Fifth Objection

The fifth objection raised by the Christians against the Holy Qur’an is that certain passages of the Holy Qur’an disagree with certain others. For example the following verses of the Holy Qur’an are said to contradict those verses that proclaim the doctrine of jihad.

(1) “There is no compulsion in religion.”1[1]

(2) “Your duty is only to warn them; you are not their keeper.” 2[2]

(3) “Say, Obey Allah and obey His messenger. If you turn away, he is still bound to bear his burden, and you are bound to bear your own burden. If you obey him you shall be on the right Path. The duty of the messenger is nothing but to convey the message clearly.” 3[3]

They claim that the above verses are contradictory to the verses that enjoin the duty of jihad (war) against the disbelievers.

Similarly, it is claimed by the Christians that the Holy Qur’an speaks in some places of Jesus as being purely human and the Messenger of God while other verses speak of his being superior to human beings. For example at one place the Holy Qur’an says:

Al Masih Isa (Jesus), the son of Mariam, was no more than Allah’s messenger and His word which He cast of Mariam: a spirit from Him. 4[4]

The following verse is cited, as contradicting the above verse:

And Mary the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity and we breathed into ( her body) of our spirit.5[5]

The above two objections are forwarded by the Christians with great force. As far as the first objection is concemed, the verses quoted above denying compulsion etc. are verses that were revealed prior to the verses of jihad.

They were abrogated by the later verses that enjoined jihad. Abrogation, as we have discussed earlier in detail, is not in any way a discrepancy or contradiction.

Otherwise it would require that all the abrogated injunctions of the Pentateuch and the Gospels be considered as real contradictions. It may be added here that the verse 2:256 is not included in the abrogated verses. 6[6]

The answer to the second objection has already been discussed in this book where we proved that the above verses do not and cannot imply that Jesus, the son of Mary, does not belong to mankind or that he was superior to human beings.

This kind of deduction from these verses is nothing but sheer ignorance. We are surprised to note how they ignore the plain contradictions present in their own books of which we have cited so many specific examples earlier in this book. 7[7]

1[1] Qur’an 2:256.


2[2] Qur’an 88:21.


3[3] Qur’an 24:54.


4[4]Qur’an 4:171


5[5]. Qur’an 66:12


6[6] 3. This verse has nothing to do with the verses of jihad and it is not in any way against those verses as will be shown later in its proper context.


7[7]Their objections with regard to these verses are so imbecile and ungrounded that it does not require any serious consideration. Students of the Qur’an will have no difficulty in realising the poverty of reason behind them. (Raazi)