling interests.

Nevertheless, Mr. Spock also realized that facts are facts. And so he began searching the vast computer libraries of millions of books on Islam beginning from its earliest primary written works in search of what might be unarguable, reliable, and authenticated facts and events pertaining to the epoch of the Messenger of the Holy Qur'an and those that immediately followed, to lend some sociological context to his study. To further identify what is a real fact vs. merely a narrative which might or might not be true, Spock clarified his thinking thusly. He took the most shocking example of a fact to delineate what he considered incontrovertible fact vs. merely a historical narrative.

The following is an exemplar case study to illustrate the issues, the difficulties, and the forensic approach to resolving indirections using guidance from the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an which has called itself: Al-Furqaan, الْفُرْقَانَ (verse 25:1). Many other Qur'anic indirections and conundrums can similarly be examined using this exemplary approach.

An incontrovertible fact is of the following type: The historical narrative indicated that a Muslim ruler in the Ummayad Dynasty, in 680 AD, slaughtered Hussein ibn Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the revered grandson of the Prophet of Islam, along with many other male members of his family including children. And this act transpired despite the Author of the Holy Qur'an's remarkable and explicit commandment to Muslims to both honor the Author's Messenger, and to honor and love the Messenger's “near of kin”, which obviously includes his progeny:

'Say: “No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin.”' (Surah Ash-Shura 42:23)

قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ۗ

Evidently, even to the untrained prima facie eye, never mind to the super-trained mind of a forensic detective of history like Mr. Spock, something major appeared to have gone systemically wrong after the death of the Prophet of Islam. Only within the passage of a mere sixty years, matters came to this criminal abhorrence of internecine Muslim upon Muslim state violence inflicted upon the family of the Messenger. And this despite the most lucid and clear-text commandment of the Holy Qur'an to the Muslim polity: 'Say: “No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin.”'

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Identity of Ahlul Bayt in the Holy Qur'an – An Indeterminate

The reasonable question arose in Mr. Spock's mind: why this commandment to honor and love the Exemplar's progeny, his “zurriyat”, those near of kin, فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ? What is so special about the Prophet of Islam's kin? And again, what is the purpose for loving them? Note that in this verse there is no command to obey them. It is to actually love them, ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ , with emotional content. Rather unusual to ask people to love someone else's progeny. What is the context for showing such love and faithfulness to them?

Indeed, much preference and affinity is shown for the family of the Prophet of Islam by the Author of the Holy Qur'an, by referring to them as أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ , Ahlul Bayt. and sanctifying them with a وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا , a thorough purification:

“And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger. And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless.” (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33:33)

وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا

Caption Verse 33:33 Surah Al-Ahzaab – incredible verse that hides a wellspring of semantics by employing the gender sensitivity of Arabic grammar in its second person pronoun to describe the composition of Ahlul Bayt. Another reason for misunderstanding the Holy Qur'an – its sophistication of using the Classical Arabic language constructs to hide a wellspring of secrets that none among the ordinary people seeking guidance from it shall fathom except those who are capable of understanding أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (see verse 3:7) and having command of its unsurpassed natural language of exposition بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِۦ (see verse 14:4)! Verse 33:33 is a categorical example of why the Holy Qur'an is simply untranslatable, even syntactically, let alone semantically! Even the “Orientalism” jaundiced West is reluctantly forced to admit this characteristic of the Holy Qur'an: “The miraculous rhetorical quality that the Qur’an has for the reader is lost in translation, ... mistranslation usually occurs when translators retain Arabic terms or force a single meaning upon Arabic words.” (tinyurl.com/Quran-Untranslatable-Harvard).

Why is the Prophet's family so important to the Author of the Holy Qur'an, persisted Mr. Spock? Why is the Prophet's Ahlul Bayt given such preeminence based merely on their DNA, as it would appear?

Before we proceed further in hot pursuit of that question, this remarkable verse fragment of 33:33 ( إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا ) bears closer examination as it is exemplary of the most commonly misperceived verses of the Holy Qur'an, especially when read in translation.

As was only briefly alluded to earlier, Mr. Spock had already noted of the difficulty of understanding the Holy Qur'an, that within a verse, a verse fragment could be speaking of some entirely different topic from the rest of the verse, as for instance in 5:3, 8:41, and 33:33. And that the profound subtleties of Arabic grammar and its gender specificity, enabled changing the point of reference suddenly within a verse by simply changing the gender of the verb, noun, pronoun, etc., as for instance in the verse fragment of 33:33 which refers to the purification of the Ahlul Bayt. Let's look at the complete verses preceding 33:33 which ostensibly establish the overarching context for that verse of purification of the Ahlul Bayt. But do they? Not if you read it in Arabic and know Arabic grammar. Whereas, when you read it in translation, you are easily misled unless the translator took the pains to accurately capture the gender change of the pronoun in a footnote or in parenthesis to clarify matters which could not be translated in a non-gender sensitive language. And, the publisher also continued to reprint the translation with footnotes un-modified until the time you got hold of that translation.^[7]

The savvy Mr. Spock trenchantly noted the games played in translations, and also by publishers, for deliberate sectarian obfuscation of what was plainly manifest in the Qur'anic Arabic. From his ship's vast library collection, Mr. Spock compared editions of the same translations from different publishers and warily noted the remarkable dropping or subtle modification of the clarification footnotes posthumously in some subsequent editions even when the translator had taken pains to footnote the gender change and its implication in understanding the verse accurately in his original work.

The following table captures the complete context of the topic under discussion in Surah Al-Ahzaab, verses 33:28-34, using Yusuf Ali's translation.

O Prophet! Say to thy Consorts: "If it be that ye desire the life of this World, and its glitter,- then come! I will provide for your enjoyment and set you free in a handsome manner. (28)	يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَٰجِكَ إِن كُنتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا فَتَعَالَيْنَ أُمَتِّعْكُنَّ وَأُسَرِّحْكُنَّ سَرَاحًا جَمِيلًا
But if ye seek Allah and His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, verily Allah has prepared for the well-doers amongst you a great reward, (29)	وَإِن كُنتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَٱلدَّارَ ٱلْءَاخِرَةَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ أَعَدَّ لِلْمُحْسِنَٰتِ مِنكُنَّ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
O Consorts of the Prophet! If any of you were guilty of evident unseemly conduct, the Punishment would be doubled to her, and that is easy for Allah. (30)	يَٰنِسَآءَ ٱلنَّبِىِّ مَن يَأْتِ مِنكُنَّ بِفَٰحِشَةٍ مُّبَيِّنَةٍ يُضَٰعَفْ لَهَا ٱلْعَذَابُ ضِعْفَيْنِ ۚ وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرًا
But any of you that is devout in the service of Allah and His Messenger, and works righteousness,- to her shall We grant her reward twice: and We have prepared for her a generous Sustenance. (31)	وَمَن يَقْنُتْ مِنكُنَّ لِلَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَتَعْمَلْ صَٰلِحًا نُّؤْتِهَآ أَجْرَهَا مَرَّتَيْنِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهَا رِزْقًا كَرِيمًا
O Consorts of the Prophet! Ye are not like any of the (other) women: if ye do fear (Allah), be not too complacent of speech, lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire: but speak ye a speech (that is) just. (32)	يَٰنِسَآءَ ٱلنَّبِىِّ لَسْتُنَّ كَأَحَدٍ مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۚ إِنِ ٱتَّقَيْتُنَّ فَلَا تَخْضَعْنَ بِٱلْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ ٱلَّذِى فِى قَلْبِهِۦ مَرَضٌ وَقُلْنَ قَوْلًا مَّعْرُوفًا
And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger. And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless. (33:33)	وَقَرْنَ فِى بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ ٱلْجَٰهِلِيَّةِ ٱلْأُولَىٰ ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتِينَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَأَطِعْنَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ ٱلرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
And recite what is rehearsed to you in your homes, of the Signs of Allah and His Wisdom: for Allah understands the finest mysteries and is well-acquainted (with them). (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33:34) (Tr. Abdullah Yusuf Ali)	وَٱذْكُرْنَ مَا يُتْلَىٰ فِى بُيُوتِكُنَّ مِنْ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْحِكْمَةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ لَطِيفًا خَبِيرًا

Caption Surah Al-Ahzaab, verses 33:28-34 – An illustrative case of how a translation fails to capture the semantics of the Qur'anic Arabic grammar accurately due to language limitations of English which does not have gender-specific second person pronouns and possessive pronouns. In this instance, it leads to the misperception that the interspersed verse fragment purifying the Ahlul Bayt in 33:33 is referring to the Messenger's wives just because the wives are being addressed by the Author earlier in that verse, and also in the preceding verses, and in the succeeding verse! This switch in topic for the verse of purification cannot be captured in a translated language which does not have gender-specific 2nd person pronoun with the same semantics as the Classical Qur'anic Arabic does, without explicit elaboration.

The following table completely decomposes verses 33:33 and 33:34 word by word. Please take a few minutes to study the switch in pronoun from 2nd person feminine plural possessive pronoun when referring to the houses of the wives, to 2nd person masculine plural object pronoun when referring to the Ahlul Bayt, and back to 2nd person feminine plural possessive pronoun when referring again to the houses of the wives in 33:34:

• 2nd person feminine plural possessive pronoun

• (33:33:3) بُيُوتِكُنَّ buyūtikunna your houses

• 2nd person masculine plural object pronoun

• (33:33:20) عَنكُمُ ankumu from you,
• (33:33:24) وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ wayuṭahhirakum And to purify you

• 2nd person feminine plural possessive pronoun

• (33:34:5) بُيُوتِكُنَّ buyūtikunna your houses

The significance of this switch in pronouns is not lost on the super analytical Mr. Spock.

Having become an instant grammarian of the classical Arabic language, Mr. Spock knows that the 2nd person masculine pronoun كُمُ “kum”, and 2nd person feminine pronoun كُنَّ “kunna”, unambiguously represent the following semantics in order to be grammatically correct in their usage:

• “kum” when used with a plural object or possessive case represents a composition that must contain at least one or more males, and may contain zero or more females (it is equivalent of 2nd person pronoun “you”, “ تم ” and “vous” in gender neutral English, Urdu, and French respectively) ;
• “kunna” represents an all female composition (it has no equivalent in English, Urdu, French, et. al.; consequently, the same 2nd person pronoun “you”, “ تم ” and “vous” are respectively re-used causing a loss in semantics in translation).

Word by Word Decomposition of Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:33-34

Translation	Arabic word	Syntax and morphology
(33:33:1)waqarna And stay		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) V – 2nd person feminine plural imperative verb PRON – subject pronoun الواو عاطفة فعل أمر والتاء ضمير متصل في محل رفع فاعل
(33:33:2) fī in		P – preposition حرف جر
(33:33:3)buyūtikunna your houses		N – genitive masculine plural noun PRON – 2nd person feminine plural possessive pronoun اسم مجرور والكاف ضمير متصل في محل جر بالاضافة
(33:33:4) walā and (do) not		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) PRO – prohibition particle الواو عاطفة حرف نهي
(33:33:5)tabarrajna display yourselves		V – 2nd person feminine plural (form V) imperfect verb, jussive mood PRON – subject pronoun فعل مضارع مجزوم والتاء ضمير متصل في محل رفع فاعل
(33:33:6)tabarruja (as was the) display		N – accusative masculine (form V) verbal noun اسم منصوب
(33:33:7)l-jāhiliyati (of the times of) ignorance		PN – genitive feminine proper noun → Al-Jahiliyah اسم علم مجرور
(33:33:8)l-ūlā the former.		N – nominative feminine noun اسم مرفوع
(33:33:9)wa-aqim'na And establish		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) V – 2nd person feminine plural (form IV) imperative verb PRON – subject pronoun الواو عاطفة فعل أمر والتاء ضمير متصل في محل رفع فاعل
(33:33:10)l-ṣalata the prayer		N – accusative feminine noun اسم منصوب
(33:33:11)waātīna and give		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) V – 2nd person feminine plural (form IV) imperative verb PRON – subject pronoun الواو عاطفة فعل أمر والتاء ضمير متصل في محل رفع فاعل
(33:33:12)l-zakata zakah		N – accusative feminine noun اسم منصوب
(33:33:13)wa-aṭiʿ'na and obey		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) V – 2nd person feminine plural (form IV) imperative verb PRON – subject pronoun الواو عاطفة فعل أمر والتاء ضمير متصل في محل رفع فاعل
(33:33:14)l-laha Allah		PN – accusative proper noun → Allah لفظ الجلالة منصوب
(33:33:15)warasūlahu and His Messenger.		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) N – accusative masculine noun PRON – 3rd person masculine singular possessive pronoun الواو عاطفة اسم منصوب والهاء ضمير متصل في محل جر بالاضافة
(33:33:16) innamā Only		ACC – accusative particle PREV – preventive particle mā كافة ومكفوفة
(33:33:17)yurīdu Allah wishes		V – 3rd person masculine singular (form IV) imperfect verb فعل مضارع
(33:33:18)l-lahu Allah wishes		PN – nominative proper noun → Allah لفظ الجلالة مرفوع
(33:33:19)liyudh'hiba to remove		PRP – prefixed particle of purpose lām V – 3rd person masculine singular (form IV) imperfect verb, subjunctive mood اللام لام التعليل فعل مضارع منصوب
(33:33:20) ʿankumu from you		P – preposition PRON – 2nd person masculine plural object pronoun جار ومجرور
(33:33:21)l-rij'sa the impurity,		N – accusative masculine noun اسم منصوب
(33:33:22)ahla (O) People		N – accusative masculine noun اسم منصوب
(33:33:23)l-bayti (of) the House!		N – genitive masculine noun اسم مجرور
(33:33:24)wayuṭahhirakum And to purify you		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) V – 3rd person masculine singular (form II) imperfect verb, subjunctive mood PRON – 2nd person masculine plural object pronoun الواو عاطفة فعل مضارع منصوب والكاف ضمير متصل في محل نصب مفعول به
(33:33:25)taṭhīran (with thorough) purification.		N – accusative masculine indefinite (form II) verbal noun اسم منصوب
(33:34:1)wa-udh'kur'na And remember		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) V – 2nd person feminine plural imperative verb PRON – subject pronoun الواو عاطفة فعل أمر والتاء ضمير متصل في محل رفع فاعل
(33:34:2) mā what		REL – relative pronoun اسم موصول
(33:34:3)yut'lā is recited		V – 3rd person masculine singular passive imperfect verb, subjunctive mood فعل مضارع مبني للمجهول منصوب
(33:34:4) fī in		P – preposition حرف جر
(33:34:5)buyūtikunna your houses		N – genitive masculine plural noun PRON – 2nd person feminine plural possessive pronoun اسم مجرور والكاف ضمير متصل في محل جر بالاضافة
(33:34:6) min of		P – preposition حرف جر
(33:34:7)āyāti (the) Verses		N – genitive feminine plural noun اسم مجرور
(33:34:8)l-lahi (of) Allah		PN – genitive proper noun → Allah لفظ الجلالة مجرور
(33:34:9)wal-ḥik'mati and the wisdom.		CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and) N – genitive feminine noun الواو عاطفة اسم مجرور
(33:34:10) inna Indeed,		ACC – accusative particle حرف نصب
(33:34:11)l-laha Allah		PN – accusative proper noun → Allah لفظ الجلالة منصوب
(33:34:12)kāna is		V – 3rd person masculine singular perfect verb فعل ماض
(33:34:13)laṭīfan All-Subtle,		N – accusative masculine singular indefinite noun اسم منصوب
(33:34:14)khabīran All-Aware.		ADJ – accusative masculine singular indefinite adjective صفة منصوبة

Caption Surah Al-Ahzaab, verse 33:33-34 Word by Word syntactical decomposition. (Arabic syntax and grammar courtesy of corpus.quran.com/documentation/grammar.jsp ; corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=33&verse=33 )

The following table captures some prominent English and Urdu translations of verse 33:33, all of them spectacularly failing to capture the gender switch of the 2nd person pronoun from feminine to masculine form of the original verse in Arabic when referring to the Ahlul Bayt. Whether or not this translated language limitation is footnoted in the original printed editions by their respective translators to draw attention to the significance of this switch in pronouns, is not known.

And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle. Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying. (Muhammad Ali Habib Shakir, House of Habib, Pakistan)

And stay in your houses and do not display your finery like the displaying of the ignorance of yore; and keep up prayer, and pay the poorrate, and obey Allah and His Apostle; Allah only desires to take away the uncleanness from you, O people of the household! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying. (Maulana Muhammad Ali MMA 1917 PDF)

And stay in your houses. Bedizen not yourselves with the bedizenment of the Time of Ignorance. Be regular in prayer, and pay the poor-due, and obey Allah and His messenger. Allah's wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, O Folk of the Household, and cleanse you with a thorough cleansing. (Marmaduke Pickthall)

Remain in your houses; and display not your finery, as did the pagans of old. And perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and obey God and His Messenger. People of the House, God only desires to put away from you abomination and to cleanse you. (Arthur John Arberry)

Stay at home, and do not deck yourselves with ostentation as in the days of paganism; fulfil your devotional obligations, pay the zakat, and obey God and His Apostle. God desires to remove impurities from you, O inmates of this house, and to cleanse and bring out the best in you. (Ahmed Ali)

And stay in Your houses. and display not yourselves! with the display of the times of former Paganism; and establish the prayer and give the poor-rate and obey Allah and His apostle. Allah only desireth to take away uncleanness from you, people of the house-hold, and to purify you with a thorough purification. (Abdul Majid Daryabadi)

And abide quietly in your homes, and do not flaunt your charms as they used to flaunt them in the old days of pagan ignorance; and be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues, and pay heed unto God and His Apostle: for God only wants to remove from you all that might be loathsome, O you members of the [Prophet’s] household, and to purify you to utmost purity. (Muhammad Asad)

And stay in your homes and do not go about displaying your allurements as in the former Time of Ignorance. Establish Prayer, give Zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only wishes to remove uncleanness from you, O members of the (Prophet's) household, and to purify you completely. (Abul Ala Maududi)

Stay in your houses and do not display your finery with the display of the former [days of ] ignorance. Maintain the prayer and pay the zakat and obey Allah and His Apostle. Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification. (Ali Quli Qara'i)

اپنے گھروں میں ٹِک کر رہو اور سابق دور جاہلیت کی سی سج دھج نہ دکھاتی پھرو نماز قائم کرو، زکوٰۃ دو اور اللہ اور اُس کے رسولؐ کی اطاعت کرو اللہ تو یہ چاہتا ہے کہ اہلِ بیتِ نبیؐ سے گندگی کو دور کرے اور تمہیں پوری طرح پاک کر دے (Abul Ala Maududi)

اور اپنے گھروں میں بیٹھی رہو اور گزشتہ زمانہ جاہلیت کی طرح بناؤ سنگھار دکھاتی نہ پھرو اور نماز پڑھو اور زکواة دو اور الله اور اس کے رسول کی فرمانبرداری کرو الله یہی چاہتا ہے کہ اے اس گھر والو تم سے ناپاکی دور کرے اور تمہیں خوب پاک کرے (Ahmed Ali)

اور اپنے گھر میں بیٹھی رہو اور پہلی جاہلیت جیسا بناؤ سنگھار نہ کرو اور نماز قائم کرو اور زکوِٰادا کرو اوراللہ اور اس کے رسول کی اطاعت کرو - بس اللہ کا ارادہ یہ ہے اے اہلبیت علیھ السّلام کہ تم سے ہر برائی کو دور رکھے اور اس طرح پاک و پاکیزہ رکھے جو پاک و پاکیزہ رکھنے کا حق ہے (Syed Zeeshan Haider Jawadi)

اور اپنے گھروں میں قرار سے رہو اور سابقہ زمانۂ جاہلیت کی طرح اپنی آرائش کی نمائش نہ کرتی پھرو (باہر نہ نکلا کرو) اور نماز قائم کرو اور زکوٰۃ ادا کرو اور اللہ اور اس کے رسول کی اطاعت کیا کرو۔ اے اہل بیت! اللہ تو بس یہی چاہتا ہے کہ تم سے ہر قسم کے رجس (آلودگی) کو دور رکھے اور تمہیں اس طرح پاک و پاکیزہ رکھے جس طرح پاک رکھنے کا حق ہے۔ (Ayatollah Muhammad Hussain Najafi)

Caption various translations of Surah Al-Ahzaab verse 33:33 into English and Urdu, the non-gender sensitive languages, all spectacularly failing to capture the semantics created due to the gender change from feminine to masculine form of the 2nd person pronoun when referring to the Ahlul Bayt. (Translations are from the electronic versions at tanzil.net/trans/ ; MMA 1917 PDF courtesy of aaiil.org ; Ali Quli Qara'i courtesy of islamawakened.com/Quran/33/33/default.htm )

In French, which is more gender sensitive than either English or Urdu but less so than Classical Arabic, the translation of verse 33:33 is given below. The 2nd person pronoun “vous” in French, like its Urdu and English 2nd person pronoun counterpart “ تم ” and “you” respectively, including the possessive case variations thereof, are unfortunately gender neutral and unable to distinguish between singular and plural object, leading to the same loss in semantics.

