This will be a reply to Zawadis recent attempt
(*)
of defending Muhammads illiteracy, or the assertion that his prophet was illiterate
for most of his life.
I will address his salient points and omit most of the comments that were already
refuted in my initial rebuttal (*).
Zawadi repeats his assertion that the spirits torture of Muhammad was to ensure
that his prophet wouldnt doubt his experience later on, all of which ignores my
reply. As I stated the spirit failed to accomplish his intended purpose since this
traumatic encounter caused Muhammad to think he was demon-possessed and he even
contemplated suicide as a result of it.
Zawadi asks whether people have dreams where they encounter the same physical
interaction that Muhammad supposedly had with Gabriel. But this only proves that Muhammad
is a false prophet and that the spirit who tortured and manhandled him wasnt
a messenger from the true God since the true prophets and apostles never had such an
experience, where an angel or God manhandled them that way either in a dream or vision.
Zawadi links to an article that he erroneously assumes rebuts the story of Muhammad
contemplating suicide. For the thorough refutation of his assertions please consult
the following articles (1,
2).
These next responses deal with Zawadis inconsistent use and abuse of al-Waqidi
(1, 2).
Zawadi now seeks to defend Muhammads experiences by both attacking and appealing
to the Holy Bible at the same time! He writes:
First of all, Shamoun assumes that his Bible is the true authentic word
of God and is using it as a criterion to judge Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This
is something that he still needs to prove and not just assert.
In the first place, it is the Quran and Muhammad who assumed (correctly we might add)
that the Holy Bible is the preserved Word of God which can and should be used to determine
whether Muhammad is a false prophet:
And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee,
then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth
from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers. S. 10:94
Here, the Quran clearly says that if a person (Muhammad included) has doubts concerning
the revelation, i.e. s/he has questions concerning the contents of the Muslim scripture,
then they are to consult with the Jews and Christians and their Book since they are the
communities which the Quran recognizes as having an authoritative, divinely-revealed
Scripture. It is at this point that we would expect the Quran to exhort individuals to
consult the Muslim revelation as opposed to the previous Scripture, yet that is not what
we see. More importantly, this verse would be absolutely meaningless if the author(s) had
felt that the previous Scriptures were corrupted since such a witness would be suspect
and could not provide any verification for anything that the Muslim book claims.
The following verses further substantiate that the author(s) of the Quran believed in
the textual veracity and authority of the Holy Scriptures:
He has sent down upon you the Book with the truth, confirming what is between
its/his hands (musaddiqan lima bayna yadayhi), and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel
before this, as guidance to the people, and He sent down the Salvation/Criterion
(al-Furqan). As for those who disbelieve in God's signs, for them awaits a terrible
chastisement; God is All-mighty, the Avenger. S. 3:3-4 our translation
Yet how will they make thee their judge seeing THEY HAVE the Torah, wherein is
God's judgment, then thereafter turn their backs? They are not believers. Surely
We sent down the Torah, wherein is guidance and light; thereby the Prophets who had
surrendered themselves gave judgment for those of Jewry, as did the masters and the
rabbis, following such portion of God's Book as they were given to keep and were witnesses
to. So fear not men, but fear you Me; and sell not My signs for a little price. Whoso
judges not according to what God has sent down - they are the unbelievers. And
therein We prescribed for them: 'A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose,
an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation'; but whosoever
forgoes it as a freewill offering, that shall be for him an expiation. Whoso judges not
according to what God has sent down -- they are the evildoersAnd We have sent down
to thee the Book with the truth, confirming the Book that is between its/his
hands and preserving/witnessing to it (musaddiqan lima bayna yadayhi mina al-kitabi
wa-muhayminan alayhi) S. 5:43-45, 48
Here, command is given to the Jews of Muhammads day to consult the Torah, the
Book of God, since it contains Gods judgment. It even quotes a verse from that very
Torah which helps us to identify it, a citation which can still be found today:
"But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise
for bruise." Exodus 21:23-25
Muhammad also praised a copy of the Torah which the Jews handed to him to consult
concerning a legal matter:
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar:
A group of Jews came and invited the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) to Quff. So
he visited them in their school.
