How to Understand the Holy Quran

Authored by: Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

  Distortions of Islam spread within the notions of Sunna, hadiths, and Naskh (i.e., replacement) that have caused the Muhammadans to misunderstand the Quran for centuries, because of these false notions about it. Based on such falsehoods, the earthly, man-made religions of the Muhammadans have been established. Hence, to show how to reach the Quranic Truth, we have authored this book about understanding the Holy Quran.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I: The Holy Quran Is a Book of Guidance

CHAPTER II: Elements of Faith Guidance in the Holy Quran

CHAPTER III: Knowledge Guidance as the Condition to Understand the Holy Quran

CHAPTER I: The Holy Quran Is a Book of Guidance

1- God says the following in the Quran about the Quran itself :"This Quran guides to what is most upright..." (17:9). The Holy Quran is not a book that specializes in science, law, or history; rather, it is essentially a book of guidance. Quranic guidance employs many methods including Quranic stories, which do NOT focus on details of time & place and people's names but rather emphasize the moral lessons to be drawn by those who seek guidance from God. One of the methods employed by the Quranic guidance is scientific indications in some verses that assert that the Quran is ahead of its era and all eras and that it was never authored by mortals. The Quranic verses that contain scientific indications show the Omnipotence, Majesty, and Greatness of our Lord God the Creator and that there are no other deities/allies/saints as partners beside Him. There are unique legislations in the Quranic sharia, but they are directly linked to piety, as attaining piety is the clear sign of being guided. In fact, piety is the element that distinguishes the Quranic sharia legislations and places them above any man-made laws and legislations; piety is mentioned in Quranic verses that contain sharia legislations, and it entails that one's conscience checks one's behavior within the fear of our Lord God, as real believers check and judge themselves before being judged by the Quranic legislations or even by man-made secular laws; thus, one avoids sins and mistakes as much as possible. The Quranic guidance is the Last Celestial Message from Almighty God, and Muhammad who conveyed the Quran was a warner and a mercy to the humankind. Muhammad was a mortal who died centuries ago, but the Quran is preserved by God until the end of days; the Quran will remain as the only source of religious guidance until the Hour comes. God says the following about the Quran itself: "This Quran guides to what is most upright; and it gives good news to the believers who do good deeds, that they will have a great reward." (17:9). The question posed now is as follows: why are not people guided? We find the answer in the Quran itself. Guidance has two elements: the human beings themselves and the Quran itself. Guidance begins when any of the human beings chooses to seek guidance and to think objectively in order to reach the Truth, using one's mind and the natural, inner instinct encoded into one's soul. Based on this choice made by any of the human beings, God makes one reach guidance through the Quran. This means that God endorses and asserts the willingness and choices of human beings: those who choose guidance and those who choose misguidance. God says the following in the Quran: "God increases in guidance those who accept guidance..." (19:76); "As for those who are guided, He increases them in guidance, and He has granted them their righteousness." (47:17); "Say, "Whoever is in misguidance, the Most Merciful will lead him on."..." (19:75); "In their hearts is sickness, and God has increased their sickness..." (2:10). Those willing to be (mis)guided will be led further to (mis)guidance by God Who endorses their choices/decisions made on their own free will. God says the following in the Quran to Muhammad: "...God leads astray those who choose to be misguided, and He guides those who choose to be guided. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them..." (35:8); "...Say, "God leads astray those who choose misguidance, and He guides to Himself whoever repents."" (13:27). The choice of being guided entails intellectual struggle and striving (or jihad in the Arabic/Quranic tongue), and guidance is the reward of God for those who strive for His sake: "As for those who strive for Us - We will guide them in Our ways. God is with the doers of good." (29:69). Hence, those who seek to be truly guided must seek guidance through the Quran without any other source(s); they must sincerely seek guidance from it as the Only Book of guidance within real Islam. Thus, guidance seekers must wholeheartedly follow only what pleases God and be ready to discard any centuries-old or time-honored notions that contradict the Quran, however deep-seated such notions might be. Within this stance adopted by those who seek guidance, the Quran will be the source of their guidance when approached by them, within devotion to our Lord God and seeking to gratify Him: "God guides with it whoever follows His Approved Religion..." (5:16). Thus, when we follow only the Quran, as the Lord God's Word endorsed and approved by Him, guidance is attained.

2- God says in the Quran: "God guides with it whoever follows His Approved Religion..." (5:16). This is the condition required to understand the Quranic guidance; guidance is not an easy task in an era of temptations and of falsehoods disguised as truths and when the Quranic Truth is rejected and chased away and its followers have to conceal it for fear of being harmed and persecuted. This is why the Quranic Chapter 103 links the Quranic Truth to patience; in fact, it is the smallest Quranic Chapter in terms of the number of words and the number of verses (it contains only three verses), but it summarizes Islam and striving for its sake and mentions the fate of losers and the fate of winners. Here is the entire Quranic Chapter 103: "By Time. The human beings are in loss. Except those who believe, and do good works, and enjoin the Truth, and enjoin patience." (103:1-3). Reaching the Quranic Truth may be difficult, but what is more difficult is to always adhere to it after reaching it, as this entails adhering to patience all the time, and this is real guidance, of course. Part of this guidance is controlled by the human beings; namely, they must choose willingly, sincerely, and wholeheartedly to be guided; in that case, guidance will be bestowed on them by God, endorsing the choice made by one's heart, mind, and soul. Thus, the issue of (mis)guidance has to do with what is inside the hearts, minds, and souls of human beings: would we discard inherited notions that contradict the Quran, or would we distort, manipulate, change, twist, and disregard meanings of the Quranic verses to accommodate inherited notions? We assert here the fact that researching the Quran entails that one must be qualified in terms of faith and knowledge; i.e., one must believe wholeheartedly that the Quran is enough as a source of guidance within Islam and the only source to get to know Islamic tenets and sharia legislations. Those who research the Quran uselessly and in vain are those who insert veils/barriers between their minds/hearts/souls and the Quranic text; these veils/barriers are books of 'interpretation', hadiths, fiqh, Naskh, etc. among other inherited books of traditions that are made to appear as 'holy' and 'infallible', though they certainly contradict, insult, and undermine the Quran. To study and research the Quranic text properly, one must be ready to change one's lifestyle, thought, tenets, beliefs, and relationships if they contradict even a single Quranic verse. This necessitates that one readily discards and rejects at once any inherited, deep-rooted notions, ideas, and concepts (in life and in religion) that contradict even a single Quranic verse. This is real knowledge and faith qualification that makes one approaches the Quranic text while seeking guidance without having prior ideas, prejudices, or preferences; thus, one should intend to get the Quranic view, or God's view, regarding a certain issue, question, or topic in mind or at hand. This is truly seeking real guidance from the Lord God. If one adamantly insists that guidance could be sought from other sources beside (or in lieu of) the Quran, one is certainly misguided. The worst type of misguidance is to manipulate and misuse the Quranic verses by changing, twisting, and deliberately misinterpreting their meanings in order to misguide others. One is free to choose between guidance and misguidance, and the results of both stances are inescapable in the Hereafter after the Last Day.     

3- God says the following in the Quran: "We send down in the Quran healing and mercy for the believers, but it increases the unjust ones only in loss." (17:82). Thus, researchers who study the Quranic text are divided into two categories: those who obtain guidance and those who obtain misguidance. This entails an explanation. The Muhammadans who perform the five daily prayers and deem themselves as 'Muslims' recite the Quranic Chapter One 17 times a day (within the 17 Raqas of the five daily prayers when added together). This means that they utter this Quranic phrase many times daily: "Guide us to the Straight Path." (1:6). Yet, most Muhammadans worship, deify, and sanctify mausoleums, mortals, relics, items/things, and heritage books of traditions, while assuming that such polytheism is part of the Straight Path of guidance. When these Muhammadans read the Quranic verses that contradict such polytheism inherited from their forefathers and ancient authors, they adhere to heritage books of traditions instead of the Quran. The vast majority of authors in all eras until now have approached the Quran with their whims, prejudices, and doctrines to pick and choose verses, or parts of verses, as per what would apparently serve their purposes while twisting meanings of these verses. Hence, instead of making the Quran as their imam and place it before their eyes and minds while seeking guidance from the Lord God, they have made Quranic verses subservient and subordinate to their whims, hadiths, viewpoints, fiqh notions, prejudices, preferences, etc., while disregarding Quranic verses that prove their views wrong or to intentionally misinterpret them, and some other authors have claimed that hadiths and Sunna (ascribed falsely to Muhammad) replace and supplant Quranic verses and that legislations of some verses replace and annul other legislations within some other verses in the Quranic text! This means that such authors have turned the Quran into a source of their own misguidance, and they have misguided others by their writings, as they have manipulated the Quranic verses to serve their desires and whims and they have never appreciated the Quran as God's Bounty and as the greatest source of guidance granted by God to the humankind. God has bestowed the Quran to humanity as the source of religious guidance, without making angels force people to apply it or to believe in it; on the contrary, God has made people free to choose to (dis)believe in it and to ridicule and undermine it or to appreciate, contemplate, and adhere to it. God has talked to us in the Quran beforehand about such categories of people with various stances toward the Quran, and there are verses that describe the Hell torment waiting for those who deny and ridicule the Quranic verses, if they die without repentance deemed acceptable by Almighty God. A worst crime and injustice against the Quran is to misuse, misinterpret, and manipulate its verses to misguide others – though it is a book of guidance. Within such a grave sin, the misguided ones insist on misguiding others by cleverly twisting meanings of the Quranic verses, while claiming to 'guide' others, and by ascribing falsehoods and lies to God and His religion. The Quran increases the loss of those sinners and unjust ones: "We send down in the Quran healing and mercy for the believers, but it increases the unjust ones only in loss." (17:82). This means that from the very beginning, such unjust ones are sinners who have intended and are bent on misinterpreting Quranic verses in their books, studies, researches, etc. to provide sham or fake credibility to their inherited false doctrines and tenets using the name of the Quran and while hijacking the name of Islam. Thus, such authors are polytheists who have committed grave injustice toward God and His Word: "...polytheism is a terrible injustice." (31:13). Real, monotheistic believers approach the Quran while they are keen on seeking guidance from the Only Source of guidance; the Quran for them is thus a source of healing and relief to their souls/minds/hearts. Polytheists insist on putting the veils/barriers of falsehoods (i.e., myths, notions, lies, hadiths, etc. inherited from the forefathers and ancient authors) between their souls/minds/hearts and the Quran, and this leads them to twist meanings of the Quranic verses to make them submit to hadiths, fiqh notions, and other inherited books of traditions. God says the following in the Quran: "...Say, "For those who believe, it is guidance and healing. But as for those who do not believe: there is heaviness in their ears, and it is blindness for them..." (41:44). The Quran increases the loss of sinners and unjust polytheists who seek to misguide others; they are never expected to be guided after their long history of repelling others away from the Quran (God's Path) in return for wealth, stature, authority, etc., and they are too proud to change their views/stances or to repent and admit they are ignoramuses. On the contrary, such sinners assume that they are performing good deeds, as devils make them see their sins as if they were good deeds; this verse applies to them: "What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good?..." (35:8). This category of people who undermine the Quranic verses and twist their meanings was present during Muhammad's lifetime in Arabia; God has forbidden Muhammad from feeling sorry for such sinners and commanded him to stop trying to guide them because they have chosen misguidance: "Say, "Whoever is in misguidance, the Dominant Lord will lead him on." Until, when they see what they were promised - either the torment, or the Hour. Then they will know who was in worse position and weaker in forces." (19:75). Those specializing in misguiding people will never be guided by God; God has said the following to Muhammad: "Even though you may be concerned about their guidance, God does not guide those who misguide..." (16:37); "What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good? God leads astray those who are willing to go astray, and He guides those who are willing to be guided. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do." (35:8). Thus, Muhammad used to feel deep sorrow regarding those misguided/misguiding ones, and God has asserted to him that there is no chance of their being guided, as devils has twisted their vision and has made them see their sins as good deeds and deem the Truth as falsehood. Quranist researchers can avoid such fate by being prepared to bear the consequences of guidance (sought with sincerity and devotion) and to strive for it by proclaiming the Quranic Truth outspokenly and vociferously by preaching it to all people around them, while adhering to the Quranic Truth however severely they are persecuted and harmed; otherwise, if they conceal the Quranic Truth, God will curse them: "Those who suppress the proofs and the guidance We have revealed, after We have clarified them to humanity in the Book - those - God curses them, and the cursers curse them. Except those who repent, and reform, and proclaim..." (2:159-160). Thus, to merely conceal the Quranic Truth incurs being cursed; what about those sinners who twist meanings of the Quranic verses on purpose to misguide people in order to gain money? God says the following about them: "So let them carry their loads complete on the Day of Resurrection, and some of the loads of those they misguided without knowledge. Evil is what they carry." (16:25). When the followers of such misguiding people enter into Hell, they will curse the misguiding people inside Hell: "The Day when their faces are flipped into the Fire, they will say, "If only we had obeyed God and obeyed the messenger." And they will say, "Lord, we have obeyed our superiors and our dignitaries, but they led us away from the Way. Lord, give them double the torment, and curse them with the worst curse."" (33:66-68). Those losers who misguide others in return for money are described in these verses, in which God predicts schisms in views of those who manipulate the Quranic verses to support their myths, hadiths, doctrines, etc. by lending them fake credibility while disputing and quarreling about their views/stances; this applies perfectly to clergymen of the Muhammadans, past and present: "Those who conceal what God revealed in the Book, and exchange it for a small price-those swallow nothing but fire into their bellies. And God will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them, and they will have a painful torment. It is they who exchange guidance for misguidance, and forgiveness for torment. But why do they insist on the Fire? That is because God has revealed the Book with the Truth; and those who differ about the Book are in deep discord." (2:174-176). Thus, such misguiding persons misinterpret Quranic verses as per their whims to get money and possessions in this transient world. In Egypt, decades ago, a secular thinker has insulted the Quran by describing it as a 'supermarket' that contains literally anything one desires or looks for (i.e., he meant that it appears to be open to countless contradictory interpretations). Salafists, of course, attacked this thinker at the time in their sermons and articles; despite the fact that this thinker's sin of ridiculing and mocking the Quran is hardly pardonable, the ones responsible for insulting the Quran are those who have discarded and abandoned it and misinterpret its verses to serve their whims and support their 'holy' books of traditions, fiqh, and hadiths to repel others away from God's Path. This type of sinners is described in this verse: "Among the people is he who trades in distracting tales; intending, without knowledge, to lead away from God's Way, and to make a mockery of it. These will have a humiliating torment." (31:6). Such polytheists ascribe hadiths falsely to Muhammad and claim they follow his way, but within a Quranic miraculous prediction, God has commanded Muhammad to disown them beforehand; after making the 10^th one of the Quranic Ten Commandments assert that we are to adhere to the Quran as the Only Straight Path, as we read in this verse: "This is My Path, straight, so follow it. And do not follow the other paths, lest they divert you from His Path. All this He has enjoined upon you, that you may fear God in piety." (6:153). God has commanded Muhammad to disown and move away from those who reject the Quran and follow other paths and get divided and are engaged into disputes and schisms as per their whims: "As for those who divided their religion and became sects - you have nothing to do with them. Their case rests with God; then He will inform them of what they used to do." (6:159). Thus, being divided into religious sects is a sign of polytheism in terms of faith/belief, and this Quranic miraculous prediction applies to Muhammadans, past and present. "Turning towards Him - and be conscious of Him in piety, and perform the prayers, and do not be of the polytheists. Of those who divided their religion, and became sects; each faction pleased with what they have." (30:31-32). Thus, the Sufi, Shiite, and Sunnite Muhammadans brag of their notions and books and dispute over them; Shiites and Sunnites fight one another under the banner of 'Islam' and misinterpret the Quranic verses and use them in politics as per their whims; news in TV channels and newspapers headlines are filled with their scandals and crimes; they are losers in this life and in the Hereafter as they ascribe their sins and crimes to Islam. Thus, the Quran increases their loss; they are using it for misguidance instead of making it a source of guidance to their souls/minds/hearts in order to correct their faith tenets and their behavior. What is the solution, then, to this problematic issue? How should we approach the Quran in the best, most correct way to reach guidance?                  

4- Guidance between the Quran and scientific research tools: In fact, scientific research tools are basically the same within the Quranist research and within natural/physical sciences and studies of humanities and theoretical branches of knowledge. This is because the purpose is the same; i.e., to reach facts or truths, and this entails that researchers must be objective and neutral, without prior notions, prejudices, or views/visions they are very eager to prove. Quranist researchers must use research tools and methodology, including adhering to the Quranic set of terminology; for instance, when we analyze and research a book of history or philosophy, we are to get to know and to define terms used in this book as per the era in which it was written and as per the sets of terminology employed in this branch of knowledge and how they are used by the author of the book. This is part of being honest and truthful, as truthfulness is a higher moralistic value in relation to how to fairly judge, evaluate, and analyze the data, as per scientific methodology of research. This applies to the Quranist research as well, which is based on monotheistic guidance and piety. Thus, Quranist researchers must fear the Lord God in piety as they approach the Quran objectively to be fair and just in their analysis of Quranic verses to infer and explore Quranic facts. Thus, this piety is the essence of Quranic guidance for monotheists who seek to understand the Quran in a correct way, in light of the fact that God's Word is the Only Source of guidance within Islam.         

5- The two types of guidance as the bases for understanding the Quran: knowledge guidance and faith guidance: As per the Quran, guidance is of two types; first of all, the guiding instincts or knowledge guidance: God has guided all creatures by giving them instincts regarding how to live, survive, eat, multiply, etc. (e.g., spermatozoa are guided to reach ova and babies are instinctively guided to breastfeeding). This type of guidance is mentioned in these verses: "...Our Lord is He who gave everything its existence, then guided it." (20:50); "Praise the Name of your Lord, the Most High. He who creates and regulates. He who measures and guides." (87:1-3). The second type of guidance is faith guidance: it is mandatory that those who seek belief/faith to search for it solely in the Quran as it is God's Word and the Last Divine Message to humanity. This entails that Quranist researchers must correct/reject their old faith/belief tenets when proven wrong by the Quranic verses; they must sacrifice any transient worldly possessions, stature, etc. for the sake of supporting and siding with the Quran. They must turn a new leaf by making their life be based on piety in dealing with people and God. This way, the Quran will be the criterion for them to differentiate between falsehoods and the Truth (see 8:29) and the Light by which they walk among people (see 6:122). We trace more details about the two features, faith guidance and knowledge guidance, as the bases for understanding the Quran within Quranist research in the remaining two CHAPTERS of this book. We also show how the Middle-Ages authors have dealt unjustly with the Holy Quran.

CHAPTER II: Elements of Faith Guidance in the Holy Quran

Introduction:

 We provide in the ten points below a summary of our book titled "The Quran: Sufficient as a Source of Islamic Legislation", found in English on this link: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=92), and we also quote from it the paragraphs about the difference between the two Quranic terms ''prophet'' and ''messenger''.

1- Real believers are content with the One True God, Allah, and the Quran as the Only Book containing God's Word. God says the following about Himself and about the Quran: "...They have no ally apart from Him, and He shares His Judgment with no one. And recite what was revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. There is no changing His words, and you will find no refuge except in Him." (18:26-27).Thus, God is the Only Lord and Master who never permits any partners to have any shares of His Sovereignty and Dominance; the Quran is the Only Book that was revealed into the heart of Muhammad from the One True God: "Say, "No one can protect me from God, and I will not find any refuge except with Him." (72:22). The Quran is enough for Muhammad and for all real believers who are God's servants; God and His Book are enough/sufficient for them: "Is God not enough for His servant?..." (39:36); "...Is there a Creator other than God who provides for you from the heaven and the earth?..." (35:3); "Say, "Am I to seek a Lord other than God, when He is the Lord of all things?"..." (6:164). Hence, since God is Sufficient to true believers, the Quran likewise is enough for them as the only source of guidance and religious sharia legislations: "Does it not suffice them that We revealed to you the Book, which is recited to them? In that is mercy and a Remembrance for people who believe." (29:51). Such verses we have quoted contain rhetorical questions to refute the polytheistic stances of those (in all eras) who take other 'holy' books beside the Quran and 'holy' allies/saints/gods beside Allah.It is God's mercy for the humankind that He has given them One Book, which is easy to understand and is certainly protected against distortion, and God has made it a Clear Book, which has a beginning and an end. God has never told us to resort to other books authored by human beings who are mortals like us and who are capable of making mistakes and forgetting and are susceptible to prejudice, disobedience, and bias. Moreover, these countless man-made books contradict one another; hence, they cannot be sources of religious guidance. 

