Two Contradictions in Allah's Creation Story

The literary perfection of the Qur'an is a widely-held tenet of Muslims.  The Qur'an is written with “clear proofs” or “clear signs”; the Qur’an is meant to be clear.  But it is easy to show the Qur'an often uses imprecise language historical inaccuracies and, in places, flatly contradicts itself.  This makes the Qur’an anything but clear. 

Below I point out two contradictions in the Qur’an on the topic of Allah’s creation.

Was Satan Created from Water or Fire?: The Qur'an claims that Allah created every living creature from water (Qur'an 24:45).  Some versions of Qur'an state this verse with not "every living creature" but "every animal".  Clarifying the language, the Arabic is actually "every daaba" which means that every living creature is created of water.

But notably, this verse forgets about Satan.  Satan was created from fire.   In the following verse, Satan thought he was better than man so he refused to prostrate himself before Adam.  This is Satan’s response:

He said, “I am better than him. You created me from fire, and created him from clay.” Qur'an 38:76, Usmani

In surah 18:50, Satan (Iblis) is described as a jinn.  Jinns are living creatures (Qur’an 51:56).  According to this hadith, Jinn are said to have lived on the earth, and can actually become Muslims.   

The jinn are even known to have sex with women:

In them there will be maidens restraining (their) glances, whom neither a man might have touched before them, nor a Jinn. Qur'an 55:56, Usmani

(Aside: Al Tabari’s commentary on this verse says that, “When a man has intercourse with his wife and does not name [Allah], the jinn coils around his urethra and has intercourse along with him.”  This is a disgusting thought, and shows Muslims can be a very superstitious lot.  Reference is here. )

So the Qur'an has an apparent contradiction here.  Either the language of the Qur'an is imprecise or Mohammed somehow forgot that Satan was created from fire.

More information on the contradiction on Satan’s creation is here.

Do All Living Creatures have Two Legs or Four Legs?: Muhammad seems to exclude insects and spiders as not being part of his creation in surah 24:45.  

Allah has created every moving creature from water. So, some of them move on their bellies; and some of them move on two legs, and some of them move on four. Allah creates what He wills.  Surely, Allah is powerful over everything. Qur'an 24:45, Usmani

The context in this verse at the start is "every living creature".  The verse mentions creatures that "walk on their bellies", creatures with two legs and with four legs, but no mention of creatures with six or eight legs.  There is no mention of the centipede.  These too are Allah's creation.  The context of the verse is all living creatures. This leads to an apparent contradiction.  The omissions impact the literal quality of the verse.

Another point, the English versions of the Qur'an say that "some of them MOVE on their bellies".  However, the language issue is that the Arabic actually uses the word “yamshi” for "walk".  This is a problem because snakes don't walk.

Do you think these examples are consistent with literary perfection of the Qur'an? 

The Islamic Dilemma

The common claim made by Muslims is that the Bible has been corrupted.  Muslims want you to believe that the books of the Bible have been changed to the point that their original meaning is unrecognizable.  What the average Muslim doesn't know, is that the Quran can be used against itself, to show that the Bible could not possibly have been corrupted. This puts Muslims in a difficult predicament, because the Bible shows the Quran is a fabrication. Below we explain this so-called Islamic Dilemma.

The Bible is Allah’s book.  By asking, “So, do you think that Allah’s Bible has been corrupted?”  Muslims may be taken aback. They may not having realized that their corruption claim is actually an attack on their own Allah.  To reinforce, you might follow up with, “Are you saying that the words of Allah have become corrupted?”