They said: AbulQasim, one of our men has committed fornication with a woman; so
pronounce judgment upon them. They placed a cushion for the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) who sat on it and said: Bring the Torah. It was then brought. He
then withdrew the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on it saying: I believed
in thee and in Him Who revealed thee.
He then said: Bring me one who is learned among you. Then a young man was brought. The
transmitter then mentioned the rest of the tradition of stoning similar to the one
transmitted by Malik from Nafi' (No. 4431)." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38,
Number 4434)
It is obvious from all of these citations that Muhammad believed that the Scriptures
which the Jews and Christians possessed at his time were the preserved Word of God and
could be consulted in order to see what Gods true emissaries taught concerning God,
Christ, salvation, inspiration etc.
The Quran also attests that Jesus came to confirm and uphold the very Scriptures which
were accessible to him at that time:
And he will teach him the Book, the Wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel, to be
an apostle to the Children of Israel, "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord.
I will create for you out of clay as the likeness of a bird; then I will breathe into it,
and it will be a bird, by Allahs leave. I will also heal the blind and the leper,
and bring to life the dead, by Allahs leave. I will inform you of what things you
eat, and what you treasure up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are
believers. And I confirm the Torah that is between my hands (Wa musaddiqan lima
bayna yadayya mina al-tawrati), and to make lawful to you certain things that
before were forbidden unto you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord; so fear you
God, and obey you me. S. 3:48-50 our translation
Sunni commentator Ibn Kathir explains that,
<the Tawrah and the Injil>. The Tawrah is the Book THAT ALLAH SENT DOWN
TO MUSA, son of Imran, while the Injil is what Allah sent down to Isa, son of Maryam,
peace be upon them, AND ISA MEMORIZED BOTH BOOKS
<If you believe. And I have come confirming that which was before me of the
Tawrah,> affirming the Tawrah AND UPHOLDING IT," (Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Abridged Surat Al-Baqarah, Verse 253, to Surat An-Nisa, Verse 147, Abridged by
a group of scholars under the supervision of Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri
[Darussalam Publishers & Distributors, Riyadh, Houston, New York, Lahore; March 2000,
first edition], Volume 2, Parts 3, 4 & 5, pp. 163, 165; source;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
Nor is this the only place where the Quran asserts that Jesus testified to authority
and authenticity of the Holy Scriptures in his possession:
And in their footsteps we sent Jesus son of Mary confirming the Torah between his
hands (musaddiqan lima bayna yadayhi mina al-tawrati) and we gave to him the Gospel,
wherein IS guidance and light, and confirming the Torah between his hands (wa musaddiqan
lima bayna yadayhi mina al-tawrati), as a guidance and an admonition to the pious.
Let the People of the Gospel judge according to what God has sent down therein. Whoever
does not judge according to what God has sent down, such are the rebellious. S. 5:46-47
our translation
And when Jesus son of Mary said, 'Children of Israel, I am indeed the Messenger of God
to you, confirming the Torah that is between my hands (musaddiqan lima bayna yadayya
mina al-tawrati), and giving good tidings of a Messenger who shall come after me,
whose name shall be Ahmad.' Then, when he brought them the clear signs, they said, 'This
is a manifest sorcery.' S. 61:6
Ibn Kathir wrote the following concerning Q. 5:46:
<'Isa, son of Maryam, confirming the Tawrah that had come before him,>
meaning, he believed in it AND RULED BY IT
<and confirmation of the Tawrah that had come before it,> meaning, HE
ADHERED TO THE TAWRAH, except for the few instances that clarified the truth where the
Children of Israel differed. Allah states in another Ayah that 'Isa said to the
Children of Israel, <and to make lawful to you part of what was
forbidden to you.>
So the scholars say that the Injil abrogated some of the rulings of the Tawrah
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged Surat An-Nisa, Verse 148 to the end of Surat Al-An'am
[January 2000, first edition], Volume 3, Parts 6, 7 & 8, pp. 193-194;
source;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
And here are his comments in respect to Q. 61:6:
Isa said, "The Tawrah conveyed the glad tidings of my coming, and my
coming CONFIRMS THE TRUTH OF THE TAWRAH" (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged,
Volume 9, Surat Al-Jathiyah to the end of Surat Al-Munafiqun [September 2000, first
edition], p. 617; source;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
The Quran even claims that Jesus own holy mother, the blessed Mary, bore witness
and believed the Scriptures in her possession:
And Mary, Imran's daughter, who guarded her virginity, so We breathed into her of Our
Spirit, and she confirmed the Words of her Lord and His Books, and
became one of the obedient. S. 66:12
Hence, Jesus (as well as his blessed mother) memorized, confirmed, and adhered to the
Scriptures, specifically the Torah, which were extant at his time. In light of the
evidence furnished by the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) discovery in 1947, where ancient copies
of the Hebrew Scriptures that were written before the time of Christ were found, we know
for certain that Jesus was reading and testifying that the very Scriptures we possess
today are the inspired, preserved Word of God since the DSS are virtual identical to the
Hebrew Bible we currently possess.
