remem.me

Islam 14-01

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas \Peter\, and then to the Twelve.

- Q 4:157 — Denial of the crucifixion.
https://quran.com/4/157

Islam 02-01

- 11:2-4 David sees and takes Bathsheba
- 11:5 She conceives
- 11:11 Her husband Uriah the Hittite shows integrity to his duties to Yahweh
- 11:15 David arranges his death
- 11:27 Yahweh is displeased
- 12:1-4 Nathan the prophet confronts David with the parable of a poor man's pet lamb, which a rich man stole to feed a guest.
- 12:5 David rightly judges the rich man.

12:7 "Nathan said to David,
'You are the man! ...'"

- 12:9 David had committed the sin of adultery and indirectly murder
- 12:10 Yahweh judged David: "'The sword shall never depart from your house.'"

12:13 "David said to Nathan,
'I have sinned against the Lord .'
And Nathan said to David,
'The Lord also has put away your sin;
you shall not die.'"

- God forgives
- But temporal consequences remain

Islam 19

- God’s eternal speech → recorded on the heavenly Tablet (created tablet, but it contains the archetype); "Mother of the Book".
- Gabriel then brings down the recitation to Muhammad.
- The earthly muṣḥaf (pages/ink) is our created copy/instantiation of that revealed recitation.

Eternal speech (kalām Allāh): Classical Sunni theology: God’s speech is an eternal attribute; the muṣḥaf (pages/ink) is created, but what it records is God’s uncreated speech.

Heavenly exemplar (al‑lawḥ al‑maḥfūẓ): The Qur’an is written on the “Preserved Tablet.”
Qur’an 85:21–22: “Nay! This is a glorious Qur’an, on a Preserved Tablet.”
https://quran.com/85/21-22
Qur’an 13:39: “Allah blots out or confirms what He wills, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.”
https://quran.com/13/39
Qur’an 43:4: “And indeed it is, in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted, full of wisdom.”
https://quran.com/43/4
Verbatim revelation via Gabriel (tanzīl/waḥy): Muhammad receives the very words of God, recited by Gabriel and memorized/written by companions.
Qur’an 2:97: “Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel—for he has brought it down to your heart by Allah’s permission…”
https://quran.com/2/97
Qur’an 53:4–5: “It is nothing but revelation revealed; taught to him by one mighty in power Gabriel.”
https://quran.com/53/4-5
Qur’an 16:102: “Say, The Holy Spirit has brought it down from your Lord in truth…”
https://quran.com/16/102

Islam 02-06

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,"

Islam 09

ummah
the worldwide Muslim community / nation / "brotherhood"

- Sunni Islam (85%) follow the Sunnah of Muhammad, authority vested in community consensus and four Sunni legal schools
- Shia Islam (15%) follow Prophet’s family; Twelvers (12 Immams)
- Sufi (taṣawwuf) mystical tradition, includes both Sunnis and Shia

Islam 13

Defensive wars to
- render and and relief to oppressed Christians
- protect pilgrims
- halt further advance

1071 Battle of Manzikert (Asia Minor under total Turkish control)
1095 Council of Clermont (Pope calls for crusade)
1096 1st Crusade launched
1099 Jerusalem captured (1st Crusade)
1144 Edessa falls (triggers 2nd Crusade)
1147 2nd Crusade launched
1187 Battle of Hattin; Jerusalem falls
1189 3rd Crusade launched
1204 4th Crusade sacks Constantinople
1217 5th Crusade launched
1229 6th Crusade recovers Jerusalem by treaty
1248 7th Crusade launched (Louis IX to Egypt)
1270 8th Crusade (Louis IX dies at Tunis)
1291 Fall of Acre (end of Latin East)
1212 Las Navas de Tolosa (Iberian Reconquista turning point)
1492 Fall of Granada (end of Iberian Reconquista)

Islam 02-05

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods
and Lord of lords,
the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,
who is not partial and takes no bribe.

Islam 02-04

14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

18 *“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom,
he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law,
approved by the Levitical priests.*

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

- No royal exemptions
- King must write/read the Law
- Not above his brothers
- Restraints on power (wives, wealth, war-horses)

Islam 07

Five Pillars core acts:
• shahāda confession: “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”
• salāt ritual prayer 5 (or 3) times daily
• zakāt almsgiving / charity (2.5% or higher)
• ṣawm fasting (Ramadan)
• ḥajj pilgrimage to Mecca, required once if able

Islam 14-07

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken

Islam 16

tahrīf corruption / alteration--either:
- distorted interpretation (tahrīf al‑maʿnā) or
- the actual text of the prior scriptures was changed (tahrīf al‑lafẓ)

Qur’anic verses claim distortion / misreading / concealment of original meaning, but do not claim loss of the text itself.
See Q 2:42; 2:75; 2:79; 3:78; 4:46; 5:13; 5:41.
https://quran.com/2/42
https://quran.com/2/75
https://quran.com/2/79
https://quran.com/3/78
https://quran.com/4/46
https://quran.com/5/13
https://quran.com/5/41
- Where the Qur’an says the text of the Torah/Gospel was universally corrupted before Muhammad?
- How does the same Qur’an call them guidance/light and command judgment based on what is written in them?

In-your-hands verses (Torah/Gospel present and accessible)
Qur'an 5:43: "How is it that they come to you for judgment while they have the Torah with them (ʿindahum al‑Tawrāt)…"
https://quran.com/5/43
Qur'an 5:47: "Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it (fīhi)."
https://quran.com/5/47
Qur'an 5:68: "O People of the Scripture, you are on nothing until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel…"
https://quran.com/5/68
Qur'an 7:157: "Those who follow the Messenger whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel…"
https://quran.com/7/157
Qur'an 3:93: "Say, Bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful."
https://quran.com/3/93
Qur'an 10:94: "If you are in doubt… ask those who read the Book before you."
https://quran.com/10/94
Qur'an 2:121: "Those to whom We gave the Book recite it as it should be recited…"
https://quran.com/2/121

Islam 15

Tawrāt Torah; the Law of Moses
Injīl Gospel; revelation given to Jesus
Zabūr Psalms of David

Given by God; guidance and light
Q 5:44 — “We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light.”
https://quran.com/5/44
Q 5:46–47 — “We gave Jesus the Gospel, in which was guidance and light… Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.”
https://quran.com/5/46
https://quran.com/5/47
Q 5:68 — “O People of the Scripture, you are on nothing until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to you…”
https://quran.com/5/68

Muslims to believe in all prior revelation; Qur’an confirms
Q 2:136 — “We believe in… what was revealed to Moses and Jesus… we make no distinction…”
https://quran.com/2/136
Q 3:84 — Parallel confession.
https://quran.com/3/84
Q 5:48 — Qur’an confirms what preceded it and serves as criterion/guardian.
https://quran.com/5/48
Q 10:37; 46:12 — Confirms earlier Scripture.
https://quran.com/10/37
https://quran.com/46/12

No one can change God’s words
Q 6:115 — “None can alter His words.”
https://quran.com/6/115
Q 18:27 — “There is no changer of His words.”
https://quran.com/18/27

Islam 14-03

1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

- Q 4:171; 5:72–75; 5:116 — Objections to deity/Trinity.
https://quran.com/4/171
https://quran.com/5/72-75
https://quran.com/5/116

Islam 14-04

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Islam 14-06

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Islam 10

- caliph
political/religious worldwide successor to Muhammad; head over the ummah
- caliphate
empire of the caliph
- Rāshidūn “Rightly Guided”
first four caliphs after Muhammad

- imām (Sunni)
local prayer leade / teacher
- Imām (Shīʿī)
divinely guided leader from the family of the Prophet

