The Quran Is Logically Consistent and Unambiguous

By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam 9 July 2022 The Quran Conforms To the Essential Requirements of a Logical System Main Points: 1. Logical systems including mathematics are modelled on the created world. 2. Differential Calculus was developed by Newton to solve problems in astrophysics. 3. Universe is also Allah's Book containing his Ayat or Signs, just like the Quran. ----- Logical systems including mathematics are modelled on the created world. The early development in mathematics was to make better sense of the physical world and to keep pace with the developments in the physical sciences. Differential Calculus was developed by Newton to solve problems in astrophysics. Then came a time when mathematics seemed to race ahead with the mathematics of curved surfaces for which use was found much later by Einstein in his theory of relativity. Topology, a branch of mathematics which began in 1905 had no uses for about a hundred years. It was a theory of differential topology and higher dimensions. Physics has found a use for it in string theory which deals with multiple dimensional hyperspaces. The close connection between logical systems and reality is well understood and the fact that the systems of logic including mathematics are modelled on the created world is why these describe the material world so accurately. The universe or reality can therefore be taken to be inherently logical and mathematical. The material world can be entirely understood in terms of its most basic building blocks and unchanging laws. A logical system likewise consists of a few axioms or postulates (the building blocks of the logical system) which are self-evident truths and demonstrable formal rules of inference that preserve logical truth. From these, all the possible logical truths in the form of theorems are logically derived. A logical system must be consistent, meaning, it should not be possible to both prove and disprove the same theorem. If it is inconsistent, it is useless. The axioms are the unprovable truths of the logical system. If these were provable, we would not have any need for the axioms or postulates. These can be taken to be true because these are self-evident and all the theorems derived based on these axioms are found to be true and useful in real life. The Quran Conforms To the Essential Requirements of A Logical System The Universe is also Allah's Book containing his Ayat or Signs, just like the Quran. What do we then expect from the Quran which is the word of Allah who created a world which can be described precisely using mathematical models and a reality that follows the rules of logic and mathematics? How should we treat the Book which claims to be the word of Allah? We expect the Book to conform to all the essential requirements of a logical system for the simple reason that Allah created a Universe that is inherently logical and mathematical and therefore His Book is also expected to follow strict rules that eliminate any chance of ambiguity in the understanding of its verses. We also expect it to be consistent or without any contradictions. We should therefore treat the Book as having these properties unless we discover otherwise. The rules of inferential logic apply to such a Book. Inferences are valid because of the logical terms used in them, independent of the meanings of the non-logical terms. Valid inferences are characterized by the fact that the truth of their premises ensures the truth of their conclusion. This means that the premises can't be true and the conclusion false. A proposition is logically true if its truth depends only on the logical vocabulary used in it. This means that it is true in all possible worlds and under all interpretations of its non-logical terms. The Quran’s Axioms What are the Book’s axioms? The only axiom is that it is the word of Allah who is the Creator of the Universe and all that it contains, who has absolute power over all His creation and that nothing happens without His knowledge and permission, that He has perfect knowledge of everything, and what Allah says is the absolute truth and His word is beyond doubt. We then read what Allah has to say about the purpose of creation, man’s place in the creation, why has Allah chosen to guide mankind by way of sending messengers and revelations, how other creatures are guided, the purpose of revelations, and many other things that Allah speaks about in His Books. Determining the Truth in the Axioms How do we know the truth of Allah or the truth of the axiom itself? The truth of the axiom becomes evident from the truth of the verifiable parts of the remaining Book. If Allah has guided us to His Deen or way of life, could mankind have managed on its own without guidance? Where do we stand today with the guidance and where we would have been without the guidance? This question has been examined in my articles: Religion as a Civilizing Influence Science and Religion The Progression from Religious Morality to Secular Laws If we could have managed equally well or better without Allah’s guidance, then there isn’t even a logical necessity for Allah and His Deen. However, if we would not have taken even a single step on the path of civilization without Allah’s guidance, then that is proof of the truth of Allah’s claim to have guided mankind from Adam onwards with the knowledge that they “knew not nor their fathers” but was essential to mankind to progress on the path of civilization. Understanding Islam through the Ages The logical expectation from Allah is that He should have sent guidance to all the people throughout the ages and we find this to be true and confirmed by Allah. All the scriptures-based religions are therefore religions of Allah. This has been discussed in my articles: Does Allah Provide A Level Playing Field To All The People? The Meaning of Islam and Muslim The Religion of Allah before and After the Quran Understanding the Religion of Allah through the Ages Is the Quran a Book of Contradictions? The Concept of Unity in the Quran While Celebrating Diversity Verses in the Book are expected to follow consistent rules for eliminating ambiguity. For example, the Quran uniformly uses ‘or’ (أَو) as a logical operator and never to mean “the same as”. ‘Or’ is used more than 500 times in the Quran and if it is sometimes used as a logical operator and at other times to mean “the same as”, then the rules of inferential logic cannot be applied and it is like any other Book subject to interpretations. This is not the case. Muhammad Asad translates ‘or’ as “the same as” in five verses and errs in each case. This is covered in my article: The Art and Science of interpreting the Quran Another Example Of Disambiguation Consider the following verse: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمْ شَرُّ الْبَرِيَّةِ (98:6) Indeed, the Kafaru among (مِنْ) the People of the Book and the Polytheists, will be in Hell-Fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures. Does it mean “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and all the polytheists” Or “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and the Kafaru among the polytheists” To resolve the question, consider another verse of identical grammatical structure where there is no confusion as to whether the preposition “among” or the Arabic مِنْ connects all the nouns that follow “among” or only the noun immediately following among. رَبَّنَا وَأَدْخِلْهُمْ جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ الَّتِي وَعَدتَّهُمْ وَمَن صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (40:8) "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. Clearly “the righteous among” is a description that applies to all the nouns that follow it and the verse means: 40:8) "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, the righteous among their wives, and the righteous among their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. And not (40:8) "And grant, our Lord! that they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among (مِنْ ) their fathers, all their wives, and all their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. The rule for the preposition must apply in all possible worlds and under all interpretations of the verse’s other parts of speech therefore the correct translation of verse 98:6 is: “the Kafaru among the People of the Book and the Kafaru among the polytheists” This implies that not all polytheists are considered Kafir by Allah. Moreover, whether in Arabic or in any other language, if the intention was to include all polytheists and only the Kafaru among the people of the Book, then the verse would have read: “The polytheists and the Kafaru among the People of the Book”. This raised a huge debate since in Islamic theology every non-Muslim is considered a Kafir. The fact, however, is that for Allah this is not so and cannot be so speaking logically. This has been comprehensively established following strict rules of logical inference in my article: Revisiting the Meaning of Kafir . Much of Islamic theology does not conform with the Quran. Many of the beliefs and practices of Muslims are against the letter and spirit of the Quran. Does The Quran Require To Be Interpreted? The Quran does not require to be interpreted. The precise meaning of its verses can be determined with the help of the Quran itself. If any interpretation was required, then it implies that the meaning can vary and is dependent upon subjective factors. That is not a quality of the Book of Allah. Scholars interpret when the established literal meaning of the verse does not agree with their belief. They then interpret it to make the meaning conform to their belief. The fact remains that the Book is heavily interpreted although this is not required and leads to false beliefs. The errors in Islamic jurisprudence or fiq, and other instances of misinterpretation are discussed in many of my articles. Some are as follows: Is A Woman’s Testimony Worth Half That of A Man? The Process for Divorce in the Quran Inadequacies and Errors of Classical Islamic Fiqh - Inheritance Related Calculations Does The Quran Ask Us To Follow The Sunnat Of The Prophet? Revisiting the Meaning of Kafir The Importance of Getting the Story Right on the Divine Plan Allah The Misrepresentation of the Quran through Mistranslation The Fairy Tale of Alam-e-Arwah Who Are The Witnesses Or The Shuhada? The Book Must Be Free Of Any Logical Inconsistency The property of the Book expected is that it should not have a single discrepancy or logical inconsistency. This is what the Quran also avers that had it been a Book from other than Allah, it would have had discrepancies. There can be logical inconsistency in the way people understand the Book which must then be resolved by identifying the error in our understanding. The Quran makes easy such an understanding by repeating the verse in different ways that leave no room for any doubt or misunderstanding. The topics of the art and science of disambiguation, logical inference and correctly determining the literal meaning are discussed in my following articles: The Language of the Quran The Art and Science of interpreting the Quran Adjurations in the Quran On Abrogation What Does It Mean To Be A Literalist And A Fundamentalist? The Importance of Classification for Gaining a Correct Understanding of the Quran Who Are Those Who Will Believe And Those Who Will Not? The Mufassirin Who Render the Quran A Book of Foolish Nonsense Who Are The Worst Of Creatures In The Quran? The Mutashaabihat Or The Allegorical Verses Of The Quran An Exposition of the Verse of Light (Ayat al-Nur) Light upon Light The Much discussed and debated Medinian Verses Relating to Fighting The Correct Understanding of the So Called ‘Sword’ Verses of Surah Taubah The Principles of War from the Quran What Does Taqwa Mean? The Quran and the Psychology of Human Behaviour - Nafs Supplement To the Article “The Quran and the Psychology of Human Behaviour – Nafs” Truths in the Quran about Our Material World Allah also speaks in scores of verses about our material world the truth of which were unknown to man until discovered recently by the pursuit of science. These provide further evidence that the Quran is the word of Allah whose knowledge of the material world is perfect because He created everything and therefore contains true information that could only be validated only recently. These topics are discussed in my articles: The Al Furqan Prevails As It Must Was Allah Unjust in Creating Adam and Favouring His Progeny Over All His Creation? The Story of Creation in the Qur’an Converges with the Theory of Evolution The Big Bang Theory and the Quran Look For the Quran in Science but Never Look For Science in the Quran Why Some Are Convinced That There Are “Unscientific” Verses In The Quran? What we need to keep in mind is the constraint on the Quran of the 7th century Arabic vocabulary. To this day, meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites which are sometimes seen as flashes of light streaking across the sky are called “shooting stars”. The use of words such as meteor etc. to make a distinction from the stars is from the 16th century. So, if the Quran refers to these as “stars”, it is not unscientific. The Quran however makes a clear distinction between stars that are far away and stable which guide the seafarers and travellers as below: (6:97) It is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you, that ye may guide yourselves, with their help, through the dark spaces of land and sea: We detail Our signs for people who know. And the shooting stars which are from the lower heaven or from our solar system as in verse below: (37:6) We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,- (7) (For beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, Brief Summary of the Gains from the Methodology Driven Study The methodology-driven study looks at the Quran ab-initio without any pre-conceived notions or theological leanings. The conclusions based on following the methodology outlined, are far more liberal and inclusive than that of the most liberal scholar because even a liberal scholar has not found a way to escape the gravitational pull of Islamic scholarship of the past which is biased and bigoted. A sound methodology is a guarantee of finding the correct meaning and overcoming the fear of going against the weight of traditional scholarship. The following is a summary of how different the authentic message of the Quran is from the beliefs of the Muslims: 1. Allah does not play favourites with the followers of any particular religion. A person born a Muslim does not have an edge over those born in other faiths. Heaven is not the exclusive preserve of the followers of any particular belief system. 2. The Quran explicitly endorses several religions and in general, all people who believe in truth, justice, the Hereafter and do good deeds 3. Only a believer can be a kafir and not a disbeliever. Kufr is rejecting the truth after knowing the truth. Polytheism is kufr for those who know that it is kufr but not for those who lack the required knowledge. 4. The verses about war are faith neutral and apply equally to people of all faiths. This is because war is commanded only against oppression and nothing else. In particular, war is not commanded against a people for their religious beliefs. Just war includes war against Muslim oppressors even if the oppressed are non-Muslim 5. “Let there be no compulsion in religion” is an unconditional principle, universally applicable under all circumstances. My Experience Trying To Propagate the Methodology To my surprise and even consternation initially, my efforts have been met with stiff resistance from all quarters. The most common question asked is “how come you are the only one in all of 1400 years who has understood the Quran correctly?” The answer to the question is that no one before has followed a sound methodology but allowed himself to be influenced by prevailing notions and opinions. The resistance from traditional scholars is understandable. The group of ex-Muslims and near ex-Muslims are dismayed because they believe in weaning away Muslims from their belief in Islam and the Quran and my essays are seen as strengthening the very faith that they are trying to weaken. The fact that Islam gets reformed if my findings gain broad acceptance, does not interest them. It is seen as an attempt at “self-aggrandisement” and “self-promotion” by some. Personal jealousy and envy play a big part in their resistance. They, therefore, argue bitterly and even defend the bigoted version as true Islam! I am not trying to impose my view on others but advocating that the scholars follow a robust methodology. The quality of the output should not be person-dependent which is the case when people do not follow a robust process and methodology. The people are free to come up with a better methodology if they can. Common agreement on methodology is easier. Once the scholars appreciate the strengths of following a robust methodology and follow it, they are more likely to reach a consensus on what truly the Islam of the Quran is. The traditional scholars will argue that they follow the Islamic sciences for the study of the Quran. These sciences depend upon the unreliable Ahadith which is the single biggest source of misguidance and deviation from the authentic message of the Quran and on the opinions of previous scholars. The best hope is the young who have no hang-ups about learning from another and are open-minded to good ideas and desire to become good Muslims. ----- A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation. 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