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 8 or ‘The Spoils of War’ is a chapter devoted to the Muslim Jihad, which is not a ‘spiritual’ struggle, but simply a campaign of endless war until the earth is subdued for the Al Lah idol of Mecca, and his only true spokesman, the illiterate Bedouin Arab Muhammad. Muslimophiles will studiously avoid this chapter (and most of Chapters 2, 5, and 9), given the obvious declarations of intolerance, timeless war, and depredations against the non-Muslim Infidel. This chapter dates from the second year of the ‘Medinan’ period (fleeing from Mecca) and the ‘second part’ of Muhammad’s career namely that as brigand, war-leader, exterminator. This Sura was ‘revealed’ to Muhammad after the Battle of Badr, a Muslim victory over the Meccan forces and Muhammad’s own tribe the Quraysh, in 624 A.D. If the Quraysh had defeated Muhammad’s small force (maybe some 300 men against 1000 or so of the Quraysh), then the cult of Muhammad would have died in its infancy.
This Sura is translated into English here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts). The excerpts below are from Robert Spencer’s book with explanations on key verses provided by Spencer in italics. The verses listed are not obviously comprehensive but selected for importance. This link can be used to read the translation of all the verses in this chapter which are not copied out in their entirety.
Verse 1: Muhammad and Al-Lah need the spoils of war as an obligation
They ask you about the spoils of war. Say, The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger, so keep your duty to Allah, and settle your differences, and obey Allah and his messenger, if you are believers. Islamic tradition holds that there was great booty for the victors at Badr, so much that it became a bone of contention among the Muslims. According to the story, Muhammad was receiving questions about the disposal of the booty, and Allah responds by telling them that its distribution is up to the messenger.
Verse 5: Jihad is an obligation
Allah refers to various incidents that took place before and during the battle, emphasizing that he commands warfare and protects the believers in it. The true believers were willing to go out of their homes to wage jihad warfare, but some disliked doing so and complained. This echoes 2:216.
Verse 9: Angels help Muslims in battle
When you asked for help from your Lord and he answered you, I will help you with a thousand angels, rank on rank. The thousand angels that joined the Muslims to smite the Quraysh are an indication that Allah fights alongside the righteous, and thus righteousness is a prerequisite for victory.
Verse 12: Al Lah will use terror against the enemies of Muhammadanism
When your Lord inspired the angels, I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then strike the necks and strike their fingertips. This verse became one of the chief justifications for the Islamic practice of beheading hostages and war captives. Ibn Kathir explains that the angels are instruments of Allah’s wrath who are to “support the believers, strengthen their (battle) front against their enemies, thus, implementing My command to you. I will cast fear, disgrace and humiliation over those who defied My command and denied My Messenger.”
Verse 13: Al Lah punishes any who don’t follow Muhammad
That is because they opposed Allah and his messenger. Whoever opposes Allah and his messenger; indeed, Allah is severe in punishment.
Verse 14, 15: Unbelievers go to Hell, why Green is the colour of the Muslim flag
So taste that, and that for unbelievers is the torment of the fire. O you who believe, when you meet those who disbelieve in battle, do not turn your backs on them. The Muslims must always advance, never turning their backs on the enemy, unless they do so as a stratagem of war. This is why the colour green is featured on the flags of so many Islamic nations: Islam is and must be ever expanding, always experiencing a springtime, never losing ground or withering and dying.
Verse 16: Jihad is an obligation, don’t turn back from conflict
Whoever turns his back on them on that day, unless he is manoeuvring for battle or intent on joining a company, he indeed has incurred wrath from Allah, and his dwelling place will be Gehenna, an evil destination. On Gehenna, see 2:206, as also for 8:36-7.
Verse 17: It is Al Lah who is really doing the fighting
You did not kill them, but Allah killed them. And you did not throw when you threw, but Allah threw, so that he might test the believers with a fair test from him. Indeed, Allah is the hearer, the knower. Allah tells the messenger that the Muslims were merely passive instruments at Badr. At one point, according to Ibn Hisham, Muhammad threw pebbles toward the Quraysh, exclaiming: “Foul be those faces!” But it was Allah who killed the Quraysh and even Allah who threw the pebbles.
Verse 30: Al Lah’s ‘plan’ includes War against the Unbelievers
And when those who disbelieve plot against you, to wound you fatally, or to kill you or to drive you out, they scheme, but Allah schemes, and Allah is the best of schemers. Here again, the idea is reinforced that the battles of the Muslims are more than just earthly conflicts but elaborations of Allah’s plan. Allah is also depicted as a schemer or plotter at 3:54, 7:99, and 10:21.
