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Quran Talk BlogMessenger: Blessing to the Believers (3:164)Verse 3:164 describes the messenger as God's blessing to the believers, sent to recite His revelations, purify them, and teach the scripture and wisdom. The article examines these three purposes, asking what is purified, and connects them to God's Messenger of the Covenant through 5:19 and 2:151. It points readers to Dr. Rashad Khalifa's talk Old Message New Messenger.April 27, 2015

Quran Talk BlogNo One Above The Law (3:161)Verse 3:161, which holds that even the prophet cannot take more than his share of the spoils of war, is applied to people with authority as employers, managers, coaches, and parents. Drawing on 2:188, 5:2, and 8:30, the article asks whether paying a bribe to a corrupt government is a sin or whether one should refuse and trust God to resolve the situation.April 27, 2015

Quran Talk BlogPleasing God (3:162)Pursuing God's pleasure as the one daily task, drawn from verse 3:162, which contrasts those who seek it with those who incur God's wrath and end in Hell. Verse 3:163 adds that the two hold different ranks at God. Pleasing God leads to admission into paradise, where, as 5:119 says, the truthful are saved by their truthfulness and God is pleased with them.April 27, 2015

Quran Talk BlogPunched In The Face (3:165 con’t)Believers face inevitable hardships as part of their admission tests, and the question is whether they buckle or persevere with steadfastness. Continuing a study of 3:165, the article opens with Mike Tyson's remark that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, and asks how a believer should respond when life strikes.April 27, 2015

Quran Talk BlogThe Righteous Do Not Really Die (3:169 – 3:174)The righteous do not really die but move directly to Paradise, rejoicing with their Lord, as Quran 3:169 to 3:174 describes. The article finds comfort in a predetermined time of death and in everything being recorded before creation (57:22), then treats persecution as an inevitable test, contrasting the believers' trust in God in 3:173 with Moses fleeing in fear.April 27, 2015

Quran Talk BlogImportance of Kindness and Compassion (3:159 – 3:160)Kindness and compassion as a gift from God, drawn from 3:159 to 3:160, where the messenger's gentleness keeps people from abandoning him and trust in God follows. Further verses on inviting to God's path with wisdom, patience over revenge, and the nicest possible response are paired with Proverbs 15 and findings that interrogators gain more cooperation through rapport than through harsh treatment.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogLessons From The Battle of Uhud (3:152 – 3:153)Verses 3:152 and 3:153 frame the Battle of Uhud, where archers left their post for the spoils and exposed the believers to a deadly attack from the rear. The article explains how one misery replaced another and asks whether the outcome was good or bad. It answers that God controls everything, citing 8:17, and that such tests strengthen some in faith while others fall into doubt.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogMoment of Death Predetermined (3:154-3:158)God controls life and death, and the moment of each person's death is predetermined, as verses 3:154 to 3:158 teach after the battle setback. The article explains why those who doubt this suffer grief and regret over the deaths of others, how failing to trust God reflects past sins, and why God chose to pardon the weak believers who turned back.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogPraying For Another’s Forgiveness (3:159 – 3:160)Whether believers may ask God's forgiveness for another person, or whether that belongs only to the messenger. Drawing on 42:5, 63:5 and 9:80, it distinguishes praying for someone who admits wrongdoing and seeks forgiveness from praying for those who arrogantly refuse it and disbelieve in God and His messenger.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogThe Root of All Our Problems Is Sin (3:152 – 3:153 Con’t)Sin and a lack of trust in God are the root of our problems, while hardships are only symptoms, as seen in those who turned back at the battle in 3:152 to 3:155. Preoccupation with this world, complacency in righteousness, and life as a constant refining process are illustrated through a monkey trap, Saul's troops, and the exposure of weak believers, contrasted with the steadfast believers of 3:146 and 3:147.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogTrust in God (3:159 – 3:160)Trusting God when making decisions, drawing on Quran 3:159 to 3:160 and the promise that God loves those who trust in Him, even when a choice proves wrong, provided one does not knowingly sin. The article sets 3:135 on seeking forgiveness beside Proverbs 16 on committing one's plans to the Lord. It closes with the history of In God We Trust as the United States motto.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogWhen Is War Justified (3:154-3:158)War is justified, according to the Quran, only in self-defense and to end oppression, and verses 2:190 to 2:195 set its rules. Emigration from oppressive lands, and opening immigration to the oppressed, come before fighting. The article also treats the fearlessness of believers, usury as a form of oppression, whether the pen counts as war, the Sacred Months, and whether war requires a prophet or messenger.April 20, 2015

