The
Quran and the Atheist: A Response to a Skeptic
“To such as Allah rejects from His guidance, there can be no
guide: He will leave them in their trespasses, wandering in distraction.”
-
The Holy Quran, Surah Al-Araaf, 7:186
Polemics
against Islam are not a new development.
They have been around since the beginning of the mission of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Furthermore, as the centuries have rolled by, the polemics have
evolved. For example, one of the most
common polemics against Muhammad (peace be upon him) has been his marriage to
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and yet, this polemic has only become
common in modern times. Before the turn
of the 20th century, it was rare to see non-Muslims attacking the
character of Muhammad (peace be upon him) for such a reason.[1] In addition, the type of polemic against
Islam varies depending on its origin.
Generally, atheist polemics are different from Christian ones, though
they may overlap in some cases. For
example, an atheist may find offense with the Islamic belief in hell, whereas a
Christian would naturally not see anything offensive about such a belief. With this in mind, we will examine the
polemics of one modern-day skeptic against the Holy Quran. In his book “The
Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy”, the late skeptic C. Dennis McKinsey (d.
2009)[2]
briefly discussed his reasons for rejecting the Holy Quran, offering a few
examples of what he saw as evidence of the Quran’s “flawed”
nature.[3] Through this discussion, it is hoped that the
reader will see the flaws in McKinsey’s methodology and weaknesses in his
approach to the Quran.
The
Arguments
Beyond the standard polemical arguments, McKinsey also
makes rather silly and childish arguments against the Quran, such as that it is
“boring” and is “a
good antidote for insomnia”.[4] Since these arguments expose McKinsey’s own
ignorance of the Quran’s literary style (which scholars have expressed
admiration for), we can ignore them for now and will discuss them briefly later
on. After all, whether a book is
“boring” or not is in the eye of the beholder, and laymen who don’t truly
appreciate or understand the Quran’s status as a literary masterpiece will
obviously not find much to be excited about.[5]
To start, McKinsey makes what is unquestionably the most
common polemic against the Quran: that it “propagates
a message of intolerance, brutality, and barbarity toward non-Muslims”.[6] First, he refers to Surah 5:51, which states:
“O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your
friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And
he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah
guideth not a people unjust.”[7]
McKinsey claims that this verse displays “contempt for Jews and Christians” and “an appalling ignorance of historical events”.[8] But what he doesn’t realize is that this
verse is referring to specific circumstances.
According to “The Study Quran”:
“[t]he verse’s prohibition against alliances of protection with
those outside the Muslim community likely had to with the fluid and somewhat
precarious social and political situation of the fledgling Islamic community
during the time of the Prophet.”[9]
It also notes that:
“…it is important to note that Islamic Law, developed after the
Islamic state had become fully established, allowed agreements of mutual
protection with non-Muslim states and political entities.”[10]
Finally, it notes that (emphasis in the original):
“[t]he verse should not be interpreted as forbidding friendly
relations with Jews and Christians on a purely personal level, since such a
reading would contradict v. 4, which allowed for the most intimate of personal
relationships–marriage–to exist between Muslim men and Jewish and Christian
women, and 60:7-8, which states that Muslims may behave justly and kindly to
any who do not fight them on account of religion or otherwise oppress
them.”[11]
Indeed, the Quran states very clearly in Surah Al-Mumtahana,
60:7-8:
“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not
for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and
justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just. Allah only forbids you, with regard to those
who fight you for (your) Faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support
(others) in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and
protection). It is such as turn to them (in these circumstances), that do
wrong.”
For someone who claimed to have studied the Quran “cover to cover”,[12]
McKinsey seemed to conveniently forget about these verses, or perhaps
deliberately failed to mention them.
Next,
McKinsey appealed to Surah Al-Maeda, 5:33, which states:
“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His
Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is:
execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite
sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a
heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.”
According to McKinsey:
“[i]ntolerance of this magnitude exceeds that of the New
Testament, because the latter never goes so far as to advocate the execution of
all those who oppose the key figures of Christianity.”[13]
But McKinsey seemed to completely miss the point! One would not normally associate the act of
“waging war” with simply “opposing” another party. That would be like saying that Adolf Hitler
was not “waging war” against Europe but rather he was simply “opposing”
Europe! McKinsey did not realize the
extent of the “opposition” that Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his followers
were facing. Moreover, the verse says
that execution was only one of the options.
The other option was to exile those who opposed the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him).[14] So, unless McKinsey was a pacifist, there is
no reason why he would have found anything offensive in the above verse.
Next,
McKinsey referred to surah 9:36, 33:61 and 9:5, and claimed that:
“[b]elievers in the Quran are urged to be no more open-minded
than Old Testament Hebrews.”[15]
But as we have already seen, the command to fight was only
against those who waged war on the Muslims.
McKinsey was rather disingenuous in his partial quotes of the
Quran. For example, the part of Surah
Tawba, 9:36, which McKinsey complained is offensive because it commands the
Muslims to “fight the pagans”, is actually
very clear as to which pagans it is referring to (emphasis ours):
“…fight the Pagans all together as they fight you all
together. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.”[16]
Was McKinsey somehow unable to comprehend the meaning of
this very clear statement? Or was he
deliberately misquoting the Quran to deceive his readers? Since he was obviously a very intelligent person,
we are forced to conclude that he was deliberately lying.
Next,
McKinsey used the “fear” card by claiming that if “strict
believers in the Quran” attained “positions
of national importance” in the United States, non-Muslims would be
facing “a clear and present danger”.[17] It seems McKinsey was propagating
discriminatory policies and irrational fear of Muslims even before the tragic
events of 9/11. In that regard, he was a
pioneer in the Islamophobic industry. How
ironic that, when it came to potentially restricting the rights of Muslims in
America, McKinsey was in the same camp as Christian extremists!
Next,
McKinsey referred to Surah Anb-Nahl, 16:118 and Surah As-Shu’araa, 26:55-58
(the latter only with ellipses) and claimed that they exhibit intolerance
against Jews which:
“…resembles the Christian treatment of Jews during…the age of
the Spanish Inquisition.”[18]
Given McKinsey’s habitually inept quoting of the Quran, we
can be sure that he completely misconstrued the meanings of the above verses as
well. First, McKinsey quoted Surah
16:118 only partially, and misinterpreted the part he did quote as somehow
promoting “intolerance” against Jews.
But when the verse is read in context, it becomes clear that it is
simply referring to the laws of the Taurat (Torah) which prohibited certain
things for Jews that were not prohibited for Muslims:
“To the Jews We prohibited such things as We have mentioned to
thee before: We did them no wrong, but they were used to doing wrong to
themselves.”
This is a reference to Surah Al-Anaam, 6:146,[19]
which mentions specific types of food that the Jews were forbidden to eat:
“For those who followed the Jewish Law, We forbade every
(animal) with undivided hoof, and We forbade them that fat of the ox and the
sheep, except what adheres to their backs or their entrails, or is mixed up
with a bone: this in recompense for their willful disobedience: for We are true
(in Our ordinances).”
Thus, this verse explains that such things were prohibited
to the Jews due to their acts of disobedience to Allah (Glorified and Exalted
be He), but that they are not prohibited to Muslims, as the Quran abrogated the
laws of previous scriptures, such as the Taurat. The verse says nothing about being
“intolerant” to Jews.
As for
26:55-58, which McKinsey again somehow interpreted as promoting “intolerance”,
the verses were actually referring to the Egyptian Pharaoh’s attempts to recapture
the escaping Israelites and how Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) thwarted
his attempts and defeated the Egyptians.
In other words, the verses are referring to Allah’s favors to the
Jews! Indeed, verse 29 states:
“Thus it was, but We made the Children of Israel inheritors of
such things.”
Hence, according to the Quran, it was not the Jews who were
expelled from “gardens, springs, treasures and
every kind of honorable position”.
Rather, it was the Egyptians who were expelled for their tyranny and
rejection of Allah’s word![20]
Next,
McKinsey noted that “[c]orporal punishment is
promoted in the Quran” and quotes Surah Al-Maeda, 5:38 and Surah
Al-Anfal, 8:12 to demonstrate this.[21] While the former obviously does uphold
corporal punishment (i.e. cutting off the hand of a thief), it is difficult to
understand how McKinsey associated “corporal punishment” with Surah Al-Anfaal,
8:12, which states:
“Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message):
"I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instill terror into
the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their
finger-tips off them."”
As can be seen, this verse has nothing to do with the punishment
of criminals, but is rather referring to the Battle of Badr, when a small
Muslim army defeated a larger pagan army in the first clash between the
followers of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and their persecutors, and was aided
in that victory by God’s angels.[22] Obviously, McKinsey didn’t believe in angels,
but that is irrelevant. The important
point to note is that McKinsey failed yet again to properly quote the Quran![23]
Next, McKinsey claimed that “tolerance, humaneness, and restraint are not the Quran’s
strong points”, and refers to Surah An-Nisa, 4:89 (and 4:91) to support
his claim.[24] But as we have seen already, McKinsey’s
honest portrayal of what the Quran teaches was not his strong point! Based on his (mis)quote of Surah 4:89, he then
claimed that:
“[i]f Muslims ever gained control of [America] and obeyed the
Quran, one can only shudder at what would occur.”[25]
Clearly, McKinsey was good at misquoting the Quran to spread
fear and hatred of Muslims in America, because when we read Surah An-Nisa,
4:89, we see that it is not referring to “unbelievers”, as McKinsey claimed,
but rather to the hypocrites, who pretended to have faith but were in fact in
league with the pagan persecutors who had driven the Muslims out
of Mecca:
“Why should ye be divided into two parties about the Hypocrites?
