Islamic Apologetic Points

 

 

I) Mohammed - Islamic Defense of Prophetic Position

           A) Biblical Support

                    1) Deut 18: 15- 18

                    2) Deut 34:10

                    3) Habakkuk 3:3

                    4) Psalm 45:3 -5

                    5) Isaiah 21:7

                    6) Matt 3:1

                    7) John 14:16 - Based on (61:6) Mohammed "Ahmed" (Periclytos) praised one

           

            B) Miracle Claims

                   * Mohammed never produced miracles even when challenged to do so (3:181-4)

                     1) Miracle of the Miraj - Izra (night journey)

                     2) Victory at Badr (5:12)

                     3) Roman victory over Persia (30: 2- 4)

                     4) Hadith miracles

 

            C) Moral example

                    ‘Beyond (major) sin and perfect moral example for humanity’  But what about…

 

                    1) Polygamy (4:3) and unlimited wives and slave concubines for Mohammed (33:50)

                    2) Lower status for women - "Men are in charge of women because Allah hath made the one to excel the other.... As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them to beds apart and scourge them (4:34)

                    3) Mohammed's moral imperfection - "ask God forgiveness for thy fault" (40:55)

                    4) Holy Wars – “prophet of the sword”

                    5) Moral expediency – raided Meccan caravans

                    6) Retaliation – encouraged followers to punish those who satirized the prophet

                    7) Mercilessness – wiped out last Jewish tribe in Medina.  Men were killed, women and children sold into slavery

 

II) Koran - Miracle of God?

 

            A) Unique Literary Style – haphazard arrangement, grammatical mistakes

            B) Mohammed's Illiteracy – translation of ‘illiterate’ prophet could be gentile

            C) Perfect Preservation – variation exist even after 7th century Uthmanic recension

            D) Prophecies – Roman victory over Persia could be disputed.

            E) Unity – abrogation, no chronological or thematic order

            F) Scientific Accuracy – scientific claims are a stretch, we do not start out as a blood clot

            G) Changed Lives – by force!

 

 

III) Qur'anic problematic quotes to remember:

 

            1) “And if thou are in doubt as to what we have sent down to thee, inquire at those who have read the Scriptures before thee.”  (10:94) “And that the people of the Evangel may judge according to what God has sent down therein…and whoso will not judge by what God hath sent down - such are the perverse.”  (5:51)

 

            2) The Qur'an claims that “no change there can be in the Words of God.”  (10:64) and "there is none that can alter the Words (and Decrees) of God." (6:34) But the Qur'an also teaches the doctrine of abrogation (mansukh) - "revelations... We abrogate or cause to be forgotten." (2:106)

 

            3) Sura 9:8 states, " O Zechariah! Verily we announce to thee a son - his name John.  That name We have given to none before him."  But 1 Maccabees, history, and archeology (coins) mention John Hyrcanus as the high priest of Judah in the 2nd century B.C.

 

            4) Mohammed misstates Christian Doctrine,  " And when God shall say - 'O Jesus, Son of Mary: hast thou said unto mankind - "Take me and my mother as two Gods, beside God?" (5:116) Can God be mistaken about what Christians really believe?  Is this really the uncreated word of God?

 

            5) In sura 2:32-33, Satan (Ellis) is condemned by Allah for not bowing down with the angels to worship Adam as Allah had instructed.  Question for Muslims: Wasn't Satan being a good Muslim since Islam teaches that you bow down to no one but ALLAH?!

 

            6) In sura 4:156, the Koran states that Jesus was not crucified: "And for their (the Jews) saying, "Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the Son of Mary, the Apostle of God."  Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness."  However, the gospels AND independent sources such as Josephus and Roman historians verify his death by crucifixion.  (Note: quite popular with Muslim apologists is the Gospel of Barnabas, which contains claims that Judas was crucified in place of Jesus.  The problems with this claim are:

            a) There is no mention of this text by Muslim apologists prior to the 15th century

            b) Its teachings even contradict the Koran

            c) It employs many medieval anachronisms (feudal society)

            d) It utilizes the Latin Vulgate text of the Bible (4th century) rather than the 1st century original it is supposed to use if it was authentic. 

             e) It is mention by Pope Galasius in 492 AD but no manuscripts exist from that time AND he lists it as a spurious book.