Quran Talk BlogBelievers Do Not Waver Under Pressure (3:146)Steadfast believers, who do not waver under pressure, are the subject here, drawn from Quran 3:146 and set beside Psalm 92:12 to 15, where the righteous flourish like the palm tree. A sermon by Joel Osteen comparing believers to palm trees frames the theme of adjusting to hardship one cannot control.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogGod Controls Your Enemies (3:151)God controls the enemies of the believers, beginning with 3:151, where God throws terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved. Satan is named as the most ardent enemy, so God also controls Satan and limits what he can do when allowed to test our claims. Verses on total submission and on the devil fleeing the battlefield in 8:48 support the point.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogMeaning in Hardship (3:142 – 3:144) Con’tFinding meaning in hardship as part of the believer's test, drawing on Viktor Frankl's survival of the concentration camps and Louis Zamperini's ordeal in World War II. The Battle of the Parties in 33:9 through 33:24 shows how hypocrites fled while true believers found their faith and submission strengthened. Trials that God allows are for our own good and help the soul grow.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogOur Claims Must Be Tested (3:142 – 3:144)Anyone who claims to believe in God will be tested on that claim, as verses 3:142 through 3:144 and 29:2 make clear, with Adam's failure in Paradise as an example. Hardship strengthens faith, strivers earn higher ranks, and God's tests are proportionate and never unreasonable. Failing a test reflects poor training, much like an athlete's performance reflects preparation.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogTime of Death Predetermined (3:145 – 3:150)Every death comes by God's leave at a predetermined time, set by what each soul needs to reach its final status in the Hereafter. The article asks why some die young and others old, likening life to a measured sentence served by inmates seeking redemption. It contrasts Pharaoh's belief, too late to develop his soul, with the magicians who believed at the cost of their lives.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogTo God Belongs Both This Life and The Hereafter – Which Do We Choose (3:145)Choosing between this life and the Hereafter, drawing on verse 3:145 and the promise that God grants those who strive for the Hereafter their share of both. Verses 10:62 to 10:66 describe God's allies, who believe and lead a righteous life, receiving joy and happiness in this world and the next as God's unchangeable law, while idol worshipers follow only guesses.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogWhat Are Believers Made of? (3:142 – 3:144) Con’tBelievers are tested by hardship so that what is inside them comes out, much as squeezing an orange yields only orange juice. Drawing on a metaphor from Wayne Dyer, the article reflects on Quran 3:142 through 3:144 and asks what pressure and adversity reveal about a person's faith and submission to God.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogWhy Does God Allow Hardship for the People? (3:142 – 3:144) Con’tHardship for believers serves their growth, and the article explains why a Most Merciful God allows it, drawing on Joseph's trials before becoming treasurer and a chick struggling out of its shell. Whether hardship is punishment or growth, the response is the same: check one's contact prayers, Zakat, and sins, fix what needs fixing, then stay steadfast and trust in God.April 13, 2015

Quran Talk BlogActivity for the week. Finish this sentence: I am blessed because…April 6, 2015

Quran Talk BlogCharity and Forgiveness – Attributes of the Righteous (3:133 – 3:136)Verses 3:133 to 3:136 describe the righteous who race toward forgiveness from God: they give to charity in good times and bad, suppress anger, pardon people, and ask God's forgiveness without persisting in sin. Their reward is forgiveness and gardens with flowing streams. The article also presents charity as a way to atone for sin and as something that can change one's life.April 6, 2015

Quran Talk BlogGod’s Angels Help the Believers (3:124 – 3:129)God supports steadfast, righteous believers with angels, three thousand and then five thousand, as verses 3:124 to 3:129 promise, and victory comes only from God. The article pairs these verses with 8:65 and 8:66 on steadfast believers defeating larger forces, and with Abraham's birds, the disciples' feast, and 16:102 on how God assures believers' hearts.April 6, 2015

Quran Talk BlogThe Battle of Badr (3:121 – 2:123)God's victory for the believers at Badr, granted despite their weakness, is presented through verses 3:121 to 3:123, which call on them to observe God in appreciation. The article then asks how one shows appreciation and answers with Quranic verses on fasting Ramadan, the animal offerings that reach God only as righteousness, and the family of David working righteousness.April 6, 2015

Quran Talk BlogUsury Prohibited (3:130 – 3:132)Usury and bank interest, read through verses 3:130 to 3:132 and 2:278 to 2:279 of the Quran. Interest on bank deposits and loans is lawful when it is not excessive and no one is victimized. Usury, the article argues, turns less on the percentage than on the loan's terms and whether a debtor who cannot pay is exploited.April 6, 2015

