Suffering through the Koran, Sura 84, 'The Rending Asunder'.

You can go here and type in the Sura number and read the main translations of the Koranic verse into English. Sura 84 is yet another ode to the end of the world and the punishment that the ne'er do wells, named 'Unbelievers' or non-Muslims will experience on judgment day. Yawn. A good Phd effort would be to go through this book named 'Recital' [memorize, repeat, shut up]; and count the number of verses dedicated to the end of times and the 'grievous penalty' to be meted out to non-Muslims.

“But he who is given his Record behind his back, - Soon will he cry for Perdition, And he will enter a Blazing Fire.” [84:10-12]

The Allah thing will grant a 'bad record' to the non-Muslim's 'left' or inferior hand. In Islam power, right and might is denoted by the right hand. Believers will receive their 'good' record of approval from the Allah-thing in their right hand. Muslims including Bin Laden get to enjoy paradise. These are the true-pious Muslims who understand and follow Koranic law – hence the name of the book 'Recital'. The rest of us Infidel pigs are to be punished:

“Then he who is given his Record in his right hand, Soon will his account be taken by an easy reckoning, And he will turn to his people, rejoicing!” [84:7,8]

Certainly it is fun times if you are part of the cult and chosen to partake of an eternity of women, nubile boys, wine and water. I am not sure however, what the female Muslim gets out of being a cult member. According to the Koran and Mohammed most of Hell's inhabitants are women, and the Koran never says anything about what females will be granted in paradise.

What is also interesting about this verse is the identification of the moon as a 'she'. In Arab pagan theology, Al-ilah is the masculine male moon idol [see Hitti's History of the Arabs for example]. Throughout the Koran the moon is associated with masculinity. Yet in this Sura for some reason, it is a 'she' or the feminine;

“The Night and its Homing; And the Moon in her fulness: You shall surely travel from stage to stage. What then is the matter with them, that they do not believe?” [84:17-20]

This description of the moon idol as a feminine contradicts almost all Arab pagan theology and Koranic verses, in which the moon idol is male. I am not sure if this is just a transliteration error; a mistake on the part of the original Koranic writer; or just an oversight in the compilation of the work. It is however worth noting the inconsistency in the supposedly 'perfect and uncreated book'. Somehow I doubt that a divine power would write a book in Arabic and mix up the gender forms of the moon.

The above verse is also interesting because it insists that if you are alive then you must believe in Allah. This tautological irrationality is endemic in the Koran. In Islamic theology all natural phenomena and events are 'signs' of Allah's power and the righteousness of the Muslim cause. A man must pass through phases just like the moon, from unbelief to belief. If the moon moves across the sky, why can't you the Unbeliever, move your mind and spirit from scepticism to acceptance of Islam? Surely the very sight of lunar phases is proof enough that Allah rules? If you deny this then you can be punished. Even denying the perfectibility and eternal verity of the Koran must be punished:

“And when the Qu'ran is read to them, they do not fall prostrate, But on the contrary the Unbelievers reject (it). But Allah has full Knowledge of what they secrete (in their breasts). So announce to them a Penalty grievous..” [84:21-24]

This is pretty clear. The mere act of rejecting the Koran or even desiring to debate what is in the Koran is a 'sin' and punishable. You must fall prostrate which means you are groveling, defenseless, witless, and at the mercy of the cult and of Koranic theology. That is what the Allah and the Mohammed [both are essentially the same], demand. This is the opposite of free will, freedom to think, cognition and the Golden Rule. An immanent Golden Rule applies to those both inside and outside of the cult or group in question. Not so with Islam. This demand that 'you prostrate' yourself is little more than a totalitarian request to obey, follow and irrationally believe all that the cult promulgates as 'truth'. It militates against reason and free will.

[Note: This sura is taken from 'The Holy Quran', translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, reprinted in 1995, Goodword Books. Regarded as one of the best translations from Arabic to English of the Koran.]