Table of Contents

Preface

Verse enumeration does not count bismillah as the first verse of a chapter in the Quran, so for anyone following the verses through an Ahmadi Tafsir, please remember to read the following verse number instead.

Translations have primarily been extracted from Sahih International, with occasional aid from Corpus Quran which provides multiple accepted English translations of the Quran.



Personal Background

My relationship with the Quran was probably similar to most of you: growing up, I was taught of how it’s a book that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel as per God’s command. Unlike the Old and New Testaments, the Quran was the only book in the world which contained God’s complete, unedited revelations, and to this day, we read the same Quran which was revealed in Arabia 1,400 years ago. The Quran was meant to be an eternal guidance for all of humanity. After all, the Quran itself says: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion” (5:3).

Once again, just like most of you, I would read the Quran on a regular basis. Granted, I only read the Arabic, but I remember being careful with the words written: I couldn’t dare misread God’s word. When I would occasionally be exposed to the English translation, may it be at an Ijtima or a Jalsa, it would confirm my general knowledge of the Quran and assure me that it is indeed God’s word. For example, hearing a verse such as 6:32 where it states that “the worldly life is not but amusement and diversion” would provide me context as to why Muslims are focused on the hereafter, and simply saw life on Earth as a means to an end. And in effect, this confirmed the general perspective I was taught growing up, which ensured perfect congruence between the knowledge I held internally and the words found in the Quran.



Encountering Conflict

However, this congruence was soon put into question when I was made aware of a few verses such as:

“Men are in charge of women by what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband’s] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance – advise them; forsake them in bed; and strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.” (4:34)

and

“Those who guard their private parts; except from their wives or those their right hands possess [female slaves], for indeed, they are not to be blamed – but whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors” (70:29 – 70:31).

For those of you who are familiar with the Quran’s translation, these verses should come as no surprise. You’ve probably read the pages of justification, or heard the hours of commentary from Imams and Missionaries and Khalifas about the wisdom behind these verses. You are probably accepting of these verses, if not proponents that men have been given rights by God to beat their wives.

However, for someone like me who had little to no exposure to the actual translation and meaning of the Quran, I was stunned. I could not believe that the Quran, as an eternal guidance for all of humanity, actually had verses which provided men the right to beat their wives if they feared disobedience, or verses where the Quran allowed men to have sexual relations with their slaves (i.e. women to whom they were not married). Even more concerning was that these permissions were not granted to women (meaning that women were not given instructions on how to handle their disobedient husbands, and they were not allowed to have sexual relations with their male slaves).



Decision to Understand the Quran

I knew that I now had to read the Quran’s entire translation. I have been reading the Quran in Arabic every day of my life, I have been reading the 5 prayers every day of my life, I was following a religion which was founded upon the Quran every day of my life: I needed to know what the Quran actually said.

Sidenote: It bears to mention that my mother actually encouraged me to read the translation when I was much younger, maybe when I was 12 years old, but I quickly lost interest, and completely stopped reading the English translation. My lack of knowledge of the Quran was entirely my responsibility alone.

However, this is where I probably differed from most of you: I told myself that I should read the Quran without assuming it is from God. I wanted to know if I could discard a premise which was only taught to me by Muslims, and see whether I could reach the conclusion as to whether it was an actual book revealed from God.

The reason for why I decided to not assume the divine premise is because it injects a bias that normalizes any verses which I may otherwise not agree with. I am a firm believer that people needn’t be told something is from God but rather it should be something which they can assess for themselves independently. After all, an eternal guidance for mankind should not be biased towards being appreciated by Muslims or those raised on the belief that the Quran is from God: it should be a book which is clear for all to discover that it is indeed from God.



Methodology: Ten Conditions of Divinity

While reading the Quran was a completely personal and independent journey, I realized that I needed to share my understanding and analysis of it, because I believe that most Muslims, particularly youth, are probably not knowledgeable of all of what the Quran states from a holistic, unbiased, and critical point-of-view, which can only be obtained if one reads the Quran uninterrupted in the span of a few days, since reading a few verses every day does not provide the complete picture.

Therefore, in the spirit of the title of this post, I will be taking a very structured approach to the rest of the article as opposed to detailing my personal journey step-by-step.

Let’s begin with: what does it mean to assess divinity? There are probably countless schools of thoughts on what constitutes divinity but I will base my analysis of the Quran on some fundamentals:

A divine book should contain knowledge which would have been otherwise impossible for any human being in that time and location to have known. A divine book should be free of any historical or scientific errors. A divine book should contain ethical and legislative ruling which, if followed, would lead to a happy, fulfilled, productive, peaceful, empowered, and morally righteous society. A divine book should be convincing on its own: it should independently enable people to discover that it is divine, and thus inculcate strong belief in God and his words. A divine book should optimize its real estate: there are a limited number of pages to a book which humans can readily consume, so every single word, verse, chapter in a divine book needs to indicate the most efficient usage of that space. A divine book should be timeless, unless indicated otherwise: it should contain knowledge, instructions, and rules which are applicable to all of mankind for all of times. A divine book should be clear and interpretation-agnostic: everyone who reads it should extract the same meaning. A divine book, whose purpose it is to educate and inspire humans, should contain best practices when it is educating: this means that the language and approach used in a divine book should be followed when humans themselves are educating other humans. A divine book should display facets of God which should be followed by humans as much as possible. A divine book should be verifiable, meaning that its claims can be assessed objectively to determine if it is indeed talking of widely-known and proven truths.