The Quran doesn't actually use the term Bible, the Quran references the “Zabur” (Psalms), the “Torah”, and the “Injil” (lit. the Gospel).  If asked, the Muslim will hopefully admit that both Torah and Injil are the words of Allah.  If not, lead them to the Qur'an:

“We sent ‘Īsā son of Maryam after those prophets, confirming the Torah that was (revealed) before him, and We gave him the Injīl having guidance and light therein, and confirming the Torah that was (revealed) before it; a guidance and a lesson for the God-fearing.” Surah 5:46, Mufti Taqi Usmani 

“He has revealed to you the Book with the truth, confirming what has been before it, and has sent down the Torah and the Injīl earlier to give guidance to mankind, and has sent down the Furqān (the Criterion of right and wrong). Surely, those who have rejected the verses of Allah, for them there is severe punishment. Allah is Mighty, the Lord of Retribution.”  Surah 3:3-4, Mufti Taqi Usmani

"And when there came to them (the Jews), a Book (this Quran) from Allah confirming what is with them [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)], although aforetime they had invoked Allah (for coming of Muhammad Peace be upon him) in order to gain victory over those who disbelieved, then when there came to them that which they had recognised, they disbelieved in it. So let the Curse of Allah be on the disbelievers.”  Qur'an 2:89, Muhsin Khan and Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali

Note that I chose Muhsin Khan over Usmani for the translation of Surah 2:89 because it clarifies that "what is with them" are the Torah and Injil.  In the Arabic, the verses actually don’t say “sent down” but literally says “what is is between your hands”.  So the verses refer to a real physical book, not just a message.

Next, according to the Quran, Allah's word cannot be changed:

"The Word of your Lord is perfect in truth and justice. None is there to change His words..." Surah 6:115, Mufti Taqi Usmani

"And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no one to change His words..." Surah 18:27, Mufti Taqi Usmani

"For them there is the good news in the worldly life and in the Hereafter: there is no change in the words of Allah.  That is the great achievement." Surah 10:64, Mufti Taqi Usmani

So the Injil and Torah are the words of Allah and cannot be changed.

You might have trouble getting the Muslim to admit that the Injeel corresponds to the New Testament gospel of Jesus.  The term Injeel or Injīl or in Arabic إنجيل literally means gospel.  As it says in Surah 5:46 above, the Injil is a book.  But which book?

From 200-800 AD, there was only one Christian book commonly available, the Evangelion, which was a compendium of the synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  This was most likely the book Muhammad saw the Christians reading.  Ibn Ishak, the earliest Islamic biographer of Muhammad even quotes John 15:23-16:1 and says that it is taken from the Injil.  Was Ibn Ishaq lying?  Probably not. 

So, the Qur'an shows that the synoptic gospels are the words of Allah and cannot have been corrupted.  The synoptic gospels of course asserts that 1. Jesus is God, 2. that he died and 3. that he rose from the dead.  These claims completely contradict the Quran and expose it as a fabrication.

Other objections:

1. There are subtleties in processes of translation and interpretation.  Virtually any translation of the quoted passages will convey the same meaning.  (You might like to try this for yourself by making a visit to https://quran.com/.)  In addition, the Quran many times says that it is clearly written, that it is the "clear revelation" of Allah, "with clear signs, proofs, etc.".  We can then take the Qur'an at its literal meaning.
2. Injil corresponds only to PARTS of the synoptic gospels.  Response: From Surah 5:46, the Injil is not a set of fragments but an actual book.  One can't just go cutting up pieces of the gospel accounts and say "this is Injil" and "that is not Injil".  This is very similar to saying the gospel of Jesus has been corrupted.

Some might want to divert attention by insisting that the Quran is the final revelation of God so that we should listen exclusively to it.  We as Christians have a good response to this.  The Qur'an actually instructs us to put our faith in the Bible:

“And the people of the Injīl must judge according to what Allah has sent down therein. Those who do not judge according to what Allah has sent down, they are the sinners.” Surah 5:47, Mufti Taqi Usmani

(Thanks to David Wood, Sam Shamoun and Christian Prince for presenting this argument.  Watch their videos at:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Acts17Apologetics

https://www.youtube.com/user/shamounian

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOllN2W9yT4ZYaSgTkqzhhg)