Yet if Bassam still wishes to say that the Scriptures are corrupted then he must be
consistent and accept that Allah did nothing to correct his messenger Jesus but commanded
him to bear witness to Books which were not completely reliable and authentic.
With the foregoing in view this means that when the Quran claims that Muhammad was
inspired in the same way that the previous prophets were:
We have revealed to thee as We revealed to Noah, and the Prophets after him,
and We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, Jesus and Job,
Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and We gave to David Psalms, and Messengers We
have already told thee of before, and Messengers We have not told thee of; and unto Moses
God spoke directly -- S. 4:163-164
We are to consult the Scriptures to see if this is the case. When we do, however,
it is clear that Muhammad was not inspired the way the true prophets and apostles were.
No wonder Zawadi wants to desperately undermine the Quranic witness to the authority of
Gods true Word, the Holy Bible, since he can clearly see the dilemma this poses for
Muhammads credibility!
For a thorough refutation of Zawadis desperate and failed attempt to disprove
that his own scripture and traditions confirm and accept the absolute authority of the Holy Bible
we suggest reading the articles that are available at this page.
We will be further addressing Zawadis weakening of the tradition of Sunan Abu Dawud
where Muhammad praised and affirmed the Torah that was handed to him in our future response to
his criticism (*)
that the Quran does not mistakenly quote a fable concerning Abraham being taken out of fire
due to a misunderstanding on the meaning of the word Ur (1,
2, 3).
In our rebuttal we will source the comments of one Muslim scholar who actually chides
Zawadi for trying to discredit this specific narration.
Zawadi then claims that I am arguing from silence and further appeals to Daniels
experience with Gabriel to justify Muhammad being demoralized and manhandled by a spirit.
Since I have already thoroughly refuted Zawadis weak attempts of defending
Muhammads spirit encounter by appealing to Daniel I will simply repost here
what I have written in another rebuttal.
Zawadi keeps begging the question since he assumes that Muhammad saw Gabriel as opposed
to a satanic counterfeit. What the citations from Daniel and Luke prove is that Muhammad
did not see Gabriel since this righteous angel does not torture or demoralize Gods
messengers. He encourages and helps them to cope with the task given to them by God.
As a final act of desperation Zawadi distorts Daniel 10:7-15 to support his case. He
says:
So here we see that Daniel got terrified from his vision
just like Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him did. We also see in verse 15 that Daniel
had problems breathing. I believe that 'gasping for air' was one of the criteria
that Shamoun put forth for someone being possessed by a demon while receiving revelation.
So does Daniel fit the criteria as well? Or is Sam Shamoun being a hypocrite and only
applying it to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?