Restez dans vos foyers; et ne vous exhibez pas à la manière des femmes d'avant l'Islam (Jâhiliyah). Accomplissez la Salât, acquittez la Zakât et obéissez à Allah et à Son messager. Allah ne veut que vous débarrasser de toute souillure, ô gens de la maison [du prophète], et veut vous purifier pleinement. (verse 33:33 Tr. Muhammad Hamidullah)

Caption Translation of verse 33:33 into French. The second person pronoun vous is gender neutral just like in Urdu and English, despite French being more gender sensitive than either English or Urdu, therefore leading to the same loss in semantics.

In Spanish however, the matter is salvaged. Spanish enables expressing gender sensitivity of the object by addition of either “os” or “as” to the verb. Therefore, a correct semantic translation of verse 33:33 from Arabic into Spanish is possible by reflecting the 2nd person plural gender sensitivity of the pronoun in Arabic, to the correct conjugated form of the verb expressing the gender and plurality of the object. So, if “gente de la casa” (Ahlul Bayt) was referring to only the wives of the Messenger, the grammatically correct verb conjugation of the root verbs 'librar' and 'purificar' in Spanish would have been “libraras” and “purificaras” instead of “libraros” and “purificaros”.

¡Quedaos en vuestras casas! ¡No os acicaléis como se acicalaban las natiguas paganas! ¡Haced la azalá! ¡Dad el azaque! ¡Obedeced a Alá y a Su Enviado! Alá sólo quiere libraros de la mancha, gente de la casa, y purificaros por completo. (verse 33:33 Tr. Julio Cortes)

Caption Translation of verse 33:33 into Spanish. The loss of semantics in translation is prevented by reflecting the 2nd person plural masculine pronoun of Arabic on the correct selection of masculine or feminine verb conjugation, since both choices are available in Spanish to indicate object composition and its plurality.

That language limitation conundrum disclosed above, noted Mr. Spock, is yet another source of misunderstanding the Holy Qur'an – studying it in translation! The Holy Qur'an is simply untranslatable, in any language. Which is why the famous translator Arthur J. Arberry, in deep humility, called his excellent rendition into English: “The Koran Interpreted”. Even the “Orientalism” jaundiced West is reluctantly forced to admit this characteristic of the Holy Qur'an: “The miraculous rhetorical quality that the Qur’an has for the reader is lost in translation, ... mistranslation usually occurs when translators retain Arabic terms or force a single meaning upon Arabic words.” (see tinyurl.com/Quran-Untranslatable-Harvard).

Furthermore, a translation also lends itself easily to both Machiavellian as well as inadvertent perception management of the public mind. We can see this pernicious cognitive infiltration in the contemporary English translation of the Holy Qur'an titled: The Sublime Quran (see tinyurl.com/Critique-Laleh-Bakhtiar-Zahir ).

To this day, countless generations of Muslims growing up in non Arabic speaking Muslim countries do not perceive what has so straightforwardly been demonstrated above, as the sophistication of the classical Arabic language to mask its secrets from the unwary by something so elegant as simply a gender change in its 2nd person pronoun. The syntactic as well as semantic limitations of any translation language in comparison to the intrinsic richness and succinctness of Qur'anic Arabic requires much reframing for the target language in order to preserve both literal as well as semantic accuracy, which, as in the case of verse 33:33, simply cannot be maintained without additional footnotes and parenthetical annotations.

These language limitations naturally create additional motivation to seek sources of explanation and exegeses outside of the pages of the Holy Qur'an, called “tafsir”, especially for those who do not speak Arabic, which is approximately 90 percent of the 1.6 to 2 billion Muslim public spread throughout the world in many different cultures and civilizations. That fact automatically leads to the very paradox being explored in this analysis: fallible hands, fallible minds, and fallible hearts, some clean and some unclean, some competent and some incompetent, none of them categorically known to be among the “Ar-Rasikhoon-fil-ilm” ( الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ ) of verse 3:7 of the Holy Qur'an, expositing the pristine text of the Holy Qur'an according to their own perception and socialization bias – rather than the Word of its own Author explain itself. (See a detailed examination of the translation issue in: Critique: Laleh Bakhtiar and The Sublime Quran , http://tinyurl.com/Critique-Laleh-Bakhtiar-Zahir )

At least with respect to this verse fragment 33:33, the native Arabic speaker has a leg-up on the non Arabic speaker. The former knows that Ahlul Bayt is being referred to with a masculine pronoun and therefore its composition, by definition, comprises one or more males, and cannot comprise only females, and therefore the verse fragment 33:33 is not necessarily referring to the wives, or even just the wives alone. If that verse fragment was indeed referring to only the wives, an all female group, then the feminine form of the pronoun would have been used to refer to the Ahlul Bayt as is done when referring to the houses of the wives before and after that verse of purification.

But that's also where the native Arabic speaker's advantage over the non-speaker ends. Neither knows the actual composition of the Ahlul Bayt beyond that prima facie information contained in that sequence of verses 33:28-34 reproduced above, that it is a Household of the Prophet, and comprises one or more males, and zero or more females, and it may or may not contain the wives of the Prophet, irrespective of the fact that the verse fragment is interspersed in between where the Author of the Holy Qur'an is commanding the wives of the Prophet of Islam what they are supposed to do. Whereas, in the purification fragment of verse 33:33, the Author declares what He Himself intends to do to the Ahlul Bayt. That change of “actor” from the wives to the Author and back to the wives is most conspicuous in the verse. In that interspersed switch, the Author pledged some abstract “perfect purification” to the Ahlul Bayt. What that “perfect purification” means remains as foreign to the native speaker of Arabic as to the non-speaker. It requires for both to indulge in much due diligence to uncover. Mr. Spock was finding that the Holy Qur'an is hardly the Book that is so easy to understand or so clear as claimed by its Author.

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Returning to the thread of analysis before that closer look at verse 33:33, the same verse fragment of “perfect purification” begs the obvious question: Why are only the Ahlul Bayt chosen by the Author of the Holy Qur'an and sanctified so specially with such a profound divine benefaction: “Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless” ( إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا ), and no one else is chosen for this benefaction from among the vast number of respected companions and close familial ties of the Prophet of Islam?

What did this unusual “purification” actually mean in the language of the Holy Qur'an such that it exclusively only applied to the Ahlul Bayt?

How should ( وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا ) be accurately understood from its cipher-text form? Having witnessed the ease of straightforward obfuscation possible due to the gender-specific Arabic grammar cleverly employed in this verse to suddenly change the context, Mr. Spock is exceptionally vigilant for correct and un-careless decoding of the cipher text of the Holy Qur'an, and especially for this verse fragment which evidently is hiding some secret. It appeared to be another one of those bedeviling verses ( مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ ) defined in verse 3:7 on the face of it. Perhaps it was an Indeterminate, and perhaps it wasn't. To further his understanding of what was meant by “purification”, Mr. Spock therefore pushes onto the ever growing evaluation stack the words “Tahira kum Tathira” ( وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا ) of verse 33:33, and the related “Mutaharoon” ( الْمُطَهَّرُونَ ) of verse 56:79 (see Surah Al-Waqia quoted above).

Perhaps that held an important clue to the identity of who were being purified if what “purification” actually meant in the language of the Holy Qur'an could be correctly deciphered. Then its purpose, the why, would become known, which would in turn perhaps lead to the who, as in who could achieve that purpose. Even in the prima facie meaning, it obviously was not an exoteric physical purification, such as cleansing of the physical body. Rather, it implied some esoteric “religious” purification just from examining the verses 56:78 and 56:79 which a priori defined who could even access the Holy Qur'an: “In a Book well-guarded, Which none shall touch but those who are clean (purified).” ( الْمُطَهَّرُونَ )

To Mr. Spock's perceptive mind already attuned to different methods of access control for managing hierarchical access to privileged information, the concept of “purification” in the light of verses 56:78-79 appeared akin to the Author of the Holy Qur'an requiring a “security clearance” for access to His Message in the “Book well-guarded”. And the Book progressively revealing more and more of its inner secrets higher the “security clearance” of the seeker of its Guidance. Therefore, “perfect purification” would logically mean the highest level of “security clearance” and the complete revealing of all its deep secrets to those who possessed that rank – the “Ar-Rasikhoon-fil-ilm” ( الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ ) described in verse 3:7 (already quoted above). Thus, the Author of the Holy Qur'an choosing the Ahlul Bayt for “perfect purification” appeared to harbor a far deeper context beyond what was superficially apparent from a careless reading of verse 33:33 which was in outright error. The matter demanded careful analysis and deeper study. The Holy Qur'an itself demanded such due diligence by straightforwardly asserting: “Do they not then reflect on the Qur'an? Nay, on the hearts there are locks.” (see 47:24 quoted below).

To Mr. Spock's observant mind, preference for a choosing a particular family and lineage, a particular strand of human DNA above all the nations, and continuing to choose from that strand generation after generation for the divinely appointed stewardship of man, لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا , appeared to play a principal role in the overall provenance and sequence of divine guidance by the Author of the Holy Qur'an:

“Surely Allah chose Adam and Nuh and the descendants of Ibrahim and the descendants of Imran above the nations. Offspring one of the other; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.” (Surah Aal-e-Imran 3:33-34)	إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصْطَفَىٰٓ ءَادَمَ وَنُوحًا وَءَالَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَءَالَ عِمْرَٰنَ عَلَى ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ ذُرِّيَّةًۢ بَعْضُهَا مِنۢ بَعْضٍ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“And when his Lord tried Ibrahim with certain words, he fulfilled them. He said: Surely I will make you an Imam of men. Ibrahim said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the unjust, said He” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2:124)	وَإِذِ ٱبْتَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِۦمَ رَبُّهُۥ بِكَلِمَٰتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّى جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا ۖ قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِى ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

So, once again encountering a preference for a specific family, the Ahlul Bayt, which Allah chose in 33:33 for a thorough purification, and in 42:23 commanded the Prophet to tell the people to love his “those near of kin”, was not unusual to Mr. Spock's perceptive mind. It followed a consistent pattern, that the Author of the Holy Qur'an chose whomsoever as His Messengers, Exemplars, and Imams above all the other peoples. And verses 3:33-34 and 2:124 unambiguously and unequivocally indicated the Author's particular preference for a very specific lineage starting from Prophet Adam, “Offspring one of the other”, to choose Prophets and Imams from among that lineage only, to bring His divine message to all peoples among mankind (see verse 10:47 quoted above, and many others like 16:36 “And verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Serve Allah and shun false gods”). The Author's preference for the Prophet of Islam's Ahlul Bayt in verse 33:33 was from the same DNA strand of Prophet Ibrahim. Which, according to verse 2:124, قَالَ إِنِّى جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا ۖ قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِى ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ , was also going to spawn Imams of the people throughout the ages in Prophet Ibrahim's progeny.

Mr. Spock noted that verse 2:124 proffered an unambiguous criterion for such appointment. That, if there were to be any divinely appointed Imams among the people of Arabia, they had to emerge from the genetic seed of Prophet Ibrahim only, as per the Author's Promise to Prophet Ibrahim. That criterion was just as applicable to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, as to his Ahlul Bayt. Mr. Spock ascertained from the historical record that Prophet Muhammad was considered a descendent of Prophet Ibrahim by the people of Arabia, coming from the distinguished prophetic lineage of Bani Hashim who had been the keepers of the pilgrims' structure called the Holy Kaaba for generations. The Author of the Holy Qur'an too attested to the fact that Prophet Muhammad was indeed a descendent of Prophet Ibrahim, by the act of choosing him over all others in Arabia as His Messenger – since the Author by His own admission only chose successive Prophets, Messengers, and Imams, from a single lineage as per His proclamation noted in verse 3:33-34.

Therefore, if there were to be any additional Imams as per the promise in verse 2:124 to Ibrahim, reasoned Mr. Spock, these Imams had to carry the seeds of Prophet Ibrahim or Prophet Muhammad in order to continue the Author's self-proclaimed modus operandi for conveying His Guidance to the people: “Offspring one of the other”.

Furthermore, the Holy Qur'an attested to the fact that Muhammad was not a father of any men among the people:

“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Last of the prophets; and Allah is cognizant of all things.” (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33:40)

مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمًا

This automatically meant, reasoned Mr. Spock, that if such leadership as promised in verse 2:124 was to continue after the Prophet of Islam – Muhammad being the last of the Messengers according to the bold proclamation of the afore-quoted 33:40: رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ – as it evidently did by virtue of the Qur'anic commandment of 4:59: “obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you”, the latter “those charged with authority among you” could only emanate from either Prophet Ibrahim's seed of which Muhammad was himself a progeny, or Prophet Muhammad's own progeny.

The fact that Muhammad had a progeny is testified by the Holy Qur'an in the verse where its Author is evidently consoling His Messenger that it is the Messenger's enemies who will be without progeny (and not him):

“Surely your enemy is the one who shall be without posterity.” (Surah Al-Kauthar, 108:3)

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ ٱلْأَبْتَرُ

Therefore, in order for the Holy Qur'an to not be falsified, verses 33:40 and 108:3 straightforwardly imply that Prophet Muhammad's progeny must be through his female offspring only as “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men”.

This criterion, adduced directly from the Holy Qur'an, automatically implied the composition of the Ahlul Bayt from which to search for Imams, leaving the straightforward identification of “Offspring one of the other” from the factual historical records by seeking out the Prophet of Islam's female progeny. Provided of course that such factual historical records are incontrovertible, reliably documented. Fortunately, history documents to the same degree of empirical veracity as it documents that Prophet Muhammad is a real figure of history, that lady Fatima Zahra is Prophet Muhammad's only seed, and her two sons, Hassan ibn Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and Hussein ibn Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, are her only two offspring, the latter being killed by the Muslim Ummayad ruler's army as noted at the beginning of this section. All recorded historical facts that remain incontrovertible.

However, the precise identity of the progeny is still held as an unknown variable in Mr. Spock's logical mind in this specific thread despite being fully aware of the sociological context and documentation of Muslim history. Because, as already noted, in this study Mr. Spock is keenly interested in separating what the Holy Qur'an has itself conveyed in the “criterion” of “no doubt”, without confusing it with the historical records or the narratives of doubtful scribes of history. The criterion, once adduced from the Holy Qur'an and correctly understood, can always be applied for extracting any valid signals from the partisan noise of history to understand that history itself.

The general problem Mr. Spock is wrestling with, in case the reader has lost track, is the enigma that instead of applying the criterion learnt from the Holy Qur'an to parse history recorded by fallible scribes in order to improve its signal to noise ratio, history is evidently necessary to understand the meaning of the text of the Holy Qur'an due to its Indeterminates. That's like putting the cart before the horse! Mr. Spock in this forensic study is sensibly trying to adduce the criterion first from the self-described “criterion” of “no doubt” revealed by the “Lord of the Worlds” on how to even go about selecting valid signals from the doubtful penmanship of history which could, in turn, perhaps enable deciphering the message of the Holy Qur'an to some degree of objectivity when at all necessary. In order to not lose sight of that primary motivation, Mr. Spock is explicitly holding what is an Indeterminate as an explicit variable (that is fixed from history by Muslims, often subjectively, based entirely on their socialization biases and/or vested interests), and what is Determinate as a known constant (which is lamentably often ignored by Muslims).

That is the main objective in Mr. Spock's search for identifying the Ahlul Bayt from the Holy Qur'an, by understanding the criterion established in the Holy Qur'an itself, the book that called itself the “Criterion”, for their identification. Otherwise, if Mr. Spock is to ask even a laity Muslim during any epoch at any place, who the daughter of the Prophet of Islam and her children are, the laity will unanimously rush to inform him with a single answer – another incontrovertible fact of recorded history which unites all Muslims in all civilizations across time and space. It is this universal unity among Muslims on the fact of the identify of the Messenger's progeny, just as their unity on the fact of the text of the Holy Qur'an being un-tampered by the hand of man, which lends more than just academic and existential veracity to the historical record documenting both. It is a component of the unshakable belief of a Muslim that has continued to be so throughout history right from the time of the Prophet of Islam.

Because of this unusual empiricism, the enigma posed in this section of the Prophet's grandson being killed so mercilessly by the Muslim Ummayad army despite the clear-text Qur'anic commandment of verse 42:23 to love them, and the Muslims of the epoch clearly recognizing the Messenger's progeny who weren't an unknown to the people, is being examined in such great depth.

To Mr. Spock's objective mind unsocialized into the Muslim ethos, just the fact that this violence upon the Messenger's immediate grandchildren could even transpire at the hands of a Muslim ruler, and the Muslims of the time even permitted it to transpire, is indicative that both, historiography by partisans of power, and hagiography by partisans of victims of that power, is the defining epistemology of Muslim scholarship. And therefore, the latter had to be examined with an acute forensic eye to improve its reality to myth ratio. It lent further substance to the paradox Mr. Spock is grappling with that how could the “perfected” ciphertext of the Holy Qur'an require itself to be decoded by such an epistemology of imperfect pens of history? This is taken up in more depth in Part-IV.

Mr. Spock, persistent in his study, continues to qualitatively observe that the remarkable show of preference for the Messenger's Ahlul Bayt was entirely self-consistent with the Author's overarching narrative in the Holy Qur'an for choosing some over all others for His special favors. This idea of granting special favors to some people over all others during the period of providing guidance to the people, Mr. Spock discovered, is almost over-emphasized by the Author of the Holy Qur'an, as for instance in:

“And this was Our argument which we gave to Ibrahim against his people; We exalt in dignity whom We please; surely your Lord is Wise, Knowing.” (Surah Al An'aam, 6:83)

وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيْنَٰهَآ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ ۚ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَٰتٍ مَّن نَّشَآءُ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ

Mr. Spock recognizes that the continuation of verse 6:83 of Surah Al An'aam was further revealing of the Author's principal modus operandi of choosing some over others for special favors, especially verse 6:87 “And from among their fathers and their descendants and their brethren, and We chose them and guided them into the right way.”

And verse fragments 6:89-90 asserted a pertinent purpose which further explained why “those charged with authority among you” existed in addition to the Prophet of Islam: “We have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it. These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance.”