The above conditions are admittedly heuristics, although I think they are all valid concerns when considering the divinity of the Quran. If these conditions are fulfilled for every single verse in the Quran, we would have clear evidence that this book was written from a being with higher intelligence. We shall revisit these stipulations near the end of the article.



Exploring the Quran

For the next few minutes, I have a favour to ask of you: I want you to temporarily withhold your notion that the Quran is from God.

I know that this is a difficult thing to do, and I know that you might even feel like you are committing a sin, but all I ask is that you read the following Quranic verses without assuming that God has revealed them. To that effect, we will consider the Quran to simply be a book that has been written by an unknown author: we will make inferences about this author as we read through their words, since the Quran is written from their point-of-view and we can thus extract a lot of information about them.



The Thesis of the Quran: Do not Disbelieve in Allah

The entirety of the Quran is centered around believing in one God. Almost every single chapter focuses on how people should believe in Allah – those who believe will be granted into heaven where “gardens under which rivers flow” (note that this description is mentioned more than 50 times in the Quran).

However, God doesn’t take so kindly to disbelievers: recall that the definition of a disbeliever, according to the Quran, is one who chooses not to believe in Allah and his messenger (Muhammad). This includes Jews, Christians, as well as polytheists: it bears to mention that the Quran never mentions atheists who are people who completely reject the notion of any god(s).

There are no stipulations regarding a disbeliever as being someone who is morally absent, such as a murderer, or a thief, or rapist: disbelievers are solely scoped to those who don’t believe in Allah. For those who disbelieve, God promises them Hell – let us look at a few verses describing what awaits disbelievers:

“Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment.” (4:56) “[The disbelievers] will wish to come forth from the Fire, but they will not come forth from it. Theirs will be a lasting doom.” (5:37) “And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger – then indeed, for him is the fire of Hell; they will abide therein forever.” (72:23) “Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.” (98:6)

Now these are just a sample of the verses describing what awaits disbelievers in Hell (similar to heaven, hell is mentioned frequently in the Quran, almost 80 times) – these are the promises which the Quran is making concerning those who have not believed in Allah.

This focus on disbelievers is made even more interesting when you consider the following verse:

“So whoever Allah wants to guide – He expands his breast to [contain] Islam; and whoever He wants to misguide – He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky” (6:125)

There are around 5 billion people today who are non-Muslims (i.e. don’t believe in Allah as prescribed by Islam): many of those people are our classmates, coworkers, friends, maybe even family.

Consider what the Quran says about these people and then ask yourself why the Quran chooses to focus the majority of its time on simply relaying the message to believe in one God, instead of using its space on describing what a morally good, peaceful, and happy society looks like, or how people can treat their spouses and families, or how to handle life’s difficulties.

Lastly, ask yourself how the belief in one God affects the morality, spirituality, or goodness of a person: picture two identical people in every single aspect of life, except that one believes in Allah while the other believes in Jesus and the Trinity. Do you truly think that just this one difference alone is important enough for the Quran to spend more than half of its time discussing? Do you truly think that just this one difference alone should be the difference between heaven and hell?

I will leave you with two additional resources:

Here is an image I found on Reddit summarizing the terms used for disbelievers (non-Muslims) in the Quran.

Here is a website detailing specific verses where the Quran talks about those who disbelieve.

The Implications of Repetitive Narratives and Associated Punishments

The Quran contains a lot of stories within it: it introduces the readers to narratives such as Moses and his encounter with Pharaoh, or how Iblees refused to bow before Adam and told Allah he would spend the rest of eternity trying to lead people away from God.

The majority of the stories tend to follow a very rigid structure which is as follows:

There is a society which does not believe in Allah.

Allah then decides to send a prophet to that society to preach the unity of God.

More often than not, the society will choose to not listen to this prophet and continue in their polytheistic/idolatrous ways.

Allah then sends down his punishment, destroying all those who disbelieved while saving those who believed (the prophet and his family/followers).

You can use the above framework and see how it’s applied to stories of prophets such as Moses, Noah, Lot, Saba, Hud, Saleh etc.

I will briefly quote a few verses of the Quran here depicting the story of Noah which follows the above framework perfectly:

We had certainly sent Noah to his people, and he said, “O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous Day.” Said the eminent among his people, “Indeed, we see you in clear error.” [Noah] said, “O my people, there is not error in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds.” But they denied him, so We saved him and those who were with him in the ship. And We drowned those who denied Our signs. Indeed, they were a blind people. (7:59 – 7:64)

As you can see, the message of Allah’s prophets was to believe in the unity of God and that the society should listen to them lest they risk punishment in this world and the hereafter for disbelieving. Chapter 7, Al-A’raf, contains a lot more of these stories, discussing prophets such as Lot and Moses.