2- The Quran is the Absolute Truth which is never to be doubted; other 'holy' discourses in religion are mere conjectures and guesses in which we should not believe. God says in the Quran: "This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guide for the righteous." (2:2).The Quran has no scope for doubt or uncertainty; Quranic facts are the Absolute Truth. Many of the authors of all other books admit that their writings are relative ideas which might be true or false; they are mere conjectures and guesses. The True Religion from God is NEVER based on anything except the Absolute Truth in which there is no doubt, so that humans will not have excuses when they stand before Almighty God to be judged on the Day of Resurrection. For this reason, God has ensured the protection of the text of His Book from any attempts of distortion. "Surely We have revealed the Message, and We will surely preserve it." (15:9); "...it is an Invincible Book. Falsehood cannot approach it, from before it or behind it. It is a revelation from One Wise and Praiseworthy." (41:41-42). In contrast, conjectures, guesses, and surmises have ample scope in man-made, earthly religions. Hence, God commands us to follow the Quranic Absolute Truth in which there is no doubt and to avoid assumptions which arise from conjectures. God says the following in the Quran: "...Those who invoke other than God do not follow partners; they follow only assumptions, and they only guess." (10:66); "The polytheists will say, "Had God willed, we would not have practiced polytheism, nor would have our forefathers, nor would we have prohibited anything." Likewise those before them lied, until they tasted Our might. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow nothing but conjecture, and you only guess."" (6:148); "Most of them follow nothing but assumptions; and assumptions avail nothing against the Truth..." (10:36); "...They follow nothing but assumptions, and whims they desires, even though guidance has come to them from their Lord." (53:23) "...They only follow assumptions, and assumptions are no substitute for the truth." (53:28). God says nothing but the Absolute Truth. In fact, the vast majority of human beings in all eras never follow the Truth and follow guesses instead. God has said the following to Muhammad: "If you were to obey most of those on earth, they would divert you from God's path. They follow nothing but assumptions, and they only conjecture." (6:116). The Muhammadans who believe in silly, nonsensical hadiths and other fake narratives and fiqh books follow surmises and guesses while assuming them to be 'true' teachings ascribed to Muhammad and to authors/scholars and have passed from one generation to another! This is easily undermined and doubted and the veracity of such narratives can never be proven or asserted. The clergymen instruct the Muhammadans to follow mere conjectures even though such guesses cannot be deemed as substitute for the Quranic Truth. May Almighty God guide all of us to His Straight Path! The True Religion from God has no room for doubtful and nonsensical narratives. God says the following in the Quran about the Quranic Truth as the only Absolute Truth in religion: "With the Truth We sent it down, and with the Truth it descended..." (17:105); "Such is God, your Lord - the True. What is there, beyond the Truth, except falsehood?..." (10:32); "That is because God is the Truth, and what they worship beside Him are falsehoods" (31:30); "What We inspired in you, of the Book, is the Truth, confirming what preceded it..." (35:31); "This is the narrative of Truth..." (3:62); "This is the Absolute Truth." (56:95); "Yet it is the Absolute Truth." (69:51).      

3- The Quran is the Only Discourse in which we should believe. God describes the Quran by the word "discourse", the Only and Best One that we must follow (without any other discourses beside it), as it contains the Whole and Perfect Truth in religion: "Or do they say, "He made it up"? Rather, they do not believe. So let them produce a discourse like it, if they are Truthful." (52:33-34); "God has sent down the best discourse: a Book consistent and paired. The skins of those who reverence their Lord shiver from it, then their skins and their hearts soften up to the Remembrance of God. Such is God's guidance..." (39:23); "...And who speaks more truly than God?" (4:87); "So leave Me to deal with those who reject this discourse; We will proceed against them gradually, from where they do not know." (68:44); "In what discourse, beyond this, will they believe?" (77:50); "Have they not observed the government of the heavens and the earth, and all the things that God created, and that their time may have drawn near? Which discourse, besides this, will they believe in?" (7:185).This is an invitation for us to reflect before the inevitable appointed time of our death would come to pass. Indeed, God Almighty has made the belief in the Quran alone equal to believing in Him alone. Just as one should not believe except in the Quranic Discourse, one also should not believe except in Allah as the Only One and True God. God and His Word are sufficient for real believers, and these ideas have been conveyed in these verses: "These are God's Verses which We recite to you in Truth. In which discourse, after God and His Verses, will they believe? Woe to every sinful liar. Who hears God's Verses being recited to him, yet he persists arrogantly, as though he did not hear them. Announce to him a painful torment." (45:6-8).These verses refer to those who turn away from God's Word, the Quran, and hold fast to other hadiths, narratives, and discourses instead; in fact, such type of people exists in all eras and communities: "Among the people is he who trades in distracting tales; intending, without knowledge, to lead away from God's Way, and to make a mockery of it. These will have a humiliating torment. And when Our Verses are recited to him, he turns away in pride, as though he did not hear them, as though there is deafness in his ears. So inform him of a painful torment." (31:6-7).

4- God has given Muhammad nothing but the Quran as the only Book of divine revelation.God has challenged the polytheists to produce a single chapter like the Quran: "And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a chapter like these..." (2:23); "Or do they say, "He has forged it"? Say, "Then produce a single chapter like it..." (10:38); "Or do they say, "He invented it?" Say, "Then produce ten chapters like it..." (11:13). This shows that what Almighty God revealed to Muhammad consists of chapters, and there are no chapters given to him except those in the Quran. So, the Quran is the only written revelation which came down to Muhammad from God; he never received the so-called revelations/inspirations of 'Sunna' or 'hadiths'.

5- Human beings will be judged only by the criterion of the Scriptures descended on their messengers. On the Day of Resurrection, the Almighty God will say the following: ""O assembly of jinn and humans, did not messengers from among you come to you, relating to you My Verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?"..." (6:130). Thus, the messengers delivered the Scriptures of God which He brought down to them; those who reject God's Word deserve Hell. "Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in throngs. Until, when they have reached it, and its gates are opened, its keepers will say to them, "Did not messengers from among you come to you, reciting to you the Verses of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?"..." (39:71); "But whoever turns away from My Remembrance, for him is a miserable life. And We will raise him on the Day of Resurrection blind." He will say, "My Lord, why did You raise me blind, though I was seeing?" He will say, "Just as Our Verses came to you, and you forgot them, today you will be forgotten." Thus We recompense him who transgresses and does not believe in the Verses of his Lord. The torment of the Hereafter is more severe, and more lasting." (20:124-127). Hence, we are to believe ONLY in the verses revealed from God to Muhammad; there is nothing else revealed to him beside the Quranic verses. Hence, the Quran is enough for real monotheists.

6- God is Unique and so is the Quran. God says the following about Himself: "...There is nothing like Him. He is the Hearing, the Seeing." (42:11); "Say, "He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is nothing comparable to Him."" (112:1-4); God says the following about the Quran itself: "...If the humankind and jinn came together to produce the like of this Quran, they could never produce the like of it..." (17:88). No mortals can author something like the Quran (see 2:23, 11:13, and 10:38). Thus, it is impossible to believe the Sunnite myth that God has inspired something else beside the Quran to Muhammad and that such 'additions' are hadiths/Sunna. How come that something like the Quran or additional to it would be inspired since the Quran is One and Unique and was revealed by the Unique and One God?!

7- God does not alter His Word; those Sunnite authors claim that the term "Naskh" means that their hadiths replace and supplant Quranic verses or that certain verses 'omit' or 'annul' other verses! In fact, "Naskh" means to assert, repeat, and endorse. Thus, such Sunnite authors accuse the Quranic verses (and Quranic rules, laws, and teachings) of being contradictory, alterable, changeable, futile, convoluted, and replaceable and that they could be abrogated, disregarded, or annulled. God refutes such claims beforehand; see 18:1-2, 39:28, 4:82, 6:34, 6:115, 10:64, 18:27, and 50:29. Hence, the polytheistic enemies of God who are allies of Satan adhere to such claims to make their devilish narratives replace God's Word and His Celestial Message of the Truth and to make people be distracted away from the Quran, as they seek to distort the meanings of its verses; see 3:99, 7:45, 7:86, 10:15-18, 11:19, and 14:3. The Holy Quran is God's Way and His Straight Path; other routes/paths in religion are certainly false. People who perform the five daily prayers utter this Quranic verse 17 times: "Guide us to the Straight Path." (1:6). This Straight Path mentioned in 1:6 is certainly the Quran itself, as we infer from these verses: "This is the Straight Path of your Lord. We have explained the Verses in detail for people who recollect." (6:126); "This is My Straight Path, so follow it. And do not follow the other paths, lest they divert you from His Path. All this He has enjoined upon you, that you may attain piety." (6:153). The Muhammadans have chosen to disregard God's command in 6:153 and have been divided into warring, disputing sects as they have moved away from God's Path. This means that the Muhammadans have chosen to follow other paths of countless, contradictory hadiths and their series of narrators. This is the prediction expressed in 6:153 about diverting oneself from God's Path. God has warned believers against such divisions as He has told Muhammad to disown those who divided their religion: "As for those who divided their religion and became sects - you have nothing to do with them..." (6:159). Muhammad on the Last Day will disown those who abandoned the Quran and sought to believe in narratives never endorsed or revealed by God: "And the messenger will say, "My Lord, my people have abandoned this Quran." Likewise, to every prophet We assign enemies from among the criminals. But your Lord suffices as a Guide and Supporter." (25:30-31). The Quran is the Only One Straight Path leading to God. In geometry, it is impossible that there is more than one straight line between two points. This applies to the Only One Straight Path toward God. Thus, there are no other ways/lines leading to God beside the Quran, the One Perfect Unique Word of the Dominant Lord. When we utter the verse 1:6 in our daily prayers, we are to remember very well that Satan is bent on tempting us away from this Straight Path: "...Because you have lured me, I will divert them away from Your Straight Path." (7:16). May Almighty God guide all of us to His Straight Path!

8- The Quran is Perfect and does not need any other writings beside it. We should always remember that God says the following in the Quran: "...Today I have perfected your religion for you, and have completed My Bounty upon you, and have approved Islam as a religion for you...." (5:3); "The Word of your Lord has been completed, in Truth and justice. There is no changing to His words. He is the Hearer, the Knower." (6:115). This means that there is nothing else to 'complete' the Quran or to 'add' anything to it or to be another source beside it. God has chosen for us a Perfect, Concise Book that has details of everything we need in religion and commanded us to adhere only to it to obtain His guidance and mercy. "Does it not suffice them that We revealed to you the Book, which is recited to them? In that is mercy and a Remembrance for people who believe. Say, "God suffices as witness between you and me. He knows everything in the heavens and the Earth. Those who believe in falsehoods and disbelieve in God - it is they who are the losers."" (29:51-52).

9- The Quran is the Wisdom. God says the following in the Quran: "It is He who sent among the gentiles a messenger from themselves; reciting His Verses to them, and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and Wisdom..." (62:2). The ancient authors of the Muhammadans have wrongly assumed that the term "Wisdom", mentioned in 62:2 and other Quranic verses, refers to something beside the Quran or a source apart from it. We assert that this term is a synonym to the term "Book", and both refer to the Quran itself. Proof: let us contemplate briefly on this verse about Moses and Aaron: "We gave Moses and Aaron the Criterion, and Light, and a Remembrance for the righteous." (21:48). The three capitalized words synonymously refer ONLY to one thing: the Torah. These capitalized words never refer to three items (or three books) given to Moses and Aaron. Similarly, God describes the Torah given to Moses and Aaron in this verse: "And We gave them the Clarifying Book." (37:117). This is not another book beside the Torah; as 37:117 refers to the Torah itself. Likewise, let us contemplate briefly on these verses about Jesus: "...How I taught you the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel..." (5:110); "And He will teach him the Book and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel" (3:48). This does NOT mean that God has given Jesus four different books; rather, he was taught the Torah given to Moses and was given the Gospel, while the two words ''Book'' and "Wisdom" refer to the Gospel; this is asserted in this verse: "When Jesus came with the clarifications, he said, "I have come to you with Wisdom..." (43:63). Thus, Wisdom is God's Word/Book: the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. The word "Wisdom" describes the Quranic verses as well: "That is some of the Wisdom your Lord has revealed to you..." (17:39). God commands Muhammad, his wives, and all believers to recite the Quranic verses (see 27:92 and 35:29), and the Quranic verses are described as Wisdom in this verse addressed to Muhammad's wives: "And remember what is recited in your homes of God's Verses and Wisdom..." (33:34). Thus, the term "Wisdom" is synonymous with the Quran itself, and the same applies to other terms such as "Light" and "Al-Forquan" (or Criterion, the significant title of the Quranic Chapter 25). In this verse "...And remember God's Bounty to you, and that He revealed to you the Book and Wisdom to teach it to you..." (2:231), the singular pronoun (it) and the singular verb (to teach) in the Arabic/Quranic tongue indicate that the Book and Wisdom is one thing: the Quran itself.

10- The Quran is the Remembrance given by God, through archangel Gabriel, to Muhammad. God says the following in the Quran: "We did not send before you except men whom We inspired. So ask the people of knowledge, if you do not know. With the clarifications and the Scriptures. And We revealed to you the Remembrance, that you may clarify to the people what was revealed to them, and that they may reflect." (16:43-44). Sunnite authors wrongly assume that the term "Remembrance" refers to a source or a reference apart from the Quran. The context of 16:43-44 shows that the term "Remembrance" refers only to Scriptures/Books revealed by God to His messengers; hence, this term in 16:44 refers only to the Quran, as 16:44 is addressed to Muhammad, whereas 16:43 talks about the People of the Book (i.e., Jews + Christians), who are referred to in 16:44 as "people" and whose previous Scriptures have been distorted, and they are advised to use the Quran as the Criterion to settle their disputes in religion. The word "people" in other Quranic contexts never denotes all humanity but refers to certain group(s); let us exemplify this in the Quran. "Those to whom the people have said, "The people have mobilized against you, so fear them." But this only increased them in faith..." (3:173); the term "people" here refers to fighters or aggressive enemies. The term "people" here denotes the king of Egypt and his retinue members: ""Joseph, O man of truth, inform us concerning seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones, and seven green spikes, and others dried up, so that I may return to the people, so that they may know."" (12:46). Thus, the term "people" in 16:44 refers to the People of the Book who received the previous Scriptures and should seek to know the Truth from the Quran as their Scriptures have been distorted. This is understood from other verses as well: "O People of the Book! Our messenger has come to you, clarifying for you much of what you kept hidden of the Book, and overlooking much. A Light from God has come to you, and a Clear Book." (5:15); "This Quran relates to the Israelites most of what they differ about." (27:76). Thus, the verses 16:43-44 are explained by other verses in the same context within the Quranic Chapter 16: "By God, We sent messengers to communities before you, but Satan made their deeds appear alluring to them. He is their ally today, and they will have a painful torment. We revealed to you the Book only to clarify for them what they differ about..." (16:63-64). Thus, God has conveyed to Muhammad, through archangel Gabriel, One Book/Remembrance and nothing beside it or apart from it. "...It is only a Remembrance for all humankind." (12:104); "It is but a Remembrance to the humankind." (38:87); "Surely We revealed the Remembrance, and We will surely preserve it." (15:9); "This too is a blessed Remembrance that We revealed..." (21:50). God directly links Himself to His Book/Remembrance in these verses: "When you read the Quran, We place between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter an invisible barrier. And We drape veils over their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. And when you remember your Lord alone in the Quran, they turn their backs in aversion." (17:45-46). Thus, real monotheists have One God and also One Book or Straight Path (i.e., the Quran), whereas polytheists have many deities and many 'holy' books. May Almighty God guide all of us to His Straight Path!

The Quran, the messenger, and the prophet: a summary of the difference between the two Quranic terms "messenger" and "prophet":

  People often misunderstand the Quranic instruction to obey and follow the messenger, because they barely reflect on the difference between the meanings of the terms "the prophet" and "the messenger" in the Quranic text. The prophet is Muhammad Ibn Abdullah; the mortal man himself, in his life, in his private affairs, in his social relations with those around him, and in his human conduct. Owing to his human conduct, he was susceptible to be rebuked and reproached by Almighty God. For this reason, he has been rebuked in the Quran within his susceptibility to err and make mistakes as a mortal prophet: "O prophet! Why do you prohibit what God has permitted for you, seeking to please your wives?..." (66:1). Muhammad has been reproached about captives after the self-defense battle of Badr: "It is not for a prophet to take prisoners before he has fought in the land. You desire the materials of this world, but God desires the Hereafter..." (8:67). This verse is about all prophets: "It is not for a prophet to act dishonestly. Whoever acts dishonestly will bring his dishonesty on the Day of Resurrection..." (3:161). Muhammad has been rebuked for imploring God to forgive his polytheistic relatives: "It is not for the prophet and those who believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they are near relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are people of Hellfire." (9:113). God has forgiven Muhammad and those with him at a certain situation about a battle as they made some errors: "God has pardoned the prophet, and the Emigrants, and the Supporters - those who followed him in the hour of difficulty - after the hearts of some of them almost swerved. Then He pardoned them..." (9:117). God has rebuked Muhammad for obeying disbelievers and hypocrites in Yathreb: "O prophet! Fear God, and do not obey the unbelievers and the hypocrites..." (33:1). We notice that all these verses use the term "prophet" and NOT the term "messenger". This applies to verses about Muhammad in relation to his wives: "O prophet! Say to your wives, "If you desire the life of this world and its finery, then let me compensate you, and release you kindly." (33:28); "The prophet told something in confidence to one of his wives..." (66:3); "O wives of the prophet! Whoever of you commits a proven indecency, the punishment for her will be doubled. And that would be easy for God." (33:30); "O wives of the prophet! You are not like any other women..." (33:32). This applies to verses about Muhammad in relation to other people as a teacher, a father, a husband, a neighbor, a companion, a merchant, a leader, and a head of the Yathreb city-state: "O prophet! Tell your wives, and your daughters, and the women of the believers..." (33:59); "The prophet is more caring of the believers than they are of themselves..." (33:6); "O you who believe! Do not enter the homes of the prophet, unless you are given permission..."  (33:53); "...And a faction of them asked the prophet to excuse them..." (33:13). In light of this, "the prophet" is Muhammad the mortal man, within his behavior and his private and public social relations, for this reason, he has been addressed in the Quran as a prophet to follow the God's Revelation; i.e., the Quran itself. In contrast, Muhammad is deemed the messenger ONLY when he uttered/conveyed the Quran, which is the Message to be obeyed by people who desire to obey God. Muhammad was the messenger who conveyed the Quran, and the Quran is the Messenger remaining with people till the end of days to be obeyed and followed by real believers: "Whoever obeys the Messenger is obeying God..." (4:80); "We did not send any Messenger except to be obeyed by God's leave..." (8:64). "Say, "Obey God and obey the Messenger."..." (24:54). The term "Messenger", capitalized in these three verses, refers to God's Word/Book or human messengers when uttering/reciting them to people, and it never indicates the mortal prophets themselves. The Quran never mentions, not even within a single instance or occurrence, that people should obey ''the prophet''. This is because obedience is not due to the prophet who was a mortal human being, but it is due to the Message/Messenger, i.e., the Word of Almighty God which was revealed to the prophet, who was the first believer to obey God's Word. The Quran never mentions, not even within a single instance or occurrence, that Muhammad has been rebuked as "the messenger"; i.e., the one who uttered/conveyed the Message of God. The Quranic term ''messenger(s)'' denotes several meanings: Muhammad himself (see 33:40), Gabriel (see 81:19), angels who record deeds of human beings (see 43:80), angels of death (see 7:37), and mortal envoys sent between mortals in general (see 12:50). Within other Quranic contexts, the capitalized word ''Messenger'' means the Quran itself or the Message and this meaning overlaps with the messenger Muhammad when he uttered/recited the Quranic verses. Muhammad is dead; the Messenger remaining till the end of days is the Quran itself. We are to adhere to the Messenger (i.e., the Quran) as the Only Striaght Path: "And how could you disbelieve, when God's Verses are being recited to you, and among you is His Messenger? Whoever adheres to God has been guided to the Straight Path." (3:101); thus, the term "His Messenger" means the Quran itself and not to Muhammad. The same applies to this verse: "...Anyone who leaves his home, emigrating to God and His Messenger..." (4:100). Both 3:101 and 4:100 refer to the Quran itself that will remain till the end of days after Muhammad's death 14 centuries ago. The link between "Messenger" (i.e., the Quran) and God is shown by singular verbs and pronouns (in the Arabic/Quranic tongue) referring to both God and the Quran/Messenger in these two verses: "That you may believe in God and His Messenger, and support Him, and honor Him, and praise Him morning and evening." (48:9); "They swear to you by God to please you. But it is God and His Messenger that they should seek to please, if they are believers." (9:62). In 9:62, the pronoun (you) refers to Muhammad and the pronoun (it) refers to God's Word and Messenger: the Quran and never to Muhammad. The term "messenger" signifies Muhammad only when he uttered/conveyed the Quran: "O messenger, convey what was revealed to you from your Lord..." (5:67)' "The messenger's sole duty is to convey..." (5:99).    

Between words of the messenger and words of the prophet:

 Having explained the difference between the terms "prophet" & "messenger" when denoting Muhammad, we discuss below words uttered by Muhammad within both Quranic descriptions.   

Words of Muhammad as the messenger who conveyed God's Message:

  It is noteworthy that the polytheistic Arabs during Muhammad's lifetime expressed their hated toward the Quran; they tried hard to convince him to change its words: "And when Our Clear Verses are recited to them, those who do not hope to meet Us say, "Bring a Quran other than this, or change it." Say, "It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I disobeyed my Lord, the torment of a terrible Day." Say, "Had God willed, I would not have recited it to you, and He would not have made it known to you. I have lived among you for a lifetime before it. Do you not understand?"" (10:15-16). Thus, haters of the Quran wanted Muhammad to talk about God's religion outside the Quran and he refused. Polytheistic haters of the Quran did not give up the hope to make Muhammad compromise one day; God has warned him: "So do not obey the deniers. They would like you to compromise, so they would compromise." (68:8-9). Those polytheists were about to influence Muhammad negatively with their evil schemes, if it had not been for God's protection of Muhammad and preserving of the Quran; we advise our readers to reflect deeply on these three verses: "They almost lured you away from what We have revealed to you, so that you would invent something else in Our name. In that case, they would have taken you for a close friend. Had We not given you stability, you might have inclined towards them a little. Then We would have made you taste double in life, and double at death; then you would have found for yourself no helper against Us." (17:73-75). God has testified in the Quran that Muhammad never talked about God's religion outside the Quran, God's Word, and that he never ascribed anything else to God as he delivered the entirety of the Quran: "It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds. Had he falsely attributed some statements to Us. We would have seized him by the right arm. Then slashed his lifeline. And none of you could have restrained Us from him." (69:43-47). Thus, real believers are to submit to this Divine Revelation; i.e., the Quran, and they are not to follow their desires and whims. Thus, God clears Muhammad's name from the accusation that he might have added mortals' words/hadiths/discourses or anything else to Islam. This is the reason behind the repeated Quranic expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"..."). In fact, the command (Say,"...'') addressed to Muhammad is mentioned 332 times within the entire Quranic text. This means that God has provided Muhammad with what to say about Islam to those people around him. This makes the Quran distinguished from the Torah and the Gospel and other previous Scriptures of the Lord God. We know from the Quran that the original Torah (deemed by Quran-believing people as lost or distorted now) predicts the advent of the Quran and Muhammad (see 7:155-157). Moreover, the Bible's Old Testament (whose first five books, named thePentateuch, are deemed now as the Torah by the Jews) mentions the glad tidings of the Ishmaelite Prophet Muhammad in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verses 15 & 18, which we quote here respectively: (The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken); (I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him). This means God has put words into the mouth of Muhammad in Quranic verses containing the expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"..."), and this is part of the revelation of the written Quranic text.

   After examining all the Quranic contexts where the expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"...") are mentioned, we note the following brief points. (1) These expressions are mostly used within dialogues held with different groups of people with different religious affiliations; e.g., polytheists (see 30:42), the People of the Book (see 3:64), hypocrites (see 24:53), believers (see 6:151), and all humankind (see 7:158). (2) These expressions are used to provide answers to posed queries; see 2:219. (3) These expressions are used to emphasize sharia legislations and laws, faith/belief tenets, and acts of worship; e.g., see 6:161 and the Quranic Chapters 112, 113, and 114. (4) We note that the command (Say,"...'') is sometimes used many times in one verse; e.g., see 6:14. (5) The command (Say,"...'') is used in verses that explain other verses. For examples, the content of 31:33-34 is explained using the command (Say,"...'') in 7:187-188. (6) The expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"...") are mentioned in verses that repeat detailed answers to queries raised by others and posed to Muhammad, and this indicates the fact that he never gave his own view at all and waited until answers are revealed by God. This means that words that Muhammad uttered within the call for Islam are only the ones preserved in the 332 Quranic verses containing the command (Say,"...''), especially that God has prevented Muhammad from talking about religion outside the Quran and from ascribing anything else to God. (7) The 332 Quranic verses containing the command (Say,"...'') have answers to our questions regarding the Islamic faith. Muhammad warned, reminded, strove, and brought glad tidings only using the Qurans: "And warn with it those who fear to be gathered before their Lord..." (6:51); "...But remind with it, lest a soul becomes damned on account of what it has earned..." (6:70); "...So remind by the Quran whoever fears My warning." (50:45); "We made it easy in your tongue, in order to deliver good news to the righteous, and to warn with it a hostile people." (19:97); "So do not obey the disbelievers, but strive against them with it, a mighty struggle." (25:52). Muhammad had a very high moralistic attitude which was derived from the Quran "And you are of a great moral character." (68:4); thus, this great moral character is derived from the great, celestial, Quranic religion itself. Away from delivering the Quranic message of God, Muhammad as a prophet and a moral human being had his deeds and words chosen freely within his dealings with people around him. Such words and deeds are NEVER part of Islam and most of them are not recorded inside the Quranic text. Of course, we imagine that he was an eloquent, good-natured role-model in such dealings with others and that he managed to surmount and overcome troubles within his personal and political life within the Yathreb city-state. Of course, we imagine that all human beings are liable to be weak, to make mistakes, and to err; Muhammad is no exception to this rule. Of course, some words and deeds of Muhammad away from the Islamic call, but recorded within the Quran, reflect this rule very clearly, as we show in the lines below.       

Words of Muhammad as a prophet:

 God in the Quran has praised and reproached Muhammad as a prophet for certain words he uttered; some of these words of Muhammad are mentioned in the Quran as part of a situation, with neither rebuke nor praise; we provide three examples below.

(A) God has praised Muhammad when he encouraged his reluctant and afraid companions shortly before the battle of Badr: "Even as your Lord brought you out of your home with the Truth, some believers were reluctant. Arguing with you about the Truth after it was made clear, as if they were being driven to death as they looked on." (8:5-6); "When you said to the believers, "Is it not enough for you that your Lord has reinforced you with three thousand angels, sent down?"" (3:124). Thus, 3:124 is within context of praising Muhammad who encouraged his companions (see 3:121-129).

(B) When Muhammad said the phrase "..."I have nothing to carry you on."..." (9:92) to those impecunious persons who had no camels or horses and desired to participate in the self-defense military jihad endeavors, this is mentioned within the context of a situation/story without praise or reproach; see 9:90-95. 

(C) God has rebuked Muhammad for being reluctant to execute His command of marrying his adopted son's divorcée and for telling this adopted son, Zaid, to reconcile with his wife instead: "When you said to him whom God had blessed, and you had favored, "Keep your wife to yourself, and fear God in piety." But you hid within yourself what God was to reveal. And you feared the people, but it was God you were supposed to fear. Then, when Zaid ended his relationship with her, We gave her to you in marriage, that there may be no restriction for believers regarding the wives of their adopted sons, when their relationship has ended. The command of God was fulfilled. There is no blame on the Prophet regarding what God has ordained for him. Such is the pattern of God among those who passed before. The command of God is an Absolute Decree." (33:37-38). God's intention was to annul adoption (i.e., giving one's name as a father to non-biological sons/daughters) and to annul the strange Arabian habit of never to marry one's adoptive son's divorcée. This situation has its spatiotemporal context with names, facts, and circumstances. The people involved in this situation died, but the moral lessons are still there: (1) Muhammad was a human being who made errors and has been reproached in the Quran, (2) any words or deeds by him away from delivering/reciting the divine revelation are NEVER part of Islam, and (3) the so-called hadiths, narratives, and biographies of Muhammad authored by men of the Abbasid Era onwards are mere fabrications. Hence, the only words of Muhammad which are part of Islam are found in verses containing the expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"..."). Muhammad was a great prophet who obeyed God's Word and Message, the infallible and irrefutable Quran, and delivered its entire text. 

The only mission of the messenger is to convey:

  This Quranic phrase above has been turned into a proverb in the Arabic culture for centuries; yet, it is very rare to find someone who reflects deeply on this phrase regarding the Islamic religion itself. This phrase comes in the confining style in the Arabic tongue to show the fact that Muhammad had but one mission which is to deliver God's message (i.e., the Quran); he had no other mission(s) within Islam: "The messenger's sole duty is to convey..." (5:99); "...but if they turn away, then your duty is to convey..." (3:20); "...If you turn away, know that the duty of Our messenger is clear communication." (5:92); "...Your only duty is to convey..." (42:48). To convey the celestial message means to deliver its totality or entirety, without even a single verse removed from it or added to it. This also means to deliver the celestial message exactly as it is, with its glad tidings, warning, preaching, guidance, and Light. "O prophet! We have sent you as a witness, and a bearer of good news, and a warner. And a caller towards God by His leave, and an illuminating beacon." (33:45-46). Since God has made Muhammad a witness against his people, this implies clearly that he delivered the entirety of the Quranic message. This bearing witness against his contemporaries is NEVER linked to the Sunnite myth of intercession/mediation (i.e., Sunnites assume in their mythology that Muhammad would intercede on behalf of 'Muslims' who entered Hell to bring them deliverance/salvation to make them enter into Paradise!). Hence, God says in the Quran: "We have sent to you a messenger, a witness against you..." (73:15); "Then how will it be, when We bring a witness from every community, and We bring you as a witness against these?" (4:41); "On the Day when We raise in every community a witness against them, from among them, and bring you as a witness against these. We have revealed to you the Book, as an explanation of all things..." (16:89); "And the messenger will say, "My Lord, my people have abandoned this Quran."" (25:30). Muhammad's sole mission was to convey the Quranic message to people; this mission has been accomplished. Those people who have abandoned the Quran by adhering to other books, instead of it or beside it, will be disowned by Muhammad on the Last Day. Among the features of their abandoning the Quran are the following: (1) accusing it of being vague and convoluted and thus needs interpretation, though God asserts that the Quran contains Clear Verses, and (2) asserting it is lacking and thus needs other sources to 'complete' it or to fill 'gaps' in it, though God asserts that the Quran contains Clarifying, Detailed Verses. Muhammad's mission was delivering the Message, whereas God's mission is to judge humanity on the Last Day: "On the Day when We...bring you as a witness against these. We have revealed to you the Book, as an explanation of all things..." (16:89); "...your duty is to inform, and Ours is to judge." (13:40); "But if they turn away - We did not send you as a guardian over them. Your only duty is to convey..." (42:48); "So remind. You are only a reminder. You have no control over them. But whoever turns away and disbelieves. God will punish him with the worst torment. To Us is their return. Then upon Us rests their judgment." (88:21-26). It is a shame that most people never ponder the Quran and abandon it instead. May Almighty God guide all of us to His Straight Path!

Muhammad ruled the Yathreb city-state using only the Quran:

  Muhammad was the leader and the judge/arbiter within the Yathreb city-state; its dwellers resorted to him to settle their disputes as per God's Word, the Quran, that contains God's judgment and guidance until the end of days; it is with human beings after Muhammad's death, and Muhammad never left to believers, of all eras, anything else beside the Quranic text. "Thus We inspired you with an Arabic Quran, that you may warn the Mother of All Villages and whoever is around it, and to warn of the Day of Assembly, of which there is no doubt; a group in the Garden, and a group in the Furnace." (42:7); "Whatever matter you differ about, its judgment rests with God. "Such is God, my Lord, in Whom I trust, and unto Him I repent."" (42:10); "Shall I seek a judge other than God, when He is the One who revealed to you the Book, explained in detail?..." (6:114); "O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger..." (4:59). The term "Messenger'' in 4:59 refers only to the Quran, used by Muhammad as a judge who settled the disputes of the dwellers of the Yathreb city-state. The hypocrites' stance there was to resort to Muhammad as a judge only when the justice was by their side; otherwise, they moved away from Muhammad though they claimed to be believers who adhere to the Messenger/Massage: the Quran. "And they say, "We have believed in God and the Messenger, and we obey," but some of them turn away afterwards. These are not believers. And when they are called to God and His Messenger, in order to judge between them, some of them refuse. But if justice is on their side, they accept it willingly." (24:47-49); "And when it is said to them, "Come to what God has revealed, and to the Messenger," you see the hypocrites shunning you completely." (4:61). In fact, 4:61 indicates clearly that there is no source of judgment within the Yathreb city-state except the Messenger/Massage: the Quran. Hence, there were no hadiths nor personal views used by Muhammad as a judge. Real believers in the Yathreb city-state accepted the Quran as the source of judgment to settle their disputes: "The response of the believers, when they are called to God and His Messenger in order to judge between them, is to say, "We hear and we obey." These are the successful." (24:51). The Muhammadans who deify Muhammadans and believe in the nonsensical hadiths falsely ascribed to him should contemplate deeply on these verses: "God has said: "Do not take two gods; He is only One God; so fear only Me." To Him belongs everything in the heavens and the earth; and only to Him religion is due always. Do you, then, fear anyone other than God?" (16:51-52). Some hypocrites managed to deceive Muhammad as a judge by making him take their side though they were the guilty party and the other condemned party were innocent persons. The elements of names, circumstances, location, etc. are removed from this Quranic story to serve as warning and to sensitize all Quran-believing people in all eras regarding this issue of applying justice; at first, God has rebuked Muhammad while commanding him to judge using the Book (i.e., the Quran), and since he forgot that, he must implore God for pardon. Let us quote this entire Quranic context: "We have revealed to you the Book, with the Truth, so that you judge between people in accordance with what God has shown you. And do not be an advocate for the traitors. And ask God for forgiveness. God is Forgiver and Merciful. And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves. God does not love the deceitful sinner. They hide from the people, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them, as they plot by night with words He does not approve. God comprehends what they do. There you are, arguing on their behalf in the present life, but who will argue with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection? Or who will be their representative? Whoever commits evil, or wrongs his soul, then implores God for forgiveness, will find God Forgiving and Merciful. And Whoever earns a sin, earns it against himself. God is Aware and Wise. And whoever commits a mistake, or a sin, and then blames it on an innocent person, has taken a slander and a clear sin. Were it not for God's grace towards you, and His mercy, a faction of them would have managed to mislead you. But they only mislead themselves, and they cannot harm you in any way. God has revealed to you the Scripture and wisdom, and has taught you what you did not know. God's goodness towards you is great." (4:105-113). Thus, God has exposed the deceit and conspiracy of those hypocrites and justice was upheld; Muhammad as a judge used nothing beside the Quran; everyone is responsible for one's sins and no one will intercede on behalf of anyone on the Last Day: "...The evildoers will have no intimate friend, and no intercessor to be obeyed." (40:18).     

Obeying God and obeying the Messenger:

  God says in the Quran: "And obey God and the Messenger, that you may obtain mercy." (3:132); "O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you..." (4:59). Does this mean we are to obey – in religion – one or more mortals beside the One True Immortal God?! Of course not; in both 3:132 & 4:59, we are to obey only the Lord God. We have mentioned before that the term "the Messenger" here means the Quran itself as God's Message and Word. Muhammad died and when this term indicated him when he was alive and uttering the Quranic verses, this meant to obey the God's Quranic verses he uttered and NOT his person. This is understood from this verse: "O prophet! If believing women come to you, pledging allegiance to you, on condition that they will not associate anything with God, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor commit perjury as to parenthood, nor disobey you in anything righteous, accept their allegiance and ask God's forgiveness for them. God is Forgiving and Merciful." (60:12). In this verse, Muhammad has been addressed as a prophet not as a messenger, and the Yathreb dwellers were to obey him as a leader ONLY within righteousness and not absolutely (as absolute obedience is to the Messenger; i.e., the Quran, or to the messenger Muhammad when he uttered Quranic verses only). Obeying those in authority as per 4:59 means those experts (or civil servants) serving the Muslim society and protecting its welfare within their obeying God's Word of the Quranic sharia, and not absolute, blind obedience to mortals. Of course, Muhammad was the first one to obey the Messenger/Message of God. Furthermore, the word "Messenger" means God's Word (and not any mortals) in these two verses: "We did not send any Messenger except to be obeyed by God's leave..." (4:64); "Whoever obeys the Messenger is obeying God..." (4:80). Hence, mortal messengers of God expected obedience in relation to the Messages they conveyed and not to their persons: "I am to you a faithful messenger. So fear God, and obey me." (26:107-108/ 26:125-126/ 26:162-163). In these verses we have quoted, the term ''prophet'' is never used. Thus, obedience is only to God's Word that remains with people until the end of days. God commands us to obey our parents, except when they try to mislead/misguide one away from obeying God's Word: "We have advised the human being to be good to his parents. But if they urge you to associate with Me something you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. To Me is your return; and I will inform you of what you used to do." (29:8).   

Following the Light which descended on Muhammad:

 The belief is never in any mortal(s), including Muhammad, but in what was revealed to/descended on Muhammad; i.e., the Quran itself. "While those who believe, and work righteousness, and believe in what was sent down to Muhammad - and it is the Truth from their Lord - He remits their sins, and relieves their concerns." (47:2). Thus, we are NOT to believe in Muhammad but in the Light descended on him; i.e., the Quran itself as the divine revelation. "...Those who believe to him, and respect him, and support him, and follow the Light that came down with him..." (7:157).

Muhammad the prophet is the first one to obey the Messenger, which is the celestial message itself; the Quran:

  Of course, Muhammad was the first believer to adhere only to the Quranic revelation which is the guidance from the Lord God: "Follow what was revealed to you from your Lord..." (6:106); "And follow what is revealed to you, and be patient..." (10:109); "And follow what is revealed to you from your Lord..." (33:2); "Then, when We have recited it, follow its recitation." (75:18); "Then We set you upon a pathway of faith, so follow it..." (45:18); "...I only follow what is inspired in me..." (46:9); "... Say, "I only follow what is inspired to me from my Lord."..." (7:203). Hence, Muhammad should be the role-model for monotheistic believers in following the Quran and nothing else in religion. "A Book was revealed to you, so let there be no anxiety in your heart because of it. You are to warn with it - and a reminder for the believers. Follow what is revealed to you from your Lord, and do not follow other allies beside Him. Little you remember." (7:2-3). Thus, the verse 7:3 indicates clearly that we are to follow the Quran and nothing else beside it. No real believers could argue against this clear command in 7:3. Yet, the Muhammadans would pose the typical and expected question: what is to follow the messenger Muhammad, then? There is only one reply to this question: to follow only the Quran, the Messenger/Message followed by Muhammad himself. Thus, the command in 7:3 of never to follow allies beside God and His Word miraculously predicts that most human beings (in all eras) are polytheists who take up other 'holy' sources/books authored by mortals beside (or in lieu of) God's Quran and other allies/deities/saints/legislators as gods beside Allah. This means that it is a fact that the vast majority of people (in all eras) are misguided and misguiding as they follow their whims and desires in religion. This is why God has said the following to Muhammad: "If you were to obey most of those on earth, they would divert you from God's Path. They follow nothing but assumptions, and they only conjecture." (6:116). This fact about the vast majority of people on earth is undeniable in our modern era now, and sadly, most people are indeed heedless; this shows the truthfulness of the Quranic miraculous predictions in 7:3 and 6:116 repeated explicitly in these two verses as well: "Say: "The bad and the good are not equal, even though the abundance of the bad may impress you..." (5:100); "...those who believe and do good deeds, but these are so few..." (38:24).     

