The Quran Is Logically Consistent and Unambiguous
By
Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
9 July 2022
The Quran Conforms To the Essential
Requirements of a Logical System
Main
Points:
1. Logical
systems including mathematics are modelled on the created world.
2. Differential
Calculus was developed by Newton to solve problems in astrophysics.
3. Universe is
also Allah's Book containing his Ayat or Signs, just like the Quran.
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Logical
systems including mathematics are modelled on the created world. The early
development in mathematics was to make better sense of the physical world and
to keep pace with the developments in the physical sciences. Differential
Calculus was developed by Newton to solve problems in astrophysics. Then came a
time when mathematics seemed to race ahead with the mathematics of curved
surfaces for which use was found much later by Einstein in his theory of
relativity. Topology, a branch of mathematics which began in 1905 had no uses
for about a hundred years. It was a theory of differential topology and higher
dimensions. Physics has found a use for it in string theory which deals with
multiple dimensional hyperspaces. The close connection between logical systems
and reality is well understood and the fact that the systems of logic including
mathematics are modelled on the created world is why these describe the
material world so accurately.
The
universe or reality can therefore be taken to be inherently logical and
mathematical. The material world can be entirely understood in terms of its
most basic building blocks and unchanging laws. A logical system likewise
consists of a few axioms or postulates (the building blocks of the logical
system) which are self-evident truths and demonstrable formal rules of
inference that preserve logical truth. From these, all the possible logical
truths in the form of theorems are logically derived. A logical system must be
consistent, meaning, it should not be possible to both prove and disprove the
same theorem. If it is inconsistent, it is useless. The axioms are the
unprovable truths of the logical system. If these were provable, we would not
have any need for the axioms or postulates. These can be taken to be true
because these are self-evident and all the theorems derived based on these
axioms are found to be true and useful in real life.
The Quran Conforms To the Essential
Requirements of A Logical System
The
Universe is also Allah's Book containing his Ayat or Signs, just like the
Quran. What do we then expect from the Quran which is the word of Allah who
created a world which can be described precisely using mathematical models and
a reality that follows the rules of logic and mathematics? How should we treat
the Book which claims to be the word of Allah? We expect the Book to conform to
all the essential requirements of a logical system for the simple reason that
Allah created a Universe that is inherently logical and mathematical and
therefore His Book is also expected to follow strict rules that eliminate any
chance of ambiguity in the understanding of its verses. We also expect it to be
consistent or without any contradictions. We should therefore treat the Book as
having these properties unless we discover otherwise. The rules of inferential
logic apply to such a Book. Inferences are valid because of the logical terms
used in them, independent of the meanings of the non-logical terms. Valid
inferences are characterized by the fact that the truth of their premises
ensures the truth of their conclusion. This means that the premises can't be
true and the conclusion false. A proposition is logically true if its truth
depends only on the logical vocabulary used in it. This means that it is true
in all possible worlds and under all interpretations of its non-logical terms.
The
Quran’s Axioms
What are
the Book’s axioms? The only axiom is that it is the word of Allah who is the
Creator of the Universe and all that it contains, who has absolute power over
all His creation and that nothing happens without His knowledge and permission,
that He has perfect knowledge of everything, and what Allah says is the
absolute truth and His word is beyond doubt.
We then
read what Allah has to say about the purpose of creation, man’s place in the
creation, why has Allah chosen to guide mankind by way of sending messengers
and revelations, how other creatures are guided, the purpose of revelations,
and many other things that Allah speaks about in His Books.
Determining
the Truth in the Axioms
How do we
know the truth of Allah or the truth of the axiom itself? The truth of the
axiom becomes evident from the truth of the verifiable parts of the remaining
Book. If Allah has guided us to His Deen or way of life, could mankind have
managed on its own without guidance? Where do we stand today with the guidance
and where we would have been without the guidance? This question has been
examined in my articles:
Religion as a Civilizing Influence
The Progression from
Religious Morality to Secular Laws
If we could
have managed equally well or better without Allah’s guidance, then there isn’t
even a logical necessity for Allah and His Deen. However, if we would not have
taken even a single step on the path of civilization without Allah’s guidance,
then that is proof of the truth of Allah’s claim to have guided mankind from
Adam onwards with the knowledge that they “knew not nor their fathers” but was
essential to mankind to progress on the path of civilization.
Understanding
Islam through the Ages
The logical
expectation from Allah is that He should have sent guidance to all the people
throughout the ages and we find this to be true and confirmed by Allah. All the
scriptures-based religions are therefore religions of Allah. This has been
discussed in my articles:
Does Allah Provide A Level
Playing Field To All The People?
The Meaning of Islam and Muslim
The Religion of Allah before
and After the Quran
Understanding the Religion of
Allah through the Ages
Is the Quran a Book of
Contradictions?
The Concept of Unity in the
Quran While Celebrating Diversity
Verses in
the Book are expected to follow consistent rules for eliminating ambiguity. For
example, the Quran uniformly uses ‘or’ (أَو) as a logical operator and
never to mean “the same as”. ‘Or’ is used more than 500 times in the Quran and
if it is sometimes used as a logical operator and at other times to mean “the
same as”, then the rules of inferential logic cannot be applied and it is like
any other Book subject to interpretations. This is not the case. Muhammad Asad
translates ‘or’ as “the same as” in five verses and errs in each case. This is
covered in my article: The Art and Science of interpreting the Quran
Another Example
Of Disambiguation
Consider
the following verse:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا
مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ
أُولَٰئِكَ هُمْ شَرُّ الْبَرِيَّةِ
(98:6)
Indeed, the Kafaru among (مِنْ) the People of the Book and
the Polytheists, will be in Hell-Fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the
worst of creatures.
Does it
mean “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and all the polytheists”
Or
“the Kafaru
among the People of the Book and the Kafaru among the polytheists”
To resolve
the question, consider another verse of identical grammatical structure where
there is no confusion as to whether the preposition “among” or the Arabic مِنْ connects all the nouns that
follow “among” or only the noun immediately following among.
رَبَّنَا وَأَدْخِلْهُمْ
جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ الَّتِي وَعَدتَّهُمْ وَمَن صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجِهِمْ
وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
(40:8) "And
grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast
promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, their wives,
and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom.
Clearly “the
righteous among” is a description that applies to all the nouns that follow it
and the verse means:
40:8) "And
grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast
promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, the
righteous among their wives, and the righteous among their posterity! For Thou
art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom.
And not
(40:8) "And
grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast
promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, all their
wives, and all their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full
of Wisdom.
The rule
for the preposition must apply in all possible worlds and under all
interpretations of the verse’s other parts of speech therefore the correct
translation of verse 98:6 is:
“the Kafaru
among the People of the Book and the Kafaru among the polytheists”
This
implies that not all polytheists are considered Kafir by Allah. Moreover,
whether in Arabic or in any other language, if the intention was to include all
polytheists and only the Kafaru among the people of the Book, then the verse
would have read: “The polytheists and the Kafaru among the People of the Book”.
This raised
a huge debate since in Islamic theology every non-Muslim is considered a Kafir.
The fact, however, is that for Allah this is not so and cannot be so speaking
logically. This has been comprehensively established following strict rules of
logical inference in my article: Revisiting the Meaning of Kafir .
Much of Islamic theology does not conform with the Quran. Many of the
beliefs and practices of Muslims are against the letter and spirit of the
Quran.
Does The
Quran Require To Be Interpreted?
The Quran
does not require to be interpreted. The precise meaning of its verses can be
determined with the help of the Quran itself. If any interpretation was
required, then it implies that the meaning can vary and is dependent upon
subjective factors. That is not a quality of the Book of Allah. Scholars
interpret when the established literal meaning of the verse does not agree with
their belief. They then interpret it to make the meaning conform to their
belief. The fact remains that the Book is heavily interpreted although this is
not required and leads to false beliefs. The errors in Islamic jurisprudence or
fiq, and other instances of misinterpretation are discussed in many of my
articles. Some are as follows:
Is A Woman’s Testimony Worth Half That of A Man?
The Process for Divorce in the Quran
Inadequacies
and Errors of Classical Islamic Fiqh - Inheritance Related Calculations
Does The Quran Ask Us To Follow The Sunnat Of The
Prophet?
Revisiting the Meaning of Kafir
The Importance of Getting the Story Right on the
Divine Plan Allah
The Misrepresentation of the Quran through
Mistranslation
The Fairy Tale of
Alam-e-Arwah
Who Are The Witnesses Or The Shuhada?
The Book
Must Be Free Of Any Logical Inconsistency
The
property of the Book expected is that it should not have a single discrepancy
or logical inconsistency. This is what the Quran also avers that had it been a
Book from other than Allah, it would have had discrepancies. There can be
logical inconsistency in the way people understand the Book which must then be
resolved by identifying the error in our understanding. The Quran makes easy
such an understanding by repeating the verse in different ways that leave no
room for any doubt or misunderstanding. The topics of the art and science of
disambiguation, logical inference and correctly determining the literal meaning
are discussed in my following articles:
The Art and Science of
interpreting the Quran
What Does It Mean To Be A
Literalist And A Fundamentalist?
The Importance of Classification
for Gaining a Correct Understanding of the Quran
Who Are Those Who Will
Believe And Those Who Will Not?
The Mufassirin Who Render the
Quran A Book of Foolish Nonsense
Who Are The Worst Of
Creatures In The Quran?
