I resume the discussion: Q. 2:75-79 AND BIBLE CORRUPTION.

In this post I am going to take the same objection leveled against the Holy Scriptures and apply it to the Quran as to show that it is the Muslim scripture that has been corrupted and altered.

Recall from the previous article that one of the proofs given for biblical corruption is that the Jews allegedly had removed the verse of stoning adulterers from the Torah which, as I demonstrated, is not the case at all since these passages are still preserved in the extant manuscript tradition.

However, what many do not realize is that the supposed authentic Islamic traditions plainly state that the Muslim scripture actually contained an injunction to stone adulterers, a command that is no longer present in the extant manuscript tradition of the Quran!

Note what the following allegedly sound narrations say about stoning being a part of the book of Allah:

Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:

‘Umar said, “I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, ‘We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) IN THE HOLY BOOK,’ and consequently they may GO ASTRAY by leaving AN OBLIGATION that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession.” Sufyan added, “I have memorized this narration in this way.” ‘Umar added, “Surely Allah’s Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 816 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6829)

… In the meantime, ‘Umar sat on the pulpit and when the callmakers for the prayer had finished their call, ‘Umar stood up, and having glorified and praised Allah as He deserved, he said, “Now then, I am going to tell you something which (Allah) has written for me to say. I do not know; perhaps it portends my death, so whoever understands and remembers it, must narrate it to the others wherever his mount takes him, but if somebody is afraid that he does not understand it, then it is unlawful for him to tell lies about me. Allah sent Muhammad with the Truth and revealed the Holy Book to him, and among what Allah revealed, was the Verse of the Rajam (the stoning of married person (male & female) who commits illegal sexual intercourse, and we did recite this Verse and understood and memorized it. Allah’s Apostle did carry out the punishment of stoning and so did we after him.

I am afraid that after a long time has passed, somebody will say, ‘By Allah, we do not find the Verse of the Rajam in Allah’s Book,’ and thus they will go astray by leaving an obligation which Allah has revealed. And the punishment of the Rajam is to be inflicted to any married person (male & female), who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if the required evidence is available or there is conception or confession. And then we used to recite among the Verses in Allah’s BOOK: ‘O people! Do not claim to be the offspring of other than your fathers, as it is disbelief (unthankfulness) on your part that you claim to be the offspring of other than your real father’ …” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 817 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6830)

Narrated Ash-Sha’bi:

from ‘Ali when the latter stoned a lady to death on a Friday. ‘Ali said, “I have stoned her according to the tradition of Allah’s Apostle.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 803)

Narrated Ash-Shaibani:

I asked ‘Abdullah bin Abi ‘Aufa about the Rajam (stoning somebody to death for committing illegal sexual intercourse). He replied, “The Prophet carried out the penalty of Rajam.” I asked, “Was that before or after the revelation of Surat-an-Nur?” He replied, “I do not know.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 824 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6840)

Narrated Abu Huraira and Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani:

A bedouin came and said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Judge between us according to Allah’s BOOK (Laws).” His opponent stood up and said, “He has said the truth, so judge between us according to Allah’s Laws.” The bedouin said, “My son was a laborer for this man and committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people said to me, ‘Your son is to be stoned to death,’ so I ransomed my son for one hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the religious learned men and they said to me, ‘Your son has to receive one hundred lashes plus one year of exile.'” The Prophet said, “I shall judge between you according to Allah’s BOOK (Laws)! As for the slave girl and the sheep, it shall be returned to you, and your son shall receive one-hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. O you, Unais!” The Prophet addressed some man, “Go in the morning to the wife of this man AND STONE HER TO DEATH.” So Unais went to her the next morning and stoned her to death. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 89, Number 303 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7193)

Zirr ibn Hubaish reported: “Ubayy ibn Ka’b said to me, ‘What is the extent of Suratul-Ahzab?’ I said, ‘Seventy, or seventy-three verses’. He said, ‘Yet it used to be equal to Suratul-Baqarah and in it we recited the verse of stoning’. I said, ‘And what is the verse of stoning?’ He replied, ‘The fornicators among the married men (ash-shaikh) and married women (ash-shaikhah), stone them as an exemplary punishment from Allah, and Allah is Mighty and Wise.’” (As-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fii Ulum al-Qur’an, p. 524, as quoted in Gilchrist, Jam’ al-Qur’an; italic emphasis mine)

With the foregoing in perspective the Muslims must now conclude that the Quran has been corrupted since a verse regarding the stoning of adulterers has been expunged from it.

After all, if the assertion that the Jews expunging the command to stone adulterers is evidence that the Torah is corrupted (despite the fact that the commandment has not been removed), then this same logic must be consistently applied to the Islamic scripture. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

However, Muslim dawagandists will definitely come up with any possible excuse to avoid employing their own reasoning consistently. These Muhammadans will do everything they can to dismiss the inevitable conclusion that the Quran has been tampered with, i.e., these narrations are lies or that the command has been abrogated, etc. Yet these explanations will not solve the dilemma for these Muslims.

For instance, the reports which assert that stoning was part of the Quran and even carried out by Muhammad come from sources deemed authentic by the majority of Sunni authorities.

Furthermore, what does this say about the integrity of Muslims? Were Muslims so dishonest as to lie against their god and their holy book by coming up with commands which they then claimed were “revealed” by their lord? If they were this dishonest then what is to say that they didn’t add other commands to the Quran and/or omitted certain others?

Moreover, Sunni scholars agree that the Quran contains both the abrogated and the abrogating verses. As such, claiming that this command was abrogated doesn’t account for it not being found within the text of the Quran. Besides, wouldn’t Umar have known that it was abrogated? Why, then, did he still complain that the verse was not included within “Allah’s Book”?

Finally, to this day the Sharia (Islamic law) states that the punishment for adultery is stoning. It is sunnah, just as the following Muslim websites admit:

Stoning to death for adultery is part of the Shariah’s penal code, whether we like it or not! Muslims should not be apologetic about any law of the Shariah as it is not the product of the human mind, but it is divinely revealed.

RAJM (STONING) FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN SHARIAH

The issue of rajm or stoning for adultery IS ESTABLISHED AND PROVEN from the authentic traditions and practices of the Final Messenger. The scholars of Islam ARE UNANIMOUS that stoning a married person (male or female) for adultery is the prescribed Hadd (penal punishment) of the Shariah. This is established by the Sunnah (prophetic traditions) and these traditions are in the rank of tawaatur (it’s narrations CANNOT BE DENIED due to it’s appearance in all three generations by numerous narrators). It is also PROVEN BY THE CONSENSUS OF THE SCHOLARS which is the third source of Islamic Law. Ibn Masud reports: “The blood of a Muslim person is not permissible except in one of three situations; the adulterer who is married, one who has killed unjustly, and the apostate.”(Bukhari and Muslim) This hadeeth is also reported with different wording by Uthmaan, Ayesha, Abu Hurairah, Jaabir and Ammaar bin Yaasir. Then there is the incident reported by Abu Hurairah and Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani regarding a workman who committed adultery with another woman. The Messenger of Allah instructed a man from the tribe of Aslam: “Go in the morning to this (particular) lady; so if she confesses, then stone her.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Muatta, Musnad Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, An-Nasaai) (Rajm(Stoning) for Adultery in the Shariah and the (Hypo)Critics https://web.archive.org/web/20030224043756/https://jamiat.org.za/isinfo/stoning.htm; capital emphasis mine)

And:

It is essential to stone the married adulterer until he dies, following the Sunnah of the Messenger, as it is proven that he said that, did it and enjoined it. The Messenger of Allaah stoned Maa’iz, the Juhani woman, the Ghaamidi woman, and the two Jews. All of that is proven in saheeh ahaadeeth narrated from the Prophet. The scholars among the Sahaabah, the Taabi’een and those who came after them are also unanimously agreed on that. No one differed from them apart from those to whose views no attention is to be paid. Al-Bukhaari and Muslim narrated in their Saheehs from Ibn ‘Abbaas that ‘Umar) said: “Allaah sent Muhammad with the truth and revealed to him the Book, and one of the things that Allaah revealed was the verse of stoning. We have read it and understood it. The Messenger of Allaah  stoned (adulterers) and we stoned (them) after him, but I fear that there may come a time when some people say: ‘By Allaah, we do not find the verse of stoning in the Book of Allaah.’ So they will go astray by forsaking an obligation that Allaah has revealed. According to the Book of Allaah, stoning is deserved by the one who commits zina, if he is married, men and women alike, if proof is established or the woman becomes pregnant or they confess…” 

Based on this, it is not permissible to replace stoning with killing by the sword or shooting, because stoning is a more severe punishment and a more effective deterrent to the sin of zina, which is the most grave sin after shirk and killing a soul whom Allaah has forbidden us to kill. The hadd punishment of stoning for a married person who commits zina is one of the matters that is determined by the Qur’aan and Sunnah and there is no room for ijtihaad or personal opinion. If killing by the sword or shooting were permissible in the case of the married adulterer then the Prophet would have done that and would have explained it to his ummah, and his companions after him would have done that too. (Islam Question & Answer, “It is not permissible to replace stoning of an adulterer with killing by the sword or by shooting,” https://islamqa.info/en/answers/14312/it-is-not-permissible-to-replace-stoning-of-an-adulterer-with-killing-by-the-sword-or-by-shooting; bold emphasis mine) 

The foregoing leads to the inevitable conclusion that it is actually the Quran, not the Holy Bible, that fails the Muslims’ own criteria for authenticity and preservation.

FURTHER READING

Does Q. 2:77-79 speak of Bible Corruption?

The Quran confirms – The Two Testaments of the Holy Bible Are the Torah and Injil! [Part 1], [Part 2]

The Quranic Witness to Biblical Authority: [Part 1], [Part 2], [Part 3]

The Quran Confirms the Bible Has Never Been Corrupted: [Part 1], [Part 2]

Islam and Stoning: A Case Study Into the Textual Corruption Of the Quran

Stoning for Adultery in Islam

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