Muhammad was no legislator and never knew the metaphysical realm of the future:

 Real Quran-believing Muslims believe in the fact that God has chosen the right human beings as prophets/messengers to bear the responsibility of conveying the Messages of God: "...God knows best where to place His message..." (6:124). Of course, the sole mission assigned to God's messengers/prophets was confined to conveying the entirety of the divine message: "The messenger's sole duty is to convey..." (5:99). Thus, it is people's responsibility (and not Muhammad's) to ponder the meanings of the Quranic verses: "A Blessed Book that We sent down to you, that they may ponder its Verses, and for those with intelligence to take heed." (38:29); "Do they not ponder the Quran? Had it been from any other than God, they would have found in it much discrepancy." (4:82); "Will they not ponder the Quran? Or are there locks upon their hearts?" (47:24). Those heedless ones who never pondered the Quran will regret it in vain after it is too late for them on the Last Day and they will be rebuked this way: "Have they not pondered the Word?..." (23:68). The Quranic verses are insights to people and should be pondered deeply, and this is people's responsibility and not Muhammad's: ""Insights have come to you from your Lord. Whoever sees, it is to the benefit of his soul; and whoever remains blind, it is to its detriment. I am not a guardian over you."" (6:104); "...Say, "I only follow what is inspired to me from my Lord." These are insights from your Lord, and guidance, and mercy, for a people who believe. When the Quran is recited, listen to it, and pay attention, so that you may experience mercy." (7:203-204). Muhammad who received questions by his contemporaries waited until the Quranic revelation brought the answers, within verses containing the expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"..."). Muhammad's mission was only to convey the Quranic message as it is and not to give his own personal opinions or views: "They ask you for a ruling about women. Say, "God gives you a ruling about them..." (4:127); "They ask you for a ruling. Say, "God gives you a ruling..." (4:176). About questions posed to Muhammad by his contemporaries, and the Quranic answers to them, we emphasize the points below.

(A) They used to ask Muhammad about new things related to the religious legislations (i.e., sharia laws), and Muhammad waited until the Quranic answers were provided: "They ask you about the bounties. Say, "The bounties are for God and the Messenger." So be mindful of God, and settle your differences, and obey God and His Messenger, if you are believers." (8:1). The term ''Messenger'' here refers to the Quran of course.  

(B) They used to ask Muhammad about things explained in the Quran before; again, Muhammad waited until the Quranic answers were provided. For instance, this verse was revealed in Mecca: "Say, "My Lord has forbidden immoralities - both open and secret - and sin, and unjustified aggression..." (7:33); yet, Muhammad was asked in Yathreb about wine-drinking, which is a sin, and he waited until the answer was provided in this verse: "They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "There is gross sin in them, and some benefits for people, but their sinfulness outweighs their benefit."..." (2:219). We understand, then, that wine-drinking is prohibited as a sin in Meccan verses and more details about this prohibition are found in Yathrebian verses.

(C) It is noteworthy that when Muhammad's contemporaries asked him about things mentioned in the Quran, he did not repeat the same verses; rather, he waited for the revelation of other verses that brought the answers. For instance, the Meccan verses about caring for orphans (93:9, 107:1-2, 89:17, 90:15, 17:34, and 6:152) are asserted in the Yathrebian verses (2:177 and 76:8); yet, people asked Muhammad about the orphans again, and answers have been provided in 4:127 and 2:220.

(D) The fact that Muhammad never knew the metaphysical realm of the future is repeated in the Quranic text; Muhammad never knew about the timing of the Hour and what would occur to him or to others; see 6:50, 72:25-27, 21:109, and 46:9. The Quran asserts the fact that God is the Omniscient Lord; see 31:34, 41:47, and 43:85. Yet, people kept asking Muhammad about the Hour, and he did not repeat the previous verses but waited for other revealed verses that assert the same answer again; see 7:187-188, 79:42-45, and 33:63. This repetition is meaningful and significant, because nothing in the Quran is repeated for no reason; these verses that repeat the same answer miraculously refute beforehand thousands of Sunnite hadiths that fill Sunnite books about the Hour, the Last Day, Hell, Paradise, and the so-called intercession. Monotheistic believers adhere to and believe in the Quran and disbelieve in these silly hadiths (and indeed, they reject all hadiths), whereas polytheists claim to believe in the Quran and in such hadiths simultaneously. This polytheistic stance is illogical; in fact, those who believe in such hadiths are denying and rejecting the Quran. There is no medial or in-between position in this issue: one is either to disbelieve in hadiths to believe in the Quran or to disbelieve in the Quran to believe in hadiths. It is impossible to believe in them both, as the Quran and hadiths contradict each other. May Almighty God guide all of us to His Straight Path!       

(E) Muhammad's contemporaries posed to him questions whose answers were, of course, known to him; yet, he waited again for the Quranic revelation instead of giving his own views. This is exemplified when they asked him about the crescents and about women's menstruation: "They ask you about the crescents. Say, "They are timetables for people, and for the Hajj."..." (2:189); "And they ask you about menstruation: say, "It is harmful, so keep away from women during menstruation. And do not approach them until they have become pure..." (2:222). 

(F) A wife complained to Muhammad about her husband, and Muhammad as usual waited for the answer to be provided in the Quranic revelation inspired to him: "God has heard the statement of she who argued with you concerning her husband, as she complained to God. God heard your conversation. God is Hearing and Seeing." (58:1). This means that God is the Only Legislator in Islam, NOT Muhammad or any other mortals. Muhammad had no right to issue religious legislations; otherwise, Islam were to have two sources to be preserved by God. Islam has but one source preserved by God: the Quran itself. Muhammad's sole mission was to convey the Quran, NOT to give his own views or opinions. Muhammad died once the descent of the Quranic revelation ended, and he, of course, conveyed the entirety of the Quranic text, the Only, Complete, and Perfect Source of Islam. The grave crime/sin of scholars in later eras is that instead of studying the Quranic text meticulously, they turned their own views within ijtihad (i.e., innovative, creative thinking) into hadiths ascribed falsely to Muhammad to lend false 'credibility' to their views and make them spread among the masses. Such hadiths contradict the Quran and have made other generations assume wrongly that Islam as a religion has two sources (i.e., hadiths and fiqh books) beside the Quran.     

Muhammad's ijtihad was in applying the Quranic sharia legislations, NOT in issuing additional or new legislations:

 The only ijtihad by Muhammad was to apply God's Quranic commands and sharia laws in the best possible way; he never invented any religious rules, legislations, or laws; God has even commanded him to consult the dwellers of Yathreb in the conduct of their affairs. Muhammad's application of the Quran submitted to the circumstances of his era, his people, his location (i.e., Yathreb), etc. This means that his application would NOT be adopted by people in later eras nor it would be adopted within our modern era now, as people at every era have their own different circumstances. Let us exemplify this point for further explanation. God says in the Quran: "And prepare against them all the power you can muster, and all the cavalry you can mobilize..." (8:60). Of course, our modern ijtihad is NOT to use cavalry and horses; this verse means to prepare as much military power as we can when we engage into a self-defense war against an aggressive enemy. We are to ponder the Quran while seeking guidance and with scientific research methodology without whims, prejudices, and prior notions. Our ijtihad in understanding the Quranic text must be ascribed to ourselves and NOT to the religion of Islam, as all human beings are liable to err and to make mistakes. We are NEVER to ascribe views/opinions to God or to Muhammad; we must say that our views are ours, which are based on our own personal pondering on the Quranic verses. God preserves the Quran till the end of days; otherwise, clergymen, scholars, and authors of the Muhammadans would have deleted many of the Quranic verses that prove their views and hadiths wrong. They might have liked to delete/omit Quranic verses that refute Sunnite myths (e.g., 'intercession' and 'infallibility' of Muhammad and countless hadiths about the future) and to remove/change the Quranic verses about higher Quranic values such as justice, absolute religious freedom, freedom of thought, and the Islamic Shura consultation (i.e., direct democracy), to name but few Quranic facts disregarded purposefully by the polytheistic Muhammadans. We thank the Almighty God for bestowing the Quran on us and for preserving its text until the end of days so that people would have no excuses at all in this world and the next one during the Last Day.        

The Sunna of Muhammad is only the Quran:

  The Arabic/Quranic term ''Sunna'' literally means ''ways'', ''methods'', ''sharia'', or ''laws'', and it is ascribed to God and never to Muhammad throughout the Quranic text. God's Sunna is (1) His sharia legislations and (2) how He deals with (dis)believing people. In contrast, the Sunna (i.e., ways) of polytheists/disbelievers in all eras is to feel too arrogant and haughty to accept the Truth and to scheme evil against believers. God's Sunna of dealing with such polytheists/disbelievers is to make their evil plans, ironically, harm them instead of harming believers; see 35:43. Polytheists/disbelievers used to expel believers away from their homes, and God's method has been to torment or destroy the evildoers; see 17:76-77. God's method has been to cause defeat to polytheists/disbelievers when faced by believers whose faith is sincere; see 48:22-23. The hypocrites in Yathreb conspired against Muhammad and the early believers, and God has warned and threatened the hypocrites of inflicting destruction upon them as God's way/Sunna of dealing with aggressive polytheists; see 33:60-62. Thus, the term "Sunna" is ascribed to God in such contexts and other contexts that denote God's sharia legislations; i.e., laws issued by God as the Only Legislator in the Quran to be obeyed by real believers: "There is no blame on the prophet regarding what God has ordained for him. Such is the Way/Sunna of God among those who passed before. The command of God is an Absolute Decree." (33:38). The term "Sunna" here means God's commands or imposed obligations on believers who obey their Almighty Lord. Thus, Sunna means laws/ways/methods and also means the Quranic sharia laws themselves. We remember how Muhammad was reluctant to obey the divine command to marry the divorcée of Zaid, but God's commands must be obeyed; see 33:37. Of course, Muhammad was the first one to apply God's Sunna (i.e., His Quranic commands). Muhammad is the role-model for real believers in obeying the Quran, which is God's Sunna/Way. It is noteworthy that the polytheistic Sunnites wrongly assume that religious commands are of two types: obligatory duties of the Quran and less-obligatory/optional ones, and they call the latter as 'Sunna' ascribed to Muhammad! This is very silly and illogical, as all of God's Quranic sharia/Sunna are obligatory legislations, commands, duties, and acts of worship (e.g., prayers, fasting, zakat, and pilgrimage). The only thing Sunnite authors got right is that the way of performing the five daily prayers is inherited from Muhammad and passed as traditions (or practical Sunna) from one generation to the other; yet, the fatal mistake of Sunnite authors has been to invent and fabricate hadiths while ascribing them to Muhammad under the label 'verbal Sunna'. In fact, the only verbal Sunna that pertains to Muhammad is found in Quranic verses that contain the repeated Quranic expressions (Say,"...") & (They ask you about...Say,"..."). Thus, the fatal mistake of the Sunnite fiqh authors has been to differentiate between what they have assumed to be religious obligatory duties and optional ones labeled as 'Sunna' ascribed to Muhammad; e.g., the five daily prayers are obligational duties, whereas any extra prayers are labeled by Sunnites as 'Sunna prayers' pertaining to Muhammad! This is against the Quranic definition of Sunna as God's Decrees, obligations, and commands that must be obeyed by the pious believers. Indeed, some Sunnites still pose this question to our person: did Muhammad have his own Sunna outside the Quran or not? Our answer is the same: no, he had not. This answer is inferred from the Quran itself. God says in the Quran: "You have an excellent example in the messenger of God; for anyone who seeks God and the Last Day, and remembers God frequently." (33:21). Hence, Muhammad is a role-model and an example for the pious believers and he had no Sunna (i.e., methods, ways, laws, or hadiths) of his own at all beside (or instead of) the Quran. The reason: Sunna in the Quran is God's commands and sharia laws. We follow Muhammad as a role model in his adhering to the Quranic sharia of God as best as he could. The context of 33:21 is commenting on the battle of the confederates; i.e., when the polytheistic military troops sieged the Yathreb city-state. The Yathreb dwellers at this point in time were divided into two parties: the hypocrites and their allies who let the early believers down (see 33:12-20) and the early believers who were true, steadfast, and sincere (see 33:22). Muhammad was their role-model in courage and steadfastness (see 33:21) in this particular situation. God has praised the steadfast ones here: "Of the believers are men who are true to what they pledged to God. Some of them have fulfilled their vows; and some are still waiting, and never wavering." (33:23). This does NOT mean to imitate Muhammad blindly or within an absolute manner in anything ascribed to him; this is understood from the Quranic command addressed to Muhammad and real believers to imitate Abraham and those believers with him who disowned their polytheistic people and relatives; see 60:4-6. This imitation of Abraham as a role-model pertains only to a particular situation, and not blindly or within an absolute manner. Thus, this imitation of a model/example is directly linked to God's Book and nothing else outside it. The Lord God in the Quran has commanded Muhammad to follow the guidance of previous prophets; i.e., their Scriptures and to follow the religion of Abraham which is monotheism ordained by God's True Religion: "Those are they whom God has guided, so follow their guidance..." (6:90); "Then We inspired you: "Follow the religion of Abraham, the monotheist. He was not a polytheist." (16:123). Thus, all pious believers adhere only to God's Book and sharia, and the role-models or examples of this are Muhammad and the other prophets of God, as we read in the Quran about certain situations in their lives, narrated by the Omniscient Lord God. Thus, the only Sunna of Muhammad is God's Quranic sharia that he conveyed to people by God's permission. We implore the Almighty Lord God to make us live and die while adhering to God's sharia/Sunna followed by Muhammad.   

"...Whatever the messenger gives you, accept it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it. And fear God in piety..." (59:7):

  Many Muhammadans deliberately misinterpret and twist the meaning of 59:7 after they decontextualize it so that they would lend sham legitimacy and fake credibility to the sources they added to their religions beside the Quran. The Muhammadans assume wrongly that 59:7 refers to hadiths they have attributed to Muhammad after his death. Of course, Muhammad had no hadiths at all; he never had any source(s) for religion beside the Quran. In order to understand the real meaning of 59:7, especially this command: "...Whatever the messenger gives you, accept it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it...", we must read its Quranic context; i.e., verses/phrases before and after it, and we find that the topic of 59:7-8 is money reaching the Treasury of the Yathreb city-state away from self-defense fighting, battles, or spoils. Let us ponder deeply on these verses: "Whatever God granted to His messenger from the inhabitants of the villages belongs to God, and to the messenger, and to the relatives, and to the orphans, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer; so that it may not circulate solely between the wealthy among you. Whatever the messenger gives you, accept it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it. And fear God. God is severe in punishment. To the poor immigrants who were driven out of their homes and their possessions, as they sought the favor of God and His approval, and came to the aid of God and His messenger. These are the sincere." (59:7-8). These verses tackle the distribution of money among certain categories of the needy ones. Hence, this command: "...Whatever the messenger gives you, accept it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it..." refers to money shares distributed by Muhammad and how God has commanded the receivers of such shares to be satisfied with them and never to covet anything beyond such shares. The bad habit of the hypocrites of Yathreb at the time was to link their 'satisfaction' with Islam to the amount of financial benefits they would gain from it, though they were affluent; in fact, God has prevented Muhammad from admiring their money/possessions and progeny; see 9:55 and 9:85. Those affluent hypocrites desired to get money shares, though they never deserved it, along with the needy and the poor ones among the Yathreb dwellers; see 9:58-60. In fact, the verses 9:58-60 explain further the verses 59:7-8. Let us be reminded that Muhammad judged among the Yathreb dwellers using only the Quran, and this applies to the topic of money shares distributed to the needy and the poor as per 59:7-8. Some Muhammadans would say, in their attempts to refute us, that their fiqh rules entail that Quranic commands concerning certain situations are to be generalized, and hence, 59:7 would indicate for them to obey the so-called 'hadiths' ascribed to Muhammad! They assume that 59:7 means to obey 'prohibitions' and 'commands' attributed to Muhammad in the so-called 'hadiths'! We refute this falsehood easily by asserting that the term ''messenger'' in 59:7 indicates Muhammad when he applied or uttered the Quranic message. Besides, the capitalized term "Messenger" indicates God's Message, the Quran itself, that will remain with human beings until the end of days; thus, we understand that the verse 59:7 commands us to follow Quranic commands and prohibitions in general, not only in relation to money distribution to the needy and the poor ones. Thus, we are to adhere to the Quran: "We sent down upon you the Book for the humankind in Truth..." (39:41). Hence, we are never to believe in or adhere to any assumed sources (narratives, fiqh books, hadiths books, etc.) beside the Quran. It is noteworthy that the Sunnite hadiths-books of authors like Ibn Hanbal, Moslem, Al-Tirmizy, Al-Nisaa'i, etc. contain hadiths (with many long series of narrators!) which are commanding people never to write down anything uttered by Muhammad except for the Quran. Those hadith scholars in the Abbasid Era, who claimed to have 'verified' and 'authenticated' hadiths as per many different criteria, have endorsed hadiths about NOT to write down any hadiths! This stance contradicts the general Sunnite belief that thousands of thousands of hadiths are accepted as 'true' and are attributed to Muhammad. It is an undeniable historical fact that when Muhammad died, he left nothing written at all to his contemporaries but the entire Quranic text. Some Sunnite hadiths scholars have surmised that Muhammad did not want people to mix between hadiths and Quranic verses by assuming that hadiths are part of the Quranic verses! This is nonsensical and illogical, of course, because Muhammad is innocent of such Sunnite (and Shiite and Sufi) hadiths authored and accumulated throughout the centuries. Besides, the Quran is a linguistic miracle with a unique inimitable variety of the Arabic tongue of special eloquence; God has challenged Arabs to produce any chapters like the Quranic Chapters, and hence, it is silly and illogical to suppose that there were 'hadiths' during Muhammad's lifetime and he probably feared that people might assume them to be part of the Quranic verses. Strangely, Al-Bokhary book contains historical narratives about the fact that Muhammad, before his death, never left anything written down except for the Quran and that the pre-Umayyad caliphs, Abou Bakr, Omar, and Othman, prevented hadiths-collectors (or rather fabricators) to write down or spread, as orators, narrators, and preachers, anything of the kind (see Al-Bokhary 6/234), though Al-Bokhary himself collected (or rather fabricated) thousands of hadiths! Al-Bokhary book mentions that Omar imprisoned three men in Yathreb who kept propagating hadiths orally in mosques, after accusing these men of telling lies about Muhammad, and he warned the two orators/narrators Abou Hurayrah and Kaab Al-Ahbar (who was a Yemenite Jewish rabbi who never met with Muhammad!) against spreading such narratives in Yathreb. The caliph Othman released these men out of prison later on, and Abou Hurayrah authored and spread - with impunity - hundreds of hadiths after the death of Omar. Even the Syrian Wahabi author of the 20^th century, Rasheed Reda (1865-1935 A.D.), who was the agent of Al-Saud family during his stay in Egypt and launched the Wahabi magazine (Al-Manar) in Cairo to spread Wahabism, has asserted in his magazine that if Omar were to outlive Abou Hurayrah, hundreds of hadiths would not have reached us now. Thus, we, the Quranist thinker Dr. A. S. Mansour, assert that Muhammad never conveyed to people anything but the Quran and that there were early generations after the death of Muhammad who followed the Quran without any source(s) beside it. Ascribing hadiths to Muhammad is a grave sin as it implies that as if the Quran were a lacking source of God's religion. Thus, people who authored hadiths have committed the grave sin of attributing lies and falsehoods to God's religion by following their whims and desires. By the way, it is a historical fact that hadiths-writing process began during the Abbasid Era in the 3^rd century A.H., i.e., more than 200 years after the death of Muhammad! Would Muhammad, then, be accused of delivering the Islamic message partially and not wholly?! Did he fail in his mission to convey God's message?! Would Islam be deemed as 'lacking' until the Abbasid Era?! This is sheer madness and nonsense! In fact, hadiths represent only their authors' mentalities and their eras of troubles and turmoil and they NEVER represent Islam. All hadiths have nothing whatsoever to do with Muhammad. Hence, the books of hadiths and fiqh are the cause of this huge gap – or rather the abyss – between the Quran (i.e., the Only True Islam) and the Muhammadans.                                

