101 Reasons Why We Left Islam – Chapter 3: Islam and Science – Reason 27
This is one of those cases where it is not only the verses that can cause people to leave Islam but the actual background story to them. Many classic Islamic scholars did not try to embellish or cover up anything linked to the Quran; such was their belief that the Prophet could not do anything wrong! However, in their blind faith, they left clues in the Tafsir (explanation) of the shocking verses about who was writing the Quran. You might be right to argue that this reason belongs in the next Chapter on ‘Historical Facts’. However, because it directly links to verse 23:13-14 (Reason 26), we felt obliged to add it immediately after. This is a tale of a person who challenged the Prophet. His most trusted scribe was a well-educated writer, Abdullah Ibn Saad ibn Abi Sarh. But before we start, let us remind ourselves what these verses:
Quran 23:13-14: https://legacy.quran.com/23/13-14
Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.
Our attention should be on the last part:
“… So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.”
The English Tafsirs on Quran.com are carefully selected not to address the background story. So, you will need to switch to Arabic and turn on the translator for Tafsir Al-Qurtubi to get a little glimpse of it:
“… God Almighty’s saying: So blessed is Allah, the best of creators. It is narrated that when Omar Ibn Al-Khattab heard the beginning of the verse to his saying: “Another creation,” he said, “So blessed be God, the best of creators.” Then [p. 103] the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: This is how it was revealed. And in Musnad al-Tayalisi (another Islamic sources says): The verse was revealed: “And We have created man from a race of clay”; When it [the verse was revealed] : Blessed be God, the best of creators. It is narrated that the one who said that was Muadh bin Jabal. [Also] It was narrated that the one who said that was in fact Abdullah bin Abi Sarh, and for this reason he apostatised [left Islam] and said: I will do the same as what Muhammad comes;…”
What promoted Abdullah to become an Ex-Muslim is reported in “Alfiyat al-Sirat An-Nabawiyyah: Imam Zayn al-Din Al-Iraqi” a Sirah written round (1400 AD). In this Sira, Abdullah is reported to be scribing the verses as the Prophet recited them from Al Wahi (revelation): “We developed him into another creation.” That is when Abdullah stopped and said in a rather reflective way, praising the lord: “So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.” In Arabic, this added sentence perfectly rhymes with the earlier part. The Prophet heard it, loved it, and said to Abdullah: “Write it”. Abdullah was astonished. He (a mere human) just said this, and now these have become the words of an all-divine god!
It is also odd that three people claimed that sentence: Omar Ibn Al Khatab (one of the Prophet’s main companions), Muadh bin Jabal (another of the Prophet’s scribes), and Abdullah. Any sensible person who hears that three people have claimed to have said something that ended up in the Quran would conclude that what was being written in the Quran is not a divine message. However, Abdullah’s sin was to reflect on this incident and ask how he would say something and it became Allah’s words!
These added words are not well thought out. To say, “… So blessed is Allah, the best of creators”, created a theological issue for scholars. There is only one creator and one creator only in Islam, and that is Allah. So, who are these ‘creators’ that this verse is referring to?! Claiming other ‘creators’ other than Allah is a polytheist claim that is vigorously rejected in Islam. Several tafsirs claimed it is in reference to Essa (Jesus), who, by the permission of Allah, was allowed to create birds from clay –but in Islamic theology, Allah is still the creator here! In the same way, Moses turned a stick into a snake; was that creation or just a miracle from Allah? How is that so different to Essa turning clay into birds? It simply did not make sense.
https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=27&verse=10
Summary: The remaining story is that Abdullah escaped to Mecca and started to expose the Prophet as a liar. The Prophet ordered his killing for the disrespect he had shown. After the fall of Mecca, the Prophet called amnesty with the exception of two women and two men to be killed even if they were holding onto the Kaaba. Traditionally, it was sacrilegious to kill someone holding onto the Kaaba. What is common about those four people is that they disrespected the Prophet. Abdullah sought refuge at his step brother Uthman Ibn Affan’s house. Uthman is a well-known and loyal companion of the Prophet. Rather than killing Abdullah as the orders were given, Uthman must have felt sorry and took him to ‘plead for mercy’. The first two times Abdullah pleaded for forgiveness, the Prophet refused, but on the third attempt, he indicted to release him, to which the Hadith says:
“Then he (the Prophet) turned to his Companions and said: ‘Was there not any sensible man among you who would get up when he saw me refusing to give him my hand and kill him?’ They said: ‘We did not know, O Messenger of Allah, what was in your heart. Why did you not gesture to us with your eyes?’ He said: ‘It is not befitting for a Prophet that his eyes be deceitful.'” Apparently, Abdullah was saved by a misunderstanding. Such is Allah’s divine powers and the Prophet of mercy! You can read Abdullah’s story and how he went on to become the governor of Egypt here:
Issue 27.1: We have three people claiming to be authors or contributors to the Quran, which incidentally is not the first time we hear. Omar made similar references in Reason 14 (The Story of the Hijab). Any reasonable person would question the validity of the claim that the Quran was created before the start of time when a person can say something and their words end up in a ‘divine’ book! As an academic, I would have also questioned the prophecy of someone if something I say – almost randomly- ends up being appended to a verse in the Quran by the claim ‘oh this is how Allah inspired it to me as well’. Especially if it is evident that it is only being added because it would make the poetry of the verse rhyme better.
