Errors in theology of Islam

One of the best resources about the errors in theology of Islam is WikiIslam website. The core article “Islam and Scripture” serves as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn more about this topic.

http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Islam_and_Scripture

Islam and Scripture
As a way of life, there is a lot more to the adherence of Islam than the Qur'an, and, initially, the Qur'an itself can be hard to comprehend. This page contains easy-to-read summaries of articles discussing Islam and the understanding of its various scriptures and texts.

WikiIslam

Important warning: the debate with muftis (Islamic scholars) about the theology of Islam may result in your death – if Islamic scholars run out of theological arguments then Islamic scholars issue fatwā of death against you and every Muslim in the world is obliged to kill you – several examples are below. In Islam the killing of theological opponents is the accepted way of doing the debates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwa

A fatwā (Arabic: فتوى‎; plural fatāwā Arabic: فتاوى‎) in the Islamic faith is the term for the legal opinion or learned interpretation that a qualified jurist or mufti can give on issues pertaining to the Islamic law. The person who issues a fatwā is called, in that respect, a Mufti, i.e. an issuer of fatwā, from the verb أَفْتَى 'aftā = "he gave a formal legal opinion on".

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatwas

A fatwa (Arabic: فتوى‎), is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue.
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Fatwas promoting violence against a particular individual

Fatwas involving violence are more likely to be well known than other fatwas, especially to non-Muslims. One possible reason is that non-Muslims regard most fatwas as not affecting them, but fatwas involving violence can potentially affect them. Fatwas do not only affect non-Muslims. It is important to note that a Fatwa is meant to be issued by a legal scholar, not by any political entity. Generally, any given case may have many fatwas (legal opinions) written by the scholars of the region and time. The fatwa backed by the State is the one with legal power.

Shahin Najafi
An Iranian rapper who raps in Persian language has been forced into hiding after hardline clerics offered a $100,000 reward for his murder, incensed by his song (Naghi) which is satirising the Tehran regime and making allegedly irreverent remarks about the tenth Islamic imam (Naghi).

Muammar al-Gaddafi
An Egyptian Muslim cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, issued a fatwa that urged soldiers to kill Muammar al-Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, if they were able to do so.

Geert Wilders
An Australian imam named Feiz Mohammad has issued a fatwa calling for the beheading of the Dutch politician Geert Wilders, as of 2010.

Jerry Falwell
In an interview given on September 30, 2002, for the October 6 edition of 60 Minutes, American Christian minister Jerry Falwell said: "I think Muhammad was a terrorist. I read enough by both Muslims and non-Muslims, that he was a violent man, a man of war."

The following Friday, Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari, an Iranian cleric, issued a fatwa calling for Falwell's death, saying Falwell was a "mercenary and must be killed." He added, "The death of that man is a religious duty, but his case should not be tied to the Christian community."

Salman Rushdie
One of the first well-known fatwas was proclaimed in 1989 by the Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, against Salman Rushdie over his novel The Satanic Verses. The reason was an allegedly blasphemous statement taken from an early biography of the Prophet Muhammad, regarding the incorporation of pagan goddesses into Islam’s strongly monotheistic structure. Khomeini died shortly after issuing the fatwa. In 1998 Iran stated it is no longer pursuing Rushdie’s death; however, that decree was again reversed in early 2005 by the present theocrat, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In 1991, Rushdie's Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed to death in Tokyo, and his Italian translator was beaten and stabbed in Milan. In 1993, Rushdie's Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was shot and severely injured in an attack outside his house in Oslo. Thirty-seven guests died when their hotel in Sivas, Turkey was torched by locals protesting against Aziz Nesin, Rushdie's Turkish translator.

Taslima Nasreen
Fundamentalists in Bangladesh proclaimed a similar fatwa against Taslima Nasreen in 1993, against a series of newspaper columns in which she was critical of the treatment of women under Islam. The next year she wrote Lajja (Shame) which described the abuse of women and minorities. Again there were calls for her death, and her passport was confiscated. Within the legal system, she felt that she might have faced a jail term of up to two years, where she was likely to be murdered. She managed to escape the country via Calcutta, was granted asylum in Sweden, and then lived in Paris, and finally came to India. Even in India, she had to flee the city of Kolkata and move to Delhi under Indian government's strict orders following riots in Kolkata.

Isioma Daniel
Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi, the deputy governor of Zamfara state in Nigeria, issued a fatwa in November 2002 calling for the death of journalist Isioma Daniel for comments suggesting that Muhammad may have chosen a wife from one of the Miss World contest. Other Muslim authorities have questioned the validity of the fatwa.

Raheel Raza
Raheel Raza, a Muslim human rights activist who has advocated for gender equality, especially for Muslim women, became the first woman to lead mixed-gender Muslim prayers in Canada, in 2005, and said: "I already have a fatwa against me".

Mariwan Halabjaee
In an audio file published on the Kurdish website Renesans.nu during September 2008, Mullah Krekar allegedly threatened to kill Mariwan Halabjaee, the Iraqi Kurdish author of Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam, who also resided in Norway. "I swear that we will not live if you live. Either you go before us, or we go before you," said Krekar. Krekar compared Halabjaee with Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

In February 2012, Krekar confirmed in the Oslo District Court that he had issued a twenty page fatwa against Halabjaee. The fatwa was sent to several hundred Islamic scholars around the world. While Krekar said he thought he might be able to "guarantee the safety" of Halabjaee, Krekar confirmed that his fatwa "implies" that it is "permissible" to kill Halabjaee in Oslo or anywhere else. Krekar compared Halabjaee to Theo van Gogh, the film director who was killed by an Islamist in the Netherlands in 2004.

Ulil Abshar Abdalla
In 2003, a group of Indonesian Islamic cleric from Forum Ulama Umat Islam issued a death fatwa against Ulil for an article that Ulil wrote in Kompas in 2002, "Menyegarkan Kembali Pemahaman Islam" (Rejuvenating the Islamic Understanding) that is considered heretical by the clerics. In March 2011, a letter bomb addressed to Ulil at Komunitas Utan Kayu exploded, injuring a police officer.

Farag Foda
In June 1992, Egyptian writer Farag Foda was assassinated following a fatwa issued by ulamas from Al-Azhar who had adopted a previous fatwa by Sheikh al-Azhar, Jadd al-Haqq, accusing Foda and other secularist writers of being "enemies of Islam". The jihadist group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya claimed responsibility for the murder.