And We gave to him Ishaq and Yaqoub; each did We guide, and Nuh did We guide before, and of his descendants, Dawood and Sulaiman and Ayub and Yusuf and Musa and Haroun; and thus do We reward those who do good (to others). (6:84)	وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُۥٓ إِسْحَٰقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ ۚ كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا ۚ وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِۦ دَاوُۥدَ وَسُلَيْمَٰنَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَهَٰرُونَ ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
And Zakariya and Yahya and Isa and Ilyas; every one was of the good; (6:85)	وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَإِلْيَاسَ ۖ كُلٌّ مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
And Ismail and Al-Yasha and Yunus and Lut; and every one We made to excel (in) the worlds: (6:86)	وَإِسْمَٰعِيلَ وَٱلْيَسَعَ وَيُونُسَ وَلُوطًا ۚ وَكُلًّا فَضَّلْنَا عَلَى ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
And from among their fathers and their descendants and their brethren, and We chose them and guided them into the right way. (6:87)	وَمِنْ ءَابَآئِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّٰتِهِمْ وَإِخْوَٰنِهِمْ ۖ وَٱجْتَبَيْنَٰهُمْ وَهَدَيْنَٰهُمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
This is Allah's guidance, He guides thereby whom He pleases of His servants; and if they had set up others (with Him), certainly what they did would have become ineffectual for them. (6:88)	ذَٰلِكَ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ يَهْدِى بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ ۚ وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا۟ لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
These are they to whom We gave the book and the wisdom and the prophecy; therefore if these disbelieve in it We have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it. (6:89)	أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْحُكْمَ وَٱلنُّبُوَّةَ ۚ فَإِن يَكْفُرْ بِهَا هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ فَقَدْ وَكَّلْنَا بِهَا قَوْمًا لَّيْسُوا۟ بِهَا بِكَٰفِرِينَ
These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance. Say: I do not ask you for any reward for it; it is nothing but a reminder to the nations. (6:90)	أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ ۖ فَبِهُدَىٰهُمُ ٱقْتَدِهْ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا ۖ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَٰلَمِينَ

Caption Surah Al An'aam verses 6:84-90 explaining the modus operandi of the Author of the Holy Qur'an for continued guidance of nations among mankind from time immemorial.

Unless Mr. Spock was erroneous in his analysis despite applying his best reasoning and logic capabilities which had earned him the most difficult position as the solo science officer aboard the Starship Enterprise, application of straightforward logic to the study of the Holy Qur'an had been incredibly revealing thus far. It was heartening to Mr. Spock that the Holy Qur'an emphatically admonished the people who did not reflect on its Message, or treated it as “just foolish nonsense” ( مَهْجُورًا see verse 25:30 quoted above):

“Do they not then reflect on the Qur'an? Nay, on the hearts there are locks.” (Surah Muhammad 47:24)

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

Whereas, even rudimentary logical reflection on the آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ texts of the Holy Qur'an, the categorical foundational verses which formed the heart of the Holy Qur'an as per its Author's own declaration of أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ , automatically led the earnest detective to such inescapable logical deductions as demonstrated in the aforementioned reasoning process by Mr. Spock. But such reasoned deductions also begged the layman's foolish question, for what purpose? – As if it isn't already patently obvious by now.

Because, after all, it could also be argued that verse 5:3 had already categorically asserted that the Qur'an was completed in the Prophet's own lifetime: “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”

Therefore, wasn't Qur'an alone sufficient? Mr. Spock recalled the rebuke to Believers in Surah Al-Ahzaab verse 33:36, “It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.” (quoted above). It takes no speculation to infer from this shocking verse the presence of undercurrents of dissent and disputation with the Messenger among some Believers. Such disputing could easily lead to the suggestion that Qur'an alone is sufficient in order to suppress the decisions of the Messenger not contained in the Holy Qur'an which the Believers in his congregation did not like. Which, at least to Mr. Spock's intelligent mind gave an explanation for why the first Caliphs after the Prophet's demise forbid the documenting of the Messenger's verdicts and statements, called Hadiths.

It now becomes self-evident to Mr. Spock that:

1. by the categorical statement of 4:59, that there existed some unnamed persons besides the Messenger, “those charged with authority among you” to whom obedience was made obligatory ;
2. by the assertion of verse fragments 6:89-90 in full context that “We have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it. These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance.”
3. by the categorical directive of 5:35 to the Muslims: “O ye who believe! Do your duty to Allah, seek the means of approach unto Him,”
4. and in the light of 5:3 that the religion of Islam had been “perfected” ;

there was a pretty clear logical reason for the presence of “those charged with authority among you” apart from the Messenger, and to whom obedience was made as obligatory by the Holy Qur'an as to the Messenger for all Muslims.

That, by the commandment “those charged with authority among you”, the Author of the Holy Qur'an had very clearly provided to the early Muslims, additional temporal Exemplars, Imams, besides the Prophet of Islam, “Offspring one of the other”, who were meant to continue teaching to the people the “perfected” religion which Prophet Muhammad had brought to them as the Messenger, even after the Messenger was no longer among them. This is a straightforward logical conclusion based upon its Author's own statements. Otherwise, the Holy Qur'an is falsified by verse 4:59 if there were no Imams after the Prophet of Islam!

That, dereferencing the indirect pointers given in the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an for the identity of these additional Imams:

5. by the criterion of 2:124, that the Author promised to choose leaders and Imams only from the seed of Ibrahim after Ibrahim passed his “test”;
6. by the fact that there is no verse in the Holy Qur'an to suggest that 2:124 is not an exclusive promise to the family of Ibrahim, quite the contrary, the assertion of 3:33-34 indicates the Author's sole criterion for choosing the Imams of mankind, from the limited subset of a single family: “Offspring one of the other” ;
7. by the benefaction of 33:33, that the Ahlul Bayt were elevated above all others with a thorough spiritual purification ;
8. and by the commandment of 42:23, that the people were asked to love (in its most superlative form) and honor the Messenger's near of kin ;

naturally lead to identifying them as being only from the Ahlul Bayt.

The above logical reasoning leads to the following conclusions:

1. That, there appeared to be no other competing, or even plausible solution based on the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an, to decipher this inquiry in any other direction for the straightforward logic of the matter that these Imams “whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance” had to be “Offspring one of the other”, and also possess the same degree of knowledge and understanding of the Holy Qur'an as the Messenger in order to continue the Messenger's mission of divinely guiding the Muslims as his successor exemplars of the Holy Qur'an.
2. That, it appeared to be a sophisticated bootstrap process of Islam whose legal texts had been perfected and completely revealed, to guide a stubborn pagan civilization that had inflicted so much physical warfare upon the Prophet of Islam during his entire tenure of Prophethood, onto the straight path for at least some additional time period after the Messenger had passed away.
3. That, just as Surah Al-Fatiha verses 1:6 and 1:7 informed the Believers how to beseech the Author to show them how to seek the path of divine guidance, the very narrow separation pointed out in 1:7 between the straight path ( ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ) and wrong path ( غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ ) of those who go astray – both paths being tread by Believers themselves and not the obvious unbelievers who were easily identified – was very clearly delineated for the early Muslims by bequeathing to them the Ahlul Bayt ( صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ ) who alone were elevated above all others with a most unusual divine favor of perfect purification in verse 33:33 ( وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا ).
4. That, the Ahlul Bayt was therefore the crucial differentiator as “The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors” of verse 1:7 given to the early Muslims to protect them from unwittingly following the other Believers who were reprimanded as “on a clearly wrong Path” (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33:36 ).
5. That, it was indeed the same protocol for Prophet Muhammad's succession as it had been the Prophetic tradition of all previous Messengers of the Author, to leave designated successors behind to protect and carry-on their mission. Which, in that early bootstrap phase of Islam, was to protect and safeguard the journey of reaching the common goal of forming a single Muslim nation: “Our Lord! make of us Muslims, bowing to Thy (Will), and of our progeny a Muslim nation, bowing to Thy (will);” (Surah Al-Baqara 2:128 )
6. That, the Ahlul Bayt construct was an additional divine favor given by the Author of the Holy Qur'an to the early Muslims as fulfillment of the prayer that the Author had Himself taught the Believers in Surah Al-Fatiha, and for which the Author also emphatically declared in verse 76:3 “Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful.”
7. That, these self-consistent conclusions when applied to empiricism explained reality as it had principally unfolded, most accurately. The goal of verse 2:128 obviously never transpired. The Muslims instead killed the grandson of the Messenger after a tumultuous ad hoc political succession process which tied a Gordian knot on the process of transformation itself. Unless verse 33:36 is wiped off the pages of the Holy Qur'an by some fiendish technology, it is in perpetual Testimony by the Author Himself that some Believers who challenged the Prophet's decisions existed during his own time. The path of these same people so emphatically condemned by the Author in 33:36 as “clearly wrong Path” must have indeed taken over after the demise of the Messenger instead of the path of the rightful heirs from among the Ahlul Bayt, in order for the empirical reality to become manifested as it did. Otherwise, the Holy Qur'an is falsified if it is asserted that the right path was followed in the succession. The empiricism of the slaughtered grandson of the Prophet of Islam is prima facie testimony that this abhorrent destination was reached by only following the “clearly wrong Path”! Because, if this abhorrent destination was reached by following the right path, than the Holy Qur'an lied that such was a good path of “whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance” in Surah Al An'aam 6:90, as it still ended in that same abhorrence. In order for the Holy Qur'an to not be falsified by empiricism, abhorrence can only be reached by following “clearly wrong Path”!

As Mr. Spock well understands, empiricism is the only reality for a left-brained scientist. Any analysis, any model, any theory that goes against explaining reality is just imaginary and useless. Unless the analysis presented here is shown to be seriously flawed, the conclusions reached by the line of reasoning employed by Mr. Spock from the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an is remarkable discovery.

It sure explains empirical reality coherently, but most importantly, in self-sufficiency and self-consistency drawn solely from the Holy Qur'an and no other source!

For, as Mr. Spock ascertained perusing the historical record of early Muslim rulers and empires, few Muslims among the masses living under their dominions seemed to have been aware of this rather straightforward logical deduction regarding the Ahlul Bayt, despite knowing, respecting, and also loving the progeny of the Prophet of Islam as some sort of revered objects thought to bring them divine blessings if salutations were continually showered upon them in daily prayers. And despite the fact of this discovery being made only from the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an in its آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ texts requiring only a bare modicum of reflection to uncover the matter. And despite their daily recitation of the same Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an with the most ardent religious fervor!

It was almost as if, observed Mr. Spock, this logically derived conclusion had been calculatingly masked off from the Muslim mind under the ruling paradigms of caliphs and dynastic empires.

Even today, lamentably, few Muslims are aware that this is a conclusion adduced directly from the straightforward statements and simple logic of the Holy Qur'an without making any recourse to vicarious outside sources and doubtful human scribes.

And that mass ignorance of the Muslim public, mused Mr. Spock, perhaps also explained the context for the Messenger's prescient but strange lament recorded in verse 25:30 of Surah Al-Furqaan (quoted above) after the ascent of Islam as the dominant religion of Arabia: 'Then the Messenger will say: “O my Lord! Truly my people took this Qur'an for just foolish nonsense.”'

What more can be gleaned from other eligibility criterion established in the Holy Qur'an to better comprehend the attributes and characteristics of “those charged with authority among you” that might enable identifying them more precisely?

---

Reasoning it out from the Holy Qur'an itself – Taking it one step deeper and further

The Qur'anic eligibility criterion of 2:124 and 3:33-34 have come only one step closer in the direction of identifying “those charged with authority among you”. That eligibility criterion had indicated to Mr. Spock that the only persons even eligible for this divine appointment of leadership, “those charged with authority among you” to whom obedience is made as obligatory as to the Prophet of Islam, must come from the Ahlul Bayt and no where else. Because, only that singular family automatically includes both the seed of Prophet Ibrahim and the seed of Prophet Muhammad, “Offspring one of the other” as already reasoned by Mr. Spock. That reasoning also lends sensible context to why the people are commanded to love the Prophet's near of kin. Even the way it is propositioned to the people by the Author of the Holy Qur'an, and the choice of Arabic word employed which only loosely translates to “love” in English but is the superlative form of love in Arabic, ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ , is revealing of its motivation: 'Say: “No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin.”'

The Prophet is asked by the Author of the Holy Qur'an to demand the love of his near of kin as a gratitude from the people – not as a favor the people are asked to do the Prophet, but in return for the favor done to the people by the Prophet of Islam of being God's Messenger among them!

In other words, it is an obligation put on the people to “love” the Prophet's near of kin in the most superlative degree that the semantic-rich Arabic language can convey for terms of endearment and affection to other human beings!

The logical connection among the many verses outlined above, and making the love and affection of Prophet's near of kin an obligation upon the people, thus making it psychologically easier for the people to accept Exemplars from among the Ahlul Bayt, conclusively indicated to Mr. Spock that “those charged with authority among you” could only emanate from among the Ahlul Bayt. But who among the Ahlul Bayt meets that criterion and are also “Offspring one of the other”?

Mr. Spock, solely on the anvil of pure reasoned logic applied to al-Furqaan (see discussion of verse 25:1, Surah al-Furqaan quoted above), could straightforwardly deduce still additional eligibility and rejection criterion to further narrow down the field for who could possibly meet the Qur'anic criterion to comprise the set of “those charged with authority among you”.

That, as per verse 4:59, any such persons to whom command obedience is extended from the Prophet of Islam as an Exemplar of the Holy Qur'an, must also be Exemplars of the Holy Qur'an themselves! That conclusion is simply inescapable. Because, as Mr. Spock reasoned, they couldn't be just any prominent persons occupying the throne or the pulpit, no matter how learned or respectable, for in order to have command obedience to them as per verse 4:59, they'd have to possess knowledge and understanding of the divine message of the Holy Qur'an to the same level of unerring comprehension as the Prophet of Islam! Otherwise, they could possibly misinform and misguide the people using their own interpretation (despite their best intentions to be accurate). Which, of course, also automatically implied that their teacher could be none among those whom they have been divinely chosen to guide! The logic of that sequence of impeccable deductions is also undeniable. Not surprisingly, the deduction is directly underscored by the Holy Qur'an itself, as in verse fragments 6:89-90 (quoted above): “We have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it. These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance.” Allah is their teacher!

Therefore, Mr. Spock continued to reason, these could only be persons who were specially favored by the Author of the Holy Qur'an to also be unerring like the Messenger. Unerringness being the primary logical criterion to being an Exemplar of the Holy Qur'an in order to faithfully convey the message of the Author who claims to be the Creator of Mankind and the “Lord of the Worlds”, to the people without any alterations, additions and subtractions, in full and accurate context, in both letter and spirit. This deduction is also simply logical and straightforward. The verse of spiritual purification already analyzed in 33:33 arguably conveys at least some sense of bestowing unerringness, وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا , by keeping away all “rijis”, الرِّجْسَ , from the Ahlul Bayt.

Once again, the Arabic words employed by the Author of the Holy Qur'an to convey to the people what is being kept away from the Ahlul Bayt (all abominations) and for what purpose (purification) are far richer in semantics than can be captured straightforwardly in semantic-starved translated English. As already discussed earlier, and pending further discovery by Mr. Spock of the most accurate meaning of the concept of “Mutaharoon” , الْمُطَهَّرُونَ , of verse 56:79 as the bearers of the secrets of the Holy Qur'an, the reasonable metaphor of privileged access control to those with “security clearance” implied by that verse of Surah Al-Waqia (quoted above), also led to the comprehension that perfect purification from “rijis” of verse 33:33 would necessarily mean perfect unerring knowledge of the Holy Qur'an – knowledge that is necessary and sufficient to guide others only if the guides themselves are without error.

After all, not given to error is a declared gift bestowed by the Author and not an endeavor of man himself to acquire that state of perfect knowledge. Only the Author can confer perfect unerring knowledge of His Divine Message such that He can blithely command Muslims to: “Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you” on par with His own Word because He has also declared in Surah An-Najm: “Your companion does not err, nor does he go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed”!

I swear by the star when it goes down. (53:1)	وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ
Your companion does not err, nor does he go astray; (53:2)	مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ
Nor does he speak out of desire. (53:3)	وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ
It is naught but revelation that is revealed, (53:4)	إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْىٌ يُوحَىٰ
The Lord of Mighty Power has taught him, (53:5)	عَلَّمَهُۥ شَدِيدُ ٱلْقُوَىٰ

Caption Surah An-Najm 53:1-5 declaring the Prophet of Islam is inerrant, infallible, whose speech is naught but revelation that is revealed! Only on that categorical basis of inerrancy is obedience commanded to the Messenger on par with the Author of the Holy Qur'an in 4:59

Qualitatively, observes Mr. Spock, the concept of inerrancy is most clearly, most emphatically, and most unambiguously stated in Surah An-Najm verses 53:1-5 (quoted above). It is clearly a Determinate verse realizes Mr. Spock, self-sufficient, clear, and without any indirections. To Mr. Spock's mind, it is the most obvious and applicable meaning behind “purification”, “Mutaharoon” , الْمُطَهَّرُونَ , of verse 56:79, and is the underpinning of the blanket command obedience to the Prophet of Islam on par with the Author of the Holy Qur'an in Surah an-Nisaa' 4:59.

Surah An-Najm 53:1-5 further preempts the questions: How is the Messenger communicating the Author's Word unerringly to the people; How is the Messenger being an unerring Exemplar of the Holy Qur'an; How can the Messenger's companions know when to believe and obey the Messenger and when to follow their own opinion on any matter?

Firstly, verse 33:36 has already made it clear that the Messenger's decisions have to be abided by at all times: “It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.”

Secondly, verses 53:1-5 categorically put to bed the capricious speculation that the Messenger is only inerrant in some speech and not in others and therefore people can follow their own opinions in the latter: “Your companion does not err, nor does he go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed,”.

If that absurd proposition were true, perceptively observed Mr. Spock, it would create a logical conundrum: How could the Messenger's companions ever know when is the Messenger errant and when is he inerrant? They'd obviously have to rely on the Messenger's own word to even know that in the first place. But if the Messenger is capable of making an error, he is also capable of making an error in that determination as well.

If the Messenger is not inerrant in every single matter, every single act, every single speech, every single thought, then even one errancy is sufficient to put his entire Messengership in doubt – due to transmission error for instance. If not infallible, the Messenger could have made an error in a hundred thousand different ways that would remain undetectable by the people and they would be misled by the Messenger masquerading his own fallible opinion for the Author's infallible Word. The Messenger's own word for instance, differentiating what is the Author's Words vs. his own word, could itself be in error if the Messenger is ever capable of even a single error – and that opens the Pandora's box: Is the Holy Qur'an error-free from transmission errors of the Author's Message?

One must not forget that it is the Messenger who is ab initio introducing the Holy Qur'an, and not vice versa. It is the belief of the peoples in the Messenger's truthfulness upon which the Holy Qur'an itself is predicated. Unless the Messenger of the Holy Qur'an is infallible, it puts the words uttered by the Prophet, who alone designated that the specified words belonged to the Author of the Holy Qur'an and not to himself, into jeopardy.

It is only after the trust in the Messenger's veracity and truthfulness is established among his contemporaries, that the people are invited to come to the Holy Qur'an. It is only at that point, after the Messenger has already established his veracity among the peoples, that the Holy Qur'an subsequently confirms, through the speech of the Messenger itself and not via some other independent source, that the Messenger is infallible in Surah An-Najm. The Author of the Holy Qur'an, speaking through the mouth of the Messenger, confirms the people's earlier adjudication of Muhammad's veracity, by first swearing some unexplainable oath: “I swear by the star when it goes down.” ( وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ ), and then emphatically confirming to the Messenger's contemporaries: “Your companion does not err, nor does he go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed”!

