Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was superior to anything Islam had developed. Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam. Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions. Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'. Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.
Sura 5 or ‘The Table’ translated into English is here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts).
Sura 5 discusses the imperative of Jihad, how Christ was really a Muslim and that the Christians have perjured and distorted the worship of the Al-Lah deity and joined Christ and the Holy Spirit to the one immanent Godhead. Killing Infidels is certainly expected and supported, but do not kill fellow-Muslims (5-32, taken from ancient Israelite texts about the killing of Abel and the blood of Adam). Muslims are slaves of the Al-Lah, he is not a deity you can get to know or have a relationship with. Jews and Christians are apes and pigs and there should be no philosophical or scientific inquiry unless it is supported in the Qur’an.
Excerpts from Robert Spencer’s book below and explanations on key verses within Sura 5. This link can be used (or the link above) to read the translation of the verses which are not copied out in their entirety. The commentary is against that specific verse (italics).
Verse 5. Muslim men can marry who they wish. Not so Muslim women.
Muslim men are permitted to marry “the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the book before you.” The Qur’an says nothing about Muslim women being permitted to marry men from the people of the book; this is prohibited in Islamic law as part of the subjugated status of the dhimmis, the “protected people,” in Islam. Traditionally a man takes his wife into his own household but not vice versa. The prohibition of Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men, and the allowance of Muslim men marrying non-Muslim women, means that the Islamic community will always be in a position to grow, while the non-Muslim community declines.
Verse 14. Christian sects are proof of the Quran’s validity.
As far as the Qur’an is concerned, the divisions among Christians demonstrate the falsity of the religion—a proposition for which Jesus stated the obverse: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Says Ibn Kathir, “Indeed, the numerous Christian sects have always been enemies and adversaries of each other, accusing each other of heresy and cursing each other… Each sect among them will continue to accuse the other of disbelief and heresy in this life and on the Day when the Witnesses will come forth.”
And Christ is not the Son of God or Al-Lah
And Allah is able to do all things. Those Christians who believe that “Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary” have disbelieved. The Arabic word used here is kafara, it is a form of kufr, unbelief. Islamic spokesmen in the West frequently assert that the Qur’an never refers to Christians as infidels or unbelievers, when in fact this verse is quite clear that those who believe in the divinity of Christ are unbelievers indeed.
Verse 18. Al-Lah is not the ‘Father’ figure of the Bible but a slave-master.
To those Jews and Christians who claim to be God’s children, Allah directs the messenger to retort, “Why then does he punish you for your sins?” The Qur’an’s assumption that a father would not punish his children for their wrongdoing is striking. Whatever the reasoning behind it, it makes clear that in Islam, God is not a father to human beings. To a pious Muslim, a prayer such as the Our Father prayer in Christianity would be utterly alien. A knowledgeable and believing Muslim would consider it presumptuous in the extreme to call Allah his Father; instead, Allah is the master of the universe, and human beings are his slaves. The hallmark of Islamic religious observance is external obedience, not likeness with the divine through an interior transformation.
Verse 32. The killing of Infidels is always acceptable. But don’t kill fellow-Muslims.
This is one of the most oft-quoted verses of the Qur’an, the one that Western non-Muslim leaders refer to frequently in order to establish that Islam is a religion of peace. There is, however, less to it than Western leaders and Islamic apologists claim. It is not a general prohibition of killing: there are big exceptions to the prohibition on killing, for “manslaughter or corruption on the earth.” Also, this prohibition is not a general command but is specifically directed at the children of Israel. After it was given, “many of them committed excesses on earth,” so all this passage is really saying is that Allah gave a command to the children of Israel, and they transgressed against it.
William St. Clair Tisdall noted that the substance of this verse was taken from the Mishnah Sanhedrin: “As regards Cain who killed his brother, the Lord addressing him does not say, ‘The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth out,’ but ‘the voice of his bloods’, meaning not his blood alone, but that of his descendants; and this to show that since Adam was created alone, so he that kills an Israelite is, by the plural here used, counted as if he had killed the world at large; and he who saves a single Israelite is counted as if he had saved the whole world.”
Verse 33. Jews and Christians will be punished by not following the Al-Lah.
This verse continues from 5:32 and makes clear the dire punishments that are prescribed for the corruption and transgressions of the children of Israel, and a warning to the Jews to stop their bad behavior. Seen in its light, the celebrated passage 5:32 is explaining what must be done with Jews who reject the messenger and commit the vague sin of spreading corruption on earth. Contrary to popular belief in the West, the passage is not dictating lofty moral principles.
Verse 38. Jews and Christians are going to Hell.
This lone legal directive amid a lengthy section warning of hellfire and decrying the misdeeds of the Jews and Christians (5:35-86) may be evidence of textual dislocation. In a hadith, Muhammad is depicted as adding a divine curse to the already draconian punishment for theft specified in this verse: “Let there be the curse of Allah upon the thief who steals an egg and his hand is cut off, and steals a rope and his hand is cut off.”
Verse 45. Eye for an eye and legal retribution.
This verse establishes the Islamic principle of qisas, legal retribution (see also 2:178), in which retaliation or punishment is to be in kind. The “eye for an eye” principle is indeed in the Torah (Exodus 21:23-25). In the Qur’an, however, there is no mitigating element comparable to “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) or, in the New Testament, Jesus’s statement: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-9). See also 2:194 and 16:126.
Verse 47. Christian scriptures confirm the Qur’an (they don’t).
This also seems to suggest that at the time the Qur’an was compiled, the believers assumed that the Christian Scriptures did indeed confirm the message of the Qur’an. Because this is not the case, today it is common Islamic teaching that the New Testament as we have it is not the original but has been altered by rebellious Christians to reflect their false doctrines.
Verse 51. Do not take Jews or Christians as friends.
Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah forbids His believing servants from having Jews and Christians as friends, because they are the enemies of Islam and its people, may Allah curse them.”
Verse 60. Jews and Christians are cursed to be apes and pigs.
A reminder that some of those “whom Allah has cursed, him on whom his wrath has fallen,” were transformed into “apes and pigs.” See 2:63. On taghut, see 2:256.
Stanley Jaki, a Catholic priest and physicist, explains that it was the renowned Sufi thinker al-Ghazali who “denounced natural laws, the very objective of science, as a blasphemous constraint upon the free will of Allah.” Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), although himself a philosopher, delivered what turned out to be the coup de grace to Islamic philosophical investigation, at least as a vibrant mainstream force, in his monumental attack on the very idea of Islamic philosophy: The Incoherence of the Philosophers.
Muslim philosophers such as Avicenna and Averroes, according to al-Ghazali, were not intellectual trailblazers worthy of respect and careful consideration. In positing that there could be truth that was outside of or even contradicted what Allah had revealed in the Qur’an, they had shown themselves to be nothing more than heretics who should be put to death and their books burned.
Relatively early in its history, therefore, science was deprived in the Islamic world of the philosophical foundation it needed in order to flourish. It found that philosophical foundation only in Christian Europe, where it was assumed that God was good and had constructed the universe according to consistent and observable laws. Such an idea would have been for pious Muslims tantamount to saying, “Allah’s hand is chained.”
Verse 68. Jews and Christians must convert and renounce their books.
Ibn Kathir explains that this passage tells Jews and Christians they will have “no real religion until you adhere to and implement the Tawrah [Torah] and the Injil [Gospel]. That is, until you believe in all the Books that you have that Allah revealed to the Prophets. These Books command following Muhammad and believing in his prophecy, all the while adhering to his Law.”
Verse 72. Christ is not Divine.
The denial of the divinity of Christ and the labelling of those who believe in it as “unbelievers” is repeated; see 5:17.
Verse 73. The Trinity is again denied.
The denial of the doctrine of the Trinity is repeated; see 4:171. Jesus and his mother are again presented as the other members of the divine trio with Allah, but they were mortal: they both used to eat earthly food (5: 75) “like all other people,” says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn; “Since he was like that, he cannot be a god, because of his constitution and weakness and being subject to urine and faeces.”26 The actual Christian concept of the Incarnation, with Christ being both fully God and fully human, doesn’t enter into consideration.
Verse 88. Slavery is assumed and tolerated.
One who breaks an oath must in expiation feed ten indigents or free a slave; there is, however, no blanket condemnation of slavery anywhere in the Qur’an, or any idea of the equality of dignity of all human beings before God, which led to abolitionism in Christian contexts.
Verse 101. No questions can be asked of the Muhammadan cult.
This passage destroys the possibility of free inquiry in Islam in warning Muslims not to “ask about things which, if they were made known to you, would trouble you.” However, the believers are promised that if they “ask about them while the Qur’an is being revealed, they will be made known to you.” It is odd that a perfect and eternal book would depend for its contents upon the questions of human beings at a particular time, but this anomaly is not explained.
Verse 102. Do not question Muhammad or his texts.
The believers are again warned not to ask questions, as “a people before you asked, and then became disbelievers,” which may explain why international Islamic organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are working so assiduously to criminalize and stifle criticism of Islam.
Verse 112. The last supper of Christ was a table from the Al-Lah.
When the disciples said, O Jesus, son of Mary, is your Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven? He said, Observe your duty to Allah, if you are true believers.
Verse 114. Christ asked Al-Lah for the table to be spread at the Last Supper.
Jesus, son of Mary, said, O Allah, our Lord, send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, so that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign from you. Give us sustenance, for you are the best of sustainers.
Verse 114. The Muslim Eid is from the Christian Eucharist.
This has long been seen as a trace of the Christian doctrine of the Eucharist, but Christoph Luxenberg sees it as much more than just a vestige. Jesus asks Allah that this table from heaven be “a feast (‘id) for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign (ayah) from you.” Notes Luxenberg: “The Arabic word ‘id, borrowed from the Syriac, has been, in conformity with its Arabic meaning, correctly translated by ‘celebration’ [or ‘feast,’ in the liturgical sense].” The scholar of Islam and Jesuit priest Samir Khalil Samir explains that “according to unanimous scholarly opinion [the Arabic word ‘id] is a borrowing from the Syriac ‘ida, which signifies ‘Feast’ or ‘liturgical festival.’”
