10 Things Everyone Should Know About the Quran

Hint: it's not all about peace and love

In March of this year, I read Robert Spencer’s The Critical Quran because I was curious to find out what the Islamic holy book says. It contains an English translation of the text with an introduction to each sura with an abundance of notes throughout. Although reading it was not terribly enjoyable, I learned several things and am glad that I read it. This post lists ten things I think more people need to know about the Quran, so even if you never end up reading it, you will know a bit about it.

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1. It is confusing, disorganized, and hard to read

The book is not arranged topically or chronologically, but the 114 suras are placed in order of longest to shortest, except for the first one. It often shifts topics randomly and is not well-written, making it difficult to understand. However, this is not even the worst problem because other Islamic sources speak of lost Quran passages. There is also the idea of abrogation, in which earlier revelations are abrogated by later revelations, meaning they no longer apply. As such, contradictions are ubiquitous which makes it challenging to find out what the Quran teaches. Many of the abrogated verses appear in suras revealed in Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad, as Islam was a small group during this time and was not strong enough to fight the disbelievers. Later revelations from Muhammad's time in Medina were more violent since Islam was in a position to fight. Simply put, this book is a mess and reading it is not easy, fun, or entertaining.

2. It does not teach religious tolerance

Contrary to the claims of some, the Quran views Muslims as being superior to everyone else and contains negative sayings about people who follow other religions. There are some nice things said about other religious groups, but these are all abrogated with harsh statements. Muslims are commanded to not take non-Muslims as friends (3:28; 4:139, 144; 5:51, 80; 9:23; 60:1). Jews and Christians (referred to as “the unbelievers among the people of the book”) are called “the most vile of created beings” (98:6). In contrast, Muslims are called “the best of created beings” (98:7). Furthermore, it repeatedly insists that Allah does not love the unbelievers (meaning anyone who is not a Muslim) as well as those who commit certain sins (2:190, 276; 3:32, 3:57, 140; 4:36, 107; 5:64, 87; 6:141; 8:58; 22:38; 28:76-77; 31:18; 57:23). These passages show that Islam is fundamentally opposed to Western ideals of equality and peaceful coexistence.

3. It is extremely misogynistic

It is no coincidence that most of the countries where women face severe discrimination and lack basic rights are majority Muslim. Teachings about women being inferior to men are directly in the Quran. Two female witnesses are said to be equal to one male witness “so that if the one errs, the other will remember” (2:82), which implies that women only have half the intelligence of men. Men are allowed to have up to four wives (4:3), but women cannot have more than one husband. The same verse also allows for the sexual enslavement of female war captives, of which men can acquire an unlimited amount. Daughters get half as much of the inheritance that sons receive (4:11). Probably the most offensive verse regarding women is 4:34, which says, “Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend of their property. So good women are obedient, guarding in secret what Allah has guarded. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, give them a warning and banish them to separate beds, and beat them.” Not only does it declare men to be inherently superior to women, but it also allows a husband to beat his wife for disobedience. Furthermore, Muslim men are permitted to marry Jewish and Christian women, but Muslim women may only marry Muslim men (5:5).

4. It promotes violence against non-Muslims

The most well-known violent verse in the Quran is, “Fight against those do not believe in Allah or the last day, and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, even if they are among the people of the book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued." (9:29). This verse calls for Muslims to forcefully subjugate the entire world. “People of the Book,” meaning Jews and Christians are either to be killed or forced to pay the jizya, a tax implemented upon those who will not convert to Islam. Muslims are also instructed to “cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve” (3:151; 8:12, 60). The second verse listed contains an additional command to “strike the necks and strike their fingertips.” Other violent verses include 2:191, 193; 4:89; 9:5, 14, 73, 111, 123; 47:4; 48:16; 61:4. These verses contain imperatives to fight the disbelievers and wage jihad against them. People who leave Islam are also under a death sentence, as the Quran instructs Muslims to “kill them wherever you find them” (4:89).

5. It gets basic facts about the Bible wrong

The Quran asserts that Jews say “Ezra is the son of Allah,” (9:30) even though no evidence of even one Jew saying this has ever been found and no such teaching exists in the Bible. It also confuses Mary the mother of Jesus with Miriam the prophetess and daughter of Amram, treating them as the same person despite being separated by over a millennium (3:35; 19:28; 66:12). Basic Christian doctrines like the Trinity are misunderstood by the Quran, which is said to be a trio of deities including Allah, Jesus, and Mary (5:116). It also records that Mary gave birth to Jesus under a palm tree (19:23). Instead of an official to the Persian king Xerxes as in the book of Esther, Haman is an assistant to Pharaoh (28:6, 8, 38; 29:39; 40:24, 36). Finally, the Pharaoh of the Exodus is said to have drowned in the sea (10:90; 17:102-103; 20:78). Although the Bible neither confirms nor denies his death in this manner, we know from history that the Exodus Pharaoh most certainly did not die by drowning.

6. It copies from false apocryphal tales

In seventh-century Arabia where Islam began, there were several heretical Christian sects that had been expelled from the Byzantine Empire under Justinian. These groups had several texts that expanded upon biblical stories but were not included in the canon of the Bible due to their late composition and lack of apostolic authority. Since these teachings were present in the area during the life of Muhammad, some of them influenced material in the Quran. People alive at the time realized this and accused Muhammad of borrowing from “fables of the men of old” (6:25; 8:31; 16:24; 23:83; 25:5; 27:68; 46:17; 68:15; 83:13), something that is mentioned numerous times in the Quran. Mary being fed miraculously (3:37) comes from the second-century apocryphal gospel, the Protoevangelium of James, a historically unreliable story of Mary’s early life. The sixth-century Arabic Infancy Gospel is alluded to when the Quran makes mention of Jesus speaking in his cradle (3:46). Another text referenced is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, where Jesus brings clay birds to life (3:49; 5:110). A mysterious character known as Dhul-Qarnayn (18:83-96) meaning, “the one with two horns,” was probably based on myths about Alexander the Great. Finally, the story of the sleepers of the cave (18:9-25) is from a Christian story about some men who fell asleep in a cave to escape persecution from pagans and woke up after Christianity became legal.

7. It makes a surfeit of scientific errors

Seventh-century Arabia was not exactly known for its scientific knowledge. As a result, the Quran contains multiple statements about the world that sound cretinous to modern readers. For example, the heavens rest on invisible supports (13:2), mountains are placed into the earth (13:3), mountains prevent earthquakes (16:15), the sun sets in a spring of muddy water (18:86), the sun orbits the earth (36:38), there are seven heavens and seven earths (65:12), stars are missiles hurled at satans (67:5), the stars can fall out of the sky (81:2), and semen is formed between the backbone and the ribs (86:6-7). Early Muslims also believed that the Earth is flat, based on verses like 2:22; 13:3; 15:19; 20:53; and 88:20 which describe the Earth as having been “spread out” by Allah. These mistakes are certainly an embarrassment in “Allah’s perfect revelation.”

8. It affirms the truth of the Torah and the Gospel

The Quran repeatedly insists that both the Torah and Gospel are prior revelations of Allah (3:3, 50; 5:43-47, 66-68), making them authoritative and accurate. Verse 47 of Sura 5 reads, “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it. Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are transgressors.” It clearly instructs “the people of the Gospel,” meaning Christians, to judge by the Gospel and assumes that doing so will prove the prophethood of Muhammad. Surah 7 verse 157 claims that he is mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel, though the Bible is bereft of any references to Muhammad. An impossible situation for Muslims exists because of these Quran verses affirming the Torah and the Gospel. Since their book confirms the reliability of the Gospel and Muhammad is a false prophet according to the New Testament, Islam must not be true.

9. It is generally interpreted as denying the crucifixion of Jesus

Sura 4 verse 157 is the only passage in which the denial of Jesus’ crucifixion is found. It reads, “And because of their saying, We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of Allah, they did not kill him nor crucify him, but it seemed so to them, and indeed, those who disagree about this are in doubt about it, they have no knowledge of it except pursuit of a supposition, they did not kill him for certain.” Although there are exceptions, the majority of Muslims throughout history, as well as today take this to mean that Jesus did not die by crucifixion. It is common to explain this by saying that someone else (usually Judas or Simon of Cyrene) was made to appear like Jesus and was crucified in his place. Believing this means that Allah deliberately deluded the disciples of Jesus, who was a devout Muslim prophet, according to Islamic doctrine. Christianity, though it is the world's largest religion and an opponent of Islam, would only exist because of Allah's trickery. Another interpretation is the “swoon theory” in which Jesus somehow survived the crucifixion. Whichever explanation one goes with has serious problems, as the crucifixion of Jesus is believed to be an indisputable fact of history by all New Testament scholars and historians of early Christianity. Crucifixion denial is another thing that the Quran took from Christian Gnosticism; while this belief is consistent with the Gnostic worldview in scorning the material world, it serves no purpose within Islam.

10. It permits marrying prepubescent girls

It is now a fairly well-known fact that references to Muhammad marrying a six-year-old appear in the hadiths. While this is not found in the Quran, there is a passage that speaks directly about divorcing child brides. Islam teaches that when a man wants to divorce his wife, he must wait three of her menstrual cycles to ensure that she is not pregnant. However, this raised the question of what to do in the case of a wife who does not have a period because she is either too young, too old, or pregnant. The verse in question says, “And for those among your women who are past the age of menstruation, if you doubt, their period will be three months, along with those who do not yet menstruate. And for those who are with child, their period will be until they bring forth their burden. And whoever keeps his duty to Allah, he makes his course easy for him” (65:4). “Those who do not yet menstruate” can only refer to girls who have not reached puberty, meaning that the Quran allows Muslim men to marry and divorce prepubescent girls. Since child marriage has detrimental effects, both physically and psychologically, knowing this verse is a quick way to expose Islam as a dangerous ideology.

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Those are the ten things that I think everyone should know about the Quran. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and I highly encourage you to do more research if any of this is interesting to you. Thank you for reading!