RESPONSE:
First, let us highlight the parts that Zawadi conveniently overlooked:
"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was
named Belteshaz'zar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And
he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. In those days I, Daniel, was
mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I
anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks." Daniel 10:1-3
Notice that Daniel had been fasting for three weeks because he had been in mourning
over what he had seen in a previous vision. This may explain why he was so weak and
couldnt stand up, that his weak physical condition along with seeing the angelic
envoys accounts for his falling to the ground. Moreover, notice what the angel did for
Daniel:
"On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of
the great river, that is, the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man
clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. His body was like beryl, his
face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs
like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the noise of a
multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see
the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I
was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me; my radiant
appearance was fearfully changed, AND I RETAINED NO STRENGTH. Then I heard the sound of
his words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with
my face to the ground. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and
knees. And he said to me, O Daniel, man greatly beloved, give heed to the words that
I speak to you, AND STAND UPRIGHT, for now I have been sent to you. While he
was speaking this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, FEAR NOT,
Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled
yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your
words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but Michael, one
of the chief princes, came to help me, so I left him there with the prince of the kingdom
of Persia and came to make you understand what is to befall your people in the latter
days. For the vision is for days yet to come. When he had spoken to me according to
these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was dumb. And behold, one in the
likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to
him who stood before me, O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me,
and I retain no strength. How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength
remains in me, and no breath is left in me. Again one having the appearance of
a man touched me AND STRENGTHENED ME. And he said, O man greatly beloved, FEAR NOT,
PEACE BE WITH YOU; BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE. And when he spoke to me, I WAS
STRENGTHED and said, Let my lord speak, FOR YOU HAVE STRENGTHENED ME."
Daniel 10:4-19
The foregoing shows that Daniel wasnt terrified because he thought he was
possessed by a demon, or because the angel squeezed him violently. In fact, instead of
physically harming Daniel the angel relieved him of his fears and provided him with the
strength he needed to endure the revelations.
Hence, unlike Muhammads angel, this messenger didnt cause Daniel to tremble
in fear or to run back to his companions shivering with dread and terror. Nor did this
righteous angel cause Daniel to believe that he was possessed and cause him to contemplate
suicide as a result.
In Muhammads case the spirit didnt even console or comfort him.
Muhammads wife was the one who actually calmed him down and tried to convince him
that he wasnt possessed!
And:
Secondly, Shamoun is arguing from silence. He thinks
that just because his Bible does not mention these experiences then that necessarily
implies that they didn't happen.
Shamoun recently had a debate with Sami Zaatri on the topic, "Is Jesus
God", which can be downloaded here. Sam Shamoun says in the 20th minute
10th second...
Your arguing from silence, right, and absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence. Now let me repeat that again. Now just because the documents do not say
that he said "x" does not mean that he didn't say "x".
So notice, Shamoun is committing the same fallacy he
accused Sami Zaatri of doing. There are many Prophets in the Old Testament that we
do not know full and complete details about. Therefore, it would not be fair to say
with conviction that they did not have the same experiences.
RESPONSE:
If anyone is guilty of a logical fallacy, it is Zawadi for committing the fallacy
of false analogy. The Holy Bible is not silent on the nature and manner of revelation:
"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets;
but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all
things, through whom also he created the world." Hebrews 1:1-2
The Holy Scriptures provide plenty of examples illustrating how God inspires humans,
some of which include:
"And he said, Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the
LORD make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so
with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak mouth to
mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why
then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" Numbers 12:6-8
"In the year that King Uzzi'ah died I SAW the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim;
each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and
with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD
of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the
thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And
I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in
the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of
hosts! Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal
which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said:
Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.
And I HEARD the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go
for us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me. And he said, Go, and say
to this people: "Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do
not perceive." Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut
their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their hearts, and turn and be healed."" Isaiah 6:1-10
"And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the
Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit."
1 Corinthians 2:13
"First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter
of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men
moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." 2 Peter 1:20-21
"I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom
and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I
heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, Write what YOU SEE in a
book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Per'gamum
and to Thyati'ra and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to La-odice'a."