Allah hath upset them for their (evil) deeds. Would ye guide those whom Allah
hath thrown out of the Way? For those whom Allah hath thrown out of the Way,
never shalt thou find the Way. They but
wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing
(as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of
Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay
them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from
their ranks;-”[26]
McKinsey also failed to quote the next verse as well, which
makes it clear that there was no hardline stance even against the hypocrites
and that peace was always preferred:
“Except those who join a group between whom and you there is a
treaty (of peace), or those who approach you with hearts restraining them from
fighting you as well as fighting their own people. If Allah had pleased, He
could have given them power over you, and they would have fought you: Therefore
if they withdraw from you but fight you not, and (instead) send you (Guarantees
of) peace, then Allah Hath opened no way for you (to war against them).”[27]
Next, McKinsey quoted Surah AnNisa, 4:101 and claimed that:
“…Muslims must have some degree of paranoia if they really
believe sura [sic] 4:101…”
This statement is certainly ironic given McKinsey’s warning
of doom that unbelievers would be in serious trouble if the big, bad Muslims
ever took over America! Talk about
paranoia!
In any
case, he actually quoted parts of 4:101 and 4:102, which indeed refer to the
danger posed to Muslims by unbelievers.
But what McKinsey failed to understand was that this was in reference to
Muslims who were fighting for their lives during the struggle against the Meccan
pagans. Thus, the historical context
shows that McKinsey was full of hot air and failed to understand the real
significance of these verses to faithful Muslims. It was meant to convey to all Muslims that,
in times of danger, when one was fearful of one’s life, or when one was traveling,
the obligatory prayers could be shortened.[28] This was a practical measure aimed at
avoiding placing any unnecessary difficulties on the believers.
Next,
McKinsey referred to Surah An-Noor, 24:2-4 and claimed that:
“…Quranic legal procedures are unjust and brutal.”[29]
Curiously, however, he only directly quoted verse 2, which
refers to flogging for men and women who are guilty of fornication, and ended
the quote with ellipses. For some
reason, McKinsey did not directly quote verse 4, which states:
“And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce
not four witnesses (to support their allegations), flog them with eighty
stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked
transgressors;”
Why didn’t McKinsey quote this verse? Could it be that even though he regarded
flogging as an “unjust and brutal” practice,
he did not want his readers to know that the Quran commands flogging people who
accuse chaste women of adultery without providing any evidence? Instead, he only wanted them to know that
flogging was prescribed for fornicators.
Given McKinsey’s history of only giving half-truths, it seems likely
that this was yet another deliberate attempt at deceiving his readers.
As for his
opposition to the criminal punishments commanded by the Quran, McKinsey offers
no logical reason for why these “procedures” are “unjust
and brutal”. It was only his
personal opinion which carries no logical weight. Just because something appears to be “unjust and brutal” due to one’s personal opinion,
it does not mean that it is. Many people
in western countries are opposed to the death penalty, whereas many others are
for it. Amazingly, even giving life
sentences for crimes such as murder is now being opposed by some people in
western countries![30] Who has the authority to declare such
practices as “unjust”? Clearly, McKinsey
was appealing to subjective criteria in his opposition to Quranic “legal
procedures”.
Next,
McKinsey launched a tirade against “the Quranic
attitude toward divorce”, referring to it as “strange”.[31] He paraphrased Surah Al-Baqara, 2:229,
stating that “…two divorces are permissible”,
and Surah At-Talaaq, 65:1, stating that it:
“…lays down the absurd rule that when a prophet divorces a woman
the latter is not to be expelled from her house unless she is guilty of some
lewdness.”[32]
First, let us examine Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:229. The verse states:
“A divorce is only permissible twice: after that, the parties
should either hold Together on equitable terms, or separate with kindness. It
is not lawful for you, (Men), to take back any of your gifts (from your wives),
except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits
ordained by Allah. If ye (judges) do indeed fear that they would be unable to
keep the limits ordained by Allah, there is no blame on either of them if she
give something for her freedom. These are the limits ordained by Allah; so do
not transgress them if any do transgress the limits ordained by Allah, such
persons wrong (Themselves as well as others).”
What the verse states is that a married couple can get
divorced and then reestablish their marriage afterwards if they choose to
reconcile with each other. This can be
done no more than two times. What was so
“strange” about this to McKinsey? The
Quran allows for a couple to reconcile, and in fact even encourages this. However, it puts a limit on how many times
this can be done. If a couple divorces,
then reconciles, and then divorces again, the Quran gives the man and woman two
choices: either reconcile permanently or separate permanently. As “The Study Quran” states:
“A couple can reconcile after a declarative divorce…only
twice. After the third divorce declaration,
the divorce is final.”[33]
In
addition, readers will notice that McKinsey completely ignored the part of the
verse which commands Muslim men to let the divorced women keep their marriage
gifts. Did McKinsey also find this part
to be “strange”?
Second, let
us examine Surah At-Talaaq, 65:1, which states:
“O Prophet! When ye do divorce women, divorce them at their
prescribed periods, and count (accurately), their prescribed periods: And fear
Allah your Lord: and turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they
(themselves) leave, except in case they are guilty of some open lewdness, those
are limits set by Allah: and any who transgresses the limits of Allah, does
verily wrong his (own) soul: thou knowest not if perchance Allah will bring
about thereafter some new situation.”
According to McKinsey, this verse states that if the Prophet
divorced his wife, she could not leave his house. But McKinsey completely misunderstood the
verse. First of all, this verse actually
applies to all Muslims, even though it was originally addressed to the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him).[34]
Second, the verse lays down the rules
for how a man may divorce his wife. For
example, the reference to “prescribed periods”
refers to the menstruation period, and the verse states that a man may not
divorce his wife while she is menstruating.[35] Third, the prohibition of expelling a woman
even after the divorce is meant to give the couple a chance to reconcile. However, while they may still live together
during this period, they may not have sexual relations until they have
reconciled.[36] Moreover, a man cannot expel his wife merely
on the suspicion of marital infidelity.
Rather, he must bring evidence in the form of four eyewitnesses.[37]
Next,
McKinsey attacked the Quran for permitting polygamy, referring to Surah
An-Nisa, 4:3, which states:
“If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the
orphans, marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that
ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive)
that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from
doing injustice.”
McKinsey referred to this as a “disgusting
practice”, but again that was merely his own opinion. What is important to note yet again is
McKinsey’s deceit in only partially quoting the above verse while ignoring the
part which clearly states that Muslim men may only have one wife if they fear
that they cannot treat each wife equally, in the event they do want to marry
more than one. Thus, Islam permits
polygamy but only if it is done equitably and fairly. McKinsey’s claim that it is “disgusting” is
certainly ironic given the prevalence of loose sexual mores in western
society. Did McKinsey believe that
having multiple sexual partners outside of marriage was also “disgusting”?
Next,
McKinsey accused the Quran of “sexism and male
chauvinism”,[38]
referring first to Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:228, which states:
“And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them,
according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them.
And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.”
In McKinsey’s view, the verse makes “doubletalk”,
by claiming that men and women have equal rights while simultaneously
maintaining that men have an “advantage” over them. But this is a simplistic reading and
classical Islamic scholars did not interpret the verse this way. For example, according to the view of Ibn
Abbas, the verse:
“…is a reference to men’s encouraging good relations and their
generosity toward women in wealth and virtuous behavior, which means that the
one possessing the upper hand must be biased against himself.”[39]
Another view is that men have certain “economic advantages” and “obligations”
as well as “their ability to fight in the way of
God” or advantages in “strength and
intelligence”.[40] Indeed, one cannot reasonably argue that men
and women are equal in every way. For
example, men are generally physically stronger than women. This would not be a “sexist” statement
because it is based on general fact.
Next,
McKinsey referred to Surah An-Nisa 4:11 and 4:176, two verses which outline
inheritance laws in Islam, and then claimed that they are meant to keep “women in subjugation”.[41] Obviously, McKinsey was being a bit
melodramatic and resorting to exaggerations rather than rational
arguments. It is difficult to see how
the inheritance laws in Islam somehow keep “women
in subjugation”, when they clearly outline that women have inheritance
rights, a revolutionary idea in 7th-century Arabia and even across
the globe. In pre-Islamic Arabia, women
and children were not entitled to inheritance.[42] Even in Europe, women were denied property
inheritance up until the end of the 16th-century![43] Indeed, both Jewish and Islamic laws provided
inheritance rights to women far earlier than the supposed “enlightened”
Europeans even considered the idea, as Professor Mary Radford of Georgia State
University College observes:
“[t]he laws of Judaism and Islam both established inheritance
rights for women long before these rights were established in most Western
countries.”[44]
As for the unequal
distribution of inheritance among males and females, the reason for this was
explained by the 13th-century scholar Ibn Kathir, who stated:
“There is a distinction because men need money to spend on their
dependents, commercial transactions, work and fulfilling their obligations.
Consequently, men get twice the portion of the inheritance that females get.”[45]
Thus, contrary to
McKinsey’s melodramatic and exaggerated rant, the Islamic inheritance laws were
not meant to keep “women in subjugation”.
Another example of McKinsey’s exaggeration and proclivity
for making false statements is the following claim:
“[c]learly the Quran puts no stock whatever in equality between
the sexes. No wonder women in
Muslim-dominated countries are forced to go around in black sheets like mobile
prisoners with everything covered but their eyeballs.”[46]
Unfortunately for McKinsey,
the only thing that is “clear” is that his claims are bogus and based on a
desire to shock his readers rather than give them the full facts. His reference to the niqab or “face-veil” is
inaccurate given that the majority of Muslim countries do NOT require women to
wear it! It is actually most common in
places like Saudi Arabia and Yemen, whereas other forms of dress, such as the
chador, are common in other countries like Iran.[47] So in actual fact, most Muslim women do not
have to wear the face-veil since most countries do not require it by law. Thus, those that do wear it do so by choice.
