In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Abuse & Poor Service of the Scripture

From the early generation of Noah to the era we live in, God has been choosing His scriptures to communicate His message with us. His final words to humanity in Quran have been witnessed for many centuries by those who choose logic and facts over nonsense and conjecture. The Most Gracious has designed Quran to fit the boom in technology, mathematics and science of our time. Furthermore, it is evident that everyday, the knowledgeable, scientific and intelligent minds will continue to find out more hidden facts about this last divine and coded document to humanity.

Most humans, however, have been setting a precedent of misjudging, underestimating and mishandling God's words sent to them. God's messengers have been delivering and confirming His scriptures and presenting all sorts of proofs and miracles. Yet, the majority rejects logic and guidance, and the majority of those who choose faith fail to handle the word of God with truthfulness and integrity. Mishandling the word of God during a temporary phase of weak faith or during a permanent act of misguidance is a failure to uphold God's absolute authority. Thus, it is a form of idol worship which is a common brand of disbelief.

Our generation has witnessed an overwhelming scientific evidence that God's very own ARABIC words, narration and context that were revealed to and written by the hands of prophet Muhammad more than 14 centuries ago MUST BE perfect (18:2, 11:1), accurate (12:3), straightforward except for allegories (3:7), fully detailed & infallible (10:37), with no ambiguity (39:27-28), contradictions (39:23), or flaws (18:1). Such conviction is based on the unwavering belief that every word in Quran is mathematically proven to be authored by God and thus these attributes stated by Him in His book are divine, non-negotiable facts.

Even with this blessing that reassures our hearts everyday there are those who confess their failure to value and fully appreciate the above attributes as documented by God in His proven scripture. Their weakness and/or disbelief leads them to brush away those qualities and underestimate the word of God. Quran is full of reminders that prove it is indeed a typical human behavior to abuse and mishandle the word of God out of disbelief in exchange of all sorts of life gains and to express loyalty and love to idols of all kinds and forms.

Believers from among the previous generations had witnessed many patterns of this abuse and we have been witnessing the same! Please, let's reflect on these patterns from the past, to heed the guidance and appropriately choose our actions in the present. This will impact the growth of our souls, and will help us shape a brighter future for our communities through the righteous precedents we set:

- In the past, some recipients of the scriptures prior to Quran concealed parts of them, knowingly. This is also happening in front of our eyes, knowingly, while publishing and distributing different translations of Quran with some missing words and/or statements in certain verses that exist in the original text and are not compensated in the corresponding translations of such verses. Besides the concealment of the Truth, this is also considered "tempering" with the word of God which will be mentioned in the next point. Please reflect:

[2:159] Those who conceal our revelations and guidance, after proclaiming them for the people in the scripture, are condemned by God; they are condemned by all the condemners.

[2:174] Those who conceal God's revelations in the scripture, in exchange for a cheap material gain, eat but fire into their bellies. God will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. They have incurred a painful retribution.

[6:91] They never valued God as He should be valued. Thus, they said, "God does not reveal anything to any human being." Say, "Who then revealed the scripture that Moses brought, with light and guidance for the people?" You put it down on paper to proclaim it, while concealing a lot of it. You were taught what you never knew - you and your parents. Say, "God (is the One who revealed it)," then leave them in their heedlessness, playing.

- Some recipients of the scriptures temper with the word of God. This was practiced in the past with previous scriptures and was done to Quran by adding the two false verses at the end of chapter 9. In the Present time, and in addition to the above mentioned example in recent published translations, tempering with the word of God is also happening in print shops all over the "Islamic" world when some insist to print certain Arabic words in Quran with extra or less letters only to mess up with their counts and to confuse the mathematical findings for us. Thankfully, the mathematical miracle has been serving its purpose of preserving Quran despite these cheap attempts.

[3:78] Among them are those who twist their tongues to imitate the scripture, that you may think it is from the scripture, when it is not from the scripture, and they claim that it is from God, when it is not from God. Thus, they utter lies and attribute them to God, knowingly.