Revelation 1:9-11
Moreover, one way that God doesnt inspire his representatives is to send a spirit
to terrify or physically harm them. True believers are comforted and reassured when
encountering the Divine or angelic entity. Several examples have already been provided in
our initial rebuttal, and here we provide a few more:
"Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the
mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this
time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was
against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying,
It is a ghost! And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them,
saying, TAKE HEART, it is I;HAVE NO FEAR. And Peter
answered him, Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water. He said,
Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;
but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, Lord,
save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him,
O man of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the
wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of
God." Matthew 14:22-33
"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and
led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone
like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them
Moses and Eli'jah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is well that
we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and
one for Eli'jah. He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased; listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and
were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, RISE, AND
HAVE NO FEAR. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but
Jesus only." Matthew 17:1-8
"Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary
Mag'dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great
earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the
stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.
And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to
the women, DO NOT BE AFRAID; for I know that you seek Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is
going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you. So they
departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And
behold, Jesus met them and said, Hail! And they came up and took hold of his
feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, DO NOT BE AFRAID;
go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."
Matthew 28:1-10
"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand
upon me, saying, FEAR NOT, I am the first and the last, and the living
one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and
Hades." Revelation 1:17-18
Thus, far from being silent the Holy Bible literally screams aloud that what Muhammad
experienced wasnt revelation from the true God. (Source)
Zawadi also mentions that Muhammad saw Gabriel in his true form when receiving the
so-called revelation, which is unlike Mary and Zechariah who saw Gabriel appear as a man.
There are a couple of problems with this weak response. First, none of the allegedly sound
narrations say that Gabriel appeared in his true form in Muhammads dream when he was
meditating in the cave. So this is nothing more than a red herring.
Second, the same narrations say that Muhammad supposedly saw Gabriel appear as a man
and even looked like one of Muhammads companions:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
One day while Allah's Apostle was sitting with the people, a man came to him
walking and said, "O Allahs Apostle. What is Belief?" The Prophet
said, "Belief is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Apostles, and the
meeting with Him, and to believe in the Resurrection." The man asked,
"O Allah's Apostle What is Islam?" The Prophet replied, "Islam is to
worship Allah and not worship anything besides Him, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay the
(compulsory) charity i.e. Zakat and to fast the month of Ramadan." The man
again asked, "O Allah's Apostle What is Ihsan (i.e. perfection or
Benevolence)?" The Prophet said, "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see
Him, and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then (take it for granted that)
Allah sees you." The man further asked, "O Allah's Apostle When will the Hour be
established?"
The Prophet replied, "The one who is asked about it does not know more than the
questioner does, but I will describe to you its portents. When the lady slave gives birth
to her mistress, that will be of its portents; when the bare-footed naked people become
the chiefs of the people, that will be of its portents. The Hour is one of five things
which nobody knows except Allah. Verily, the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone).
He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs." (31.34) Then the
man left. The Prophet said, "Call him back to me." They went to call him
back but could not see him. The Prophet said, "That was Gabriel who came to teach
the people their religion." (See Hadith No. 47 Vol 1) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60,
Number 300)
And:
Narrated Abu 'Uthman:
I was informed that Gabriel came to the Prophet while Um Salama was with him. Gabriel
started talking (to the Prophet). Then the Prophet asked Um Salama, "Who is
this?" She replied, "He is Dihya (al-Kalbi)." When Gabriel
had left, Um Salama said, "By Allah, I did not take him for anybody other than him
(i.e. Dihya) till I heard the sermon of the Prophet wherein he informed about the news of
Gabriel." The subnarrator asked Abu 'Uthman: From whom have you heard that? Abu
'Uthman said: From Usama bin Zaid. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61,
Number 503)
Third, the assertion that Muhammad saw Gabriel in his true form not only begs
the question, since it assumes that it was Gabriel he was actually seeing,
but contradicts the Quran which says no one can see an angels true form
(*).
So much for Zawadis points.
Zawadi argues that my response to his explanation of Q. 25:4-6 is a straw man. In so
doing Zawadi ends up attacking a straw man of his own as well as distorting my point.