There are three key features to these stories:

The first is that these stories and prophets are mostly derived from the Bible. While some may think that it is simply God confirming that he has previously sent his message to other societies, it bears to mention that there are very few original narratives present in the Quran. More specifically, across 509 mentions of the various prophets in the Quran, only 27 of these mentions are of prophets exclusive to the Quran (Muhammad, Shuayb, Salih, and Hud). The Quran does claim to have sent a messenger to every nation (16:37), so why are most prophets referenced directly from the Bible? The second is that the stories are repeated extremely often with little to no variation in each retelling: for reference, the name “Moses” appears 136 times in the Quran. Lastly, and most importantly, the stories all have the exact same theme: believe in Allah or face punishment. While there are verses which talk of charity and taking care of orphans, there is not a single story about a past prophet which exemplifies good traits for people to follow as a role model. This would have been a perfect opportunity for God to showcase the goodness of his prophets, thus encouraging people to be righteous and do good deeds on Earth.

Consider that the Quran is the only book believed by Muslims to be God’s revealed and unedited word, and then ask yourself: did the Quran really need all of these stories, or even more concerning, did the Quran have to repeat these stories endlessly? They all speak of God’s punishment on disbelievers, over and over and over again. Would you not think it more important for the Quran to mention things such as the prohibition of rape , or how a peaceful society should be organized?

And if you do think that every single one of these stories, including their repetitions, were that necessary, what does that say about the author? It is believed to have been their only opportunity to ensure accurate documentation of their words for all of mankind eternally, and yet they chose to spend a really big part of the Quran simply detailing their punishments on disbelieving societies.



Measuring the Timelessness of the Quran

The Muslim community believes that the Quran is the one true guidance for mankind across all eternity. The Quran itself says that its message “is not but a reminder for the worlds” (6:90). However, there are numerous examples in the Quran that seem to stunt its own advocacy for eternity, when we consider either the messages contained therein, or the knowledge it claims to have. I will briefly list a few instances here:

The Quran frequently mentions that it was revealed in Arabic for you. Consult verses such as 12:2, 19:97, 39:28, 41:3, 42:7, and 43:3. I know that the Quran had to have been revealed in (at least) one language, but why does the Quran acknowledge that it’s been revealed in Arabic for you to understand? Who is the Quran talking to? Not only is Classical Arabic not used in everyday language (think Shakespearean English) in Arab countries, but the majority of Muslims don’t even speak Arabic to begin with. Some claim that Arabic is the most perfect language since it is so flexible, thus allowing complete clarity (and the Quran itself states that it is easy to understand), yet the Muslim community is divided over Quranic verses, since there are disagreements till today on certain words/phrases used (e.g. eternal hell). We also see in 14:4 how the Quran says that “We did not send any messenger except [speaking] in the language of his people to state clearly for them”, so was Muhammad only sent for the Arabs?

The Quran, while encouraging the act of freeing slaves, never forbids slavery. Additionally, it uses the concept of slavery to demonstrate God’s status and unity (refer to 30:28 and 39:29). And as mentioned previously, men are given permission to have sex with their female slaves. Some might say that it was impossible to abolish slavery at that time, hence the Quran simply proposes freeing slaves as remission of sin. However, consider that if slavery was not abolished legally today, it would be perfectly Islamic for someone to own slaves – this might even be your father, husband, or brother who is married but yet has female slaves with whom they can have sex. I think that the majority of the world, regardless of religious belief, would acknowledge that slavery is wrong in any shape, way, or form, yet the Quran, as an eternal guidance, makes no explicit mention of how it should be abolished, and actually provides guidance on what relations are permissible with slaves.

The Quran likes to mention how the world around you is a sign of God’s existence. For example, it will claim that the presence of the sky, rain, and animals to be “signs for those of intelligence” (20:53 – 20:54). Let us look like at one such verse in more detail: “And [He created] the horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and [as] adornment” (16:8). Consider both, the history of horses, as well as the future of horses, beyond 7th century Arabia. We first note that horses were not always used for transportation: there are references to horses being hunted for meat since 30,000 BCE. However, it is only around 4,000 BCE when horses were finally domesticated. This means that there was a period of 25,000+ years during which horses were not used for riding. Moving on from the past, we can see that horses (alongside mules and donkeys) are no longer used as a primary means of transportation today. Seeing as the role of this animal has constantly evolved over time, why does the Quran indicate that it’s been created for only one, now extinct, purpose?

The Quran is filled with countless more examples such as the ones above that seem to indicate it was revealed specifically for an audience of people living in 7th century Arabia: either those verses don’t make sense today, or they simply don’t apply to our current society.

You will often hear that you need to look beyond the surface of such verses to gain deeper insights and meaning. However, do you think it more likely that the Quran simply contains verses locked in time and location with no application to today whatsoever, or that its verses are so versatile and layered that humans can obtain eternal guidance? And if you think the latter, can you validate which Muslim sect has discovered the perfect, flawless interpretation?

The issue with human interpretation after the fact is that everyone is right and no one wants to cede their position. The Quran had an opportunity to exclusively contain verses which could apply for all of time, but instead contain a number of verses which have no use today if read as revealed, which makes you wonder: where is the timelessness in the Quran?



Egyptology in the Quran

I had the opportunity of taking a graduate-level course on ancient Egyptian religion at university: little did I know at the time that this course would illustrate several examples where the Quran misinterprets Egyptology. I talk about this briefly in one of my Reddit posts, but I will detail the analysis below:

On Moses

As discussed previously, Moses is mentioned in the Quran 136 times. According to the Quran, he lived in ancient Egypt. Our records of ancient Egypt are extremely comprehensive: we have details of the gods they worshiped, the pharaohs which ruled, the funerary ceremonies they participated in, the types of tools they’d use etc.

However, did you know that to date, there is no evidence that Moses, as described in the Bible/Quran, ever existed? Ask yourself why God would allow people to discover so much about ancient Egypt today, yet we still can’t verify the existence of one of his prophets who allegedly moved 600,000 people out of Egypt.

On Infanticide

Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions, oppressing a sector among them, slaughtering their [newborn] sons and keeping their females alive. Indeed, he was of the corrupters. (28:4)

We know from research that ancient Egyptian religions never practiced infanticide. When I asked a Missionary about why the Quran said that Pharaoh would kill children, he simply told me “just because it’s not in the history records, does not mean it did not happen”. I will leave you to consider how satisfactory of an answer that is.

On Praying to Pharaoh

And Pharaoh said, “O eminent ones, I have not known you to have a god other than me. Then ignite for me, O Haman, [a fire] upon the clay and make for me a tower that I may look at the God of Moses. And indeed, I do think he is among the liars.” (28:38)

The idea that the pharaoh was worshiped as a the sole deity of ancient Egyptians was an incorrect belief held at the time that has now been debunked: not only do we know that ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, but pharaohs were only deified after death. While pharaohs were considered vessels of Gods, the ancient Egyptian society knew that they were human kings and not gods. There would never be an instance of a pharaoh telling people he was their only god, when he knew that he should pay homage to the gods above him.

On the Nameless Pharaoh

The Quran never mentions the pharaoh in contention by name: who is the pharaoh which refused Moses’ message? There is research done after the fact on identifying this pharaoh but can you think of a single reason why God could simply not provide us with a name? The Quran contains about 50 different names within it, including Haman, who was the pharaoh’s assistant, so it begs the question: why would God not refer to this pharaoh by his name?

This issue raises further suspicions when you consider that the Quran uses a proper noun for the pharaoh: the Quran will always refer to him as “Pharaoh”, instead of using a common noun, such as “The pharaoh”. Pharaohs were simply kings in ancient Egypt – there existed hundreds of them. Why does the Quran refer to this pharaoh as though he was a single instance of divine kingship in ancient Egypt?

Additionally, when the Quran says:

So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless (10:92)

It is once again implying the mummification of one pharaoh alone as a sign. Not only do we not know which pharaoh God is talking about, but what is the sign? That God kills those who disbelieve in him? I’ve mentioned this previously but we have no archive of the Exodus ever happening, so there is no reason to believe that this pharaoh, whoever it may be, died as a result of God’s wrath.

On Crucifixion

Said Pharaoh, “You believed in him before I gave you permission. Indeed, this is a conspiracy which you conspired in the city to expel therefrom its people. But you are going to know. I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides; then I will surely crucify you all.” (7:123 – 7:124)

Crucifixion was a practice initiated in ancient Rome, but you will not find any evidence of such practice in ancient Egypt. It is actually telling that the primary source which “proves” that crucifixion existed in ancient-Egypt is a Muslim apologist blog.

I will leave you to consider what constitutes a verifiable source of information: countless years of research which has not shown any instance of such a practice in ancient Egypt or the couple of pro-Islamic blogs using farfetched “evidence” to verify such a claim.

The verses highlighted above are ones which should have been extremely easy for God to be explicit and knowledgeable about: however, they show poor understanding of Egyptology, especially when compared to what humans know today. Ask yourself why the Quran, as an eternal guidance to mankind, contains such elementary mistakes.



Women According to the Quran

Your wives are a tilth for you, so go into your tilth when you like (2:223)

Islam likes to preach gender equality. Islam likes to say that it proposed feminism 1,400 years ago. Islam likes to believe that women have more rights and freedoms as Muslims than as non-Muslims who are exposed to Western media and culture. You will often find that it is men who tell you all of this.

However, it is very clear that there is huge amount of contention regarding these claims: consider that Wikipedia has an extensive article solely dedicated to discussing women in Islam, yet there is no need for such an article discussing men in Islam.

I do not think it possible to read through the Quran, and come out thinking that Islam prescribes equal rights, opportunities, and freedoms to women as it does to men and I will show you why through a thorough look at multiple verses.

On Two Female Witnesses for One Male Witness

O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down […] And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses – so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her (2:282)

Before you go on to read the pages of commentary about this verse, simply ask yourself: what is the precedence being set by the Quran that two women are required as proxy for one man as witness? What is the Quran indicating about women and their supposedly fallible memory? What does it say about God that he thinks men alone can suffice as witnesses, but you cannot have women witnesses without at least one male presence? Additionally, since Muslims believe that God has engineered men and women a certain way, why would God himself create women who are likely to err in memory, thus requiring an additional woman as insurance?

Imagine this occurring in the secular world: a financial transaction is about to take place and the bank needs two male signatures: however only one man is available, and the bank asks you, an educated and intelligent women to go find another woman, before they can proceed with validating this transaction. Would you consider this equality?

I will leave you with a Hadith about this matter:

The women asked, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” [Muhammad] said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. (Sahih al-Bukhari 304)

On Half the Inheritance

Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females. (4:11)

The typical rationale you will hear is that men are the providers of the house, thus they require more funds, while women have full rights to use the money on themselves.

However, what does that say about gender roles? What does that say about the way the Quran views women? Does the Quran believe that men have to be given more money, since if men and women were provided the same amounts, families would collapse from bad usage of funds? Do you think the majority of mothers out there who would not use the money on her family the same way fathers would? And once again, ask yourself of the precedence being set: what is the Quran implying about the treatment of men and women?

On Beating Your Wives

Let us revisit our earlier verse:

“Men are in charge of women by what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband’s] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance – advise them; forsake them in bed; and strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.” (4:34)

My friend ReasonOnFaith has written a great excerpt about this verse already, but I will simply request you ask yourself: why would an eternal guidance to mankind actually permit men to beat their wives if they fear arrogance/disobedience? Additionally, why would it not tell women how to handle their disobedient husbands?

The US made wife beating illegal in 1920 – the Quran advises violence as a solution to domestic problems for all of eternity.

On Preventing Sexual Assault

O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons: that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested (33:59)

Do you believe that the responsibility of men raping women falls on the men or on the women? The Quran seems to think the latter, given it tells women to cover themselves so as to not be assaulted. The responsibility of protection falls on them, not on the men. I know that the Quran tells men to lower their gaze, but we are never told of the punishment for those engaged in sexual harassment/abuse/assault.

Consider that the Quran has time to prescribe 100 lashes for fornicators (24:2), as well as calling adultery a major sin, yet it does not contain a single verse detailing the punishment for rape. The Quran does not approve of consensual sex, but it has nothing to say about non-consensual sex.

Do you truly think a loving, caring, and fair God would encourage women to cover themselves without explicitly telling men to not sexually assault women?

On Female Angels

Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter name the angels female names (53:27)

I do not claim to understand all there is to angels but I would think that their gender is the least important factor when considering their abilities: instead of angels being genderless, God actually says that angels cannot be female (similar messaging can be found in 37:150 and 43:19).

Is there any reason as to why God would say such a thing? It’s not as if angels are visible to the naked eye and might attract unwanted attention (as we are told women do when they do not cover themselves up).

Is God implying that female angels could not be as effective as male angels? That female angels would show a weakness in his power? If you believe that God created genders, but then made it such that one gender is not good enough for his angels, what does that say about God?

On Houris

For those of you who are unaware, Houris are the female companions awaiting believers in the afterlife. I will let the Quran describe them to you in excruciating detail:

[The believers] will be reclining on thrones lined up, and We will marry them to fair women with large, [beautiful] eyes. (52:20) In them are women limiting [their] glances, untouched before them by man or jinni (55:56) Indeed, We have produced the women of Paradise in a [new] creation, and made them virgins, devoted [to their husbands] and of equal age (56:35 – 36:37) Indeed, for the righteous is attainment – gardens and grapevines and full-breasted [companions] of equal age (78:31 – 78:33)

Let us view these verses through the general belief held by Muslims: the Quran, which is the only book to contain God’s unedited words, decides to spend multiple verses detailing the type of women waiting believing men in paradise. It even goes so far as to say they will be voluptuous, full-breasted.

The language used here is language I wouldn’t think any parent would let the child read or hear until they have matured a bit, yet the Quran is very liberal with how it describes these Houris.

It is especially concerning when you realize that women are not given such promises: this further perpetuates the usage of women as sex symbols, something which Islam would have been expected to oppose given the need for women to cover themselves.

Does it also make sense that the Quran tries to restrain sex as much as possible in this world (while still allowing sex with your slaves, since you paid for them), but to entice people to believe, God promises them beautiful, full-breasted female virgins in paradise?

On the Lack of Communication to Women

The last point I would like to make in this section is that a lot of the Quran’s instructions, permissions, and rewards are only directed to men. I am sure you’ve seen this in effect from the above verses already, but here are a few others amongst many more: 2:187, 2:221, 2:223, 4:3, 4:22, 4:34, 4:43. I admittedly stopped keeping count since it was such a recurring theme.

The verses above tell men who they can marry, who they can have sex with, how they can divorce their wives, how they can beat their wives etc. These verses are never directed to women however. I think the following verse captures this sentiment the best:

Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe (2:221)

A verse which discusses marriage talks directly to men, telling them who is permissible, while also telling them who they can marry to their daughters. Why does God not simply speak directly to women in the Quran?

For any of you who still believe that the Quran and Islam prescribe equal rights and opportunities to women, I request of you to read through the Quran. I ask that you suspend your belief that it is from God. And after having read through it, I ask you to question what you’ve seen written and see if you can detect divinity within in it – if you can detect love, justice, kindness, goodness.

Here are some additional resources on this topic:

Muhammad in the Quran

Muhammad is revered as the most holy person to have ever existed in the Islamic world. His words (known as Hadiths) and his actions (known as Sunnah) are practiced throughout the world by believing Muslims. We invoke God’s blessings on Muhammad day in, day out. However, let us consider some of the verses revealed in the Quran that apply only to Muhammad alone and analyze them.

Muhammad’s Marriage to Zainab

The story goes like this: Muhammad frees Zayd, a slave. He then adopts Zayd as his son, giving him the name “Zayd ibn Muhammad”. Zayd then marries Zainab, who was Muhammad’s cousin. Their marriage however, did not seem to work out. At this point, God reveals the following verse:

And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, “Keep your wife and fear Allah,” while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married [Zainab] to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished. (33:37)

Before we analyze this verse, there are two things that need to be known:

The society at the time regarded your adopted children as your actual children. We can see this in the very fact that Zayd took upon Muhammad’s name when he was adopted. The society at the time also found it immoral and incestuous for someone to marry their son’s wife.

Now, let’s take a look at this verse: it is essentially telling Muhammad that your adopted son is not really your actual son (this is also confirmed in 33:4, when the Quran says “And he has not made your adopted sons your sons”), and therefore people should be allowed to marry their adopted son’s wife. To prove that this is the case, God tells Muhammad to marry Zainab so that it is clear to everyone that your adopted children are not to be considered your actual children. This is further reflected when Zayd would then be called “Zayd ibn Harithah”, losing Muhammad’s name.

It also bears to mention that Zainab was 20 years younger than Muhammad and has also been described as “a perfect-looking woman”. I would recommend reading through her Wikipedia article.

The point of this verse, as well as the events which unfolded, was for God to tell Muslims that adoption does not really exist: you can be a guardian over someone and it actually encourages people to take care of orphans. However, if that child is not yours, you cannot adopt them and integrate them in your family. What does that mean? Well …

They do not take your last name

They do not obtain any inheritance after your death

You have to observe Purdah around them

You can marry them

Islam claims to have brought progressive ideals to the world. Would you consider the prohibition of adoption to be progressive?

If you know of anyone who’s been adopted, just wonder about what their life would look like if they were never actually part of their family. While they would be an orphan being taken care of, they would never be considered as part of the family unit. They would not share the name of their parents and siblings, they would not inherit after their “parents'” death, the women in the family would have to cover themselves around the child, and if someone in the family wanted, they could actually marry this “adopted” child since it’s not incestuous according to the Quran.

God Threatens Muhammad’s Wives

In Chapter 66 of the Quran, Surah At-Tahrim, the Quran discusses Muhammad’s domestic problems: apparently some of his wives made Muhammad feel guilty about something and hence he stopped participating in that action. Here are the relevant verses:

O Prophet, why do you prohibit [yourself from] what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. If you two [wives] repent to Allah, [it is best], for your hearts have deviated. But if you cooperate against him – then indeed Allah is his protector, and Gabriel and the righteous of the believers and the angels, moreover, are [his] assistants. Perhaps his Lord, if he divorced you [all], would substitute for him wives better than you – submitting [to Allah], believing, devoutly obedient, repentant, worshiping, and traveling – [ones] previously married and virgin (66:1 – 66:5)

Once again, the belief here is that the Quran is God’s ultimate word to mankind: we can see that he reveals very specific verses that only pertain to Muhammad. This is quite similar to what we’ve seen above: Muhammad had an issue, and God came in to resolve it by telling Muhammad he needn’t deprive himself of what his wives told him to. Not only that, but God himself tells Muhammad’s wives that they should repent, and that if they cooperate against Muhammad, God is his protector. He then ends off by telling them that if he wills, he will substitute Muhammad’s wives for better women, may they be widows or virgins.

The considerations here are twofold:

What value do these verses provide to the rest of mankind? Why does God, a divine being, resort to getting personal with Muhammad’s wives (this included Aisha, who was probably really young at the time), and tells them that if he wills, he can find Muhammad better wives unless they repent?

Muhammad Is Too Shy

Before anyone thinks that I am using a sensationalized title, I will provide you with the verse:

O you who have believed, do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted for a meal, without awaiting its readiness. But when you are invited, then enter; and when you have eaten, disperse without seeking to remain for conversation. Indeed, that [behavior] was troubling the Prophet, and he is shy of [dismissing] you. But Allah is not shy of the truth (33:53)

There isn’t much else to analyze here outside the fact that God uses a whole verse in the Quran to communicate to Muhammad’s guests to tell them that they can only enter Muhammad’s house for a meal. Once they have finished, they should leave. Muhammad could not tell that to his guests, so God reveals this verse to make it clear once and for all.

There are so many rulings and rationale absent from the Quran, yet it needs to contain a verse which informs Muhammad’s guests on house etiquette. What do you make of this verse?

Muhammad Can Marry as Many Women as He Wants

Muhammad had 13 wives. He is the only person in the Quran to have been given the permission to marry that many times. See:

O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you […] and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. You, [O Muhammad], may put aside whom you will of them or take to yourself whom you will. And any that you desire of those [wives] from whom you had [temporarily] separated – there is no blame upon you [in returning her]. That is more suitable that they should be content and not grieve and that they should be satisfied with what you have given them – all of them. And Allah knows what is in your hearts. And ever is Allah Knowing and Forbearing. (33:50 – 33:51)

Now I have referred almost exclusively to the Quran throughout this article, but there is a Hadith attributed to Aisha which contextualizes the above verse:

Narrated Aisha: I used to look down upon those ladies who had given themselves to Allah’s Apostle and I used to say, “Can a lady give herself (to a man)?” But when Allah revealed: “You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily).’ (33.51) I said (to the Prophet), “I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires.” (Sahih al-Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Hadith 311)

So Muhammad has been given permission to marry as many women as he wants, divorce as many wives as he wants, and take them back as many times as he wants.

I remember being taught that every single one of Muhammad’s marriages had an ulterior motive, may it have been been to respect his friends, or to mend broken relationships with other tribes. I will let you wonder whether the only way to resolve any of those issues was for Muhammad to marry these women, and that there was no other alternative solution, such as Muhammad giving people from those tribes money or status, or even marrying their women to other well-respected people in the Muslim community.

