What does the Holy Qur'an say about Inerrancy of Prophet Muhammad?

 
Was the Prophet of Islam infallible as the Messenger of God, or did he make mistakes as any ordinary mortal?
Abstract
The Sunni and Shia Muslims have needlessly argued since the very inception of Islam over matters that are at times wholly Determinate in the Holy Qur'an. Sometimes through ignorance of the Qur'anic text, and at other times by going to the partisan scribes of history based on their respective socialization biases, the Muslims have managed to misapprehend the religion of Islam despite its manifest clarity on its fundamental precepts. Whether or not the Prophet of Islam was inerrant, or did he make mistakes, is the most fundamental question concerning Islam for those who believe in it as a revealed religion of Divine origin. The entire edifice of the religion of Islam rests on the status and stature of the Prophet of Islam. Without the Prophet, there is no Islam, there is no Holy Qur'an, and therefore no religion. Likewise, without belief in the Messenger as inerrant, how can one believe that the Message claimed by the Prophet to be a Revelation from God is error free? As on the question previously examined in this series, What does the Holy Qur'an say about Ahlul Bayt, on this issue too, the Muslims have split exactly along partisan and sectarian lines. This report examines what the Holy Qur'an itself states with utmost clarity on this subject. At least on this pivotal question, the Muslims, those who believe in Islam as a revealed religion, should be self-consistent and acquire a common understanding based on their singular scripture that is claimed by both the major sects to be error-free; but idiotically enough, they are not. This report highlights that absurdity and shows the degree of influence of socialization bias on the spiritual mind.
This scribe shall dare to be different compared to all others. Instead of offering his own high-falutin learned discourse, he shall permit the Holy Qur'an to speak in its own exposition to establish a self-consistent criterion for addressing the question posed in the title of this article. After all, this blessed month of Ramadan is the birthday of the Holy Qur'an:
Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). (Surah Al-Baqara verse fragment 2:185)
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ ۚ
Caption Ramadan, Birthday of the Holy Qur'an. What birthday gift can be given to it by man?
And as is customary on birthdays for the living, the Good Book too deserves a birthday present: its believers rising beyond the mindless recitation enjoyed in this holy month of fasting in expectation of lofty rewards after death, attempting to rationally comprehend its Message for reaping useful rewards right here in this life. Perhaps this one blessed Ramadan, as its birthday gift, the Book for the dead can become the Book for the living in the public mind.
The Holy Qur'an establishes the Principle of Inerrancy for its own Messenger very clearly and most emphatically in at least two Surahs:
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, (Holy Qur'an, Surah An-Najm 53:5)
عَلَّمَهُۥ شَدِيدُ ٱلْقُوَىٰ
Verily this is the word of a most honourable Messenger, (81:19)
إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ
Endued with Power, with rank before the Lord of the Throne, (81:20)
ذِى قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍ
With authority there, (and) faithful to his trust. (81:21)
مُّطَاعٍ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍ
And (O people!) your companion is not one possessed; (81:22)
وَمَا صَاحِبُكُم بِمَجْنُونٍ
And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon. (81:23)
وَلَقَدْ رَءَاهُ بِٱلْأُفُقِ ٱلْمُبِينِ
Neither doth he withhold grudgingly a knowledge of the Unseen. (81:24)
وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى ٱلْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍ
Nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed. (81:25)
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَيْطَٰنٍ رَّجِيمٍ
When whither go ye? (81:26)
فَأَيْنَ تَذْهَبُونَ
Verily this is no less than a Message to (all) the Worlds: (81:27)
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ
(With profit) to whoever among you wills to go straight: (81:28)
لِمَن شَآءَ مِنكُمْ أَن يَسْتَقِيمَ
But ye shall not will except as Allah wills,- the Cherisher of the Worlds. (Holy Qur'an Surah At-Takwir (81:29)
وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
Caption The Holy Qur'an establishes the Principle of Inerrancy very clearly and most categorically for the Prophet of Islam in at least two notable places in two Surahs. Surah An-Najm verses 53:1-5 unequivocally declaring the Prophet of Islam inerrant, infallible, and whose speech is naught but revelation that is revealed! And Surah At-Takwir verses 81:19-29 which similarly corrects the misconception among the companions of the Prophet about the utterances of the Messenger of Islam, unequivocally declaring that the Prophet is invested with special power and rank by Allah, that his speech are the words of a most honorable Messenger, and that his words are a Message to (all) the Worlds, to benefit from if they so choose to do so. Click on verse number to hear its Arabic recitation in the incomparable voice of the well-known qaari Shaykh Mahmoud Khalil al-Husary.
The concept of inerrancy is most clearly, most emphatically, and most unambiguously, asserted in Surah An-Najm verses 53:1-5, and Surah At-Takwir verses 81:19-29 (both quoted above). These are very clearly Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an. These are self-sufficient, clear, and without indirections, allegories, metaphors, and hidden meanings. From the Qur'anic terminology specified in verse 3:7 of Surah Aal-'Imran, these are the آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ , the foundational and categorical verses, the heart of the Holy Qur'an, the أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ , and not the مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ , the allegorical and metaphorical verses with hidden meanings. See this scribe's book, pg. 120, for the definition of the nomenclature Determinate and Indeterminate for categorizing the semantics of the verses of the Holy Qur'an.
Surah An-Najm verses 53:1-5 clearly preempt 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 of Surah Al-Ahzaab has already made it explicitly clear that the Messenger's decisions have to be abided by at all times. That his words are not subject to discussion, debate, argumentation, or questioning, specifically for those who are believers in the religion of Islam. That if any believer disobeys the Messenger, they are “on a clearly wrong Path”:
“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.” (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33:36 )
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥٓ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ ٱلْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَن يَعْصِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَٰلًا مُّبِينًا
Caption Verse 33:36 Surah Al-Ahzaab, the most shocking admonition to the companions, believing man and woman, of the Messenger! Why is this admonition even present in the Holy Qur'an – unless there was a need for it in some circumstance?
Click to Download PDF: Hijacking The Holy Qur'an And Its Religion Islam 2015 Second Edition Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst.org Caption “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (The Holy Qur'an, verse fragment from Surah Al-Maeda 5:3) This verse of completion and perfection implies that there is no room for addition or subtraction to the religion of Islam after “This day”, or the verse is falsified. What or when “This day” was, or what was the significance of events transpiring on “This day” that caused this verse to be revealed and inserted in what appears to be a random place, as a verse fragment of 5:3, is not stated in the Holy Qur'an. Indeed, many verses of great import are similarly contextless, or both open-ended as well as contextless, and therefore perennially ripe for self-interpretation. This makes possible a multiplicity of 'kosher' misinterpretations of the religion of Islam by the learned scholars imparting any meaning to the open-ended and contextless verses that suit their mental genius or their self-interest, interpreting individual verses in isolation to suit their socialized predisposition, but without altering the syntactic and overt structural composition of the text of the Holy Qur'an. This book, Hijacking The Holy Qur'an And Its Religion Islam, illustrates how much of the plurality of interpretations is in fact enabled by the Holy Qur'an itself – by design! (Click bookcover to download PDF, http://tinyurl.com/Book-Hijacking-Islam-2ed-2015 )
That explicit admonition in verse 33:36 to the companions of the Messenger (quoted above), and its blanket authority for obedience explicitly vested in the Messenger by the Author of the Holy Qur'an, is remarkable. The Author, directly addressing the believing Muslim contemporaries of the Messenger in that verse, and not the unbelievers or the hypocrites, unequivocally and explicitly calls those Believing man and Believing woman who dispute and disobey the decisions of the Messenger on any matter, as being “on a clearly wrong Path”! It leaves no room for discretion and individual opinion or decision-making on any matter upon which the Prophet of Islam has spoken!
Secondly, verses 53:1-5 categorically put to bed the capricious speculation that the Messenger is only inerrant in some speech (and acts) and not in others, and therefore people may follow their own opinions and discretion in the latter case. The statement is succinctly categorical: “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, 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 – since there is no third party to adjudicate! 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 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. It opens the Pandora's box: Is the Holy Qur'an error-free from transmission errors of the Author's Message? For a Muslim who believes in the Holy Qur'an as the word of God delivered by the Messenger, how can he ever be sure that the medium, the Messenger, did not make an error delivering the Message and explaining it to the people?
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.
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 (Surah Al-Maeda 5:3), but also the Prophet's Exemplarship of having accurately explained the Message to his companions by way of a living example and for which complete obedience to him was mandated so that the Author's Message would not get distorted or questioned (verse 33:36 quoted above). Surah Al-Maeda 5:3 asserted that the Prophet did his job to “perfection”, without error:
“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 verse fragment 5:3)
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا ۚ
Caption Surah Al-Maeda verse fragment 5:3 asserting that the Prophet of Islam “completed” his mission as Messenger and Exemplar to “perfection” as assigned to him by the Author of the Holy Qur'an!
And on that basis of inerrancy alone is full obedience delegated to the Prophet of Islam at the same precedence level as the Author demanded for Himself:
“O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you.
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.” (Surah an-Nisaa' 4:59)
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ ۖ
فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا
Caption Verse 4:59 of Surah an-Nisaa', Verse of Obedience, demanding obedience to the Prophet of Islam at the same precedence level as the Author of the Holy Qur'an!
The logic implicit in the Verse of Obedience, verse 4:59, is elegantly simple. Its “AND” conjunction, وَ , to join the three entities to whom obedience is demanded, is at best a sixth grade grammar composition question. The verse is that straightforward in its syntactical parsing. All three in that Verse of Obedience must always agree in order for the verse to not be falsified! The logic itself is straightforward. If the Prophet can make an error, then his will can differ from the Will of the Author of the Holy Qur'an. The Verse of Obedience asserts that that outcome is impossible, by making obedience to the Prophet of Islam akin, at the same precedence level, to obedience to the Author of the Holy Qur'an. The two cannot disagree or there will be a conflict as both must be obeyed; and if they ever disagree then there is no divine religion as God and His Messenger can't even agree on the Message! The same logical reasoning extends to the third entity in verse 4:59, the “ulul-amar”, who derive its authority from the authority of the Messenger due to the way the verse is grammatically structured. The command “obey” is not repeated again for the “ulul-amar”, but the clause is concatenated with the previous “obey” of the Messenger with the “AND” conjunction. If the will of “ulul-amar” ever differs from that of the Messenger, there is again a conflict as both are commanded to be obeyed. As per the semantics of the verse 4:59 implied from its straightforward syntax, the latter two cannot disagree with the Will of the Author of the Holy Qur'an and therefore the Messenger and the “ulul-amar” must also always agree.
Thus it follows that if the Author of the Holy Qur'an is Error-Free, there is no “Oops!” for Him, then so must His Messenger and “ulul-amar” be just as free from their own “oops”; they must not be touched by any “rijis” and always reflect the Will of the Author of the Holy Qur'an in both letter and spirit throughout their respective mission!
That semantic property of the Messenger having his own will exactly reflect the Will of the Author of the Holy Qur'an implicit in the syntactical composition of verse 4:59, is explicitly confirmed in Surah An-Najm verses 53:1-5, and Surah At-Takwir verses 81:19-29, by the Author of the Holy Qur'an! This is complete closure. If the reader is still unable to grammatically parse an “AND” conjunctive clause in a sentence in any language correctly, he or she better return to sixth grade – for that is the level of reading skills necessary to parse the syntax of the Verse of Obedience.
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 does not even err, always exactly reflecting the Will of the Author of the Holy Qur'an. To not err in his role as the Messenger to mankind means that the Messenger is infallible! The Author of the Holy Qur'an, speaking through the mouth of the Messenger, explicitly confirms and extends the people's earlier adjudication of Muhammad's integrity, by first swearing some unexplainable oath: “I swear by the star when it goes down.” ( وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ ), and then categorically 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”!
Despite that most clear precept of Islam concerning its noble Messenger explained in the wholly Determinate verses of the Holy Qur'an, the early scribes of history imputed errancy to the Prophet of Islam. They used the verse of the Holy Qur'an which referred to the Prophet of Islam as “man”, out of context to dignify their villainy. They employed the logic that if the Prophet was merely a “man”, he was just like other men – willfully ignoring explicit statements in the same Good Book as reproduced above which lend an accurate picture of the status of this most special man who was categorically affirmed to not be “god”. But one who is unlike any other man: “Endued with Power, with rank before the Lord of the Throne,”, whose speech is no ordinary speech: “Verily this is no less than a Message to (all) the Worlds.”, and to whom obedience: أَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ , is as compulsory for believers in Islam as obedience to God: أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ . While it is understandable for non-believers in Islam to not buy into that immaculate precept of Islam for its Messenger, nor into what the non-believers see as circular reasoning of the Prophet and the Holy Qur'an incestuously vouching for each other though the same “mouth”. But it is unpardonable that this travesty has been parroted by other Muslim scholars and believers down the ages without reflection. And it is among the most idiotic of differences between the two major sects of Islam, the majority Sunni who subscribe to it, and the minority Shia who vehemently argue precisely the opposite.
The presentation in this article cleanly separates the chaff from the wheat and it can surely stand in any fair court of law if such an argument is presented before it for adjudication. Since this presentation goes against the ingrained ethos of the Sunnis, they will surely oppose it. And since it favors the Shia understanding, suddenly this plebeian will be anointed their “scholar”. But not for long, as should become obvious to anyone scrutinizing this scribe's aforementioned book where the asininity in the socialized ethos of both these fraternal twins has been unmasked with equal candor. The precision of a surgeon's scalpel is used not for cutting the jugular, but to increase blood flow to the left-half brain of the nearly comatose patients living in pious denial. Unfortunately, this battle for self-consistent understanding is virtually against human nature. Especially when one is invested spiritually in dogmas from birth which become instinctual and almost second nature. Socialization fosters a tendency in the public mind for both quick rejection and quick acceptance of evidence. A psychological fact which is aptly captured by atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell in these incisive words:
“What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index to his desires – desires of which he himself is often unconscious.
If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts [or worldview], he will scrutinize it closely, and unless [and at times even when] the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it.
If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance with his instincts [or worldview], he will accept it even on the slenderest evidence.” --- Bertrand Russell, Proposed Roads to Freedom, 1919, pg 147
Caption Bertrand Russell on the feebleness and susceptibility of the public mind. Are you exempt?
The most shocking example of this sorry fact of imputing errancy to the Prophet of Islam by believers in Islam in brazen contradiction to the most categorical statements in the Holy Qur'an, is demonstrated by some translators and exegeses writers of verses 80:1-12 of Surah Abasa, including the most respectable modern English translator of the Holy Qur'an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
While no explicit reference to the Prophet of Islam is made in these verses of Surah Abasa quoted below, and indeed in the entire Surah, some Sunni translators drawing upon the earliest existent tafsirs (exegeses) dating back to the Abbasside dynastic empire, have added the word (Prophet) in parenthesis to indicate their opinion that it is the Prophet of Islam who is being chastised by Allah for the mistake of turning away from the blind man. Other translators have wisely avoided this gratuitous pitfall, including Pickthall and Shakir, who accurately use the masculine pronoun “He” as specified in the verse:
(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, 80:1
عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ
Because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). 80:2
أَنْ جَاءَهُ الْأَعْمَىٰ
But what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)?- 80:3
وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكَّىٰ
Or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? 80:4
أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنْفَعَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ
As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient, 80:5
أَمَّا مَنِ اسْتَغْنَىٰ
To him dost thou attend; 80:6
فَأَنْتَ لَهُ تَصَدَّىٰ
Though it is no blame to thee if he grow not (in spiritual understanding). 80:7
وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلَّا يَزَّكَّىٰ
But as to him who came to thee striving earnestly, 80:8
وَأَمَّا مَنْ جَاءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ
And with fear (in his heart), 80:9
وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ
Of him wast thou unmindful. 80:10
فَأَنْتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّىٰ
By no means (should it be so)! For it is indeed a Message of instruction: 80:11
كَلَّا إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌ
Therefore let whoso will, keep it in remembrance. 80:12
(Surah Abasa 80:1-12, translation by Yusufali)
فَمَنْ شَاءَ ذَكَرَهُ
Caption Verses 80:1-12 of Surah Abasa, Yusuf Ali's translation. The verses in Arabic make no explicit reference to the Prophet of Islam. Verse 80:1 uses a pronoun, and the subsequent verses rapidly switch pronouns so that without its local context, it is impossible to know which persons are being referenced! These are Indeterminate verses – ripe for cognitive infiltration by the vulgar scribes of history either shilling for empire, or socialized into their own narrow dogmas, but in either case, wittingly or unwittingly, misleading generations of Muslims downstream! Source: http://tanzil.net/trans/
The un-stated motivation of the early scribes and exegeses writers being to argue that the Prophet made mistakes and therefore was not inerrant, and therefore anyone could succeed the Prophet of Islam as the temporal ruler of the nascent but rapidly expanding Muslim empire after the Prophet's demise. That wicked legacy has been blindly mimicked by subsequent scholars without reflection upon what the Holy Qur'an is itself stating most plainly on that subject of inerrancy! This is shocking mistreatment of the Prophet of Islam by Muslim scribes shilling for the ruling interests who had become caliphs and rulers by making recourse to the “ulul-amar” clause of verse 4:59 despite the most clear exposition of the Principle of Inerrancy being the co-requisite for succeeding the Prophet of Islam. This is examined in great depth in this scribe's book. To patronize the Muslim rulers, the House Nigger Muslim pulpit evidently had no compunction even belittling their own noble Prophet!
How much more explicit should the verses of the Holy Qur'an be on this wholly Determinate question?
But no – the socialized mobs, the reverent Muslims throughout the past fourteen and half centuries of Islam, both laity and gentry, pope and sheep, rather go by what is written by the hand of man in their socialized cultural memory than by the Author of the Holy Qur'an whom they proclaim and believe to be their Inerrant Creator! The Creator is falsified, His Messenger maligned, but not the socialized dogma in which the spiritual mind is anchored from birth.
This unpardonable mistreatment concerning the stature of the Prophet of Islam has now become the permanent ethos of the majority Sunni sect and remains a point of major contention with the minority Shia sect. Each pulpit casts aspersions about the asininity of the other, seeking out every crack and lacuna it can harvest to marginalize its fraternal twin. While it makes little difference to the daily grind of the laity's existence on earth today whether or not their Prophet of Islam was inerrant, the fact that the question enables harvesting of cracks and fault-lines among Muslims to build empires and police-states makes it an important question to put to bed once and for all!
Tyranny is easily inflicted upon Muslims by making recourse to theological arguments such as the one falsely extracted from the Verse of Obedience, verse 4:59: “O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you.” Anyone who can acquire political power claims to be the “ulul-amar” of verse 4:59, “those charged with authority among you”, with a pious face and demands obedience! It is not just the sins of antiquity. Look in modernity today – we have from the Royal Saud family ruling the birthplace of Islam with Jewish jackboots, to the police-state in the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, to the vilayat-i faqih in Iran who also piously stretch the Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an combining their interpretation with Plato's “philosopher-king” most imaginatively; in every case installed by the good graces of Western powers, some to play friends, others to play perpetual “enemy”. We also have various modern exponents of “return to caliphate” relishing in the prospect of enjoying absolute obedience from the Muslim masses, principal among them being the new House Nigger of empire who has been artfully groomed for that special purpose of seeding “revolutionary times” among Muslims, the Barelvi Sunni Muslim pope du jour, Tahir ul Qadri. See Zahir Ebrahim's open challenge to this Western anointed pope: Response to the Fatwa on Terrorism in the Service of Empire (http://tinyurl.com/Tahir-ul-Qadri-Fatwa-Terrorism).
The same abstract arguments which are of little concern to the common man easily become the primemover for extracting servitude from him. Overturning this significant force majeure for subversion is the raison d'être of this article and the scribe's book upon which it is based. Opposition to it is expected from all quarters of power, and from socialized fools and useful idiots occupying the pulpit. Suicide bombers surely can't be that far behind.
When Determinates of the Holy Qur'an are so easy to subvert, by idiocy or by narrow self-interests, what of the Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an which deliberately leave the door wide open for both socialized interpretation and narrow self-interests!
Speak of Western hectoring hegemons hijacking Islam for imperial mobilization! Pious Muslims beat that subversion to the punch by a long shot.
Happy Birthday Holy Qur'an.




This article is based on the author's book: Hijacking The Holy Qur'an And Its Religion Islam – Muslims and Imperial Mobilization, abbreviated to Hijacking Holy Qur'an And Islam


Click to Download PDF What does the Holy Qur'an Say: Thus Spake Holy Qur'an – On Schisms, Volume I, 1st Edition, August 2013, Second Printing September 18, 2015 Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst.org Caption Pamphlet What does the Holy Qur'an Say: Thus Spake Holy Qur'an – On Schisms, Volume I (Click cover to download PDF, http://tinyurl.com/thus-spake-quran-on-schisms )
All Articles in the series What does the Holy Qur'an Say
Download What does the Holy Qur'an Say as a printable pamphlet titled: Thus Spake Holy Qur'an – On Schisms, Volume I, 1st Edition, August 2013, Second Printing September 18, 2015


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).




First Published Thursday, August 1, 2013 12:00 am, 22nd Ramadan in Pakistan, Muslim year 1434, 4781 | Links updated Friday, September 18, 2015 02:00 am
Links fix November 4, 2016


What does the Holy Qur'an say about Inerrancy of Prophet Muhammad? By Zahir Ebrahim August 2013