Quran Talk BlogVictory for the Righteous (3:137 – 3:141)Verses 3:137 to 3:141 and 3:179 frame hardship as the way God alternates victory and defeat, distinguishes the true believers, and toughens them. The article contrasts post traumatic stress with post traumatic growth and warns that hunting for others' flaws to label them hypocrites erodes compassion. It also explains how the disbelievers are humiliated, by failing their own claims and by shame on the Day of Resurrection.April 6, 2015

Quran Talk BlogDo Not Befriend Hypocrites (3:118 – 3:120)Verses 3:118 to 3:120 warn believers against befriending outsiders who wish them harm, and the article explains how a righteous person can say die in your rage. It links this rage to the disbelief described in 22:72 and Sura 109, then turns the verses inward as a test of whether believers harbor hatred or rejoice in others' misery, citing Proverbs 24.March 30, 2015

Quran Talk BlogGod Does Not Wish Any Hardship For The People (3:106 – 3:109)Quran 3:106 to 3:109 lead into the question of what it means that God does not wish any hardship for the people. Verses on fasting, redemption, and lightening our burden show God wishes everyone redeemed while leaving the choice to us. It also asks why hardship befalls people, holding that everything comes from God, that bad things come from ourselves, and that adversity can be a blessing in disguise.March 30, 2015

Quran Talk BlogRighteous Jews & Christians & Advocating Righteousness and Forbidding Evil (3:113 – 3:117)Verses 3:113 through 3:117 describe righteous followers of the scripture who believe in GOD, advocate righteousness, and forbid evil. Believers do the same by setting a good example and exhorting one another, since there is no compulsion in religion. God's gradual prohibition of intoxicants, first barring the Contact Prayer while intoxicated, shows a gentle way of promoting righteousness.March 30, 2015

Quran Talk BlogThe Believers are United (3:103 – 3:105)Unity among believers comes from holding fast to the one rope of God and sharing the same core belief, drawing on 3:103 to 3:105 and 2:62. Division is traced to ego and personal differences dressed up as religious reasons, and unity is placed in the heart rather than a shared building. Moses and Aaron and the golden calf show when separating becomes a matter of fundamental belief.March 30, 2015

Quran Talk BlogBecca and Mecca and Hajj (3:95 – 3:102)Verses 3:95 to 3:102 on Abraham's monotheism, the shrine in Becca, and the duty of Hajj, with the footnote tying the spelling Becca to the Quran's mathematical code. The post answers those who call Becca a mistake by pointing to the Valley of Baka in Psalm 84, and compares such claims to arguments that the human eye is poorly designed.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogDo Not Prohibit What Is Lawful (3:93 – 3:94)Verses 3:93 and 3:94 warn against fabricating prohibitions and attributing them to God, read alongside Appendix 16 on dietary prohibitions. Upholding prohibitions not specified in the Quran is presented as idolatry. Verses 6:145 and 6:146 show that only four meats are prohibited and that the meat of pigs is forbidden, not the fat, so foods containing lard are not rendered prohibited.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogEarthful of Gold & Give From What You Love (3:90 – 3:92)Verses 3:90 to 3:92 of the Quran on when repentance is not accepted: from those who disbelieve after believing and plunge deeper, and from those who die as disbelievers, for whom even an earthful of gold is no ransom. The value of such gold is estimated at about $2.5×10^29. Righteousness comes through giving to charity from the possessions one loves, and GOD is fully aware of all giving.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogGod’s Messenger of the Covenant (3:81)The prophets' covenant in 3:81 and 33:7 is presented as fulfilled in Rashad Khalifa, God's Messenger of the Covenant, whose name and the 1971 Mecca date of the event are tied to the Quran's code of 19. The article distinguishes prophet from messenger, recounts Khalifa's account of meeting the prophets, and reads Malachi 3, Luke 17, and Matthew 24 as foretelling a messenger who purifies and unifies God's messages.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogMake No Distinction Among God’s Messengers (3:84)The Quranic command to make no distinction among God's messengers, drawn from verses 3:84, 2:136, 2:285, and 4:152. The verses affirm belief in God and in what was given to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, the Patriarchs, Moses, Jesus, and all the prophets, ending with the declaration that to Him alone we are submitters and the promise of recompense for those who believe.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogOnly One Religion Approved by God (3:85 – 3:89)Submission is the only religion God accepts, according to verses 3:85 through 3:89, presented with a footnote on those who disbelieve after believing. The footnote holds that rejecting God's Messenger of the Covenant means no longer believing the Quran, and identifies the solid proofs of 3:86 as the Quran's mathematical code. The verses end by exempting those who repent and reform.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogRejectors of God’s Messenger of the Covenant are Disbelievers (3:82 – 3:83)Rejecting the messenger of the covenant is read through 3:82 to 3:83 as disbelief, reconciled with the minimum requirements of 2:62 and 5:69 because believing in God means believing His word. Rejecting is distinguished from not yet accepting. The three Quranic criteria for a true messenger follow: worship of God alone, no wage, and divine proof, with the gematrical value 1919 in 72:27.March 23, 2015

