Changing Jesus, And Muhammad's Personal Problems Series

Lesson 29, Muhammad, Show Us Proof!

Today we cover suras 14-17 .

Sura 14 is called "Abraham" but only mentions the patriarch at the end, as the author of a prayer that, per the Bible, he never prayed.

The chapter opens up with great promise, describing Koran as a book "we have sent down to you [Muhammad] that you may bring people out of the darkness into the light." That same paragraph ends, "So Allah leads astray whom he wills and guides whom he wills..." Not very light-producing after all. More judgment. More bad news.

When asked to produce authority for what he is saying in all these readings, Muhammad/Allah simply calls on the people to trust him, for "we do not have anything, except to depend on Allah." He follows up with promises of doom for the disobedient, but never gives the people, and consequently us, a reason to believe in what he is saying. Coupled to the fact of the documentary evidence which is so lacking, Islam strikes out.

Jesus could tell His followers to believe on Him because of the marvelous works He did. And it was not just talk. There were actually marvelous works to back up the words. The dead were raised, demons went for long vacations when they saw Him coming, the sick were not sick any more. He even spoke with authority, and not as the other religious rulers of His day. What's not to believe about Jesus? It was the obedience, the cost of discipleship, that made so many go away, sadly.

Muhammad calls people to come and fight for Allah with him, and talks of promises by and by, gardens and virgins and all the rest, then threatens constantly with damnation, but he offers no evidence that he is who he claims to be, a prophet of God.

Verse 24 is the Koran's attempt to sound like Psalm 1. About a tree with branches and roots etc. But soon comes the matching condemnation. About an evil tree. About roasting in hell. Your end is the fire. Such damning. Such fear is placed in the ears of his audience.

And fear is quite the motivator. For awhile. With Christ, the motivation is love. Perfect love. Perfect love that casts out fear. No condemnation to them that are in Christ. Good news.

I have to keep saying these light-producing things... it's dark in here!

Then that prayer of "Abraham": "Lord, make this country secure, and protect me and my children from worshiping the idols... surely you are forgiving, merciful." He goes on to ask God's blessing on his family and thank him for his blessings. Muhammad is showing here as elsewhere that he has insights into Biblical history that even Bible believers do not have.

Sura 15, "The Rock", is mainly repetition, the one point that stands out to me being that once more Muhammad is accused of being demon-possessed, and of offering no proof for his revelations. "Bring to us angels!" they insist. His only response is more of the same, affirmations that he is true, that Allah does great things, and that torment awaits the infidels.

The name for this chapter comes from what seems to be another invention of Muhammad, a people who lived among "the rocks", perhaps mountains, who rejected the messengers of Allah and were of course punished for it. As is my practice in this study, I will not dwell long on the obscure passages, but bring out the obvious issues that concern us as believers in Jesus.

That brings us to sura 16, "The bees." Both biology and astronomy take a hit in this chapter.

Verse 4 informs us that we were all created from "nutfah", a word, according to translator Dakdok, "which scholars claim to mean male and female sexual discharges." These fluids originate, respectively, in the male's backbone (semen), and the breasts of women. Yes, this seems to be verified in the Koran itself, 86:5-7. That's what it says.

As to the heavens and the earth, we find in verse 15 that the earth is stationary, held in place by "stabilizers."

Moving right along, in verse 24 yet another criticism of the readings is recorded. It could well be that Muhammad has sewn the seed of the Koran's own refutation by quoting the various objections of people he meets. For examples, his detractors call the Koran "fables of the ancients." Indeed, it is strongly believed by those who study these things that Muhammad has copied his materials from many extant documents.

Why the "bees"? In verse 68 Muhammad claims that Allah has told the bees to provide from their bellies a medicine that will be a "sign to people who reflect." Indeed, what a sign this would be. But do we have evidence that anything like this has ever happened? Surely Muhammad did not believe that honey comes from the belly of a bee?