If you've got one, open your Qur'an to the 37th surah. So as not to take Allah's word out of context, let's read from the beginning, picking up the highlights as we go along. Seeing Allah as he really is will help elucidate the Islamic mystery. The peace-loving god tells his troops: "By those (angels) arranged in battle ranks who are strong in repelling and thus proclaim the Message of Allah! Verily, your Ilah (God) is one!" Thank god for small favors. Qur'an 37:6 "We have decked the lower heaven with stars to protect them against all rebellious evil spirits, and provide security from every forward devil. So they cannot listen to the highest chiefs for they are pelted from every side, repulsed; they are under a perpetual torment, being driven off. Except such as they snatch away something by stealth, but then they are pursued by a flaming fire of piercing brightness." In Islam, stars are used to guard against forward devils. The Islamic Ilah (God) named Allah would have us believe that he dissuades and torments "evil spirits" with physical objects. Qur'an 37:11 "Just ask their opinion (Muhammad). Are they the more difficult to create, or the other beings We have created? Them have We created out of a sticky clay! Are they stronger as a creation? Truly dost thou marvel, while they ridicule." Nay, I dost both marvel and ridicule. Qur'an 37:13 "When they are admonished, pay no heed. When they see a Sign, turn it to mockery, and incite one another to scoff. And say, 'This is nothing but evident sorcery!'" I agree. Qur'an 37:16 "What! When we die, and become dust and bones, shall we be raised up and also our fathers of old? Say (Muhammad): 'Yea, and ye shall then be humiliated: Ye, in truth; and ye will be brought low.'" I suppose some Muslim scholar thought translating the Qur'an into Elizabethan English would make it sound religious. But lo, methinks it helpeth thee not. For your sake and mine, I will continue to edit most of the archaic language out of the text. I have also made a habit of correcting much of Allah's grammar, punctuation, verbosity, and oblique sentence structure. Qur'an 37:19 "Then will be a single cry; and behold, they will stare! They will say, 'Woe to us! This is the Day of Doom.' This you denied! Assemble the wrong-doers and their wives and the things they worshipped besides Allah, then lead them to the fierce flaming fires of Hell." Even cleaned up, the message is repulsive. Allah stoops to interrogate his captives. Qur'an 37:24 "But stop them, for they are to be questioned. 'What is the matter with you that you do not help each other.' Nay, but this day they make full submission.... 'The sentence has come against us: we shall taste the punishment.'" Remember, according to Islam, people are never given a choice. They are predestined at birth to perish in hell's fire. Thus, this questioning is for Allah's entertainment. Qur'an 37:33 "Truly, they will all share at the Penalty of Doom. That is how We shall deal with the Mujrimun (non-Muslims). For when they were told that there is no ilah (god) but Allah, they puffed themselves up with pride and were scornful. They said: 'What, shall we give up our alihah (gods) for the sake of an insane possessed poet?'" This was "revealed" so Muhammad could lash out at the Meccans. They called him insane for turning many idols into one god. They said he was demon-possessed due to the hellish tone of his Qur'an. As you might expect, Allah didn't see it that way. Muhammad's alter ego had but one spokesperson. If he faltered, Allah crumbled with him. Qur'an 37:37 "Nay, he has come with the truth, and he confirms the Message of the messengers before him. You shall indeed taste the grievous penalty of painful doom." Tease Muhammad and Allah will burn you. It's the Qur'an's never-ending taunt. Qur'an 37:40 "Save the chosen slaves of Allah; For them there is a known provision: Fruits, Delights; they will be honored in the Gardens of Pleasure, on thrones facing one another. Round them will be passed a cup of pure white wine, delicious to the drinkers, free from ghoul (hurt) or intoxication, nor shall you be made mad or exhausted thereby." We've got the thrones and Allah's special brew, now all we need are the virgins. "And with them will be Qasirat-at-Tarf (virgin females), restraining their glances (desiring none but you), with big, beautiful eyes. As if they were (sheltered) eggs, preserved." If the martyrs get virgins, what do their victims get? Qur'an 37:54 "He said: 'Would you like to look down.' He looked down and saw him in the midst of the Fire, in the depths of Hell. He said: 'You nearly caused me to perish! Had