Verse 39: Fight all Infidels until Muslims control the world
And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they stop, then indeed, Allah is the seer of what they do. According to numerous Islamic authorities, the statement that Muslims must fight until there is no more persecution (fitna) means that they must fight “so that there is no more Shirk.” For shirk, see 2:193, 4:31, and 6:21. The Tafsir al-Jalalayn explains that the fight must continue until “only He is worshipped.” The popular twentieth-century Saudi Tafsir as-Sadi states: “This is the goal of fighting and jihad against the enemies of the faith; it is to ward off their evil from the faith and to defend the religion of Allah, Who created people to follow this path, so that it will be supreme over all other religions.” This is thus an open-ended declaration of warfare against non-Muslims and assumes that non-Muslim religious observance in itself constitutes “persecution.” The idea that Islam will prevail over all other religions is additionally at 2:193, 9:33, and 61:9.
Verse 41: Spoils of war for Muhammad and the Al Lah
And know that whatever you take as spoils of war, indeed, a fifth of it is for Allah, and for the messenger and for the relatives and orphans and the needy and the traveller, if you believe in Allah and what we revealed to our slave on the day of furqan, the day when the two armies met. And Allah is able to do all things. An Islamic tradition amplifies this with an account of Muhammad’s generosity: After one battle, Muhammad prayed “facing a camel from the war booty,” and then, holding some of the camel’s hair between his fingers, said to his men: “This is also a part of the war booty you earned. Verily, I have no share in it, except my own share, the fifth designated to me. Even that fifth will be given to you.” Muhammad continued by exhorting the Muslims to turn over all the spoils of war to him for just distribution: “Therefore, surrender even the needle and the thread, and whatever is bigger or smaller than that (from the war spoils). Do not cheat with any of it, for stealing from the war booty before its distribution is Fire and a shame on its people in this life and the Hereafter. Perform Jihad against the people in Allah’s cause, whether they are near or far, and do not fear the blame of the blamers, as long as you are in Allah’s cause. Establish Allah’s rules while in your area and while traveling. Perform Jihad in Allah’s cause, for Jihad is a tremendous door….
Verse 50 and 51: Angels strike those who disbelieve
If you could see how the angels receive those who disbelieve, striking faces and their backs and, Taste the punishment of burning. 51 This is for what your own hands have sent before, and Allah is not a tyrant to his slaves,
Verse 55: Unbelievers are the worst of animals
Indeed, the worst of animals in Allah’s sight are the ungrateful who will not believe. This equation of unbelievers with animals is another indication that unbelievers are worthy of no respect or consideration. See also 98:6.
Verse 57 and 58: Unbelievers are treacherous
If you come upon them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, so that perhaps they may remember. 58 And if you fear treachery from any people, then throw it back to them fairly. Indeed, Allah does not love the treacherous. If the Muslims “fear treachery” from unbelievers with whom they have a treaty, they should simply break the treaty. Ibn Kathir says this means that Muslims should tell the unbelievers “that you are severing the treaty. This way, you will be on equal terms, in that, you and they will be aware that a state of war exists between you and that the bilateral peace treaty is null and void.”
Verse 60: Strike terror into non-Muslims
Make ready for them all that you can of force and of warhorses, so that by them you may strike terror in the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom you do not know. Allah knows them. Whatever you spend in the way of Allah, it will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged. This is the Qur’an’s third mention of the imperative to strike terror in the unbelievers. See 3:151 and 8:12.
Verse 65: Believers must fight even if the enemy is more numerous
O prophet, exhort the believers to fight. If there are just twenty of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people without intelligence. Allah will give pious Muslims more victories, even if they face odds even more prohibitive than those they had overcome at Badr, although this promise is almost immediately backtracked: originally a hundred would defeat a thousand unbelievers, but this is then reduced to a hundred believers vanquishing two hundred unbelievers (8:66). These became recurring themes of jihad literature throughout the centuries, up to the present day: piety will bring military victory, and the Muslims will conquer even against overwhelming odds.
Verse 67: Slaughter first, take captives and slaves later (in other words earn the right to own slaves)
It is not for any prophet to have captives until he has made slaughter in the land. You desire the lure of this world, and Allah desires the hereafter, and Allah is mighty, wise. According to the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, this verse was revealed “when ransom was accepted for the captives at Badr.” The Muslims had released some of the prisoners at Badr, but this was out of their base desire for material gain: the money they would receive in ransom. The tafsir continues: “You (believers) desire the goods of this world – the money you accepted as ransom – whereas Allah desires the reward of the Next World for you through fighting the unbelievers.” The Muslims should therefore have given up the prospect of gaining worldly goods and simply killed their captives, which would have brought the Muslims the rewards of paradise.
Verse 72: Waging Jihad will grant you a reward
Indeed, those who believed and left their homes and waged jihad with their wealth and their lives for the sake of Allah, and those who took them in and helped them, these people are protecting friends one of another. And those who believed but did not leave their homes, you have no duty to protect them until they leave their homes, but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion, then it is your duty to help, except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty. Allah is the seer of what you do. On “jihad,” see 2:218, as also for 8:74.