- muftī legal scholar

- Mahdī
expected messianic figure in the end times

- Sultan military-political ruler under or alongside the caliph
- Emir “commander”/prince; governor or military leader under sultan
- Malik/Shah “king”; military-political titles parallel to “sultan”

Islam 01

ca. 570 Birth in Mecca
ca. 595 Marriage to Khadījah first wife
610 First revelation at Ḥirāʾ (start of prophethood)
622 Hijra migration to Medina (start of Islamic calendar AH)
630 Conquest of Mecca
632 Death in Medina (11 AH)

Islam 14-02

Full chapters online (ESV): https://www.esv.org/Mark+15/ https://www.esv.org/Mark+16/

Islam 14-05

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Islam 04

7) Stoning case adjudicated by Torah
Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari 6841/6819; 4556): Torah brought; verse of stoning revealed by moving finger; stoning applied to a Jewish couple.
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6841
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6819
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4556
Setting: a Jewish couple accused of adultery brought for judgment; Torah produced; a reader concealed the stoning verse until uncovered.
Outcome: stoning enforced according to Mosaic law; thus Muhammad affirmed Torah for Jews.
Law development: Islamic hudūd for adultery rely on hadith (stoning) while the Qur’an (24:2) prescribes lashes—an intra-Muslim legal dispute.
- Muhammad aknowledged the Torah as inspired, preserved, and reliably transmitted.
- He applied the Mosaic law in a context (outside of the coventental state of Israel) and way that the Jews themselves did not do.
- He did not apply all the details and safeguards of the Mosaic law regarding witnesses/accusers.

Islam 02

1) Aisha’s age at marriage/consummation
Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari 5133, 5134): "He married her when she was six… consummated… when she was nine."
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5133
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5134
- The majority and earliest sources state age 9 as above; a minority of later disputed sources claim a later age

2) Captives/concubinage ("those whom your right hands possess")
Qur'an 4:24: "Also forbidden are married women—except captives in your possession."
https://quran.com/4/24
Hadith (Sahih Muslim 1438a; Bi'l-Mustaliq raid): "We took captive some women… we desired them… so we decided to have intercourse with them…"
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1438a
- Permitted even if no intent of marriage

3) Special marital privileges for Muhammad
Qur'an 33:50: "We have made lawful for you… your wives… and those bondwomen in your possession… This privilege is yours alone…"
https://quran.com/33/50
Qur'an 33:37 (Zayd & Zaynab): "When Zaid… lost interest in his wife \Zaynab\, We gave her to you in marriage…"
https://quran.com/33/37
- Zayd ibn Haritha = freed slave, adopted by Muhammad (once called "Zayd ibn ("son of") Muhammad" pre-33:4–5)
- Zaynab bint Jahsh = Muhammad’s cousin.
- 4 things had to happen for Muhammad to marry Zaynab:
1. Zayd had to divorce Zaynab
2. Zaynab had to wait the specified waiting period
3. Revelation had to be given that adopted sonsare not real sons
4. Special marriage priveleges had to be granted by revelation to Muhammad to marry a cousin (33:50 above)
Revelation on adoption: 33:4–5 ends the legal equivalence of adoption (adopted sons are not biological sons for marriage/taboo rules).
https://quran.com/33/4-5

Islam 03

4) Apostasy penalty
Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari 6922): "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him."
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6922
Classical law: public apostasy treated as a capital offense for sane adult males; repentance window typically offered; many manuals detain women until repentance.
Historical cases: Conquest of Mecca — execution orders for specific cases of apostasy/treason.
ʿAbdullāh b. Khatal: executed while clinging to the Kaʿba curtains.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3044; 4286: “Ibn Khatal is clinging to the curtain of the Kaʿba.” The Prophet said, “Kill him.”
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3044
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4286 This reference also shows that some Muslims (Malik) think this was against Allah's will.
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1357 Malik's independent report.

