Sunday 30 October 2011

Did prophet Muhammad recieve revelations outside the Qur'an ?

Peace to the world,

The way traditional muslims (scholars too) try to justify their "writing the books with their own hands and claiming that its from Allah" is by tricking the non-suspecting masses  with statements such as "There are revelations beside the Qur'an that was given to Muhammad". To know the truth, one must atleast let the Qur'an speak on the subject of revelations. Let us begin by just doing that:


What was revealed to the prophet ?

Say, "What thing is greatest in testimony?" Say, " Allah is witness between me and you. And this Qur'an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches. Do you testify that with Allah there are other deities?" Say, "I will not testify." Say, "Indeed, He is but one God, and indeed, I am free of what you associate  ."
[Qur'an 6:19]

Revealed: Qur'an for the purpose of warning people and whoever the message reaches. The idea can be verified in other places of the Qur'an

Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the clear Book. Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an that you might understand. We relate to you, the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware.
[Qur'an 12:1-3]

Revealed: Qur'an in arabic where God relates to the audience the best of story.

Nowhere in the Qur'an can one point out that God informs of external revelations given to the prophet to guide us. The scholars have used a verse from the Qur'an (53:3-4) to justify that the messenger does not say anything from himself, but Allah, which implies to the masses that whatever Muhammad spoke was revelation in one sense. Let us investigate the verse, but UNLIKE the scholars/sheikhs, let us atleast try to look at the context.

By the star when it descends,Your companion has not strayed, nor has he erred, Nor does he speak from  inclination.It is not but a revelation revealed, Taught to him by one intense in strength -
[Qur'an 53:1-5]

So, in context, God never said that whatever Muhammad says is a revelation inspired of God. God was telling the audience that the messenger is not mad or gone astray, the messenger was not speaking by himself but "IT" is a revelation from God. "IT" here can not be anything outside Qur'an. The verses  are not refering to "THEM", in that case, the scholars would atleast have a case to discuss. So even here, the revelation is the Qur'an. Another point to notice is 9:43 and 66:01. If we interprete 53:1-5 as "whatever prophet says is revelation (outside Qur'an )" then what about the following verses:

May Allah pardon you, ; why did you give them permission ?  until it was evident to you who were truthful and you knew  the liars.
[Qur'an 09:43]

So, here we see Allah pointing out that Muhammad gave a wrong command.

O Prophet, why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
[Qur'an 66:01]

Here we observe that prophet made the mistake of forbidding something which Allah did not forbid.

My question is, if 53:1-5 means that whatever prophet ordered or did out of free-will is revelation from God, how can prophet make mistakes as shown in the above ayaats ? How can God tell Muhammad in one revelation to do something and in the Qur'an scold Muhammad for carrying out the order given in the other revelation ? Is your model of God schizophrenic ? In plain English, is God suffering from multiple personality disorder ? If not, ask your favourite scholars, why they interpret this ayaat in a way to degrade God.


Does the messenger act religious without Qur'anic revelation ?

The entire hadith based traditional Islam floats on judgements outside Qur'an. Qur'an bares witness that such hypocrites were present around Muhammad, who were not satisfied with the Qur'an and its judgements. Some even went as far as asking him to bring another Qur'an ( aren't the hadith collections just that ?) Let us consider the following ayaat as evidence:
And when you,  do not bring them a sign, they say, "Why have you not contrived it?" Say, "I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord. This is enlightenment from your Lord and guidance and mercy for a people who believe."

[Qur'an 7:203]


And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, "Bring us a Qur'an other than this or change it." Say,  "It is not for me to change it on my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. Indeed I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day."
[Qur'an 10:15]
So, outside the revelations, the messenger can not provide solutions to your problems. Since the only revelation mentioned is the Qur'an, naturally the messenger was not there to teach anything outside the Qur'an.

Companions asking questions to prophet ?

Another popular explanation provided by the so called scholars/imams for the existance of outside qur'an religious teaching provided by Muhammad has to do with his companions (Sahaba). In this lie told by the scholars, it is said that when the companions asked Muhammad about certain things, Muhammad provided outside Qur'an teachings (ignoring the fact that he is just a man and God already found him faulty in 9:43,66:01). This lie is so much surprizing that it almost feels like these sheikhs/mufti/scholars are being paid to be deaf/dumb/blind when reading the Qur'an. It is shocking to note that Qur'an has ayaat on this specific subject matter. Here it is :

O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Qur'an is being revealed, they will be shown to you. Allah has pardoned that which is past; and Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing.

[Qur'an 5:101]

It is surprising how these so called scholars totally missed out this ayaat. This ayaat if seen in the light of 9:43 and 66:01 and the message of the Qur'an, confirms that only God can guide. So stop troubling the messenger with questions. The messenger is just a man. But if you ask when the revelation is ONLINE in status, if God wills, He will show it.

To conclude, the Qur'an clearly talks about ONE revelations, which is Itself. None of the classical understanding of the sholars can hold their grounds in the light of the few Qur'an ayaats that I spoke about in this article.


PEACE
------------------------------------- Student of Allah


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