Quran Talk BlogAll the Prophets and Messengers Preached The Worship of God Alone (3:79 – 3:80)Every prophet and messenger preached the worship of God alone, according to Quran 3:79 and 3:80, and none would ask people to idolize him, the angels, or the prophets. The article sets these verses beside the greatest commandment Jesus gives in Matthew and the first commandment in Exodus. It presents Laa Elaaha Ellaa Allah, there is no other god beside God, from 47:19 as the same first commandment.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogArguing For Ones Own Ego (3:64 – 3:68)Verses 3:64 to 3:68 invite the followers of the scripture to worship God alone and rebuke their arguments over whether Abraham was Jewish or Christian, since he was a monotheist submitter. The article lists signs of frivolous, ego driven argument and treats sectarianism as defiance of God's laws. A 1988 note by Rashad Khalifa urges believers to support anyone who advocates worshiping God alone.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogChallenging The Disbelievers (3:61 – 3:63)Verses 3:61 through 3:63 issue a challenge to anyone who argues against the truth: summon both families and invoke GOD's curse upon the liars. The verse number 361 equals 19×19, which ties the challenge to the mathematical miracle of the Quran. Disbelievers who truly reject God should not fear such a curse, so any hesitation shows they know the truth deep down.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogHonesty & Muhammad Was A Gentile And Not Illiterate (3:75 – 3:78)Verses 3:75 to 3:78 frame a call to be honest with all people, and above all with ourselves, against those who claim no duty of honesty toward gentiles. The footnote's argument follows: Ummy means gentile, not illiterate, so Muhammad could read and write, since his first revelations commanded him to read, write, and read the Quran from cover to cover.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogJesus & Adam, Messiah and We Are All Made of Stars (3:59 – 3:60)Jesus and Adam are equal in creation according to 3:59, since God created each by saying Be, and both are named in the Quran 25 times each. The article traces the word Messiah to Christ, cites Matthew 22 as Jesus' own proof that he is not God, and links humanity's creation from dust in 22:5 to the scientific view that we are made of stardust.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogMessage to The Followers of the Scripture (3:69 -74)Verses 3:69 to 74 frame a study of followers of the scripture who mislead others and only mislead themselves. Muslims with Hadith and Sunna, Jews with the Talmud, and Christians with Paul's writings are shown seeking sources beside God's complete, fully detailed scripture. Mixing truth with falsehood for ego and status is explored, along with hypocrisy and what believing in the morning and rejecting in the evening means.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogThe Death of Jesus (3:54 – 3:58)Jesus' death as told in Quran 3:54 to 3:58 and Appendix 22: his soul was raised before the arrest, so his persecutors crucified an empty, soulless body (4:157). The case of William Schroeder, whose soul departed 19 days after an artificial heart implant while his body lived 19 months, serves as a modern parallel, alongside Gospel passages describing Jesus' silence before Pilate and Herod.March 16, 2015

Quran Talk BlogAlly & Choose Your Friends Carefully (3:28)Verse 3:28 and what it means for believers to ally themselves with disbelievers, read as a matter of belief rather than friendship alone. Related verses, including 9:23 to 9:24 on family, set this beside 60:8 to 9, which permits befriending people of other beliefs who do not fight believers over religion. Research on social networks supports seeking companions who strengthen faith, as in 18:28.March 9, 2015

Quran Talk BlogGod Loves Those Who Are… (3:29 – 3:32)Starting from verses 3:29 to 3:32, which tie loving God to following the messenger, the article argues that whoever loves God should take on the attributes God loves. It lists those attributes with their Quranic verses: charity, repentance, cleanliness, righteousness, steadfastness, trust in God, equity, justice, self purification, and loving Him.March 9, 2015

Quran Talk BlogGod Produces The Living From The Dead and The Dead From The Living (3:26 – 3:27)Verses 3:26 and 3:27 describe God's attributes: possessor of all sovereignty, granting dignity and humiliation, merging night and day, and producing the living from the dead and the dead from the living. The verses are paired with a video titled We Are Dead Stars, linking the Quran's statement about life from the dead to the idea that living things come from dead stars.March 9, 2015

Quran Talk BlogJesus (3:49 – 3:53)Jesus as a messenger to the Children of Israel in verses 3:49 to 3:53: his miracles by God's leave, his confirmation of the Torah, and his call to worship God alone. The bird formed from clay is traced to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and the revoked prohibitions are explained through 6:146 and 4:160. The disciples' pledge is compared with Jacob's sons declaring themselves submitters.March 9, 2015

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