5) Killing of the poet/critic Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari 4037; related headings 3032): chapter "The killing of Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf."
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4037
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3032
Identity: respected Jew in Medina, a satirical poet using elegies and lampoons to resist Muhammad.
Muhammad asked who would deal with him; bin Maslama led a night ruse to kill him.
- Political assassination.

6) Banu Qurayza (627)
Qur'an 33:26: "He brought down the People of the Book [Jews in Medina] … some you slew, and some you took captive." (Classical tafsir identifies Banu Qurayza.)
https://quran.com/33/26
Hadith (Ibn Majah 2541; Abu Dawud 4404 discussions): on determining who was executed vs. spared: "Those whose pubic hair had grown were killed…"
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:2541
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4404
Background: some Jews in Medina were accused of siding with besiegers so all men were executed; women/children enslaved.
- Muhammad's initial hatred of Jews arose because they did not aknowledge him as a Prophet.
- (Muhammad had claimed the Torah prophecied about him.)
- The whole community was executed or enslaved out of suspicion that some had sided with his enemies in a battle.

Islam 05

8) Bewitchment episode
Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari 5765): "Magic was worked on Allah's Messenger…"
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5765
Storyline: a sorcerer Labīd b. al-Aʿṣam cast a spell on Muhammad using hair from his comb. This was revealed to Muhammad in a dream so he recovered the hair.
- How can a prophet be so easily bewitched?
- Did this compromise his claim to receive and recite revelation.

Islam 12

One Century, Half of Christendom
632 Death of Muhammad
632–633 Ridda (“apostasy”) wars unify Arabia
635 Damascus, Syria
636 Battle of Yarmūk River (defeat of Byzantines in Syria)
636 Iraq
637 Jerusalem surrenders to Caliph ʿUmar
642 Alexandria Egypt
642 Persia
640s Armenia and northern Mesopotamia
647 Tripolitania, Libya
649 Cyprus
670 Tunisia
671–675 Push across Iran / Afghanistan / Uzbekistan / Tajikistan
692–698 Carthage, North Africa secured
711–715 Sindh (northwestern India)
711–718 Iberian Peninsula (Spain)
732 Battle of Tours/Poitiers, France halted the northward advance of Muslims in Gaul

Islam 17

Islam claims that Jesus is
- cannot be eternal,
- cannot be God, and
- cannot be both God and man.
- if he is God he cannot die.

- Set‑up: Islam affirms an eternal divine Word that is made present on earth (recited, written, physically held). Christianity affirms the eternal Logos who is made flesh (John 1:1, 14).
- Apologetic move: Ask: If it is coherent for the eternal speech of God to be instantiated in created media (sounds/ink/memory) without compromising God’s transcendence, why is it incoherent for the eternal Word to be instantiated in a created human nature (the Incarnation)?
- Clarifications/Muslim responses:#
- Muslims: “The muṣḥaf is created paper/ink; we don’t say God ‘became a book.’”
- Reply: Christians likewise say the divine nature did not turn into flesh; rather, the Word assumed a human nature—two natures, one Person.
- Muslims: “Attributes ≠ essence; no hypostatic union.”
- Reply: The analogy is not identity; it is a consistency test about an eternal Word manifesting in creation.
- Tactical use: This analogy lowers the a‑priori objection (“God’s Word can’t be embodied”), paving the way to read the Gospels about Jesus’ identity.

Islam 18

tawḥīd absolute oneness and uniqueness of God
shirk associating partners with God; considered the gravest sin

Islam 02-03

1 *Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.*
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

- Hiding sin brings misery
- Confession brings mercy

Islam 02-02

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 *Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight*,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

10 *Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.*
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 *The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.*

- True Repentance
- The Old Testament sacrifices could not actually forgive sins.
- They only looked to the future to the ultimate death on the cross of Jesus.
- Only Jesus' sinless self-sacrifice could actually wash away our sins.

