My First Quran
As a Christian apologist, I’ve read the Quran numerous times. I’ve made a goal to know it better than most Muslims. I recently had a religious discussion with a friend of mine from Gaza. When we were done he said that I knew the Quran better than most Muslims. I also had the privilege of explaining to him where Rabbinic Judaism comes from as he’s a Palestinian and has felt the wrath of Israeli ethnic cleansing.
In my discussion with him, I thought about my first reading of the Quran which was over a decade ago. I still have my first Quran that I ever read, though I don’t use it for personal research anymore as I have better translations, tafsir, and study editions. As a Christian, what did I first notice when I read the Quran? There were two things that really jumped out at me. I’ll share them here.
The first thing that caught my attention was how non-violent it was. I have to part ways with Robert Spencer here. There are a few violent passages, but it’s usually in a war context so its not a big deal. Surah 9 has a couple troubling passages but apart from that there isn’t much. The main emphasis of the Quran is that there is one God and no parters with this true God. This God is the same God who sent Moses, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. I hate to admit that back in the day(well over ten years ago), I fell victim to the main stream media view of Islam. I’m really ashamed of that because now I don’t trust the main stream media on anything. Their views are completely worthless.
The second thing that I really noticed when reading the Quran was the fact that it speaks so highly of previous Scriptures like the Torah and the Gospel. The Quran indeed believes that the Christian and Jewish Scriptures are of divine origin. Nowhere does it say they are corrupted. That’s a myth that arose out of apologetic necessity when Muslims realized that their faith didn’t line up with previous revelations. What Muslims believe and what the Quran teaches are at odds.
These were the two things that really stuck out at me the most. Most Christians that I know that have started to read the Quran have quit early on. It’s not the most readable book in the world. The book is Allah talking to Muhammad via the angel Gabriel. The context isn’t really there. It’s not like the Bible where Jesus Christ goes to a certain village and preaches about certain topics. There isn’t much for context and that is why many editions will have a paragraph before the Surah starts, explaining a bit about what is going on in Muhammad’s life when this Surah was revealed.
If a Christian reads the Quran, they’ll probably agree with me that these two things are pretty shocking. I’d also be interested in hearing from Christians who have read the Quran. What shocked you the most? Feel free to share in the comments below.
I wasn’t shocked by reading the Koran, just bored. It is very tedious. Basically it boiled down to “Allah is the One True God and Mohammed is his prophet….and woe betide you if you don’t believe that”. I was struck, though, by the Allah is the greatest of deceivers bit.
I had embarked upon reading the Koran to see if I might find some hint of Divine revelation and found none. After reading it some more it became obvious that the Koran was created in order to serve whatever suited Mohammed’s policy and desires (even personal ones) at any particular time. The only shock I have is that people are so ignorant of the contents and message of the Koran, especially Muslims.
I suppose I might add that one can read about Buddhism and Hinduism with and benefit from some of the philosophy, but the Koran provides nothing to profit by in this regard. The better bits are only second-rate imitations of earlier religions, the rest is backward although there are signs that Mohammed was driven by a desire that the Arabs should have than polytheism.
It is a bit tedious to read. Like I said, most Christians who start reading it quit. I agree with your conclusion though, there is nothing divine about it.
Sorry that last paragraph out to read:
“I suppose I might add that one can read about Buddhism and Hinduism and benefit from some of the philosophy, but the Koran provides nothing to profit by in this regard. The better bits are only second-rate imitations of earlier religions, the rest is backward and primitive, although there are signs that Mohammed was initially driven by a desire that the Arabs should have something better than polytheism.”
“There are a few violent passages, but it’s usually in a war context so its not a big deal”
Do the things Allah promises to do to unbelievers in hell not count as violence? I say they do.
I don’t care if a Muslim believes that I’m going to hell. Besides, it’s Allah who punishes non-believers in hell, not Muslims.
Did I say it was Muslims who punish non-Muslims in hell? Your article was about violence in the Koran, and there it is on almost every page in lurid detail.
You asked for first time readers’ responses to the Koran and that was mine. It shows the cruelty and hatred toward non-believers at the heart of the Koran (ie Allah). As for Muslims, any believer does not have the option of disagreeing with or disapproving of anything Allah says. That is why I find the idea of interfaith relations between Muslims and adherents of all other religions to be a non-starter. How can you have relations of mutual respect with believers in a god who so hates and despises all who do not believe in him?
“Did I say it was Muslims who punish non-Muslims in hell?”
I never said that you did. I’m just saying that its not instruction for Muslims so it doesn’t bother me.
“As for Muslims, any believer does not have the option of disagreeing with or disapproving of anything Allah says. That is why I find the idea of interfaith relations between Muslims and adherents of all other religions to be a non-starter.”
I’m against interfaith relations with all religions as well. I’m Catholic, why would I want to dialogue with this false religion despite bishops in my Church collapsing on this.
“How can you have relations of mutual respect with believers in a god who so hates and despises all who do not believe in him?”
All I said was that the Quran was less violent than expected and you read into this a bunch stuff about wanting interfaith relations.
Let me say this boldly – I was all of the Muslims on the planet to become Catholic and have never said otherwise.
Okay, got your position a little better now.
What concerns me about Islam is whether its scriptures and other mainstream traditions mandate violent supremacism today. As it happens I think the jihad verses don’t in themselves provide good evidence for Mohammed’s unlimited supremacism (although there is other evidence elsewhere). Isn’t the point though that the Sira, the best known Tafsirs and Islamic Law all assume that those verses do have universal application “without limit of time or space”?
As far as I can ascertain, the idea that those verses should be understood as contextually limited is a very recent innovation. I suggest that they would only be “not a big deal” if the rest of the Islamic tradition regarded them as having no implications for Muslims today.