it not been for my Lord, I would have been among those brought there !'" Allah wanted the mass murderers to know: Qur'an 37:59 "Except for your former death, you shall not be punished. This is the supreme triumph! For the likes of this let us strive. That is the better entertainment." Hell's torments sound a lot like what might have occurred around a desert campfire. Qur'an 37:63 "For We have truly made it as a trial to torment the disbelievers. Zaqqum is a horrible thorn tree that grows in Hell. The shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the heads of devils. Truly they will eat it and fill their bellies with it. On top of that they will be given a mixture made of boiling water to drink especially prepared. Then they shall be returned to the Blazing Fire," Allah, Islam's terrorist ilah proclaimed. We have finally arrived at the passage the Hadith was trying to illuminate. We wanted to find out why Abraham said he was sick and why he was playing with idols. Qur'an 37:83 "Surely among those who followed His Way (Islam) was Abraham. He came to his Lord with a sound heart. He said to his father and to his folk, 'What is that which you worship? Is it a falsehood - alihah (gods) besides Allah that you desire?'" The Qur'an didn't define what his "Way" was. Islam is supposed to be the religion of Abraham yet the Qur'an never explains what that might be. Qur'an 37:87 "'Then what is your idea about the Lord of men and jinn.' Abraham cast a glance at the Stars. And he said, 'I am indeed sick!'" Abe's question about the Lord of the worlds followed by the capitalization of "Stars" is a problem. In the Qur'an, capitalization is a tribute to deity. Second, why did Abraham need to lie to accomplish his god's agenda? One of my translations actually alters the text by adding a parenthetical to obfuscate this problem: "Surely I am sick (of your worshipping these)." Another says "sick (with plague)." Even Muhammad calls Abe a liar. Tabari II:63 "The Messenger said: 'Abraham told three lies in his life. Two of them were about Allah - his saying "I feel sick" and his saying "The chief idol is the one who did it."'" Qur'an 37:90 "They turned their backs and went away. He turned to their gods secretly and said, 'Will you not eat.' 'What is the matter with you that you don't speak?'" Deprived of place, time, and circumstance, this doesn't make sense. Where was he? Why did he go to these gods? What are their names? And since Allah never spoke or ate, the revisionist Abe is being hypocritical. The following Hadith, stolen from the Talmud, scrambles to make sense of this: Tabari II:55 "The people prepared food and placed it before the gods, saying, 'When we come back the gods will have blessed our food and we will eat.' When Abraham saw them with the food, he said, 'Will you not eat? And when they did not answer, he said, 'What ails you that you don't speak.' Then he attacked them. He took a piece of iron and cut off each idol's extremities. Then when only the largest idol was left, he tied the axe to its hand. When the people came to get their food and saw their gods in this state, they said, 'An evildoer has done this to our gods.'" That was from Muhammad's Sunnah by way of the Jewish Talmud. This is from Allah's Qur'an: Qur'an 37:93 "He turned upon them secretly, attacking, striking (them) with the right hand. Then came (people) with hurried steps, and faced (him). He said: 'What! do you worship what you hew out? But Allah has created you and your handwork!'" Let's turn to the salient portion of the 21st surah, named "The Prophets," to make certain we are looking at Islam's poison pill from all possible sides. Qur'an 21:51 "We bestowed on Abraham correctness of conduct, and well were We acquainted with him. Behold, he said to his father and his folk, 'What are these images, to which you are devoted.' They said, 'We found our fathers worshipping them.' He said, 'Indeed you have been in manifest error - you and your fathers.' They said, 'Have you brought us the truth, or are you some jester?'" This Qur'anic indulgence also emerges out of the blue without reference to the audience, place, time, or religion. Devoid of this context the passage is senseless today. Yet in Mecca, the meaning would have been crystal clear. Muhammad was being recast as Abraham. Qur'an 21:56 "He said, 'Nay, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth, He created them and I am a witness to this. I have a plot for your idols and will do something against them after you go away and turn your backs.' So he broke them to pieces, (all) but the biggest of them, that they might turn to it." A