Issue 27.2: Abdullah’s escape from the penalty shows how haphazard decisions are made. Personal influences (Uthman’s relation to Abdullah) not only saved him but later helped promote him back into the highest ranks. Allah’s judgement as the all-just creator is questionable as others died for having challenged the Prophet. Still, Abdullah benefited from the mediation of a highly influential person, making a mockery of the principles of fairness in Islam. It is who you know that influences the Prophet and his god!
Issue 27.3: Finally, the verse also makes no sense. It has been mocked by many for suggesting there is more than one creator. To suggest Essa (Jesus) is a creator would align him with the Christian Trinity – and further makes the case for Christianity than it does for Islam. Incidentally, Christians point to the ‘creation’ that Essa does in the Quran as evidence that the author of the Quran acknowledges him as the god! It also opens bigger problems. Are the Prophets making miracles, or is Allah making the miracles for them?
Apologists’ responses:
Issue 27.1: Allah can inspire people as He is capable of anything. This does not prove anything is at fault in the Quran or the author of the Quran, not Allah (SWT). There is a reason why the other two were not singled out, whereas Abdullah was singled out. Abdullah committed a sin by claiming the Prophet was a liar and claiming he could make up verses. What he claimed was not even a verse. It was part of a verse. There is also something as a coincidence. The verses rhyme significantly better with this addition. It may explain why two other people reached the same answer. None of this is conclusive evidence, and Abdullah later acknowledged his error and forgave him.
>>Our Response: The only way this would make sense is to assume that Allah is playing tricks and is intentionally trying to make people think that someone else is inspiring parts of the Quran. There is absolutely no logical or theological justification for a god to claim that a book is His words, only to inspire people to add words to it. Yet, ignore the correct official communication channel, Angel Gabriel.
Issue 27.2: There is always a divine wisdom that could be missed on mortals like us. We know that Abdullah went on to be a great Muslim leader. He led fights and was at one point a well-respected Muslim governor of Egypt. How can you explain that?
>>Our Response: Many people join political groups without necessarily having a strong alliance with them or believing in them at all. They play the role because of convenience, and they play it well. We know many ExMuslims pretend to be Muslims and talk in support of Islam in Islamic countries, even overact their support to stay safe from being killed or prosecuted. Many politicians see benefits from cosying up to the Islamic masses when they don’t pray, they drink, and, in all likelihood, they don’t believe. Abdullah was surrounded by people who would kill him if he ever stood out of line and, in time, would have seen the benefit of just cosying up to Islam and benefiting from the loot of Islamic conquest. The Umayyad caliphate is littered with leaders who fit this description.
Issue 27.3: Scholars have already addressed this point. The Prophet Essa (Jesus) was granted the power to create a bird from clay (Quran 3:49), and it challenges people who claim to create better than Allah. For example, creating better poetry than the Quran, creating better robots than humans, or better intelligence in the form of AI than humans! The verse is about all these and that Allah remains the best creator!
>Our Response: This is a plain deflection. In the Islamic context, what Essa (Jesus) did was not create but a miracle from the power of Allah that is the same as other miracles the Quran claims (we mentioned Moses and the snake). All the others are not creators. We make robots, we write poetry, and we programme AI – in all cases we continuously enhance and improve by developing our skills. This is not creation. The term in Arabic for يخلق is not associated to ‘create’ in Arabic. We never use it for writing poetry or building a robot. It is only associated with God or birth (which is the miracle of God!).
Final Thoughts:
Why two people would come forward to say that they have said ‘Blessed is Allah the best creator’ is puzzling. As far as we know, no similar claim is made by multiple people for any other verse. We have a few suggestions from Umar that he influenced some verses but did not say anything that went directly into the verse except here. We have our hypotheses. After Abdullah started exposing (to them, it was bad-mouthing) the Prophet, Umar (most loyal companion) and Muadh (another scribe) claimed that it was them as well who got the same inspiration. Allah was doing a ‘conference call’ that day! Perhaps they thought that by saying so, it would suggest that anyone would have guessed this is how the verse would conclude to rhyme better. Either way, it is evidence of the cover-up intended to save a situation that was hard to find any real justification for otherwise. Another side note for Muslims to consider. Many claim that Surat Al Massad, where Allah curses Abu Lahab and that Abu Lahab was never converted to Islam, is proof that the Quran is true. Well, a verse curses Abdullah, and Abdullah did convert!
Quran 6:93: – https://quran.com/al-anam/93
“Who does more wrong than the one who fabricates lies against Allah or claims, “I have received revelations!”—although nothing was revealed to them—or the one who says, “I can reveal the like of Allah’s revelations!”? If you ˹O Prophet˺ could only see the wrongdoers in the throes of death while the angels are stretching out their hands ˹saying˺, “Give up your souls! Today you will be rewarded with the torment of disgrace for telling lies about Allah and for being arrogant towards His revelations!”
Of course, this is not a reason why people leave Islam- many people do not even know about it. But it does debunk you hear about supposedly ‘Allah’s revelation’.