It seems like Shamoun is the one who is attacking strawman. I never
said that "book" cannot be referring to scripture. Obviously scripture also
comes under the category of "book" because scripture is in book form. What I
said in my article was that it doesn't exclusively refer to scripture as Shamoun
contended in his article here. This is what
Shamoun said:
The verse is not denying that Muhammad could read or write, but
denying that Muhammad had read or written down an inspired Scripture prior
to his receiving the Quran
Here we see that Shamoun exclusively limits the meaning of the word
"book" in the verse to mean only scripture. I argued back by saying:
There goes Shamoun again with his selective choice of translation.
The Arabic word in the verse is kitab, which simply means "book" and no where
does the context necessarily imply that it is referring to scripture.
So I was arguing back that the word "book" does
not necessarily only refer to "scripture".
Zawadis response makes it obvious he didnt understand my point at all.
First, I never said that Zawadi believes that the word book cannot refer to inspired
Scripture. So it is Zawadi who is attacking straw man.
Second, my point was that the Q. 29:48 could not be referring to anything other than a
revealed Scripture in light of the context. Note, once again, what I initially wrote:
The problem with this proposed explanation is that that is not the plain reading of the
text. The verse is not denying that Muhammad could read or write, but denying that
Muhammad had read or written down an inspired Scripture prior to his receiving the Quran.
In other words, the passage is simply saying that people couldnt accuse Muhammad of
making up the Quran by plagiarizing information that he had received from some holy book
which he had read or wrote down, such as the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, since this
Quran is the first so-called holy book that he has ever read and/or written.
Now let me provide some additional context from the text itself in order to
substantiate my point:
Dispute not with the People of the Book save in the fairer manner, except
for those of them that do wrong; and say, 'We believe in what has been sent down to us,
and what has been sent down to you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we have
surrendered.' Even so We have sent down to thee the Book. Those to whom
We have given the Book believe in it; and some of these believe in it; and none
denies Our signs but the unbelievers. Not before this didst thou recite any Book,
or inscribe it with thy right hand, for then those who follow falsehood would have
doubted. Nay; rather it is signs, clear signs in the breasts of those who have been given
knowledge; and none denies Our signs but the evildoers. They say, 'Why have signs not been
sent down upon him from his Lord?' Say: 'The signs are only with God, and I am only a
plain warner. What, is it not sufficient for them that We have sent down upon thee
the Book that is recited to them? Surely in that is a mercy, and a reminder to
a people who believe. S. 29:46-51
The immediate context refers to the People of the Book, to the revelation that Allah
sent down to the Muslims, Jews and Christians, and to those to whom the Book was given. It
is therefore obvious that the objection which the Quran is raising is that Muhammad could
not have concocted or plagiarized stories from the former Scriptures and wrote them in the
Quran since he had never read any of the previously revealed Books nor transcribed any of
them with his own hands. Thus, it must be revelation from Allah (as erroneous and mistaken
this assertion is, since he didnt need to have access to these inspired Books but
only needed to hear them narrated orally).
The passage is simply reiterating the point made in another verse:
Even so We have revealed to thee a Spirit of Our bidding. Thou knewest not
what the Book was, nor belief; but We made it a light, whereby We guide
whom We will of Our servants. And thou, surely thou shalt guide unto a straight path --
S. 42:52
Hence, the verse in question isn't making the claim that Muhammad couldn't or didn't
read a book beforehand but that he didn't read a revealed or inspired Scripture before
the Quran.
Zawadi repeats, but fails to prove, that Q. 25:5 actually means that Muhammad caused
the Quran to be written as opposed to writing it down himself. He completely and conveniently
ignored all of my points which refuted his assertion. He then attacks another straw man:
Secondly, even though the Qur'an was written down that doesn't mean
that every time someone recites the Qur'an that means he is reciting it from the Qur'an
itself. Today we have the Qur'an written down in billions of books, but you can still have
someone reciting it from memory. Existence of the Qur'an in book form does not necessitate
that recitation must be done from a book. This is very weak reasoning from Shamoun.
Nor did I ever claim that every time that a person recites the Quran that this proves
that they are reading from the book itself, so this is nothing more than a smokescreen.