Wikipedia

According to Islam theology all Muslims must submit to Sharia law (a.k.a. Sharīʿah law) .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia

To Arabic-speaking people, sharia (shariah, shari'a, sharīʿah; Arabic: شريعة‎ šarīʿah, IPA: [ʃaˈriːʕa], "legislation"), means the moral code and religious law of a prophetic religion. The term "sharia" has been largely identified with Islam in English usage.
Sharia (Islamic law) deals with many topics addressed by secular law, including crime, politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday etiquette and fasting. Adherence to Islamic law has served as one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Muslim faith historically, and through the centuries Muslims have devoted much scholarly time and effort on its elaboration. Human interpretations of sharia (fiqh) vary between Islamic sects and respective schools of jurisprudence, yet in its strictest and most historically coherent definition, sharia is considered the infallible law of God.
There are two primary sources of sharia law: the precepts set forth in the Quranic verses (ayahs), and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Where it has official status, sharia is interpreted by Islamic judges (qadis) with varying responsibilities for the religious leaders (imams). For questions not directly addressed in the primary sources, the application of sharia is extended through consensus of the religious scholars (ulama) thought to embody the consensus of the Muslim Community (ijma). Islamic jurisprudence will also sometimes incorporate analogies from the Quran and Sunnah through qiyas, though many scholars also prefer reasoning ('aql) to analogy.
The introduction of sharia is a longstanding goal for Islamist movements globally, including in Western countries, but attempts to impose sharia have been accompanied by controversy, violence, and even warfare. Most countries do not recognize sharia; however, some countries in Asia, Africa and Europe recognize sharia and use it as the basis for divorce, inheritance and other personal affairs of their Islamic population. In Britain, the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal makes use of sharia family law to settle disputes, and this limited adoption of sharia is controversial.
The concept of crime, judicial process, justice and punishment embodied in sharia is different from that of secular law. The differences between sharia and secular laws have led to an on-going controversy as to whether sharia is compatible with secular democracy, freedom of thought, and women's rights.
In secular jurisprudence, sharia is classified as religious law, which is one of the three major categories that individual legal systems generally fall under, alongside civil law and common law.

Etymology and origins
Scholars describe the word sharia as an archaic Arabic word denoting "pathway to be followed", or "path to the water hole". The latter definition comes from the fact that the path to water is the whole way of life in an arid desert environment.
The etymology of sharia as a "path" or "way" comes from the Quranic verse[Quran 45:18]: "Then we put thee on the (right) Way of religion so follow thou that (Way), and follow not the desires of those who know not." Malik Ghulam Farid in his Dictionary of the Holy Quran, believes the "Way" in 45:18 (quoted above) derives from shara'a (as prf. 3rd. p.m. sing.), meaning "He ordained". Other forms also appear: shara'u[Quran 45:13] as (prf. 3rd. p.m. plu.), "they decreed (a law)"[Quran 42:21]; and shir'atun (n.) meaning "spiritual law"[Quran 5:48].
The Arabic word sharīʿa has origins in the concept of ‘religious law’; the word is commonly used by Arabic-speaking peoples of the Middle East and designates a prophetic religion in its totality. Thus, sharīʿat Mūsā means religious law of Moses (Judaism), sharīʿat al-Masīḥ means religious law of Christianity, sharīʿat al-Madjūs means religious law of Zoroastrianism. The Arabic expression شريعة الله (God’s Law) is a common translation for תורת אלוהים (‘God’s Law’ in Hebrew) and νόμος τοῦ θεοῦ (‘God’s Law’ in Greek in the New Testament [Rom. 7: 22]). In contemporary Islamic literature, sharia refers to divine law of Islam as revealed by prophet Muhammad, as well as in his function as model and exemplar of the law.
Sharia in the Islamic world is also known as Qānūn-e Islāmī (قانون اسلامی).

Wikipedia

Muslims in the Western world complain that religious freedom of Muslims is restricted and they cannot practice their sacred Sharia law.
According to Sharia law all non-Muslim “people of the Book” (Jews, Sabians and Christians) must be forced to choose one of three choices: 1) become a Muslim 2) if you do not become a Muslim then you must pay extortion fee jizyah to Muslims 3) if you do not become a Muslim and if you do not pay extortion fee jizyah then you must be killed.
And according to Sharia law all other non-Muslims must be forced to choose one of two choices: 1) become a Muslim 2) if you do not become a Muslim then you must be killed.

http://qurango.com/english/009.qmt.html

009.029
YUSUFALI: Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
PICKTHAL: Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.
SHAKIR: Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.

Quran. Al-Tawba (Repentance, Dispensation).009.029

http://al-quran.info/#9:29

Fight those who do not have faith in Allah nor [believe] in the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and His Apostle have forbidden, nor practise the true religion, from among those who were given the Book, until they pay the tribute out of hand, degraded.

Al-Quran. Online Quranic Project. Surat AL-TAWBAH (The Repentance). 9:29

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya

Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah (Arabic: جزية‎ ǧizyah IPA: [dʒizja]; Ottoman Turkish: cizye) is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim subjects, who meet certain criteria. The tax is and was to be levied on able-bodied adult males of military age (but with specific exemptions). From the point of view of the Muslim rulers, jizya was a material proof of the non-Muslims' acceptance of subjection to the state and its laws. In return, non-Muslim subjects are permitted to practice their faith, to enjoy a measure of communal autonomy, to be entitled to the Muslim state's protection from outside aggression, and to be exempted from military service and from the zakat tax levied upon Muslim citizens. The jizya continued to be applied in Persia and many North African countries into the 19th century, but almost vanished in the 20th century. The tax is no longer imposed by nation states in the Islamic world. However, armed groups such as ISIS enforce it in some areas they have captured. In the 21st century, it is widely regarded as being at odds with contemporary secular conceptions of citizen's civil rights and equality before the law, although there have been occasional reports of religious minorities in conflict zones and areas subject to political instability being forced to pay jizya.

Etymology and meaning
A jizya document from 17th century Ottoman Empire.
In Arabic it means: "What is taken from the dhimmis, which is the amount of money agreed upon in the contract that gives the non-Muslim the Dhimmah status; and it's derived from the act of the verb "reward"; as if it (jizya) is a requital for not being killed."
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Qur'anic occurrence
The Arabic term jizya appears in the Qur'anic verse Al-Tawba 29, which obliges Muslims to fight unbelievers "until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_the_Book

People of the Book (Arabic: أهل الكتاب ‎ ′Ahl al-Kitāb) is a term used to designate non-Muslim adherents to faiths which have a revealed scripture. The three types of adherents to faiths that the Qur'an mentions as people of the book are the Jews, Sabians and Christians.

Wikipedia

Adepts of Quran claim that Islam is very peaceful religion. Let’s have a closer look at the text of Quran about peacefulness of Muslims.

http://al-quran.info/#2:191

2:191 And kill them wherever you confront them, and expel them from where they expelled you, for faithlessness is graver than killing. But do not fight them near the Holy Mosque unless they fight you therein; but if they fight you, kill them; such is the requital of the faithless.

http://al-quran.info/#2:193

2:193 Fight them until faithlessness is no more, and religion becomes [exclusively] for Allah. Then if they relinquish, there shall be no reprisal except against the wrongdoers.

http://al-quran.info/#3:28

3: 28 The faithful should not take the faithless for allies instead of the faithful, and whoever does that Allah will have nothing to do with him, except when you are wary of them out of caution. Allah warns you to beware of [disobeying] Him, and toward Allah is the return.

http://al-quran.info/#3:85

3:85 Should anyone follow a religion other than Islam, it shall never be accepted from him, and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.

http://al-quran.info/#5:10

5:10 As for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of hell.

http://al-quran.info/#5:33

5:33 Indeed the requital of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle, and try to cause corruption on the earth, is that they shall be slain or crucified, or have their hands and feet cut off from opposite sides or be banished from the land. That is a disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter there is a great punishment for them,
5:34 excepting those who repent before you capture them, and know that Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

http://al-quran.info/#8:7

8:7 When Allah promised you [victory over] one of the two companies, [saying], ‘It is for you,’ you were eager that it should be the one that was unarmed.1 But Allah desires to confirm the truth with His words, and to root out the faithless,

http://al-quran.info/#8:12

8:12 Then your Lord signaled to the angels: ‘I am indeed with you; so steady the faithful. I will cast terror into the hearts of the faithless. So strike their necks, and strike each of their fingertips!’

http://al-quran.info/#8:17

8:17 You did not kill them; rather it was Allah who killed them; and you did not throw when you threw,1 rather it was Allah who threw, that He might test the faithful with a good test from Himself.2 Indeed Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.

http://al-quran.info/#8:39

8:39 Fight them until faithlessness1 is no more, and religion becomes exclusively for Allah. But if they relinquish, Allah indeed sees best what they do.

http://al-quran.info/#9:3

9:3 [This is] an announcement from Allah and His Apostle to all the people on the day of the greater ḥajj:1 that Allah and His Apostle repudiate the polytheists: If you repent2 that is better for you; but if you turn your backs [on Allah], know that you cannot thwart Allah, and inform the faithless of a painful punishment

http://al-quran.info/#9:5

9:5 Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush. But if they repent, and maintain the prayer and give the zakāt, then let them alone. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

http://al-quran.info/#9:14

9:14 Make war on them so that Allah may punish them by your hands and humiliate them, and help you against them, and heal the hearts of a faithful folk,

http://al-quran.info/#9:23

9:23 O you who have faith! Do not befriend your fathers and brothers1 if they prefer faithlessness to faith. Those of you who befriend them —it is they who are the wrongdoers.

http://al-quran.info/#9:29

9:29 Fight those who do not have faith in Allah nor [believe] in the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and His Apostle have forbidden, nor practise the true religion, from among those who were given the Book, until they pay the tribute out of hand, degraded.

http://al-quran.info/#9:30

9:30 The Jews say, ‘Ezra is the son of Allah,’ and the Christians say, ‘Christ is the son of Allah.’ That is an opinion that they mouth, imitating the opinions of the faithless of former times. May Allah assail them, where do they stray?!

http://al-quran.info/#9:36

9:36 Indeed the number of months with Allah is twelve months in Allah’s Book, the day when He created the heavens and the earth. Of these, four are sacred. That is the upright religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them.1 Fight all the polytheists, just as they fight you all, and know that Allah is with the Godwary.

http://al-quran.info/#22:8

22:8 Among the people are those who dispute concerning Allah without any knowledge or guidance, or an enlightening Book,
22:9 turning aside disdainfully to lead [others] astray from the way of Allah. For such there is disgrace in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection We will make him taste the punishment of the burning:

http://al-quran.info/#22:19

22:19 These two contenders contend concerning their Lord. As for those who are faithless, cloaks of fire will be cut out for them, and boiling water will be poured over their heads,

http://al-quran.info/#22:52

25:52 We did not send before you any apostle or prophet but that when he recited [the scripture] Satan interjected [something] in his recitation. Thereat Allah nullifies whatever Satan has interjected, [and] then Allah confirms His signs, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

http://al-quran.info/#47:4

47:4 When you meet the faithless in battle, strike their necks. When you have thoroughly decimated them, bind the captives firmly. Thereafter either oblige them [by setting them free] or take ransom till the war lays down its burdens. That [is Allah’s ordinance], and had Allah wished He could have taken vengeance on them, but that He may test some of you by means of others. As for those who were slain in the way of Allah, He will not let their works go awry.

Al-Quran. Online Quranic Project

According to Islam theology the Quran is the extension, a natural progression, a fulfillment of the Bible.
It is important to note that according to Islam theology when there is a contradiction between the Bible text and the Quran text then Quran is right and Bible text is erroneous. Thus contradictions between the Bible text and the Quran text have almost zero effect on the adepts of Quran, nevertheless let’s analyze several contradictions between the Bible text and the Quran text.
Below are several examples of errors in theology of Islam.

http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/gilchrist/quran/chapter4.html

That Muhammad was in error in many instances about Jewish history is proved again by the name he gives to Abraham's father in the Qur'an. His true name was Terah but in the Qur'an he is called Azar. This is evidently derived from el-Azar, the name of Abraham's servant in the Bible. He appears in Abraham's complaint that, having no son, his servant Eliezer will be his heir (Genesis 15:2). The Qur'an confuses the name of Abraham's father with his servant. These examples all indicate that the Prophet of Islam was often confused about the information he was obtaining secondhand from the Jews and was unable to prevent historical and other errors from finding their way into the Qur'an.