If there is no belief in the Prophet, there is no belief in the Holy Qur'an! Once that belief is established, only then the Holy Qur'an has any meaning. And only at that point does the Author of the Holy Qur'an avers, putting no caveat to His declaration of the Prophet's infallibility, and making His proclamation blanket, unequivocal, universal, affirming not just the Prophet's Messengership of having accurately delivered the Author's Message (in 5:3), but also the Prophet's Exemplarship of having accurately explained the Message to his companions by way of a living example.

Therefore, returning back to verse 4:49, by extending that command delegation authority of 4:59 from the Messenger to also obey “those charged with authority among you”, and for the people not ever to be misled by obeying them, the وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ must logically share the same attribute, the same “security clearance” so to speak, as the Messenger! There is simply no escaping that equivalence logic.

Ergo, it follows that the وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ could logically only come from the peerless and unerring guides of the religion of Islam from among the Ahlul Bayt as only these people are explicitly being specially favored, for some blanket “purification” no less, as their spiritual conditioning, their preparation, for being obeyed without equivocation! According to the Qur'anic criterion, only such specially favored “purified” persons, who also were the offspring of Ibrahim or Muhammad, could even be eligible to be the subsequent Exemplars, Imams, of the people, لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا , after the Prophet of Islam.

The successive application of Qur'anic eligibility criterions had narrowed down the search considerably for Mr. Spock to get him closer to identifying “those charged with authority among you” solely from their characteristics deduced from the Holy Qur'an.

Remarkable what could be learnt from even a convoluted law book when one begins to decipher it accurately rather than rehearse it like a parrot or as the unwitting victim of socialization and perception management!

In equivalent terms, Mr. Spock now had the legal definitions, and the beginning of the understanding of what the letter and spirit of the Qur'anic law actually is. That law now needed to be applied to the empirical historical evidence in order to adjudicate, to separate the chaff from the wheat, the usurpers from the legitimate owners – which is the purpose of all law, both divine and man-made.

As Mr. Spock knew, meeting a criterion only determines eligibility. It does not necessarily indicate specific appointment – the specific “choosing”, or “charged”, or “entrusting”, as expressed in verses like: “We have already entrusted with it a people who are not disbelievers in it. These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance. Say: I do not ask you for any reward for it; it is nothing but a reminder to the nations.” (6:89-90 quoted above). The specific “entrusting” requires explicit evidence of appointment – some empirical evidence – not merely the general statements of law unless it specifically names the entrusted. Even the most logical deductions from law is merely theory in the absence of empiricism. Albeit, such reasoning of law and logic is surely necessary as a qualitative criterion; it helps one legally, i.e., objectively, without equivocation, exclude usurpers presumptuous enough to claim false entitlements.

While it may be argued by the learned doctrinaire that after everyone else is excluded by the accurate application of the criterion, those who remain standing are automatically selected as the bearers of that “entrusting”, empirical affirmation as well as commonsense of the laity both demand explicit evidence of specific appointment and clear identification. Especially, when the matter is made contentious and kept locked for centuries within the suffocating ambit of empires which ruled in the name of “God”, and which controlled all the dominant narratives and expositions on Islam. To this very day when Mr. Spock took up the study of the Holy Qur'an millennia later, their legacy evidently endured in the socialization of the Muslim public across cultures and civilizations.

Thus Mr. Spock pondered, if this matter is important to the Author, why aren't the names of “those charged with authority among you” explicitly mentioned in the Holy Qur'an? Why just give the criterion to establish their identity – why not also their names? How are people in subsequent generations to know their identity without relying on the doubtful and partisan pens of the scribes of history? Because, that is the only place to go seeking empirical evidence of such “entrusting” in all subsequent time and space!

Mr. Spock reasoned that unless the Messenger had shirked his duty to the Author of the Holy Qur'an, in which case verse 5:3 would not exist affirming the completion and perfection of the delivery of the message of Islam as a “deen” for mankind, the Messenger must have categorically informed the people of Arabia, the first Muslim generation, of all the unknowns noted above based on the explicit authority delegated to him in 4:59: “Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger,”. Specifically, the Messenger would have informed the people who had the entitlement to be included in that characterization of Ahlul Bayt, أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ , for whom “Allah only wishes to remove all abomination”, and the exact identity of “those charged with authority among you” whom the Muslims had to obey on par with himself.

The people of the time would have also naturally known who the Messenger's near of kin were whom they were asked to love as a mark of gratitude to the Prophet by divine commandment, by the simple virtue of the fact that the Prophet of Islam and his family lived among them his entire life. It is logical to presume, reasoned Mr. Spock, that the Messenger would have been asked by new Muslims coming from elsewhere, on hearing this verse, about the identity of who his near of kin were, and who “those charged with authority among you” were, and the Messenger of course would have hastened to inform them personally in order to discharge his duty faithfully as the Messenger.

How are we to know all that today when new Muslims, un-socialized into their new religion as an inheritance, similarly wish to inquire?

By leaving all this knowledge out of the pristine un-tampered pages of the Holy Qur'an, reflected Mr. Spock, why deny to subsequent generations of Muslims that certainty of knowing about this possibly momentous matter? What was the Author's wisdom in leaving them pitifully at the mercy of the doubtful scribes of history, their partisan pens, and cultural inheritance?

If in fact this was not important for subsequent generations to know, then why not just state so directly in the Holy Qur'an that this matter was only of temporal significance during that early epoch and not worth bickering about in subsequent times? And if it was important, why not just give the names of “those charged with authority among you” directly in the Holy Qur'an and be done with it?

These glaring omissions of the Author in the Holy Qur'an were evidently responsible for the flourishing sectarianism millennia later. And all indications still continued to lead to the same inescapable conclusion already noted earlier, that these ambiguities were deliberate and evidently well thought out by the Author as a system design of Islam for divine guidance to all mankind.

Mr. Spock muses how he could learn the precise identity of “those charged with authority among you” without the ease of reliance on the partisan narratives of history to which Muslims had fallen victim. Having browsed sufficient sociological context, Mr. Spock wanted to focus solely on what, and how much, did the Holy Qur'an itself communicate on the question which appeared to be an Indeterminate from the outset.

Were there other straightforward verses in the Holy Qur'an which enabled and assisted in their further identification? Without the correct context for the verses which spoke in indirections and in unknowns, as verse 4:59 did, how was one to even identify such verses that spoke to their identity? Perhaps there were some other incontrovertible facts in recorded history, despite the partisanship of scribes and imperial craftsmanship – like the incontrovertible fact of the slaughter of the Prophet's progeny by the Ummayad army already cited above to which there can be no doubt that it transpired in history – which assisted in unequivocally affirming their identity? It persistently begged the question that why had the Author of the Holy Qur'an relied on the doubtful scribes of history to complete their identification – if that identification was of any significance to subsequent generations after the first crop of Muslim?

Mr. Spock began to realize that this puzzle was almost akin to solving a system of linear equations with several unknown variables, but which could only be solved if the number of equations were at least equal to the number of unknown variables. However, as already explored in depth in Islam and Knowledge vs. Socialization, and alluded above by verses like:

• “One day We shall call together all human beings with their (respective) Imams”, (17:71) ;
• “If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.” (5:48) ;
• “And for every nation there is a messenger. And when their messenger cometh (on the Day of Judgment) it will be judged between them fairly, and they will not be wronged.” (10:47) ;

the operative principle “so strive as in a race in all virtues” arguably indicated many solutions, not just one, which could satisfy these equations!

It appeared to Mr. Spock that the Author had very astutely, and quite sensibly, accounted for socialization biases by offering mankind the core guidance: “so strive as in a race in all virtues”, and the conflict resolution principle when they differed: “The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.”

Mr. Spock realized that he had made substantial progress already, and thus makes the assumption that it must be true that this puzzle of pertinent guidance is completely soluble by man in its cipher form, taking the Holy Qur'an at its word. Otherwise, he reasoned, the entire edifice of the guidance system to mankind proclaimed by the Holy Qur'an falls flat on its face. It becomes relegated to mean whatever anyone in power wants it to mean, or can write the dominant narrative for it which survives through history.

As per the first classification of the Holy Qur'an by Mr. Spock, as a cipher message of the Author to mankind that had to be decoded correctly, and therefore, was not open to individual interpretation or the recovery of the singular plaintext could be in error, Mr. Spock saw it being self-evident, that the correct meaning, interpretation, and understanding of the verses of the Holy Qur'an, in addition from the Prophet of Islam, and from the Holy Qur'an itself, could only be taken from these designated but unnamed persons as per the Author's declaration of obedience to them in 4:59. And not from just any pretentious scholar gurgling Arabic, or legitimately or illegitimately occupying the throne or pulpit of Islam.

This logical conclusion, argued Mr. Spock, is most significant and the key to the entire matter.

However, if, “those charged with authority among you” had been thrust aside or ignored after the death of the Messenger, their guidance not sought, not recorded, and not followed, then all the evil which followed from that first transgression of the first few generation of Muslims fourteen centuries ago accumulated into the greater whole of sectarianism and dynastic empires that have existed ever since. In other words, their crime was not mere disobedience, but a supreme crime as it contained within it the seeds of all the evil that followed, leaving Muslims today, as yesterday, a pathetic people mired in rituals, schisms, sectarian blood-shed, kingdoms, and servility to empire.

The fact that hardly anyone among the Muslim public outside of their myopic socialization biases is even aware of there being some specially designated (but unnamed) persons in the Holy Qur'an in addition to the Messenger who are meant to be its Exemplars after the Prophet of Islam, and obedience to them is made as obligatory as to the Prophet of Islam, lends credence to the logical surmising that “those charged with authority among you” must have been shunted aside by those coveting the highest pulpit of Islam.

It explains the empirical observation that today each Muslim understands the same verses slightly differently. There are, and were, too many “imams” interpreting and explaining the Holy Qur'an by their own fancy and judgment, even vested interest, having lost or ignored the explanation and interpretation by its authentic stewards! Despite the plaintext warning to the people to be wary of such “imams”: “One day We shall call together all human beings with their (respective) Imams” (see verse 17:71 quoted above). Mr. Spock recalled with marvel the foresight of the Author of the Holy Qur'an: “Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful.” (see verse 76:3 quoted above)

Given the documented reality of the ensuing power-struggle immediately after the death of the Prophet of Islam which pitted the family of the Prophet of Islam against the first Muslim caliphs, and the sociological context surrounding the events of power and its vile inflection in the name of God which culminated in the slaughter of the progeny of the Prophet of Islam and the emergence of the most abhorrent dynastic empires that led the Muslim world to its seven hundred years of unsurpassed global ascendency among much internecine state violence, Mr. Spock realizes that objectively extracting incontrovertible evidence of the appointment of “those charged with authority among you” in order to establish their clear identity from the historical records of imperial craftsmanship and outright suppression for two hundred years, would be akin to extracting a weak signal from a vast sea of background noise in communication theory in electrical engineering!

Mr. Spock recognizes that he would have to be a forensic detective in order to recreate the fuller contexts for the understanding of the largely contextless verses of the Holy Qur'an. He also recognizes however that such a detective work would surely identify the principal first cause of dissension among the Muslims which had led to all the subsequent multiplication into sectarianism. Identification and extraction of that principal first cause could be key to uniting the Muslims once again as they once were under the single banner of أُمَّةً مُسْلِمَةً during the lifetime of the Prophet of Islam. Mr. Spock quickly pushes this overarching puzzle on his evaluation stack.

Mr. Spock's puzzle evaluation stack is growing rapidly with his increasing understanding of the complexity of the issues... For, indeed, the narratives which survived past those early period are clearly partisan, with scribes and rulers taking sides as already noted. Thus the richer context for the verses of the Holy Qur'an is now deeply mired in this blood-drenched early history of the Muslims and cannot be straightforwardly extracted merely by perusing the early literature. As is the case for all such histories, even including the contemporary history examined in this volume under the orchestration of the Mighty Wurlitzer, myths get naturally amplified by successive generation of scribes, and facts and factors inconvenient to their narratives, or to their rulers, are naturally attenuated as already explained above leading to a crippled epistemology for those who study things on faith or without any forensic talent.

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III

Summation and Impact Analysis

In summation, so far, Mr. Spock, well-read in both the sociological histories of empires and their social engineering of the public, has recognized that all works outside of the Holy Qur'an (including the Holy Qur'an itself) have been composed in sociological contexts and not in an abstract or sterile vacuum free from the influence of the ruling paradigms. And that these sociological contexts are most essential to fully identify and perceptively comprehend, especially when the early history of the advent of religion of Islam after its Messenger's demise is soaked in so much internecine state violence and obfuscation. To understand those outside written works therefore, Mr. Spock ascertains that the full sociological context under which all these books on Islam were originally compiled, must first be understood – as facts in a void can convey any meaning its compiler wants. Therefore, Mr. Spock decides that facts alone will not be sufficient to establish clues to resolving the Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an. That it would also be necessary to cradle facts in the rich sociological context and the narratives of history which caused the strange paradoxical artifact: that the Author of the Holy Qur'an chose not to protect its Exemplar's Sunnah within the Holy Qur'an itself but to which it issued command obedience as per 4:59.

Furthermore, that such historical facts would have to be not just cradled, but forensically cradled in the sociological realities of realpolitik forces and often unrecorded motivations which gave birth to those facts, and to their narratives, in order to fully comprehend them.

And Mr. Spock immediately surmises that as the evidence of history in every civilization indicates, these narratives too are invariably the sectarian narratives of partisans taking sides. Historians, compilers, exegeses writers, essayists and poets, all taking sides, omitting and attenuating facts and contexts inconvenient either to their narrative, or to their socialization bias, or to the sanction of the rulers under whom they scribed, while amplifying myths and opinions conducive to their narrative and socialization outlook whereby the victors ruled creating the facts on the ground, and the victims mourned exaggerating and perhaps mythifying the victimizing circumstances in cultural memory for centuries that might pale the Homer's Iliad by comparison. This natural cause and effect relationship of history, narrated by those most affected by it, on either side of it, becoming the de facto source of exposition and explanation of the Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an as soon as one stepped out of its boundaries to figure out the unknowns.

The divine irony (or perhaps the divine comedy) poignantly strikes Mr. Spock's analytical mind: Mortal fallible pens seemingly completing a Book whose Author claims it is “Perfection” (5:3) and “A Revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.” (56:80).

To Mr. Spock's mind, prima facie logic alone would dictate not to use the fallible pens to parse the Infallible pen of the Author Who claims Itself to be Perfection Incarnate and the “Lord of the Worlds”. The Author of the Holy Qur'an is so assertive of the perfection of His Word that He asserts repeatedly, as in verse 2:2, that it is a Book in which there is no doubt, and a guidance to only those pious of heart who earnestly seek it. So why then use the fallible pen of scribes which is always full of doubt, to gain comprehension of the Infallible Words of the Author for which the Author asserts there is no doubt?

But the same Author has also, evidently by design, practically necessitated the very use of fallible pens by virtue of verses like 4:59 which create importance for the Sunnah of the Prophet of Islam on par with the Qur'an and to the obedience to it, but not recording those Sunnah within the pages of the Holy Qur'an and leaving the verses of the Qur'an as Indeterminates. This is a paradox in the Holy Qur'an.

This is why, Mr. Spock logically concludes, the Muslims from the very beginning had become preoccupied with the temporal, and often reactionary sociological contexts, deliberately drowning the holistic and timeless text of the Holy Qur'an by insisting on partisan hadiths, tafseers, and narratives of history penned in the fallible ink and cultural memories largely due to commandments like 4:59 which made the Holy Qur'an subject to easy abuse.

The Muslims, it became evident to Mr. Spock, through the subsequent generations after the first, had paradoxically become its unwitting victims because they had insisted on following the commandment 4:59 of the Holy Qur'an to the letter, without understanding its accurate import in the larger context of the entire message of the Holy Qur'an. And they used the scribes of history literally, along their own socialization axis, becoming putty in the hands of rulers who could trivially inflict internecine violence for political expediency upon those who fell out of favor.

The Muslims had not bothered to elevate themselves beyond the baggage of their respective narrow socialization which often leads to close-mindedness, and partisanship.

Their collective understanding of Islam in the successive Muslim empires and subsequent servile civilizations had therefore become ossified in the imperial narratives of history expounded from the “Roman pulpit”, and in reaction to it in its many “Protestant movements”, rather than become progressive and egalitarian based on the sublimity of its timeless doctrines principled in the Holy Qur'an. What had been intended as a sublime force of transformation for the evolution of societies from its barbarisms and exploitations to an enlightened state of mankind's existence over time, had become the force majeure for building absolutist enduring empires instead.

The Muslims had inexorably fallen victim to the same sort of corruption which was emphatically admonished by the Holy Qur'an about their cousins, the Jews and the Christians – the persistent distortion of the Author's message delivered to the Abrahamic seed!

Except, in the case of the Muslims, they continued to claim, in every epoch, to possess the Author's Message in its unadulterated most pristine cipher form. And demonstrably so. But Muslims could neither decipher nor implement it effectively because of the hijacking that the Holy Qur'an itself permitted by virtue of it being a cipher-text rather than a straightforward plaintext!

Of course, the aliasing of proper nouns in the Holy Qur'an into common nouns had been, and continues to be, the most common and obvious subversion of the Holy Qur'an by Muslims and Non-Muslims alike. For example, as already discussed in Islam and Knowledge vs. Socialization, Muslims using the proper noun “Imam” as a common noun for anointing anyone with it, whereas the Holy Qur'an explicitly used لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا to anoint only the Author's own favored ones with that station of leadership among mankind. Similarly, as also already deconstructed in considerable depth in “Hijacking the word 'Islam' for Mantra Creation”, Western demagogues inimical to Islam, like Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, overloading the proper noun “Islam” to designate a kitchen sink of semantics, whereas the Holy Qur'an used الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا to explicitly designate a “deen” which Allah “perfected”.

The use of Indeterminates in the Holy Qur'an had only facilitated such calculated hijacking, permitting the easy fixing of these values by anyone. The brilliant could subvert it easily for their power-interests to build empires. And the foolish remained socialized in it to find justification for whatever sect they grew up in!

Even its very first chapter, Surah Al-Fatiha, which Mr. Spock observed was parroted daily by all Muslims who reverently bowed in prayer, was a mini cipher (see its examination in Islam and Knowledge vs. Socialization).

The Holy Qur'an was certainly turning out to be nothing like the plaintext Bible, the holy book of Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, lamented Mr. Spock. He recalled the fluency and the ease with which his human captain sometimes quoted from it to teach him interesting lessons in selflessness of the most sublime in human endeavors. Mr. Spock had always found these lessons perplexing due to his logic-only rational mind. It is interesting to footnote in passing however, that in this 1960s' fable that was turned into movies in the 1980s and 1990s, Mr. Spock gave his own life selflessly in one of these episodes to save his spaceship in the Genesis project, making the rational irrefutable argument to his captain's chagrin and intense grief that in order for the Starship to continue its endless mission of discovery of the cosmos, the life of one over the life of many is a purely logical decision.

In any case, Mr. Spock pondered that how could this blatant self-contradiction, a macro puzzle, a paradox of the Holy Qur'an, of the Holy Qur'an ostensibly facilitating its own subversion, have escaped the acumen of Muslim sages throughout the ages?

More pertinently, why had it not been resolved all this time?

