Question:
Why do Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God?
malmn
2010-08-13 04:52:58 UTC
The following quotes are from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam)

1) "Muslims believe that the verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad by God through the archangel Gabriel."

2) " The Qur'an was reportedly written down by Muhammad's companions (sahabah) while he was alive, although the prime method of transmission was orally"

The Koran is everything for Muslims. It's the most important book and earth and it dictates how to live their lives. They believe every word of it, right?

So, if I understand correctly, humans (Mohammed the last) spoke with and listened to God and then wrote his words and ideas down...and today Muslims believe what's in the book, every word of it, are the true words of God, and they live their lives by it, right?

So, why do Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God? I mean there are so many obviously and blatant flaws with the book that I don't understand why Muslims don't ever scratch beneath the surface and ask themselves questions.

The first and major flaw with the book is that it was written by humans (see the Wikipedia quotes above). As we all know very, very well, humans make mistakes. A lot of them! Humans make mistakes all the time. Humans also misinterpret things all the the time as well. We constantly make errors. Unlike God, humans are unreliable. How can non perfect, unreliable beings create a perfect book? How can Mohammed who was a simple human, as were the Koran's writers, not have mad mistakes, errors and misinterpretations when they wrote the Koran? It makes no sense to me.

And that's my point. How can Muslims believe so much in a book that was written by humans? Sure, Muslims claim the book contains God's words, but there is nor real proof. There is no evidence at all, at least none that is scientific, that explains and proves that the Koran are the actual words of God. It seems that Muslims just accept it as truth without asking questions and getting reasonable answers that makes sense. Muslims just say it is and we have to believe blindly.....it doesn't seem an intelligent to live life (without asking questions) and it seems like a very dangerous thing to me.
Ten answers:
Jonhenry
2010-08-13 04:57:32 UTC
That is the nature of religious belief.



Some Christians believe that the bible is the infallible word of god but it too is full of errors, contradictions and scientific errors.



Religious beliefs make people blind to anything that contradicts what they believe. Delusions are very powerful and can be dangerous. It makes people point out in the errors in all other religions but they remain blind to their own.
Um Huda
2010-08-13 04:58:37 UTC
To correct your first "flaw" yes, it was written down by humans, BUT the scribes would read back to Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, what they wrote and he would correct them if they missed anything or changed anything. The wrote down, word of word, letter for letter, what was being recited by Prophet Muhammad. And Prophet Muhammad memorized word for word the Word of God from the angel Gabriel, who would review and make sure he memorized it correctly.



As a matter of fact, the angel Gabriel would review the ENTIRE Qur'an with the Prophet Muhammad orally every Ramadan and twice in the Ramadan the year he died.



The written text is in the same language it was revealed in. Thus nothing is changed since no translations took place. The Qur'an is the ONLY book that is memorized by hundreds of Muslims in it's entirety AND original text, word for word.



Realize also, that by the method of memorization and oral dictation was the Qur'an memorized. There was no "book" at that time, but rather the pages the scribes wrote down what was revealed. The actual compilation of a book was done after a battle when Caliph Abu Bakr saw that many of the slain Muslims were among those who memorized the entire Qur'an. Afraid that eventually it would be lost, he gathered his companions to find a solution.



Second, Muhammad, pbuh, did have the privilege of God speaking to him directly; "...Allâh’s Words to His Messenger [pbuh] at first hand without the mediation of an angel. It was a privilege granted to Moses, pbuh, and clearly attested in the Qur’ân, as it is attested to our Prophet [pbuh] in the Sûrah Al-Isrâ’ (Chapter 17 - The Journey by Night) of the Noble Qur’ân...." http://www.rasoulallah.net/v2/document.aspx?lang=en&doc=1591



Third; it can either be a very dangerous thing, or a very blessed thing. And when you see all the proofs and understand the beauty of the Qur'an and realize that it is nothing more than a reminder and a guidance to mankind, than you'll understand why Muslims feel so blessed to live a life of guidance and bliss.