Next, McKinsey continued his tirade on Islam and women’s
rights by appealing to Surah An-Nisa, 4:34, which states:
“As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and
ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And
last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against
them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).”
As was the habit for
McKinsey, he made the following false claim with regard to this verse:
“Talk about male supremacy!
Men are in charge because Allah wills it and you can beat women when you
merely fear rebellion. It doesn’t have
to actually occur.”[48]
Once again, McKinsey
appealled to shock value rather than scholarly discourse to make a false
accusation against Islamic law. First,
the verse does not state that men may beat their wives if they have a mere
suspicion of rebellion. Classical
Islamic scholars have explained that the verse is referring to women who have “demonstrated these things through their actions”.[49] For example, Ibn Kathir stated in his
commentary that the verse refers to:
“…the woman from whom you see ill conduct with her husband, such
as when she acts as if she is above her husband, disobeys him, ignores him,
dislikes him, and so forth. When these signs appear in a woman, her husband
should advise her and remind her of Allah's torment if she disobeys him.”[50]
Thus, as “The Study Quran”
states:
“…it refers to demonstrated hostility, not merely the suspicion
thereof.”[51]
Furthermore, McKinsey
failed to account for the context of the revelation of the verse. It was in fact revealed on the occasion of a
woman (or her family) who complained to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) that her husband had hit her.
Before the verse was revealed, the Prophet ordered retaliation as a
means to punish the husband, which indicates his own dislike for domestic
violence. However, when the verse was
revealed, the order for retaliation was rescinded. On this occasion, the Prophet is reported to
have said:
“I wanted one thing and God wanted another.”[52]
Considering that domestic
violence was a common occurrence in pre-Islamic Arabia, the very fact that the
woman initially complained to the Prophet shows that Muslim women were given
more rights than their non-Muslim counterparts.
Why would she have complained in the first place if Muhammad (peace be
upon him) had not already taught that beating one’s wife was disliked? Indeed, it is very well known that he
repeatedly urged men to avoid hitting their wives, and that he also never
struck any of his wives.
Finally, it has been the unanimous opinion of Islamic
scholars that the phrase “beat them” means to use “a
moderate and noninjurious form of physical force-‘without violence’”.[53] The opinion of the famous commentator and
companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Ibn Abbas, was that the
“beating” should be done with a “siwak”, which was a small twig that was normally
used for cleaning one’s teeth. It is
hard to imagine how a siwak would have caused any pain or serious injury! Moreover, classical scholars tended to
discourage “beating” in favor of other means.
As Professor Jonathan A.C. Brown observes:
“[i]t became received opinion among Sunni ulama from Iberia to
Iran that, though striking one’s wife was permitted, other means of discipline
and dispute were greatly preferred, more effective and better for the piety of
both spouses.”[54]
Next, McKinsey claimed that “…like the Bible, the Quran supports slavery”. To
make his case, he quoted Surah An-Nur, 24:32-33 and Surah An-Nisa, 4:92. However, the irony of his appeal is that
24:33 and 4:92 actually command Muslims to free slaves! Indeed, the freeing of a slave was a
meritorious deed and was prescribed as penance for a variety of sins, including
the accidental killing of a Muslim (Surah An-Nisa 4:92). Furthermore, all modern Islamic scholars
have stated that since slavery has been universally abolished, then there is no
reason to revive it, since there is nothing in the Quran that requires Muslims
to enslave people as a means of fulfilling their religious duties.[55]
Next, McKinsey quoted Surah Al-Maeda, 5:18, which states:
“(Both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are sons of
Allah, and his beloved." Say: "Why then doth He punish you for your
sins?”
He then made the silly
claim that this critique of Jews and Christians by Muslims is “hardly worthy of serious consideration” given that “agony,
ignorance, superstition, deprivation, regression, disease, and misery flourish
in Muslim-dominated areas of the world”.[56] Yet, if he had actually bothered to quote the
entire verse, he would have relegated his ludicrous assumption to the
dustbin. Let us quote the entire verse
and see the context:
“(Both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are sons of
Allah, and his beloved." Say: "Why then doth He punish you for your
sins? Nay, ye are but men,- of the men he hath created: He forgiveth whom He
pleaseth, and He punisheth whom He pleaseth: and to Allah belongeth the
dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between: and unto Him is
the final goal (of all)".”
Thus, as can be seen, the
Quran is critiquing the claim of some Jews and Christians that they are favored
by Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) over others. It also states that Allah forgives and punishes
whomever He pleases. Moreover, this
verse is among many that criticize the idea that God has sons and daughters,
even when it was meant as a metaphor.[57]
Finally, the Quran and Ahadith state that being a Muslim
does not mean that one will never suffer in the life of this world. In fact, a believer can expect to suffer
trials. There are many Quranic verses
that refer to the suffering of Muslims for their faith.[58] Hence, if anyone is not “worthy of serious consideration”, it is McKinsey and his silly polemics against the Holy Quran!