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How Islam became an empire

To Mr. Spock's logical mind, if conundrums and paradoxes borne of pure logic of the matter cannot be resolved with logic alone, they remain perpetual conundrums, and therefore, always ripe for subjective interpretation and harvesting for narrow interests. Here was the principal reason, within the text of the Holy Qur'an itself, which continually leads to seeking and following material outside the confines of the Authorship of the Holy Qur'an. And no Muslim sage is inclined to address it!

Perceptive as he is, the motivation to not solve this paradox, especially during the heyday of Muslim civilizations, is now readily apparent to Mr. Spock. This persistent puzzle of the Holy Qur'an to Mr. Spock is indicative of both, the deep sociological contexts which cradled the message of Islam from its earliest inception to the present day, and its pathological transformation into enduring empires. As Mr. Spock dispassionately observed, the religion of Islam had been morphed into an unsurpassed absolutist system for the exercise of imperial power by Muslim rulers. Anyone on the throne and the pulpit could interpret the verses of the Holy Qur'an any which way they liked simply by making recourse to any outside text written by themselves, or by their own favored scribes, or to their own favored narrative of history. By thus fixing values of its Indeterminates to suit their narrow self-interests, it was easy to hijack Islam to one's primacy advantage.

The intoxicating, almost mesmerizing, effect the Holy Qur'an has upon the Muslim masses makes it especially easy to manipulate and control them by distorting the largely contextless verses of the Holy Qur'an and giving these any meaning that is expedient. Promising the masses Heaven in After-life for their sufferance of hell right here in this life. A messiah in the future who would free them of their misery and establish justice and equity if only they were patient in their afflictions and injustices here, and relegated themselves to dutifully mind their religious rituals instead. And, instead of challenging, either participated in, or suffered in silence, the kingly opulence and tyrannical adventures of their rulers as it was indeed God who had appointment them the absolute sovereign of the lands. After all, didn't the Holy Qur'an unequivocally command Muslims to obey: “those charged with authority among you”, and “to be patient” in their suffering!!

While musing this pathocracy of social control, Mr. Spock recalled a global primacy strategist's rational observations of absolutist empires which most aptly captured the global ascendence of these despotic Muslim empires:

“The earlier empires were built by aristocratic political elites and were in most cases ruled by essentially authoritarian or absolutist regimes. The bulk of the populations of the imperial states were either politically indifferent or, in more recent times, infected by imperialist emotions and symbols. The quest for national glory, "the white man's burden," "la mission civilisatrice," not to speak of the opportunities for personal profit—all served to mobilize support for imperial adventures and to sustain essentially hierarchical imperial power pyramids.”^[8]

The Muslim empires, with their absolute sovereignty ruthlessly secured in the name of Islam's “God” from all domestic challenge, became great patrons of the arts, the sciences, and the humanities. They become the first to bring the translations of the works of the Classical civilizations into Arabic, from where it reached the Western shores centuries later. The enterprising and talented ones among the Muslim populations labored under the parallel personal motivations to impel empire forward as already explored in the Fable of the Bees for the modern contemporary times under Western empires. The pertinent verses from the Holy Qur'an that encouraged astronomy, the study of the cosmos, in fact the study of all creation (as in verses 67:3-4 of Surah Al-Mulk which were also quoted by Dr. Abdus Salam when receiving his shared 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics and which precisely underscores this very point), and indeed the boundless pursuit of all forms of knowledge ( “and say: My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” Surah Ta-Ha, 20:114 , Arabic: وَقُلْ رَّبِّ زِدۡنِىۡ عِلۡمًا ), helped propel Muslim civilizations to the forefront of global supremacy on all fronts in their heyday just as it has done for American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives in this day and age. Except, in the development of political thought.

That necessary re-discovery had to await the Renaissance during the Middle Ages in the West, to finally end the reign of their own pulpit-led supreme Dark Ages that had principally been seeded in the hijacking of Christianity as the official state religion of the Roman Empire centuries earlier (in approx. 300 AD under emperor Constantine).

Why had such Renaissance against the Muslim pulpit's hijacking of Islam likewise centuries earlier, right after the death of its Prophet, similarly not transpired in the Muslim civilizations despite their own un-challenged global supremacy of vast territories on Earth for a period far exceeding the Roman Empire? Considering that the Muslims were the first to be exposed to Greek classics and to their Classical Hellenic culture of political self-empowerment (such as republic, democracy), egalitarian ideas of social justice (such as Solon's, considered among the ten greatest law givers of Athenian antiquity according to Plutarch's Lives), etc., for these socio-political ideas to have never taken root in absolutist Muslim civilizations which likewise ruled dynastically with an iron-fist in the name of Islam's “God”, while they borrowed liberally from Hellenic math, sciences, and military warfare methods to become the supreme empires of their time, is revealing in and of itself. If one simply compares that state of affairs to the political indifference of the learned in society today, all matters become patently obvious.

Of the hundreds of living Nobel laureates in the sciences and humanities in America and the Western world, how many learned minds rose to challenge the empire's narratives of 9/11, or called it for its prima facie enactment, an inside job, or showed any skepticism when BBC reported the destruction of WTC-7 the very same evening a full twenty-five minutes before it nearly free-fall collapsed into its own footprints with no airliner ever hitting it, or forensically deconstructed the so called Catastrophic Terrorism of 9/11 to uncover and publicly protest that it was to launch imperial mobilization for one-world government?

These most brilliant high achieving minds of America, like the rest of the American masses caught between their daily bread and circuses, watched their beloved Western world descend into police-states, lose their vaunted civil liberties, stood meekly at airports first with their own shoes in hands, and subsequently with their private parts in TSA's hands, all in the name of outright idiotic and villainous absurdities. To this scribe's last count as of the year 2012 AD, exactly zero have arisen to call America's War on Terror for what it is, or handed in their vaunted Nobel prize in protest to its open barbarianism upon the 'lesser peoples'. This silence and show of political indifference of the supposed “learned” of Western society during the exercise and expansion of Western hegemony is not a singularity. It is the norm under every empire from time immemorial. One cannot stand tall against the tyranny of ruling interests and thrive at the same time.

Mr. Spock perceptively observed with the precision of a sociologist and science officer, that a revolutionary religion, intended primarily for the transformation of man – both men and women – into the perfectman submitting wholly to its Creator “bowing to Thy (Will)”, and society into the perfect egalitarian system of social justice and sublime morality (as for instance had been noted by Solon in Athens a thousand years before Islam (Ibid.), and most succinctly outlined in Surah al-Asr, chapter 103 of the Holy Qur'an), had been trivially transformed on the one hand into the opiate of the people waiting for Allah, and on the other into a natural force for imperial mobilization throughout the ages!

No system of absolute rule, marveled Mr. Spock, has been able to surpass this tortuous mass control of the public mind that could so trivially persuade people to accept and enjoy their own servitude with just the mere promise of the Hereafter which not even the rulers, but their almighty God had undertaken to fulfill. The rulers got a free ride with no promises of their own to keep! Whereas today, a lot more sophistication and technical expertise, not to mention considerable expense and talent, is brought to bear to achieve the same effect under “democracy” (see The Mighty Wurlitzer), and a hell of a lot of bayonets under Stalinist like dictatorship.

This has been the real prime-mover behind the villainous history of the oft glorified Muslim empires of the past, where the first caliphate came into existence after the death of the Prophet of Islam under a cloud of dissent from the progeny of the Prophet of Islam, where the first Ummayad Empire came into existence by killing the progeny of the Prophet of Islam, where the follow-on Abbasside empire came into existence on the pretext of rectifying the wrong done by the Ummayads but then took over the imperial mobilization from where the previous tyrannical empire had left off. The Mongols conquered Eurasia, assimilated with the local population, and spawned the two new Muslim Empires of the Ottomans in Central Asia, and the Mughals in Persia and India. This is what Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote in The Grand Chessboard of their precursors, the Mongols' phenomenal conquest of Eurasia which gave birth to these Muslim empires:

“To find a somewhat closer analogy to today's definition of a global power, we must turn to the remarkable phenomenon of the Mongol Empire. Its emergence was achieved through an intense struggle with major and well-organized opponents. Among those defeated were the kingdoms of Poland and Hungary, the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, several Russian and Rus' principalities, the Caliphate of Baghdad, and later, even the Sung dynasty of China.

Genghis Khan and his successors, by defeating their regional rivals, established centralized control over the territory that latterday scholars of geopolitics have identified as the global heartland, or the pivot for world power. Their Eurasian continental empire ranged from the shores of the China Sea to Anatolia in Asia Minor and to Central Europe (see map). It was not until the heyday of the Stalinist Sino-Soviet bloc that the Mongol Empire on the Eurasian continent was finally matched, insofar as the scope of centralized control over contiguous territory is concerned.

The Roman, Chinese, and Mongol empires were regional precursors of subsequent aspirants to global power. In the case of Rome and China, as already noted, their imperial structures were highly developed, both politically and economically, while the widespread acceptance of the cultural superiority of the center exercised an important cementing role. In contrast, the Mongol Empire sustained political control by relying more directly on military conquest followed by adaptation (and even assimilation) to local conditions.

Mongol imperial power was largely based on military domination. Achieved through the brilliant and ruthless application of superior military tactics that combined a remarkable capacity for rapid movement of forces with their timely concentration, Mongol rule entailed no organized economic or financial system, nor was Mongol authority derived from any assertive sense of cultural superiority. The Mongol rulers were too thin numerically to represent a self-regenerating ruling class, and in any case, the absence of a defined and self-conscious sense of cultural or even ethnic superiority deprived the imperial elite of the needed subjective confidence.

In fact, the Mongol rulers proved quite susceptible to gradual assimilation by the often culturally more advanced peoples they had conquered. Thus, one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, who had become the emperor of the Chinese part of the great Khan's realm, became a fervent propagator of Confucianism; another became a devout Muslim in his capacity as the sultan of Persia; and a third became the culturally Persian ruler of Central Asia.

It was that factor—assimilation of the rulers by the ruled because of the absence of a dominant political culture—as well as unresolved problems of succession to the great Khan who had founded the empire, that caused the empire's eventual demise. The Mongol realm had become too big to be governed from a single center, but the solution attempted—dividing the empire into several self-contained parts—prompted still more rapid local assimilation and accelerated the imperial disintegration. After lasting two centuries, from 1206 to 1405, the world's largest land-based empire disappeared without a trace.” --- Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard, pgs. 15-17

Leaving behind their Muslim legatees, the Ottoman and the Mughal Empires. Little changed with their assimilation by the conquered peoples, as now these new absolutist regimes of the assimilated ruling class exercised ruthless power in the name of the same “God” of Islam, rather than formerly as the Central Asian Mongol barbarians. The Ottomans and the Mughals took imperial suzerainty from where the Ummayads, the Abbassides, and the Fatimides had left off, abusing Islam exactly as their predecessors, to inflict social control upon the masses in the name of “God”, and to infect the public with their own 'la mission civilisatrice' which supported imperial objectives, now largely held in check by the burgeoning European empire. And it is now, the contemporary history in the making of the Anglo Saxon's drive for a world government empire.

All principally enabled by the fracture lines among the Muslims themselves because of their slightly different theological understanding of the Holy Qur'an due to the open-ended interpretation of the verses of the Holy Qur'an that is possible, leading to losing the original message intended by the Author for the guidance to man. Once the Author's message is lost to individual interpretation, all the evil follows when the fault lines thus created fall into the grubby hands of Supermen and Machiavelli who know how to diabolically harness them in the name of “God” and “imperial mobilization”.

One can see perfect contemporary examples of the West's harvesting of Islam in Zbigniew Brzezinski crafting the Afghan Mujahideens in yesteryear as already examined in Islam and Knowledge vs. Socialization. And today, in the crafting of 'militant Islam' vs. 'moderate Islam' Hegelian Dialectic, to create the “revolutionary times” necessary to seed the transformation into one-world government empire as already examined in The Mighty Wurlitzer.

It is only that, the abuse of the religion of Islam as an unmatched force for absolute social control in the name of “God”, and not its lofty purpose, concluded Mr. Spock, which led the Muslims to dizzying heights of unsurpassed empires for over seven hundred years, from 700 AD to 1400 AD. Muslim empires limped along, often in the throes of mediocrity, in competition with the rapidly burgeoning Western hegemony in Europe for another five hundred years, until they were finally put out of their misery by an even more diabolical foe that had now surpassed the dynastic Muslim rulers in the arts and sciences of societal control and behavior manipulation. The authority of “God” was replaced with that of “Democracy”, and the pulpit by the Mighty Wurlitzer.

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Failure to Transform Society

While Islam has indubitably played a transformative role in the lives of individuals, and in creating the culture of religion – common ethos and rituals shared with the relevant political and religious communities – why has the Religion of Islam as “perfected” in verse 5:3, failed to transform society as it is primarily intended, rather than be continually hijacked for “imperial mobilization”, pondered Mr. Spock. He again recalled another sociologist and political scientist, a “leading Western scholar of Islam”, Bernard Lewis, describing the meteoric rise and dominance of “Islam” (see Hijacking the word “Islam” for Mantra Creation), and it puzzled Mr. Spock why all that was even true despite there being no “empire” in the Religion of Islam:

“It is difficult to generalize about Islam. To begin with, the word itself is commonly used with two related but distinct meanings, as the equivalents both of Christianity, and Christendom. In the one sense, it denotes a religion, as system of beliefs and worship; in the other, the civilization that grew up and flourished under the aegis of that religion. The word Islam thus denotes more than fourteen centuries of history, a billion and a third people, and a religious and cultural tradition of enormous diversity. ... For more than a thousand years, Islam provided the only universally acceptable set of rules and principles for the regulation of public and social life. Even during the period of maximum European influence, in the countries ruled or dominated by European imperial powers as well as in those that remained independent, Islamic political notions and attitudes remained a profound and pervasive influence.” --- Bernard Lewis, Crisis of Islam – Holy War and Unholy Terror, pgs. 1 and 13

The key to that puzzle is in the text of the Holy Qur'an itself.

The very concept of spiritual guidance in the Holy Qur'an is addressed to a very narrow audience, those who approach it with a “cleansed heart” (see detailed exposition in Islam and Knowledge vs. Socialization). The rest are destined to be misled, as per the many admonishing proclamations in the Holy Qur'an.

But, as Mr. Spock already understood by way of considerable empiricism, no society, from time immemorial, possesses such wonderfully pious public with a “cleansed heart” in the majority! “Hegemony is as old as mankind”^[9]; and so is its power to corrupt and to co-opt: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”^[10] And their core instrument of extracting obedience from the public mind is Machiavellian political science. That succeeds primarily because, as is also an observed empirical fact, the general mass intelligence among human beings is rather low, irrespective of the civilization and epoch they belong to. A human philosopher had once captured this empiricism with wit: “Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so”.^[11]

Therefore, questioned Mr. Spock, how is this guidance of the Holy Qur'an which is initially meant for only a small minority among the public who are required to both reason and think, and also bring a “cleansed heart” to bear upon the divine message, supposed to transform the majority of the people in any society?

One brimming with unbridled optimism may perhaps blindly speculate that the first seeds of moral enlightenment among the minority will eventually germinate and percolate to the rest of society – the evolution of societies under Islam to their more egalitarian and sublime state of equity, social justice, and spiritual ascendency – just like it arguably was on such a transforming path in the most backward piece of geography on earth at the time. In the desert of Arabia, when the Prophet of Islam established his ruling state in the small oasis called Medina during his own lifetime.

But not Mr. Spock, who had in fact been quite bored reading Pollyanna from the ship's library. He could already perceive that these are wonderfully lofty ideals of Islam no doubt, just like its predecessors' the Ten Commandments brought by Prophet Moses to the 'chosen peoples', and the 'love thy neighbor' Gospel brought by Prophet Jesus to their legatees subsequently known as Christians. None has transpired yet! But all have succeeded in leaving high-minded platitudes on elevated bookshelves of over 5 billion peoples who today claim to follow the Abrahamic creeds!

Practically speaking, reasoned Spock, if the masses are mainly unthinking creatures of habit and socialization, what does transformation really mean, apart from merely implanting new habits among the masses by social engineering – no cleansed hearts needed.

Mr. Spock is well aware that according to sociologists' empirical study of human societies still existing in the twenty-first century, at best less than 2% of the people think, about 8% think they think, and 90% wouldn't be caught dead thinking! In fact, stupider the masses, more gullibly they are led to any destination by the Machiavelli with social engineering, and with bread and circuses – and that has been a fact from time immemorial.

How can the Holy Qur'an counter that empirical reality among the wider populations of human beings with its platitudinous cleansed heart recipe? The way the Holy Qur'an is structured, that recipe principally requires the ability to think and to reason, like Mr. Spock's mind, while overcoming the chains of socialization and indoctrination inflicted upon the public from birth, in order to fully decipher the message of the Holy Qur'an.

But if not more than 2% of any human society realistically has such rational capacity at this stage of their human development on earth, as is empirically visible, genuine heart cleansing can only remain un-implementable. This automatically implies that holding diversity of views and remaining fragmented is the only practical outcome for such primitive societies, leaving the incredible statements of the Holy Qur'an to ultimately prevail to explain that empiricism:

• “If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people,” ;
• “(His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.” ;
• “If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination.” ;
• “Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful.” ;
• “One day We shall call together all human beings with their (respective) Imams” ;
• 'Then the Messenger will say: “O my Lord! Truly my people took this Qur'an for just foolish nonsense.”' ;
• “This is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did.” (all cited above)

As evidenced in the verses above, the Author of the Holy Qur'an asserts to have fully empowered individuals, societies, and civilizations from time immemorial with His Divine Guidance System whether they be thankful or unthankful. And will hold all human beings to account for its implementation in their own lives and their own times in the company of their respective Imams. Be that as it may, the implementation of the Author's Divine Guidance System is nevertheless made even more impractical by the meta paradox of the Holy Qur'an, that the hijacking of its understanding has been enabled by the Holy Qur'an itself. Even the smartest minds in sophisticated societies have to deal with the challenge of accurately deciphering the Holy Qur'an due to its Indeterminates!

But the twain of that paradox is still another paradox – that perhaps it was this first paradox which enabled the Holy Qur'an to even survive in its cipher form as a pristine un-tampered text through the vicissitudes of empires built upon the abuse of the religion of Islam as a force for social engineering, in the first place. When Muslim power-mongers at the very inception of Islam's ascendance did not hesitate from slaughtering the progeny of the Prophet of Islam to occupy its highest pulpits despite the clear Qur'anic commandment to Muslims that loving the Messenger's near of kin in gratitude is a moral obligation put upon them, 'Say: “No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin.”', the verses of the Holy Qur'an themselves would surely not have survived un-tampered had they effectively got in the way of imperial mobilization.

By using open-ended statements and indirections in its verses, i.e., by becoming a cipher, and by encouraging its verbatim memorization and recitation on every occasion imaginable primarily as an oral message, the Author has certainly been able to safeguard the text of the Holy Qur'an from the villainy of human scribes and the vicissitudes of time. And here is the twain paradox – but who can decipher that pristine un-tampered cipher message of “no doubt” into its singular plaintext today without any doubt? Albeit, the Holy Qur'an has provided a cipher key for breaking this deadlock condition, to approach its cipher with a “cleansed heart” and all would be revealed: “In a Book well-guarded, Which none shall touch but those who are clean (purified)”, Surah Al-Waqia, 56:78-79, already quoted above.

Many millenniums later, despite the indirections and the unknowns, the pristine text of the Holy Qur'an has still enabled the solely left-brained Mr. Spock to reason through the cipher using only the Holy Qur'an itself as the criterion to adjudicate his reasoning. As should be readily apparent to the reader, validating the broad claims of the Holy Qur'an, Mr. Spock has certainly comprehended quite a bit already.

But the paradox of trying to comprehend in totality, the Infallible Words of the Author from the fallible words of the scribes of history persists. This paradox is deeply inherent in the Holy Qur'an and no amount of rationalization of how pristine and un-tampered the Qur'anic text really is, can wipe it way. While its words and verses may be intact and pristine, the meaning of those words and verses on the precise fault-lines of sectarianism is far from Determinate.

Mr. Spock pushes this macro meta puzzle on the top of his evaluation stack, realizing fully well that albeit a totality of understanding may be difficult to acquire, a reasonable, even if ultimately partial, understanding may still be achieved to finally resolve all paradoxes with logical self-consistency once he has dug his way to the very bottom of the Pandora's box.

Mr. Spock has also insightfully realized that unlike peoples of other religions, Islam and the Holy Qur'an evidently continue to play a much greater role in the daily lives of Muslim nations on earth in nearly all cultures and civilizations of the East. The West is also not immune to its intoxicating grip upon the Muslim peoples living there. The public's oral recitation of the Holy Qur'an, if not its penetrating study, is ubiquitous among the Muslim masses and comprises their essential Islamic ethos. It is a pathetic shame therefore, muses Mr. Spock, that they each understand the same text of their Good Book differently leading to needless fracture lines among them that are always ripe for harvesting by the vile and the villainous. Something really should be done about this – despite the potential of the Prime Directive adversely interfering with that lofty objective (Prime Directive: a social Darwinian concept to not have the highly evolved Star Trek folks in the fable meddle with primitive war-mongering civilizations in the galaxy, to instead afford them the opportunity to either evolve, or naturally die away and be replaced by a better civilization more eager and able to evolve).

Accurately unraveling the principal first cause of disunity among Muslims from which every schism, every empire, and every evil has followed, logically surmised Mr. Spock, would minimally lead to eliminating all sectarianism from among them; the Muslims already possess the common text of the Holy Qur'an which they are all already united upon, and mainly only differ in what it means. A rational elimination of these now very powerful fracture lines, a happenstance of history, would also eliminate the ease of abuse of Islam by rulers and empires who thrive on historical obfuscation, on aiding and abetting internecine violence, on fanning sectarian divides, pitting one narrative against the other among the ignorant partisans to assert their own primacy and its geostrategic imperatives. Eliminating just that singular source of global threat to other worlds and other civilizations, would be worth violating the Prime Directive for, reasons Mr. Spock.

Because of his long exposure to the exercise of hegemony and evolution of primitive societies, Mr. Spock well understands that a society often only evolves due to being conquered, or sometimes due to resistance to being conquered, and rarely voluntarily without a motivating force. Industrial and technological advancement had been a primal force of social evolution – but rather than evolve the mental styles of man, it had only principally evolved the living styles of mankind. No spiritual advancement had taken place over at least 5000 years of mankind's existence despite copious visitations by prophets. Therefore, Mr. Spock recognizes that if Muslim societies now under dire existential threat, are permitted or coached into evolving their comprehension of the real meaning of Islam and the sublime guidance to mankind offered in the Holy Qur'an, and if knowledge of this new egalitarian understanding of the religion of Islam is encouraged to percolate downwards to the Muslim masses and upwards to the Muslim pontiffs, that:

• firstly, all such subversions for “imperial mobilizations” would automatically be thwarted (See exposition of Surah Al-Asr , Chapter 103 of the Holy Qur'an, to understand how the banality of evil is easily overcome once the implementation of Deen-ul-Haq is liberated from the clutches of pious rituals and pious mullahs) ;
• and secondly, the concomitant societal journey towards a progressive more egalitarian state of spiritual as well as equitable material existence would become naturally organic and automatic.

But, Mr. Spock also lamentably ponders, which ruling class and threatened interests among them would ever permit such a positive transformation to occur on its own, without substantial use of a counter force, when it would kill the golden goose which lays the imperial egg? Especially, if such revolutionizing transformation could finally even unite the Muslims into one enlightened people who would be next to impossible to conquer for inimical interests.

However, a bent tree can hardly ever be straightened without breaking it, as Mr. Spock well knows. And that unfortunate empiricism may necessitate that the religion of Islam, as preserved in its un-tampered scripture, continually resuscitate itself in new cultures and new civilizations, among new peoples, each time for a better implementation of divine guidance, while leaving the corrupted and hijacked nations to naturally decay away into oblivion. There is no arresting, never mind curing, cancer in an already decaying society.

With that as the overarching backdrop of the import of his study, Mr. Spock decides to dig his electrified mind into a deeper more penetrating examination of the Holy Qur'an. His mathematical genius simply had to solve these puzzles and paradoxes of the enigmatic text which appeared to offer some sensible guidance for mutual co-existence in the stochastic process of mankind's existence – a random process which seeds natural diversity among mankind via socialization bias that only depends upon which side of the railroad tracks people are born, but offering them a breathtaking unity of purpose as expressed in Surah Al-Maeda 5:48.

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IV

Path Forward: Altering The Legacy With Qur'anic Political Science – Impacting Muslim Existence

As far as Mr. Spock has been able to ascertain from his study of the Holy Qur'an, there are no Imams mentioned in the Holy Qur'an by name, nor the fact of their number as in how many, except for the sole fact of the existence of some وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ . That latter fact is categorical. It cannot be denied. Nor can it be denied that logical deductions from the verses of the Holy Quran have led Mr. Spock to the conclusion that these could only be from the Ahlul Bayt. That point does require adjudication from empirical data as already discussed in the preceding sections. Beyond that, everything else on the subject is shrouded in metaphorical verses of the Indeterminates. These are open to interpretation and historical fixing, and usually almost entirely by socialization bias. Neither the names of the members of the Ahlul Bayt, nor the names of the four Caliphs who took power in temporal succession after the Messenger's demise, nor the names of the Ummayad and Abbaside imperial rulers who came thereafter to create the Muslim empires, nor the names of the Hadith compilers and jurists, nor the names of any of the companions of the Messenger, nor the names of his wives, are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. This silence is also a fact.

What the Holy Qur'an has instead specified is exclusively the criterion by which to judge, adjudicate, ascertain and affirm, all matters pertaining to the religion of Islam in its categorical verses. Some of these criterion have been used by Mr. Spock to figure out many things, some shocking, like the admonishment that some Muslims in the time of the Messenger were “on a clearly wrong Path” (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33:36). Similarly, on the topic which principally divides Sunnis and Shias and from which all their other sectarian differences follow – was there, or was there not, appointment of an apostolic successor by divine decree and proclaimed by the Messenger? So judge by the Determinate criterion of the Holy Qur'an alone, to your own good heart's content, who is entitled to be وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ from among the distinguished players of history. Mr. Spock's path to understand the Qur'anic criterion is summarized in the Self Study section at the end.

But also observe that its relevance today is principally only of theoretical and academic interest from the point of view of the Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an. Because, if it wasn't, these historically entitled وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ would have been identified in the Holy Qur'an by name and details about them would be contained in the Determinates of the Holy Qur'an for subsequent generations to follow categorically, until the end of time. The reason they are not identified by name, is arguably because they were clearly known to the peoples in the era they each lived in, and were principally meant for. Whereas, the theologies surrounding them which have reached Muslims some millennia later, are not to be found in the Holy Qur'an except by way of interpretation of the Indeterminates, largely drawn from the preferred penmanship of history. What would have happened if none of these scribes existed, or had written anything – just as nothing was written down for more than a century after the demise of the Prophet of Islam? On what logical basis, deduced from the criterion of the Holy Qur'an, are these fallible scribes predicates to the understanding of the infallible Holy Qur'an? Mr. Spock found no reference in the Holy Qur'an mandating the existence of these scribes. There is no mention in the Holy Qur'an of scribes who have been “perfected” for this task of faultless preservation of historical narratives that exist today as the primary written sources of Islam outside of the Holy Qur'an.

Every generation has the new opportunity to start afresh – for the natural cyclical process of birth and death can also have a beneficial cleansing effect upon the baggage of legacy. Why should a new generation born into their own times be shackled by what went before? Which is why the Holy Qur'an itself advocates starting afresh for every man and woman rather than remain shackled by the holiness of others who came before them:

“That was a people that hath passed away. They shall reap the fruit of what they did, and ye of what ye do! Of their merits there is no question in your case!” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2:134, repeated again for emphasis in 2:141)

When the Holy Qur'an so clearly vouches for that separation from the people who went before without equivocation: “Of their merits there is no question in your case”, then how can it endorse the acceptance of their workmanship for you to follow for your merit? That would create a contradiction!

Indeed, the Holy Qur'an unequivocally confirms that conclusion with the following explicit warning:

“(On the day) when those who were followed disown those who followed (them), and they behold the doom, and all their aims collapse with them. And those who were but followers will say: If a return were possible for us, we would disown them even as they have disowned us. Thus will Allah show them their own deeds as anguish for them, and they will not emerge from the Fire.” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2:166-167)

The Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an weren't meant to be filled in by the imaginative scribes in pious robes, nor spawn Muslim empires by subverting their meanings from the pulpit, nor the latter day lucrative industry of madrassas, howzas, and seminaries which run into unaccountable billions of dollars of annual zakat, khums, and endowment funds. Like the financial secrecy enjoyed by the Papacy, no one has any accounting for these funds. No nation demands it. No accounting firm produces the balance sheet for the public for the funds harvest from the public in the name of religion. This holy industry feeds for lifetime, generations of savants who often cannot be gainfully employed in any competitive sector of society. In modernity, if you are a mental midget who cannot get into college, or are too poor to feed yourself, you become an “alim”. If you are more fortunate, you become a “revolutionary”, or acquire a Ph.D. to “bring reform to Islam”. The religion of Islam remaining in the clutches of the pulpit that feeds off of it, for profit, power, or glory, can never stand up to the hectoring hegemons. It becomes the stage for house niggers, useful idiots, and mercenaries of empire to rally the public mind to its agendas. We even empirically witness this in our own times. Caught between the Hegelian Dialectic of “militant Islam” and “moderate Islam”, with “revolutionary Islam” soon to be added to its mix to foment more “revolutionary times” of internecine violence, the sectarian pulpit spells worldwide national suicide for Muslims today.

Just as the ancient scribes fixed the Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an to suit their narrow self-interests, we have the opportunity to rationally unfix the Indeterminates of their subversive bindings to suit our broader existential self-interests. We have the same ability to de-emphasize the Indeterminates in our religious ethos, or to treat them as options not to be fought or disunited over, just as the earlier times went in the opposite direction. We have the opportunity to actively build on what is common ground so easily forged by the Determinates of the Holy Qur'an, just as those who went before us differentiated on the basis of the Indeterminates.

Only that sensible path offers any coherent possibilities for Muslims to finally stop being puppets on a string. Only that approach permits the sectarianly divided Muslims to come together against common global predators whose only real leverage upon Muslims is their superior Machiavellian ability to divide and conquer the simpleton public mind.

We have the opportunity to stop being simpletons. That is why we are each given our own little “zulfiqar”, our intellect! But it is born dull just as man is born naked at birth. And just as we don't go prancing about in our birth-day clothes au natural for the rest of our lives, and if someone did they'd be simply locked away in an asylum, those still prancing about in their birth-day mind au natural are just as simply harvested for fodder of the Nietzscheian superman.

Focussing on the Determinates effectively checkmates the hijacking of the religion of Islam from all pulpits. It helps overcome the sectarian divide among Muslims without either requiring anyone to give up their own socialization biases, nor requiring anyone to accept any particular sect's supremacy as the sole custodian of the religion of Islam some fourteen-fifteen centuries later.

Just acquiring that first crucial understanding, that Indeterminates by definition seed diversity of viewpoints, and those viewpoints that are inimical to the spirit of Islam expressed in its Determinates will always sow discord, is sufficient for this coming together of the Muslim public mind. Such common ground does not require a common pulpit. It only requires reaching a common understanding of the above principle so lucidly visible in the Holy Qur'an with even a modicum of reflection. All else will naturally follow with the realization that Muslims should abstain from building the core religious values of their faith upon the narratives of the scribes of history who fixed these Indeterminates according to their own logic and motivations pertinent to their own epoch, when today Muslims have the same pristine text of the same Holy Qur'an untampered by human hand also available to them to guide them in their own epoch!

Muslims today have that momentous benefit denied all other peoples none of whose sacred scriptures can stand that test of time. To then journey voluntarily on the path that peoples of other religions are involuntarily forced to adopt because they do not have such un-tampered sacred scriptures, and that path lead to disunity and infighting, is outright stupidity. Nay, asininity. When such foolishness leads to internecine warfare, it is outright criminal. And not to fight back that criminalist path when it perches a people on the very brink of existentialism, a national suicide!

Who can liberate the Muslim public mind so steeped in rituals, so manipulated from the pulpit in every sect, and so incestuously socialized into their respective sectarian ethos generation after generation? How to bootstrap that transformation of the Muslim public mind without wiping out that cultural history? How to fight back that national suicide?

If Mustafa Kemal Atatürk can ruthlessly separate a domineering people from their 300 year old Muslim heritage of Ottoman empire within a single generation to create Westernized Turkey, if Ayatollah Khomeini can wipe out 2500 year old heritage of monarchy in Persia in far less time than that to create a Revolutionary theological Iran, it surely can be done. But can it be done without bloodshed, internecine violence, and a forced separation from who we are? Both those cited transformations of the twentieth century came at the expense of that forced separation of a people from their heritage; and much spilled Muslim blood – mostly by Muslims themselves! Neither is necessary nor desirable in order to end the divisiveness of sectarianism.

All it takes is pulpits in all sects to perceptively understand, and judiciously promulgate, the concepts of Determinates and Indeterminates to their respective flock. The rest will naturally follow. That initial first step will surely take state power to affect at national and international levels – for, if the pulpit was ever so rational, it had the choice of addressing the problem in the previous centuries on their own. Just as it took state power to first preserve the Holy Qur'an, it will also take state power to first push its common Determinate meaning through. The rest will surely be organic once a new generation grows up learning the new understanding. Other principled measures can also be adopted by any state, such as mandating Determinate verse 5:48 of Surah Al-Maeda as the overarching mission statement of every Muslim sect under its suzerainty in order for the sect to be accorded state recognition and constitutional protection of rights as a legitimate Islamic sect.

There is no fundamental political problem in sowing good – Ayn Rand's twentieth-century theology of Objectivism and individual selfishness notwithstanding. Holy Qur'an is inimical to such ideas and therefore, to not accord ideas inimical to the religion of Islam any protection in a Muslim state is rational and self-consistent with the theology that is espoused by the state. In the same vein, fraternal ideas the Holy Qur'an engenders in its Determinate verses are both a spiritual and political constitution to live by for Muslims and therefore, there is no principal reason why certain key political principles extracted from it not be adopted as governing principles of a state even if it is a secular state. Just that one simple fundamental measure, like its Biblical counterpart known as The Golden Rule, will ensure that vitriolic sects whose entire raison d'être is ominously self-righteousness, declaring others non-Muslim their principle enactment of their philosophy, get naturally wiped out by making the soil infertile for their growth.

The power of political sagaciousness and beneficial mutual co-existence inherent in the Determinate verse 5:48 of Surah Al-Maeda both checkmates, as well as preempts, all internecine warfare among Muslims. No outside or inside Machiavelli can harvest Muslims cracks and lacunas with the adoption of verse 5:48 as part of the state constitution where diverse Muslim sects live in any substantial numbers and permitted to practice their religion with state protection of their rights. Those religious rights can be made contingent on the directives of the very religion that is being accorded state political rights.

This line of reasoning is neither platitudinous nor theoretical. But straightforward Qur'anic political science to defeat Machiavellian political science. Take political science out of religion, and all a people are left with is the empty shell of banal rituals ripe for harvesting by the Machiavelli. That's how the Religion of Islam was principally hijacked, and that's also how it will ever be un-hijacked! The world might pay attention to this if they care to rid themselves of the curse of the repeated diabolical harvesting of the religion of Islam for “imperial mobilization”. The world might also pay attention to the political evils spread in the name of “freedom” that is nipped in the bud with such cautious political adoption – even if it may sound exclusionary to the nihilistic advocates of unlimited freedom. This includes the so called avant-garde in political thought who want freedom to spread political evil in the name of political freedom, freedom to destroy with vile speech in the name of freedom of speech, freedom to belittle others' religion in the name of freedom of religion, and freedom to spread anarchy in the name of freedom of individualism. No civilization can exist for long with predators flourishing among them in the name of freedom and devouring its every civilizational construct in the lofty guise of liberté, égalité, fraternité.

The aforementioned solution-space is applicable even when the political governance system that Muslims live in is a theological state of any sectarian flavor. Today, these span the full gamut of defining governance characteristics that are not to be found in the Holy Qur'an but is presented as being part of the religion of Islam. Drawn entirely from the Indeterminates, it spans the gamut of extremes: from the strict orthodox Wahabi-Salafi Sunni sect that rules Islam's holiest places as a private kingdom named after their own ruling family which interprets ( وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ ) of verse 4:59 as anyone vested in temporal power by any means (amply supported by their own preferred history's scribes and precedents); to the “virtuous philosopher-king” model of the Iranian Shia sect asserting a mandate for “Imammate by proxy” also based on the same verse 4:59 (and also amply supported by their own preferred history's scribes and precedents)!

The Iranian revolution of Ayatollah (imam) Khomeini (imam in the ordinary sense of political and spiritual leader whom people followed, hence lower case usage) however was somewhat more creative and principled than the Wahabis pernicious takeover of Islam's sacred soil under the banner of the House of Saud.

The latter were largely an ignorant but locally powerful tribe, cognitively infiltrated by the Wahabi sect invented by the British empire as part of its ongoing subversive warfare upon the Muslim Ottoman empire, and brought to state power in the Hijaz by the interplay of victorious superpowers on the grand chessboard of the early twentieth century.

Whereas, the Iranian revolution in the second half of the twentieth century was led largely by well-read scholars and theologians. Ayatollah (imam) Khomeini easily adapted Plato's “philosopher-king” for his “governance of the faqih” (vilayat-i faqih) model, seamlessly tying it to the shia jurisprudence principle of “taqleed” to shepherd the flock. He equally easily sold the new franchise of “revolutionary Islam” to the Iranian public mind which had been readily primed for the revolution through the good graces of the ignoble Shah's CIA trained SAVAK, that it was far nobler in the mind to be ruled by an enlightened clergy in the name of God as the perpetual enemy of America (the Great Satan) rather than by America's own Shahansha in his own royal name – without the conception of Hegelian Dialectic ever becoming part of the discourse space. The arc of crisis was lighted simultaneously by American President Jimmy Carter with both revolutionary Sunnis in Afghanistan and revolutionary Shias in Iran.

A non hagiographic examination of the conception of vilayat-i faqih in both Ayatollah (imam) Khomeini's book: “Islam and Revolution” (translated by Hamid Algar, 1981), and how it has been enacted in post Revolutionary Iran, reveals that it is little different in terms of absolutist governance than what it replaced: both autocratic rules by those who ascribe to themselves the divine right of kings to rule and consequently, absolutely intolerant of dissenting ideology and dissenting politics. Both demonized their respective antagonists at home (never mind abroad) with the absolute righteousness of divine authority. Both asserting with unsurpassed oratory, and with the power of the state backing their oration, that the chosen elite, respectively themselves, is more entitled to govern the public than the public itself. In the case of Revolutionary Iran, the people agreed to accept that determination with an unprecedented public referendum which remains unsurpassed as a choice exercised by a fed-up people to be willingly ruled by their clergy class, brought to political power on an Air France jet airliner flying through America's NATO controlled skies, instead of living under the suzerainty of the most cruel King of kings who had previously been brought to political power by America's CIA.