CHAPTER III: Knowledge Guidance as the Condition to Understand the Holy Quran

Will they not ponder the Quran?:

  The wrong methodology which is dominant now within the theological studies by Sunnite scholars is to try to understand the Quranic verses using the terminology of Middle-Ages heritage books of traditions, fiqh, narratives, fatwas, hadiths, etc., and because of the discrepancy, contradictions, and differences in all sets of terminology, fatwas, hadiths, narratives, and fiqh notions, they never understand the Quran at all. It is silly that Sunnite scholars, past and present, attribute the contradictions in interpretation books of the Quran to a false motto ascribed to Ali Ibn Abou Talib; i.e., (The Quran is open to various aspects of interpretation). This falsehood 'justifies' the stance of Sunnite scholars of today to choose and select whimsically from countless books of interpretation what would serve their purposes while overlooking Quranic verses that contradict such views. We, the Quranist thinker Dr. A. S. Mansour, categorically refuse, reject, and refute the blasphemous motto of (The Quran is open to various aspects of interpretation) invented and fabricated by unnamed fiqh scholars while falsely ascribing it to Ali Ibn Abou Talib after his death. It is most unlikely that Ali Ibn Abou Talib would have uttered such silly phrase that is very insulting to God and to His Word. It is impossible that a given Quranic verse would have a certain meaning and its exact opposite meaning at the same time! Besides, there cannot be two contradictory views inside the Quranic text, of course, and there are no verses that contradict other verses at all. Sadly, Sunnite scholars pick and choose interpretive views within ancient books that would refute views of their foes within any arguments or debates, and their foes would do just the same, while disregarding the fact that the Quranic verses are concise, precise, with one, clear meaning, as Quranic verses explain one another, and this fact is inferred from these verses: "A Book whose Verses were perfected, then elaborated, from One who is Wise and Informed." (11:1); "An Arabic Quran, without any defect, so they may become righteous." (39:28); "Praise be to God, who revealed the Book to His servant, and allowed in it no distortion." (18:1); "This is the Straight Path of your Lord. We have explained the Verses in detail for people who recollect." (6:126); "This is My Path, straight, so follow it. And do not follow the other paths, lest they divert you from His Path. All this He has enjoined upon you, that you may attain piety." (6:153); "Do they not ponder the Quran? Had it been from any other than God, they would have found in it much discrepancy." (4:82). Thus, these two questions are raised: (1) Why Sunnite/Shiite scholars support their contradictory views with decontextualized (parts of) Quranic verses while adding to them distorted meanings? (2) Since the Quranic verses do NOT contradict one another and are never open to various, different interpretations, how do scholars make the Quranic verses appear otherwise in order to support their own views/stances? The answer for both questions is simple: this is based on the wrong methodology adopted by them; i.e., to attempt to understand the Quran as per sets of terminology formulated by ancient books of authors of their sects/doctrines, and this faulty method allows Sunnite/Shiite/Sufi authors to pick and choose whatever notions and views they like to impose on the Quran to twist and distort meanings of its Clear Verses, while accusing the Quran of being open to various, different interpretations to cover their being ignoramuses who cannot research the Quranic text properly using its own terminology.                  

The duty of pondering the Quran and the methodology of researching the Quran:

  The question posed now is as follows: what is exactly the scientific methodology of understanding and researching the Quran without falling into the traps of discrepancy, inconsistency, and contradictions of ancient authors? In fact, the scientific methodology of research entails that researchers would have no prior views, prejudices, or favored notions which they are eager to prove; besides, researchers must locate and define concepts, notions, and the set of terminology of the book at hand as the object of their research. The set of terminology is like a contract between the author and the readers/researchers, and the terminology must be rightly located, defined, and understood so that readers/researchers can analyze and grasp all the facts and ideas in the book they are reading/researching. This applies to all books, new and ancient, authored by human beings; likewise, this same methodology should be applied to God's Word: the Quran itself. This is the first point to bear in mind when we research the Quranic text; this is the proper Quranist research. In fact, this is the method, indicated in the Quran, to which we must adhere as per divine commands to ponder the Quran; see 4:82, 47:24, and 23:68. We mean to say here that the scientific methodology of pondering the Quran consists of the morphological aspect of the Quranic terms; we are to follow the term we are researching (in all its forms/derivations and cognates) throughout the Quranic text in all verses in which the term is located; thus, the Quranic verses must be our imam/guide and before our eyes to follow their patterns and how the term at hand (i.e., the term we are researching) is used in all these verses in different Quranic contexts. We are to perform this research objectively without having our own deep-rooted, prior ideas (derived from our cultural background) that we might seek to validate or to assert. We must purify our minds of all faulty notions inculcated to us (as children and as grownups) about Islam and the Quran through the Sunnite/Wahabi, Shiite, or Sufi environment in which we live. These notions are wrong by default, since they have been originated outside the Quranic text by Middle-Ages authors. With this level of purity, devotedness, and sincerity, we can reach the pure and true Quranic view regarding certain issues or topics. The second point to bear in mind is to determine the definitive verses and similar verses that tackle the same Quranic fact/view or term/idea we are researching in the Quranic text. We mean by definitive verses the ones that briefly and generally assert certain concept or fact, whereas the similar verses are the ones that provide more details to explain and shed more light on the definitive verses. Of course, both definitive verses and similar verses regarding a certain topic at hand assert the same meanings without ANY contradictions at all: "We have given them a Book, which We detailed with knowledge – as guidance and mercy for people who believe." (7:52). For more details about definitive verses and similar verses, we refer our readers to our two lengthy articles (in English), found on the following two links: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=16993) & (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=16303). Hence, if researchers follow this scientific methodology, they will reach the Quranic fact/view within the topic/issue at hand by tracing, examining, and analyzing all the verses in which a certain term is located in all its different Quranic contexts; thus, the researchers will see how the Quranic verses explain one another. If researchers insist on following the methodologies adopted by Middle-Ages authors of heritage books of traditions with their different sets of terminology, this will certainly lead to more discrepancies and contradictions within faulty understanding of the Quran, as is the case, past and present, with sects and doctrines of the Muhammadans who claim to be 'Muslims'. In sum, we are to understand the Quran only through its own terminology, while believing in the fact that the Quranic verses shed light on one another. Thus, Quranist researchers will reach the Quranic Truth that differs a great deal from the common ideas of people about the Quran/Islam. It is easy, this way, to get to know the Quranic view/stance regarding any issue or topic. In fact, Quranic terminology and concepts contradict, and differ a great deal from, those sets of terminology and notions of heritage books of traditions. It is committing injustice against the Quran, and against scientific methodology of research, to attempt to understand the Quran using man-made sets of terminology, notions, definitions, and concepts that contradict the Quranic terminology.The Quran contains no referrals to outside sources/references that might help to understand it; thus, we are to define the Quranic terms using ONLY Quranic verses as we study, examine, and analyze the ones containing the same term which we trace, along with its derivations and cognates.                    

The Arabic tongue and the Quranic terminology:

 Like all human languages/tongues, the Arabic tongue is a living organism, which has been developed and changed with the passage of time, and it is filled to the brim with its own terms, expressions, and concepts that differ from one era/century to another. Thus, we are to understand and to define Quranic terms without using the Arabic lexicons and dictionaries, as they have been authored/compiled centuries after the Quranic revelation; they cannot be used to understand the unique Arabic style of the Quran that has emerged in the 7^th century A.D., as the Arabic tongue has changed within all levels (grammatical, syntactical, semantic, morphological, phonological, etc.) within the later centuries, as is the case within all living tongues. If it had not been for the Quran, the Arabic tongue might have died out or disappeared in the same manner like the Aramaic, Syriac, and Latin tongues. In fact, dialects of these languages/tongues have metamorphosed gradually into full-fledged languages with their own lexicons and dictionaries. Hence, we are NEVER to use Arabic lexicons and dictionaries (authored in the Abbasid Era and in later eras) to understand the Quranic terminology. Arabic terms have different meanings in each era and even within one era in different geographical locations. Besides, some words that are still used now by the Arabophone people had different meanings in the past centuries that are now obsolete.For instance, the Arabic term (Ameed) in lexicons written during the Abbasid Era means (infatuated or sick with love), while in the 20^th century Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the same term means the dean of any faculty within any university. Hence, MSA, the Egyptian dialect of Arabic, and the Arabic dialects in other Arab countries have nothing to do with the unique Arabic of the Quranic tongue and they are influenced by borrowed terms from the modern European languages. There are complicated terms that have enriched in the Arabic tongue through the passage of time because of terms coined by each religious sect, doctrine, and denominations. The Muhammadans in their earthly, man-made religions have coined many sets of terminology within the heritage books of traditions, fiqh, narratives, and hadiths that are deemed as 'holy' though they contradict the Quran. Such terms include the following: Sunna, fiqh sharia, Sunnites, Sufism/Sufis, Shiites, holy thresholds in Iraq, Rawafid/Rafida (the derogatory or pejorative terms for Shiites used by Sunnites), Nawasib (the derogatory or pejorative term for Sunnites used by Shiites), mediation/intercession, infallibility, Naskh (i.e., replacement), interpreting the Quran, Husseiniyya, Sufi miracles, Sufi hadras, union with God, God is the universe, unity of existence, and inspired divine knowledge. Grammarians of Arabic have their own terms of grammar, prosody, meter, morphology, syntax, etc. Of course, authors of literature/poetry had their own terms and so are philologists, philosophers (e.g., Al-Mu'tazala), authors of fiqh schools, etc., apart from artistic, scientific, and literary sets of terminology coined within the Arab civilization for centuries, and all of them never existed during the era of Muhammad in Arabia in the 7^th century A.D. Hence, Quranic terminology differs a great deal from Arabic terms that have existed after and before the descent of the Quran. We cannot use outside sources to understand Quranic terms, then. For instance, the term (Sunna) in the Quran means God's method, sharia, or way (see 33:38), whereas the Sunnites use the same term to denote their hadiths in which we disbelieve, and they ascribe this term falsely to Muhammad. The Quranic term (Ummi) means (of [or related to] the gentiles); yet, in the Abbasid-Era Arabic and today's Arabic, the word (Ummi) means "illiterate". The Quranic term (Haad) means God's law or right, whereas Sunnites have made the term to denote "penalty". Thus, a given term used in the Quran is used sometimes to denote different meanings in Arabic within certain eras due to the religious influence of those who adhere to the earthly, man-made religions; e.g., the Quranic term (ally) denotes mortal deities worshipped alongside with God by polytheists; yet, Sufis use this term to denote their saints/sheikhs/masters. Hence, lexicons and dictionaries of the Arabic language cannot be depended upon as sources/references to understand the Quranic terminology. The opposition figures during the Umayyad Era used the term (Sunna) in politics as linked to the way Muhammad ruled the Yathreb city-state with justice so that they can criticize the Umayyad caliphs and governors implicitly and indirectly. When the Shiite Kaysanites managed to incite revolt and to mobilize thousands of rebels against the Umayyads, under the banner/motto (contentment is fulfilled by a ruler of the household of Prophet Muhammad) presumably under the leadership of an unknown imam among the progeny of Ali and Fatima, they used the term (Sunna) in this political sense as well, and they were shocked to the core to find that the real, secret leaders and masterminds of this revolt were the Abbasids who, after establishing their caliphate, fought against Alawites (i.e., supporters of any ruler from Fatima and Ali's progeny) and confiscated the terms (Sunna) & (Sunnites) to denote their official religion and their followers, respectively. Alawites retained the term (Shiites) which was previously denoted supporters of the (secret Abbasid) revolt against the Umayyads. The term (Shiites) was gradually used to denote opposition figures and rebels who hated the Abbasids. Thus, the term (Sunna) has many meanings in Arabic that have nothing to do with its Quranic meaning (i.e., way/method or laws of God).Sunnite fiqh scholars who invented narratives/hadiths ascribed to Muhammad were ridiculed and criticized by the Al-Mu'tazala group of thinkers and the Arab philosophers who were well-versed in Greek/Hellenistic philosophy books (which have been translated into Arabic) during the First Abbasid Era. The derogatory term used by them to mock Sunnites was "the stuffers", denoting that they stuff their minds with mythical, illogical, and nonsensical narratives/hadiths instead of using their minds and logical reasoning to interpret the Quranic text. Thus, the term (Sunna) denoted the official religion of the Abbasids who endorsed the four main Sunnite doctrines (of Abou Hanifa, Malik, Al-Shafei, and Ibn Hanbal), as per religious conservative trends and authors; e.g., Abou Al-Hassan Al-Ashaary who deserted Al-Mu'tazala group and became a Sunnite fiqh scholar. Strangely, Sunnite fiqh books use the term (Sunna) to denote additional/optional acts of worship (presumably performed by Muhammad) as opposed to obligatory ones! Thus, within the proper scientific research methodology, we must NEVER use sets of terminology found in heritage books of traditions to understand the Quran, because such sets of terminology have been coined within certain political, social, religious, and intellectual conditions and circumstances. The main reason for not to rely on these sets of terminology is that the Quran has its own set of terminology that has nothing to do with, and certainly contradicts, the sets of terminology used in heritage books of traditions.                         

  We provide below some other brief examples that show the discrepancy and contradiction between the Quranic terminology and the sets of terminology employed in heritage books of traditions authored during the Middle-Ages.

1- The Arabic/Quranic word (deen), denotes (1) religion itself, (2) physical or tangible route, road, or path, whether it is straight or twisted, and (3) figurative route/path to guidance or to God; i.e.,the path in which one walks/adopts in one's relation with God all one's lifetime. The second sense is used in this verse: ""It is not advisable for the believers to march out altogether. Of every division that marches out, let a group remain ahead, to gain understanding of the route (deen), and to notify their people when they have returned to them, that they may beware." (9:122).This verse is misunderstood by Sunnites; they assume that some people are to fight and some are to travel through the land to gain more knowledge of religion. This misunderstanding has occurred because the word (deen) in Arabic refers to religion and to a figurative or physical/tangible path/route. The verse 9:122 comes in the context of self-defense fighting for God's sake by the Yathreb dwellers.It is silly to imagine that 9:122 commands fighting people to leave a group among them to leave for Yathreb (or to go anywhere else) to seek religious knowledge while Muslims were engaged into self-defense war!Why would believers leave the self-defense military endeavors to seek religious knowledge in Yathreb or elsewhere?! How come they would seek it while Muhammad was defending Yathreb with them?! Was there any other locations in Arabia (or the whole world) at the time from which one would gain knowledge of Islam away from Muhammad?! Thus, 9:122 has been grossly misunderstood by Sunnite scholars.Yet, Azharite books make this verse means (let a group remain behind, to gain knowledge of the religion)! Besides, Sunnite clergymen and theologians assume that the term ''knowledge'' is confined to theological branches; yet, in the Quran, it means (2) to get knowledge of the Quran, and (2) to research and use one's mental faculties to study the physical, natural world.

2- Thus, the term (deen) in 9:122 does NOT refer at all to the religion of Islam, but it refers to a physical pathway or route trodden by people's feet. This verse urges fighters of Yathreb to send reconnoitering groups ahead to pave the way to the troops defending Yathreb; that is all. These small groups are to get knowledge of the route and of the enemies if possible. This wrong misunderstanding of 9:122 was because of the scholars of the Abbasid Era who assumed that gaining knowledge refers solely to their religious heritage books of traditions (i.e., silly Sunnite hadiths and fiqh). The expression (to gain knowledge) in the Quran means to seek information through empiricism and experiments within our physical world to get to know it and glorify its Creator within piety.

3-The term ''Sunna'' has two meanings in the Quranic text: (1) the way or method of Almighty God in dealing with polytheists and disbelievers, and(2) the divine law or Quranic sharia. In both meanings, the term ''Sunna'' is mentioned as pertaining to God, not to Muhammad, even regarding laws about him (e.g., see 33:38), as he is a role-model and example (see 33:21) and never a legislator. In the Arabic tongue, (Sunna) means a group of laws issued by judiciary bodies. We have shown above how the term (Sunna) in heritage books of traditions has different political and fiqh meanings. We recapitulate: the term(Sunna) means legislations and issuing laws, and in the Quran, it means ONLY Quranic legislations and laws, even regarding things related to Muhammad, and this Quranic term is ascribed ONLY in all verses to God. The term Sunna, ascribed always to God, has another meaning in the Quran; i.e., God's way/method in dealing with polytheists by punishing and tormenting them (see 33:62, 35:43, and 48:23). In the Sunnite books, which have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam (i.e., Quranism), the term (Sunna) refers only to the so-called hadiths fabricated and falsely attributed to Muhammad and written down more than 200 years after his death. We have tackled this topic repeatedly in other writings of ours. 

4- Sunnite historians and fiqh scholars assume that those who converted to Islam and were Muhammad's contemporaries are deemed as "Companions of the Prophet" who are made to appear as infallible and sanctified! The Quranic term (companion) has a totally different meaning; i.e., anyone who is contemporary to someone else in time/era and place/location, regardless of any religious affiliations or stances; this is way Muhammad is repeatedly described in the Quran as the companion of the Meccan Qorayish polytheists (see 53:2, 34:46, and 81:22).Thus, the traditional term (companions) for Sunnites means those 'Muslim' men and women surrounding Muhammad during his lifetime in Mecca and in Yathreb, and they are deified as saints! The Quranic term "companion(s)" means simply anyone who was contemporary and near someone else in the same era and location. 

5- The term (Naskh) in the Quran means to assert, endorse, confirm, and write; in contrast, in Sunnite books, the same term means to omit, supplant, abrogate, or replace. We provide some details about the term (Naskh) later on in this CHAPTER. 

6- The Quranic term (Hukm) means judiciary arbitration or judgment in court and the Day of Judgment and God as the Eternal Judge. Yet,this term in the Arabic tongue is semantically related to governance/government and to regime/ruling system, and not only to judge's ruling or arbitration, and sometimes in Wahabi/Sunnite and Shiite books, the term denotes theocracy itself. The Arabic/Quranic verb "to rule" in the Quranic text means to judge (as in arbitration) and to issue judgments or verdicts in courts, whereas the silly Sunnite scholars in their books make this verb refer to political rule or theocracy! For more information about this topic, we refer readers to our article in English found on this link: http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=16356 

7- The Quranic phrase "those of authority among you" does NOT refer to rulers or governors at all as Sunnite scholars claim; rather, it refers to those with expertise in certain fields who are consulted for the benefit and welfare of a given nation or community; see 4:59 and 4:83. The Sunnite books make this term denotes rulers/caliphs, and this is illogical, of course.

8- The Quranic term "limits/rules" means God's sharia laws and legislations, but in the Sunnite fiqh books, this term means corporeal punishments and penalties! This term is mentioned in the Quran 14 times to denote God's right and His Laws.

9-The Quranic term "hated" refers to the strictly forbidden and prohibited deeds (e.g., murder, fornication, disbelief, and immorality); e.g., see 17:38 and 49:7. Yet, in Sunnite books, the same term is used to indicate 'permissible' items or deeds that preferably, one should avoid!

10-The Quranic term "loved" refers to duties and obligations ordained by God, imposed on pious believers; e.g., see 39:7, whereas the same term for Sunnites refer to any permissible items which are OK to discard and not to perform as they are not obligatory!

