Running totals from Sura 2 to 46:
Total number of verses from Sura 2 to 46: 4535
Total number of verses in 2-46, which preach violence against non-Moslems: 1045
Violent verses as a % of total from Sura 2 to 46: 23 %
Sura 2 to 46 as a % of the 6346 verses in the Koran: 71%
[meaning still lots more violence to go....]
46:35 – the certain promise of Allah to Moslems about the Unbelievers. Be patient Moslems, the end of the Infidel will certainly come!
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Therefore be patient (O Muhammad SAW) as did the Messengers of strong will and be in no haste about them (disbelievers). On the Day when they will see that (torment) with which they are promised (i.e. threatened, it will be) as if they had not stayed more than an hour in a single day. (O mankind! This Qur'an is sufficient as) a clear Message (or proclamation to save yourself from destruction). But shall any be destroyed except the people who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah). |
The verse above is so full of lyricism, poetry, nobility of purpose ! What a holy, wonderful document of change, hope, tolerance, love and respect for humans, in and outside of the cult ! Well maybe not. Such appellations could be applied to New Testament Christianity, but not to Islam or the cult which demands and calls itself simply, 'Submission'. Sura 46 continues the exhausting trend of demonizing the Infidel. Surely even Moslems must get weary of reading the same litany of charges against the Unbelievers. Islamic liturgy makes a simple and clear division of the world. Moslems are good and should be well-treated by fellow-Moslems. This logically follows from the Arab tribal culture which formed Islam. Non-Moslems however, are associated with evil, Satan, greed, stupidity, blindness, deafness, sin, criminality, polytheism, and rebelliousness.
The 'Winding Tracts' is a not-so-winding indictment of the Unbeliever.
This Sura was written after Mohammed and his bandits were ejected from Mecca by Mohammed's tribe the Quraysh, and took up residence in the largely Jewish city of Yathrib, renamed by Muslims to Medina. Its intent is to justify Mohammed as a prophet and to reiterate the support of Allah, the moon deity, for his chosen interpreter on earth. If you don't follow Mohammed you are committing a sin, and will be punished in Hell, “...If (this teaching) be from Allah, and you reject it...Truly Allah does not guide a people unjust.” [46:10] Trust in Mohammed and Allah's promise of after-life bliss will be yours. Allah would not lead you astray now would he ?
The winding sand tracts references the waste lands of Arabia. It is easy to get lost, and die of thirst and starvation in such an inhospitable topography. In Arab mythology 'warners' were 'prophets' who used analogies to educate their people against doing wrong; or against imperilling themselves or their tribes in a hostile environment. The shifting sands and tracts of dunes were an intraversible environment, and only those who have some divine guidance could hope to navigate safely through them. They were used as analogies for the brutality, the violence and the endless warring of pagan Arabia. The only way to survive in such a setting was through the use of the sword, and tribal strength:
“..behold, he warned his people about the winding Sand-tracts: and there have been Warners before him and after him: 'You worship none other than Allah: truly I fear for you the Penalty of a Mighty Day.” [46:21]
Mohammed is thus the messenger who can lead the Arabs through the winding sand tracts to both spiritual and political-economic salvation and avoid the destruction of the 'Mighty Day' of judgement and also elude the devastation of pre-modern Arabia's violent and quite barbaric conditions. He has Allah's blessing and powers to turn the poor, frightened polytheists and the pagans of Arabia into strong, prosperous monotheists, devoted to 'god' and avoiding Hellfire on judgement day:
“He (Mohammed) said: 'The Knowledge (of when it will come) is only with Allah: 'I proclaim to you the mission on which I have been sent: but I see that you are a people in ignorance!'....Then, when they saw the (Penalty in the shape of a cloud traversing the sky, coming to meet their valleys, they said, 'This cloud will give us rain!' 'Nay, it is the (calamity) you were asking to be hastened!- a wind wherein is a Grievous Penalty'” [46:24]
Muhammad is the Dear Leader and military hero who will guide his Arabs through the tractless deserts, out of poverty, illiteracy, banditry, ignorance and cultural barbarism, into the broad sunlit uplands of civilisation, wealth, wine, women and guaranteed eternal bliss.
So what of the ethical content in this Sura ? In chapter 46, only 14 verses out of 35 preach hate speech, violence and intolerance towards Unbelievers. The offending verses include: 7, 10, 18-27, 34, 35. A long rant outlines how the Unbeliever, always linked with Satan and evil, is doomed and will be punished in Hell for not obeying Muhammad, the Koran and all of Allah's 'signs':
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They are those against whom the Word (of torment) is justified among the previous generations of jinns and mankind that have passed away. Verily! They are ever the losers. |
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And for all, there will be degrees according to that which they did, that He (Allah) may recompense them in full for their deeds. And they will not be wronged. |
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On the Day when those who disbelieve (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) will be exposed to the Fire (it will be said): "You received your good things in the life of the world, and you took your pleasure therein. Now this Day you shall be recompensed with a torment of humiliation, because you were arrogant in the land without a right, and because you used to rebel and disobey (Allah). |
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And remember (Hud) the brother of 'Ad, when he warned his people in Al-Ahqaf (the curved sand-hills in the southern part of Arabian Peninsula). And surely, there have passed away warners before him and after him (saying): "Worship none but Allah; truly, I fear for you the torment of a mighty Day." |
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They said: "Have you come to turn us away from our aliha (gods)? Then bring us that with which you threaten us, if you are one of the truthful!" |
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He said: "The knowledge (of the time of its coming) is with Allah only, and I convey to you that wherewith I have been sent, but I see that you are a people given to ignorance!" |
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Then, when they saw it as a dense cloud coming towards their valleys, they said: "This is a cloud bringing us rain!" Nay, but it is that (torment) which you were asking to be hastened! a wind wherein is a painful torment! |
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Destroying everything by the Command of its Lord! So they became such that nothing could be seen except their dwellings! Thus do We recompense the people who are Mujrimun (polytheists, disbelievers, sinners, etc.)! |
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And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you (O Quraish)! And We had assigned them the (faculties of) hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and hearts, but their hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayat (Allah's Prophets and their Prophethood, proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at! |
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And indeed We have destroyed towns (populations) round about you, and We have (repeatedly) shown (them) theAyat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) in various ways that they might return (to the truth and believe in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism). |
There is not much 'discussion' or earnest dialogue in the above, nor indeed anywhere in the Koran. It is a thunderous declamation against any human foolish enough to ignore the moon idol Hub'Allah's 'signs' and Muhammad's prophecy, sanctioned and inspired by his family's deity. The Moslem propaganda, as lurid as anything Stalin, Trotsky or Goebbels could invent, conflates all 'god' worship into the form of this Allah idol. This all encompassing fantasy and lie is a convenient dialectical tool which can be used to illegitimate Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Arab paganism. It allows Moslems to war and engage in Jihad against the 'Mujrimun' or criminals and sinners, since they have forsaken the only idol worth worshipping – namely that of Muhammad's family and the chief deity of Mecca, Hub'Allah. Whatever you have to say about such a program, it is decidedly irreligious.