What I said was that all of the examples which we find in the Quran conclusively prove that
Muhammad was actually reading from a book which he had access to, and not simply reciting
words given to him.
Zawadi now tries to address all of the hadiths I sourced which conclusively prove that
Muhammad was actually quite literate. What makes this rather amazing is that Zawadi does
the very thing I anticipated that he would do, namely, argue that these narrations should
be explained in light of Q. 29:48 and the report where Ali had to write on behalf of
Muhammad, and therefore assume that Muhammad intended that scribes would write down his
words for him. This response does nothing more than to beg the question since it assumes
that his misreading of Q. 29:48 is correct, when it isnt, and it further assumes
that hadith collections are consistent which they are not.
It is evident to those who have not been taught that Muhammad was incapable of reading
and writing that the reports where Islams prophet is portrayed as an illiterate were
fabricated in order to provide further evidence for the so-called supernatural origin of
the Quran. Yet the problem for Muslims such as Zawadi who have erroneously bought into
this lie is that there is plenty of evidence from the Quran and multiple reports which
clearly attest that Muhammad could read and write, and was also expected to read from the
pages of the book:
Those who disbelieve among the People of the Scripture and the idolaters could not
have left off till the clear proof came unto them, a messenger from Allah, reading
scriptures kept pure and holy: Containing correct scriptures. S. 98:1-3
The most that Zawadi has proven at this point is that his sources are filled with
irreconcilable contradictions, a fact that we already were aware of.
Thus, Zawadi has once again failed to refute our arguments and our points still
stand uncontested. So much for Zawadis "rebuttal."
Appendix
Zawadi has tried to once again refute
(*)
the fact that the Quran conclusive points to Muhammads literacy, and he has once
again miserably failed to prove his assertion. Since much of his current "rebuttal"
is nothing more than bluster and pure fluff I will ignore it. Here I will address several
of his points in order to document what I have been saying concerning Zawadis
gross inability to actually understand what he reads.
He desperately tries to prove that Daniels experience with Gabriel is similar to
Muhammad being manhandled and violated by his spirit guide. Since he didnt get my
point the first couple of times it seems that I need to walk him through this step by
step.
When Daniel was afraid and trembled at looking at the sight of Gods holy angels
did the emissaries torture him like Muhammads spirit physically violated him? No.
Did they nearly squeeze the life out of Daniel much like the spirit did to Muhammad
three consecutive times? No.
Did Daniel think he was demon-possessed much like Muhammad thought? Absolutely not.
Did Daniel want to throw himself off a cliff to commit suicide much like Muhammad wanted
to do after being manhandled by his spirit guide? Not at all.
Did Daniel run to his family or friends trembling with fear, asking to be covered, like
Muhammad did when he ran to his wife Khadija? No.
Did the angels immediately comfort Daniel and remove all his fears, unlike Muhammad who
was tormented and demoralized by his spirit? Yes.
Hopefully, Zawadi gets the point and stops comparing the experiences of his false
prophet with the true prophets of God.
Zawadi denies that he claimed that the Bible is silent regarding the nature and manner
of revelation. So here I will simply report his own words, this time with added emphasis:
Secondly, Shamoun is arguing from silence. He thinks that just
because his Bible does not mention these experiences then that necessarily implies that
they didn't happen.
He then repeats the same point he made in another article:
So notice, Shamoun is committing the same fallacy he accused Sami Zaatri of doing.
There are many Prophets in the Old Testament that we do not know full and complete details
about. Therefore, it would not be fair to say with conviction that they did not have
the same experiences.
In other words since the Holy Bible is silent concerning this issue I am doing nothing
more than arguing from silence.
He further commits a false analogy and again demonstrates that he has a real hard time
comprehending the point being made from what he hears or reads:
Shamoun recently had a debate with Sami Zaatri on the topic, "Is Jesus God",
which can be downloaded here. Sam Shamoun says in
the 20th minute 10th second...
Your arguing from silence, right, and absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence. Now let me repeat that again. Now just because the documents do not say
that he said "x" does not mean that he didn't say "x".