11-The term (Taazeer) in the Sunnite books means public humiliation and penalties exacted on 'sinners' by fiqh scholars, but this term and its derivation in the Quranic text mean to support God and His messenger; see 48:9, 7:157, and 5:12.  

  There are so many other examples that show that the Sunnite books contradict the Quran in many issues such as concepts of faith, belief, polytheism, disbelief, Shura consultation, and stances regarding women, the People of the Book, human rights, higher values, etc., and we have given details of these aspects in our previous writings to prove how Middle-Ages Sunnites have distorted meanings of Quranic verses and disregarded many Quranic sharia laws and legislations and the Quranic methodology of stories of ancient nations. In fact, these Sunnites have established man-made religious laws and legislations that contradict the Quranic ones, and in order to add sham credibility to their fabrications, they have ascribed them falsely to Muhammad and to God under the label (Sunna hadiths), which is the basis for the emergence of Wahabi Sunnite terrorists of our era. 

These are the verses of the Clear Book:

  The Quranic verses explain, interpret, and shed light on one another: "Those who suppress the proofs and the guidance We have revealed, after We have clarified them to humanity in the Book - those - God curses them, and the cursers curse them. Except those who repent, and reform, and proclaim. Those - I will accept their repentance. I am the Acceptor of Repentance, the Merciful." (2:159-160). Hence, God's Book is Clear in itself and its verses are clear proofs/signs that do not need interpretation; rather, people need to read them and ponder deeply on them. God says the following about the Quran: "We made the Quran easy to remember. Is there anyone who would remember?" (54:22); "We made it easy in your tongue, in order to deliver good news to the righteous, and to warn with it a hostile people." (19:97); "We made it easy in your tongue, so that they may remember." (44:58). Thus, all that is required from us is to recite/read the Quranic verses, not to conceal them and not to 'interpret' them, as they are clear verses that explain themselves to readers/hearers who reflect on them deeply. Those who conceal them by misinterpreting them and twist their meanings on purpose are cursed by God. God says the following about some of the People of the Book: "God received a pledge from those who were given the Scripture: "You shall proclaim it to the people, and not conceal it." But they disregarded it behind their backs, and exchanged it for a small price. What a miserable exchange they made." (3:187). This means that they did not read the entire Scripture (i.e., the Torah) as they have concealed certain verses from it, and this is a grave sin that will make them enter into Hell for eternity. The claim that the Quranic verses are vague and thus entail interpretation and require interpreters is refuted by this Quranic verse about God's Book: "Whatever argument they come to you with, We provide you with the Truth, and a better exposition." (25:33). Thus, the best explanation of the Quran is inside its text, as its verses shed light on one another and provide details about one another; strangely, this fact is expressed by the Sunnite author Ibn Katheer who has written a book of 'interpretation' of the Quran. This Quranic fact is asserted by this verse: "...We have revealed to you the Book, as an explanation of all things, and guidance, and mercy and good news for those who submit." (16:89). Thus, since the Quranic verses explain one another and show lucidly all things we need to know about the religion of God, there is no room in the Quranic text for circumlocution, redundancy, verbosity, or wordiness. Thus, all definitive verses of brevity/briefness are explained by similar verses of details/explanations. Thus, we never need outside sources to 'interpret' or to 'explain' the Quran, and this is part of God's mercy to guide us as per 16:89. Thus, those who sincerely research the Quran while seeking guidance from the Lord God will attain mercy and reach guidance, and thus, they will avoid the avalanche of convoluted, vague, contradictory, verbose, and countless books of the Sunnites, the Shiites, and the Sufis.    

Details of the Quran:

  Details of the Quran in similar verses that shed light on definitive verses are linked also to guidance and mercy: "We have given them a Book, which We detailed with knowledge – as guidance and mercy for people who believe." (7:52). Thus, it is illogical and nonsensical to say that the Clear, Detailed Verses of the Quran require interpretation books to help us understand them. If human (oral or written) discourses are filled with needless redundancy and useless details, the Quran, God's Word, cannot be described as such, as its detailed similar verses explain definitive verses of concision and brevity. God says in the Quran: "A Book whose Verses were perfected, then elaborated, from One who is Wise and Informed." (11:1). Real Muslim thinkers know that the Quran is the One, Perfect, Sufficient Source of Islam, and within this perspective, they easily know how to locate similar verses that shed light on the definitive verses in the Quran: "...We thus detail the Verses for people who know." (7:32); "...We thus detail the Verses for people who reflect." (10:24); "...We thus detail the Verses for people who understand." (30:28); "A Book whose Verses are detailed, a Quran in Arabic for people who know." (41:3).    

The issue of gradual legislation within the Quran: 

  Those Sunnites, who insist on the erroneous notion that the term (Naskh) means that some Quranic verses annul/supplant other verses or are supplanted and replaced by the so-called 'hadiths', attempt to prove this false idea by claiming that gradual legislation within the Quran means that 'newer' legislations in certain verses supplant/replace 'older' ones in other verses revealed earlier! This is an outright falsehood and a flagrant lie, of course. The gradual legislation within the Quran is manifested in two topics: (1) the changing relations between the early believers and their enemies during Muhammad's lifetime within the Quranic story of Muhammad, and (2) definitive verses that mention legislations briefly, which are detailed within similar verses. In both cases, there is no Sunnite Naskh (i.e., omission, replacement, annulment, and deletion) at all.

The changing relations between the early believers and their enemies within Muhammad's Quranic story:

 As for Muhammad's story in the Quran, the early believers' relations with their enemies went through several changes and fluctuated between the stages of weakness & strength within the early believers' stay in Mecca and then in Yathreb. In each stage, the suitable Quranic sharia laws have emerged to guide them. Thus, at first, the early Muslims in Mecca were a weak minority oppressed and persecuted by a powerful, affluent majority; they were neither commanded nor expected to engage into self-defense fighting as it would be suicide at that time. When these early Muslims settled in Yathreb and gained strength, Quranic commands came to them in order to engage into self-defense endeavors to deter the aggressive enemies who desired to annihilate them. In both cases in Mecca and Yathreb, Muhammad and the early believers applied Quranic legislations that suited their status, and this does NOT imply that the previous legislations are annulled or rendered null and void; they would be applicable when certain occasions arise, of course. This is regarding the ethics and moralistic aspects of the relations between Muslims and their peaceful foes and their non-peaceful enemies. Of course, peaceful non-Muslims are to be treated with mercy, tolerance, kindness, charity, patience when they would verbally insult/harm Muslims, good treatment and peaceful, gentle words, disregarding the verbal offenders, etc. This treatment changes when aggressive enemies launch military attacks, as one has the right to engage into self-defense; yet, this is not applicable if one is weak and persecuted for religious reasons by strong polytheists; sharia legislations in this case enjoin patience, endurance, and immigration if possible. Of course, a given Quran-based country cannot launch aggressive wars against any countries, as its citizens adhere to higher Quranic values: justice, peace, absolute religious freedom, prohibition of compulsion in religion, equality, direct democracy (i.e., Islamic Shura consultation), human rights, and human dignity. Such a country engage into wars ONLY in cases of military self-defense to deter and stop attackers and aggressors who fought against it first, and when peace is restored, military self-defense endeavors must stop. This is only when wars cannot be avoided through other means (negotiations, agreements, etc.). Thus, deterrence aims to stop bloodshed and violence in the first place; Quran-based countries must never be weak so as not to tempt enemies to invade, attack, or harm them. Of course, counterattacks of self-defense must NEVER exceed the limits in retribution and deterrence. By the way, there are no countries that are weak/strong all the time or forever. The Quranic sharia legislations are applicable in all times and eras as per occasions, conditions, and circumstances at hand, and this does NOT contradict the fact that there are certain Quranic legislations that are applicable in all (peaceful and non-peaceful) times. It is noteworthy that Muhammad and the early believers when persecuted in Mecca as a weak minority applied all Quranic legislations that suited the status quo: patience, tolerance, steadfastness in adhering to the Truth, and preaching the Truth with good words and in a mild manner. Once they settled in Yathreb, a city-state emerged and was led by Muhammad, and thus, the Quranic sharia legislations of self-defense endeavors were applied. Yet, once Muhammad died, the gap widened between the Quranic sharia laws and the Muslims; they became Muhammadans (i.e., those who deify Muhammad) who rejected Islamic Shura consultation once the Qorayish powerful, affluent minority dominated Arabia through the pre-Umayyad caliphs who came from the Qorayish tribe and who led the Arab conquests to form an Arab empire as per the anti-Quran logic of the Middle-Ages; thus, they have discarded and violated Quranic teachings once Muhammad died. When the Qorayish tribesmen monopolized power and wealth, this led to the First Major Arab Civil War, resulting in the emergence of the Umayyad caliphate and dynasty (of unjust, tyrannical hereditary monarchy) that gave the coup de grace to the already weakened direct democracy of Islamic Shura consultation. Later on, the tyrannical Abbasid caliphate was keen on providing quasi-religious justifications and pretexts for the status quo of oppression and grave injustices. Because of the fact that (1) these justifications and pretexts are against Quranic teachings and sharia legislations as well as real (i.e., Quranic) history of Muhammad and his Quranic Sunna/method/way (i.e., how he applied the Quran), (2) it is impossible to combine two contradictory elements: the Quran and status quo of tyranny, and (3) it is impossible to distort and change Quranic verses, the Abbasids had to employ their scholars/sheikhs/agents to fabricate and invent hadiths, narratives, fatwas, and fiqh laws to help despotic caliphs retain their absolute power and their control and possession of vast lands and the lives of millions of their subjects. Thus, caliphs had to fight Quranic justice and Shura and to prevent their application at all costs and by all possible means; this has been the reason behind establishing a parallel religion (i.e., the Sunnite one) that merely carries the label of "Islam", but it contradicts the Quran, in order to maintain the status quo. Such fabrications were written down in the Abbasid Era, but they began orally within the First Major Arab Civil War (Mu'aweiya vs. Ali) and during the Umayyad Era, as rebels and rulers fought one another with the sword and with the propaganda of orators and preachers (who thus provided the seeds of Shiite and Sunnite religions that emerged later on) who invented hadiths ascribed falsely to Muhammad to support their political actions and stances. For instance, the earliest and most famous fabricator of hadiths, Abou Hurayrah, joined the Umayyad side and invented thousands of hadiths to help his Umayyad allies (who paid him handsomely) against the Shiites/Alawites. This bad habit of fabricating and inventing hadiths increased by several orators/narrators/preachers who spread their myths orally in all mosques; thus, thousands of hadiths were being circulated but they were written down (with thousands more added to them) in hundreds of books during and after the Abbasid Era, as the Abbasid caliphs were theocrats, in contrast to the nature of tribalism of the Umayyads who were biased for Arabs and against non-Arabs. This Abbasid, earthly, man-made religion has been named as the Sunnite religion, and it contradicts the Quran in every aspect, and within the Mameluke Era, this religion has been developed and explained in other books with countless additions injected into it through merging it with the Sufi religion, resulting in the hybrid Sufi-Sunnite religion. Hence, this Abbasid Sunnite religion of Satan accuses the Quran of being vague and incomplete and thus cannot be understood without books of hadiths, fiqh, narratives, interpretations, etc. Thus, such books prevent the human minds from perceiving the Quranic Light that addresses our mentalities. This is why the Muhammadans assume until today that Quranic sharia laws of the Dominant Lord God can be replaced with the Sunnite notion of Naskh, as they prefer false hadiths and fiqh notions to the Quranic verses! This Naskh notion is 'justified' by them within many other notions, including the faulty Sunnite notion of gradual legislation within the Quran.

The real gradual legislation within the Quran is regarding definitive verses and similar verses:              

 We mean by this that some legislations are mentioned briefly within definitive verses and then in detail within similar verses. Quranic sharia laws in Meccan definitive verses focus on generalities and emphasize faith/belief tenets to purify them from polytheistic notions. It is naturally expected that the Yathrebian detailed similar verses cannot contradict the Meccan brief, definitive verses that contain general principles. The typically known example quoted by Arab Sunnites, especially Wahabis, is that wine is assumed to be prohibited gradually in the Quran. This is a flagrant lie and an outright falsehood, of course, and we refute it in the following lines. The prohibition of wine-drinking, which is an abomination and a sin, is mentioned at first in the Meccan brief definitive verses (e.g., see 7:33) and then in the Yathrebian detailed similar verses (e.g., see 2:219 & 5:90). Thus, wine is prohibited in verses revealed in both Mecca and Yathreb, and NEVER gradually at all; wine was never allowed temporarily as Sunnite scholars have assumed. Besides, unlike the Sunnite view, wine-drinking has nothing to do with this verse: "O you who believe! Do not approach the prayer while you are drunk, so that you know what you say..." (4:43). The word ''drunk'' here is used in a figurative sense and does NOT refer at all to wine at all; it refers here only to the fact that we should never pray within absentmindedness, laziness, hurriedness, thinking of worldly affairs of daily life, or within lack of piety. It refers in this verse to the unheeded polytheists who never think of the Last Day: "...they were blundering in their drunkenness." (15:72). It refers here to the grave shock and fright of the Hour: "...and you will see the people drunk, even though they are not drunk..." (22:2). In this verse, the word refers to coma or loss of consciousness because of death throes: "The drunkenness of death has come in truth: "This is what you tried to evade."" (50:19). Thus, in this verse: "O you who believe! Do not approach the prayer while you are drunk, so that you know what you say..." (4:43), we are commanded to focus and concentrate when performing prayers to attain piety and to please God. Otherwise, one would not hear or know what one says during prayers, because one might be drowsy, tired, impious, absentminded, and this is very insulting to God.       

Definitive verses and similar verses within the Quran:

  We are to bear in mind that both of definitive verses and similar verses within the Quran have clear, precise meanings and there is no room for contradictory views in them at all; the definitive, brief  verses are detailed and explained by the similar verses. Thus, Quranist Muslim researchers must trace and locate the definitive verses and similar verses when they examine and analyze a certain term or topic at hand to comprehend, infer, discern, and glean the Quranic view bit by bit by obeying God Who has told us to be behind verses within deep pondering. We must define, locate, and link the definitive verses and similar verses within the Quranic contexts we are examining, as we are commanded in this key Quranic verse about how to ponder the Quran properly: "It is He who revealed to you the Book. Some of its verses are definitive; they are the foundation of the Book, and others are similar. As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow the similar part, seeking dissent, and seeking to derive an interpretation. But none knows its interpretation except God and those firmly rooted in knowledge say, "We believe in it; all is from our Lord." But none recollects except those with understanding." (3:7). Those firmly rooted in Quranic knowledge are certainly Quran-believing researchers who firmly believe in the fact that there is no room in the Quranic text for contradictory views, discrepancies, verbosity, or redundancy. This is why those Quranist researchers must trace all verses regarding the topic/theme/term at hand, and they will see how the Quranic verses shed light on one another and explain one another. The verse 3:7 warns us about the deviators and those sick at heart who twist meanings of similar verses to accommodate (and lend fake credibility to) their falsehoods and faulty notions by twisting the meanings of decontextualized (parts of) similar, detailed verses which are misinterpreted on purpose in order to repel people away from Quranic monotheism, which is God's Path. The topic of intercession within the Quranic pattern and contexts (in contrast to the Sunnite wrong view of intercession) is discussed within the two points below to exemplify this point.

1- Many Quranic verses assert the fact that Muhammad never knew or talked about the metaphysical realm of the past and of the future; i.e., regarding transient-life events or the Hour and the Last Day. Hence, all hadiths ascribed to Muhammad about future events in this world and the next are falsehoods and lies; this applies to hadiths of the so-called mediation/intercession of Muhammad on behalf of 'Muslim' sinners in Hell who presumably might be 'delivered' to enter into Paradise when Muhammad request this from God! This myth that contradicts the Quran is silly and illogical, and yet, it is cherished by the Muhammadans who disbelieve in the Quran and sanctify Muhammad as an immortal deity who would 'impose' his will on God on the Last Day! The Muhammadans tend to forget that God is the Only Controller and Sole Owner of the Day of Judgment (see 1:4 & 40:16). Besides, Muhammad was a mortal who had a human soul, and this verse about the Day of Resurrection applies to him and to the souls of all mortals as well: "The Day when no soul will avail another soul anything; and the decision on that Day is God's." (82:19). This is why God has said the following to Muhammad within the Quranic context of the fate of sinners: "You have no control at all of anything of this matter..." (3:128). This miraculously refutes beforehand the Sunnite claim of the so-called Muhammad's intercession in the Hereafter. Decrees/Words of the Dominant Lord God on the Day of Resurrection are irrevocable, unalterable, and unchangeable: "The Decree from Me will not be changed, and I am not unjust to the servants." (50:29). Those who deny, reject, and disbelieve in the Quranic verses assume that when God's Decree is to make certain persons enter into Hell for eternity for their sins and disobedience, Muhammad might revoke this Decree and make God change it! This blasphemous assumption is very insulting to God and it makes Muhammad appear as if he were a 'bigger' deity who would issue commands to the Creator! This Sunnite myth of Muhammad imposing his will on God is refuted in this verse about the Last Day: "What about someone who has deserved the sentence of torment? Is it you who can save those in the Fire?" (39:19). Thus, the belief in intercession hadiths is tantamount to rejection of, and disbelief in, the clear Quranic verses that refute the intercession/mediation myth, and such hadiths insult God and deify Muhammad and make him appear as if he were the controller of the Last-Day events instead of God; this also implies that as if God were unjust to torment sinners in Hell and as if Muhammad were a merciful, omniscient deity who redeems/delivers such sinners to get them out of Hell and to 'impose' his will on God! Such blasphemous notions contradict the Quranic fact that God is the Only Controller and Sole Owner of the Last-Day Judgment without partners with Him at all. Besides, the Quran asserts that all souls will be judged – this includes the souls of prophets and messengers, who will not be having any special position on the Last Day. These verses about the Last Day apply to all human souls, including those of prophets and messengers: "The Day when a person will flee from his brother. And his mother and his father. And his consort and his children. Every one of them, on that Day, will have enough to preoccupy him." (80:34-37). Hence, all prophets and messengers (including Muhammad) will run away on the Last Day and will never think of others at all, let alone interceding on their behalf. The intercession myth is refuted in these verses addressing all humanity (prophets and messengers included): "O people! Be conscious of your Lord, and dread a Day when no parent can avail his child, nor can a child avail his parent, in anything. The promise of God is true. Therefore, do not let this life deceive you, nor let illusions deceive you regarding God. With God rests the knowledge of the Hour..." (31:33-34). Thus, no mortals (prophets and messengers included) knew the time when the Hour will take place, and God in the Quran has told people about the Hereafter events, but NEVER about the time when the Hour will take place. Thus, 80:34-37 and 31:33 apply to Muhammad like any other mortals; i.e., Muhammad will NOT 'redeem', 'deliver', or 'save' his daughter, his parents, his relatives, and his wives on the Last Day, let alone any other mortals whom he never saw during his lifetime. How come that the naïve, gullible Sunnites believe in the so-called intercession of Muhammad while he himself will be judged like the rest of human beings? All prophets/messengers will be judged and questioned on the Last Day, and this is emphasized in this verse: "We will question those to whom messengers were sent, and We will question the messengers." (7:6). Muhammad will never influence the judgment of his (dis)believing companions nor they will influence his own judgment: "It is a message for you, and for your people; and you will be questioned." (43:44); "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord...You are not accountable for them in any way, nor are they accountable for you in any way..." (6:52); "...Then We set you upon a Path of faith, so follow it, and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know...." (45:18-19). Of course, all that pertains to the Absolute Justice of the Last Day: "We will set up the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so that no soul will suffer the least injustice. And even if it be the weight of a mustard-seed, We will bring it up. Sufficient are We as Reckoners." (21:47). It is very wrong of Sunnites to assume that this Absolute Justice would incorporate the unjust intercessions and mediations of deified mortals (i.e., prophets and the so-called 'saints') on behalf of 'Muslims' (or rather, the Muhammadans), and not even on behalf of the rest of humanity, to make them enter into Paradise however badly they have acted during their lifetimes on earth! This is very silly; as if the Muhammadans were the controllers of the Last Day fashioned as per their whims; these Sunnite notions are indeed very blasphemous and insulting to God. Besides, such Sunnite mythology makes Sunnites assume they have passed the test of life 'successfully' even before the Last Day, and this drives them to commit many grave sins (and, possibly, crimes!), while thinking they will get away with them eventually, since they assume a sort of 'guaranteed' impunity!            