Verse 115. Al-Lah will punish those who don’t believe he sent the Eucharist.
Allah said, Indeed, I send it down for you. And whoever disbelieves among you afterward, I will surely punish him with a punishment with which I have not punished anyone of the worlds.
Verse 116. Jesus denies he is God.
And when Allah said, O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to mankind, Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah? He said, Be glorified. It was not for me to say what I had no right to say. If I said it, then you know it. You know what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in your mind. Indeed, you, only you, are the knower of hidden things. Allah asks Jesus directly if he asked his followers to take himself and his mother as additional gods along with him. Jesus, of course, denies having done so. Those who believe otherwise will be punished. Here we have not only a merely human Jesus but a misapprehension of the Trinity. The Qur’an envisions the Christian Trinity not as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three Persons, one God, but as a trio of deities: Allah, Jesus, and Mary.
Any objective reading of this text will offer some obvious themes:
1-Christ is not divine and was simply a prophet of Baal or Al-Lah (the moon deity, maybe the storm or fertility deity as well of Mecca, maybe the supreme pagan deity of nature as found in many locations in the Near East).
2-The Eucharist and other Christian celebrations were created and permitted by this Al-Lah not the Christian God.
3-Jews and Christians must convert to Muhammadanism or face punishment in this lifetime and the next.
4-Murdering Muslims is strictly prohibited but killing non-Muslims especially to spread Muhammadanism is legal and divinely sanctioned.
5-Muslims have no free will to inquire or question their cult.
6-All Muslims are simply slaves of the Al-Lah.
7-Muslim men can marry whom they wish, but Muslimas must marry a Muslim man and produce Ghazi or warriors of the cult.
8-Bronze age or earlier ‘code’ of an Eye for an Eye is enshrined, and slavery is accepted and tolerated and nowhere in the Qur’an are humans discussed as being equal nor is freedom assumed.
9-It is quite obvious that the Quranic authors took Old and New Testament passages and Christian rituals and misunderstood their meaning and purpose.
It is impossible when reading Sura 5, to make the claim that the cult of Muhammad is a religion of faith, presenting immanent ideals that we find in the Old and New Testaments which sanctify life, the individual and propose salvation through knowing God and Christ. The text portrays Jews and Christians as inferior and Christians as falsely following a Trinity and incorrectly ascribing to Christ Divine status when purportedly Christ denied his own divinity to Al-Lah. Given that Jews and Christians are cursed to be ‘apes and pigs’ it is necessary to either convert them peaceably or war against them until they submit.
St. John of Damascus (675-749 A.D) lived during a high tide of Muhammandan imperialism in the Near East and beyond. His father was a tax collector within the local Muslim government or occupying state and John succeeded him in that role. Around 730 A.D. he left and became a monk. His ‘Sources of Knowledge’ is a foundational text for the Greek Orthodox Church and greatly influenced the development of the Western Latin Church, suffused with neo-Platonism and moral exhortations. He fought to retain the worship of Icons providing logical and theological arguments for their retention, in opposition to official Byzantine policy. St. John was renowned as a writer, speaker and expert of the cult of Muhammad.
St. John’s penned the ‘Fount of Knowledge’ and describes Muhammadanism in part 2 on Heresies in Epitome: How They Began and Whence They Drew Their Origin. The Fount of Knowledge is considered one of the:
“most important single works produced in the Greek patristic period,…offering as it does an extensive and lucid synthesis of the Greek theological science of the whole period. It is the first great Summa of theology to appear in either the East or the West.” (translator’s note in the beginning of the book)
St. John is considered one of the great Fathers of the Church, and his writings hold a place of high honour in the Church. His critique of Islam, or “the heresy of the Ishmaelites,” is especially relevant for our times. To summarise some of his comments on Muhammadanism, we can note that Muhammad mis-understood the Old Testament, did not believe Christ was divine, did not tolerate the Cross as a symbol of divine power, created a book to manage women, engaged in random revelations which have no basis in the prophetic literature, created a long and rather inane story about a camel and its offspring being a divine provider for Arabs, a declaration that Christ is really a Muslim working for the Al-Lah, and the observation that Muslims are engaged in pagan practices such as stone rubbing and kissing. He could have written volumes on the hate and bile within the Koran adjuring Jihad, war and supremacist domination of the Infidel.