I want to highlight one specific wife of Muhammad’s, Safiyya bint Huiyayy. Safiyya was the daughter of a chief of a Jewish tribe. During the Battle of Khaybar, Muhammad defeats this Jewish tribe, killing Safiyya’s father as well as her husband during the battle. He then provides Safiyya the option of either returning to this defeated tribe or marrying him. She decided to thus marry him. She was only 18 years old at the time.

Now picture this scene: there is an army commander who has just defeated your tribe, killing your father as well as your husband on the way, the two most important male figures in your life. He then asks for your hand in marriage. The very same night, he consummates the marriage with you. He is also 40 years older than you.

Muhammad can never be associated with the slightest wrong in the Islamic world: people have been killed for even just drawing him.

However, I want you to suspend your belief that Muhammad is from God. Ask yourself: is this the person who you have chosen to follow for the rest of your life? Would you look upon kindly if you heard of this story about anyone else in the history?

I want to provide a last verse on this topic, which was revealed at a later time, telling Muhammad he can no longer marry any new wives, or divorce his existing wives:

It is not allowed to you to take women afterwards, nor that you should change them for other wives, though their beauty be pleasing to you, except what your right hand possesses and Allah is Watchful over all things. (33:52)

Muhammad, the person considered to be the most righteous amongst all men, is being told by God that even though God doesn’t allow him to marry any more women, he is still allowed to have sex with his slaves.

Why does the Quran even talk about who Muhammad can marry, or how many women he can marry, or how Muhammad can have sex with his slaves? What is God’s wisdom in revealing these verses?

Here is a thought: do you think it possible that Muhammad himself actually wrote the Quran?

Just think about that for a little bit: maybe read some more of the article, or read some verses in the Quran. Take some time off. Pray to God for truth. Suspend your indoctrination. Keep an open mind and perspective. Trust yourself.

I’d recommend you read Chapter 33, Al-Ahzab, and ask yourself which is more likely: that God, in his infinite divinity and wisdom, revealed such words, or whether Muhammad wrote those verses for himself.

At this point, I would have hoped I covered some of the major concerns of the Quran but there is still so much more say about the Quran, and unfortunately, I do not have enough space to cover it all: you can read through my rough chapter-by-chapter notes if you want or visit the Annotated Quran for a more honest commentary of the Quran’s verses.

However, as I’ll state below again, the best way to find the truth is for you to go through the Quran yourself in a short, uninterrupted period. Read it without assuming it’s from God. By the end, ask yourself if you still think God revealed those verses.



Understanding Allah After Reading the Quran

After having read through the above analysis, or just the Quran in general, what can we say about Allah? Here are a few descriptions which come to mind:

Allah dislikes when people do not believe in him. People shouldn’t dare worship anyone else because it makes Allah frustrated. He spends a lot of time discussing the punishments awaiting those who disbelieve. He talks about hell 77 times in the Quran. Disbelievers are the worst of all creatures, they are dumb, they are filthy, they are liars, they are conceited.

Allah shows no love nor mercy. He may favour the believers and reward them, but there is not a single story in the Quran where Allah shows he loves and cares all of humanity. You might argue that Allah saving Noah from the flood was an act of mercy but … Allah was the one who instigated the flood to begin with. This is the same as a parent taking away a child’s money, then returning it to the child, claiming that they have been merciful.

Allah is very concerned about sex: may it be him telling people who they can marry, or who they cannot marry, or whether they can have sex with their slaves, or how you are not allowed to have sex with someone’s wife, but you can marry your adopted son’s wife, or how you can have sex during Ramadhan but only at night. We also find Allah talking a lot about what is permissible for Muhammad alone. This fascination is driven even further when we read the verses about Houris and we see the degree of sensuality used to describe them (e.g. they are voluptuous, they are virgins with big, beautiful eyes)

Allah’s knowledge doesn’t seem to exist beyond 7th century Arabia: he talks about the Earth as was understood back then (e.g. stating the sun revolves around the earth, semen comes from between the backbone and the ribs, horses are for riding), he doesn’t seem to understand history accurately (e.g. he claims Moses existed despite no proof verifying this information, inaccurate Egyptology), and he can only conjure up stories which people have already told in the past. Allah himself admits in 68:15: “When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “Legends of the former peoples.”

Allah rarely talks about what it means to be a good individual, what it means to build a good family, what it means to live in a good society: instead, he wants you to read the story of Moses and Exodus for the 20th time so that you better not forget how Allah punishes those who disbelieve.

Here is a general theological/philosophical question for your pondering: if the Quran really was God’s words and contained miracles and signs which no other book does, why is it that Muslims have not convinced the world yet of its truth? Islam has been around for 1,400 years ago, and yet the vast majority of Muslims are simply offsprings of previous Muslims. The rate of conversion does not indicate worldwide acknowledgement of the Quran’s truth. If the Quran is truly what it claimed to be, would we not see a wider circle of acceptance? I know there are verses in the Quran where it mentions that God chooses who he guides and leads astray, or how God admits that he’s created multiple religions to test us. However, you would at least think there would be more non-Muslim intellectuals such as scientists, historians, anthropologists, professors etc. accepting the Quran as containing undisputed truth.