The public in post Revolutionary Iran, just like in America, comes out to vote periodically to select from among their respective ruling elite who will govern them under their respectively pre-established structures of power espousing unchangeable sacred ideologies, making it quite irrelevant whom the public selects in both nations. It is the power structure, once established, that governs, with new faces only representing who gets to occupy the established musical chairs and put their signatures on pieces of parchment.

All of the preceding is just reporting palpably recorded facts. None of it is state secret, or speculation. No conclusions are being drawn from it in terms of the legitimacy of governance, only of how power actually flows in reality, stripped off its mythological air and public relations veneers, and the public's acceptance of one form of power over another when both have served an insidious function for the same Great Satan. One as its policeman, the other as its fabricated enemy to continue sustaining its superpower war footings upon the peaceable instincts of its own democratic public (see Zbigniew Brzezinski in The Arc of Crisis and The Grand Chessboard cited in reports referenced in Part-I).

Irrespective of whether a public makes the choice of governance with their ballot, or a “choice” is imposed upon a public with the bullet or even “democracy”, neither is “rule by kingdom” specified in the Holy Qur'an, nor is “rule by clergy” specified in the Holy Qur'an, and nor is “rule by parliament” or “rule by Western powers' orchestrated friendly puppets and fabricated enemies of any flavor, religious and secular” specified in the Holy Qur'an.

In fact, there is no method of governance demanded, specified, or even outlined in the Holy Qur'an, at least not any that Mr. Spock has been able to discover in its Determinate verses, except the articulation of the general and platitudinous mandate to build a righteous and just society in which no one takes unfair advantage of another. The Holy Qur'an instead affirms the lovely beatitudinous (exalted in happiness) promise:

“And We desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak in the land, and to make them the Imams, and to make them the heirs,” (Surah Al-Qasas 28:5)	وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ ٱلْوَٰرِثِينَ
“Allah has decreed: "It is I and My messengers who must prevail": For Allah is One full of strength, able to enforce His Will.” (Surah Al-Mujaadila 58:21)	كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا۠ وَرُسُلِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَوِىٌّ عَزِيزٌ
Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): "My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth." (Surah Al-Anbiyaa 21:105)	وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِى ٱلزَّبُورِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱلذِّكْرِ أَنَّ ٱلْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِىَ ٱلصَّٰلِحُونَ

Caption The Holy Qur'an's equivalent of the Biblical Beatitude: “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5 Holy Bible KJV). Is the Holy Qur'an proclaiming Divine Rule?

These verses are Indeterminates. Like verse 4:59, verse 28:5 “who were deemed weak in the land,” is unknown. Perhaps it can be similarly qualitatively reasoned from other verses of the Holy Qur'an, but without context which is not in the Holy Qur'an, it would remain metaphorical and strictly Indeterminate. It can just as easily be argued by all oppressed to apply to themselves to encourage themselves with hope to continue in their perseverance! And it can also be argued by Machiavelli to apply to the oppressed to foment manufactured revolutions. However, a closer analytical examination also reveals that for the promise: “to make them the Imams, and to make them the heirs,” these heirs must logically also share common characteristics with the Imams the Holy Qur'an has referenced elsewhere. For instance, in Surah Al-Baqara, 2:124, where the Author proclaims that He alone makes Imams by divine appointment: “He said: Surely I will make you an Imam of men. Ibrahim said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the unjust, said He.” When the Author makes Imams as per his covenant with Prophet Ibrahim, the word is used in a specific sense from its common meaning. The Arabic-English dictionary of the Holy Qur'an defines the common meaning of the word “Imam” thusly: “Leader; President; Any object that is followed, whether a human being or a book or a highway”. That common meaning of the word “Imam” for instance is in verse 17:71: “One day We shall call together all human beings with their (respective) Imams”.

Therefore, in the specific sense of Imam appointed by the Author in the context of 2:124, as opposed to just any ordinary leader that has a following in the context of 17:71, obedience is made obligatory for those for whom they are Imams, and the entire discussion of وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ of verse 4:59 also carries over wherever and whenever obedience is made obligatory to any man by the Author. As already reasoned out in preceding sections, the Author cannot make obedience obligatory towards anyone who can make an error and not make a mockery of His Own divine Guidance System as the right path. Imam, obedience to the Imam, and inerrancy sort of go together as a package – in order for it to make any logical sense to demand obedience to a man and still remain on the path of divine guidance which is proclaimed to be error free, infallible.

Therefore, if the word “Imam” is used in verse 28:5 in that specific sense of 2:124, the verse is still only a Beatitude, an uplifting promise of some future time. The brilliant ability to harvest that theological concept for self-interest by the superman among both: the Shia pulpit to orchestrate “Imammate by proxy” to seed IRAN: The Crescent of Crisis as the birth of the uncompromising “Revolutionary Islam”, and among the hectoring hegemons to orchestrate the fiction of “Armageddon”, not withstanding. A contorted “doctrinal motivation” on two opposing sides for synthesizing the fear of “Clash of Civilizations” in order to continually lend credence to the threat of “End Times”. It enables manufacturing a brilliant Hegelian Dialectic which cannot be disputed by those caught in its web – as it is already written in the sacred books that more than half the world's population believes in. It promotes the fiction of the existence of a global existential threat, putting the entire world on perpetual crisis footing.^[12]

And if the word “Imam” represents the common meaning of 17:71 as an ordinary leader, it is exactly akin to the Biblical Beatitude: “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5 Holy Bible KJV). Once again no reason to obey the meek when they inherit the earth – for they could become the next tyrants as was amply witnessed in the French Revolution.

Even whether verse 28:5 is speaking of the Messenger's own contemporary epoch when Prophet Muhammad finally prevailed over his own oppressors of twenty three long years and conquered Mecca just before he died, or of some future time, is Indeterminate. As is verse 58:21 affirming: "It is I and My messengers who must prevail"; and verse 21:105 similarly affirming: "My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth". All remarkably akin to the aforementioned uplifting promise in the Biblical Beatitude, and all recipient of the preceding analysis in toto.

When will such bliss transpire on earth is of course an ageless open question. It has been the source of speculation and anticipation from time immemorial, and the principal argument for Divine Rule since the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire. As far as the Holy Qur'an is concerned, it is Indeterminate.

It is of course also extraordinarily utilitarian for any believer or their chief to claim that inheritance for oneself in any era – mostly to survive with hope and dignity through dark periods of tyranny – for who can challenge that presumption?

Especially if one succeeds in acquiring state powers and engages a thousand scribes and orators to extol one's divine rights to that inheritance as the vilayat-i faqih. Since it is an Indeterminate, it can be posited any which way one wishes to dignify it, limited only by the fertility of one's imagination and foundation of one's eruditeness. It cannot be disproved from the Holy Qur'an because it is anchored as an Indeterminate! And it can certainly be proved to one's own audience by drawing upon one's own historical narratives that are collectively subscribed by the sect.

"That which is left you by Allah is best for you, if ye (but) believed! but I am not set over you to keep watch!" (Surah Hud, 11:86)	بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ ۚ وَمَآ أَنَا۠ عَلَيْكُم بِحَفِيظٍ
Say: "Each one (of us) is waiting: wait ye, therefore, and soon shall ye know who it is that is on the straight and even way, and who it is that has received Guidance." (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:135)	قُلْ كُلٌّ مُّتَرَبِّصٌ فَتَرَبَّصُوا۟ ۖ فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلصِّرَٰطِ ٱلسَّوِىِّ وَمَنِ ٱهْتَدَىٰ

Caption Is the Holy Qur'an proclaiming a Savior?

Verses 11:86 and 20:135 of the Holy Qur'an are intriguing examples of Indeterminates along the same lines of allegorical Beatitudes, but which directly fall on the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide on how these are understood by the Muslim mind. One must in fact go to sources outside the Holy Qur'an to even get an inkling of who or what (the people in the past believed) is being spoken of by the Author: بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ . These exemplary verses, and a few more like these, are esoterically proclaimed by some of these outside sources to be about Imam Mahdi – the Awaited Savior of humanity who will rule in End Times --- that entire eschatology itself being only in pages outside of the Holy Qur'an. Why are these verses not categorical rather than metaphorical if the knowledge of eschatology is of pertinence to every people in every epoch? Speculation upon these verses is rife with absurdities.

Whereas, the prima facie meaning of verse 11:86 refers to some object ( بَقِيَّتُ ), a nominative feminine noun, which can mean anything including persons or thing or guidance, that Allah leaves for “you” ( لَّكُمْ , both male and female) as a gift or benefit or mercy ( خَيْرٌ ).

Straightforwardly, to the ordinary non doctrinaire mind, بَقِيَّتُ can represent the Holy Qur'an itself, which Allah has left those who believe ( مُّؤْمِنِينَ ), as being best for them. Or it could mean the أُولِي الْأَمْرِ of verse 4:59. Which one, if either, is not further disambiguated. The remaining part of the verse indicates Allah is not going to shepherd the believers beyond what He has already left them – it is entirely up to the believers to run with the remnant of Allah, بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ , and: “Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful.” (see verse 76:3 quoted above)

The remnant of Allah, بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ , in this verse is just a common noun, a symbol, a placeholder variable waiting to take on the instance of the object, or objects it represents, and not the object itself. Surely the Messenger of Allah must have explained what it means – but that explanation is not contained in the Holy Qur'an itself.

Therefore, verse 11:86 is prima facie allegorical, metaphorical, and not categorical; it is آيَاتٌ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ and therefore Indeterminate. This verse, like all the other مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ , as a cynic would surely surmise, evidently exist only to sow confusion and discord among the Believers, perhaps to separate those who think ( أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ ) from those who do not: “and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.” In addition, to stochastically seed diversity of beliefs based on socialization, tribe and nation that one is born into – which it has also always succeeded in doing, in every era. That observation is empirical.

Notice that the Sunnis and the Shias each fill in the variable according to their respective sacred books. The Sunni Muslims are not remiss if they think بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ might mean the Holy Qur'an, or the Caliphate; and the Shia Muslims are not remiss if they think it is the أُولِي الْأَمْرِ of verse 4:59. Since the latter today is the twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi, according to the dogma found in Shia Ithna Ashari books of history, that's how that variable is fixed by them accordingly. Whereas the Shia Ismaili Muslim aren't remiss if some among them might believe it represents their Hazir Imam, the Aga Khan. However, unless it can be logically adduced from the Determinates alone who or what is being referenced by the Author in Surah Hud 11:86, it is categorically an Indeterminate.

Similarly, in the case of Surah Ta-Ha 20:135 where the Author commands, Say: "Each one (of us) is waiting: wait ye,", the object noun for “wait ye” is noticeably absent, making the verse also an Indeterminate even on first reading. However, whatever that “wait ye,” might be for, the verse avers that it will unequivocally permit clear adjudication when that wait eventually does expire: “soon shall ye know who it is that is on the straight and even way, and who it is that has received Guidance." Once again we are immediately besieged by more imponderables. What does “soon” mean? How soon is soon? Is that the final Day of judgment? Or is that the arrival of the day of fulfillment of the promise made in the Qur'anic Beatitudes quoted above? Is that perhaps also what بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ refers to, the fulfillment of the divine promise which is the remnant of Allah: “That which is left you by Allah is best for you”?

Thus, whichever way one examines it, بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ is at best a metaphor whose semantics, never mind hidden meaning, is known only to Allah, (and as per the alternate parsing of verse 3:7) and to “Ar-Rasikhoon-fil-ilm” ( الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ ).

All these inquiry questions are clearly Indeterminate, each one leading to more questions than answers, and thus entirely speculative to ponder upon. It is for this reason that these verses have been speciously speculated upon throughout the ages – an occupation of idle minds who perhaps never had to pursue a day's honest labor to earn their keep in their lifetime of paid employment from public funds as glorified theologians and scribes. The only function they ended up serving is causing needless differentiation to arise among Muslims based purely on speculative hearsay, “he said she said”, leading the foolish public mind deeper and deeper into sectarian quagmire which subsequently became a permanent unshakable part of their socialized ethos and religious beliefs. Today, the same public mind will kill, and die, for these same beliefs on matters entirely Indeterminate. The Holy Qur'an clearly prescribes the accumulating fortunes of such scribes, scholars, and imams in Surah An-Nahl:

Let them bear, on the Day of Judgment, their own burdens in full, and also (something) of the burdens of those without knowledge, whom they misled. Alas, how grievous the burdens they will bear! (Surah An-Nahl 16:25)

لِيَحْمِلُوٓا۟ أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ ۙ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُم بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ۗ أَلَا سَآءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ

To conclude this mini thread on the examination of Qur'anic Beatitudes and appeal to divinely sanctioned rule, we can now appreciate that there are layers of meaning to these metaphorical verses not resolved by the Determinates, and hence are Indeterminate. And unless these do become resolved by Determinates, either by acquiring new understanding, or new knowledge that is discovered over time that makes comprehending the Indeterminates better, these categorically remain Indeterminate. Perhaps the Messenger had explained their hidden meanings. Those who believe they still retain these explanations accurately in their socialization context, can of course believe whatever they like – they are socialized into these beliefs anyway with little choice exercised by them. However, the men and woman of understanding among them, ( أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ ), must also force their pulpits to publicly acknowledge to their own flock that their fixing of an Indeterminate is drawn from sources outside the pages of the Holy Qur'an, from their respective holy books and sectarian dogmas. If one is to stay within the pages of the Holy Qur'an, one is forced to leave these matters as the Author Himself counsels in verse 3:7, as metaphorical, and therefore, Indeterminate. Meaning, as unknowns, without feeling any inner compulsion to fix their meaning at all.

Observe that despite the arguable metaphorical allusions to divinely sanctioned rule in its Indeterminates, the Holy Qur'an does not categorically prescribe in its Determinate verses any kind of governance, never mind specify who must rule apart from أُولِي الْأَمْرِ of verse 4:59 previously analyzed, and which is itself left as an Indeterminate. It is arguably to transpire only in some unknown and unspecified epoch whence all the Qur'anic Beatitudes quoted above are finally realized: "It is I and My messengers who must prevail". Thus far, that allegorical promise of both the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur'an have not been realized. We still live in a world of tyranny run by vile Hectoring Hegemons, now even more sophisticated than ever, employing diabolical instruments and philosophies to continually corral mankind from one misery to another under different Hegelian Dialectics. So who governs in the mean time? Sensibly, the people have to govern themselves! The Holy Qur'an has categorically prescribed its recipe that man must willingly stand up to these usurpers and exploiters of mankind among them (see tinyurl.com/Surah-Asr-Tafsir ). However, the Holy Qur'an has not prescribed in its Determinate verses what such governance must look like that stands up to tyranny, except for some desirable general characteristics of righteous collectivism which it categorically prescribes for realizing the good Islamic society that is the harbinger of justice for all mankind.

In fact, these Qur'anic platitudes are not that much different in principle from what Solon, the ancient Athenian law-giver, advocated for social responsibility. When asked which city he thought was well-governed, Solon said: “That city where those who have not been injured take up the cause of one who has, and prosecute the case as earnestly as if the wrong had been done to themselves.”

For that matter, even the United States Constitution and its famous American Bill of Rights are not inconsistent with the Holy Qur'an. There isn't anything in that manmade republican governance principle that is intrinsically in conflict with the Good Book. In fact, it can be cogently argued to be implementing some of the principles of Islam itself. Unlike others claiming the divine right to rule through 4:59, the American Constitution however does not claim itself to be divine – but Declares itself to be self-evident for the spelled out inalienable rights of the people.

It is a travesty that all these lofty platitudes on lovely parchment have been instrumented in society with the same inimical zest for justice and fairness as any other lovely words in any Sacred text from time immemorial, including the Ten Commandments, and the Holy Qur'an. This topic has been examined in depth in Islam and Knowledge vs. Socialization (see tinyurl.com/Islam-Socialization).

Rule in the name of divine went away during Christendom's reformation period. It was replaced by people choosing to govern themselves. Whereas, it has been the principal raison d'être of governance of all Muslim empires and Caliphates, including latter day Muslim oligarchic states. None of which is to be found in the Determinates of the Holy Qur'an itself; appeal is always made to its Indeterminates in every era to justify and sanction man's rule in the name of divine.

There is surely no name more abused for narrow self-interests than the name of divine since the dawn of civilization. In the past it was to verse 4:59 that thirteen centuries of Muslim empires looked to justify their rule. In the contemporary present, the principle of vilayat-i faqih in the Islamic Republic of Iran has most imaginatively made that appeal inter alia to both 4:59 and 28:5, asserting that its clergy class are representatives of those inheritors of the promise made in 28:5, and therefore must be obeyed as per 4:59.

One can see that the Indeterminates permit open interpretation – and that's the premeditated diversity engine of the religion of Islam. When diversity based on the Indeterminates does not sow discord, is in the spirit of Islam as categorically outlined by its Determinates, then it is theologically not deprecated in the religion of Islam as should be evident from all the preceding discussions. It is the sowing of discord by interpreting what is metaphorical and allegorical in the Holy Qur'an that is deprecated. If interpretation was in fact not expected by the Author despite His Counsel against it, arguably there'd be no Indeterminates in the Book which claims itself a Divine Guidance for all mankind. The ambiguity in its specification is prima facie evidence of its sophisticated and pragmatic engine to seed diversity because man, by the very nature of its construction, will argue and dispute: “If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.” The Qur'anic guidance system endeavors to take man from that disputative warring state, to willingly rising to a stature in which he will come to excel the angels. Only the journey on the road of fuss-tabi-qul-khairaat ( فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ ) can take a disputative, ethnocentric, tribalistic, nationalistic, and fiqhilistic people there.

To even begin the process of transformation of coming together on the Determinates of the Holy Qur'an, since no Muslim sect is going to give up their emotional and theological attachments to their historical legacy any time soon, if ever, the realities of the matter and the dangers of fratricide facing Muslims, call for immediate co-existence of sects as they are. Arguably therefore, so long as the interpretations and fixing of the Indeterminates do not sow discord among Muslims as per verse 3:7, why should any particular fixing by one sect be deemed any more holier than any other sect's? All fixing make recourse to material outside the Holy Qur'an anyway --- whatever may be deemed to be its sacredness by the socialization in the respective sect. It is still not in the Holy Qur'an.

That is the singular recognition which must finally be truthfully admitted from every pulpit in order to form any kind of coherence among the disparate Muslim sects.

The abstractions Determinate and Indeterminate naturally permit such realization to first be articulated, and then percolated inwards, outwards, upwards, and downwards. A bold public admission of just this reality of the actual sources of their beliefs, driven from all Muslim pulpits, either voluntarily, or through state power according religious rights to Muslim sects, is the first step of coming together as one Muslim nation – without coercing anyone to change their emotional attachments to their respective heroes of history or come under the stewardship of any one sect's ideology.

Consequently, regardless of which Muslim sect or political group defines their nation's philosophical and national characteristics, if they employ the Determinate verse 5:48 of Surah Al-Maeda as the cornerstone of their state's constitution; if they espouse the fairness expressed in the Biblical Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you have others do unto you” and adopt the powerful corollary that naturally falls out of it as their force majeure to preempt exploitation: “no one shall take unfair advantage of another”; and make these worthy first principles of fairness the very foundation of their governance structure whereby all civil, political, and religious rights are accorded to its citizens irrespective of their own theological beliefs, with equality and without prejudice, both in theory and in practice, such a state would be sufficiently Islamic to legitimately call itself an Islamic state – even if it was entirely a secular state! It would be irrespective of the rest of its colorful artifacts, whether theologically drawn from the Indeterminates and therefore not something to be sown discord over as verse 3:7 clearly avers, or a separation of state and religion in terms of the philosophical outlook of the state itself! What does it matter to the ordinary man and woman what type of state it is if the state gives the public fairness, justice, is not exploitive, does not usurp, does not plunder, is not a vassal of foreign powers, and lends all its denizens the opportunity to believe and practice as a community what they each commonly hold sacred?