Next, McKinsey accused Muslims of being “as superstitious as Christians”[59] and appealed to Surah Maryam, 19:29-30,
which mentions the miracle of the infant Jesus (peace be upon him) talking in
his cradle in defense of his mother. Of
course, being an atheist, McKinsey would not believe in miracles. Yet that is hardly a problem for Muslims. Just because McKinsey regarded the belief in
God, heaven, hell or miracles as “superstition” does not actually make it
so. If one believes in God, then why
would one also not believe in miracles?
Miracles would certainly be easy for an All-Powerful and Omnipotent
being!
Next, McKinsey accused the Quran of being unscientific.[60] First, he appealed to Surah Al-Hijr, 15:16,
which states:
“It is We Who have set out the zodiacal signs in the heavens,
and made them fair-seeming to (all) beholders.”
To McKinsey, the reference to the “zodiacal
signs” was unscientific. But his
claim is once again a reflection of his own ignorance of the Quran rather than
some shortcoming in the Quran itself.
The Arabic word translated by Yusuf Ali as “zodiacal
signs” is “burūj”, which has
also been translated as “constellations” or “stars”.[61] The same word appears in two other places in
the Quran: Surah Al-Furqaan, 25:61 and Surah Al-Buruj, 85:1. In the former, the “constellations”
are simply described as the creation of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He),
just like the sun and the moon:
“Blessed is He Who made constellations in the skies, and placed
therein a Lamp and a Moon giving light.”[62]
Also, the “burūj”
are simply part of Allah’s creation, and have no significance other than being
used for navigation, as people in ancient times used to use the stars during
travel (emphasis ours):
“It is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons)
for you, that ye may guide yourselves, with their help, through the dark spaces
of land and sea: We detail Our signs for people who know.”[63]
Finally, the belief in
horoscopes and astrology are completely forbidden in Islam. The stars have no power over the lives of
people, as only Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) has that power. Thus, believing in horoscopes and astrology
would constitute the sin of “shirk”, the greatest sin in Islamic theology.[64] The following ahadith demonstrate the
prohibition of relying on the stars:
“It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that the
Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) said: Don't you know
what your Lord said? He observed: I have never endowed My bondsmen with a
favor, but a section amongst them disbelieved it and said: Stars, it was due to
the stars.”[65]
“Narrated Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani: The Prophet (may peace and
blessings be upon him) led us in the Fajr prayer at Hudaibiya after a rainy
night. On completion of the prayer, he faced the people and said, "Do you
know what your Lord has said (revealed)?" The people replied, "Allah
and His Apostle know better." He said, "Allah has said, 'In this
morning some of my slaves remained as true believers and some became
non-believers; whoever said that the rain was due to the Blessings and the
Mercy of Allah had belief in Me and he disbelieves in the stars, and whoever
said that it rained because of a particular star had no belief in Me but
believes in that star.'"”[66]
Thus, the Quran does not say that the 12 signs of the Zodiac
have any significance over people’s lives.
It merely refers to them as among the “signs” of Allah in nature.
McKinsey’s
second claim of a “scientific inaccuracy” is
one of the most prominent examples of his laughable ineptitude. He referred to Surah Al-Ankaboot, 29:41,
which states:
“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is
that of the spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of
houses is the spider's house;- if they but knew.”
In McKinsey’s view, this verse is false because:
“…pound for pound the silk composition of a spider’s home makes
it anything but the flimsiest of houses.”[67]
Yet, this argument can be quickly refuted by demonstrating
how easy it is to destroy a spider’s web, which is made of silk. Anyone who has found a spider web in their
house knows that it is very easy to destroy the web. Hence, the spider’s home is very flimsy after
all!
Next,
McKinsey referred Surah Maryam, 19:97 and others, which say that the Quran is
easy to understand and remember.
McKinsey found this hard to believe and credulously asked:
“[h]ow can one statement be so utterly false?”[68]
Yet, the better question would be how could McKinsey be so
utterly inept? He didn’t seem to realize
that he was reading an English translation of the Quran. The Quran’s original language is Arabic, not
English! Thus, if the translation is
hard to understand, that would be the fault of the translator, would it not?[69]
As a matter
of fact, those with knowledge of the Quran’s historical background know well
that it is indeed “easy to understand and remember”.[70] Furthermore, one of the greatest miracles of
the Quran is that millions of Muslim men, women and children have memorized it
in its entirety throughout the history of Islam.
Finally,
the naïve opinion of an obvious novice like McKinsey is easily outweighed by
the more knowledgeable views of scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim. For example, A.J. Arberry, whose English
translation is one of the most widely used in western countries, stated the
following about the Holy Quran (emphasis ours):
“…I have been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied
rhythms which—apart from the message itself— constitute the Koran's undeniable
claim to rank amongst the
greatest literary masterpieces of mankind.”[71]
Thus, real scholars of
Islam didn’t seem to share in the ignorant views of McKinsey. He was clearly out of his league!
