7. The Allah Who Cried Wolf
Allah made Jesus' crucifixion "appear so" Quran 4:157
That appearance produced Christianity: a global religion Islam says sends sincere believers to hell.
So how can Muslims trust that Jibreel's revelation of the Quran to Muhammad (another supernatural appearance) wasn't another deception from Allah that produced another damnable religion: Islam?
Understand the Problem
Symmetry
Supernatural appearance: Jesus' crucifixion ("made to appear so" Quran 4:157)
Religion 1:
Christianity
Result: hell
Supernatural appearance 2: Jibreel revealing Quran to
Muhammad
Religion
2: Islam
Result: ?
If one supernatural appearance misled the world, why is the next one safe?
And why should we trust and believe religion #2 after what happened last time?
The Parable of Paul
People form a religion around a miracle/illusion from Paul, claiming Paul wanted it.
Paul then comes back, says he faked it, and tortures everyone who believes in this religion.
People form a second religion around another miracle/illusion from Paul, again claiming Paul wanted it.
Would you believe in the second religion?
Rug-Pull Analogy
You get a message:
"John did a crypto rug pull. People lost all their money. John made the investment look like a winning trade but John never said they wouldn't lose their money. And John had good reasons: John gave it all to charity.
Now give John all your money and John will double it. This message is telling you the truth. It never lies and contains no contradictions. In fact, John literally cannot lie."
Why should you trust this message and hand John your money after what happened last time?
- The message says the message is true and that John can't lie.
- There was no entailment - nobody was forced to invest.
- John never said they wouldn't lose their money.
- The message says John was trying to help everyone make lots of money.
- This message is different from the last one.
The problem is the delivery method. It's corrupted/broken/untrustworthy/unreliable. You can't say something you got from a sus delivery method is reliable because it says it is.
Because the Appearance Said So?
Sincere Trinitarian Christians are going to die thinking they will go to heaven because Jesus paid for their sins through the crucifixion and Allah is gonna be like "it was made to appear so" and send them to hell.
And this won't happen to Muslims, why?
Because the appearance said so?
You Can't Use the Appearance to Verify the Appearance.
Quran is the appearance in question.
Deception
resulting in hell
burns down the reliability of the channel.
So, "The appearance is true because the
appearance said so" doesn't work.
Satan or God?
From Muhammad's earliest biography:
"Satan, when he was meditating upon it, and desiring to bring it (sc. reconciliation) to his people, put upon his tongue 'these are the exalted Gharaniq whose intercession is approved.' When Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods and they listened to him; while the believers were holding that what their prophet brought them from their Lord was true, not suspecting a mistake or a vain desire or a slip. ... Then Gabriel came to the apostle and said, 'What have you done, Muhammad? You have read to these people something I did not bring you from God and you have said what He did not say to you.' The apostle was bitterly grieved and was greatly in fear of God. So God sent down (a revelation), for He was merciful to him, comforting him and making light of the affair and telling him that every prophet and apostle before him desired as he desired and wanted what he wanted and Satan interjected something into his desires as he had on his tongue. So God annulled what Satan had suggested and God established His verses i.e. you are just like the prophets and apostles. Then God sent down: 'We have not sent a prophet or apostle before you but when he longed Satan cast suggestions into his longing. But God will annul what Satan has suggested.'" Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 165-166
Comforting Revelation from Quran
"And We did not send before you any messenger or prophet except that when he spoke [or recited], Satan threw into it [some misunderstanding]. But Allāh abolishes that which Satan throws in; then Allāh makes precise His verses. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise." Quran 22:52
Study from Harvard Scholar with 50 Sources: Early Muslims Universally Accepted Satanic Verses
"This study of the Satanic verses incident in the historical memory of the early Muslim community will demonstrate in detail that the incident constituted an absolutely standard element in the memory of early Muslims of the life of their Prophet. In other words, the early Muslim community believed almost universally that the Satanic verses incident was a true historical fact. As far as the overwhelming majority of the Muslim community in the first two hundred years was concerned, the Messenger of God did indeed, on at least one occasion, mistake words of Satanic suggestion as being of Divine inspiration." Shahab Ahmed, "Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in Early Islam" (50 Early Islamic Sources)
Muhammad Imagines Things That Didn't Happen (After a Jew Used a Comb to Cast a Spell)
"that a Jew from among the Jews of Banu Zuraiq who was called Labid b. al-A'sam cast a spell upon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) with the result that he (under the influence of the spell) felt that he had been doing something whereas in fact he had not been doing that. (This state of affairs lasted) until one day or during one night Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) made supplication (to dispel its effects). He again made a supplication and he again did this and said to 'A'isha: "Do you know that Allah has told me what I had asked Him? There came to me two men and one amongst them sat near my head and the other one near my feet and he who sat near my head said to one who sat near my feet or one who sat near my feet said to one who sat near my head: What is the trouble with the man? He said: The spell has affected him. He said: Who has cast that? He (the other one) said: It was Labid b. A'sam (who has done it). He said: What is the thing by which he transmitted its effect? He said: By the comb and by the hair stuck to the comb and the spathe of the date-palm. He said: Where is that? He replied: In the well of Dhi Arwan." She said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) sent some of the persons from among his Companions there and then said: "'A'isha, by Allah, its water was yellow like henna and its trees were like heads of the devils." She said that she asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as to why he did not burn that. He said: "No, Allah has cured me and I do not like that I should induce people to commit any high-handedness in regard (to one another), but I only commanded that it should be buried." Sahih Muslim 2189a Sahih Bukhari 5765
If Muhammad couldn't tell, how can you?
Full: Islam’s Crucifixion Problems (Historical, Theological, and Epistemological)
Denying the crucifixion creates three separate problems for Islam.
Historical
Crucifixion was humiliating in the Roman Empire and a curse under Jewish Law Deuteronomy 21:23 Galatians 3:13. All earliest recoverable evidence, including Paul who met Jesus' brother James and disciple Peter Galatians 1:18-19, points to Jesus' followers preaching his crucifixion even while admitting it's a stumbling block for conversion 1 Corinthians 1:23.
Why invent a shameful and cursed death for their messiah? If they wanted to lie, denial would make more sense.
Exactly what the Quran does 600 years later, saying the crucifixion "was made to appear so" Quran 4:157.
Theological
Yet the same Quran praises Jesus' disciples as sincere helpers of Allah Quran 3:52, says Allah made them uppermost Quran 61:14, and promises to elevate them above disbelievers until the Day of Judgement Quran 3:55.
Trilemma:
- If Jesus' disciples believed the crucifixion occurred, even Allah's sincere followers are misled by His deception.
- If their testimony was immediately lost or corrupted, Allah's promises of dominance and elevation are impotent.
- If they lied, the Quran falsely praises deceivers as sincere helpers of Allah.
Quran Also Affirms Contradictory Scriptures Containing Allah's Deception (Islamic Dilemma)
"But why do [Jews] come to [Muhammad] for judgment when they already have the Torah containing Allah's judgment, then they turn away after all? They are not ˹true˺ believers." Quran 5:43
"So let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are truly the rebellious." Quran 5:47
"Say, O Prophet, 'O People of the Book! You have nothing to stand on unless you observe the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord.'" Quran 5:68
"So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you." Quran 10:94
"The Word of your Lord has been perfected in truth and justice. None can change His Words. And He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing." Quran 6:115
"And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which is [already] with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And do not exchange My signs for a small price, and fear [only] Me." Quran 2:41 Quran 2:91 Quran 3:81
However, both the current Torah and Gospel, along with all the surviving manuscripts that were with Jews and Christians from the 7th century and before, contradict the Quran.
Epistemological (Trust)
During the crucifixion plot, the Quran calls Allah the best of makr:
"And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers [makr]." Quran 3:54
The root of makr means to "practice deceit, guile, or circumvention" Lane's Lexicon (Quranx.com).
One of Allah's deceptions (making the crucifixion "appear so") already produced a global damnable shirk religion (Christianity). How can we trust the revelation of the Quran isn't another deception that produced another damnable religion (Islam)?
Responses to "Allah Who Cried Wolf" (Why They Don't Work)
Quran says X
Aligns with prophets, fitra (Judaism + Deism), Allah says X, last prophet, X is in Quran = "Because the appearance said so" → Deception resulting in hell burns down the reliability of the channel. So, the appearance (Quran) can't verify itself as non deceptive.
Good Reason/For Enemies
Allah raising Jesus to Himself saved him Quran 4:158, so why did Allah add the deception Quran 4:157? But even if granted, billions of sincere Christians ended up believing it. Even if it was a good deception, they never know and still go to hell. So there could be a good reason you are deceived too that you'll never know. Also circular.
No Necessity/Entailment
It's not about necessity or entailment. It's a trust issue with religions people form around Allah's supernatural appearances after what happened last time:
If people already formed a religion that sends you to hell (Christianity) around one deceptive supernatural appearance from Allah (Jesus' crucifixion), why would you believe a new religion people formed (Islam) around another supernatural appearance from Allah (Jibreel's appearance to Muhammad)?
Content
Beautiful, 23 years, inimitable, scientific facts, predictions → even if granted, why can't Allah do this in a deception?
Downstream
preserved, hadith, trustworthy Prophet, companions witnessed → even if granted, none of this matters if it was made to appear so.
No Deception
Next verse after "made to appear so" is "rather Allah raised him up to himself" Quran 4:158. All classical tafsirs agree Allah did it. But even if granted, there is something or someone that is powerful enough to create mass supernatural deceptions resulting in damned religions. Same Problem.
"Radical skepticism"
I don't believe in a devil that mass deceives people. You believe in a God that does.
Why Nothing Works
- None of this matters if it was made to appear so.
- Once you establish large scale deception resulting in hell like that, it corrupts the channel.
- So, Quran can't verify its own reliability when it is the appearance under question.
- If sincerity to an appearance did not save Christians from your God, then your own sincerity to this appearance cannot save you.
One-Liners
- The Killshot: Deception resulting in hell burns down the reliability of the channel.
- The Verification Trap: Once you establish large scale deception resulting in hell like that, it corrupts the channel. So, you can't use the appearance to verify the appearance.
- The Trust Issue: Sincere Trinitarian Christians are going to die thinking they will go to heaven because Jesus paid for their sins through the crucifixion and Allah is gonna be like "it was made to appear so" and send them to hell. And this won't happen to Muslims, why? Because the appearance said so?
- The Rug Pull: If the Christians don't know they will be rugpulled until they die, how do Muslims know? You can't trust any promise of safety from a God who rugpulls sincere believers.