Answering Islam - A Christian-Muslim dialog

Revealing Allah’s Partner in Dispensing Forgiveness and Salvation

Sam Shamoun

In the article, Revealing Allah’s Partner in Dispensing Divine Grace, we saw how the Quran turns Muhammad into Allah’s partner by attributing to him the ability to bestow divine grace. Here we shall show how the Quran again elevates Muhammad to divine status by ascribing to him specific divine functions that belong uniquely to God.

For instance, the Quran plainly teaches that no one can forgive sins except God:

And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring God to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins, – and who can forgive sins except God? – and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done. S. 3:135 Y. Ali

Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” S. 39:53 Y. Ali

This assertion perfectly agrees with the teaching of God’s Word, the Holy Bible:

“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7

Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against Him.” Daniel 9:9

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” Micah 7:18

The Quran also teaches that God or Allah is the only protector or guardian that anyone has:  

Knowest thou not that it is Allah unto Whom belongeth the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and ye have not, beside Allah, any guardian (waliyyin) or helper? S. 2:107

(Saying): Follow that which is sent down unto you from your Lord, and follow no protecting friends (awliyaa) beside Him. Little do ye recollect! S. 7:3

Here in lies the problem. The following text says that Muhammad is also capable of forgiving sins and protecting believers from destruction. It even goes so far as to say that he is the only protector or guardian that anyone has!

O our people! respond to Allah's SUMMONER and believe in HIM. HE will forgive you some of your sins and guard you from a painful doom. And whoso respondeth not to Allah's SUMMONER he can nowise escape in the earth, and he hath no protecting friends (awliyaa) instead of HIM. Such are in error manifest. S. 46:31-32

The pronouns all point back to Allah’s summoner, who is supposed to be Muhammad, since he is the nearest antecedent or object in the context. As such, the verse is not referring to Allah, but to Muhammad as the one who is able to save and forgive sinners!

Here are a few more translations which help make this point clearer: 

O our people! accept the Divine CALLER and believe in HIM, HE will forgive you of your faults and protect you from a painful punishment. And whoever does not accept the Divine CALLER, he shall not escape in the earth and he shall not have guardians besides HIM, these are in manifest error. Shakir

Our people, respond to the one who calls you to God. Believe in HIM: HE will forgive you your sins and protect you from a painful torment.’ S. 46:31 Abdel Haleem

O our people, hearken to the one who invites (you) to Allah, and believe in him: He will forgive you your faults, and deliver you from a Penalty Grievous. Y. Ali

It is abundantly clear that the one who is said to forgive sins and save people from a painful torment, and who is the only guardian anyone has, is supposed to be Muhammad, the so-called divine caller or summoner that Allah has sent.

The hadiths reinforce this by singling out the fact that Muhammad will actually deliver people out of hell itself:

Narrated 'Imran bin Husain: The Prophet said, "Some people will be taken out of the Fire through the intercession of Muhammad they will enter Paradise and will be called Al-Jahannamiyin (the Hell Fire people)." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 76, Number 571)

And:

“‘… So they will come to me, and I will ask my Lord's permission to enter His House and then I will be permitted. When I see Him I will fall down in prostration before Him, and He will leave me (in prostration) as long as He will, and then He will say, “O Muhammad, lift up your head and speak, for you will be listened to, and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted, and ask (for anything) for it will be granted”: Then I will raise my head and glorify my Lord with certain praises which He has taught me. Allah will put a limit for me (to intercede for a certain type of people). I WILL TAKE THEM OUT and make them enter Paradise.’ 

“(Qatada said: I heard Anas saying that), the Prophet said, ‘I will go out and take them OUT OF HELL (Fire) and let them enter Paradise, and then I will return and ask my Lord for permission to enter His House and I will be permitted. When I will see Him I will fall down in prostration before Him and He will leave me in prostration as long as He will let me (in that state), and then He will say, “O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to, and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted, and ask, your request will be granted.”’ The Prophet added, ‘So I will raise my head and glorify and praise Him as He has taught me. Then I will intercede and He will put a limit for me (to intercede for a certain type of people). I will take them out and let them enter Paradise.’ 

“(Qatada added: I heard Anas saying that) the Prophet said, ‘I will go out and take them OUT OF HELL (Fire) and let them enter Paradise, and I will return for the third time and will ask my Lord for permission to enter His house, and I will be allowed to enter. When I see Him, I will fall down in prostration before Him, and will remain in prostration as long as He will, and then He will say, “Raise your head, O Muhammad, and speak, for you will be listened to, and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted, and ask, for your request will be granted.” So I will raise my head and praise Allah as He has taught me and then I will intercede and He will put a limit for me (to intercede for a certain type of people). I will take them out and let them enter Paradise.’ 

“(Qatada said: I heard Anas saying that) the Prophet said, ‘So I will go out and take them out of Hell (Fire) and let them enter Paradise, till none will remain in the Fire except those whom Quran will imprison (i.e., those who are destined for eternal life in the fire).’ 

“The narrator then recited the Verse:-- ‘It may be that your Lord will raise you to a Station of Praise and Glory.’ (17.79) The narrator added: This is the Station of Praise and Glory which Allah has promised to your Prophet.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 532v

Moreover, the Quran explicitly teaches that Muhammad’s intercession is an essential and necessary aspect for receiving forgiveness:

It was by the mercy of Allah that thou wast lenient with them (O Muhammad), for if thou hadst been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about thee. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs. And when thou art resolved, then put thy trust in Allah. Lo! Allah loveth those who put their trust (in Him). S. 3:159

We sent not an apostle, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of God. If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked God's forgiveness, and the Apostle had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found God indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. S. 4:64 Y. Ali

They only are the true believers who believe in Allah and His messenger and, when they are with him on some common errand, go not away until they have asked leave of him. Lo! those who ask leave of thee, those are they who believe in Allah and His messenger. So, if they ask thy leave for some affair of theirs, give leave to whom thou wilt of them, and ask for them forgiveness of Allah. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. S. 24:62

So know (O Muhammad) that there is no God save Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy sin and for believing men and believing women. Allah knoweth (both) your place of turmoil and your place of rest. S. 47:19

Thus, these passages along with the ahadith which we cited simply reinforce our interpretation of Q. 46:31-32. In that particular reference, the Quran is basically claiming that Muhammad is the summoner whom Allah sent to forgive sinners and protect them from hell.

Now this places Muslims in a major dilemma since the only way that Muhammad could forgive anyone’s sins and be their guardian/protector is if he were to be God, since the Muslim scripture is quite emphatic that these are functions which only God is capable of performing.

Yet the Quran is equally clear that Muhammad is a fallible, sinful human being who cannot save anyone, not even himself:

May Allah forgive you (O Muhammad). Why did you grant them leave (for remaining behind, you should have persisted as regards your order to them to proceed on Jihad), until those who told the truth were seen by you in a clear light, and you had known the liars? S. 9:43 Hilali-Khan

Or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into heaven, and even then we will put no faith in thine ascension till thou bring down for us a book that we can read. Say (O Muhammad): My Lord be Glorified! Am I aught save a mortal messenger? S. 17:93

Say: I am only a mortal like you. My Lord inspireth in me that your God is only One God. And whoever hopeth for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make none sharer of the worship due unto his Lord. S. 18:110

Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die and verily, they (too) will die. S. 39:30 Hilali-Khan

Then have patience (O Muhammad). Lo! the promise of Allah is true. And ask forgiveness of thy sin, and hymn the praise of thy Lord at fall of night and in the early hours. S. 40:55

Say (O Muhammad): "I am not a new thing among the Messengers (of Allah) (i.e. I am not the first Messenger) nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am but a plain warner." S. 46:9 Hilali-Khan

What this basically means is that the Muslim authors and/or compilers of both the Quran and ahadith have ascribed exclusively divine functions to a finite creature. And in doing so, these individuals ended up committing shirk, which is the unforgivable sin of associating a partner with Allah in his unique divine attributes and functions:

Lo! Allah forgiveth not that a partner should be ascribed unto Him. He forgiveth (all) save that to whom He will. Whoso ascribeth partners to Allah, he hath indeed invented a tremendous sin. S. 4:48 – cf. 4:116; 2:22

Notice all the problems that this creates for Muslims:

  1. Only God can forgive, and he is the only guardian/protector that a person has (cf. Q. 2:107; 3:135; 7:3; 39:53).
  2. Muhammad is able to pardon sinners and protect them from the eternal tortures of hell (Q. 46:31-32).
  3. Muhammad must, therefore, be God.
  4. However, Muhammad is nothing more than an imperfect, fallible human who cannot save himself, let alone anyone else.
  5. This means that the authors and/or editors of the Quran and hadiths are ascribing divine functions to a mere creature.
  6. In so doing, these Muslims have basically turned a creature into Allah’s partner, thereby committing shirk which is the unpardonable sin (Q. 2:22; 4:48, 116).

The only way around this is to admit that Q. 46:31-32 has been incorrectly formulated since the author(s) and/or editor(s) didn’t intend to depict Muhammad as the one who actually forgives and protects people from hell. S/he/they actually wanted to say that it is Allah who does so.

However, this argument only reinforces the fact that the Quran is not the Arabic masterpiece that Muslims claim it is, and that it isn’t a clear Arabic book which provides a full exposition for all its verses so that people can understand it:

Shall I seek other than Allah for judge, when He it is Who hath revealed unto you (this) Scripture, fully explained? Those unto whom We gave the Scripture (aforetime) know that it is revealed from thy Lord in truth. So be not thou (O Muhammad) of the waverers. S. 6:114

Lo! We have revealed it, a Lecture in Arabic, that ye may understand. S. 12:2

And lo! it is a revelation of the Lord of the Worlds, Which the True Spirit hath brought down Upon thy heart, that thou mayst be (one) of the warners, In plain Arabic speech. S. 26:192-195

A Scripture whereof the verses are expounded, a Lecture in Arabic for people who have knowledge, S. 41:3 

The Quran is, in reality, an incoherent and unintelligible book which fails to communicate its message in an understandable manner.

Hence, no matter what position a Muslim adopts s/he is still left with insurmountable problems.

And yet the problems are far from over as we shall see from the next article.

Unless indicated otherwise, all Quranic citations have been taken from the Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall version.