Compilation;

http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com/2006/04/11/legacy-of-abu-bakr-compilation-of-the-quraan/

Preservation;

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1158658467041&pagename=Zone-English-Living_Shariah%2FLSELayout
nadeem
2010-08-13 05:18:25 UTC
let me tell something gabriel is an angel he was an angel angels are created from light humans from clay demons from fire and god chose muhammad to be a prophet and messenger and IF he made a mistake god will correct him thrugh angels or maybe demons and qu'ran sais what god did and by did i mean he made happen and said and what prophets did and said prophets even before jesus before there is something that happened between muslims and christians qur'an sais that there was a ship on a certain mountain and the bible said it was on another mountain but qur'an was right. and in the qur'an god ordered us to not change the words of it so no one did he ordered us that because humans other than prophets have changed the bible to what they like it to be. and what made us believe what made us believe was miracles and feelings and situations no one can blindly be a muslim dont u realize that no muslim NO muslim questioned al qur'an but christains questioned their bible. read and talk to god god hears every thing u say every thing u think and every thing u feel.
?
2010-08-13 05:00:35 UTC
the same can be said about any religion with a holy book [christianity, judaism] not just islam.

i also find it difficult to understand my religion completely and i have asked questions, im not an expert on islam [just 16] so im probably not the best to talk about this but isnt it also hard to beleive [for atheists] that there is no god and everything just happened, i dunno, this stuff confuses me. some people are educated in these matters and if you want to know more you should probably speak to the really religious people like an imam [equivalent of priest i think] or something.
Esoteric
2010-08-13 04:59:13 UTC
Primitively evolved ego is exploited for purposes of creating order out of chaos and power over others.



Equatorial cultures don't exhibit culturally perpetual traits like true altruism and false altruism which leads to a more sophisticated culutre and paves the way for more pre-emptive thinking.



They will be less advanced as a result of very fewer wars being fought in their part of the world because they have very little to fight over.



We are ultimately on a production line of biological hereditary processes and cultural perpetuation produced by mechanics, with just as much good manifesting from what ever badness occurs in life.

As a result of being the most aggressive and lethal species on the planet we evolved survival traits such as the act of subservience and sinister false altruism.

Centuries of warfare has paved the way for human thought!

(There are still cultures on the planet lacking in subservience, sinister false altruism and true altruism who struggle to advance)

Centuries of warfare and the tribally motivated act of taking naturally occurring hallucinogenic substances and inebriating substances have acted to weaken or strengthen our otherwise primitively instinctive aggressive responses to conflict, this has strengthening our inhibitor capabilities before the heat of the battle so to speak.

This better evolved inhibitive strength has given us more time to THINK, the one who keeps his cool normally wins) (The brain evolving into the more sophisticated lethal tool at the moment)



The trouble is that we have no choice other than to strive through the trouble cultures inflict on our selves which gives us sense of purpose and good reason to exist, this perpetuation of culture enables us to grow stronger and advance, it also gives us a sense of place being how we evolve.

(The ego mostly needing to know why and where it is, giving it’s self place and purpose, this is hard wired into the brain because historically if the self is out of place from the perception of the majority this has proven to be potentially lethal to us.)

Is this why white van man syndrome is noticed amongst our culture?

White van mans empowering lonely job (The ego lost) can give rise to thoughts of exceptional-ism and potentially grandiose feelings and narcissism. This is because white van mans ego is lost, he needs to be checked thus sometimes drives irrationally, (the ego saying where am I, I need ot be checked because I am in fear of acting out of the ordinary)



If there is no naturally occurring trouble for us to battle through you can count on the primitively evolved ego causing some, either for it's own sense of purpose, sanity and sense of hierarchical place while it defends it's own success succeeding at the demise of others. E.G.(Recognise and exploit weaknesses, Keeping others in trouble, socially divided and in modern times economically controlled with prime and sub-prime Guilt/Guild investments.)(Social Engineering)

These standards are set by peers, learned and then perpetuated throughout cultures all over the world.