John Gilchrist. The Qur'an: The Scripture of Islam. Chapter Four. The Origins and Sources of the Qur'an

http://www.answering-islam.org/BehindVeil/btv7.html

Historical errors are so many in the Qur'an that we cannot cover them all, but we will be content to point out some very obvious examples:

The Crucifixion of Christ
The Qur'an explicitly denies that Jesus was crucified. It claims that the Jews became so confused that they crucified somebody else instead who had the likeness of Christ. It is recorded in the Qur'an 4:15,
"They slew him not nor crucified but it appeared so unto them."
In his commentary on this verse al-Baydawi said (p. 135),
"A group of Jews cursed Christ and his mother. He invoked evil on them and, may He be exalted, turned them into monkeys and swine. The Jews gathered together to kill him, but God, may He be exalted, informed him (Jesus) that He was going to lift him up to heaven. Thus, (Jesus) said to his companions, `Who would like to have my likeness cast on him and be killed and crucified, then enter the paradise?' One of them volunteered (to do so) and God cast on him Christ's likeness. He was then arrested, crucified and killed. It is also said that (the crucified one) was a traitor who went with the mob to guide them to Christ (he meant Judas), thus God cast on him the likeness of Jesus and he was arrested, crucified and killed."
Al- Baydawi is not the only one who records these mystical stories, but all Muslim scholars who attempt to interpret the above verse, plainly state that Jesus was not crucified. The Qur'an has ignored not only the records of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the rest of the New Testament, but also all the other chroniclers. It ignores the history of the Roman Empire which documented that a Jewish man by the name of Jesus was crucified during the time of Pilate the Pontius, the Roman Governor who gave way to the demands of the chief priests of the Jews.
It is well known that Christ's trial took place in front of the chief priests and the Roman Governor. It is also common knowledge that the arrested man did not remonstrate and say, "I am not Christ, I am Judas who wanted to betray Him and give Him away to you." All Jesus' words on the cross denote that He was Christ, especially His statement, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).
Jesus Himself told His disciples that He must be delivered to the chief priests and be crucified, then He would rise from the dead on the third day. Christ Himself foretold that and the crucifixion was fulfilled according to the many prophecies recorded in the Old Testament which predicted His crucifixion centuries before. Christ came to accomplish God's plan for man's salvation.
Therefore, it is not reasonable that six hundred years after Christ's crucifixion, a man should appear and declare to the world (ignoring all the historical evidence) that the one who was crucified was not Christ. This is similar to a man who comes hundreds of years from now to tell us that the one who was assassinated in the twentieth century was not Martin Luther King (or John F. Kennedy or Zia al-Haqq) but rather someone else who looked like him. Of course, nobody would believe him, even if he claimed that the angel Gabriel (or the thunder angel) revealed it to him.

The Virgin Mary
In many places, the Qur'an mentions Mary as the sister of Moses and Aaron and the daughter of Imran. The Qur'an has confused Jesus' mother with Aaron's sister because both of them carry the same name, though there are several centuries between them. The Qur'an indicates that Mary (Christ's mother) had a brother whose name was Aaron (chapter 19:28) and a father whose name is Imran (chapter 66:12). Their mother was called "the wife of Imran" (chapter 3:35) which eliminates any doubt that it confuses Mary, mother of Jesus, with Mary, sister of Aaron.
Muslim scholars acknowledge what happened and they are confused and fail in their desperate attempts to justify this grave error. Their contradictory interpretations fail to help them to find a solution to this dilemma. Let us examine these interpretations to see these conflicting views.
In the context of his comment on the Qur'anic statement that Mary is Aaron's sister (which is recorded in chapter 19:28), al-Baydawi (p. 405) said,
"Oh, sister of Aaron (the prophet). And she was an offspring of some of those who were with him who belonged to the same class of brotherhood. It was also said that she was one of Aaron's descendants though there were a thousand years between them. It was said too, that he (Aaron) was a righteous or a wicked man who lived during their time (time of Mary). They likened her to him to ridicule her or to insult her."
Yet Baydawi's statement is repealed by the Qur'an because the Qur'an did not refer to a moral relationship but stressed the literal meaning. If the Qur'an had meant to elevate Mary to the same level of Aaron, the prophet, or to the status of a daughter of Imran, why then did it mention that her mother was the wife of Imran as it is recorded in chapter 3:35? It is very obvious that the matter was either confused in the mind of Muhammad or of Gabriel, the angel! It is not acceptable that the Qur'an intended to say that Mary enjoys the same status as a sister of Aaron and a daughter of Imran. Therefore it is impossible to treat Mary (the mother of Jesus) as if she were the sister of Aaron and Moses.
The contemporary scholar who translated the Qur'an which was authorized by the Saudi authorities said (in the introduction of page 47 of chapter of the Family of Imran),
"Al Imran takes its title from v. 32, where `the family of Imran' (the father of Moses) occurs as a generic name for all the Hebrew prophets from Moses to John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. This with the mention of the mother of Mary as `the wife of Imran' (v. 34) and the words `sister of Aaron' addressed to Mary (XIX.28) have given rise to a charge of anachronism. Some say that the prophet confused Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Mary, the sister of Moses. Most Muslims believe (on the authority of the Qur'an) that the grandfather of Jesus Christ was named `Imran' which may also have been the name of the father of Moses. In Surah XIX 28 where Mary is addressed as `sister of Aaron', they hold the ancestral sense to be the more probable, while denying that there is any reason to suppose that the virgin Mary had not a brother named Aaron."
Thus, they fail to explain to us why the Qur'an said that the mother of Mary was the wife of Imran, especially if the Qur'an intended (as they say) to show the moral relationship only. It is an obvious historical mistake, my dear reader, because Mary had no brother named Aaron.