The Mutashaabihat Or The
Allegorical Verses Of The Quran
An Exposition of the Verse of
Light (Ayat al-Nur)
The Much discussed and
debated Medinian Verses Relating to Fighting
The Correct Understanding of
the So Called ‘Sword’ Verses of Surah Taubah
The Principles of War from
the Quran
The
Quran and the Psychology of Human Behaviour - Nafs
Supplement
To the Article “The Quran and the Psychology of Human Behaviour – Nafs”
Truths in
the Quran about Our Material World
Allah also
speaks in scores of verses about our material world the truth of which were
unknown to man until discovered recently by the pursuit of science. These
provide further evidence that the Quran is the word of Allah whose knowledge of
the material world is perfect because He created everything and therefore
contains true information that could only be validated only recently. These
topics are discussed in my articles:
The Al Furqan Prevails
As It Must
Was Allah Unjust in Creating Adam and Favouring His
Progeny Over All His Creation?
The
Story of Creation in the Qur’an Converges with the Theory of Evolution
The Big Bang Theory and
the Quran
Look For the Quran in
Science but Never Look For Science in the Quran
Why Some
Are Convinced That There Are “Unscientific” Verses In The Quran?
What we
need to keep in mind is the constraint on the Quran of the 7th century Arabic
vocabulary. To this day, meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites which are
sometimes seen as flashes of light streaking across the sky are called
“shooting stars”. The use of words such as meteor etc. to make a distinction
from the stars is from the 16th century. So, if the Quran refers to these as
“stars”, it is not unscientific. The Quran however makes a clear distinction
between stars that are far away and stable which guide the seafarers and
travellers as below:
(6:97) It
is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you, that ye may guide yourselves,
with their help, through the dark spaces of land and sea: We detail Our signs
for people who know.
And the
shooting stars which are from the lower heaven or from our solar system as in
verse below:
(37:6) We
have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,- (7) (For
beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits,
Brief Summary
of the Gains from the Methodology Driven Study
The
methodology-driven study looks at the Quran ab-initio without any pre-conceived
notions or theological leanings. The conclusions based on following the
methodology outlined, are far more liberal and inclusive than that of the most
liberal scholar because even a liberal scholar has not found a way to escape
the gravitational pull of Islamic scholarship of the past which is biased and
bigoted. A sound methodology is a
guarantee of finding the correct meaning and overcoming the fear of going
against the weight of traditional scholarship.
The
following is a summary of how different the authentic message of the Quran is
from the beliefs of the Muslims:
1. Allah does not play
favourites with the followers of any particular religion. A person born a
Muslim does not have an edge over those born in other faiths. Heaven is not the
exclusive preserve of the followers of any particular belief system.
2. The Quran explicitly
endorses several religions and in general, all people who believe in truth,
justice, the Hereafter and do good deeds
3. Only a believer can be a
kafir and not a disbeliever. Kufr is rejecting the truth after knowing the
truth. Polytheism is kufr for those who know that it is kufr but not for those
who lack the required knowledge.
4. The verses about war are
faith neutral and apply equally to people of all faiths. This is because war is
commanded only against oppression and nothing else. In particular, war is not
commanded against a people for their religious beliefs. Just war includes war
against Muslim oppressors even if the oppressed are non-Muslim
5. “Let there be no
compulsion in religion” is an unconditional principle, universally applicable
under all circumstances.
My
Experience Trying To Propagate the Methodology
To my
surprise and even consternation initially, my efforts have been met with stiff
resistance from all quarters. The most common question asked is “how come you
are the only one in all of 1400 years who has understood the Quran correctly?”
The answer to the question is that no one before has followed a sound
methodology but allowed himself to be influenced by prevailing notions and
opinions.
The
resistance from traditional scholars is understandable. The group of ex-Muslims
and near ex-Muslims are dismayed because they believe in weaning away Muslims
from their belief in Islam and the Quran and my essays are seen as
strengthening the very faith that they are trying to weaken. The fact that
Islam gets reformed if my findings gain broad acceptance, does not interest
them. It is seen as an attempt at “self-aggrandisement” and “self-promotion” by
some. Personal jealousy and envy play a big part in their resistance. They,
therefore, argue bitterly and even defend the bigoted version as true Islam!
I am not
trying to impose my view on others but advocating that the scholars follow a
robust methodology. The quality of the output should not be person-dependent
which is the case when people do not follow a robust process and methodology.
The people are free to come up with a better methodology if they can. Common
agreement on methodology is easier. Once the scholars appreciate the strengths
of following a robust methodology and follow it, they are more likely to reach
a consensus on what truly the Islam of the Quran is. The traditional scholars will
argue that they follow the Islamic sciences for the study of the Quran. These
sciences depend upon the unreliable Ahadith which is the single biggest
source of misguidance and deviation from the authentic message of the Quran and
on the opinions of previous scholars. The best hope is the young who have no
hang-ups about learning from another and are open-minded to good ideas and
desire to become good Muslims.
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A
frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering
graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having
served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over
three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal
contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://newageislam.com/debating-islam/quran-logically-consistent-unambiguous/d/127445
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