What is your view on that?
Robert Spencer said you wear blinkers. Explains why here.
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/11/when-a-christian-reads-the-quran-for-the-first-time-with-blinkers-on
I will respond to this tomorrow.
According to Catholic.com- there is a Hadith that states that Bible has been corrupted:
“O community of Muslims, how is it that you seek wisdom from the people of the book? Your book, brought down upon his prophet—blessings and peace of God upon him—is the latest report about God. You read a book that has not been distorted, but the people of the book, as God related to you, exchanged that which God wrote, changing the book with their hands (Sahih Muslim).”
unfortunately, the chapter reference of this Hadith is not referenced.
I never denied that the Hadith said this. My article is about the Quran. Sahih Muslim comes 250 years after the Quran.
OK. I guess the point is that to understand Islamic doctrine, you must also be familiar with the Hadith. All mainline Islamic sects follow use the Hadith as basis for religious law.
And also the al-Sura, the biography of Mohammed, which helps make sense of the Koran, which helps put the Koran in context. On its own, the Koran doesn’t make sense to most readers, as it is not in chronological order.
Dear Allan,
I too have read it many times. It is very tribal, and directly and explicitly opposes the faith you profess. And is indeed violent, you are being objectively counter-factual when you say otherwise. And neither is the Quran the only revered text of Islam. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim and also Ibn Ishaq’s biography of the life of Mohammed (which was certainly not a pretty picture but one of assassinations, theft, torture, etc. ) are seminal texts and are rife with now codified violent tribalism and much more.
Neither do I follow your logic here. Either you believe Mohammed was a prophet of God in which case you are duty-bound to be a Muslim (and are a Muslim) or he was a liar/deluded in which case what good can come of that? And why as a Christain, especially when it directly contracts your faith, give it tacit support? Yes, you should be as mild as a dove but also wise. Is Islam based on a lie or not? You cannot have it both ways.
Hi Allan,
Obviously the Quran is against my faith. I never said it wasn’t. I’m well aware about the other texts of Islam but this post wasn’t about them. It was about the Quran and only the Quran.
I don’t believe Muhammad is a Prophet. I simply said that the Quran was less violent than I expected, nothing more.
“And why as a Christain, especially when it directly contracts your faith, give it tacit support? ”
I’m not giving the Quran or Islam support. If you’ve been following this website for the last three years you’ll know that I argue against Islam and the Quran many many times. This was just my impression of the Quran the first time I read it.
“Yes, you should be as mild as a dove but also wise. Is Islam based on a lie or not? You cannot have it both ways.”
It’s based on a lie. I never said it wasn’t. All I said was that it was less violent than I thought it would be and absolutely nothing more than that. Read my follow up to this.
http://allanruhl.com/robert-spencer-responds-to-me/
God bless,
Allan
To everyone commenting on this post who came here because of Jihad Watch, read my follow up post which can be found here:
http://allanruhl.com/robert-spencer-responds-to-me/
“I’m against interfaith relations with all religions as well. I’m Catholic, why would I want to dialogue with this false religion” – Because Jesus said to Love your neighbor as you love yourself? Because underneath the mask of self-righteous religious dogma so many people wear we are all human and all share the same emotions, hardships, and experiences of life? Because we all share the same planet? Because we are ALL children of the same God?
You know, so few of you “Christians” are actually Christ-like. Matthew 7:21-23 makes it pretty clear that a lot of you who believe you are saved will actually go away into everlasting punishment. And Matthew 25:37-40 and Revelation 7:9 make it clear that even many people who do not identify as “Christians” in this life will find salvation.
“there is nothing divine about [the Quran].”
– And yet, God will work through the Quran to bring many self-professing Muslims to eternal life in order to fulfill the scriptures of the Bible, just like God will work through Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, or Dune, or any other book to do the same. If a person has God in their heart, whether they call themselves Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Lutheran, Jew, Atheist, Buddhist, Hippy, or just human then they will be saved. It is no prerequisite to read any particular book to enter heaven. There are many good-hearted Muslim people who have never read your bible, and many hard-hearted “Christians” who have.
I’m so sick of all you elitist and self-righteous “Christians” touting your dogma like you alone are God’s chosen ones, as though He doesn’t care about anybody else on earth. I appreciate your open-mindedness to read the Quran, but your words are divisive. Get over yourself and treat other people and their beliefs with respect, lest you be a hypocrite unto death.
Hi YM,
I’m not going to respond to any of this. I’ll just leave it here for all to see.
One thing though.
“I appreciate your open-mindedness to read the Quran, but your words are divisive.”
Let’s just leave that here.
“If a person has God in their heart, whether they call themselves Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Lutheran, Jew, Atheist, Buddhist, Hippy, or just human then they will be saved. It is no prerequisite to read any particular book to enter heaven.
…
I’m so sick of all you elitist and self-righteous “Christians” touting your dogma like you alone are God’s chosen ones, as though He doesn’t care about anybody else on earth. I appreciate your open-mindedness to read the Quran, but your words are divisive. Get over yourself and treat other people and their beliefs with respect, lest you be a hypocrite unto death.”
So in other words… Your belief that ‘All faiths lead to God’ is correct, and other beliefs like Judaism/Christianity/Islam/Atheism are all wrong and divisive?
Isn’t that stance somewhat… Elitist, self-righteous and divisive?
Seek God with utmost sincerity and humbleness. Your ignorance and lack of knowledge have to go away.
“What is God?” should be the first question in mind.
“Enter heaven”? I would like to quote from Sadhguru, “Little Tommy in the back row said, ‘You got to die first!’. That is a qualification.” So invoke the wager of Blaise Pascal or make your life count.