Boreal

Remembering Uzza

If Islam was explained to me in a pub

Appendix: Tolerance Abrogated

Of all the incongruities that devotees of a religion steeped in incongruities have to accept, the concept of abrogation has to be the most outlandish. Abrogation, i.e., retraction, annulment, cancellation … is common in the real world as better information replaces old information.

 In the world of revealed truths, immutable facts revealed to a mortal by a god, abrogation should not even be the exception; it defies logic. Contemporary scholars, unlike their classical counterparts who came up with the more than two hundred abrogated revelations around the eleventh century, are divided on the concept of abrogation, and the uncomfortable contradictions it entails.

The difficulty in getting converts to accept the inherent absurdity of a know-it-all omnipotent god not getting it right the first, even the second time around may explain the attempt by contemporary scholars to refute the very concept of abrogation as did Muhammad Asad (1900-92), who argued that classical scholars misinterpreted passages relating to abrogation, citing verse 10:64 as evidence of the immutability of Allah's Words.

10:64 Theirs is the good news in the present life and the Hereafter. And there will be no alteration of the Words of Allah. That is the great triumph.

Not so, according to another contemporary expert, Ahmad von Denffer (1949-present). For this eminent scholar, understanding abrogation is central to the correct application of Allah's laws. Denffer quotes four revelations to Asad's one, where Allah admits to changing His mind.

2:106 Whichever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring instead a better or similar one. Do you not know that Allah has the power over all things?

13:39 Allah blots out and confirms what He pleases; and with Him is the Mother of the Book.

16:101 And if We replace a verse by another – and Allah knows best what He reveals – they say: “You [Muhammad] are only a forger.” Surely, most of them do not know.

17:86 If We please, We certainly can blot out that which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad); then you would find no guardian to assist you against Us.

Allah even acknowledged that His changing His mind was causing problems for His Messenger whose detractors thought it strange, an omnipotent, all-knowing god who could not get it right the first time. These open-minded individuals reached the only possible conclusion: their kin, the first would-be Arab spokesperson for the Almighty, was making it up as he went along, and told him so to his face, calling him a forger in revelation 16:101. The Arabs of old knew more than Allah was willing to admit, judging by the non-answer Gabriel communicated to Muhammad in response to the forgery accusation.

16:102 Say: “The Holy Spirit has brought it down from our Lord in truth, in order to reassure the believers, as a guidance and good news to those who submit.

Two verses, of the more than two hundred abrogated verses which cannot be ignored, are revealed truths 2:62 and 109:6 which appear to sanction tolerance of practitioners of other religions.

 Revelation 2:62:

2:62 The believers (Muslims), the Jews, the Christians and the Sabians – whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does what is good, shall receive their reward from their Lord. They shall have nothing to fear and they shall not grieve.

Revelation 2:62 is said to be abrogated by 3:85:

3:85 Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.

Even if revelation 2:62 had not been abrogated, its scope was already severely limited by other revelations. Like all of Allah’s seemingly universal declarations, there is a catch. Those who do not believe in an omnipotent monotheistic deity whose name is Allah, e.g., Indians (Hindus), animists, atheists, agnostics… can do all the good they can, and live an exemplary life, it won’t matter a whit. Allah may not even write their good deeds down. What would be the point!

20:112 And he who does the righteous deeds, while a believer, will fear neither injustice nor inequity.

21:94 Whoever does what is good, while a believer, his endeavour will not be denied, and We are indeed writing it down for him.

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22:50 Those who believe and do the righteous deeds will receive forgiveness and a bountiful provision,

22:51 But who strive against our Revelations defying Us – those are the people of Hell. Then, there are the ambiguous verses about the actual status of the people of the Book: believers, unbelievers or evildoers (people who associate other gods with Allah such as Christians obviously qualify).

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29:46 Do not dispute with the people of the Book save in the fairest way; except for those of them who are evildoers. 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 are one and to Him we are submissive.”

29:47 And thus We have sent down to you the Book. Those to whom We gave the Book (the people of the Book, Jews and Christians) believe in it, and of these (the Prophet’s Meccans contemporaries) some believe in it. Our Signs are only denied by the unbelievers.

Finally, there is verse 45:14:

45:14 Tell the believers to forgive those who do not hope for Allah’s Days (“evil days from Allah” Moududi, “calamities” Fakhry), that He may reward a people for what they used to earn.

Is Allah really expecting the believers to forgive the unbelievers and, who is the reward for, and what is the reward? Is Allah being facetious?

The commentators have given two meanings of this verse and the words of the verse admit of both: (1) "That the believers should pardon the excesses of this wicked group so that Allah may reward them for their patience and forbearance and nobility from Himself and recompense them for the persecutions they have suffered for His sake." (2) "That the believers should pardon these people so that Allah may Himself punish them for their persecutions of them." Some other commentators have regarded this verse as repealed. They say that this command was applicable only till the Muslims had not been permitted to fight. Then, when they were permitted to fight, this command became abrogated.

Moududi [1903-1979] (pre-eminent Islamic scholar and, theologian, first recipient of the King Faisal International Award for his services to Islam and Islamic studies)

Authors like Fouad Laroui would like us to forget all that other stuff. The nasty and pedantic stuff found in the Koran, what he calls, “window dressing.” If only that were possible! Consider a revelation which contains a plea and a prayer; a somewhat amenable near-universal prayer if you ignore the last line. Pity!

2:286 Allah does not charge any soul beyond its capacity. It gets [rewarded for] what [good] it has earned, and is called to account for what [evil] it has committed. Lord, forgive us if we have forgotten or erred. Lord, do not lay on us a burden like that You laid on those before us, and do not burden us with what we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us and have mercy on us. You are our Protector. Give us victory over the unbelieving people.

Revelation 109:6

THE UNBELIEVERS

109 Al-Kâfirûn

In the Name of Allah,

the Compassionate, the Merciful

109:1 Say: “O unbelievers,

109:2 “I do not worship what you worship,

109:3 “Nor do you worship what I worship; 109:4 “Nor do I worship what you have worshipped,

109:5 “Nor do you worship what I worship (same as 109:3),

109:6 “You have your religion and I have mine.”

Revelation 109:6 is said to be abrogated by the Verse of the Sword.

9:5 Then, when the Sacred Months (these are the four months during which war was prohibited in pre-Islamic times) are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, take them [as captives], besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every point of observation. If they repent afterwards, perform the prayer and pay the alms, then release them. Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful.

According to the imminent Egyptian theologian Abu al-Fadl Abd ar-Rahman Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti (d. 1505), "Everything in the Qur'an about forgiveness and peace is abrogated by verse 9:5."

Revelation 109:6 is from a Meccan surah, a surah revealed during Muhammad’s time in Mecca when he had few friends and only his say-so to convince his tribesmen that he was God's latest spokesmen charged with delivering His final instructions for mankind, the Koran. As he became more powerful, after fleeing Mecca for Medina, Muhammad discovered the persuasive power of the sword and Allah became a lot less tolerant, as is evident in the Medinan surah, The Clear Proof.

THE CLEAR PROOF

98 Al-Bayyinah

 In the Name of Allah,

the Compassionate, the Merciful

98:1 The unbelievers, among the People of the Book and the idolaters, would not desist till the clear proof comes to them;

98:2 A Messenger from Allah reciting purified scrolls,

98:3 Wherein are valuable books.

98:4 Those who were given the Book did not diverge except after the clear proof came to them.

98:5 And they were only commanded to worship Allah, professing the religion sincerely to Him as upright believers, to perform the prayers and give the alms. That is the religion of truth.

98:6 The unbelievers, among the People of the Book and the idolaters, shall be in the Fire of Hell, dwelling therein forever. Those are the worst of creatures.

Both Jews and Christians were not willing to accept Allah's contention that He sent the Koran to correct errors that had allegedly crept into an earlier book of His: the Bible. For their refusal to accept the Koran as the overriding Message, i.e., "the clear proof", and Islam as the superior religion, i.e., "the religion of truth", therefore theirs being one of lies, they will be joining the idolaters in Hell, revelation 98:6.