St. John’s assessment of Islam from ‘Heresies’, abridge and summarised
There is also the superstition of the Ishmaelites which to this day prevails and keeps people in error, being a forerunner of the Antichrist. They are descended from Ishmael, [who] was born to Abraham of Agar, and for this reason they are called both Agarenes and Ishmaelites. They are also called Saracens, which is derived from Sarras kenoi, or destitute of Sara, because of what Agar (Sara’s slave woman who bore Abraham’s child) said to the angel: ‘Sara hath sent me away destitute.’ (exiled once Isaac the legitimate son was born) [1] These used to be idolaters and worshiped the morning star and Aphrodite, whom in their own language they called Khabár, which means great. [2] And so down to the time of Heraclius they were very great idolaters. From that time to the present a false prophet named Mohammed has appeared in their midst. This man, after having chanced upon the Old and New Testaments and likewise, it seems, having conversed with an Arian monk, [3] devised his own heresy. Then, having insinuated himself into the good graces of the people by a show of seeming piety, he gave out that a certain book had been sent down to him from heaven. He had set down some ridiculous compositions in this book of his and he gave it to them as an object of veneration.
He says that there is one God, creator of all things, who has neither been begotten nor has begotten. [4]
He says that the Christ is the Word of God and His Spirit, but a creature and a servant, and that He was begotten, without seed, of Mary the sister of Moses and Aaron. [5]
For, he says, the Word and God and the Spirit entered into Mary and she brought forth Jesus…But the Christ Himself was not crucified, he says, nor did He die, for God out of His love for Him took Him to Himself into heaven. [6]
And he says this, that when the Christ had ascended into heaven God asked Him: ‘O Jesus, didst thou say: “I am the Son of God and God”?’ And Jesus, he says, answered: ‘Be merciful to me, Lord. Thou knowest that I did not say this and that I did not scorn to be thy servant. But sinful men have written that I made this statement, and they have lied about me and have fallen into error.’ And God answered and said to Him: ‘I know that thou didst not say this word.” [7]
There are many other extraordinary and quite ridiculous things in this book which he boasts was sent down to him from God. But when we ask: ‘And who is there to testify that God gave him the book? And which of the prophets foretold that such a prophet would rise up?’—they are at a loss. And we remark that Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai, with God appearing in the sight of all the people in cloud, and fire, and darkness, and storm. And we say that all the Prophets from Moses on down foretold the coming of Christ and how Christ God (and incarnate Son of God) was to come and to be crucified and die and rise again, and how He was to be the judge of the living and dead. [8]
… On the contrary, he (Muhammad) received it (Koran) while he was asleep.’
They furthermore accuse us of being idolaters, because we venerate the cross, which they abominate. And we answer them: ‘How is it, then, that you rub yourselves against a stone in your Ka’ba [9] and kiss and embrace it?’
Then some of them say that Abraham had relations with Agar upon it, but others say that he tied the camel to it, when he was going to sacrifice Isaac. And we answer them: ‘Since Scripture says that the mountain was wooded and had trees from which Abraham cut wood for the holocaust and laid it upon Isaac, [10] and then he left the asses behind with the two young men, why talk nonsense?
As has been related, this Mohammed wrote many ridiculous books, to each one of which he set a title. For example, there is the book On Woman, [11] in which he plainly makes legal provision for taking four wives and, if it be possible, a thousand concubines—as many as one can maintain, besides the four wives. [12,13]
Then there is the book of The Camel of God. [14] About this camel he says that there was a camel from God and that she drank the whole river and could not pass through two mountains, because there was not room enough. There were people in that place, he says, and they used to drink the water on one day, while the camel would drink it on the next. Moreover, by drinking the water she furnished them with nourishment, because she supplied them with milk instead of water. Then, because these men were evil, they rose up, he says, and killed the camel. However, she had an offspring, a little camel, which, he says, when the mother had been done away with, called upon God and God took it to Himself…..
Again, in the book of The Table, Mohammed says that the Christ asked God for a table and that it was given Him. For God, he says, said to Him: ‘I have given to thee and thine an incorruptible table.’ [15]
And again, in the book of The Heifer, [16] he says some other stupid and ridiculous things, which, because of their great number, I think must be passed over. He made it a law that they be circumcised and the women, too, and he ordered them not to keep the Sabbath and not to be baptized. And, while he ordered them to eat some of the things forbidden by the Law, he ordered them to abstain from others. He furthermore absolutely forbade the drinking of wine.
Notes used by St. John
1. Cf. Gen. 16.8. Sozomen also says that they were descended from Agar, but called themselves descendants of Sara to hide their servile origin (Ecclesiastical History 6.38, PG 67.1412AB).
2. The Arabic kabirun means ‘great,’ whether in size or in dignity. Herodotus mentions the Arabian cult of the ‘Heavenly Aphrodite’ but says that the Arabs called her Alilat (Herodotus 1.131)
3. This may be the Nestorian monk Bahira (George or Sergius) who met the boy Mohammed at Bostra in Syria and claimed to recognize in him the sign of a prophet.
4. Koran, Sura 112.
5. Sura 19; 4.169.
6. Sura 4.156.
7. Sura 5.Il6tf.
8. The manuscripts do not have the adage, but Lequien suggests this one from Plato.
9. The Ka’ba, called ‘The House of God,’ is supposed to have been built by Abraham with the help of Ismael. It occupies the most sacred spot in the Mosque of Mecca. Incorporated in its wall is the stone here referred to, the famous Black Stone, which is obviously a relic of the idolatry of the pre-Islam Arabs.
