Quran Talk Blog, Community

Quran Talk BlogWhen the Quran SpeaksPassages where the Quran addresses people in the first person, as a warner and bearer of good news, are read as the Quran itself speaking, not Muhammad, since his words would begin with say. Examples from 11:1 to 3, 51:50 to 51, 6:104, 65:10 to 11, and 41:2 to 4 support the case, and 41:21 answers how a book can speak: God causes everything to speak.March 30, 2023

Quran Talk BlogWho witnessed 9:128-129?Hadith accounts of how verses 9:128 and 9:129 entered the Quran, starting with Bukhari and Tirmidhi reports that only Khuzaima bore witness to them. Four other narrations cited as further witnesses name different compilers and caliphs and confuse the suhuf with the later mus'haf. The article argues that these accounts deepen the doubt that the two verses belong to Sura 9 or the original Quran.March 30, 2023

Quran Talk BlogHow did the messenger judge?Answering the argument that verses 4:65 and 33:36 require obeying Hadith, the article asks by what means the messenger judged. It contrasts Hadith reports of the prophet making or weighing laws with Quranic verses showing God alone is the Lawgiver and every messenger judges by the scripture he received. Muhammad therefore judged by the Quran, the Statute Book, the only source of law.March 29, 2023

Quran Talk BlogThe Great FeudThe feud in the High Society mentioned in 38:69 is traced through the Quran's verses on devils and jinns barred from listening in and chased by projectiles, and linked to the exile of Satan. Dr. Khalifa's explanation of the feud as the cause of the division among angels, jinns, animals, and humans is noted, along with parallel passages on a heavenly council in Psalms, Jeremiah, 1 Kings, Genesis, and John.March 7, 2023

Quran Talk BlogCritical Analysis of the Narrative on Abu Bakr’s Collection (9:128-129)The Hadith of Abu Bakr's collection of the Quran, with its claim that the last verses of Sura 9 (9:128-129) were found with only one man, is examined through Dr. Shehzad Saleem's video series. The case covers its single narrator chain, its absence from Malik's Muwatta, Sahih Muslim, and early histories, a possibly broken isnad, and charges of tadlis and idraj against al-Zuhri.March 1, 2023

Quran Talk BlogDay Mentioned 365 Times in QuranWord counts in the Quran that match the calendar: day in the singular occurs 365 times, days 30 times, and all forms 475 times, a multiple of 19. Sabbath occurs seven times, and month twelve. The two words for year, sanah and ʿām, point to solar and lunar years, illustrated by the 309 years of the sleepers of the cave and by the 19 year Metonic cycle.February 28, 2023

Quran Talk Blog21 Reasons Historians Are Skeptical of HadithHistorical objections to Hadith, drawn from Dr. Joshua Little's January 2022 interview with Dr. Javad Hashmi, with added commentary. The 21 points include late sources, contradictions, mass fabrication, late isnads, rapid growth in Hadith numbers, unreliable oral transmission, and conflict with the Quran. It concludes that Hadith should be presumed unreliable, while the Quran remains free of doubt and contradiction.February 8, 2023

Quran Talk BlogGuidelines for Understanding the Quran (Hermeneutics)Rules of thumb for interpreting the Quran, beginning with righteousness and a sincere effort at strict monotheism as the prerequisite for being guided. The guidelines include seeking refuge in God from Satan, reading through God's grace and mercy, letting straightforward verses govern multiple-meaning ones, rejecting interpretations that contradict other verses, and upholding the Quran as the only source of religious law, with patience and personal verification.February 5, 2023

Quran Talk BlogHarsh PunishmentsHarsh punishments in the Quran, the article argues, are set behind conditions that make them nearly impossible to enforce, much as Jesus did with the stoning of the adulterous woman. It traces this through polygamy, concubines and slavery, spousal abuse, the four witnesses required for adultery, and enemy combatants, alongside the non-aggression principle and the Quran's encouragement of forgiveness and patience.February 5, 2023

Quran Talk BlogTurn the Other CheekResponding to injustice, comparing the Gospel teaching to turn the other cheek with the Quran's fuller treatment of retaliation, self defense, and the sacredness of life. Tit for Tat is presented as the strategy the Quran reflects, with the advice to err on the side of forgiveness since our information is never perfect. Peace is the end objective, with Islam and Muslim sharing a root with the word for peace.February 5, 2023

Quran Talk BlogThe Sting OperationSatan's testing of humans is read as a sting operation, set against the FBI's Abscam case and the warrant and probable cause rules that govern real stings. Satan acts as prosecutor trying to prove humans unappreciative, with Job, Solomon, and David as Quranic examples. Believers are urged to seek refuge in God and choose Him as their wakil, or defense attorney.February 3, 2023

Quran Talk BlogBala vs. FitnaThe two Arabic words the Quran uses for a test, balā and fit'na, are compared through the verses where their roots occur. Balā is presented as the universal test of hardship and blessing that draws believers closer to God, while fit'na is a trial of temptation and deception that separates true believers from disbelievers. Their overlap and progression are also traced, with an appendix listing every verse using each root.February 2, 2023

Quran Talk BlogAbu HurayraAbu Hurayra, the companion credited with more Hadith than Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, or any other, despite only a few years with the prophet. The article sets the prophet's ban on writing anything but the Quran beside the caution of the early caliphs, then gathers reports of Aisha, Ali, and Umar rebuking him, his claim that he never forgets, and the strange narrations attributed to him.January 20, 2023

Quran Talk BlogFour Paradigms for Understanding QuranFour ways people read the Quran and settle disputes over it: traditionalism, which leans on Hadith and the first generation; leaderism, which defers to scholars, imams, or schools; mysticism, which allows open interpretation; and rationalism, which draws universal lessons from the Quran's own grammar and words. Multiple-meaning verses (3:7) are compared to the tree in Paradise, a test that calls for tolerance, since each person's reckoning is with God.January 19, 2023

Quran Talk BlogHow God Answers PrayersGod answers prayers in two ways: by intervening in His creation at times He chose from the start, and by building answers into creation before we ask. A chef analogy, the conception of Jesus through the word Be in 36:82, and the Arabic of God granting Moses his request for Aaron in 20:36 support the case that intervention does not imply God was unaware.January 12, 2023

Quran Talk BlogHadith, Lies, and Civil WarsThe Quraish, who fought the prophet until 630 CE, take over the caliphate within a generation through the First and Second Fitna, from Uthman's assassination through Karbala and the sieges of Mecca. The article sets this bloodshed against Quran 4:93 on killing a believer. It examines Hadith permitting lies in war and for unity, and Hadith commanding the killing of rival claimants to the caliph as fabrications serving political ends.January 11, 2023

Quran Talk BlogModern Day SlaveryAnswers the criticism that the Quran does not ban slavery outright, arguing it gives a framework for gradual elimination that protects the enslaved. Draws parallels to the hardships of black Americans after the 13th Amendment and to cobalt mining in the Congo, where laborers work in slave conditions to supply lithium-ion batteries. Proposes awareness, shared sacrifice, and better opportunities as the path to justice.January 8, 2023

Quran Talk BlogSelfishnessSelfishness, the Quranic l-shuḥa, is traced through the verses that use its root and read as a human trait that only arises within society, which may be why God condemns hermitism. Verses 4:128, 64:15, 59:9, and 33:19 form a framework for setting aside one's own wants to preserve marriage, family, community, and nation, including choices about money and children and giving refuge to those in need.January 5, 2023

Languages

With each verse

Quran Talk Blog