Sura 3, an excerpt from 'The Critical Quran' by Robert Spencer.

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.”19 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.

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.