10. Gen. 22.6.
11. Koran, Sura 4.
12. Cf. Sura 2225ff.
13. Sura 2.223.
14. Not in the Koran.
15. Sura 5.114,115.
16. Sura 2.
Sura 4 translated into English is here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts).
Sura 4 is called ‘The Women’. Women are important in Muhammad’s cult to produce Ghazi (warriors) and to support the needs of a man. Men can have up to 4 wives and innumerable sex slaves which they have taken by ‘their right hand’. This phrase references slavery. Women are viewed as inferior to men, often equated at ¼ to ½ the value of a Muslim man, can be beaten for not following the commands of the man, or the Qur’an or for ‘lewd behaviour such as talking to a strange man or leaving the house unaccompanied or insufficiently covered. Women are fields to be tithed or used for procreation. There is no expectation that women will be participants in society, education or general affairs. Their subservience to men is clearly delineated in this and many other chapters. But this is not all this chapter presents. Odes to Jihad, supremacism and domination, dominate as well and are listed below at the end.
Excerpts from Robert Spencer’s book below and explanations on key verses within Sura 4. This link can be used (or the link above) to read the translation of the verses which are not copied out in their entirety. The commentary is against that specific verse (italics).
Summation, women are inferior.
Among these laws are two of the most notorious provisions of the Qur’an, the command to beat women from whom one “fears” disobedience (4:34), and the allowance of the sexual enslavement of infidel women (4:24). Like suras 2 and 3, it deals with a variety of subjects and includes the usual castigation of unbelievers, but it is generally more unified than they are and contains almost all of the Qur’an’s key legislation regarding women
John of Damascus on this chapter.
In his remarks about Islam written around 730, John of Damascus may refer to this sura. “This Muhammad,” he writes, “as it has been mentioned, composed many frivolous tales, to each of which he assigned a name, like the text (graphe) of the Woman, in which he clearly prescribes the taking of four wives and one thousand concubines, if it is possible.” This sura does indeed allow a man four wives as well as the use of slave girls, “those your right hand possesses” (4:3), as concubines, although it doesn’t specify they must be a thousand in number, or any particular number. That may simply be John indulging in a bit of polemical hyperbole or using a thousand to indicate a virtually unlimited number of concubines.
Verse 3. Polygamy, every independent woman’s dream it appears.
This verse is the basis for Islamic polygamy and the sexual enslavement of infidel women. Regarding polygamy, the Mishkat al-Masabih depicts Muhammad saying: “When a man has two wives and does not treat them equally he will come on the day of resurrection with a side hanging down.” But equality in such circumstances is in the eye of the beholder. Ibn Kathir says the requirement to “do justice” regarding one’s wives is not a major obstacle to having more than one wife, since treating them justly isn’t the same as treating them equally: “It is not obligatory to treat them equally, rather it is recommended. So if one does so, that is good, and if not, there is no harm on him.”
Verse 15. Women who are lewd are condemned to isolation.
Allah prescribes home imprisonment until death for women found guilty of “lewdness,” most commonly understood in this context as adultery as well as homosexual activity, on the testimony of four witnesses. According to Islamic law, these four witnesses must be male Muslims; women’s testimony is inadmissible in cases of a sexual nature, even in rape cases in which she is the victim.
Death by stoning for both men and women (though men are never stoned in Muhammadanism, just women).
However, the penalty of stoning does not appear in the Qur’an. A hadith attributed to Umar attempts to square its absence by invoking a tradition that Muhammad had prescribed this penalty: “I am afraid,” he said, “that after a long time has passed, people may say, ‘We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book,’ and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed.” Umar affirmed: “Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession.” And he added that Muhammad “carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him.”
Verse 34. Beat your wife.
Wife-beating exists in all cultures, but only in Islam does it enjoy divine sanction. Allah tells men to beat their disobedient wives after first warning them and then sending them to sleep in separate beds. This is, of course, an extremely controversial verse, but there is not a great deal of variation in how the primary translators of the Qur’an have rendered the salient word, waidriboohunna.
Verse 46. Jews are cursed by the Al Lah deity or moon idol Baal (sometimes referred to as the storm god in some cultures).
Allah has “cursed them for their unbelief,” that is, the Jews yet again. Says Ibn Kathir: “Allah states that the Jews, may Allah’s continued curse fall on them until the Day of Resurrection, have purchased the wrong path instead of guidance, and ignored what Allah sent down to His Messenger Muhammad. They also ignored the knowledge that they inherited from previous Prophets, about the description of Muhammad,
Verse 47. Jews are cursed as apes and pigs.
The Jews are called to accept Islam or face terrible punishment, including being cursed “as we cursed the Sabbath-breakers,” that is, being transformed into apes and pigs (2:63-65).
Verse 48. Allah will forgive anything except shirk or disbelief in Muhammad and the Al Lah idol (see 2:193, 4:31, and 6:21).
