by Alamgir Hussain faithfreedom.org
Recently, I was having a conversation on Islam with an old friend – a top student from the most prestigious Engineering school in Bangladesh – who also holds two postgraduate degrees from two reputed oversees Universities. He is also the most liberal, tolerant and broadminded, yet pious, Muslim friend I have ever known. According to his claim, he has read the Quran carefully, and probably multiple times, in languages he understands.
Our discussion eventually turned to quoting the verses of the holy Quran “out of context” by critics in order to distort its otherwise beautiful message. The sequence of events in the discussion that followed are as below:
My friend:
“Quran emphasize us not to die without believing. To me this means our life is like an exam, where we can perform only within the time period. Once exam time is over, even we realize our mistake we wouldn’t be able to get the credit. Though I don’t believe in typical thought that only Muslim would go to Paradise, there is reason to be worried for a good friend like you. I believe everyone would be fairly judged with respect to their condition and work and will get consequence of their acts. Now with what you are spreading, you should think twice about your understanding. From my position I can clearly see your problems. But I don’t want to start arguing with you as that will not help you. You can help your self with an intension of searching for the truth, by taking a neutral position by reading quality materials that are not written with aggressive and prejudge approach.”
I replied:
You said: “Quran emphasize us not to die without believing.” — This is not true, which you clearly know, if you have read the Quran in Bangla or English — languages you understand. Those, who do not accept Muhammad and Allah:
1. The Quran has threatened them with grievous punishments (in numerous places);
2. It has called for their ethnic cleansing (59:3-4: “And had it not been that Allah had decreed “banishment” for them, He would certainly have punished them in this world: And in the Hereafter they shall (certainly) have the Punishment of the Fire. That is because they “resisted Allah and His Messenger”: and if any one resists Allah, verily Allah is severe in Punishment.“), and;
3. The Quran has called for their summary execution, if the rejecters in question are polytheists (Q 9:4-5: “Except those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement, then they have not failed you in anything and have not backed up any one against you, so fulfill their agreement to the end of their term; surely Allah loves those who are careful (of their duty). So when the sacred months have passed away, then “slay” the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.), and much more.
This is but a small sample of the Quran’s troublesome aspect, which any sane reader can grasp, even if read with least attention.
From here, the discussion turned to “quoting verses out of context” by critics of the Quran.
My friend wrote:
“In general, most of misconceptions about Quran are quoted out of context. For example when you were quoting from Chapter 9 verse 4-5, you are ignoring just next verse – 6, which not only asking to grant asylum for Pagan but also to escort to secure place (9:6 “If one amongst the Pagans ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah. and then escort him to where he can be secure.”)
I wrote:
Your complaint is may be true! But let us discuss that.
I was actually planning to write an article on accusations by Muslims that critics and ex-Muslims (out of their hatred for Muslims) deliberately distort the message of the holy Quran by quoting its verses in out of context. I have myself received and seen the complaint on numerous occasions and places. Last week, I published an essay in somewhereinblog.com, and one reader reacted to my reference to atrocities commanded in verses 9:4-5 in the exactly the same words you have written: “you are ignoring just next verse – 6, which not only asking to grant asylum for Pagan but also to escort to secure place…” It seems like the same person made both comments, or it was copy-pasted from the same source. Anyway, your complaint of me engaging in deliberate distortion of the meaning of verses 9:4-5 prompted me to complete the article on the “context issue” with your comments included. I will start with it first. But let me warn you that some of the conclusions about the Quran I have drawn below may sound harsh, but I hope, you will agree that they are logical and justified.
I myself used to engage in this “context” game-playing when I was debating with critics of the Quran some 9-10 years ago by copy-pasting comments from pro-Islamic sources. Then, I didn’t yet have a good reading of the Quran. But when I started studying the context of those troublesome verses deeply, their meanings turned out even more horrible than what they apparently meant when context is not taken into consideration.
Now, you talked about context of verses 9:4-5, but you yourself didn’t give its context. Instead, you cited another verse, the next verse. How can one verse of the Quran be the context of another? What will be the context of verse 9:6? Verse 9:7?
Context is the circumstance or background under which a statement is made or an action undertaken. According to Quran 85:21 & 15:9, verses of the Quran were written by Allah (probably before the creation of the Universe), and a copy of the Quran has been preserved in heaven since and for eternity. And they are supposed to be the guide to life. If Quranic verses are just the contexts of each other, where do we find the guide to our life in the Quran?
Ideally, the Quranic verses cannot have any context whatsoever, because Allah didn’t write them on the backdrop of particular circumstance, experience or background. However, each verse of the Quran has indeed its context, because, as I had said in one of my early messages to you, that they were simply devised by Muhammad in the context of situations, aspirations and desires of Muhammad’s life. And you can get much of the known contexts of Quranic verses in the Tafsirs, hadiths and Muhammad’s Sira. And when you read those contexts, the meaning of most verses appears even worse, which you will realize from this discussion itself.
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