second translation says: "Then he reduced them to fragments, all save the chief of them, that haply they might have recourse to it." This is one of the most incriminating verses in the Qur'an. Muhammad did this very thing. The prophet took the largest of the pagan idols of the Ka'aba - Allah - and promoted it to the exclusion of the others. He broke the smaller rock gods and elevated the Black Stone so that his people "might turn to it." It was as if the early Greeks had broken the statues of Athena, Poseidon, and Hermes so that they could worship the one true god Zeus. How was the biggest idol any more "god" than the other imposters? While I'll continue to convey Islam's version of dishonest Abe to illustrate how Muhammad crafted his religious scam, I would be remiss if I didn't credit the prophet with his first miracle. He just pounded a nail into his own coffin. The Qur'anic story continues with these uninspired words: Qur'an 21:59 "They said, 'Who has done this to our alihah (gods).' 'He is a mischief-monger.' 'We heard a youth talk of them called Abraham.' 'Then bring him before us that he may testify.' They said, 'Are you the one who did this.' He said: 'No, it was done by the biggest idol! Ask the other idols if they can speak!'...They were utterly shamed and confounded. 'You know they do not speak.' He said: 'What! Do you then serve besides Allah what brings no profit, nor can harm you? 'Fie upon you, and upon the things that you worship besides Allah! Have you no sense.' They said, 'Burn him and protect our gods.'" Since Allah never spoke, why didn't that shame Muhammad? And why would the supposed patriarch of monotheistic Islam tell his people that a pagan god smashed lesser idols? Would that not make the idol real? Moreover, the Muhammadized Abraham called a "god" false because it "cannot harm you." The implication is that Allah is real because he's fixated on sadistic torments. That's not good. Now that we have an argument raging, it's time to reshape Abraham of Ur into the image of Muhammad of Mecca. For this we will bounce between the 37th and 21st surahs. Qur'an 37:97 "They said, 'Build him a furnace, and fling him into the blazing red-hot fire.' They then sought a plot against him, but We made them the ones most humiliated! And he said: 'Surely I fly to my lord; He will guide me.'" When the townsfolk of Mecca developed their plot and tried to burn Muhammad's britches, he flew off to Allah in his dreams. He jumped on al-Buraq, an imaginary winged steed, half ass and half donkey (like its rider), and cruised to heaven by way of Jerusalem. Although he humiliated himself with his tale of derring-do, Muhammad also claimed that it was really the Meccans who were dashed. Qur'an 21:69 "We said, 'O Fire, be cool and safety for Abraham.' Then they sought a stratagem against him and wished to set a snare, but We made them the ones that lost most!" I know Allah loves plots, but this is ridiculous. Why would the townsfolk design a plot to snare him after they were burning him? Qur'an 21:71 "But We delivered him and Lot to the land which We have blessed for men and jinn." This must be a joke. Allah has blessed Israel? Was that the blessing of the PLO or Islamic Jihad? As the Islamic Abraham flees the fire, we are confronted with an odd transition and unbelievable dialog. Qur'an 37:100 "'Lord, grant me a righteous (son).' So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear. Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: 'Son! I see in a vision that I offer you in sacrifice: Now what is your view.' (The son) said: 'O my father! Do as you are commanded: you will find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing Patience and Constancy!'" Even with nine words artificially inserted into the text by the translators for clarification, this verse is bizarre. It is as if Muhammad overheard a half dozen Bible stories and tried to tie them all together in one paragraph. Over the course of five sentences he takes us from a gang of nameless people building a furnace to terrorize Abe to having him terrorize his son. And there is a significant detail missing - the son's name isn't stated because Muhammad can't decide which son should be sacrificed or even where or when the event occurred. Qur'an 37:103 "When they had surrendered (to Allah), and he had flung him on his face, We called out, 'Abraham! You have fulfilled the vision! Lo! that was a clear test. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice, with a tremendous victim!'" Allah, the counterfeit god, continues to falsify history. Qur'an 37:110 "Thus do We reward the doers of good. For he was one of Our believing slaves. And We gave him the good news of the birth of Isaac, a prophet among the good ones. We blessed him and Isaac: but of their progeny are (some) that do right, and (some) that obviously do wrong." As a reward for Abraham's faithfulness, Allah predicts the birth of the son he almost sacrificed. Brilliant.
Tabari reports: "Both statements are supported by testimony related on the authority of the Prophet. Both statements are equally sound since they both came from the Prophet. Thus only the Qur'an could serve as proof that the account naming Isaac was clearly the more truthful of the two." But if that is the case, Islam falters, since it draws its legitimacy from Ishmael. Muhammad claims that he was "prophet quality" because he was a direct descendant of Ishmael. Tabari II:83 "'We ransomed him with a tremendous victim.' [Qur'an 37:107] refers to Isaac." But how can that be? In verse 104 Allah says, "We called out, 'Abraham, You have fulfilled your dream, thus do we reward the good. That was indeed a trying test. So...We gave him the good news of Isaac." How can Abe have nearly sacrificed Isaac if the reward for fulfilling that trying test was Isaac? In version two: "'Messenger, repeat the knowledge Allah has given you about the son of the two victims.' The Messenger laughed and they said, 'Who are the two victims.' The Prophet said, 'When Abd al-Muttalib was ordered to dig Zamzam , he vowed that if Allah would make it easy for him, he would sacrifice one of his sons. The choice fell upon Abdallah, but his uncles prevented it, saying, 'Ransom your son with one hundred camels.' So he did that, and Ishmael was the other victim.'" The first boy spared, Abdallah, "Slave-to-Allah," was Muhammad's father. And as we shall soon see, he botched that story as badly as he did the other. Tabari II:84 "When Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac, Satan said, 'By Allah, if I cannot deceive the people with this, I shall never be able to do it.'" Satan not only swears by Allah, he says that the bogus connection between Abraham and Islam is his best way to fool mankind. And he was right! It's also interesting that the deception would be over sacrifice. Judaism, Christianity, and all rational civilizations use sacrifice as the means to promote justice and maintain spiritual or societal order. Commit a crime and you will be required to sacrifice your money, your freedom, or your life. If crime is without cost, anarchy reigns. In Judaism, the sacrificial rite for the forgiveness of sin was rich in symbolism. It was based upon the "Mercy Seat" of the Ark of the Covenant. And it was connected prophetically to the blood of an unblemished lamb or dove. It's all explained in the Torah. In Christianity, Christ became the perfect lamb and sacrificed himself on our behalf. But in Qur'anic Islam, there is no sacrifice. While the Sunnah perpetuates Qusayy's senseless slaughter, it's for appeasement, not atonement. There is no symbolism, no prophetic implication, and no moral reason, as forgiveness is capricious in Islam. And that is why totalitarian governments use draconian measures to maintain order. Muhammad was an amoral thief empowered by situational scriptures, so he failed to appreciate the necessity of sacrifice and he never understood the Biblical concept of sacrificial atonement. It's why the "ransom of great sacrifice" mentioned in the Qur'an is left unexplained. Tabari II:87 "Caliph Umar said, 'I asked a former Jew, who was considered to be a great Jewish scholar before he converted to Islam. He said, 'Ishmael, by God, O Prince of Believers. The Jews know that, but they are envious of you Arabs because it was your father who was named in Allah's command and to whom Allah ascribed such merit.'" Then why do you suppose the prophet said, "When Isaac grew up, Abraham had a dream in which he was told, 'Fulfill your promise that if Allah grants you a son by Sarah you will sacrifice him. Then he drew the knife across Isaac's throat, but the knife did not scratch him, for Allah had placed a sheet of copper on Isaac's throat. When Abraham saw it he turned him over and tried to cut him on the nape of his neck.' This confirms Allah's Qur'an: 'When he surrendered, he flung him down upon his face.'" [Qur'an 37:103] In the next Hadith it's Ishmael: "When Abraham was alone with his son on the trail on Mt. Thabir , it is said he said to Ishmael, 'O my son, I saw in a dream that I was to sacrifice you. What do you think?' Ishmael told him, 'O my father, Do as you were ordered...and sharpen your knife-blade so that it will finish me off quickly." |