Verse 56. Eternal damnation of Christians and Jews for Shirk.
The exchange of new skins for old so that the damned can be freshly tortured assumes a physical hell where the bodies of the unbelievers are perpetually renewed so that they can be tortured again.
Verse 71. Jihad. Jihad all the time.
Here begins an extended exhortation to the believers to go forth courageously to jihad warfare. Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah commands His faithful servants to take precautions against their enemies, by being prepared with the necessary weapons and supplies, and increasing the number of troops fighting in His cause.”80
Verse 74. The Ghazi or warrior goes to heaven.
This promise that a warrior will be rewarded “whether he is killed or victorious” constitutes a great deal of the reason why Muslim armies have fought with such tenacity throughout history. The warrior of jihad cannot lose: if he gains victory, he can help himself to the possessions (and the women) of those whom he has defeated (see 4:24 and sura 8). If he is killed, he gains paradise.
Verse 76. Jihad by any means possible.
There is no moral gray area in jihad warfare; the believers fight for Allah, while the unbelievers fight for Satan. Osama bin Laden began his October 6, 2002, letter to the American people with two Qur’an quotations, this verse and 22:39.81 On taghut, see 2:256.
Verse 84. Great rewards for Jihadis.
In a hadith, Muhammad is reported as saying there are immense rewards in store for those who wage jihad: “In Jannah [paradise] there are a hundred grades which Allah has prepared for those who fight in His Cause [mujahidin]; and the distance between any two of those grades is like the distance between the heaven and the earth.”
Verse 89. Death for apostasy or cowardice in Jihad.
This verse is a foundation for Islam’s death penalty for apostasy. Al-Wahidi explains that “a group of people initially accompanied the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to Uhud but then turned back and returned to Medina. The Muslims were divided in their opinions about them. Some of them were of the opinion that they should be killed while others thought they should be spared, and so this verse was revealed,” which directs that those who join the Muslims and then leave them should be killed.
Verse 95. Jihad is material not spiritual.
This verse provides a clear refutation of those who maintain that the Qur’an’s vision of jihad is primarily spiritual. If one must wage jihad with one’s wealth and one’s life, and those who do so are on a higher level than those who stay home, then clearly what is envisioned is participation in warfare, not a struggle to better oneself.
Verse 100. Conquering through emigration.
Here the Qur’an states the cardinal importance of “emigration for the cause of Allah,” that is, moving to a new land with the intention of bringing Islam to it. See also 4:66 and 4:89.
Verse 104. Unrelenting torment and punishment for Jews and Christians.
The Tafsir Anwarul Bayan explains: “While the disbelievers (kuffar) will be subjected to the unending torment and distress in the abysses of Hell, the Muslims shall be rejoicing in the bliss and comforts of Heaven (Jannah), without the slightest worries and concerns. The disbelievers (kuffar) cannot aspire for these stages as these are promised exclusively to the Muslims. For this reason the Muslims have a much stronger incentive to fight and should do so with greater zest and zeal.”
Verse 124. Paradise is only for Muslims.
Paradise is promised to the true believers, both male and female, but while it is filled with the virginal houris, the women of paradise, for men (see 44:54), it is not described for women.
Verse 137. Kill apostates.
Allah will not forgive those who leave Islam twice. A hadith has Muhammad strengthening this: “If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.”
Verse 159. Jesus will return and Muslimify the globe.
According to a hadith put in Muhammad’s mouth, “The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax.” That is, he will abolish the subservient dhimmi status of the non-Muslims and Islamize the world: “During his time, Allah will destroy all religions except Islam and Allah will destroy Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal (the False Messiah).”
Verse 171. Christ is not divine (but in verse 159 he somehow will return and perform miracles and establish Muhammadanism across the globe…..)
Allah warns Christians to remember that Jesus was a created being and not to say “Three,” that is, not to say God is a Trinity. Ibn Kathir echoes the Qur’an itself (5:116) in saying that the Christians elevated Jesus “and his mother to be gods with Allah”; the actual Christian Trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not envisioned in the Qur’an. It is “far removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son” because having a son would imply that he is insufficient for his tasks and needs a helper, but Allah “is sufficient.”
Verse 175. Muslim men can marry ‘good’ women who are not Muslim, but Muslim women may not do the same (this is part of the demographic Jihad).
Muslim men are permitted to marry “the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the book before you.” The Qur’an says nothing about Muslim women being permitted to marry men from the people of the book; this is prohibited in Islamic law as part of the subjugated status of the dhimmis, the “protected people,” in Islam. Traditionally a man takes his wife into his own household but not vice versa. The prohibition of Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men, and the allowance of Muslim men marrying non-Muslim women, means that the Islamic community will always be in a position to grow, while the non-Muslim community declines.
There is plenty more which could be listed but the themes are obvious including inter-alia:
This chapter is not religious or about faith. It is a document demanding subservience, the management of women, the use of women to produce Ghazi, the necessity to wage Jihad war, the demonisation of Jews and Christians, and the command to subjugate non-Muslims.