2- Sunnites who believe in the so-called intercession of Muhammad base their stance on certain hadiths as well as on misinterpreting certain Quranic verses. Ironically, scholars of hadiths, and of other branches of Sunnite theological studies, assert that intercession hadiths fall into the category of unascertained, unverified, rootless hadiths and that faith tenets must be derived only from the Quran as it embodies the Absolute Truth. Regardless of the views of Sunnite scholars, since the Quran asserts that Muhammad never knew the metaphysical realm of the past and of the future, this fact undermines and refutes all of the intercession hadiths. We, Quranists, assert that Muhammad never uttered ANY of the so-called hadiths of any type that Sunnites, Sufis, and Shiites cherish and embrace. Hence, to quote intercession hadiths is nonsensical and illogical by those who seek to 'prove' the Sunnite notion of intercession. Thus, Sunnites never cease to deliberately misinterpret certain Quranic verses to 'prove' the so-called Muhammad's intercession. This misinterpretation brings forth twisted meanings to verses which contradict their clear and genuine meanings. For instance, when Sunnite scholars/authors would use decontextualized, misinterpreted verses to 'prove' the so-called Muhammad's intercession, they would deliberately contradict 39:19 and 3:128. Those who seek the Quranic Truth while imploring Almighty God for guidance will allow Quranic verses to guide their minds without imposing their own desires, whims, views, or prejudices on God's Word. When those Quranist researchers reach certain conclusions by analyzing and studying the verses within a topic at hand, they must adhere to these conclusions or Quranic stances, and for the sake of this Quranic Truth, they must reject any inherited, deep-rooted faith tenets or notions. The Quran is described as follows: "God has sent down the best discourse: a Book consistent and paired..." (39:23). This verse indicates the fact that Quranic meanings are repeated in several verses with different details/ways that are NEVER contradictory but are always consistent and complementary. The term ''paired'' indicates what we mean by the fact that brief, definitive verses are explained and asserted in the detailed, similar verses. Thus, true believers who seek to obtain the Quranic Truth through Quranist research will NOT twist and distort meanings of Quranic verses or misinterpret them deliberately to 'prove' inherited faith notion/tenets that contradict God's Word. Quranist researchers will check the entire Quranic text and focus their analysis/study on the verses related to the topic at hand to locate the definitive verses and the similar ones. Of course, this method/way will provide results that surely point to one, consistent Quranic stance regarding the topic or issue at hand. As for the notion of intercession, Quranist researchers perceive that there are verses that assert that (1) Muhammad had no control of the affairs/matters in this world and in the Hereafter, (2) he feared the Lord and never disobeyed Him so as not to be tormented in the Hereafter, and (3) he declared that no one would support or help him to escape God, as he must deliver the entire Quranic message (see 3:128, 39:13, and 72:22-23). Thus, there are many Quranic verses that refute this weird notion of Muhammad's intercession, and this fact leads Quranist researchers who seek the Quranic Truth to trace, locate, and group all verses that contain the cognates/derivations of the terms "intercede" & "intercession", and they will notice that they are unrelated to Muhammad at all. For example, within the context of this verse: "...Who is he that can intercede before Him except with His permission?..." (2:255), we notice that the preceding verse negates the idea of mortals acting as mediators/intercessors on the Last Day: "O you who believe! Spend from what We have given you, before a Day comes in which there is neither trading, nor friendship, nor intercession..." (2:254). Thus, these things mentioned in 2:254 (intercession, etc.) are found in this transient world but never in the Hereafter. In fact, the Quranic text mentions the idea of intercession within certain definitive verses (i.e., general and brief ones) explained by certain similar verses (i.e., ones with details). The definitive verse  2:254 negates and refutes the notion that any mortals (i.e., prophets/messengers and the so-called 'saints') might intercede on behalf of sinners to get them out of Hell. In fact, this Sunnite notion insults God and makes the Last Day appear as if it were a fairground or a market for intercessors. Thus, many definitive verses refute the strange notion that a human soul might intercede on behalf of another human soul; these definitive verses include the following: "And beware of a Day when no soul will avail another in the least, nor will any intercession be accepted on its behalf, nor will any ransom be taken from it, nor will they be helped." (2:48); "And beware of a Day when no soul will avail another soul in any way, and no ransom will be accepted from it, and no intercession will benefit it, and they will not be helped." (2:123); "O people! Be conscious of your Lord, and dread a Day when no parent can avail his child, nor can a child avail his parent, in anything..." (31:33); "...There is no intercessor except after His permission..." (10:3). The similar verses shed more light on this topic briefly mentioned in the definitive verses, as there are non-human, ethereal creatures (i.e., angels) on the Last Day who undertake the mission of intercession (i.e., NOT to get anyone out of Hell, but to implore God to protect and deliver the good people from the fright of the Last-Day events before they enter into Paradise and they carry records/books of deeds of good souls to bear witness and testify favorably about these good souls). In this similar verse, "On that Day, intercession will not avail, except for those permitted by the Dominant Lord, and whose words He has approved." (20:109), we see that God's approval and permission are required prior to the angels' intercession on behalf of the good people. Other verses talk about the polytheistic ignoramuses who worship the angels as 'deified beings': "And they say, "The Dominant Lord has taken to Himself progeny." Be He glorified; they are but honored servants. They never speak before He has spoken, and they only act on His command. He knows what is before them, and what is behind them; and they do not intercede except for those whom He approves; and they tremble in awe of Him." (21:26-28). We conclude from 21:26-28 that the honored servants (i.e., angels) act as intercessors ONLY by God's command and permission (thus, angels are the ones intended in 2:255), and this is asserted within another similar verse: "How many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession avails nothing, except after God gives permission to whomever He wills, and approves?" (53:26). We assert here that the Quran tells us about the fact that angels have a role within the judgment on the Last Day, by God's leave and approval, and not by their own choice, and this means that the only source of intercession on the Day of Resurrection is Almighty God Himself. Hence, it is very insulting to God that some polytheistic human beings would assume that some other human beings would act as intercessors on their behalf on the Last Day; in fact, God refutes this claim in advance in these verses: "Or have they chosen intercessors other than God? Say, "Even though they have no power over anything, and are devoid of reason?" Say, "All intercession is up to God. To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. Then to Him you will be returned."" (39:43-44). Hence, polytheists invent for themselves intercessors, mediators, allies/saints, and deities, and then, they fabricate myths, hadiths, lies, narratives, and falsehoods about them. Thus, those polytheists worship the so-called intercessors/saints and seek their aid in this transient world and in the Hereafter, as they forget the Quranic fact that God is the Only Ally, Intercessor, and Saintly Being: "Or have they adopted allies besides him? But God is the Ally..." (42:9); "Or have they chosen intercessors other than God?... Say, "All intercession is up to God..." (39:43-44). It is very astonishing that Sunnite scholars intentionally disregard Quranic verses that assert that Muhammad cannot bring to himself harm or good except by God's permission: "Say, "I have no control over any benefit or harm to myself, except as God wills..." (7:188), and they stubbornly insist on making Muhammad appear as if he were the intercessor/owner of the Last Day, and thus, they contradict the Quran on purpose as they disbelieve in it. Besides, it is more astonishing that Sunnite scholars manipulate and misinterpret decontextualized definitive verses and similar verses and twist/distort their meanings on purpose in their attempts to 'prove' their intercession myth and then fabricate and invent hadiths while ascribing them to Muhammad, who never knew the metaphysical realm of the future in this world and the next one. This is how Sunnite scholars have revived and retrieved polytheistic notions that have existed before the descent of the Quran, and these notions contradict the Quranic Truth.                

Between the Quranic sharia legislations and Sunnite fiqh legislations:

1- The Quranic sharia legislations revolve around three spheres: (1) commands/duties/obligations, (2) prohibitions, and (3) the lawful, permissible items. The Quranic methodology or pattern is to mention (1) and (2) and not to talk about (3). Thus, things/deeds that are NOT prohibited in the Quran are legal, lawful, and permissible items. Even when there are former sharia laws before the Quran that prohibit something made lawful in the Quran, this is mentioned explicitly within Quranic sharia legislations; for instance, having sex with one's spouse during the nights of fasting days was prohibited within previous scriptures of God, but it is now permitted within the Quran: "Permitted for you is intercourse with your wives on the night of the fast..." (2:187). Sunnite fiqh scholars have distorted and twisted the three spheres of the Quranic sharia legislations by unjustly interpolating two spheres derived from the permissible items: the hated/disliked and the preferred/liked ascribed to the so-called 'Sunna' of Muhammad. Within Sunnite fiqh, the sphere of the disliked includes permissible items which should be avoided though not prohibited in the Quran, whereas the sphere of the liked includes permissible items which are preferred to be done/used, but they are not duties or obligations mentioned in the Quran. Of course, such two sphere of Sunnite fiqh legislations have nothing to do with real Islam: the Quran itself.      

2- This Sunnite interference and addition that have twisted the genuine Quranic sharia legislations spheres resulted into two outcomes as follows.

(A) Sunnite fiqh scholars have invented new sets of terminology that contradict the Quran; e.g., the terms "disliked" & "hated" (and their cognates) in the Quran do not refer to disliked things in a degree less than the prohibited items, but they refer to things absolutely prohibited as crimes and grave sins such as disbelief, theft, and murder. God says in the Quran: "...But God has given you the love of faith, and adorned it in your hearts, and made disbelief, sinning, and disobedience hateful to you..." (49:7); "The evil of all these is disliked by your Lord." (17:38). 

(B) Sunnite fiqh scholars have thus narrowed the sphere of permissible items by making some of them disliked/hated that should be avoided and some others as obligatory/liked/preferred though they are not mentioned as such in the Quran. This is the grave sin of interfering with God's sharia laws by adding needless details.

Quranic legislative rules that confine and assert:

1- There are Quranic legislative rules that confine and assert lists of prohibited items to which no one can added anything and from which no one can remove anything. For example, God has mentioned in detail the types of women whom a man cannot marry, and then, He says the following: "...Permitted for you are those that lie outside these limits, provided you seek them in legal marriage, with gifts from your property, seeking wedlock, not prostitution..." (4:24). This means that the types of women within the limits mentioned in the previous verses a man cannot marry and that the types of women never mentioned within these limits a man can marry. Yet, the Sunnite fiqh scholars have changed this by adding more types of women a man cannot marry: (1) marrying one's wife's paternal or maternal aunt, and (2) marrying female relatives of one's breastfeeding sister. Both types of women a man can marry, of course, since they are not mentioned as prohibited types of women in the Quranic Chapter Four, but the Sunnite religion prohibits such legal marriages. Another example of the grave sin, committed by Sunnite scholars, of adding new prohibitions for no reason is linked to prohibited food items. God mentions clearly and repeatedly these prohibited food items in 2:173, 5:3, 6:145, and 27:115. These prohibited food items are as follows: blood, dead animals, flesh of pigs, and food items offered to idols/deities/mausoleums. Despite the Quranic warning against adding to the Quranic list of prohibited food items (see 5:87, 10:59-60, 66:1, and 16:116-117), Sunnite fiqh scholars have added many lists of prohibited food items, and examples of this sin fill Sunnite fiqh books.    

2- There are Quranic legislative rules that confine and assert using the confining style of the Arabic tongue using the expression (do not....but/except....). This is exemplified in these verses: "And do not kill the soul which God has made sacred, except in the course of justice..." (17:33); "...and that you do not kill the soul which God has sanctified, except in the course of justice..." (6:151); "And those who do not implore besides God any other god, and do not kill the soul which God has made sacred, except in the pursuit of justice..." (25:68). This means that Islam prohibits killing others unless within retribution against murderers (see 2:178) and within self-defense wars against military aggressors who aim to fight and kill believers (see 2:194). Yet, the Sunnite fiqh scholars added their own laws of putting to death those who stopped praying, the husbands/wives who committed adultery, and those who forsook or rejected 'Islam', and they have allowed caliphs/rulers to put to death anyone for political reasons without imposing retribution on these caliphs/rulers. This has been the basic notion for the sinful caliphs (the Umayyads and those who came after them) who put people to death as many persons as they like by merely issuing a verbal command!

3- There are Quranic legislative rules that are asserted and emphasized using other Arabic-tongue styles; for instance, this verse about the command to write a will/testament before one's death for those who deserve inheritance shares and others outside this circle: "It is decreed for you: when death approaches one of you, and he leaves wealth, to make a testament in favor of the parents and the relatives, fairly and correctly - a duty upon the righteous." (2:180). The emphasis here is made by words like "decreed", ''duty'', ''favor'', and ''the righteous''. This is followed by verses about rules of will/testament. Within the Quranic Chapter Four, the command to write a will/testament is mentioned to be applied before the distribution of inheritance shares: "...After fulfilling any testament and paying off debts..." (4:11 and 4:12). Despite the fact that one's parents and relatives have their rightful inheritance shares and in written will/testament and that Quranic rules about inheritance and will/testament are God's limits/laws which are never to be transgressed and violated (see 4:13-14), the Sunnite fiqh scholars have annulled the command of providing written will/testament by those who have inheritors, by inventing a hadith about this Sunnite 'prohibition' and assuming that this hadith replaces/supplants (through Naskh or abrogation) the verses 2:180 and 4:11-12. Thus, the Sunnite fiqh scholars have rejected the Islamic justice enjoined by the command of providing written will/testament, as inheritance shares are specified in 4:11-12 and cannot be changed; yet, applying them without providing a written will/testament may be unjust to some inheritors, as there are those among them who may deserve additional sums of money (within written will/testament provided by one before one dies) apart from their due inheritance shares, owing to certain special circumstances that may entail this. Thus, the Quranic command of providing written will/testament deals with this aspect, within the supervision of society and as per one's feeling responsible before Almighty God to apply justice as much as possible through the Quranic command of providing written will/testament. For instance, through written will/testament, one can provide for one's daughter a sum of money that may make one's daughter have the same amount of money like her brother if she deserves this, within special circumstances that entail this and ease one's conscience.    

4- These distortions added by the Sunnite fiqh scholars to annul Quranic mandatory sharia legislations have resulted into two interrelated outcomes as follows.

(A) The Sunnite scholars have added false meanings to certain Quranic terms; e.g., the term "Naskh" in the Quran (and in the Arabic tongue) means to assert, repeat, write, and confirm, whereas within the Sunnite-fiqh sense of the term, it means to omit, delete, abrogate, replace, and supplant.

(B) The Sunnite scholars have made their views/edicts/fatwas and their fabricated hadiths (which are attributed falsely to Muhammad) annul and replace the Quranic sharia legislations; thus, they have committed the grave, blasphemous sin of making their fabrications placed above God's Word, and thus, they have rejected the higher purposes of the Quranic sharia legislations. In general, the Quranic legislative commands are to be applied within the framework of Quranic legislative rules, which are, in their turn, observed within the framework of Quranic legislative purposes. The legislative purposes are sometimes mentioned (and sometimes not) within Quranic verses that contain legislative commands and legislative rules. To explain this point is beyond the scope of this book; yet, we provide some examples below to illustrate this point.

  Quranic legislative purposes are of two types: (1) the higher purpose of observing and attaining piety, and (2) other legislative purposes such as caring for one's family, preserving one's chastity, and facilitation/ease in acts of worship. As for the first type, piety means to fear God within one's conscience. This conscience not only leads one to feel remorse for one's sins/mistakes/mishaps but helps one to repent and never to violate God's commands ever again and to peremptorily prevent oneself from sinning (see 7:201 and 3:133-136). Piety means true and faithful monotheistic belief in God and in the Last Day while performing many good deeds during one's lifetime and to deal fairly and equitably with people. Only the pious ones will enter into Paradise in the Hereafter. Monotheistic faith without good deeds is not enough to enter into Paradise, and good deeds without monotheistic faith are not enough as well; both must be combined to attain piety and to earn one's place in Paradise. This is real piety as a higher Quranic value within the moralistic, legislative, and belief-wise aspects of the method/way of Islam. Within the legislative aspect of the Quran, piety is mentioned sometimes within the context of legislative commands and legislative rules, and in some other times, it is mentioned by itself without legislative commands and legislative rules as a higher Quranic value. For instance, God's repeated commands of adhering to piety come in the Quranic text addressed to Muhammad and to all believers and within the early verses of some Quranic Chapters (e.g., the Quranic Chapters 4, 22, and 33). When adherence to piety is commanded in the context of verses containing legislative commands and legislative rules, this shows that God's Quranic sharia legislations are directly linked to one's conscience and to a high moralistic level to recommend one's soul to God within a direct relation between believers and the Omniscient, Dominant Lord, as they seek to gratify and please Him, even if other people (i.e., of the temporal authority) would not see them in their privacy and moments of solitude. Let us provide one example about piety linked directly to the Quranic legislations. This Quranic verse is about divorce and preserving women's rights: "When you divorce women, and they have reached their term, either retain them amicably, or release them amicably. But do not retain them to hurt them and commit aggression. Whoever does that has wronged himself. And do not take God's Verses for a joke. And remember God's favor bestowed on you, and that He revealed to you the Book and Wisdom to teach you. And fear God in piety, and know that God is Aware of everything." (2:231). We notice here that piety is linked to warning husbands against using the Quranic divorce legislations to humiliate, harm, or hurt their (ex)wives within divorce measures/steps and their subsequent reconciliation or separation. Yet, the Sunnite fiqh scholars have willfully disregarded human rights and women's rights mentioned in the Quran. For more information about divorce legislations in the Quran, we refer our readers to our article (in English) titled "Contradictions in Divorce Legislations between The Quran and The Sunnite Jurisprudence" found on this link: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=15977). As for the second type of the Quranic legislative purposes, they are mentioned within the Quranic contexts of legislative commands about restraining lustful looks (for men and women), modest dress code, and not to come near fornication (see 24:30-31 and 17:32). The scholars of the Sunnite religion grotesquely exaggerate their emphasis on dress code by imposing niqab and obligatory hijab/veil headwear for women, and both niqabs (full-body veil) and veils/scarves covering women's hair have nothing to do with Islam at all. This Sunnite extremism of covering women's hair and faces in niqab has wasted and lost the legislative purpose of chastity; it is known that niqabs are behind immorality/promiscuity and crimes committed by niqab-wearers in many societies. Besides, niqab and hijab are additions that violate God's Right to be the Only Legislator in religion; God commands in the Quran that women cover their legs (see 33:59) and chests/breasts (see 24:31), and NEVER their faces, heads, necks, arms, and hair. Such Sunnite extremism prevents women in niqab to bear witness and to testify in courts. It is forbidden to prevent women from showing their necks and heads since this is OK in Islam and never prohibited. The extremist Hanbali Sunnite doctrine, of countless details about everything, has wasted and lost the legislative purpose of ease/facilitation in acts of worship. By the way, all acts of worship are obligations whose sole aim is to attain and to adhere to piety; see 2:21, 2:183, and 2:196-197. Hence, all acts of worship are means to achieve piety within the fear of the Lord God, making us avoid grave sins, injustices, and immorality; see 29:45. This is the real meaning of zakat; i.e., to recommend one's soul to the Lord God with good deeds and to eschew/avoid evil deeds, thus reaching a very high moralistic and level. Of course, the Sunnite religion of Satan has wasted and lost piety, the Quranic higher value, by making all acts of worship (i.e., glorification of God's Name, zakat charity, prayers, fasting, and pilgrimage) as ends in themselves and not as means to attain piety. This loss of piety by Sunnites turns all acts of worship as means to commit more sins all the time, while assuming that performing all acts of worship would 'remove' such sins and would make unrepentant sinners enter into Paradise (in spite of God!) with the so-called intercessions of Muhammad and/or 'saints'! This myth urges one to commit sins all the time while assuming to be pardoned because one is born as a 'Muslim', among the so-called 'Umma of Muhammad', who pronounces the 'two testimonies' or the dual testimony (by adding Muhammad's name to "There is no God but Allah") and whose sins are remitted if one performs pilgrimage to the Kaaba and to the mausoleum of the Yathreb mosque! This polytheistic stance makes one commit sins and crimes and spread corruption everywhere; this is the case of most of the Muhammadans in the Arab and non-Arab countries, as they are known to be hypocrites, liars, and deceitful sinners with superficial, thin veneer of ostentatious religiosity to cover their sins and bad deeds.We recapitulate here to remind readers that the Quranic legislations have three spheres: legislative commands which are governed by legislative rules that aim at achieving legislative purposes. For instance, the Quranic legislative commands ''fight'' (as in 2:190 and 9:29) and ''mobilize'' (as in 9:38 and 9:41) are governed by legislative rules that make them applicable only within the frame of self-defense regarding aggressors, in retribution without transgressions.The command to fight is not a general one of aggression and injustice of killing others indiscriminately; rather, it is controlled by the legislative rule of fighting for God's sake (i.e., self-defense to stop religious persecution and/or aggression) not for the sake of Satan (i.e., to get money, power, lands, etc.) by attacking peaceful people who never harmed us. "And fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not commit aggression; God does not love the aggressors." (2:190); "…Whoever commits aggression against you, retaliate against him in the same measure as he has committed against you. And be conscious of God, and know that God is with the righteous." (2:194). The Qorayish polytheistic tribesmen persecuted early believers in Mecca and fought against them when they settled in Yathreb; thus,this legislative command of self-defense fighting is governed by the legislative rule of stopping and deterring attackers and persecutors, within purpose of piety, absolute religious freedom and stopping compulsion in religion, so that one is free to choose one's faith (or to choose disbelief/atheism), and thus they will be judged on the Last Day as per choices made in life within absolute freedom. Thus, the legislative purpose of fighting in the cause of God is to stop fitna or persecution so that people remain free to embrace whatever faiths they choose, as God has created the humankind as free agents, while judging them on the Day of resurrection based on their own free choice done at their own free will. This is the meaning of the Quranic command to fight those aggressive disbelieving Arabs in the 7^th century A.D. Arabia who persecuted those who had converted to another religion apart from theirs: "And fight them until there is no fitna (i.e., persecution), and religion becomes a matter related to God alone. But if they cease, then let there be no hostility except against the oppressors." (2:193); "...And persecution is more serious than killing. They will not cease to fight you until they turn you back from your religion, if they can. .." (2:217); "Fight them until there is no more persecution (i.e., fitna), and religion becomes a matter exclusively judged by God. But if they desist-God is Seeing of what they do." (8:39). There is no room within real Islam (i.e., Quranism) to commit any sort of aggression at all against anyone; military self-defense and retribution are allowed in cases when peaceful Muslims are attacked first by aggressors. In contrast, the Sunnite-fiqh scholars focused on the legislative command to fight while disregarding the legislative rule (i.e., engaging into legitimate self-defense endeavors [i.e., jihad] to stop persecution and to deter attackers) and the legislative purpose of piety. This intentional disregard has been to 'justify' the aggression committed within the Arab conquests in history and committed now by Wahabi Sunnite terrorists falsely in the name of 'Islamic' jihad. The real jihad within Islam is self-defense against aggressors who attack peaceful ones and transgressors who commit the grave sin of religious persecution (i.e., fitna). Within the Sunnite-religion books authored during the Abbasid Era of intellectual flourishing, we never find any link between Quranic sharia legislations and piety at all; this link, found only in the Quran, is disregarded on purpose as the spiritual aspect of piety and conscience within the fear of the Lord God has been intentionally neglected, while the emphasis has been on countless details of superficial, ostentatious, hypocritical religiosity. Within the later eras of intellectual decline, as well as moral bankruptcy, obscurantism, backwardness, and stagnation, petty and silly Sunnite-fiqh scholars during the Ottoman Era, who were imitators/followers of deified 'grand' imams/authors of the past, filled their books with impossible situations to issue weird edicts/fatwas. Let us exemplify this point by quoting some of the questions raised at that era: Would ablution before prayers be lost if a man carries a container filled with farts?! If a man is starving in the desert and found nothing to eat but the corpse of a prophet, would he eat it?! What is the penalty exacted against a man who has committed fornication with his own biological mother during the fasting of Ramadan inside the Kaaba?! If a man has two penises and he has committed fornication with a woman by inserting one penis into her vagina and the other penis into her anus, would he be flogged 100 lashes or 200 lashes?!              