Next,
McKinsey claimed that:
“…Islam, like Christianity, degrades its supreme being, God, by
alleging that he plays favorites.”[72]
To support this claim, he quoted Surah An-Nahl, 16:71, which
states:
“Allah has bestowed His gifts of sustenance more freely on some
of you than on others: those more favoured are not going to throw back their
gifts to those whom their right hands possess, so as to be equal in that
respect. Will they then deny the favours of Allah?”
He then claimed that the
meaning of this verse is that “gifts are not earned
but given according to preference”.[73] Yet, this is another example of his rush to
judgement rather than serious scholarship.
Elsewhere, the Quran explains that these “gifts” are meant as a “test”,
and do not express any notion of “favoritism”.
Surah Al-Anaam, 6:157, states:
“It is He Who hath made you (His) agents, inheritors of the
earth: He hath raised you in ranks, some above others: that He may try you in
the gifts He hath given you: for thy Lord is quick in punishment: yet He is
indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Furthermore, in his last
sermon, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stated that (emphasis ours):
“[a]ll mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority
over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white
has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except
by piety and good action.”[74]
Therefore, in contrast to
McKinsey’s asinine claim, a person earns God’s favor through piety and good
deeds.[75]
Before closing his diatribe against the Quran, McKinsey
appealed to Surah Al-Furqaan, 25:30, which states:
“Then the Messenger will say: "O my Lord! Truly my people
took this Qur'an for just foolish nonsense."”
He then again credulously asked:
“[n]ow why on earth would somebody do that?”[76]
But the better question would be how on earth was McKinsey
so utterly incompetent? First of all,
the verse is referring to a complaint of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) on the Day of Judgment. On that
day, the detractors and mockers of the Quran, both amongst the Prophet’s own
people and those who would come in the future (such as McKinsey), will realize
much too late the error of their ways. Second
of all, McKinsey didn’t seem to realize exactly what type of people the verse
is referring to. These detractors of the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who found the Quran to be “foolish nonsense” were backward and superstitious
pagans who believed in or practiced such things as:
- Idol worship.[77]
- The so-called
“daughters” of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He).[78]
- Female infanticide.[79]
- The power of the stars
(astrology).[80]
- Eclipses of the sun and
moon happened because of someone’s death.[81]
- Exploitation of orphans
and the poor.[82]
- Exploitation and
mistreatment of women.[83]
- Cruelty to animals.[84]
- Tribal wars and
vendettas.[85]
Certainly, this list is not complete and we could refer to
some other beliefs and practices of the pre-Islamic Arabs. But it should suffice as a refutation of
McKinsey’s ignorant and naïve appeal to the opinions of the pagan Arabs with
regard to the Quran. They regarded the
Quran as “foolish nonsense” precisely
because it criticized their savage way of life.
Appealing to their misguided and foolish opinions didn’t help McKinsey’s
case!
Conclusion
In this
article, we have analyzed the arguments of C. Dennis McKinsey against the Holy
Quran in his book “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy”. As we have seen, McKinsey frequently took
verses out of context or completely misunderstood the meaning in his rush to
criticize the Quran. While his detailed
analysis of the Bible is praise-worthy (though not without mistakes), his
analysis of the Quran reflected his lack of knowledge and scholarship. In fact, the approach of McKinsey and those
like him can perhaps best be described in the words of Professor Carl W. Ernst:
“[h]ostile readers of the Qur’an use a literary approach that is
the equivalent of a blunt instrument.
They make no attempt to understand the text as a whole; instead, they
take individual verses out of context, give them the most extreme
interpretation possible, and implicitly claim that over 1 billion Muslims
around the world robotically adhere to these extremist views without
exception.”[86]
So, while McKinsey wanted to prove that the Quran was a “fraud”, he actually only proved it with regard to
himself!
And Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) knows best!
[1] Jonathan A. C. Brown, Misquoting
Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy
(London: OneWorld Publications, 2014), p. 144.
Brown
notes:
“…I have found no instance of anyone criticizing the Prophet’s marriage
due to Aisha’s age or accusing him of pedophilia until the early twentieth
century.”
[3] C. Dennis McKinsey, The
Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy (New York: Prometheus Books, 1995), p.
476.
While
the vast majority of the book is dedicated to a thorough analysis of the Bible,
McKinsey only briefly looked at the Quran and the Book of Mormon. His analysis of the Bible is admirable and
his book presents a voluminous amount of evidence against the “inerrancy” of
the scriptures of Judaism and Christianity, but his analysis of the Quran and
the Book of Mormon lacked the same energy, and was more bluster than a
scholarly examination. For the purposes
of this article, we will only examine McKinsey’s brief arguments against the
Quran and will ignore his discussion of the Book of Mormon.
Elsewhere,
McKinsey refers to the Quran as a “fraud”
(p. 477), and claims in his conclusion that Islam and the Quran “…deserve no more respect than Christianity and the
Bible” (p. 480).
[5] Additionally, it would
be silly to say that a book could not be authentic scripture and of a divine
origin simply because one finds it “boring”.
Also, as we will discuss later, McKinsey did not seem to understand that
he was reading a translation and not the Quran in its original language!
[6] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 477.
[7] McKinsey used Yusuf
Ali’s translation, which is also the translation the articles on this blog use as
well.
[8] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 477.
[9] The Study Quran: A
New Translation and Commentary, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr (New York:
HarperOne, 2015), p. 303.
Obviously,
McKinsey did not have access to “The Study Quran”, as it was published six
years after his death in 2009, and twenty years after “The Encyclopedia of
Biblical Errancy” was published.
However, the commentary in “The Study Quran” encapsulates the views of
both classical and modern commentators on the interpretation of the Quran, so
McKinsey had no excuse for his rather simplified analysis of the verse.
[12] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 476.
[14] For example, this is
precisely what happened with the Jewish tribes of Bani Nadir and Bani
Qaynuqah. For more on the Prophet
Muhammad’s conflict with these Jewish tribes, see Karen Armstrong, Muhammad:
A Biography of the Prophet (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992), pp.
183-194.
[15] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 478.
[16] McKinsey very
deceitfully quoted 9:36 as simply “fight the pagans” and ignored the rest of
the verse!
[18] Ibid. The irony is, of course, that the Spanish
Inquisition also affected Muslims.
[19] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 689.
On
the topic of the Exodus, see our three-part series:
[21] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 478.
[22] See the commentary on
8:9-12 in The Study Quran, op. cit., pp. 485-486.
[23] As for McKinsey’s
obvious opposition to “corporal punishment”, we can dismiss it as merely his
personal opinion which does not require any response. Corporal punishment has its supporters and
opponents, even in modern times. People
like McKinsey may have been opposed to it, but that is hardly the problem of
Muslims.
[24] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 478.
[26] Surah An-Nisa, 4:88-89.
[27] Surah An-Nisa, 4:90.
[28] The Study Quran,
op. cit., pp. 239-240.
[29] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 478.
[31] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 478.
[33] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 228.
[38] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 479.
[39] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 99.
[41] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 479.
[42] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 193.
[46] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 479.
[48] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 479.
[49] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 207.
[51] The Study Quran, op.
cit., p. 207.
[54] Brown, op. cit.,
p. 276.
[56] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 479.
[57] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 285.
[58] See 2:214, 8:26, 21:35,
and 29:2-3.
In
addition, a well-known hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
states:
“Never a
believer is stricken with discomfort, hardship or illness, grief or even with
mental worry that his sins are not expiated for him” (Sahih Muslim,
32:6242).
[59] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 479.
[61] The Study Quran,
op. cit., p. 644.
[62] Notice that Yusuf Ali
translated the same word here as “constellations”.
[63] Surah Al-Anaam, 6:97.
[65] Sahih Muslim, 1:133.
[66] Sahih Bukhari,
1:12:807.
[67] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 480.
[69] Translations are the
work of fallible people. Thus, they are
not perfect and will inevitably reflect the imperfections of the
translator.
As
the scholar Michael Sells explains:
“[i]n any
translation, there is a loss and an effort to compensate for that loss. Some features in the original cannot be
duplicated in the new language without artificiality. Thus, for example, there is no possibility of
duplicating the end-rhymes in many Qur’anic passages in an English idiom in
which rhyming is far more difficult and would require forced and awkward
syntax”
(Michael Sells, Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations (Oregon:
White Cloud Press, 1999), pp. 26-27).
[70] Surah Al-Qamar, 55:17.
[72] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 480.
[76] McKinsey, op. cit.,
p. 480.
[77] Surah Ibrahim, 14:30.
[78] Surah An-Nahl, 16:57.
[79] Surah An-Nahl,
16:58-59; Surah At-Takwir, 81:8.
[80] See the discussion
above about the “zodiacal signs”.
[81] The Prophet refuted
this silly superstition, as shown in the following hadith:
“Narrated
Abu Mas`ud: The Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The
sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death of someone from the people
but they are two signs amongst the signs of Allah. When you see them, stand up
and pray"”
(Sahih Bukhari, 2:18:151).
[82] Surah Al-Fajr,
89:17-18.
[84] One common practice in
pre-Islamic Arabia was cutting the flesh off an animal while it was still alive
(Armstrong, op. cit., p. 231).
This practice was condemned by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):
“Narrated
Ibn `Umar: The Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who
did Muthla to an animal (i e., cut its limbs or some other part of its body
while it is still alive)”
(Sahih Bukhari, 7:67:424).
[86] Carl W. Ernst, How
to Read the Qur’an: A New Guide, with Select Translations (USA: University
of North Carolina Press, 2011), p. 2.