Islam 08

ṭahāra ritual purity washings; includes wuḍūʾ (ablutions) and ghusl (full bath)

halāl permitted/lawful (food)
harām forbidden/prohibited

Kaʿba
• cube shaped building
• at the center of the Sacred Mosque precinct in Mecca
• houses the black stone
• focal point of pilgrimage and prayer direction

Ramadan
month of fasting, prayer, and Qur’an recitation

Islam 02-12

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Islam 02-11

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Islam 02-07

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Islam 02-08

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Islam 02-13

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Islam 02-10

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Islam 02-09

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Islam 02-14

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Islam 02-15

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Islam 06

- Islam
“submission” to God by obedience to Muhammad
- muslim
one who submits

• Qur’an
Islam’s scripture given by Muhammad in Arabic
• hadith
reports of Muhammad’s sayings/deeds
• isnād
chain of transmission / narrators of a hadith
• Sīra
biographical narratives of Muhammad’s life

- Sunnah
a law based on an example of practice of Muhammad from the hadith
- Sharīʿa
Islamic law deriving from Qur’an and Sunnah
- fatwā
a legal opinion

- bidʿa
religious innovation; seen as negative
- jihād
“striving/struggle” to advance Islam; from writing to bearing children to armed conflict

Islam 20

We know that there are copyist errors in the text of the Bible
- Almost all are spelling differences.
- These are well studied and we know with great certainty the original text of Scripture.
- No Christian doctrine is in question due to variants.
- We have 3 almost complete Bibles pre-Muhammad
- Codex Sinaiticus (ℵ, 01; 4th c.)
- Codex Alexandrinus (A, 02; 5th c.)
- Codex Vaticanus (B, 03; 4th c.)
- We have hundreds of partial manuscripts pre-Muhammad

The Quran has many variants:
ʿUthmānic recension (r. 644–656 CE):
Islamic tradition reports that the caliph ʿUthmān commissioned a committee (Zayd b. Thābit and others) to produce a standard codex and send copies to major centers.
He then ordered other codices and personal manuscripts to be burned, to prevent divergence.
Hadith hubs: Sahih al‑Bukhari, Kitāb Faḍāʾil al‑Qurʾān (Zayd’s compilation; burning of other copies).

Why this matters apologetically:
If perfect preservation means no variants or rival codices, the need to standardize and to destroy alternatives raises historical questions.

Qirāʾāt and riwāyāt (canonical readings):
Classical Islam recognizes multiple canonical readings (commonly 7 → 10 → 14), each with chains of transmission and detailed phonetic/orthographic rules.
Modern printings highlight differences between Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim (widespread) and Warsh ʿan Nāfiʿ (North/West Africa), among others (Qālūn, ad‑Dūrī, etc.). These include vowelings, words, and occasionally meaning.
“30 Qur’ans?” (Jay Smith claim):
Some apologists catalog dozens of printed Qur’ans representing different qirāʾāt/riwāyāt and editorial traditions, arguing there are “30+ official Qur’ans.”

Islam 14

Option A – Bible reliable:
- The Bible teaches Jesus is God the Son, crucified and risen, and
- salvation by grace through faith;
- these claims conflict with the Qur’an’s denials.
→ Therefore Islam is false (because it denies what the affirmed Scriptures teach).

Option B – Bible corrupted:
- The Qur’an repeatedly calls the Torah and Gospel “guidance and light,”
- commands Jews/Christians to judge by them, and
- says no one can change God’s words.
→ Therefore Islam is false (because the Qur’an would be wrong about the status of those Scriptures).

Islam 11

Second Class Citizens

- Ahl al-Kitāb “People of the Book”
Jews and Christians
- dhimmi tax
paid by Jews and Christians to permit then to practice their faith

- devşirme Ottoman “child levy” or “blood tax”
seized Christian boys in the Balkans, who were converted, trained, and formed the Janissary corps (14th–17th c.)
- Janissaries (Yeniçeri)
elite infantry created largely from devşirme recruits