  The outcomes resulting from the Sunnite scholars' distortion of Quranic legislative rules include the points below.

(A) Rejecting the Quran as the only source of Islamic legislation; the Sunnite-fiqh scholars have added many other invented and fabricated sources which are placed by them above the Quran itself, as the Quranic sharia legislations have been supplanted by the Sunnite legislations. These sources are hadiths, narratives, fatwas, 'unanimous' fiqh views by ancient scholars/authors, public interest of the masses at a particular time, analogy, and minimizing chances of committing sins. This last element of the Sunnite fiqh sources has led to the grave sin of prohibiting permissible items, thus violating God's Right to be the Only Legislator in religion.  

(B) Introducing so many sets of terminology within fiqh, and some fiqh terms are Quranic terms with distorted meanings (Naskh, Hukm, Taazeer, companion, limits, etc.) that contradict the Quranic meanings of these terms, as we have discussed above in this CHAPTER.

(C) Introducing so many hadiths invented and fabricated by countless imams/authors of fiqh and hadith schools/trends/doctrines to lend fake credibility to fiqh views issued by them by formulating them in the form of hadiths ascribed falsely to Muhammad.   

The limits of human ijtihad within applying Quranic sharia legislations:

 We have to use the Abbasid-Era term (ijtihad) which denotes innovative, creative thinking, especially in religious issues/matters; it is a commonly used term now, but we prefer the Quranic terms "to ponder" and "to reflect", as they entail that researchers remain behind the definitive and the similar verses, tracing and analyzing them regarding the topic at hand, as the Quranic verses explain and shed light on one another and never contradict one another at all. Of course, the Quran itself refers to this fact: "Do they not ponder the Quran? Had it been from any other than God, they would have found in it much discrepancy." (4:82). Pondering the Quran is an intellectual activity that should be done by all readers of the Quran, however different their levels of education and IQ are, who should be encouraged by the existence of Quranic verses that urge pondering, reflecting, discerning, and deep contemplating. The literal meaning of (ijtihad) is derived from the Arabic root (j/h/d) which means exertion of effort (in the figurative or literal sense). Some cognates and derivations of this Arabic root are used in the Quran: "Those who criticize the believers who give charity voluntarily, and ridicule those who find nothing to give except exerting their own efforts - God ridicules them. They will have a painful punishment." (9:79). The efforts in 9:79 means financial means, as those Yathreb dwellers donated money for self-defense endeavors as they could not participate with their physical efforts in fighting for God's sake to stop and deter the Qorayish aggressors and the Meccans' religious persecution at the time. "And they strenuously swear by God with their solemn oaths..." (24:53). The figurative effort here is trying to make others believe any lies by swearing by God's Name. Thus, unlike the Arabic root (j/h/d) that refers mostly to physical efforts, the Quranic term "to ponder" is, of course, better than the Abbasid-Era fiqh term (ijtihad), which is still used today in the Arab world in relation to religious thinking of any type, in Egypt and elsewhere.

 Having mentioned the above, we pose these two questions of vital importance: What are the limits of human ijtihad within applying Quranic sharia legislations? When this ijtihad would be prohibited/permissible? God says in the Quran: "Or is it that they have partners who issued for them religious laws never authorized by God?..." (42:21). Despite the warning in 42:21 against adding any religious legislations to those of the Quran, this same verse implies that there is a scope or a room for man-made laws ONLY within limits/laws of God that may be approved and endorsed by Him. Unfortunately, the Middle-Ages Sunnite authors never applied their ijtihad within this allowed aspect and applied it within forbidden areas (e.g., the metaphysical realm, death, and the Last Day). The very wrong Sunnite motto (no ijtihad is allowed when there is a text) has hindered Sunnite authors for centuries from realizing the fact that the Quranic text – like any other legislative texts – entails deep pondering, reflecting, and ijtihad to be applied in real-life circumstances. This silly Sunnite motto has been invented to support the false hadiths (attributed falsely to Muhammad after his death) authored by fiqh scholars and other types of hadiths-fabricators in order to lend a sham credibility to such hadiths as if they were 'holy' texts, though all such hadiths, and indeed their very existence itself, contradict the Quran. Thus, fiqh texts and hadiths texts have prevented the practice of ijtihad in areas, issues, and aspects that have entailed deep pondering, within the scope where ijtihad is allowed – as we will explain in the lines below. It is a known fact that the Quranic verses of legislations are limited – less than 200 verses in the entire Quranic text, or 1/30 of the entirety of the Quran. This has been enough and sufficient as per God's Wisdom to perfect the only source of the religion of Islam: the Quran itself, as expressed in the last Quranic verse revealed shortly before the death of Muhammad: "...Today I have perfected your religion for you, and have completed My favor upon you, and have approved Islam as a religion for you..." (5:3). It is impossible after reading and pondering the verse 5:3 to claim that books of fiqh and hadiths would 'complete' the Quran which is deemed as 'lacking' by the Sunnite authors. God has not given human beings a Book that is 'lacking' and needs mortals to 'complete' it. The Quranic verses of legislations are not so many, and this means that the Quranic sharia legislations leave a margin for human beings to apply sharia laws within pondering/ijtihad and while coping with changes and development of the human societies; yet, this ijtihad must be within the general framework and purposes of Quranic sharia legislations that aim at establishing peace, justice, fairness/equity, equality, facilitation/ease, stopping bloodshed, aggression, and violence, and preserving human rights and human dignity; these are the main Quranic higher values. The Quranic sharia legislations contain texts/verses that give us the final word regarding certain issues/matters (e.g., forbidden food items, inheritance shares, and types of woman a man cannot marry). It is incumbent on Quran-believing people to use ijtihad to apply these texts/verses in the best way possible, NOT to violate, infringe, and distort them and certainly not to add anything to them. The Quranic sharia legislations urge us to resort to social mores/norms or what is commonly known in a given society as fair and required duty, within the application of Quranic rules and laws. This give human beings ample room to formulate and issue laws for the welfare of society and to serve the public interest within the framework of the Islamic/Quranic higher values which are the same values agreed upon and shared by all humanity in all eras: justice, freedom, peace charity, kindness, facilitation/ease, mercy, pardon, etc. Hence, social mores/norms allow the application of higher Quranic values within a given society within coping with the modern era in which we live – this is regarding the areas which the Quran has left (by not mentioning them) for human laws issued to serve humanity; e.g., laws for housing, traffic code, and laws for exporting and importing. Thus, any man-made laws that apply higher Quranic values to serve human beings and to add to their welfare are to be deemed as Islamic legislations authorized and permitted by the Lord God. The details of the Quranic sharia legislations themselves should be applied as per social mores/norms known in every era, and this fact proves that the Quran provides ample room for coping with social and human developments, while Quranic sharia legislations remain above all places and eras and applicable in all times and locations. Thus, mores/norms of the Abbasid Era have nothing to do with our modern era and they never fit in, of course, unlike the view shared by most Salafist/Wahabi/Sunnite authors and scholars. Let us provide an example to illustrate this point regarding social mores/norms. God says in the Quran: "Mothers may nurse their infants for two whole years, for those who desire to complete the nursing-period. It is the duty of the father to provide for them and clothe them as per known norms..." (2:233). Thus, the verse 2:233 does NOT specify certain sums of money or gifts/provisions; this is left to the estimation of pious, God-fearing husbands who are to spend on their nursing wives and provide for them as per the higher human value of justice, and the mores/norms here would entail sums spent as per circumstances and conditions of living and as per the social status, lifestyle, and the financial status of the husband and the wife. There is room here for society to codify and issue laws fit for the era in which people live, within shared and acknowledged social mores/norms, the terms which are mentioned within the details of many Quranic legislations as a source to know how justice may be applied in a given society or situation. Thus, ijtihad here serves the aim of how to apply the Quranic verse 2:233 as a legislative text. We notice that referring to mores/norms is repeated in the Quranic text within the contexts of talking about marriage, the oldest of all human traditions of the progeny of Adam and Eve; in fact, marriage is instituted, legitimized and blessed by God's religion. Before the Quran was revealed, Muhammad was already married within legitimate marriage as per the social mores/norms at the time; we conclude then that Arabs before the advent of Islam had some few valid and correct legislations and that their era was not totally devoid of good religious legislations. Hence, this is the reason why the Quran does NOT specify how to draw/write marriage contracts; yet, many Quranic verses correct common mistakes/sins regarding marriages, conjugal relations, conjugal problems, and waiting periods for divorcées and their rights, and in all such issues, God in the Quran commands us to resort to social mores/norms as a source of upholding justice. By the way, this is directly linked to Islamic Shura consultation within the Quran-based, Muslim society, and Muhammad in the Yathreb city-state has been commanded in the Quran to apply Shura, within which society/citizens can issue or derive new laws within social mores/norms to apply details of the Quranic sharia legislation in real-life contexts, within what is accepted to be justice and facilitation/ease and within serving the public interest as per the margin of domains/fields left by the Quran (by not mentioning them) for people to issue laws about them within the framework of what is approved, endorsed, and authorized by God in His Quranic higher values mentioned above. Muhammad's life was based on delivering and conveying the entire Quranic message as it is; this is what he strove for or his jihad, and once the Quranic message was completed and perfected, Muhammad died, leaving the entire written Quranic text to be read, pondered, and applied by believers. Instead of answering questions posed by Arabs at the time, Muhammad waited for the revealed Quranic verses to provide answers; this means that it is God's Right to be the Only Legislator in religion and that Muhammad had no right to issue legislations/edicts/fatwas. Yet, Muhammad applied the Quranic verses as much as he could within his own understanding and ijtihad and he used to consult those around him within Islamic Shura consultation to reach the best application possible of the Quranic sharia legislations. Of course, there are certain fields within which Quranic verses must be applied literally by believers (and Muhammad did that, of course) without any changes or additions; e.g., the types of women a man cannot marry, prohibited food items, and inheritance shares. There other fields within which it is permissible, as per the Quran, to resort to social mores/norms for judgment/arbitration, and these fields include what pertains to social authority and things applied by God-fearing Muslims in light of one's piety and conscience (e.g., charity donations, zakat, and written wills/testaments). Besides, the Islamic Shura consultation should be applied even when there are not Quranic legislations regarding certain issues. Of course, the limited number of Quranic legislations (i.e., less than 200 verses among the 6236 verses of the entire Quranic text) leaves ample room for coping with social and human developments to uphold justice and to apply facilitation/ease, and this means that the applicability of the Quranic sharia legislations goes on in all eras and locations. Any laws issued within social mores/norms and within Islamic Shura consultation, while being inspired by the essence of the Quranic verses to apply justice/equality and to avoid injustice, are pertaining to authorized Islamic laws. Let us bear in mind that sending God's messengers and God's celestial messages on earth aims at making people uphold justice (see 57:25). Within Islam, it is an unpardonable transgression against the Quran to prohibit permissible items and to permit prohibited items; we are to bear in mind that the list of prohibited items in the Quran is limited and that these prohibited items are regarded as exceptions, as most items in life are permissible. It is a flagrant violation of the Quranic sharia legislations to prohibit permissible items, but it is OK to allow room for regulating and codifying permissible items by man-made laws to uphold justice, and this is where the role of man-made laws comes to the foreground to codify most things/matters/issues in life while covering most details within inter-human relations.                                

  But there are some points regarding codification and issuing laws within the field/scope of regulating the permissible items:

1- This man-made codification should always submit to the higher Quranic legislative purposes of Islam that aim to preserve human dignity and basic human rights: "We have honored Adam's progeny, and carried them on land and sea, and provided them with good things, and greatly favored them over many of those We created." (17:70). These human rights include justice, facilitation/ease, prevention of harm/injustices, and respecting personal freedom.

2- It is not permissible to impose any legislations/laws except when such laws are passed within direct democracy of Shura consultation in a given country; i.e., citizens must choose and vote for their laws as per the social contract applied by all citizens: "O you who believe! Fulfill your contracts..." (5:1). In contrast, laws issued by oppressive tyrannical rulers without the Shura consultation are never part of the obligatory social contract, and these unjust laws can be disregarded as they violate the Islamic Shura or direct democracy and are applied forcibly and imposed on citizens within injustices, oppression, and corruption.   

3- It is permissible to issue penal codes (away from the Quranic penalties) with punishments exacted against criminals as per their crimes within the framework of justice, but without transgressing the right to live and the Quranic sharia penalties. For instance, it is OK to codify punishments such as imprisonment, paying fines, or getting fired from one's work.

4- It is also permissible within the framework of social solidarity, economic aid to the impoverished ones, and healthcare to issue laws about; e.g., taxation, imposing on parents to vaccinate their babies and to educate their children in schools, the traffic code, regulating labor, regulating building in the land, combatting the addiction to (and trading in) harmful drugs, and combating smoking. These laws are to be passed within any given State, represented by its legislative authority (e.g., the parliament) within Shura consultation to allow the State executive authority to impose these laws to serve citizens and their welfare with the focus on the public interest.

  In sum, the Quran is enough for religious laws applied by real believers, but ijtihad in understanding and applying the Quran is possible within two fields. Firstly: to apply ijtihad within regulating the permissible items in light of the Quranic legislative purposes explained above. Secondly: to apply ijtihad within the domain of how to best apply Quranic sharia legislations in light of social mores/norms that define what justice/goodness/ease/facilitation for a given society. The changeable human conditions may entail to issue laws, regulations, or memos about how to apply Quranic sharia legislations in a certain time and place, but without prohibiting permissible items and allowing prohibited items and without violating the Quranic higher values that include justice, peace, mercy, tolerance, charity, kindness, freedom (of thought and expression), and the absolute religious freedom. Hence, any ijtihad in light of Quranic verses must make the Quranic text as the higher, dominating element. Sadly, this never occurred within the history of the Middle-Ages Muhammadans. Authors of the Middle-Ages have focused only on the linguistic elements and eloquence of the Quran and have dealt with its text as if it were a literary one; the miraculous legislations of the Quran rarely draw their attention or interest. In fact, they never dealt with Quranic legislations except through the wrong perspective of their hadiths and fiqh views, as they have attempted to impose them and reconcile them forcibly with the Quranic verses by misinterpreting the Quranic verses and twisting/distorting their meanings, and they have disregarded the resulting contradiction by assuming that hadiths (ascribed falsely to Muhammad) supplant and replace Quranic sharia legislations! If it had not been for God's preserving of the Quranic text, those authors would have readily removed many verses from it. Of course, the Quranic text is preserved until the end of days and it remains the only source for refuting all lies, myths, and falsehoods of the books of hadiths, Sunna, Naskh, interpretation, narratives, fiqh fatwas, etc. of Sunnites, Shiites, and Sufis. The miraculous element of the Quran  will never cease to astonish many generations to come. In our modern era since the 1990s, people have begun to examine the scientific indications mentioned in the Quran; more in this aspect of research will be discovered in later eras until the end of days. The Muhammadans feel happy when scientific indications are discovered in the Quran by some scientists, but they never ask themselves this pivotal question: if such scientific indications are there in the Quranic text, revealed more than 14 centuries ago, why did not the ancient forefathers/authors discover them though they memorized the Quranic verses by heart?! The answer is simple: they got busy with everything else away from the Quran; they focused on their narratives, Sunna hadiths, Naskh, interpretation, fiqh, etc. instead of the Quran. This sin continues to be committed by Sunnite and Shiite scholars of today and by Sufi sheikhs. Besides, they get busy now discussing trivialities, such as women's dress code and minor, petty disputes over countless fiqh details, while never discussing how to stop bloodshed in the countries of the Muhammadans that might lead later on to civil wars with dire consequences. It is high time to focus our attention on the Quran to ponder it deeply and not to follow the errant ways of the misguided ancient Muhammadans and their sin of abandoning the Quran.