When Muslims think they know everything

By MT Webmaster Last updated Sep 16, 2014

So, you ask this Muslim, can I read the Torah and believe in it and follow it? What about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, etc?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The most irritating thing about Muslims (Malays included, of course) is that they think they know everything. I don’t think I know everything and every day I discover something new that I did not know before this. And that is why for the last four years I have been continuing my studies — so that I can find out what I do not know.

Education does not stop once you leave school. It continues until the day you die. Some ulama’ even say that those who die while still in the pursuit of knowledge die a shahid’s death. That means you do not need to go to Iraq or Syria to join IS and die there to become a shahid (martyr). You can die a martyr’s death even as you browse through your books.

Well, that is what some ulama’ say. These ulama’ argue that those who seek knowledge are performing Fi Sabeelillah (struggling in the cause of Allah). And according to chapter 9, verse 60 of the Qur’an, such people are entitled to zakat (alms).

As I said, that is what some ulama’ argue and even my Tok Guru, the renowned Abdul Rahman Petani, told me this. One day I asked him the meaning of Jihad and Fi Sabeelillah and he told me that all I need to do is to pick up my books and read them and that would be regarded as Jihad and Fi Sabeelillah.

So you do not need to learn how to fire a rocket launcher to die a martyr’s death. You only need to die while still studying. Do Muslims know this? (And today being the 11th of September I thought this is a most appropriate subject to discuss).

Anyway, why do I say that Muslims think they know everything and why is this a source of irritation for me?

It is simple, really. Ask any Muslim and he or she will tell you that Islam recognises all the holy books of the Abrahamic faiths or Semitic religions. Hence not only is the Qur’an recognised by Islam but the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians as well.

Okay, that is a fine statement. It puts to rest that issue. Then ask this same Muslim which of the Scriptures is he or she talking about. There are 24 books in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. There are 39 books in the Protestant Old Testament. There are 46 books in the Catholic Old Testament. And there are 51 books in the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament.

So which of these books does Islam recognise?

This Muslim would give you a puzzled look and would not be able to reply to your question. In fact, he or she did not even know this. He or she only knows that Jews and Christians have ‘books’ but most Muslims do not know the details of these books.

Which of those books can Muslims read and believe in since they are the books of the People of the Book?

At this point the Muslim you are talking to will be absolutely lost. The only response this Muslim can give you is that Muslims believe in the original books of the Jews and Christians, not in the new books.

Muslims can no longer believe in the new books because these have all been changed or amended and are no longer authentic. But Muslims can believe in the old books, the ones that have not been changed or amended.

Okay, fair statement. So what books are those? What are their names? Where can we get a copy of those books?

Oh, those books no longer exist, this Muslim will reply. Those books have all been lost. They have disappeared from the face of this earth. Those are the books that Islam recognises, not these new books that were written between 1,700 and 2,000 years ago that I mentioned above.

Let us summarise that. Islam recognises the old books of the Jews and Christians that have all since been lost and no longer exist. Islam does not recognise the new books I mentioned above, which are amendments to the old books and where the text have been changed.

What were these old books called? When were they written? Who wrote them? Which parts were changed? Where are the discrepancies in the new books when we compare them to the old books?

No one knows. That is information that no longer exists and has been lost. As Muslims, we only know that the old books used to exist but have now been lost and the new books are no longer the same as the old books because they have been edited and amended.

Okay, so Muslims know that the old books have been amended and that the new books are no longer original or authentic. So, if you know this then you should also have the details regarding how and when these books were amended. Hence, can Muslims enlighten us with the details?

When pushed to the wall this Muslim will scream: go study the Qur’an. Everything you need to know is already in the Qur’an. You do not know what you are talking about because you have not studied the Qur’an. And you are not qualified to talk about this matter because you are not a Qur’anic scholar.

So ends the debate of the holy books of the other Abrahamic faiths or Semitic religions and Islam’s position on those books.

And that is why you never debate Muslims (or even Christians for that matter). They will pluck a belief from the top of their head and call it fact. And if you question this ‘fact’ they will ask you to go study the Qur’an (or Bible, if Christian).

And with that they will end the discussion and will declare themselves the winner of that debate.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK