The defining characteristic of Islam is repetitious religious observances. These rituals make up the core of the Islamic faith. Many are based off of previous pagan practices that have been glammed up with Islamic overtones to give them the sheen of piety. The koran never addresses the issue of why someone needs to do these ritualistic practices. The hajj, zakat, and sawm, pillars of Islam all come from previously pagan practices that were already in place when Muhammad first began his teachings.
Hajj
Ishaq:38 "Luhayy put Al-Uzza in a Nakhla Tawaghit. When they (pagans) had finished their Ka'aba Hajj they circumambulated Al-Uzza. The Quraysh worshiped her. Manat was worshiped by the Aus and Khazraj in Yathrib."
Ishaq:38 "Now along with the Ka'aba, the (pre-islamic) Arabs had adopted Tawaghits, temples they venerated like the Ka'aba. They, too, had their custodians. They used to circumambulate them."
Tabari VI:20 "Qusayy asked his mother which tribe he came from. She answered, 'You are the son of Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka'b ibn Luhayy ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr ibn Malik ibn al-Nadr ibn Kinana al-Qurashi.'" "Your tribe lives in Mecca by the Ka'aba. ...This revelation awoke in Qusayy a strong desire to return to Mecca and join his people, the Quraysh.""'Wait for a sacred month and go with the pilgrimage.' Qusayy waited until the sacred month arrived and the pilgrims set out. When he reached Mecca and had completed the pilgrimage, he remained there."
Zakat (different title same practice)
Ishaq:55 "The rifada was a tax which the Quraysh paid from their property to Qusayy at every festival."
Sawm
Tabari VI:67 "Aisha reported: 'Solitude became dear to Muhammad and he used to seclude himself in the cave of Hira where he would engage in the
Tahannuth [pagan religious rites performed in Ramadhan that included fasting] worship for a number of nights before returning to Khadija and getting provisions for a like period, till truth came upon him while he was in a cave. The first form of revelation was a true vision in sleep. He did not see any vision but it came like the break of dawn.'"
Ishaq:105 "...The Apostle would pray in seclusion on Hira every year for a month to practice Tahannuth as was the custom of the Quraysh in the heathen days..."
Any doubt as to whether Islam recieved from pagan practices is completely put to bed as the hadiths clearly indicate that Islam did indeed "borrow" from pagans.
Tabari VI:25 "Then he gave Abd al-Dar the house in which the Quraysh always made their decisions, and gave him the office of being Ka'aba's custodian, declaring war, presiding over the assembly, and collecting the rifadah, a tax levied in every pilgrimage season by the Quraysh according to their wealth and handed over to Qusayy. It was imposed on the Quraysh by Qusayy, who said to them when he commanded them to pay it, 'Quraysh, you are neighbors of Allah, people of his Ka'aba and people of the sacred precincts of the Haram. The pilgrims are guests of Allah and visitors to His House. They did so, and every year they levied a tax on their property and paid it to Qusayy and he would use it for the pilgrims during the days of Mina. This institution of his became the state of affairs among the Quraysh during the whole of the Jahiliyyah [pre-Islamic period of Ignorance] up to the time Allah brought Islam, and then became a part of Islam, continuing to this day."
Ishaq:57 "Allah's Apostle said, 'Whatever deal there was in the days of ignorance Islam strengthens it.'"
So it begs the question. WHY? That single word is more damning to Islamic faith than any other. The koran teaches many things but explains very few. When presented with questions or explanations Islam falls to pieces and begins leveling accusations and threats. Rather than explain simple things to help adherents to Islam understand the reasoning behind their rituals the Koran and hadith just bypass the whole issue altogether.
Qur'an 5:101 "Believers, ask not questions about things which if made plain to you may cause you trouble when the Qur'an is revealed. Some people before you asked questions, and on that account lost their faith."
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 555:
Narrated Ash-sha'bi:
The clerk of Al-Mughira bin Shu'ba narrated, "Muawiya wrote to Al-Mughira bin Shu'ba: Write to me something which you have heard from the Prophet (p.b.u.h) ." So Al-Mughira wrote: I heard the Prophet saying, "Allah has hated for you three things:
1. Vain talks, (useless talk) that you talk too much or about others.
2. Wasting of wealth (by extravagance)
3. And asking too many questions (in disputed religious matters) or asking others for something (except in great need).
Read the hadith below.
"Islam consists of thirty parts, and no one ever tested with this obligation carried it out, except Abraham." "'And when his Lord tried Abraham with commands' means that Allah tested him with the acts of ritual purification, five in the head and five in the body. Those in the head are: trimming the mustache, rinsing the mouth, cleansing the nostrils with water, using the toothstick, and parting the hair with the fingers. Those in the body are: paring the nails, shaving the pubic hair, circumcision, plucking the armpit, and washing off traces of feces and urine."
A few questions arise (or at least should in any sane person's mind).
If Islam consists of thirty parts WHY are their only ten listed here?