Does the belief in the Quran hinge on childhood indoctrination?



Revisiting the Ten Conditions of Divinity: Who Authored the Quran?

Earlier in the article, I postulated ten conditions to assess the divinity of a text. Let us revisit these conditions and decide whether we can attribute divinity to the Quran.

As in any formal theorem proof setting, all we need is one instance of a counter-example to discard the theory. Note that while I may only provide one example for each condition below, there is in fact a lot more evidence supporting the lack of divinity in the Quran:

A divine book should contain knowledge which would have been otherwise impossible for any human being in that time and location to have known. The Quran does not contain a single fully-developed and accurate idea which no person could have known at that time: any attempts to prove that the Quran predicted scientific revolutions 1,400 years ago hinge on metaphorical verses. We know that the Quran can be specific when it wants to (e.g. in describing Hell, or in describing the Houris for the believers), so the Quran has no excuse for the lack of specificity of its so-called predictions of scientific revolutions. Additionally, the Quran never talks of anything beyond the Middle-East: there is no mention of major populous countries such as India or China, or how Native Americans inhabit countries which would later be infiltrated by colonials. A divine book should be free of any historical or scientific errors. This has already been discussed earlier in the article regarding Egyptology. There are also countless examples of incorrect science in the Quran, such as stating that semen comes from between the backbone and the rib (86:6 – 86:7). You can read more here about the scientific inconsistencies in the Quran. A divine book should contain ethical and legislative ruling which, if followed, would lead to a happy, fulfilled, productive, peaceful, empowered, and morally righteous society. The Quran orders you to cut off hands of thieves (5:39), and tells you that you may beat your wives. It also orders punishments for fornication and adultery while never speaking about rape. A divine book should be convincing on its own: it should independently enable people to discover that it is divine, and thus inculcate strong belief in God and his words. I discussed this in the previous section, but given that only Muslims believe that the Quran is from God (and most Muslims are simply offsprings of Muslim parents), it is clear that the Quran is not convincing on its own. A divine book should optimize its real estate: there are a limited number of pages to a book which humans can readily consume, so every single word, verse, chapter in a divine book needs to indicate the most efficient usage of that space. I’ve already spoken previously about the repetition in the Quran, as well as verses which simply are irrelevant today, such as the Quran telling Muhammad’s guests to leave. It is clear that the Quran was not optimized for the most useful information to be extracted. A divine book should be timeless, unless indicated otherwise: it should contain knowledge, instructions, and rules which are applicable to all of mankind for all of times. I’ve mentioned this as well, where the Quran talks about slavery as a common institution, or how horses are used for riding, or how two women are required for every male witness. A divine book should be clear and interpretation-agnostic: everyone who reads it should extract the same meaning. I’ve also mentioned this before, but it is obvious that the Quran is not clear, since there are over 80 Muslim sects since all Muslims cannot agree on a unified interpretation of the Quran. Ahmadis in particular believe that prophets can still come after Muhammad, despite this idea being rejected by the majority of Muslims worldwide. What is the point of a divine book if it can’t even ensure that all its followers, who all think they are the true believers, agree on a mutual interpretation? A divine book, whose purpose it is to educate and inspire humans, should contain best practices when it is educating: this means that the language and approach used in a divine book should be followed when humans themselves are educating other humans. The Quran teaches people to believe in God because he will punish you otherwise. We know in today’s world that using fear is an ineffective method of teaching. A divine book should display facets of God which should be followed by humans as much as possible. Allah is really angry in the Quran and does not hesitate to destroy societies who don’t listen to him. I doubt that mankind would be a productive society if we resorted to such extremes when people have different opinions and beliefs. A divine book should be verifiable, meaning that its claims can be assessed objectively to determine if it is indeed talking of widely-known and proven truths. To this date, we cannot verify any of the stories in the Quran: we don’t know whether Moses existed, whether Jesus died on Earth, whether Satan is actually an angel who is misleading people.

After having gone through the analyses presented, reading the character of Allah as presented in the Quran, and considering the ten conditions of a divine book …

Who do you think wrote the Quran?

Was it an omniscient, omnipotent, just, and loving God who has infinite wisdom and knowledge over all things, and wants his creation to be good people and do good deeds and experience happiness and fulfillment, or was it simply Muhammad himself who wrote the Quran as a means to obtain a following and all the pleasures which he may want?

I think the answer should be clear to everyone.



Conclusion and Takeaway

I am not sure how many people will read this post, or whether it will change anyone’s mind. In some ways, writing this was a personal endeavor as it allowed me to clearly document my thoughts about the Quran in a structured and organized fashion.

However, if there is one thing which you can take away from the article, it is simply that I request you to read the entire Quran in a dedicated period of time without initially assuming it is divine.

Temporarily discard your notion of Allah, read and analyze the Quran the same way you would any other book, and then be critical of your beliefs and indoctrination: does it still make sense that the Quran was from God? Or would you argue that you could probably write a better guide for humanity today?

As I’ve stated in the About section of my website, my only goal is to empower and enable people to question their beliefs and indoctrination to find truth and authenticity: if this translates to still believing that the Quran and Islam is from God, I wish you success and happiness in your life, and if you find yourself having more questions after this, I invite you to continuously engage in your search for truth and seek out answers for yourself. You can get started from my Resources section.

Salaam (Peace).