These are only some verses advocating war against the ‘worst of animals’ the Unbelieving Kufar or Infidel. Muhammad and his Al Lah want their share of the booty, after all it is the Al Lah and his angels which are guaranteeing victory for Muslims, with a thousand angels purportedly helping the Muslims at the Battle of Badr, allowing the small force of Muhammadans to defeat a larger enemy, and importantly, avail itself of much booty. This would have caused debate within the Muslim ranks as to what to do with the plunder. This chapter reveals the solution and distribution of goods and people, taken in battle. It is clearly stated in this text that Jihad is a mandatory obligation; that Jihad to end ‘Shirk’ or disbelief is a commandment from the Al Lah, and that the terms of warfare are open-ended until all non-Muslims submit or convert. Muslims who do not engage in Jihad, or at least support it, are impious and will be punished. No wonder Muslimophiles avoid this chapter.
7:166. When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: “Be ye apes, despised and rejected.”
167. Behold! Thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. Thy Lord is quick in retribution, but He is also Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
Sura 7 or ‘The Heights’ is a chapter which rejects Christianity. It repeatedly assures the reader that the Christians are losers, will fill up hell, that Christ is not divine nor associated with Al Lah and that Al Lah will reward Muslims and lead others astray whom he will punish. Jews are described as Sabbath breaking apes and pigs.
This Sura is translated into English here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts).
Sura excerpts from Robert Spencer’s book are below and explanations on key verses within this Sura provided by Spencer. This link can be used to read the translation of the verses which are not copied out in their entirety. Spencer’s commentary is against that specific verse (italics).
Spencer: “The Heights” is traditionally considered to be another Meccan sura, dating from around the same time as sura 6: Muhammad’s last year in Mecca before the Hijra to Medina. The Tafsir al-Jalalayn states that verses 163 to 170, which deal with the Sabbath-breaking Jews who were transformed into apes, are from Medina.
Verse 3: There are no protectors (as in Christian theology)
Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and follow no protecting friends besides him. Little do you remember. Yet another warning of the dreadful judgment; here “you” is plural, while in 7:2 it was singular. Bell suggests that there may be a textual break between verses 2 and 3, as “appears from the change of address.”
Sura 4: Destruction for the unbelievers
How many a town have we destroyed? As a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, our terror came to them. See 3:137 and 6:6. Such verses about divine judgment do not necessarily refer solely to thunderbolts from heaven: see 9:14. Jihad terrorists consider themselves to be the instruments of Allah’s judgment, destroying cities and punishing unbelievers in accord with the Qur’an.
Sura 16: Adam was a Muslim
He said, Now, because you have led me astray, indeed I will lurk in ambush for them on your right path. Satan, banished, says he will spend his time tempting the Muslims away from the straight path. A hadith details how he would confront “the Son of Adam” and chide him for considering converting to Islam, abandoning his ancestral religion. “However,” the story goes, “the Son of Adam disobeyed Shaytan and embraced Islam.”
…the Son of Adam once again disobeyed Satan and went on jihad. The hadith continues: “Therefore, whoever among them (Children of Adam) does this and dies, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise. If he is killed, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise.”
Verse 18: Non-Muslims will fill up Hell
He said, Go forth from here, degraded, banished. As for those who follow you, surely I will fill Gehenna with all of you.
Sura 41: Repeats verse 18
Theirs will be a bed of Gehenna, and over them coverings. In this way we repay wrongdoers. On Gehenna, see 2:206.
Verse 54: Allah creates everything in 6 days or is it 8 days?
Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then mounted the throne. He covers the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it, and has made the sun and the moon and the stars submissive by his command. All creation and command is indeed his. Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Allah here creates the universe in six days, as he does at 10:3, 11:7, 25:59, 32:4, and 50:38. However, at 41:9-12, he does it in eight days.
Verse 81: Homosexuality is punished by death
Indeed, you come with lust to men instead of to women. No, but you are wanton people. Lot’s story bears traces of the Sodom and Gomorrah incident in the Bible, as this verse recalls Genesis 19:5. The punishment for homosexual activity in Islamic law is death, based on a statement attributed to Muhammad: “If you find anyone doing as Lot’s people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.”
Verse 99: Al Lah is a great schemer
Are they then secure from Allah’s scheme? No one thinks of himself as secure from Allah’s scheme except people that perish. Allah is also depicted as a schemer or plotter at 3:54, 8:30, and 10:21.
Verse 124: Transgressors will have their hands and feet cut off and crucified
Surely I will have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. Then I will crucify every one of you. This is the same punishment Allah prescribes for those who wage war against Allah and Muhammad (5:33).
Verse 145: Moses receives the Commandments from Al Lah but none are listed
And we wrote for him upon the tablets the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things, then, Hold it fast, and command your people, Take what is better in it. I will show you the abode of transgressors. Moses goes up on Mount Tur (28:46) to converse with Allah and receive laws, which the Qur’an does not enumerate, on stone tablets. The Ten Commandments never appear in the Qur’an and are a notable omission from its multiple retellings of the Exodus.
Verse 156: Al Lah chooses who will disobey and punishes them….