(“A bit stone age if I do say so myself”)!



Mountbatten said to Ghandi "It costs a fortune to keep you poor".



The more knowledge we have acquired, the better chances we have had of survival as a result of exploiting our learned knowledge. (Hence. “Knowledge is power” which has been exploited by the most successful in society to aid their success over others)

(Sometimes in the past and still today, what we have not know about has killed us)

The ego, a level and standard of perception of ones self, (Mostly attributed to suburban cultures) is an instinctively adopted and evolving mechanism which causes the conflict we need in order to advance.

The downside is that it needs to create why it is doing what it is doing if it has no idea in the first place, whilst sometimes justifying the necessary horrendous deeds it has historically had to carry out to it's self.

(This explains the origins to our historically insane beliefs) E.G. Creationism: Witch Craft, Voodoo and human sacrifices to Gods.



Life is not sane or rational, and neither is man or his beliefs.

Mans created beliefs are as a consequence of the ever evolving ego.

Religion was and is a product of the primitively evolved ego, and has been exploited for purposes of indoctrination used for the greater good, but of course we know that

out of the greater good comes the greater bad.

If God exists, it 's between God and individuals. (The truth, right and wrong, his/her conscience which may be answerable)



"Cogito, ergo sum" (Usually translated in English as: "I think, therefore I am"



Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science", New York Times Magazine, November 9, 1930



Man creates go in his own insane image. He needs someone to forgive him for the terrible treacherous deeds he he has to commit as he strive to succeed at the demise of the next man.
?
2010-08-13 05:05:38 UTC
Why do you spell Quran wrong, when you even got quotes with the correct way to spell it?



Yes the Quran is a guide on how to live our lives. And we do believe in every word.



No, humans did not speak to God. (not plural, singular) Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was revealed the Quran through angel Gabriel. And they are the true words of God.



You claim there are "so many obviously and blatant flaws" yet you did not provide any.



It was only written out of fear that people would stop memorizing it and the words would be lost. At that time, if you were Muslim you memorized the Quran. (pretty much the same now, but I think we struggle more with memorizing, more people at that time already knew the Quran by heart, a lot of people today do know it by heart to, others (like me) are trying. Every Muslim is expected to at least know the first chapter by heart).



Yes Human make mistakes, but so many people had memorized it that it was impossible for a mistake to be made with so many people knowing it by heart. They had the best of memory. For example Abu Hurairah was known for his incredible memory. Theres a story about him going to a king, because the king heard he had good memory and he told him to recite something really long, and then a year later he asked him to say the exact same thing, and he did.

And even IF the Quran did have a mistake, there were so many people who memorized, that would correct it.



Simple, I just explained it.

The proof is in the book its self.

If you haven't read it, haven't heard it (in the way it was revealed (arabic)) then don't knock it down till you tried it.



And Islam encourages us to ask questions. Knowledge is very important in Islam. We can't be real Muslims unless we seek it. We don't believe blindly, trust me I'm full of questions, and the Quran is full of answers.
Haitham Emad
2010-08-13 05:04:19 UTC
1) Were you expecting God to reveal His greatness to write down Al-Qur'an ?

I quote , [2:210] "Wait they for naught else than that Allah should come unto them in the shadows of the clouds with the angels? Then the case would be already judged. All cases go back to Allah (for judgment)."



2) Or were you expecting a living Angel to come down and dictate human beings generation after generation God's words ?

I quote , [17:95] "Say: If there were in the earth angels walking secure, We had sent down for them from heaven an angel as messenger."

