Praise Be to Me?

  Apart from the grammatical and historical errors and the borrowed stories and words from non-Arabic sources, Muslims have yet another problem with the Quran. This one has to do with the rather odd speaking style employed by "Allah" in the very first chapter (surah) of their book.

  Surah 1 (Khalifa translation) reads:

1 In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

2 Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe. 

3 Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

4 Master of the Day of Judgment. 

5 You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help. 

6 Guide us in the right path;  

7 the path of those whom You blessed; not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers.

  There is no "Thus saith Allah" in the Quran. Muslims believe that the Quran was delivered in a first person style, and so it must be read as though Allah is speaking every word of the Quran. Muslims insist that not one of these words is Muhammad's, and so when we read Surah 1 that way, what Allah is actually saying is: 

1 In the name of me, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

2 Praise be to me, Lord of the universe. 

3 Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

4 Master of the Day of Judgment. 

5 I alone do we worship; I alone do we ask for help. 

6 Guide us in the right path; 

7 the path of those whom I blessed; not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers.

  This is clearly an error that was missed by the Quran's "editor," Uthman, and his team of Quran verse compilers. These were the men who collected the verses that were still around after the loss of much of the Quran from the memorizers of the Quran, or from others who had written them down on anything that was handy, such as stones or animal skin or bones, such as the one in the picture below.

  Faced with the oddly-written Surah 1, Islamic scholars have responded by claiming that this was a literary style that was in use during the time of Muhammad. 

  The problem is, no such style ever existed. 

  That is why no pre-Muhammadan examples can be presented. And so Muslims continue to recite this Surah daily all over the world, with very few seeming to wonder why Allah is speaking so strangely.

  But Muhammad or Uthman and his team of Quran editors and translators could have fixed this problem very easily if they had only added one word. A single word would have fixed the problem.

  To fix the problem with this Islamic prayer, it has been pointed out that one need only add the word, "say." To wit:

      1 Say, 

   In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

2 Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe. 

3 Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

4 Master of the Day of Judgment. 

5 You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help. 

6 Guide us in the right path; 

7 the path of those whom You blessed; not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers

  With the added word, Muslims would no longer have their god saying awkward-sounding phrases like, "Praise to Me," and "I alone do we worship." 

  But this should cause Muslims to wonder.

  If Allah was truly almighty, how could he have made this mistake? How is it that human beings can fix Allah's mistake with a single word  that Allah had not thought to place in his "eternal word?"

  The answer is painfully obvious, but only to one who is prepared to face the fact that the Quran was not written by Almighty God but by fallible and sinful men.


  See also:

  The ‘Unsurpassable Eloquence’ of the Qur'an, by Sam Shamoun

  http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Miracle/not_so_eloquent.html

  For other problems with the Quran, see also:

  Much of the Quran is Gone!

  http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/07/is-yours-weakest-ink.html

  A Clear Arabic Quran?

  http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-clear-arabic-quran.html  

  Why Did Allah Need to Borrow Material from Jewish Rabbis?

  http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/06/why-did-allah-need-to-borrow-material.html