As one can immediately see, an almost infinite array of diverse governance systems are possible under that enlightened rubric – only limited by the creative energies of the people and their enlightened stewards. The stony silence of the Holy Qur'an on the governance structure, and its explicit categorical articulation of the general social principles to enact among Muslims in its Determinates, yields only this logical deduction, and no other!

This isn't a utopia. Many Muslims governments exist today – they can just as easily adopt the political recommendations noted above to eliminate fratricide and foster amity among Muslims in their own nations. That would of course only be possible if these states were themselves not part of this Machiavellian fratricide, state sponsored, both nationally and globally, as surrogate vassals of the hectoring hegemons.

Therefore, if any presumptuously “Islamic” state sheds the blood of Muslims in the name of Islam, sows discord, then it is clearly not an Islamic state by definition of the religion of Islam – but a tyrannical state no different than any other tyrannical state, Islam's lofty symbols proudly adorning its national flag notwithstanding.

What is perhaps of utmost most significance however, is the recognition that the Hectoring Hegemons not only perceptively understand these matters concerning the religion of Islam, they also understand the cracks, fissures, and lacunas among the Muslim sects, and how to both tickle these further, and how to harvest the subsequent fruits. They know how to invent new sects just as well as they know how to create revolutions by harnessing the indigenous discontent which they ab initio create in the first place.

As in recent past, internecine warfare is the unnatural destiny that has been planned for Muslims in the twenty-first century as well – and they had better wizen up before it is enacted on the scale which has been apportioned. To appreciate the urgency, and just how much of an existential necessity it is to immediately overcome sectarianism which continues to directly play into the hands of hectoring hegemons, see the excerpt from the political novel (or historical fiction) “Memoirs Of Mr. Hempher, The British Spy To The Middle East” ( tinyurl.com/excerpt-memoirs-of-mr-hempher ). It is sure to distress the naïve and the erudite mind alike to learn just how accurately the hectoring hegemons understand and exploit the cracks and lacunas among the two major sects of Islam comprising nearly 99 percent of the 1.6 to 2 billion Muslims on planet earth today.

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V

Conclusion

We set out to address the question posed at the top in this Part-II:

What are the inherent impediments for studying the message of the Holy Qur'an which make the Book so amenable to self-serving interpretation, socialization, and even bastardization by anyone?

If the reader's mind hasn't been entirely asleep through this long perusal, the discovery that the presence of Indeterminates in the Holy Qur'an which necessitates going outside of its pristine pages to resolve them, is primarily responsible for the paradox that the Holy Qur'an has itself contributed to its subversion, must be disconcerting to the honest mind. The Muslims, generation after generation, have themselves contributed to this state of affairs by remaining ossified in the narratives of history rather than progressively evolving their understanding of the principles of Islam as espoused directly in the text of the Holy Qur'an. That lamentable fact has arrested their evolution as a people, mired them in rituals and rites which dominate their socialization and their practice of religion, and opened them to sectarian schisms which has made them easy prey to the supermen and Machiavelli. The unfortunate truth of these observations is straightforwardly validated by the lamentable fact that even in today's modernity, one which is run exclusively by superior intellects who use game theory, psychology, social engineering, and political science to orchestrate “imperial mobilization” under the primacy imperatives of the new White Man's Burden for one-world government, even the best among the Muslim scholars and intellectuals, politicians and statesmen, poets and dreamers, pressmen and prostitutes, remain nonetheless wiser. In fact, many have become house niggers willingly carrying the White Man's Burden. And like the Muslim masses, many also offer their daily prayers on time, keep all their fasts, feed the poor, and perform their Hajj, preferably multiple times. And if one informs them that they are in fact destined for hell, hell right here on earth, they confidently reply that they are looking forward to Heaven elsewhere.

Solution Space

The ease with which the masters of religion divided the Muslims since its very inception, with even far greater ease the Muslims can become united on the Holy Qur'an by acquiring intimacy with the abstractions natural to the Holy Qur'an: Determinates and Indeterminates. The Muslims have been made victims by their own pulpits no differently than the Christians. Neither the Sunni nor the Shia pulpit is able to reason, nor logically prove their differentiating theology from the Holy Qur'an directly, blanket assertions with appeal to authority and historical sources being their only blunt instrument of argumentation. This is clearly visible among both the Shia and Sunni pulpits each of which have created their own sacred axioms that they each swear by, based exclusively on the scribes of history and selective fixing of the Indeterminates to suit their respective socialization bias. That has led to the senseless differentiation which is guaranteed to be irreconcilable under any one sect's ideological banner, remaining perennially ripe for a good harvest by Machiavelli in every era.

Adoption of abstractions Determinate and Indeterminate in promulgating the understanding of the religion of Islam from both the Shia and Sunni pulpits, permits a mutual co-existence with greater amity and friendship among all the major Muslim sects. It simultaneously raises awareness of the actual sources of their own religion from which the Muslim mind draws its various beliefs. These simple abstractions lend a vocabulary and nomenclature to even begin sensible and rational discussions of matters that have previously often been steeped in blind faith, shrouded in ignorance, clothed in baseless assertions, and ripe for gratuitous cognitive infiltration into the religion of Islam. It permits the Muslim mind to “legally” agree to disagree on matters which are Indeterminate without calling each other misguided or kafir, while automatically permitting rational agreements to be forged on what is Determinate. This also resolves forging agreement on matters that fall on the delicate boundary between what is Determinate and what is Indeterminate, as for instance is betrayed by the two different parsing of verse 3:7 along the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide. Which parsing is correct is itself an Indeterminate. Therefore, what is not categorically deemed Determinate by both pulpits is sensibly treated as Indeterminate by definition, rather than sow discord. That approach is counseled by verse 3:7 itself.

Only under that singular categorical banner of the Determinates of the Holy Qur'an, can Muslims ever forge themselves into one Muslim nation. This is so obvious that to even state it fourteen-fifteen centuries later sounds entirely platitudinous – sort of like repeating the Ten Commandments. Nevertheless, the lead principle to drive this unification process is verse 5:48 of the Holy Qur'an. Its rational adoption as the political and spiritual mandate of all Muslim sects, tribes and nations, organically launches the Muslim public mind on that road to both political as well as spiritual recovery simultaneously, without being under the headmastership of any sect. The rest will happen naturally, over time, by the natural system dynamics unleashed with the adoption and active promulgation of that simple political science principle from the Holy Qur'an itself.

This evolution of the understanding of the religion of Islam among the Muslims is the only choice to survive in the coming age without both, internecine warfare that is diabolically crafted by Machiavelli, and losing the spirit of their religion further to the shell of empty rituals. The Machiavelli in the meantime is active by way of divide and conquer to spread the scourge of Secular Humanism, now on the engineered rise in all civilizations to wipe out all traces of theism. The religion of Islam, evidently, is its most resolute obstruction (see tinyurl.com/Islam-vs-Secular-Humanism ).

Proposal to the Pulpits

As the first baby step towards better understanding their own differences – the Shia and Sunni pulpits are invited to proclaim their own beliefs at their own learned scholarly level, using these new abstractions. Then let's sit together to examine what each sect has itself determined to be Determinate vs. Indeterminate on matters that are differentiating between Shia and Sunni pulpits. It will surely surprise them both! Just as it has surprised this scribe how easy and straightforward the resolution is – its only obstruction being the hectoring hegemons and their insidious vassals throughout the Muslim world. It is perhaps for this insightful realization that a pen awarded to this scribe's little boy a score years ago by the Sunday School in California in the United States of America, for Qur'an recitation on stage at age 4 or 5, had inscribed on it the farsighted statement:

“Those who differentiate between Shia and Sunni are neither of the Sunnis nor of the Shias.”

Self Study for Seekers of Understanding ( أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ )

Incestuous self-reinforcement is the bane of objective scholarship. This is why the scientific process came into existence to study any matter objectively. Putting the data and its analysis before others to examine, enables defeating crippled epistemology and incestuous self-reinforcement. One has the opportunity to examine the same data, and the analysis performed on that data, conduct one's own experiments so to speak, and either substantiate or refute the thesis and conclusions so reached. The process itself advances not just the state of understanding, but enables new discoveries. The question posed in Part-I is empirical: “everyone quotes their favorite verses to justify their own narrow positions;”. However, has the author of this report done anything different, as far as the alert reader is concerned, when the report inter alia asserts in Part-III :

It sure explains empirical reality coherently, but most importantly, in self-sufficiency and self-consistency drawn solely from the Holy Qur'an and no other source!

How is the skeptical reader, and the seeker of understanding desirous of being counted among those addressed as أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ in the Holy Qur'an, to defend their levying that same charge of Part-I against this report beyond their own knee-jerk emotional reaction which the report is sure to induce in a Muslim?

Only by following the scientific process! This study is not about faith, or about questioning faith. It is about epistemology – how we know what we know. It is about rational examination of data and its analysis akin to what one might pursue in any academic science. Here, logical reasoning as the standard of analysis, “aqal ki kassoti” ( أقل كي كسو تي ) as one might say in Urdu, and not faith, is applied to the study of a complex Book by someone named Author. What is the Author specifying in His Own Words? That is the primary yardstick driving this investigation.

This author, an ordinary engineer in Silicon Valley California in a past life, well-versed in building systems that work and interoperate from initially incomplete or ambiguous specifications or merely wish lists, and in developing and writing specifications ab initio to create systems which work and solve customers' problems and for which customers paid real money to purchase, has explored the stated inquiry question from that analytical perspective, of a systems architect who is hypothetically tasked to engineer the system specified in the Holy Qur'an. In order to do so, the Qur'anic specification must first be understood. And understood in terms of what its Author has specified, and not what this author has imagined, or interpreted. Compliance testing reigns in the fertile imagination of an engineer:

• by Functional Tests which the Author will administer for pass or fail on the Day of Accountability (this means no interpretation, akin to understanding the DMV driver's manual correctly in order to pass the road test);

• by seamless interoperability with others pursuing similar mandate (this means being constrained to the Determinates, akin to driving on the public roads in harmony and without causing fatal accidents or discord with all the other drivers).

This study of the Holy Qur'an, and Part-IV that follows which looks at the primary sources of understanding the religion of Islam outside of the Holy Qur'an, have principally been conducted thus far with the left-half brain, logic-only mind, of a practical scientist engaged in existential battles like the metaphorical Mr. Spock (and not an ideologue ensconced in some ivory tower who has never lived in the real world, never competed for livelihood, never fought an enemy, never stood up to Machiavellian power with courage and fortitude, and never lived the hell on earth except on paper and on television). Often called to make urgent split-second factual analysis of weighty matters, at times ambiguous, at times concrete, and at times cloaked in layers of deception by the enemy, upon which depend life and death decisions of his Captain, Mr. Spock cannot ever be wrong in his factual analysis and logical deductions. But his recommendations may or may not be acceptable to the Captain who steers his decisions by more than just his own left-half brain. The Captain can never refute Mr. Spock's analysis and deductions, and at times his right-half brain led decisions appear illogical to Mr. Spock. And yet, invariably turn out to be more effective in certain cases that require gut-feel, intuition, insight, faith, spiritual know-how; all esoterica that remain beyond the purview of empirical analysis and logical reasoning. The limitations of Mr. Spock and this approach to studying a divine text have already been addressed in the preamble of Part-II.

The fact that Mr. Spock classified the divine text as a ciphertext which must be deciphered correctly to a single plaintext, i.e., uncover the meaning intended to be conveyed by the Author of the Holy Qur'an as in a law book or the DMV driver's manual, rather than as a book of literature and poetry which may interpreted according to each individual's bent of mind and proclivity, is the first axiom that could itself be perceived as being in error by the right-brain dominant human mind that feels more than it is able to think and reason. Is the Holy Qur'an not intended as guidance for them too? They can neither reason effectively nor think clearly – but who is to say that they do not understand the spiritual essence of the Holy Qur'an better than those empiricists who can think and reason? No reference decoding is available today to adjudicate! The Messenger is no longer among us to tell us who is right, and who isn't.

Which is why the sensible remnant of Allah, “That which is left you by Allah is best for you”?, بَقِيَّتُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ , inter alia is the verse 5:48. It is the categorical best for all of us: “so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.” It works for both types of people, those who think and analyze, and those unable to reason for themselves and follow by faith, sect, emotionalism, socialization, indoctrination, and whatever or whoever appeals to their own subconscious mind.

One useful way to think about this abstraction for those who possess both half brains in some balanced non-zero quantity, might be:

• the right-half brain feels a compelling need to climb a specific mountain but does not know how except to extol the virtues of climbing that mountain in verse and oratory;
• the left-half brain comes up with the practical analysis for such a journey, the engineering and logistics plan to get there, and the battle plan to defeat the many anticipated obstructions lurking in the path including those that are unpredictable like the bad weather, flash floods, and robbers hiding in bushes;
• the right-half brain sustains the human spirit with faith and fortitude throughout that agonizing journey to finally be able to climb that mountain with any kind of engineered plan rather than to merely have dreamed of climbing it.

One can no more engineer a plan with one's right-half brain than one can imagine success with one's left-half brain in the face of hopelessness and dark clouds. The reader's job is to verify the engineered plan, which means to first understand the specification in order to even be able to adjudicate, before he and she embarks on that arduous journey to climb that mountain with nothing but faith sustaining thine spirit, and nothing but shrewd planning guiding thine little “zulfiqar”. Just another way to think about how to engage the human mind to its fullest potential. The analysis presented here therefore, to be of any use to anyone, should be examined solely for what it is, and not with “religious” sentiments interfering with the facts and analysis.

For the reader's convenience, the table below lists all the verses of the Holy Qur'an which appear in the examination of the question: Why it is easy to hijack the Holy Qur'an and the religion of Islam, and upon which the analysis and deductions of this report are solely based – to the best ability of this scribe who is not Mr. Spock, and is as socialized into his own ethos, by virtue of being fully human, as anyone else. The only difference from others being, the scribe has cognitively endeavored to rise to the many challenges outlined in this report. You can surely do the same, and better the analysis.

Given that there are 6236 total verses in the Holy Qur'an, and it is itself a deep ocean, this study has barely scratched the surface of acquiring an analytical understanding of the singular Sacred Scripture of Islam. But to the extent this study has dived into this ocean, its discoveries just on this one narrow question are before the reader to adjudicate, to validate, to refute, to enhance, or to remain indifferent.

Aal-'Imran 3:7	Al-insaan 76:3	Al An'aam 6:83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90
an-Nisaa' 4:59	al-Israa' 17:71	Muhammad 47:24
Al-Maeda 5:48	Al-Ahzaab 33:36	Al-Maeda 5:35
Al-Baqara 2:2, 3	Al-Waqia 56:77, 78, 79, 80, 81	An-Najm 53:1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Al-Baqara 2:185	al-Furqaan 25:1	Al-Fatiha 1:6 1:7
Ibrahim 14:1	Maryam 19:97	Ta-Ha 20:114
Al-Ahzaab 33:35	Ibrahim 14:4	Al-Baqara 2:134, 141
Al-Asr 103:1, 2, 3	Al-Baqara 2:166, 167	Al-Qasas 28:5
Al-Fajr 89:27, 28, 29, 30	Ash-Shura 42:23	Al-Mujaadila 58:21
Al-Maeda 5:3	Al-Ahzaab 33:28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34	Al-Anbiyaa 21:105
Al-Furqaan 25:30	Aal-e-Imran 3:33, 34	Surah Hud 11:86
Al-Baqara 2:128	Al-Baqara 2:124	Surah Ta-Ha 20:135
Yunus 10:19, 47	Al-Ahzaab 33:40	Surah An-Nahl 16:25
	Al-Kauthar 108:3

Caption Verses of the Holy Qur'an employed in Part-II and Part-III to examine the question: Why it is easy to hijack the Holy Qur'an and the religion of Islam.

Continued in Part-IV

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Footnotes

[7] The contemporary and popular English translation of M.H. Shakir by TTQ, New York, has dropped all his footnotes in their hard copy edition (with posthumous apologies to the author!). The scribe possesses the original first edition with its sporadic footnotes intact. Similarly, the extensive footnotes in the English translation of Yusuf Ali have been openly doctored in posthumous reprints published by Amana Publications, Saudi Arabia. The scribe also possess a copy of the 1934 first edition with the unadulterated original footnotes intact.

[8] Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard, 1997, pg. 24

[9] Ibid. pg. 3

[10] Lord Acton

[11] Bertrand Russell

[12] David Ben-Gurion had lucidly explained the utility of crisis creation during the violent fabrication of the Jewish State in Palestine: “What is inconceivable in normal times is possible in revolutionary times; and if at this time the opportunity is missed and what is possible at such great hours is not carried out – a whole world is lost”. This diabolical political science principle was reiterated some three score years and ten later by Rahm Emanuel, American President Barack Obama's Jewish White House Chief of Staff (January 20, 2009 – October 1, 2010) whose father was part of the terrorist gang “Irgun” that had so successfully utilized the Ben-Gurion principle for the creation of Israel in Palestine: “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” Rahm Emanuel's statement to the press, http://youtube.com/watch?v=tM5ZdO-IgEE (at time 1m 3s)

Credits

Arabic Qur'an recitation by Shaykh Mahmoud Khalil al-Husary, audio courtesy of Verse By Verse Quran, acquired 8/13/2011 from http://www.versebyversequran.com

Arabic verses courtesy of the open source Qur'an Tanzil Project, acquired 8/13/2011 from http://tanzil.net/download/

Most (not all) English translation of Qur'an verses are by Yusuf Ali, Shakir, and Pickthall, acquired 8/13/2011 from http://tanzil.net/trans/ (archived Yusufali, Shakir, Pickthall).

French translation by Hamidullah acquired 1/18/2013 http://tanzil.net/trans/fr.hamidullah

Spanish translation by Cortes acquired 3/2/2013 http://tanzil.net/trans/es.cortes

Arabic grammar decomposition courtesy of the open source Quranic Arabic Corpus project at Language Research Group University of Leeds, acquired January 24, 2013 from http://corpus.quran.com/

English translation by Ali Quli Qara'i acquired January 24, 2013 from http://islamawakened.com/Quran/

Reference to Muhammad Hussain Tabatabai's parsing of verse 3:7 from http://shiasource.com/al-mizan/

With most humble thanks to all!

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The author, an ordinary researcher and writer on contemporary geopolitics, a minor justice activist, grew up in Pakistan, studied EECS at MIT, engineered for a while in high-tech Silicon Valley ( http://tinyurl.com/zahir-patents ), and retired early to pursue other responsible interests. His maiden 2003 book was rejected by numerous publishers and can be read on the web at http://PrisonersoftheCave.org. He may be reached at http://Humanbeingsfirst.org. Verbatim reproduction license at http://humanbeingsfirst.org#Copyright.

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First Published Friday, August 19, 2011, 19th day of Ramadan in the US, Muslim year 1432 | Last Revised March 2013 (Material which was previously in Part-II revised and expanded into this Part-III)

Last Updated 03/03/2013 09:00:08 pm 33102

Part-III Islam: Why is the Holy Qur'an so easy to hijack? Page 76/76