Talk about being desperate and misapplying my own words! Even though the Holy Bible
doesnt record every single word or action carried by God or his inspired emissaries
it does give us everything we need to know concerning how God acts and works:
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them
you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused
by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4
This knowledge from God which gives us everything necessary for salvation and living
is found within the Holy Writings themselves:
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the
holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be completely
sufficient, thoroughly equipped for EVERY good work." 2 Timothy 3:14-17
This means that the examples provided by the inspired Scriptures are sufficient to
inform us on the manner in which God speaks or reveals his words to the prophets, and one
of the ways in which he doesnt inspire a person is by sending a spirit to torment,
manhandle, and violate his chosen ones, thereby causing them to contemplate suicide and/or
think that they are demon-possessed. In fact, it is not Gods pure Spirit or his
holy angels but evil spirits who torment and harm people, especially those whom God has
rejected because of their sin and rebellion:
"Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil
spirit from the LORD tormented him. Saul's attendants said to him, See,
an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here
to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God
comes upon you, and you will feel better. So Saul said to his attendants, Find
someone who plays well and bring him to me. Whenever the spirit from God came
upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he
would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him." 1 Samuel
16:14-17, 23
This is why we see that the consistent pattern within the Holy Scriptures is that God,
his Spirit, and/or his angels comfort and alleviate the fears of the people that they are
sent to or speak with. They dont demoralize or manhandle the recipients of
revelation as we find in the case of Zawadis false prophet.
So much for Zawadis false analogy and smokescreens.
Zawadi claims that he understood my statement and that I was in fact "indirectly"
asserting that the term book always means an inspired or revealed Scripture, which is not
what I said. I said that Zawadi was wrong to assume that the term book in Q. 29:48 doesnt
mean an inspired text but to any writing, i.e. Muhammad hadnt read or written any book
whatsoever, not just an inspired Scripture. I demonstrated that, within the context of the Quran
specifically in respect to Q. 25:4-6 and 29:48 the term book must be referring
to an inspired text. I seriously doubt Zawadi will get it this time.
Zawadi will once again expose his inability to comprehend his opponents argument.
He asserts that I am trying to dodge a bullet for denying that I made the claim that a
person who recites the Quran must be reading from a book. He then quotes me as if he this
will prove his case. I will highlight the parts he missed in order to further demonstrate
why I say that Zawadi has a serious reading incomprehension:
Furthermore, didn't Zawadi read Q. 25:5 carefully which says that MUHAMMAD
wrote down the forgeries that he claimed were revelations from God? Doesn't this
therefore prove that the verbs iqra and yatlu can and do mean that Muhammad was actually
reading from a book? After all, if MUHAMMAD "had it [i.e. the Quran] written
down" then this actually substantiates my point that HE WASNT MERELY RECITING
the verses from memory but reading from a book.
Now here is what Zawadi said:
Secondly, even though the Qur'an was written down that doesn't mean that every
time SOMEONE recites the Qur'an that means he is reciting it from the Qur'an
itself. Today we have the Qur'an written down in billions of books, but you can
still have SOMEONE reciting it from memory. Existence of the Qur'an in book form
does not necessitate that recitation must be done from a book. This is very weak reasoning
from Shamoun.
And now my response:
Nor did I ever claim that every time that A PERSON recites the Quran that this
proves that they are reading from the book itself, so this is nothing more than a
smokescreen. What I said was that all of the examples which we find in the Quran
conclusively prove THAT MUHAMMAD was actually reading from a book which he had
access to, and not simply reciting words given to him.
In this post I will share some of the biblical evidences, which led the first Christians to the conclusion that the one true God is Triune by nature.
One True God
The Bible is clear that there is only one uncreated God who created and sustains all creation. The name
”Accepting James White’s Challenge to Provide an Exegesis of 1 John 5:1"
The following is Dr. David W. Allen's refutation to internet reformed apologist James R. White's butchering of 1 John 5:1 for the purpose of forcing his calvinistic misreading into it.