Alexander the Great
It is amazing to see the Qur'an talking about Alexander the Great as if he were a righteous man and a teacher, though it is well-known that the Greek, Alexander, was idolatrous and claimed to be the son of Amun, the God of Egypt. If the reader wonders where it is recorded in the Qur'an that Alexander was a righteous man, we would refer him to the chapter of the Cave 18:83-98 where we encounter sixteen verses which talk about this military general. These verses explicitly say that God assisted him, guided him and removed all obstacles from his way in order that he could accomplish his plans and fulfill his desires. They indicate that Alexander was the one who reached the place of the sunset and found it set down in a well of water and mud. They claim that he encountered some people and God gave him the option to torment them, to kill them or to take them captive, call them to the faith and to lead them in a straight path.
These comments are expressed by all the scholars without any exception (refer to Baydawi, p. 399, al-Jalalan, p. 251, al-Tabari, p. 339, al-Zamakhshari, part 2 of al-Kash-shaf, p. 743). If we do not refer to these great expounders of the Qur'an to whom, then, shall we refer? The Greek Alexander was not a righteous servant of God as the Qur'an said, but he was a licentious, belligerent, idolatrous man. He did not have any relationship with God and God never asked him to guide people and to teach them the faith.

Other Historical Errors
Does the reader believe that Abraham did not offer Isaac, but Ishmael, as a sacrifice? This is what all Muslim scholars say. Do you know that the Qur'an claims that Haman was pharaoh's prime minister even though Haman lived in Babylon one thousand years later? Yet the Qur'an says so. The Qur'an says that the one who picked Moses from the river was not his sister but his mother (28:6-8), and that a Samaritan was the one who molded the golden calf for the children of Israel and misguided them, and the golden calf was lowing (refer to chapter 20:85-88) though it is well-known that Samaria was not in existence at that time. The Samaritans came after the Babylonian exile. How could one of them have made the golden calf for the people of Israel?
Concerning the birth of Christ, the Qur'an teaches that the Virgin Mary gave birth to him under the shade of a palm tree and not in a manger of sheep (refer to Mary 19:23). The Qur'an ignores all the documented historical evidence available to all people across the ages and brings us new discoveries!
The Qur'an claims (Chapter 2:125-127) that Abraham and Ishmael, his son, are the ones who built The Ka'ba in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The late Dr. Taha Husayn (the most famous professor of Arabic literature in Egypt) acknowledges that the information recorded in the Qur'an pertaining to the construction of Ka'ba at the hand of Abraham and Ishmael is not historically documented. He said:
"The case of this episode is very obvious because it is of recent date and came into vogue just before the rise of Islam. Islam exploited it for religious reasons" (quoted in Mizan al-Islam by Anwar al-Jundi, p. 170).
This declaration invoked the rage of the Muslim scholars against him. The former president of Tunisia did the same thing when he stated that the Qur'an contains mythical stories. Muslim scholars revolted against him and threatened to kill him because these are Muhammad's orders - kill anybody who insults the Qur'an. So what could Taha Husayn or Abu Ruqayba [better known in the West as Bourgiba] (or we) do if the Qur'an rejects the most scientifically documented historical stories? Are we supposed to shut up our mouth and close our minds lest we be killed?

Abd El Schafi. Behind the Veil - Unmasking Islam. Chapter Seven. Historical Errors of the Qur'an

http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/h004.html

Alexander the Great, a Muslim?
According to the Quran (Surah 18:89-98) Alexander the Great was a devout Muslim and lived to a ripe old age. Historical records however show that Alexander the Great died young at 33 years of age (356 - 323 B.C.), and believed he himself was divine, forcing others to recognize him as such. In India on the Hyphasis River (now Beas) Alexander erected twelve altars to twelve Olympian gods.

http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/qbhc06.html

Mary, Sister of Aaron & Daughter of Amram
In several Suras the Qur'an confuses Mary the mother of Jesus [Miriam in Hebrew] with Miriam the sister of Aaron and Moses, and daughter of Amram which is about 1400 years off.

http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/sacrifice.htm

Jews, Christians and Muslims agree; Abraham, the friend of God, is an example of pure and unconditional righteousness and faith. The love that Abraham displayed towards God is clearly seen in Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only beloved son. All three religions do not dispute this fact. Where they do disagree on, however, is the identity of the sacrificial child. The Bible states that this child was Isaac:
"After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’." (Genesis 22:1-2, R.S.V.).
"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son ..." (Hebrews 11:17, R.S.V.).
"Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up his son Isaac upon the altar?" (James 2:21, R.S.V.).
Muslims on the other hand feel that Ishmael was the one offered up by Abraham. They believe that the Holy Bible supports this by its declaration that Abraham offered his only son (see above verses). Ishmael was Abraham's only son for over 13 years, which would make it impossible for Isaac to be the chld of sacrifice. (Cf. Genesis 16:16, 21:5).
Muslims believe that scribes later corrupted the original reading from Ishmael to Isaac.

http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/moses_adoption.htm

According to the Holy Bible, when Pharaoh sought to slay all the Hebrew male babies God saved Moses by having Pharaoh’s daughter adopt the baby as her own child:
"Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews' children.’ Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, ‘Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, ‘Go.’ So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, ‘Because,’ she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’" Exodus 2:1-10
"And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son." Acts 7:21
The Quran comes over two thousand years later to contradict the earlier, historical accounts:
And We inspired the mother of Moses, saying: Suckle him and, when thou fearest for him, then cast him into the river and fear not nor grieve. Lo! We shall bring him back unto thee and shall make him (one) of Our messengers. And the family of Pharaoh took him up, that he might become for them an enemy and a sorrow, Lo! Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts were ever sinning. And the wife of Pharaoh said: (He will be) a consolation for me and for thee. Kill him not. Peradventure he may be of use to us, or we may choose him for a son. And they perceived not. S. 28:7-9 Pickthall
The Quran claims that Pharaoh’s wife, not his daughter, adopted Moses! Since the biblical position is that Moses wrote the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, who better than Moses to know who adopted him?

http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/h002.html

The Qur'an says that the calf worshipped by the Israelites at mount Horeb was molded by a Samaritan (Sura 20:85-87, 95-97). Yet the term `Samaritan' was not coined until 722 B.C., which is several hundred years after the events recorded in Exodus. Thus, the Samaritan people could not have existed during the life of Moses, and therefore, could not have been responsible for molding the calf.
It is interesting to notice that while Yusuf Ali attempts to change this word to "Samiri" and Pickthall to "As Samirii." Arberry in the English, and Kasimirski in the French both correctly translate it "Samaritan." Yusuf Ali, in his footnotes, "bends over backwards" to explain his choice by suggesting that the name could mean "Shemer," which denotes a stranger, or "Shomer," which means a watchman, the equivalent of "Samara" in Arabic, which he implies is close enough to the Samari he is looking for. But the Arabic simply does not give Ali the leeway to concoct other meanings for this word. To be consistent with the Arabic he should keep his translation consistent with the text, as Arberry and Kasimirski have done.

Answering Islam

http://www.aletheiacollege.net/dbb/4-6-1problems_with_the_quran.htm

4.6.1 Problems With The Qur’an
<...>
Contradictions
There are many contradictions within the Qur’an , but these are considered to be “abrogations”, i.e. something better being substituted (2.106). Muslims themselves admit there are around 200 such abrogations within the book. And yet this whole concept surely contradicts 4.82: “Had the Qur’an been from other than God, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy”. But these “abrogations” are discrepancies… And there are major contradictions of fact, too.
Muslims are quick to point out contradictions of numbers within the Bible text. Many of these are perfectly explicable. Some [not all] are caused by variant readings of one letter of the Hebrew text. But the Qur’an has many such contradictions too. Thus the time period of “the great day of God” is said to be 1000 years in 32.5; and 50,000 years in 70.4. This isn’t a difference of one letter - a whole word is inserted (Khamsiina- 50). Likewise 50.38 says that the entire creation took 6 days; whilst 41.9-12 says it took 8 days. 2.136,285 say that all apostles are equal; but 2.253 says that the apostles were endowed with gifts “some above others”. 17.103 says that Pharaoh was drowned in the sea; whereas 10.90-92 says that he was converted and saved alive from the Red Sea. 7.124 has Pharaoh telling his magicians that he will crucify them - but crucifixion was not invented until about 1300 years later. And then there is the contradiction between 19.33 and 4.157 over whether or not Jesus died. Everything is supposed to be obedient to God, hence the idea of predestination (30.26); but some are disobedient (7.11). The sin of idolatry is supposedly unforgivable (4.48,116). But some idolaters are forgiven (4.153). Fasting can be avoided by feeding the very poor; and yet, fasting is an inescapable Muslim duty (2.184,185). Adultery is punishable by 100 lashes (24.2), life imprisonment (4.15), or death - according to a verse of the Qur’an which was supposedly later discovered. According to 2.62, Jews and Christians will be saved; yet 3.85 says that any other religion than Islam cannot give salvation. And are we to really believe that shooting stars are missiles being thrown at Satan (37.6-10; 67.5; 72.6-9)?
The claim that the Qur’an is written so perfectly, in ideal Arabic, and is unsurpassed for its literary beauty is all very subjective. The material is very haphazard in its presentation, issues are raised and left without conclusion, only to reappear later in a garbled form. And it has been observed that there are in fact grammatical errors in the Qur’an :
Incorrect plural (2.177)
Feminine plurals where masculine should be used (4.162; 7.160)
Wrong person used (3rd rather than 1st) (63.10)
And it is hard for Muslims to explain why the Qur’an repeats parts of Jewish Midrash [commentaries] almost word for word, even though they were evidently written well before the Qur’an . Thus Sura 21 about Abraham / Ibrahim in Babylon is almost verbatim out of the words of Jonathan Ben-Uziel in the Midrash Rabbah on Genesis 15:7.

Debating Bible Basics. A handbook for creative preaching. Duncan Heaster

http://www.aletheiacollege.net/dbb/4-6-2problems_in_the_ahadith.htm

4.6.2 Problems In The Ahadith
by John Thorpe

The Ahadith purport to be reliable accounts of the words and actions of Muhammad and his companions. It is therefore reasonable to look at these accounts and to see what light they throw on the prophet-hood of Muhammad. One test is to compare them against each other, the Qur'an and known fact. When this is done, several problems immediately appear. Here are a few examples from Sahih Bukhari.

Inheritance
According to one hadith in volume 4 (SB 4.55.546), Abdullah bin Salam asked Muhammad to answer three questions in order to prove his prophet-hood. Two of these are inconsequential, but the third was: “Why does a child resemble its father, and why does it resemble its maternal uncle?”. The answer to this question (and the other questions) was claimed by Muhammad to have come from God via the angel Gabriel: Allah‘s Apostle said, “Gabriel has just now told me of their answers.”. The answer given is, however, somewhat unexpected to modern ears: As for the resemblance of the child to its parents: If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her. This is completely contradicted by modern genetics and our knowledge of inheritance, although 'Abdullah bin Salam seems to have found it convincing.

The Height Of Adam
According to SB 4.55.543 Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. This would be a height of 90 feet (27½ metres). No animal body can function at this height. The highest that the heart could pump blood from the feet would be less than 32 feet (9.81 metres); any greater height than this would cause a vacuum lock to develop in the circulation system. In fact the height at which the circulation system breaks down would be considerably less than this due to friction between the blood and the walls of the blood vessels.

Satan In The Nose
The Prophet said, “If anyone of you rouses from sleep and performs the ablution, he should wash his nose by putting water in it and then blowing it out thrice, because Satan has stayed in the upper part of his nose all the night.” (SB 4.54.516). Does Satan live in people's noses at night? How big is he? How many people's nose does he manage to live in at once?

Rats Are Jewish
The Prophet said, “A group of Israelites were lost. Nobody knows what they did. But I do not see them except that they were cursed and changed into rats, for if you put the milk of a she-camel in front of a rat, it will not drink it, but if the milk of a sheep is put in front of it, it will drink it.” I told this to Ka’b who asked me, “Did you hear it from the Prophet ?” I said, “Yes.” Ka’b asked me the same question several times.; I said to Ka’b. “Do I read the Torah? [i.e. I tell you this from the Prophet.]” (SB 4.54.524). The teaching here is that rats were once Jews and the evidence given is because they will not drink camel's milk. As this is a general argument it must be taken to refer to all rats (possibly Jereboas).

The Wings Of The House Fly
The Prophet said “If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.” (SB 4.54.537). This tells us that disease is spread by house flies because one wing contains poison. The other wing contains the antidote to that poison. This explanation is very poor by modern standards, although it speaks much for the powers of observations of Islamic scholars that they connected disease with house flies.

Fever
The Prophet said, “Fever is from the heat of the [Hell] Fire; so abate fever with water.” (SB 4.54.486). A very similar statement is found in SB 4.54.483. Modern medicine has shown that a fever is a defence mechanism against invasion by foreign micro-organisms.

Dogs
Muhammad had a superstitious fear of dogs: The Prophet said, “Angels do not enter a house which has either a dog or a picture in it.” (SB 4.54.539). Allah’s Apostle ordered that the dogs should be killed. (SB 4.54.540). The next two sections indicate that anyone keeping a dog as a pet will lose some of their reward.

Intestines
This hadith is from Sahih Muslim, but it is a particularly powerful example: Allah's messenger [peace be upon him] said: A believer eats in one intestine, whereas a non-believer eats in seven intestines (SM 3.22.5118). Modern anatomy shows that this is not true!

Fear Of Wind And Eclipses
SB 2.17.144 tells us that: Whenever a strong wind blew, anxiety appeared on the face of the Prophet [fearing that the wind might be a sign of Allah's wrath]. SB 2.18.167 tells us a similar thing about solar eclipses. The problem here is that a prophet should know the truth about such things, that they are natural phenomena which should not cause fear in the righteous.

Muhammad Under The Influence Of Magic
Even worse, there are several hadith which tell us that Muhammad was sometimes under an enchantment which made him imagine things that were not so and tell untruths. SB 4.53.400 says: Once the prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done… SB 4.54.490 gives another version of the tradition which starts: Magic was worked on the Prophet so that he began to fancy that he was doing a thing which he was not actually doing. The hadith then goes on to say who bewitched him ('Lubaid bin Al-A'sam) and how Muhammad was cured. A similar account appears in SB 7.71.660. This causes a serious problem for Moslems. If Muhammad sometimes imagined things, then he is of no value as a prophet.

These and other inconsistencies in the Ahadith lead to one of the following conclusions: either even Ahadith with the status Sahih are suspect and never came from Muhammad at all, or Muhammad was no prophet (or both). The idiosyncrasies he showed in terms of dogs, eclipses and wind suggest a man with strange obsessions, and also weaken the case that Muhammad was a prophet; a prophet would know that winds and eclipses are natural phenomena and not signs of God's wrath.
The failure of the Ahadith is a more serious problem than one might, at first, realise. One of the weaknesses of Islam is that there is no direct method of validating the Qur'an. The reason that the Qur'an is taken to contain the words of Muhammad is because there is a witness of tradition that this is the case. This witness should be enshrined in the Ahadith.
If the Ahadith are found to be wanting then the most useful witness to the origin of the Qur'an has failed and there is no reason to treat it as a book written in the early period after the death of Muhammad or to treat it as the unaltered word of God.
If, on the other hand, one can show that the Isnad method of establishing the truth of a hadith is valid, and that the Ahadith in books like Sahih Bukhari really are accurate accounts of the sayings of Muhammad, then we must accept that the sayings above were really made by Muhammad. As some of these sayings are known to be factually incorrect we know that the person who originally made them was not a prophet from God. A belief in the accuracy of the Ahadith must lead one to reject the claim that Muhammad was a prophet.
The tradition that Muhammad was sometimes under a spell during which time he did not speak the truth is a very awkward one for Moslems. If Muhammad sometimes deceived others, how can we trust any of his words? Why should we not believe that part (or all) of the Qur'an was delivered while he was under a delusion?

Debating Bible Basics. A handbook for creative preaching. Duncan Heaster

http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/quran_trinity.htm

Christian author and apologist Dr. Robert A. Morey noted that:
The Quran contains many errors about what Christians believe and practice.
One of the most significant is that the Quran misrepresents the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
Muhammad mistakenly thought that Christians worshiped three gods: the Father, the Mother (Mary), and the Son (Jesus), (Sura 5:73-75,116).

As Richard Bell pointed out:
[Muhammad] never understood the doctrine of the Trinity.

Encyclopedia Britannica states:
[There are] mistaken concepts of the Trinity in the Quran.

… In reality, Christians believe only in one God who is in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They do not believe that Mary is a part of the Trinity.

Even the Concise Dictionary of Islam admits:
In some cases the "material" which forms the substance of Quranic narrative, details of the creeds of Christianity and Judaism for example, does not correspond to those religion’s own understanding of their beliefs. This could be said, for example, of the notion of the Trinity found in the Quran, the story of Satan’s refusal to bow down to Adam, the Docetist view of the crucifixion, all of which can be traced to the dogmas of Gnostic sects, which are heretical in relationship to orthodox Christianity and Judaism. The Trinity "seen" in the Quran is not the Trinity of the Apostles Creed, or of the Nicene Creed. (Morey, The Islamic Invasion: Confronting the World’s Fastest Growing Religion [Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 1992], pp. 152-153)

Noted Protestant Church historian and Patristic expert Philip Schaff wrote regarding Muhammad’s mistaken views:
In rude misconception or wilful perversion, Mohammed seems to have understood the Christian doctrine of the trinity to be a trinity of Father, Mary, and Jesus. The Holy Spirit is identified with Gabriel. "God is only one God! Far be it from his glory that he should have a son!" Sura 4, ver. 169; comp. 5, ver. 77. The designation and worship of Mary as "the mother of God" may have occasioned this strange mistake. There was in Arabia in the fourth century a sect of fanatical women called Collyridians (Kollurivde"), who rendered divine worship to Mary. Epiphanius, Haer. 79. (Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume IV, Chapter III, "Mohammedanism in its Relation to Christianity", fn. 188; source)

Another Christian Islamicist named Richard Bell stated:
On the other hand, there are considerable differences between the Qur’an and the New Testament. It should be noted, however, that so far as the actual statements of the Qur’an are concerned, the differences are not so great as they are sometimes supposed to be. Modern scholars, Christian and Muslim, tend to read later controversies into the wording of the Qur’an. Thus the rejection of the doctrine that 'God is one of three' [5.73/7] is usually taken to be a denial of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity; yet strictly speaking what is rejected is a doctrine of tritheism which orthodox Christianity also rejects. Similarly the rejection of the fatherhood of God the Father and the sonship of God the Son is strictly speaking a rejection of fatherhood and sonship in a physical sense; and this Christianity would also reject. The Virgin Birth is taught [19.16-33/4], but is interpreted simply as a miracle. The denial that Jesus died on the cross [4.157/6-159/7] is primarily a denial that the crucifixion was a Jewish victory; but, in line with the absence of the conception of sacrifice, it means that the Qur’an never speaks of the atonement or saving work of Jesus. (Bell’s Introduction to the Quran, revised by Montgomery Watt, Chapter 9, "The Doctrines of the Qur’an"; source; underline emphasis ours)

