Distortion of Qur’anic Message by Internal Agents (From The Book “What Happened To Islam?”)

By Muhammad Yunus, New Age Islam 23 August 2025 To pre-empt any radical Muslim scholar or Muslim terror ideologue from dismissing my book based on his skewed reading or malicious view of the Qur'an I have prepared this piece that I will insert towards the concluding part or as Afterword or Postscript In an age of unrestrained freedom of speech, anyone—regardless of intellectual standing—may publish opinions on religion, however malicious or ill-informed. The more outrageous the view, the more attention it attracts, especially when aimed at Islam. For many, this has become a lucrative enterprise: a sensationalist book or provocative claim against the Qur’an ensures notoriety, sales, and often sponsorship. Islam, to borrow an image, has become like an elephant that even a lame crow can peck at. Yet such attacks cannot scar a faith that has grown from a handful of followers in an obscure town (Mecca) to nearly three billion adherents worldwide. Still, they can distort perceptions—reducing the Qur’an in the eyes of some Muslims to a mere book of rituals, and in the eyes of critics to a text of fables and violence. This estrangement breeds a reverential remoteness among believers and blinds critics to its living guidance. To illustrate how this distortion works, I briefly highlight three examples from very different quarters. 1. Yusuf Al-Abeeri (Al-Qaida Ideologue) In December 2012, al-Abeeri issued an eight-part fatwa attempting to justify the mass killing of civilians in the wake of the Twin Towers attack. He wrenched a handful of verses (2:194, 16:126–128, 42:39–42) from their context to argue for indiscriminate violence. He even cited alleged reports of mutilation at the Battle of Uhud to argue for retaliatory desecration of corpses—something the Qur’an never sanctioned, the Prophet never practiced, and Islamic history never endorsed. In reality, these verses emphasize restraint, proportionate justice, and reconciliation. By tearing them from their moral framework, al-Abeeri turned a message of justice into a license for terror. 2. Irshad Manji (Celebrity Reformist) In The Trouble with Islam, Manji calls the Qur’an “a bundle of contradictions” and invokes the so-called Pact of Umar to paint early Islam as inherently intolerant. Yet, as Thomas Arnold’s historical research shows, the Pact was forged centuries later and never consistently applied. Early Christian chroniclers themselves testified that Muslim rule initially imposed few religious disabilities. By presenting late-era forgeries as authentic, Manji perpetuates myths that disfigure the Qur’an’s spirit of justice and coexistence. 3. Hassan Radwan (Muslim Intellectual) In a 2017 essay, Radwan dismissed the Qur’an as “not infallible, not perfect, and not the word of God,” portraying the Prophet’s mission as a violent rather than intellectual struggle. Such claims represent a fringe scepticism but are troubling because they often rely on half-truths and sweeping generalizations. In reducing the Qur’an to “myths and fairy tales,” Radwan ignores its enduring coherence, its literary uniqueness, and its profound moral impact on successive civilizations. Conclusion From al-Abeeri’s weaponisation of verses to Manji’s uncritical use of forgeries and Radwan’s sweeping denials, these distortions illustrate a common pattern: selective reading, historical ------- Related Article: What Was The Prophet A Witness To? - (Concluding Part of The Book “What Happened To Islam?”) The Litmus Test of the Revelation (From The Book “What Happened To Islam?”) Establishing The Textual Purity Of The Qur’an (From The Book “What Happened To Islam?”) A Tribute To Prophet Abraham (May God’s Peace And Blessings Be Upon Him) - Opening Page Of The Book “What Happened To Islam?” Al-Fatiha: We Begin With An Attempt To Answer A Fundamental Question: What Happened To Islam? ----- Muhammad Yunus, a Chemical Engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, and a retired corporate executive has been engaged in an in-depth study of the Qur’an since early 90’s, focusing on its core message. He has co-authored the referred exegetic work, which received the approval of al-Azhar al-Sharif, Cairo in 2002, and following restructuring and refinement was endorsed and authenticated by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl of UCLA, and published by Amana Publications, Maryland, USA, 2009. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/books-documents/distortion-quranic-message-internal-agents/d/136578 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism