Islam Is Very Implausible
The Quran says crazy things. Unlike the Bible, however, it's supposed to come directly from God.
I’ve written a bunch of posts analyzing the evidence for Christianity recently, but I haven’t written about Islam. Some have been curious about why that is. The short reason is that Islam is extremely implausible, orders of magnitude less plausible than Christianity (or Hinduism).
The Quran is supposed to be the word of God directly. Unlike with the Bible, the Quran is supposedly dictated directly from Allah, rather than mediated through potentially errant human prophets. Thus, if there are errors, either moral or factual in the Quran, they come directly from God. Unfortunately, there are a lot of very implausible things in the Quran. For example, the teachings about hell:
"...Those who deny (their Lord), for them will be cut out a garment of Fire. Over their heads will be poured out boiling water. With it will be scalded what is within their bodies, as well as (their) skins. In addition there will be maces of iron (to punish) them. Every time they wish to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be forced back, and (it will be said), "Taste the Penalty of Burning!"
They will go back and forth between fire and scalding water.
And:
But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs will be the residents of the Fire. They will be there forever.
Even the food is bad!
"Surely the tree of the Zaqqum is the food of the sinful, like dregs of oil; it shall boil in (their) bellies, like the boiling of hot water."
People’s skins will melt off, only to grow back so that they melt again:
(As for) those who disbelieve in Our communications, We shall make them enter fire; so oft as their skins are thoroughly burned, We will change them for other skins, that they may taste the chastisement; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Surrah 4:34 describes Allah’s command to beat disobedient women to whom one is married:
Men are caretakers of women, since Allah has made some of them excel the others, and because of the wealth they have spent. So, the righteous women are obedient, (and) guard (the property and honor of their husbands) in (their) absence with the protection given by Allah. As for women of whom you fear rebellion, convince them, and leave them apart in beds, and beat them. Then, if they obey you, do not seek a way against them. Surely, Allah is the Highest, the Greatest.
Surrah 9:5 says:
“Slay the infidels wherever you find them ... and lie in wait for them ... and establish every stratagem (of war against them).”
If there was just a single mistaken verse, that would be one thing. But the Quran seems to get dozens of different things about ethics wrong in utterly stupendous ways, and in particular, in the ways that would be expected of a mere man around the time of Muhammed. Muhammed, supposedly the standard of conduct, married a six-year-old. There are also numerous factual mistakes in the Quran, involving claims that the sun set in a muddy spring and that there are 7 earths and indeed, many of the Quranic depictions of Old Testament Characters seem to match circulating legends.
Christians can get around the weird things their book says by being a bit liberal about it, thinking that God allowed human errors. He seems to be big on this free-will thing. But if Allah directly dictated the Quran to Muhammed, then it cannot contain the kinds of errors that it’s supposed to.
In addition, there aren’t any particularly impressive arguments for Islam. The arguments for Islam are roughly the quality of that the arguments for Christianity would be if there hadn’t been any resurrection evidence. For example, Muslims often argue for the veracity of Islam based on the fact that it allegedly correctly predicts its own perfect transmission—in reality, its transmission is very imperfect. The prophecies Muslims point to are generally quite unimpressive, particularly given the many failed prophecies. Islam, like Judaism, has the problem that there just aren’t really good reasons to believe it, unlike Hinduism and Christianity. I am, of course, not persuaded by these reasons, but there’s at least something solid to be said in favor of either Christianity or Hinduism.
Additionally, while Christianity brought about a profound moral transformation, Islam has likely had a negative effect on the world. Muslim nations are more repressive, less tolerant, and less liberal than Christian nations. I’d expect God’s final revelation to profoundly transform the world, not set it back morally!
I believe the claim that "Muslim nations are more repressive, less tolerant, and less liberal than Christian nations" is only true of our local point in history. I gather that the opposite was the case ~500 years ago. (Compare, e.g., religious tolerance in the Ottoman empire vs Catholic Spain.) In particular, there's a much longer history of antisemitism in Christian nations.
Incidentally—as a former Muslim—these arguments against Islam were ones that I *didn’t* find particularly convincing. Islamic morality and alleged scientific errors in the Quran are issues often addressed by apologists. The reason I didn’t find *their* arguments convincing was largely because I think literature as a medium of divine communication is an innately flawed concept—but like with most of the reasons I no longer believe in Islam, Christianity isn’t much better in that regard.