Quran Talk Blog, Community

Quran Talk BlogThe Illusion of DifficultySatan makes the path to Hell look enticing and the path of submission look like hard work, yet the obligations of submission bring ease and purpose. Drawing on Pew data on religious happiness, the contact prayer, Ramadan fasting, and verses on choosing the difficult path, the article contrasts Joseph's trust in God with celebrity despair after Stephen tWitch Boss's suicide.December 15, 2022

Quran Talk BlogHadith Reprimanding Followers For Mimicking MuhammadNarrations from Bukhari and Muslim in which Muhammad discourages his followers from copying his extra night prayers, his continuous Al Wisal fast, and his personal opinion on grafting date palms. Further narrations limit obedience to commands that follow the Book of God and are maroof, matching Quran 60:12. The article offers these to people who uphold Hadith, while holding that the Quran alone is the source of religious law.December 14, 2022

Quran Talk BlogSome thoughts on 22:60-62Verses 22:60 through 22:62 and why the merging of night and day follows God's promise to support one who equitably avenges an injustice and is then persecuted. The night and day are read as a metaphor for alternating days of defeat and victory, which test whether believers call on God alone. Satan's permitted schemes, God's sovereignty in the Hereafter, and verses 3:140, 3:160 and 47:31 frame the reading.December 14, 2022

Quran Talk BlogThe Written QuranThe Quran's written form from the very first revelation, against the common claim that it was mainly oral and written down after the prophet's death. The argument draws on the meanings of kitab, Quran, and the pen, verses on pages and scribes, and the collection of the Quran during Muhammad's life. It also cites the consistent spelling of the earliest manuscripts and Arabic grammar.December 11, 2022

Quran Talk BlogNasakh and QuranThe doctrine of abrogation is refuted as a satanic scheme that leads Muslims to discard verses of the Quran, often in favor of Hadith. Ayah in 2:106 means a sign, miracle, or revelation, never a single verse. Verses 22:52 through 22:57 show God nullifying the devil's interference, perfecting His revelations, and promising a shameful retribution for those who reject them.December 10, 2022

Quran Talk BlogHead CoveringsWhether the Quran commands women to cover their hair, answered by examining the words hijab, khimar, and zīna in verses 33:53 and 24:31 alongside other verses on modesty. The article argues that head coverings came from culture and Islamic state decrees rather than from God, and that forcing any dress code violates the Quran's ban on compulsion, leaving only a guideline to cover the chest.December 9, 2022

Quran Talk BlogForbidding Writing HadithThe prophet's prohibition on writing anything from him except the Quran, and why the first Hadith compilation appeared some 150 years after his death. Using Quran verses and narrations from Muslim, al-Tirmidhi and al-Bukhari, the article shows that Hadith sources themselves record the ban, Abu Bakr burning his collection, companions' reluctance to narrate, and Ali's statement that only the Quran and one paper were written.December 4, 2022

Quran Talk BlogTashahhud & HadithThe Tashahhud, the testimony recited while sitting in the contact prayer, is examined against the Quran's command to mention God alone in Salat. The article sets sixteen Sahih Hadith versions side by side, notes their inconsistencies and a narration saying the wording changed after the prophet's death, and argues that Hadith is unreliable and the Quran is the only consistent source.December 4, 2022

Quran Talk BlogNo Partners (Shirk)Shirk, or idolatry, is defined through the Quran as associating anything with God, including believing anything independent of Him can harm or benefit. The article lists idols from Jesus and saints to ego, property, and scholars, rebuts the traditional reading of 4:59 and 4:65, and argues that upholding Hadith or mentioning the prophet beside God in the Shahadah and the contact prayer sets up partners.November 30, 2022

Quran Talk Blog19th English TranslationWikipedia's list of English translations of the Quran places Dr. Rashad Khalifa's translation 23rd, and the article argues it is actually the 19th. It drops Alexander Ross's version as a translation from French, corrects Khalifa's first edition date to 1981, and removes M.H. Shakir's translation over its uncertain authorship and dates and its near total plagiarism of Maulana Muhammad Ali's 1917 translation.November 28, 2022

