Issue 11
Issue 11 [@12:35] Serge Trifkovic [original name – Srđa Trifković], reappears on the video for the second time again alleging without quoting any references: “Author, Sword of the Prophet: So, the Quran is simply set of direct commandments or else narratives, descriptions, something very distorted descriptions of Judaism and Christianity. Because of the normative nature of those commandments the SECOND IMPORTANT body for Islamic jurisprudence and for Islamic polity is the tradition of the Prophet, the Hadith.”
Rebuttal 11: Even though this rebuttal is fully dealt in Issue 12 later, but briefly suffice to say that he either has not read Quran or if read, then read it with one eye closed and mind shut while trying to dig his Scriptures from it and he found what his mind was trying to read and totally ignoring what Quran stood for. His skimming the Quran instead of what is meant to be read, understood and contemplated in its study is summarized by his own statement that – “the Quran is simply set of direct commandments or else narratives, descriptions, something very distorted descriptions of Judaism and Christianity.”
Serge Trifkovic chose to turn a blind eye to the fact that the Quran actually removed the impurities of the Torah and Evangel that had seeped in over the centuries. For the cheering crowds, it also removes the dross around the previous biblical prophets of various ill founded allegations in the old Scriptures, including, but not limited to, their incestuous relationships [Wikipedia]. It was the distortions of the old Scriptures that Quran came to abrogate. Quran mentions all this without any apology:
98:1. Those who disbelieve from among the people of the Scripture and (from among) those who associate gods with God, would not be rid of their bigotry and rejection of Faith until there should come to them the manifest proof –
98:2. A great Messenger (- Muhammad) from Allâh reciting (to them) written leaves of the Book, free from all impurities,
98:3. Consisting of eternal laws and commandments.
Deliberate moral blindness has multi-factorial roots in racism, hate, dogmas, bigotry, xenophobia etc. The natural law of cause and effect about deliberate moral blindness is addressed in Quran:
6:110. We shall confound their hearts and their eyes, since they did not believe in it (-God’s signs) in the first instance, and We shall leave them alone wandering blindly in their transgression.
36:10. And it is all the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe (for they have deliberately shut their eyes and ears to the truth).
Some background information on Mr. Serge Trifkovic, the critic of Islam. Mr. Serge Trifkovic served as a native correspondent during the 1990s Balkan war for BBC and U.S. News and World Report. He denies the July 1995 Bosnian Genocide of Srebrenica. He was an advisor to Serbian war criminals later condemned by the Hague and is a known Xenophobe.[Wikipedia]. Maybe it is the same moral law, expounded in the verses above, which makes him blind to the atrocities against Muslims under his own nose, despite having a PhD in European history and a fellowship from Stanford and representing the modern news media.
What Serge Trifkovic failed to see in Quran was summarized in Issue 9b and partially reproduced below:
Besides, validating the previous scriptures, Quran distinctly stands apart from them in declaring – God Himself the source of the Book; its God as “Lord of the Mankind” and not of a particular race, region or religion; vivifies God by bringing to light His Attributes; removed the human-ness of god and instills godliness of humans; God for the benefit of man and not the ritualistic visa versa; God as the first observer of His own laws; God of action and not of slumber; Hearing, Seeing and speaking God etc.
Quran expounds itself with proofs based upon logic, reason, history, physical phenomenon, science, sociology etc. for all its claims of monotheism, human nature, equality and fraternity of man, sinless of soul, physical and moral states of man and the universe he lives in, nature subservient to man, purpose of man, virtue and sins, paths of salvation, emphasis on action rather than homilies, state of life after death, concept of hell and heaven, laundering of previous prophet from all smears, bringing morality-spirituality-physicality and science into an mutually complementary logic, divine guarding of its everlasting purity and free from adulteration and contradiction, open challenge to bring even a chapter matching that of Quran, divine origin of all monotheistic faiths, completion of religion etc.
Besides what he ignored in Quran is what Khwaja Kamaluddin saw it all, which is reflected in chapter headings of his book – Introduction to the Study of the Quran:
Chapter 1: Revelation a Necessity:
Civilisation in Vedic Days
The Quran a Necessity
Existence of God
Chapter 2: Quran: A Book from God:
Miraculous Beauties of the Quran
Quran: A Miracle — Style
Prophecies in the Quran — The Quran will Retain its Purity — Islam shall Succeed
Total Defeat of the Makkans
The Final Fall of the Enemy
The Defeat of the Persians by the Romans
The Recovery of Pharaoh’s Drowned Body
The Exalted Position of its Scribes
Scientific Predictions
Freedom from Variations
Some Beauties Exclusive to the Quran — A New Conception of Religion
Comprehensiveness of the Holy Quran
Universal Book
All Religions from God
Broad-mindedness of the Quran
Arabic, the Language of Religion
Revealed Nature of the Quranic Language
Philosophy in Quranic Words
The Finality of the Divine Message
Chapter 3: Reason and Religious Beliefs:
Logic
Logic for every Doctrine
Resurrection
Life after Death
Why a Particular Revelation for Guidance
Angels
Chapter 4: Our Evolutionary Journey:
The Origin of Man
Nafs Ammara [— The Commanding Spirit]
Nafs Mulhamah [— The Differentiating Spirit]
Nafs Lawwama [— The Chiding Spirit]
The Law of Combination and the Sexual Instincts of Man
Nafs Mutmainnah — The Spirit at Rest
The Return of the Soul
Day of Resurrection
Hell and Heaven
Chapter 5: Riddles of Life — Kismet:
The Law of Measure
True Knowledge of Things — Chastisement
Guidance and Misguidance
As to what he tries to find in Quran is no different from what Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall tried to invent in his ‘Sources of Islam’ and was squashed by Muhammad Ali in his land mark book The Divine Origin of the Holy Quran.
References:
Serge Trifkovic – Wikipedia
Incest in the Bible – Wikipedia
Holy Quran – Nooruddin
Introduction to the Study of Holy Quran – by Khwaja Kamaluddin.
The Divine Origin of the Holy Quran – Muhammad Ali.
From ikram:
Serge Trifkovic’s statement – “the Quran is simply set of direct commandments or else narratives, descriptions, something very distorted descriptions of Judaism and Christianity.” Quran has a rebuttal beforehand: