The Quran: A Critical Review

Eli Kittim

Islamic Origins

Aside from the fact that the Quran was initially built on bloodshed and violence——in which the founder of Islam, Muhammad, participated in many military battles to convert neighbouring peoples and tribes——there are many other problem areas with the history of Islam as well. Many Jews were slaughtered who would not convert, as well as many other innocent people. The motto is the same now as it was then: "convert or be killed by the sword." The question is, would the pure and holy God of Heaven and earth condone, or even encourage, such behavior? It's true that during the Middle Ages the Catholic Church did the same. However, the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, did not engage in any military battles or in any terrorist attacks to convert people to Christianity by force. Muhammad did! One began with peace; the other with war. That's the main difference!

Bloodshed and violence also marked the beginning of the Islamic period following the death of Muhammad. Rival Muslim leaders were vying for control of the Caliphate. Many killed their rivals or were themselves assassinated. Even Ali (aka ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib)——a cousin, son-in-law, and companion of Muhammad——was himself assassinated in 661 AD. That's when the Shia–Sunni split began. Since then, there have been so many different splintering sects (denominations) and myriads of different schools and branches of Islamic theology that it is downright misleading to claim that there's only one interpretation of the Quran:

     "Islamic schools and branches have
     different understandings of Islam. There are
     many different sects or denominations,
     schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and
     schools of Islamic theology, or ʿaqīdah
     (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves
     there may be differences, such as different
     orders (tariqa) within Sufism, and within
     Sunnī Islam different schools of theology
     (Aṯharī, Ashʿarī, Māturīdī) and jurisprudence
     (Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī). Groups in
     Islam may be numerous (the largest
     branches are Shīʿas and Sunnīs), or
     relatively small in size (Ibadis, Zaydīs,
     Ismāʿīlīs). Differences between the groups
     may not be well known to Muslims outside
     of scholarly circles, or may have induced
     enough passion to have resulted in political
     and religious violence (Barelvi, Deobandi,
     Salafism, Wahhabism). There are informal
     movements driven by ideas (such as Islamic
     modernism and Islamism) as well as
     organized groups with a governing body
     (Ahmadiyya, Ismāʿīlism, Nation of Islam).
     Some of the Islamic sects and groups
     regard certain others as deviant or not truly
     Muslim (Ahmadiyya, Alawites, Quranists).
     Some Islamic sects and groups date back
     to the early history of Islam between the 7th
     and 9th centuries CE (Kharijites, Sunnīs,
     Shīʿas), whereas others have arisen much
     more recently (Islamic neo-traditionalism,
     liberalism and progressivism, Islamic
     modernism, Salafism and Wahhabism) or
     even in the 20th century (Nation of Islam).
     Still others were influential in their time but
     are not longer in existence (non-Ibadi
     Kharijites, Muʿtazila, Murji'ah)."

     —- Wikipedia (Islamic schools and
           branches)

Another criticism that has been levelled against the Quran is that it has not been critically scrutinized rigorously in the same manner as the Bible, neither does it have a critical edition, nor is the manuscript evidence made available to scholars for serious study. There's a secrecy surrounding it that seems to prevent scholarly investigations. For example, because it lacks a critical edition, there are no footnotes in the Quran to notify the reader about manuscript evidence, textual discrepancies, or omissions!