And ordain for us what is good in this world, and in the hereafter. Indeed, we have turned to you. He said, I strike those whom I will with my punishment, and my mercy embraces all things, therefore I will ordain it for those who fear Allah and give alms, and those who believe our signs. “Give alms” is zakat, and “signs” once again is the word used of the verses of the Qur’an, so this passage strongly suggests that Allah shows mercy only to those who are Muslims.
Verse 157: Muhammad is illiterate
Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel with them. He will command for them what is right and forbid them what is wrong.
The fact that Muhammad is not actually described in the Jewish or Christian scriptures has helped give rise to the Islamic claim that the Jews and Christians have corrupted their scriptures to remove references to him; see 61:6. The declaration that the messenger commands what is right and forbids what is wrong is one of the foundations for the belief in the hadiths, despite the fact that they date from two to three centuries after Muhammad is supposed to have lived, and thus have dubious historical value at best. Muslims are told to follow what Muhammad commands, and only in the hadith can those commands be discovered.
Verse 165: Non-Muslims, or impious Muslims face a dreadful punishment
And when they forgot that about which they had been reminded, we rescued those who forbade wrong, and visited those who did wrong with dreadful punishment, because they were transgressors.
Verse 172: All humans are born Muslim
Everyone on earth is born Muslim, as a hadith has Muhammad saying: “No child is born but has the Islamic Faith, but its parents turn it into a Jew or a Christian.” In another hadith, Allah produces all of the multitudes of the children of Adam from his back and asks them, “Am I not your Lord?” All affirm that he is. Therefore, says the Tafsir Anwarul Bayan, “None will be able to claim that he had no knowledge of the fact that Allah is his Lord.”
Verse 177: Al Lah leads the losers astray to be punished
The people who denied our signs are an evil example, and were inclined to wrong themselves. He whom Allah leads, he is indeed led rightly, while he whom Allah leads astray, they indeed are losers.
Verse 179: Al Lah creates humans and Jinns to torture
Allah has created a large number of human beings and jinns solely in order to torture them in hellfire. Those who suffer this fate are entirely bestial. However, Ibn Kathir does not see anything arbitrary about Allah’s judgment here: “We prepared them for it by their performance of the deeds of its people. When Allah intended to create the creation, He knew what their work will be before they existed. He wrote all this in a Book, kept with Him, fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and earth.” The difficulty remains, however, in that he nonetheless created those who were to reject him. On Gehenna, see 2:206.
Verse 181: Muslims will guide the world
And among those whom we created, there is a nation that guides with the truth and establishes justice with it. The believers, on the other hand, shall guide mankind with Allah’s truth and establish justice by means of it. This is a foundation of Islam’s moral critique of the non-Muslim world.
Verse 190: Jesus is not a partner with God
But when he gave them a good child, they ascribed partners to him in regard to what he had given them. He is highly exalted above all that they associate.
Verse 191: There are no partners with Al Lah
Do they attribute as partners to Allah those who created nothing, but are themselves created, And cannot give them help, and cannot help themselves?
Verse 195: Al Lah or Muhammad dares the Christians to use their partners against him
Do they have feet with which they walk, or do they have hands with which they hold, or do they have eyes with which they see, or do they have ears with which they hear? Say, Call upon your partners, and then plot against me, do not spare me.
This chapter conveys a rather clear and unambiguous set of doctrines and paints a rather lurid picture of Al Lah for the reader. Christian and Jews are going to fill up hell and can be tortured in this lifetime and crucified. Impious Muslims who blasphemy will suffer a similar fate. Al Lah is a schemer who leads humans astray to torture them. All humans including the first human Adam, are born Muslim, but for some reason Al Lah through Satan, leads them from the true path of worship to Shirk or unbelief and due to this are to be condemned, punished, and destroyed. This is obviously not the God of the Old or New Testaments. There is no relationship, spiritual awakening, free-will declaration of faith on the part of the human. This Al Lah is impersonal, a trickster, a deity that is uninterested in you as a distinct human and one which does not allow questions or inquiry. Blind obedience and a rejection of free-will is what is demanded.
Sura 6 or ‘Cattle’ refers to the last year in Mecca before Muhammad was driven out of the city to Medina. Cattle is mentioned in the Sura but is not a particularly important theme. This Sura is translated into English here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts). Excerpts from Robert Spencer’s book are below and explanations on key verses within this Sura provided by Spencer. 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).
Sura 6 or ‘Cattle’ does not refer to the brain-dead masses following the Corona diktats and fake data and modelling. That Sura would be named Sheep. According to Islamic tradition, this Sura is from Muhammad’s last year in Mecca, before the Hijra, or Flight, to Medina during the twelfth year of his Jihadic career. According to a tradition attributed to Ibn Abbas, “All of Surat Al-An‘am was revealed in Makkah at night, accompanied by seventy thousand angels, raising their voices in glorification of Allah.” Muhammad was unwelcome in his home city of Mecca. For years he had been a preacher of an uncompromising monotheism in an atmosphere of increasing antagonism with his own tribe, the Quraysh, who were pagans and polytheists. Sura 6 is preoccupied with that antagonism with Al-Lah issuing many imprecations against the unbelievers.