Sura 3 translated into English is here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts).
Sura 3 is called ‘The Family of Imran (Moses)’. In Koranic lore, Jesus is the nephew of Moses, with Mary his mother being Moses’ sister or daughter of Imran, Moses’ father. Obviously, the scribes of Quran confused Miriam Moses’ sister with Mary, the Madonna. As with Sura 2, Sura 3 continues to expatiate and excoriate Jews and Christians and to demonise non-Muslims. Compulsion of the Infidel, through Jihad and subjugation are assumed to be duties of the pious Muslim.
Excerpts from Robert Spencer’s book below and explanations on key verses within Sura 3. This link can be used (or the link above) to read the translation of the verses which are not copied out in their entirety. The commentary is against that specific verse (italics).
Spencer’s introduction to this chapter.
According to Maududi, sura 3, which is regarded in Islamic tradition as a Medinan sura, is addressed to the people of the book (that is, primarily Jews and Christians) as well as to Muslims, in order to invite them “to the same true religion preached by the Prophets from the earliest times,” and to show them that “the deviant course which they have adopted is inconsistent with the very scriptures which they themselves acknowledge to be of Divine origin. They ought, therefore, to accept the Truth now placed before them by Muhammad.”
….first eighty verses of this sura were revealed, with an eye toward correcting the Christians’ errors about their faith. Ibn Kathir agrees, although he specifies that eighty-three verses were revealed on the occasion of the Christians’ visit to Muhammad, which he says took place in 632.
Verse 13. Muslim victory at Badr and in War over idolators and non-Muslims is due to Muslim piety and Allah’s help.
Allah explains that the Muslims’ victory at Badr was an eschatological sign of his favor upon the Muslims. Al-Wahidi says that the sign was for unbelievers, so that they would embrace Islam, and uses it as the occasion for another story of the perversity and rebelliousness of the Jews. He quotes Ibn Abbas saying: “When Allah defeated the idolaters on the day of Badr, the Jews of Medina said: ‘By Allah, this is the unlettered Prophet who was announced to us by Moses and whose attribute and description we find in our Scriptures and about whom it is also mentioned that his banner will not be defeated’.
…..there is no counterpart in Islam to the Biblical principle that the wicked may prosper because of the fallen nature of the world—in Islam, if the wicked prosper, it is because the Muslims aren’t Islamic enough.
Verse 19. The only religion on earth is that of Islam. Period.
Ibn Kathir sees this as unequivocal: “Allah states that there is no religion accepted with Him from any person, except Islam. Islam includes obeying all of the Messengers until Muhammad who finalized their commission, thus closing all paths to Allah except through Muhammad. Therefore, after Allah sent Muhammad, whoever meets Allah following a path other than Muhammad’s, it will not be accepted of him.” The Jews and Christians also know better than to come before Allah with their false religions.
Verse 28. Muslims cannot be friends with non-Muslims and it is okay to lie to them to get what you want, as long as Islam prospers.
The word awliya, friends, involves more than just casual friendship, and can be rendered as allies, guardians, patrons, protectors, and the like. Ibn Kathir states: “Allah prohibited His believing servants from becoming supporters of the disbelievers, or to take them as comrades with whom they develop friendships, rather than the believers.”
….The development of taqiyya as a theological concept is a product of Shi’ite Islam. It developed during the time of the Sixth Imam, Jafar as-Sadiq, in middle of the eighth century, when the Shi’ites were being persecuted by the Sunni caliph al-Mansur. Taqiyya allowed Shi’ites to pretend to be Sunnis in order to protect themselves from Sunnis who were killing Shi’ites.
Verse 32. Allah only loves Muslims.
Allah’s love is not universal. It extends only to believing Muslims, and disobeying Allah and his messenger makes one a disbeliever.
Verse 35. The Koran confuses who Mary the mother of Jesus actually is.
Mary’s mother is the “wife of Imran,” that is, Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron. At 66:12, Mary is called “daughter of Imran.” This passage, along with 19:28, in which Mary is called “sister of Aaron,” gives the impression that the Qur’an confused Miriam the sister of Moses with Mary the Mother of Jesus, since the names are identical in Arabic: Maryam. The Muslims of the ninth century were apparently confronted about this, as a hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.” However, while this may explain why Mary is called “sister of Aaron,” it doesn’t explain why she is clearly depicted in this verse as the daughter of Imran. The authors of the Qur’an clearly thought that Jesus was Moses’s nephew, the son of his sister.
Verse 49. Allah’s performs the miracles of Christ. Christ is not divine.
The miracles Jesus performs are not accomplished by his own power, but “by Allah’s permission.” The Tafsir Anwarul Bayan explains that this clause is repeated in order to emphasize that only by Allah’s permission does Jesus perform miracles—since “after witnessing these miracles, especially the raising of the dead, it is possible that a person may consider Sayyidina Isa to be Allah himself.
Verse 52. Jesus was a Muslim, so were his disciples.