Answering Islam

http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2014/03/islam-kaaba-black-stone-and-idolatry.html

Islam, the Kaaba, the Black Stone, and Idolatry
Muslims often accuse other religions of idolatry. Yet Muslims bow down to a pagan temple called the "Kaaba" (which is what the pagans of Arabia did before the rise of Islam); they take a pilgrimage to the Kaaba (which is what the pagans of Arabia did before the rise of Islam); they walk circles around the Kaaba (which is what the pagans of Arabia did before the rise of Islam); and they kiss the black stone embedded in the corner of the Kaaba (which is what the pagans of Arabia did before the rise of Islam). Should our Muslim friends be accusing anyone of idolatry?

Answering Muslims. Wednesday, March 5, 2014

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba

The Kaaba or Ka'aba (Arabic: الكعبة‎‎ al-Kaʿbah IPA: [ælˈkæʕbɐ], "The Cube"), is a cuboid building at the centre of Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred point within this most sacred mosque, making it the most sacred location in Islam. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face the Kaaba – i.e. when outside Mecca, to face toward Mecca – when performing salat (prayers).
Al-Masjid al-Haram was built around the Kaaba. From any point in the world, the direction facing the Kaaba is called the qibla.
As long as they are able to do so, one of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to perform the hajj pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime. Multiple parts of the hajj require pilgrims to make tawaf, the circumambulation seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction. Tawaf is also performed by pilgrims during the umrah (lesser pilgrimage). However, the most interesting times are during the hajj, when millions of pilgrims gather to circle the building on the same day. In 2013, the number of pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform hajj was officially reported as 1,379,531.

Wikipedia

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20&version=ESV

The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Bible. Exodus 20:1-4

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+5&version=ESV

The Ten Commandments
1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.
2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3 Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.
4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,
5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6 “‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Bible. Deuteronomy 5:1-10

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+33&version=ESV

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.

Bible. Numbers 33:50-53

http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/idolatry.htm

Muhammad and Idolatry
by Sam Shamoun

Answering Islam

http://www.answering-islam.org/Muhammad/Inconsistent/stone_kissing.html

Stone Kissing and Idolatry
by Sam Shamoun

Answering Islam

Islam theology (The Five Pillars of Islam) commands that every Muslim must pray five times a day.
However the Quran clearly states Muhammad and his followers were praying only three times a day:
1) Salat Al-Fajr (Dawn Prayer – 24:58; 11:114),
2) Salat Al-Esha (Night Prayer – 24:58; 17:78; 11:114),
3) Al-Salat Al-Wusta (The Middle Prayer – 2:238; 17:78).
The requirement of praying five times a day was later copied from Zoroastrian Persians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Pillars_of_Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam (arkān al-Islām أركان الإسلام; also arkān al-dīn أركان الدين "pillars of the religion") are five basic acts in Islam, considered mandatory by believers and are the foundation of Muslim life. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel.
They make up Muslim life, prayer, concern for the needy, self purification and the pilgrimage. They are:
1. Shahadah: declaring there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger
2. Salat: ritual prayer five times a day
3. Zakat: giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor and needy
4. Sawm: fasting and self-control during the holy month of Ramadan
5. Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime if one is able

Wikipedia

http://al-quran.info/#24:58

O you who have faith! Let your permission be sought by your slaves and those of you who have not reached puberty three times: before the dawn prayer, and when you put off your garments at noon, and after the night prayer. These are three times of privacy for you. Apart from these, it is not sinful of you or them to frequent one another [freely]. Thus does Allah clarify the signs for you, and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.

Al-Quran. Online Quranic Project. Surat AL-NŪR. The Light. 24:58

http://al-quran.info/#2:238

Be watchful of your prayers, and [especially] the middle prayer, and stand in obedience to Allah;

Al-Quran. Online Quranic Project. Surat AL-BAQARAH. The Cow. The Light. 2:238

Allah commands in Quran that Muslim can have only 4 wives, however Muhammad had 11 or 13 or more wives (the exact number of wives is not known).

http://al-quran.info/#4:3

If you fear that you may not deal justly with the orphans, then marry [other] women that you like, two, three, or four. But if you fear that you may not treat them fairly, then [marry only] one, or [marry from among] your slave-women. That makes it likelier that you will not be unfair.

Al-Quran. Online Quranic Project. Surat AL-NISĀ. Women. 4:3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad's_wives

Muhammad's wives were the eleven or thirteen women married to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Muslims refer to them as Mothers of the Believers (Arabic: Ummahāt ul-Muʾminīn). Muslims use the term prominently before or after referring to them as a sign of respect.

Timeline of marriages
The vertical lines in the graph indicate, in chronological order, the start of prophethood, the Hijra, and the Battle of Badr.

Wikipedia

http://wikiislam.net/wiki/List_of_Muhammads_Wives_and_Concubines

List of Muhammad's Wives and Concubines
According to Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet Muhammad used to visit all eleven of his wives in one night; but he could manage this, as he had the sexual prowess of thirty men. The historian Al-Tabari calculated that Muhammad married a total of fifteen women, though only ever eleven at one time; and two of these marriages were never consummated. This tally of fifteen does not include at least four concubines. According to Merriam-Webster, a concubine is “a woman with whom a man cohabits without being married”, and has a “social status in a household below that of a wife.” All of Muhammad’s concubines were his slaves. Al-Tabari also excludes from the fifteen several other women with whom Muhammad had some kind of marriage contract but who, due to legal technicalities, never became full wives. It is fairly certain, however, that none of these unions was ever consummated. They were the cultural equivalent of a broken engagement. Finally, there were several other women whom Muhammad wished to marry, or whom he was invited to marry, but for various reasons he did not.

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