Verse 4: Al Lah leads polytheists astray on purpose and destroys them
Ibn Kathir states: “Allah states that the rebellious, stubborn polytheists will turn away from every Ayah, meaning, sign, miracle and proof that is evidence of Allah’s Uniqueness and the truth of His honorable Messengers. They will not contemplate about these Ayat or care about them. Allah said.” The anomaly of Allah leading the unbelievers astray and then punishing them for their stubborn rejection of his messengers is not explained or even mentioned.
Yet we destroyed them for their sins, and created after them another generation. For their unbelief, Allah destroys the unbelievers. The ruins of their destroyed civilizations bear witness to his power and judgment (see 3:137).
Verse 7: Al Lah will mock the Infidel disbelievers
If we had sent down to you writing upon parchment, so that they could feel it with their hands, those who disbelieve would have said, This is nothing other but mere sorcery…. Allah mocks the unbelievers’ unbelief, saying that if he had sent the messenger a “writing upon parchment,” the unbelievers would nevertheless have dismissed it as “mere sorcery.” In this passage, as in many others, the onus for unbelief is entirely upon the unbelievers, but see 2:7.
Sura 18: Al Lah rules his Muslim slaves (with Muhammad as his intercessor)
He is the omnipotent over his slaves, and he is the wise one, the knower. Say, What carries the most weight in testimony? Say, Allah is the witness between me and you. And this Qur’an has been inspired in me so that with it I may warn you and whomever it may reach. Do you actually bear witness that there are gods besides Allah? Say, I bear no such witness. Say, He is only one God. Indeed, I am innocent of what you associate.
Sura 21: Ascribing partners to Al Lah (Christians) is the worst offence (called Shirk)
Who does greater wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies his signs? Indeed, the wrongdoers will not be successful. “Signs” here again is ayat, the term used for the verses of the Qur’an: they’re signs of the truth of Allah. The Tafsir al-Jalalayn states that the “lie against Allah” involves “ascribing a partner to him.” In Islam, there is no greater evil. One modern-day Muslim writer wrote: Murder, rape, child molesting and genocide. These are all some of the appalling crimes which occur in our world today. Many would think that these are the worst possible offences which could be committed. But there is something which outweighs all of these crimes put together: It is the crime of shirk.
Sura 22: Christians will not be helped by their Trinity
And on the day we gather them together, we will say to those who ascribed partners, Where are those you claimed to be partners?
Sura 54: Christians and Jews will fill up Hell
And when those who believe in our signs come to you, say, Peace be upon you. Your Lord has prescribed mercy for himself, so that whoever among you does evil through ignorance and repents of it afterward and does right, indeed, he is forgiving, merciful. This makes clear that the unbelievers do not do evil through ignorance, for if they had, Allah would have allowed them to repent. Instead, he will fill hell with them (32:13), suggesting once again that those who reject Islam do so while knowing very well that it is true.
Sura 77-78: Al Lah is greater than the Moon God of Mecca (Baal)
And when he saw the moon rising, he exclaimed, This is my Lord. But when it set, he said, Unless my Lord guides me, I surely will become one of the people who are astray. …And when he saw the sun rising, he cried, This is my Lord. This is greater. And when it set, he exclaimed, O my people, indeed, I am free from all that you associate.
Note: What Muhammad or the Koran is saying here is that Baal the moon deity worshipped for millennia by the Arabs, and the Sun his consort or wife, are products of the greater power of Al-Lah, in other words, the polytheistic rituals believed in by pagan Arabs are no longer of importance since they are really manifestations of Al-Lah. The significance of this verse is that Muhammad is effacing all pagan worship, though the ‘Al Lah’ of Mecca was originally Baal the moon deity (who had a wife and daughters, namely Mars and Venus), it is now promoted to the creator of all celestial beings and associated worship, consuming all previous pagan beliefs.
Sura 88-89: Al Lah controls the wills of his Muslim slaves (no free will)
That is the guidance of Allah, with which he guides those whom he wills of his slaves. But if they had set up anything besides him, what they did would have been in vain. …Those are the people to whom we gave the book and command and prophethood. But if these people disbelieve in it, then indeed we will entrust it to a people who will not be unbelievers in it.
Sura 92: Mecca was not an important city in the 7th century
“And this is a blessed book that we have revealed, confirming what was before it, so that you may warn the mother of towns and those around her. Those who believe in the hereafter believe in it, and they are mindful of their prayer.” The “mother of towns” is traditionally identified as Mecca, but the Qur’an never says this. Dan Gibson states of Mecca that “from the life of Muhammad we understand that camel caravans went out from this city, and that Muhammad himself travelled with a caravan to Syria and back. One would expect that a major city, involved with trade across the Middle East, would be well known to the nations around it, especially if it was a merchant city. However, the city of Mecca was not well known. Despite what Islamic literature tells us, there is not a single piece of non-Muslim evidence that points to and corroborates this claim for such prominence during the seventh century. In fact, the earliest substantiated reference to Mecca is in the Continuatio Byzantia Arabica - a source from early in the reign of the Caliph Hisham who ruled between 724 and 743–100 years after the life of Muhammad.
Sura 94: Christians will have no help from their intercessors (angels, saints)
Now you have come to us alone, as we created you at the beginning, and you have left behind all that we bestowed upon you, and we do not see you with your intercessors, whom you claimed were associated with you. Now the bond between you is severed, and what you presumed has failed you. Everyone will stand alone before Allah; no intercession from others will be accepted (2:48, 2:123, 23:101, 39:43, 42:46). However, the Qur’an elsewhere accepts intercession with Allah’s permission (10:3, 20:109, 21:28, 34:23, 53:26).
Sura 100: Angels and Jinns are not Al Lah’s partners
Yet they ascribe the jinn as partners to him, although he created them, and impute, falsely, without knowledge, sons and daughters to him. May he be glorified and highly exalted above what they ascribe.
The jinn are spirit beings that Allah created from “smokeless fire” (55:15). The twentieth-century Islamic scholar Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen states a standard Muslim view when he asserts that while human beings cannot see jinn, “undoubtedly the jinn can have a harmful effect on humans, and they could even kill them. They may harm a person by throwing stones at him, or by trying to terrify him, and other things that are proven in the sunnah (prophetic teachings)
Sura 101-102: Al Lah does not have a son, Christ is not divine
The originator of the heavens and the earth. How can he have a son, when he has no wife, when he created all things and is aware of all things?
An attempt at a reductio ad absurdum on the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation: “How can he have a son, when he has no consort?” Ibn Kathir asks: “How can He have a wife from His creation who is suitable for His majesty, when there is none like Him How can He have a child? Then Verily, Allah is Glorified above having a son.” The idea that fatherhood and sonship might not be conceived of in physical terms is not considered. This is Allah, your Lord.
Sura 109: Unbelievers do not understand Al Lah’s ‘signs’
And they swear a solemn oath by Allah that if a sign comes to them, they will believe in it. Say, Signs are with Allah and what will make you realize that if they came to them, they still would not believe? The unbelievers wouldn’t believe even if signs did come to them, a theme returned to at 6:124.
Sura 115: Al Lah’s word can never be changed
The word from your Lord is perfected in truth and justice. There is no one who can change his words. He is the hearer, the knower. No one can change Allah’s word, but at 2:75, the Qur’an states that the Jews did change it, and at 22:52, the possibility is raised that Satan can tamper with it, although Allah abrogates his changes.
Sura 121: Only eat what Al Lah prescribes and which has been blessed in Al Lah’s name
And do not eat what Allah’s name has not been mentioned over, for indeed, it is abomination. Indeed, the satans inspire their minions to argue with you. But if you obey them, you will be indeed idolaters.
The Muslims would be “idolaters” if they obeyed the advice of unbelievers and ate food over which Allah’s name has not been mentioned. According to Ibn Kathir, this means that “when you turn away from Allah’s command and Legislation to the saying of anyone else, preferring other than what Allah has said, then this constitutes Shirk.
Sura 124: Al Lah will punish any who reject his ‘signs’
And when a sign comes to them, they say, We will not believe until we are given what Allah’s messengers are given. Allah knows best with whom to place his message. Humiliation from Allah and heavy punishment will strike the guilty for their scheming. Here again it is asserted, as in 6:109, that the unbelievers wouldn’t believe even if they did receive signs from Allah. The interruption of this theme, and the return to it, may suggest an interpolation. Instead of “his message,” the Warsh Qur’an has “his messages.”
Sura 140: Disbelievers are ‘losers’
They are losers who have foolishly killed their own children without knowledge, and have forbidden what Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah. They indeed have gone astray and are not guided.
Sura 163: Again, the Trinity is invalid and Al Lah has no partners
He has no partner. This I am commanded, and I am first of the Muslims.
(The first of Muslims would reference Muhammad).
So, in summary, what do we read here in this Sura? There are some common themes, reiterated and repeated throughout the chapter.
1-The Christian Trinity and the divinity of Christ is denied.
2-Christians will receive no help from their angels, or worship of Mary, Christ or the saints.
3-Arab polytheism is subsumed by Al Lah who is the actor and creator behind the celestial worship of Arab tribes.
4-Christians and Jews are led astray by Al Lah to be punished and destroyed.
5-Muslims have no free will and are Al Lah’s slaves.
6-Al Lah’s word and commands can never be changed.
7-Muhammad is the first among Muslims.
8-Muslims must follow dietary laws and eat food blessed by Al Lah or offered to Al Lah as an expression of thanks.