Jesus’s disciples are Muslims, as is Jesus himself. In this understanding, Islam did not originate in the seventh century or the ninth but is the original religion of every prophet. Their followers twisted their teachings to create Judaism, Christianity, and other counterfeits of the prophets’ true teachings.
Verse 67. Abraham was also a Muslim.
Abraham, like the other prophets, was a Muslim, the Tafsir al-Jalalayn explains: “Abraham in truth was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but a man of pure natural belief, a hanif who inclines from all other religions to the Straight Din [religion], a Muslim and affirmer of the Divine Unity. He was no idolater.” On hanif, see 2:135.
Verse 85. Islam is the only religion of truth.
“Commentators,” notes Mahmoud Ayoub, “have generally taken this verse literally.” The idea that Islam is the religion of truth is stated also at 3:19 and 9:29, and that it will prevail over all other religions is additionally at 2:193, 8:39, 9:33, and 61:9. In this verse Islam prevails not just in the hereafter, where the non-Muslims will be losers, but also on earth, where a religion other than Islam will not be accepted, presumably by Allah, although also possibly by the Islamic authorities.
Verse 110. Muslims are clearly the best of any people. Superior. Saved by Sharia.
The Muslims are the “best of people” insofar as they “command what is right and forbid what is wrong”; that is, their preeminence is defined in terms of their establishing proper rules for behavior among all mankind, those which are encoded in Sharia. A hadith quotes Abu Hurairah, one of Muhammad’s companions, explaining that this verse “means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam.” See 22:41.
Verse 112. Non Muslims must pay the Jizya slave or second-class citizen tax.
This, says the Tafsir Anwarul Bayan, refers to the non-Muslims’ agreeing “to pay the atonement (Jizya) to the Muslim state, in which case they will be accorded the rights of a Dhimmi.” These rights are not equal to the rights of Muslims: the dhimmis must accept subservience and second-class status (cf. 9:29) in exchange for a guarantee of protection, which remains in place as long as they do not offend the Muslims by criticizing Islam or Muhammad, or violating other provisions of their status.
Verse 118. Permanent war between Muslims and non-Muslims until the world is conquered for Allah.
Ibn Kathir sees this verse in the context of a permanent war between Muslims and non-Muslims: “Allah forbids His believing servants from taking the hypocrites as allies, so that the hypocrites do not have the opportunity to expose the secrets of the believers and their plans against their enemies. The hypocrites try their very best to confuse, oppose and harm the believers any way they can, and by using any wicked, evil means at their disposal. They wish the very worst and difficult conditions for the believers.”
Verse 137. Unbelievers are worthless. All civilisations and artefacts made by Unbelievers are also worthless.
This is one of the foundations of the Islamic idea that pre-Islamic civilizations, and non-Islamic civilizations, are all jahiliyya—the society of unbelievers, which is worthless. In the late twentieth century, some Pakistani Muslims saw in the ruins at the nation’s renowned archaeological site, Mohenjo Daro, a teaching opportunity for Islam. They recommended that this verse be posted there so as to put the ruins themselves in an Islamic context. The Islamic State acted on this assumption, destroying ancient artifacts of pre-Islamic civilizations not just because of the danger of idolatry, but because the ruins themselves reflected Allah’s judgment on the unbelievers.
Verse 144. Muslims must always fight the Unbeliever.
Here is an example of Islam’s fatalism: even if Muhammad himself were killed, the Muslims should fight on, for no one can die except by Allah’s permission. This is one of only four places where the name Muhammad appears in the Qur’an (the others are 33:40, 47:2, and 48:29).
Verse 145. Jihad is an obligation and demands perseverance.
This is a call for perseverance in jihad warfare against non-Muslims, as Ibn Kathir relates in a quotation from Ibn Ishaq: “Many a Prophet was killed, and he had many companions whose resolve did not weaken after their Prophet died, and they did not become feeble in the face of the enemy. What they suffered in Jihad in Allah’s cause and for the sake of their religion did not make them lose heart.”
Verse 156. Allah decides victory and defeat, Muslims must simply fight.
Allah restates the proposition that life and death, as well as victory and defeat, are in his hands alone, and thus no one should fear fighting.
Verse 196. Unbelievers are going to hell – guaranteed.
The believers should not envy the unbelievers even if they prosper, for Allah will send them to hell while the believers enjoy the gardens of paradise (3:198).
Verse 200. All Muslims who follow Allah piously and without deviation, will be granted success.
Allah promises that those who obey him will encounter success, which includes success in this world. This idea has led throughout Islamic history to disasters being ascribed to disobedience, with the prescribed remedy being a reassertion of Islamic strictness.
It is dichotomous text. The Christian and Jew are not accepted. They are demonised, disparaged, and relegated as worthless, impious, almost sub-human followers of evil and waywardness. Only the Muslim is right, honourable, religious and the inheritor of both Earth and Heaven. Jihad and fighting, killing and subjugating non-Muslims is a duty and must never end until the world is conquered for the Al Lah and his spokesman the ’unlettered’ Muhammad. This is a tract of war and conquest, not of religiosity or piety.