I quote , [17:94]"And naught prevented mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them save that they said: Hath Allah sent a mortal as (His) messenger? "



People make excuses all the time for not believing in God's true words , I quote [17:93] "Or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into heaven, and even then we will put no faith in thine ascension till thou bring down for us a book that we can read. Say (O Muhammad): My Lord be Glorified! Am I aught save a mortal messenger? "



I am not about to discuss your argument for it has many flaws from which you can sneak away , instead I am asking you to invent a way in which God would deliver His words to us other than that mentioned above.
Abu Bakr
2010-08-13 05:02:44 UTC
The Quran is not only unique in the way in which it presents its subject matter, but it is also unique in that it is a miracle itself. By the term “miracle,” we mean the performance of a supernatural or extraordinary event which cannot be duplicated by humans. It has been documented that Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, challenged the Arabs to produce a literary work of a similar caliber as the Quran, but they were unable to do so in spite of their well-known eloquence and literary powers. The challenge to reproduce the Quran was presented to the Arabs and mankind in three stages:



l. The Whole Quran

In the Quran, God commanded the Prophet to challenge all of creation to create a book of the stature of the Quran:

“Say: ‘If all mankind and the jinn would come together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like even though they exerted all and their strength in aiding one another.’” (Quran 17:88)



2. Ten Chapters

Next, God made the challenge ostensibly easier by asking those who denied its divine origin to imitate even ten chapters of the Quran:

“Or do they say that he has invented it? Say (to them), ‘Bring ten invented chapters like it, and call (for help) on whomever you can besides God, if you are truthful.” (Quran 11:13)



3. One Chapter

This final challenge was to produce even a single chapter to match what is in the Quran, whose shortest chapter, al-Kawthar, consists of only three verses:

“And if you all are in doubt about what I have revealed to My servant, bring a single chapter like it, and call your witnesses besides God if you are truthful.” (Quran 2:23)



(to continue ..) http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/648/
Farzan Saeed
2010-08-13 05:06:55 UTC
Quran is the real book of GOD! Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W. was not a common man. The whole Quran was written under his supervision! There can't be any sort of mistake in Quran because Allah have promised to guard this HOLY BOOK!



Reasons to convert to ISLAM:

1) The basic principles are same as those of Christianity and Jews! Quran (HOLY BOOK OF ISLAM) accepts that Jesus, Moses, etc. were the messengers of GOD! Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W. was sent because the books of the previous religions were tampered! People and rulers tampered the books to make their lives easy! So at last QURAN was revealed and ALLAH have promised to guard it him self! IF U HAVE SOME MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT QURAN ASK ME! Till today QURAN is in it's original shape! Not even a single word is changed! The ISLAM allows the MUSLIM men to marry any CHRISTIAN or JEW, etc. but only if that Christian, etc. is a true christian! SHE FOLLOWS THE UNTAMPERED BIBLE!



Most of all, Islam strictly don't allow any one to fight! Muslims are only allowed to fight when there's a need to do it! The people who are terrorizing the whole world in the name of ISLAM are NOT MUSLIMS! Islam is the religion of peace! Islam orders us to help poor, widows and needy! ACCORDING TO ISLAM WOMEN MUST NOT BE TREATED AS 2ND CLASS CITIZENS! When ever MUSLIMS conquered any place, the women were respected and HUMAN RIGHTS WERE RESPECTED MosT!



If u want to know more about the principles of ISLAM contact me! AND don't see the MUSLIMS of TODAY, we are not true MUSLIMS, read the life of PROPHET S.A.W. and of his true believers!



When it comes to prayer, ISLAM is good too, the actions in prayer are good for your health, etc.



Embrace ISLAM, and contact me for more info. Do also gimme your questions about ISLAm!
2010-08-13 04:57:19 UTC
Yeah, you do realize that that same question would work if you swapped Qur'an for bible and Muhammad for God? Im saying that how can YOU prove that God is totally reliable? Can you prove that the bible is really the working and teachings of God? Im not being nasty here, Im just saying.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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