These are cult doctrines. Muhammad is separating his cult from pagan, Jewish and Christian practices and beliefs. Dietary proscriptions, the demand to follow only what Al Lah says and what Muhammad instructs, along with denying free will and free inquiry into the Koran or cult practices and rather startling, naming followers of Al Lah as ‘slaves’ is an obvious indication not only of intent, but also of culture. These artefacts are commandments to create a unified, unitary and unthinking devotion to Al Lah and Muhammad. It is hard to understand how anyone can describe this as liberating, enlightening, or civilised.
Ishmael, the son of Abraham and his wife’s slave Hagar is not connected at all to ‘Islam’ or Muhammad. This is one of the more ludicrous lies from the Koran cult attempting to give it legitimacy. Catholics, Protestants, Agnostics have long made this linkage which does not exist. It comes from the Muhammadan cult itself. The Koran and Hadith propose the linkage between Ishmael and Muhammad. No other source does. Why is this? Because none exists. This lie has given rise to the 3 Abrahamic faiths myth. Only 2 are based on Abraham. The cult of Muhammad is based on the Al Lah idol or moon deity and celestial worship found in Mecca which long pre-dates Muhammad. Ishmael has no blood, geographical, or even philosophical connection with Muhammad.
1-Geography
The story is that once Hagar birthed Ishmael she became disobedient and arrogant, knowing her son was the legitimate (based on the laws of that time), successor to Abraham a wealthy nomad and merchant. Conflict ensued and Hagar was banished. According to the Bible Ishmael settled in Paran and married an Egyptian from whom he had twelve sons:
"He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt." Genesis 21:13-21
The Bible locates Paran near Israel (Canaan) and Egypt, south of Judah. John L. McKenzie in his Dictionary of the Bible notes:
The desert of Paran was the home of the Ishmaelites (Gn 21:21). It was, the itinerary according to P (cf. PENTATEUCH), reached by the Israelites after the desert of Sinai (Nm 10:12), and they camped in this desert for some time (Nm 10:12; 13:3, 26, mission and return of the scouts). In Dt 1:1 Paran is vaguely defined as a place in the desert. Hadad of Edom passed through the desert of Paran on his journey from Midian to Egypt (1 Kings 11:18). Etc
There are many passages in the Bible locating Paran. The Bible and archaeology place it near Sinai, with some offering Edom or southwest of the Dead Sea as a location. Regardless it is nowhere near Mecca.
2-Bloodlines and Geography
It is clear from the Bible and from Paran’s location that Ishmael never married as the Koran states, a Jurhumite woman. He married an Egyptian not an Arab. We also know where Ishmael's sons settled:
"This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers." Genesis 25:12-18
McKenzie locates Shur around the area of Palestine and Egypt:
Shur (Hbsur), a geographical name which designates the slopes of Palestine and E of Egypt and N of the deserts of the Sinai peninsula. The Hb word suggests sur, "wall", and some geographers have thought that the name alludes to the line of fortresses constructed by the Egyptians to protect the E frontier of Egypt. The region is the scene of the flight of Hagar in the account of J (Gn 16:7). Abraham dwelt for a time in the Negeb between Kadesh and Shur (Gn 20:1). The Israelites traversed the desert of Shur after crossing the Sea of Reeds (Ex 15:22). The area from Havilah to Shur was the home of the Amalekite and other nomad tribes (Gn 25:18; 1 S 15:7; 27:8). (McKenzie, pp. 810-811)
Ishmael’s sons never settled anywhere near Mecca.
3-They migrated
It is claimed that some of the descendants of Ishmael's twelve sons migrated to Arabia. One of Ishmael’s sons Nebaioth, is said to be the father of the Nabateans. The Nabateans flourished in northern Arabia, first establishing their capital in Petra in the 4th century B.C. which was captured by the Romans in 106 B.C. They then moved to Damascus. The Dead Sea Scrolls actually contains Nabatean documents from the later period.
There are two major problems with the above assertion. Even though it may be true that some of Ishmael's descendants settled in Arabia, this does not mean that they necessarily were the fathers of the Arabs. Arab tribes already existed and are described in both the Bible and Egyptian history as existing. Muslim tradition itself affirms that Ishmael was not the father of the Arabs. Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad states:
Ishmael is the son of Ibrahim (Abraham) b. Tarih (Azar) b. Nahur b. Sarugh b. Rau'u b. Falikh b. 'Aybar b. Shalikh b. Arfakhshadh b. Sam (Shem) b. Nuh (Noah). (Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, tr. Guillaume, p. 3)
Ishmael was alive circa 1800 B.C. Arab tribes had long existed.
Another specious claim from the Hadith is that Ishmael journeyed to Mecca and married 2 Arab women (Ibn Abbas). In this tradition Abraham was with Ishmael, a journey which never occurred and is not recounted in the Bible or any other texts. In this rendition (2.127) (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 583) Ishmael is a boy taught by the Arabs in Mecca and grows up to marry 2 Arab women. So the Koranic text itself is confused. Did Ishmael journey to Mecca as a young boy or adult? And if he is the ‘father’ of the Arabs how did the Arabs teach him and how did he marry Arab women?