WHY would have ANYONE failed to perform basic acts of hygeine?
WHY would God care if someone uses a toothpick, or blows his nose, etc.?
If you read the hadith and Koran many rituals are appearant without any explanation whatsoever as to why God cares one way or the other that we observe these practices. The bible teaches that God created man, and explains that He did so to establish a relationship with us. He did it out of love. The only explanation that the Koran gives for our creation is this:
051.056
YUSUFALI: I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.
PICKTHAL: I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.
SHAKIR: And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me
No loving or endearing quality behind Allah's motives. Only a self-centered, insecure, twisted, egomaniac creates a sentient being for the express purpose of worshipping him. If the above verse is true, and Allah created man for the sole purpose of worshipping him, then WHY do we later find out that men are predestined for belief or non-belief.
6:107 (Y. Ali) If it had been Allah's plan, they would not have taken false gods: but We made thee not one to watch over their doings, nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs.
6:149 (Y. Ali) Say: "With Allah is the argument that reaches home: if it had been His will, He could indeed have guided you all."
7:186 (Y. Ali) To such as Allah rejects from His guidance, there can be no guide: He will leave them in their trespasses, wandering in distraction.
14:4 (Asad) AND NEVER have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people's tongue, so that he might make [the truth] clear unto them; but God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides him that wills [to be guided] -for He alone is almighty, truly wise.
35:8 (Y. Ali) Is he, then, to whom the evil of his conduct is made alluring, so that he looks upon it as good, (equal to one who is rightly guided)? For Allah leaves to stray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. So let not thy soul go out in (vainly) sighing after them: for Allah knows well all that they do!
32:13 (Y. Ali) If We had so willed, We could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the Word from Me will come true, "I will fill Hell with Jinns and men all together."
The purpose of creating men for the sole purpose of worship is later brought into question when you read that Allah doesn't care if you believe or not. That if you do leave Islam he will simply replace you with a better believer.
5:54 (Asad) O you who have attained to faith! If you ever abandon your faith," God will in time bring forth [in your stead] people whom He loves and who love Him - humble towards the believers, proud towards all who deny the truth: [people] who strive hard in God's cause, and do not fear to be censured by anyone who might censure them: such is God's favour, which He grants unto whom He wills. And God is infinite, all-knowing.
As for any assurance of salvation you can forget it. Man's entry into heaven is based completely on whether Allah wishes to forgive someone or not. Since Allah gains nothing or loses nothing in a man's fate what would compel him to forgive in the first place?
2:284 (Asad) Unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. And whether you bring into the open what is in your minds or conceal it, God will call you to account for it; and then He will forgive whom He wills, and will chastise whom He wills: for God has the power to will anything.
5:40 (Asad) Dost thou not know that God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth? He chastises whom He wills, and He forgives whom He wills: for God has the power to will anything.
5:18 (Asad) And [both] the Jews and the Christians say, "We are God's children, and His beloved ones." Say: "Why, then, does He cause you to suffer for your sins? Nay, you are but human beings of His creating. He forgives whom He wills, and He causes to suffer whom He wills: for God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and with Him is all journeys' end."
After reading this we learn several things.
1. Man is predestined to his fate. No choice.
2. Allah doesn't benefit or lose anything from a person coming to faith.
3. Allah only created man for worshipping him.
Again the question WHY comes to mind. The Koran makes it abundantly clear that Allah needs nothing, especially from us. So WHY create something to serve and worship you if you need nothing?
If we are all predestined WHY bother creating us in the first place?
If we are all predestined WHY create a religion?
WHY command proselytizing?
WHY command obediance from creatures designed specifically for servitude and worship?
If Allah doesn't care if we make it to heaven or not WHY bother with any of this?
Another topic in the Koran that requires some inquiry is the topic of Jesus' birth.
3:47. She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me." He said: "So (it will be) for All'h creates what He wills. When He has decreed something, He says to it only: "Be!" and it is.
19:20. She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?"
21: 91. And (remember) she who guarded her chastity [Virgin Maryam (Mary)], We breathed into (the sleeves of) her (shirt or garment) [through Our R'h - Jibrael (Gabriel)][], and We made her and her son ['Iesa (Jesus)] a sign for Al-'Alamin (the mankind and jinns).
The Koran teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin, but leaves out the obvious. WHY? The Koran also teaches that Jesus is not God's son, or God incarnate, so those explanations are out the window in Islam, (those discussions are best left for another post) but it doesn't explain why God would go through the trouble of creating a being by impregnating a virgin as a sign. If Allah is God wouldn't a better sign be to just create a prophet from the dirt in front of everyone?
To all my potential muslim friends, WHY did God do this?
The point to all of this is that the Koran offers no consistent answers to these questions. Muslims may go out of their way to rationalize their beliefs or give their suppositions as to WHY these things are, but they cannot do so with any full assurance or with the full support of the Koran. The message of the Koran is clear. OBEY ALLAH OR ELSE. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
In the name of Yashuah, God bless
