Differences
Analysis · argument tier
Questions raised about the text
Linguistic, historical, scientific and internal-consistency questions, verse by verse. Each item is an argument, with the sources it cites and a place for the responses.
Browse by category
All categoriesHistorical background · old site “Historical Background”
Context of the passage.
60
Open question
31% of items
60 original · 0 proposed · old “Question”
39
Linguistic
20% of items
39 original · 0 proposed
24
Internal contradiction
13% of items
24 original · 0 proposed · old “Quranic Contradiction”
24
Historical background
13% of items
24 original · 0 proposed · old “Historical Background”
21
Historical
11% of items
21 original · 0 proposed
15
Ambiguity
8% of items
15 original · 0 proposed
5
Parallels with earlier sources
3% of items
5 original · 0 proposed · old “Copied from other sources”
3
Scientific
2% of items
3 original · 0 proposed
0
Geographical
0% of items
0 original · 0 proposed
Each item is filed under one category from the old site's list (its most specific one); the other categories it carries still show as tags.
- 2:158 Historical background Argument This verse continues to address what Muhammad initiated in Q 2.144 when he changed the qibla for Muslims from the Sacred House (Jerusalem) to Mecca. Muhammad reached the conviction that there was no future hope with the Jews of M…
- 2:223 Historical background Open question Argument This verse views women as farms (or tilth, meaning “tilled earth or soil”) that men plow. In the commentary by al-Tabarī, al-Suddiy describes a woman as “a farm that can be plowed” by a man. It also allows Muslim men to have sexu…
- 2:2293 verses Historical background Open question Argument The Qur’ān justifies, or approves, repeated divorces. According to verse 229, the man is given the right to divorce his wife twice and to remarry her after the first and second divorces. But, if he divorces her a third time, she …
- 3:183 Historical background Argument The reports tell that a group of Jews (including Ka‘b Ibn al-Ashraf, Mālik Ibn al-Siyīf, Wahb Ibn Yahūdhā, Finhās. Ibn‘zūr, and others) entered into a discussion with Muhammad. To prove that Muhammad’s prophecy was true, they req…
- 4:512 verses Historical background Open question Argument This verse accuses “those to whom a portion of the Book has been given” that they “believe in Gibt and Taghut.” According to the Arabic concordance al-Qāmūs al-Muhīt., Gibt means idols or other false deities and Tāghūt means the …
- 5:15 Historical background Open question Argument This verse addresses both the Jews and Christians, stating that Muhammad had come to them, “to explain to you much of what ye had hidden of the Book.” However, Muhammad did not present or explain the documents that were allegedly…
- 5:38 Historical background Open question Argument This verse outlines the punishment of theft as the amputation of the thief’s hand. Most modern Muslims do not know that this punishment was practiced before Islām. In fact, the first person to order this form of punishment was al…
- 5:64 Historical background Open question Argument This verse attributes the phrase “God’s hand is fettered” as coming from the Jews. This expression of “tightfistedness” is descriptive of stinginess. Therefore, the verse accuses the Jews of blasphemy because they are calling All…
- 6:19 Historical background Open question Argument Historic sources cite that the leaders of the Quraysh tribe told Muhammad they did not believe in his prophetic calling. They informed him of their attempts to verify his claims to prophethood with the Jews and the Christians. Ho…
- 6:372 verses Historical background Argument Muhammad’s opponents had repeatedly requested a miracle from him to prove that He was a prophet. It appears that a discussion had taken place between Muhammad and his opponents indicating that if Muhammad was the true prophet as …
- 6:68 Historical background Argument Muhammad was socializing with a group of individuals from the Quraysh in order to invite them to the Islāmic faith. What he got from them in return was mockery of the Qur’ān. It was then that this verse came down, commanding Muha…
- 6:114 Historical background Argument During the heat of the arguments with the polytheists of Mecca, after Muhammad had refused or could not present miracles as proof of his prophethood, his esteemed position was greatly shaken in Mecca. As a result, Muhammad told t…
- 8:222 verses Historical background Open question Argument The people of Mecca were critical of Muhammad and his revelations. When a group of the tribe of Banū ‘Abd al-Dār defeated him in a debate, Muhammad responded by reciting, “...the worst of beasts in God’s sight are the deaf, the d…
- 8:313 verses Historical background Open question Argument Muhammad was reciting Qur’ānic verses to the Quraysh people and telling them tales and news of the ancients as proof of his calling as a prophet. But all of this recitation was not convincing to most of the people of the Quraysh …
- 8:41 Historical background Argument This verse specifies the beneficiary groups of “a fifth.” It says that “a fifth” goes to the “His Apostle,” meaning Muhammad. The fifth, means the fifth part of the plunder and a fifth of what is discovered by men of minerals, pr…
- 8:67 Historical background Open question Argument The verse arrives at the conclusion that it is allowable for the prophet to take prisoners of war, “but under the condition that he thoroughly subduing the land, and what is meant by thoroughly subdued the land is ‘killing and ex…
- 9:1 Historical background Argument Unlike all other sūras of the Qur’ān, Q 9 does not start with the Basmala, “In the name of the merciful and compassionate God”. According to the Islāmic exegetical sources, omitting the Basmala as a heading in this sūra is due to…
- 9:362 verses Historical background Argument The calendar in the Arabian Peninsula before Islām was based on lunar months. The total days of the Arabian lunar months number 354, which is eleven days less than that of the calendar months. For this reason, the Arabs used to a…
- 9:60 Historical background Argument The verse states that part of the donations (alms) should go “to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (towards Islâm)” (al-Hilali trans.) or “and those whose hearts are reconciled” or “those whose hearts are made to…
- 16:24 Historical background Argument The verse informs the reader that the Quraysh accused Muhammad of reciting Qur’ānic verses to his Companions that were not revelations from God but merely stories taken from prior books, or “‘Old folks’ tales!’” (See the critical…
- 17:1 Historical background Open question Argument The sura mentions al-Masjid al-Aqšā, or “the Remote Mosque,” as the first destination of Muhammad’s Night Journey from Mecca. Muslim exegetes state the following remarks about this mosque: The “Remote Mosque” means the mosque of …
- 17:45 Historical background Argument It is narrated that Muhammad was subject to possible harm by the Quraysh whenever he recited the Qur’ān. So, Allah made him invisible to them. In the Palmer translation, the verse states, “…[W]e place between thee and those who b…
- 23:14 Historical background Argument Allah is described in two locations as “the best of creators” (Q 23.14 and Q 37.125). The meaning of this description of Allah has become a source of contention among Islamic scholars, leading some to say that this description me…
- 24:2 Historical background Argument This verse speaks about the punishment for adultery. Research of this verse generates three perplexing issues: The punishment for adultery by a married man is stoning him to death. This punishment relies not on Q 24.2 but on the …