Neither story is true of course and they make no sense. Consider that since Arabic is not Ishmael's mother tongue, and since Arabic as a language existed before, Ishmael cannot be the ancestor of Arabs. This means that the notion that Ishmael is the progenitor of the Arabs is erroneous. At most, Ishmael can only be called an Arabicized immigrant. The Muslim traditions prove that Ishmael is not the father of all the Arabs.
4-No relation to Muhammad
Given the above, Ishmael has no blood relationship whatsoever to the Quraysh tribe of Mecca or Muhammad. Muslim historians traced Muhammad's line to an 'Adnan, an alleged descendant of Ishmael. The following genealogy is taken from T.P Hughes' Dictionary of Islam, p. 217:
Adnan- Ma'add- Nizar- "Ilyas- Mudrikah- Khuzaimah- Kinanah- An-Nazr- Malik- Fihr- Luwaiy- Ka'b- Murrah- Kilab- Qusaiy- "Abdul Manaf- Hashim- Abdul Muttalib- Abdullah- Muhammad (source)
There are several problems with these genealogies. The first problem is the time span of 2500 years between Abraham and Muhammad. There are not enough linkages in the ‘Adnan story to go from Abraham to Muhammad in that time frame given average human life spans. Only 24 generations exist. The story assumes a life span per generation of over 100 years. This is factually incorrect of course. Abraham did not live in 150 BCE; he lived some 1700 or more years earlier. This is of course what we would expect from the Koran and Hadith. Made up stories with no evidence. In actual fact the genealogy of Muhammad is unknown. As given in Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Volume I, p. 4:
Ma'n Ibn 'Isa al-Ashja'i al-Qazzaz (silk-merchant) informed us; he said: Mu'awiyah Ibn Salih informed us on the authority of Yahya Ibn Jabir who had seen some Companions of the Prophet and said: The people of Banu Fuhayrah came to the Prophet and said to him: You belong to us. He replied: Verily, (the archangel) Gabriel has informed me that I belong to Mudar
To be a descendant of Ishmael (via Mudar) was a claim that started with Muhammad's own words but without historical evidence even in his lifetime. In the end, it comes down to nothing but an unsubstantiated claim from Muhammad and this claim is inconsistent with that given by Ibn Ishaq the earliest biographer of Muhammad in his Sirat Rasulullah who traces his line to Ishmael through Nabit (Nebaioth), not Kedar. Basically the Muhammadans are trying to imitate the genealogy from Adam to Christ and have failed rather spectacularly.
5-The Cube or Kabaa
According to Muslim tradition, Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaaba, the cube-like structure in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. But outside these traditions there is absolutely no evidence for this claim - whether epigraphic, archaelogical, or documentary. Archaeology reveals a crude cube at the time of Muhammad built from the wreakage of a Roman vessel found in the Red Sea. Probably in the pre-Roman Bronze age era there may have been a shrine built with rocks, a crude structure used for celestial worship. But making up a lie that Abraham journeyed all the way from Haran in what is now northern Iraq to Mecca, to build an altar, in which no other document or proof supports, is simply another example of Muhammad appropriating Jewish and Christian texts for his own purposes.
Historian Snouck Hurgronje has shown that Muhammad invented the story to give his religion an Arabian origin and setting; with this improvisation Muhammad established the independence of his religion, at the same time incorporating into Islam the Kaaba with all its historical and religious associations for the Arabs. (Ibn Warraq, Why I Am Not A Muslim [Prometheus Books, Amherst NY 1995], p. 131)
Finally, Islamicist Alfred Guillaume notes that Ishmael as a name is incorrect in Arabic:
"... there is no historical evidence for the assertion that Abraham or Ishmael was ever in Mecca, and if there had been such a tradition it would have to be explained how all memory of the Old Semitic name Ishmael (which was not in its true Arabian form in Arabian inscriptions and written correctly with an initial consonant Y) came to be lost. The form in the Quran is taken either from Greek or Syriac sources." (Alfred Guillaume, Islam [Penguin Books Inc., Baltimore, 1956], pp. 61-62)
Bottom Line:
The diabolical claim that Ishmael is ‘the father of the Arabs’ is riddled with rotted stench and untruth. It is rather obvious why Muhammad and the Koranic-Hadith scribblers need this narrative. It is an attempt to mimic the genealogical links of Christ back to Abraham and Adam, granting Muhammad credibility. It is done to displace the Bible’s very accurate history and placing of Ishmael in Canaan or near the Dead Sea, neither of which is remotely close to Mecca. It is a feeble and mendacious attempt to link Abraham to Mecca and the Cube shrine. What it does is confuse people and lead to claims by the ignorant that Islam is part of the ‘Abrahamic’ tradition which it clearly is not. Arabs long pre-date Ishmael and Mecca was in the time of the Bronze age into Muhammad’s era, a site where celestial objects, especially the moon, the sun, venus and mars, were worshipped.