Quran Talk BlogThree Big Lies Regarding the Compilation of QuranThree traditional Hadith claims about how the Quran was compiled are weighed against the Quran itself: that it came in seven modes and many recitations, that Muhammad was illiterate and had others write it, and that it was collected only after his death. Citing verses on the single Quran, the word ummy meaning gentile, and 75:16 to 19, the article argues Muhammad wrote the Quran and saw it completed.November 28, 2022

Quran Talk Blog22:40 Monasteris, Churches, SynagoguesDefends Dr. Rashad Khalifa's rendering of four words in verse 22:40 as monasteries, churches, synagogues, and masjids, against the alternatives in the Monotheist Group and Edip Yüksel translations. Each word is traced through its Arabic root, dictionary meanings, and possible Syriac and Greek connections, showing why the verse names houses of worship where the name of God is commemorated.November 26, 2022

Quran Talk BlogChange in QiblaThe change in the Qiblah, the direction faced during the contact prayer, is read through 2:142 to 2:150 as a test of whether believers would follow the messenger over tribal bias. The article links it to impartiality between Jews and Christians and the religion of Abraham, cites Psalm 84 and Bakka, and uses Dr. Khalifa's footnote to argue the Qiblah moved from the Ka'aba to Jerusalem and back.November 14, 2022

Quran Talk BlogBackbiting IdiomBackbiting in the Quran is read through a Classical Arabic idiom from a poem by Hassan ibn Thabit, where hungering for the flesh of the unaware means to backbite. Verse 49:12, on eating the flesh of a dead brother, is understood in the same idiomatic sense. Two examples from the story of Joseph show people speaking against someone in his absence.November 9, 2022

Quran Talk BlogThe Problem with Calling Hadith RevelationsTreating Hadith as divine revelation creates problems its upholders cannot resolve: it contradicts the Quran as the only book and complete source of law, and even Hadith reports say the prophet left no revelation besides the Quran. Hadith lack God's promise of preservation, conflict even in the most authenticated narrations, and leave believers risking Hell by rejecting true revelation or accepting false ones.November 9, 2022

Quran Talk BlogHow Hadith and Sunnism Destroyed Islam and RationalityThe decline of Baghdad's Islamic Golden Age is traced to the rise of Sunni Islam and the placing of Hadith above the Quran and reason. The article contrasts House of Wisdom scholars such as al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi under the Quran-first Mu'tazila caliphs with al-Mutawakkil's turn, the schools of Shafi'i and Hanbal, and Hadith and tafsir claims like the earth resting on a whale.November 7, 2022

Quran Talk BlogTidal LockingTidal locking is read as the scenario behind 25:45 and 25:46, where God says He could have made the shadow stationary. A locked Earth would bring perpetual day and night, boiling oceans, frozen darkness and violent storms, recalling 28:71 and 28:72. Also covered are the palindrome in each floating in its own orbit and the Arabic words dalīlan and qabḍan.October 30, 2022

Quran Talk BlogDoes the Hadith Claim Muhammad was the final messenger?The Quran calls Muhammad the final prophet, not the final messenger, and the article tests the traditionalist claim that the Hadith says otherwise. It compares the Tirmidhi narration on Mubashshirat with parallel versions that mention only prophethood, then examines the final brick Hadith, arguing its reference to messengers is a later interpolation echoing the cornerstone imagery of Psalm 118:22 and the Gospels.October 27, 2022

Quran Talk BlogFalse Prophets After Muhammad in 7th Century ArabiaSelf-proclaimed prophets who arose near the end of Muhammad's life and after his death in 632, leading to Abu Bakr's Ridda Wars. Musaylima's teachings and fall at Yamama come first, followed by the prophetess Sajah, Al-Aswad al-Ansi in Yemen, and Tulayha. It closes with Saf ibn Sayyad, known mainly through Bukhari hadith that the article calls fabricated.October 25, 2022

Quran Talk BlogFirst Comes RighteousnessRighteousness, not intellect or study alone, is presented as the lens needed to recognize the truth of the Quran and act upon it. Beginning with a psychology experiment on the shift from uncertainty to certainty, the article contrasts believers and disbelievers reading the same text. It turns to 2:177 and 7:26 to define righteousness, rooted in monotheism as the natural instinct God placed in people.October 20, 2022

Quran Talk BlogAllahu AkbarSaying Allahu Akbar, God is the Greatest, is defended against those who call the phrase incorrect because it is absent from the Quran, Akbar is not a name of God, and God is not comparable. The article cites comparative uses of Akbar in verses like 29:45 and 9:72, explains the Arabic superlative form, and points to Quranic comparisons that magnify God and the command to magnify Him.October 17, 2022

Quran Talk BlogAnti-Hadith Hadith of Sahih al-BukhariNarrations from Sahih al-Bukhari that argue against following Hadith, presented in English and Arabic with references. They hold that only conditions in God's book bind, that the prophet left nothing but the Quran, that the Quran is sufficient, and that the best Hadith is God's book, warning of those who changed the religion. Quran 39:23 and 25:27 to 30 frame the case.October 13, 2022

Quran Talk BlogSahih Bukhari Hadith Lacks ConsistencyContradictions within Sahih Bukhari, shown through conflicting narrations on how long the prophet stayed in Mecca and his age at death, raise doubts about all supposedly authentic Hadith. Undated Hadith also undermine the idea of abrogation, and reliance on scholars to reconcile them turns scholars into idols. Citing the Quran, the article argues that the Quran alone is the complete, consistent source of religious law, and explains why God permits such fabrications.October 13, 2022

Quran Talk BlogBasmalah & SalatTraditional scholars dispute whether the Basmalah opening the suras is part of the Quran, and most imams omit it from al-Fateah during the contact prayer. The article argues this omission threatens the validity of Salat and breaks the Quran's mathematical code based on 19, citing number patterns in al-Fateah. It includes excerpts from Nasser, Qadhi, Al-Meneese, and Ibn Taymiyyah on the debate.October 3, 2022

Quran Talk BlogShahadah And Bearing WitnessThe Shahadah, according to the Quran, bears witness to God alone, and the common dual testimony naming Muhammad appears only once, spoken by hypocrites whom God calls liars in 63:1. Drawing on the root meaning of being present, with examples from Moses, Abraham and adultery cases, the article argues no one but Muhammad can witness his messengership. Believers are told to believe in the messengers, having all witnessed God before birth.October 2, 2022

Quran Talk BlogExcept GodThe Arabic expression illā-l-lah, meaning except God, occurs exactly 19 times in the Quran. Each occurrence is listed with its Arabic text and English translation, from the covenant with the Children of Israel in 2:83 to the command in 47:19 to know there is no other god beside God. Recurring themes include worshiping and fearing God alone and God's exclusive knowledge and forgiveness.September 30, 2022

Quran Talk Blog33:40: Was vs. IsWhether the Arabic word kāna in verse 33:40 means was or is when calling Muhammad a messenger of God and the final prophet, comparing Dr. Khalifa's translation with Saheeh International. Verses such as 3:67, 28:46, and 3:79 show both readings have linguistic support. The author then argues, from the parallel with Abraham in 3:67, that the shahadatain should say Muhammad was a messenger of God.September 29, 2022

Quran Talk BlogLivestockLivestock as one of God's greatest blessings, drawing on Quranic verses about meat, milk, hides, and animal power alongside history and science on domestication, human advancement, and immunity. The docile nature and productivity of cattle are contrasted with the pig, offering reasons for the Quran's prohibition of pork, including parasites and swine flu. Readers are urged to thank God for livestock.September 22, 2022

Quran Talk BlogWhistling and Clapping?Verse 8:35 and the common rendering of mukāan wataṣdiyatan as whistling and clapping are reexamined through the surrounding verses, Lane's lexicon, Lisān al-ʿArab, and the root's use in 80:6. The article argues that the idol worshipers' contact prayer at the Kaʿbah was an attention seeking, heedless display used to repel people from the Sacred Masjid, linking it to 4:142 and 107:4 to 6.September 12, 2022

Quran Talk BlogRashad Khalifa Prophesied in HadithHadith narrations about khulafa and al-Khulafā’ ar-Rāshidīn are read as a prophecy of Rashad Khalifa, God's Messenger of the Covenant, sharing the roots of both his names. The article distinguishes Muhammad as the final prophet, not the final messenger, citing 33:40, 7:35, and 40:34 to 40:38. It explains why God permitted fabricated Hadith to carry this prophecy while rejecting the corpus as contradictory.September 11, 2022

Quran Talk BlogHistory Repeats: Rejecting God’s MessengersPeople who already believe in God have repeatedly rejected the messengers He sends, refusing the message rather than God Himself. Quranic examples trace the pattern through the community of Sura 36, Pharaoh's Egyptians after Joseph, the Children of Israel with Jesus, and the Jews, Christians, and Meccan polytheists with Muhammad. It ends with Rashad Khalifa, whose proof came through code 19, and who was rejected and then killed.September 2, 2022

Quran Talk BlogSalat is a Ritual PrayerThe Contact Prayer (Salat) is shown from the Quran to be a specific ritual, distinct from supplication, taught first to Abraham and followed by Muhammad as the religion of Abraham. The article gathers verses on devoting it to God alone, remembering God, attentiveness, ablution, the five times, the Qibla, moderate tone, standing, bowing, prostration, shortening during war, and the Friday congregational prayer.September 1, 2022

Quran Talk BlogBrief History of the Compilation of Quran Based on aHadithThe compilation of the Quran as told in Hadith literature, presented as narrative history rather than fact. It traces the scribes of Muhammad's lifetime, Zaid bin Thabit's suhuf under Abu Bakr, Uthman's canonized mus'hafs in the Quraish dialect, the lone witness Khuzaima for 9:128 and 129, and Marwan's destruction of Hafsa's copy.August 30, 2022

Quran Talk BlogDid We Choose To Be Here?Whether we chose to exist, taken up through the 2019 case of an Indian man who sued his parents for his birth. Drawing on 33:72 and 20:50, the article argues every soul accepted existence and the responsibility of freedom of choice. It explains Hell as the absence of God, contrasts Satan and Adam, and concludes that God never wrongs anyone who goes astray.August 30, 2022

Quran Talk BlogGod vs. godThe Quranic distinction between illah, any god, and Allah, God, framed as the central choice of this world. It covers the pre-birth testimony and natural instinct to worship God alone, Satan's role in the test of free choice, why God is called Lord of the universe but Master of the Day of Judgment, and whether God created the gods people worship.August 30, 2022

Quran Talk BlogOccurance of Qul in QuranAppendix 24 states that the Quranic command Qul (Say) occurs 332 times, matching Qaaloo (They said), yet the 1924 Cairo text shows only 331. The article examines the ambiguous spelling in 21:112, citing early manuscripts without diacritical marks, regional readings, and classical commentators. It argues from the surrounding verses that 21:112 should read Qul, which restores the count to 332.August 29, 2022

Quran Talk BlogQuran and Plate Tectonics (Mountains)Mountains in the Quran are read against the modern theory of plate tectonics, with verses 78:7, 21:31, 31:10 and 16:15 describing them as pegs and stabilizers. The article examines the Arabic words for spreading, tumbling and casting down, links them to moving plates and earthquakes, and cites 27:88, where mountains that seem still are moving like the clouds.August 26, 2022

Quran Talk BlogSura 32 Initial Count First AuditA response to a community audit of the Quranic initial counts for Sura 32, which confirmed the Lam and Mim totals but disputed several alif counts. Each contested spelling and hamza is defended using ancient manuscripts and a consistent counting method applied across the whole Quran. The Alif, Lam, and Mim totals of 257, 155, and 158 sum to 570, or 19 x 30.August 25, 2022

Quran Talk BlogDespicable HadithHadith narrations about the prophet's intimate life with his wives are weighed against the Quran's commands that spouses keep each other's secrets and that believers respect the privacy of the prophet's household. The article reads 33:53, where Muhammad is called prophet and then messenger, as showing that such fabrications hurt his legacy and repel people from the path of God, and urges believers to call them a big lie.August 24, 2022

Quran Talk BlogFasting For a Whole MonthHadith claims that the prophet fasted the entire month of Ramadan day and night, nourished by God while he slept, are weighed against the Quran. The Quran says messengers ate food and walked in the markets, and that the prophet's only miracle was the Quran itself. Other Hadith miracles, such as water gushing from his finger and the splitting of the moon, are set against the same verses.August 22, 2022

Quran Talk BlogThe Most Damning HadithBukhari 1870, in which Ali says he has nothing from the prophet except the Book of God and one written paper, is read as a case against upholding Hadith besides the Quran. A retranslation of the Arabic argues that the paper itself curses whoever narrates or shelters Hadith, and the argument closes with Quran 31:6 on those who uphold baseless Hadith.August 21, 2022

Quran Talk BlogQuran Alone and The DevilThe devil's strategy of pushing believers beyond the limits God set, applied to the principle of the Quran alone. The article argues that extreme Quranists reject translations, dictionaries, and the practices passed down from Abraham, and warns submitters that defining the Quran only as the mathematically authenticated Arabic verses supports that position. It holds that the Quran is both its text and the correct understanding God grants the sincere.August 20, 2022

Quran Talk BlogDonkey MeatThe Quran's four dietary prohibitions in 6:145 set against the Hadith ban on donkey meat. Arguments that the ban came later at Khaybar or applied only there are answered with 5:3, a late revelation that adds nothing. Hadith reports, including Ibn Abbas declining to rule, are read as conceding the contradiction, and the Quran's own verses on donkeys close with 62:5.August 17, 2022

Quran Talk BlogAuthorized TeachingsRashad Khalifa's writings, the article argues, should not be discarded the way Hadith falsely attributed to Muhammad are. Muhammad was forbidden to explain the Quran, while Rashad, as the messenger of the covenant, was authorized to explain it in the tongue of his people through code 19, his translation, and his publications. His work resolves disputes over verses rather than adding a source of religious law.August 15, 2022

Quran Talk BlogMuhammad Was Not Authorized to Explain QuranDrawing on 75:16 to 75:19, the article argues that God, not Muhammad, explains the Quran, through a messenger sent after the prophet. It points to the verses commanding the prophet to say God's exact words, the complaint that he was all ears in 9:61, and the word hadith in 33:53. It closes with 6:112 to 6:116 against collecting Hadith as a rival source of law.August 15, 2022

Quran Talk BlogWhat is the Quran?The Quran as two parts: physical aspects such as letters, verses, suras and the mathematical code, and a spiritual meaning that only the sincere can grasp. Drawing on 56:79, 17:45 and sura 83, the article explains why people who agree on the text reach opposite understandings, citing Quranists who deny the contact prayer, fasting and prohibitions on adultery and intoxicants.August 15, 2022

Quran Talk BlogSatan As Khalifa in the BibleSatan as the Khalifa, the ruler God placed on Earth in verse 2:30, is traced through Bible passages that support this reading. Isaiah 14 describes his wish to be like the Most High, and the temptation of Jesus in Luke and Matthew shows his claim to authority over the kingdoms of the world. Passages in John and 1 John name him the ruler of this world.August 14, 2022

Quran Talk BlogGhulibat vs. GhalabatHadith advocates claim that without Hadith no one can know whether verse 30:2 reads ghulibat, the Romans were defeated, or ghalabat, the Romans defeated others. The answer draws on the Hafs recitation and the Quran's mathematical structure, the agreement of all other recitations, and the context of 30:3. History confirms the Romans' loss to the Persians and their comeback within several years.August 11, 2022

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