- After witnessing the Truth, some would conclude baseless understandings and confound them with the Truth to sound more appealing to their audience. This deceiving behavior has been orchestrated by Satan for long to pollute God's teachings and practices and invent rituals & commands that were never authorized by God. The Truth would easily nullify baseless claims. The Truth is always verifiable (8:8, 37:155-157, 10:32).

[3:93] All food used to be lawful for the Children of Israel, until Israel imposed certain prohibitions on themselves before the Torah was sent down. Say, "Bring the Torah and read it, if you are truthful."

[3:71] O followers of the scripture, why do you confound the truth with falsehood, and conceal the truth, knowingly?

[17:36] You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.

- Selective or partial application of certain verses has been a disastrous practice to confuse the teachings and the commands for us. While God has been warning against this practice and ordering us to read the entire book before reaching conclusions, partial or selective application of the scripture has been misguiding many recipients and has been one profound mean used by the enemies of God to divide communities, turn off God's light and repel people from His path:

[5:13] It was a consequence of their violating the covenant that we condemned them, and we caused their hearts to become hardened. Consequently, they took the words out of context, and disregarded some of the commandments given to them. You will continue to witness betrayal from them, excepting a few of them. You shall pardon them, and disregard them. GOD loves those who are benevolent.
[5:14] Also from those who said, "We are Christian," we took their covenant. But they disregarded some of the commandments given to them. Consequently, we condemned them to animosity and hatred among themselves, until the Day of Resurrection. GOD will then inform them of everything they had done.

[2:85] Yet, here you are killing each other, and evicting some of you from their homes, banding against them sinfully and maliciously. Even when they surrendered, you demanded ransom from them. Evicting them was prohibited for you in the first place. Do you believe in part of the scripture and disbelieve in part? What should be the retribution for those among you who do this, except humiliation in this life, and a far worse retribution on the Day of Resurrection? God is never unaware of anything you do.

[15:90] We will deal with the dividers.
[15:91] They accept the Quran only partially.
[15:92] By your Lord, we will question them all,
[15:93] about everything they have done.

-The failure to proclaim and promote God's scripture breaks a covenant we once made with God and is also a wasteful way of handling the Truth. We do not deserve the scripture if we do not proclaim it and promote it:

[3:187] God took a covenant from those who received the scripture: "You shall proclaim it to the people, and never conceal it." But they disregarded it behind their backs, and traded it away for a cheap price. What a miserable trade.

[3:77] As for those who trade away God's covenant, and their obligations, for a cheap price, they receive no share in the Hereafter. God will not speak to them, nor look at them, on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. They have incurred a painful retribution.

[103:3] Except those who believe and lead a righteous life, and exhort one another to uphold the truth, and exhort one another to be steadfast.

[39:33] As for those who promote the truth, and believe therein, they are the righteous.

[7:181] Among our creations, there are those who guide with the truth, and the truth renders them righteous. [6:51] And preach with this (Quran) to those who reverence the summoning before their Lord - they have none beside Him as a Lord and Master, nor an intercessor - that they may attain salvation.

[50:45] We are fully aware of everything they utter, while you have no power over them. Therefore, remind with this Quran, those who reverence My warnings.

[6:70] You shall disregard those who take their religion in vain, as if it is a social function, and are totally absorbed in this worldly life. Remind with this (Quran), lest a soul may suffer the consequences of its evil earnings. It has none beside God as a Lord and Master, nor an intercessor. If it could offer any kind of ransom, it would not be accepted. They suffer the consequences of the evil works they earn; they have incurred hellish drinks, and a painful retribution because of their disbelief.

- The failure to defend the infallible word of God is nothing but a failure to validate the Truth and support God. We witness this failure by those who are weak in faith and character. They resort to silence, waver and tolerate nonsense about the word of God in times when they are supposed to stand for the truth only to gain social privileges and portray themselves as gracious and kind believers! This behavior is no different from offering a false testimony, and it again breaks the covenant we made with God in 3:187 to proclaim His truth. We also witness others wasting their lives and time defending man-made doctrines rather than the clear black and white word of God. After witnessing the truth, and knowing what is revealed by God, there should be no room for such compromise:

[14:27] God strengthens those who believe with the proven word, in this life and in the Hereafter. And God sends the transgressors astray. Everything is in accordance with God's will.

[47:7] O you who believe, if you support God, He will support you, and strengthen your foothold.

[72:14] " `Among us are the submitters, and among us are the compromisers.' " As for those who submitted, they are on the right path.
[72:15] As for the compromisers, they will be fuel for Gehenna.

[68:8] Do not obey the rejectors.
[68:9] They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise.

- The failure to study the scripture from cover to cover (73:1-7, 17:78-79) shields us from the divine knowledge and deprives us from establishing belief in our hearts (2:121) and achieving the blessing of certainty. We thus fall as easy victims to doubt and to falsifiers. Those who rely on others to spoon-feed them information without dwelling on knowledge and verifying information for themselves are only wasting their chance on earth and regressing their souls. God equally commands all believers to study Quran and to increase their knowledge. We cannot properly invite others to Quran, as individuals or communities, without a solid knowledge of Quran. Knowledge is the cure for ignorance and the weapon to defeat conjecture.

[2:121] Those who received the scripture, and know it as it should be known, will believe in this. As for those who disbelieve, they are the losers.

- The failure to live by and uphold the scripture strongly sets the worst example for others and a clear manifestation of abuse. The unappreciative ones neglect the divine teachings and value man-made ones instead. This only provides a proof against them that they do not deserve the guidance.

[7:3] You shall all follow what is revealed to you from your Lord; do not follow any idols besides Him. Rarely do you take heed.

[6:106] Follow what is revealed to you from your Lord, there is no god except He, and disregard the idol worshipers.

[45:18] We then appointed you to establish the correct laws; you shall follow this, and do not follow the wishes of those who do not know.

[19:12] "O John, you shall uphold the scripture, strongly." We endowed him with wisdom, even in his youth.

[7:145] We wrote for him on the tablets all kinds of enlightenments and details of everything: "You shall uphold these teachings strongly, and exhort your people to uphold them - these are the best teachings. I will point out for you the fate of the wicked."

[5:68] Say, "O people of the scripture, you have no basis until you uphold the Torah, and the Gospel, and what is sent down to you herein from your Lord." For sure, these revelations from your Lord will cause many of them to plunge deeper into transgression and disbelief. Therefore, do not feel sorry for the disbelieving people

The above failures and styles of scripture abuse are also a representation of soul and self abuse. As for God, He is NOT in need of any of us. We are the ones in desperate need to recognize Him, uphold His absolute authority and properly handle His truth to be redeemed.

[39:7] If you disbelieve, God does not need anyone. But He dislikes to see His servants make the wrong decision. If you decide to be appreciative, He is pleased for you. No soul bears the sins of any other soul. Ultimately, to your Lord is your return, then He will inform you of everything you had done. He is fully aware of the innermost thoughts.

In conclusion, God communicates with us through His words in His scriptures. Believers in God believe in His words. They fully appreciate them and properly handle them. Throughout history, the majority has failed to handle the word of God the way it should be handled. The majority has been displaying weak belief or lack of belief in God's scriptures. Many abusive patterns of the scripture have been reported by God in Quran for us to take heed. Submitters and believers in Quran are no exception! We witness this pattern of behavior everyday in dealing with Quran even though it is the only scripture stamped with a divine seal of preservation. This only conforms with the fact that the majority of those on earth are unappreciative. It also conforms with the fact that the majority of those who claim they believe love their idols more than God. This is merely why they fail to handle the word of God with honesty and integrity as dictated by Him.

[2:165] Yet, some people set up idols to rival God, and love them as if they are God. Those who believe love God the most. If only the transgressors could see themselves when they see the retribution! They will realize then that all power belongs to God alone, and that God's retribution is awesome.

Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless