Rebuttal to Sam Shamoun's Article, "Is Allah the Only Judge or Not?"
by
Bassam Zawadi
Sam Shamoun's article could be accessed here.
Sam Shamoun said:
The Quran says that there is no other judge besides Allah and that he doesn't allow anyone to share in his decision-making or rule:
Shall I seek other than Allah for judge, when He it is Who hath revealed unto you (this) Scripture, fully explained? Those unto whom We gave the Scripture (aforetime) know that it is revealed from thy Lord in truth. So be not thou (O Muhammad) of the waverers. S. 6:114
Say: "Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him is (the knowledge of) the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How clearly He sees, and hears (everything)! They have no Wali (Helper, Disposer of affairs, Protector, etc.) other than Him, and He makes NONE to share in His Decision and His Rule." S. 18:26 Hilali-Khan
But elsewhere in the Quran Muhammad is said to share in Allah's decisions and judgments:
O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end. S. 4:59
We sent no messenger save that he should be obeyed by Allah's leave. And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of Allah, and asked forgiveness of the messenger, they would have found Allah Forgiving, Merciful. But nay, by thy Lord, they will not believe (in truth) until they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of that which thou decidest, and submit with full submission. S. 4:64-65 Pickthall
And it becometh not a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His messenger have decided an affair (for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair; and whoso is rebellious to Allah and His messenger, he verily goeth astray in error manifest. S. 33:36
Amazingly, the above citation says that Muhammad also shares Allah's ability to forgive sinners!
In light of the above what exactly is a person to believe? Is Allah the only judge and does he refuse to share his decision and rule with anyone? Or does Muhammad also judge and make decisions for his community.
My Response:
I am pretty surprised that Sam Shamoun's quality of articles has stooped this low.
Surah 6:114 and 18:26 discuss God as the ultimate judge and authority. They say that ultimately, all judgment is decided by Him. There is no other ultimate authority besides Him.
Surah 4:59 shows that Allah and His Messenger are sources of religious authority. The messenger has this honor because Allah has given him this privilege and task since He sent him to teach the people (3:164) and make clear to them (16:44) the revelation of God. We also have to remember that the Prophet (peace be upon him) does not speak of himself but receives revelation (53:4) from God, who is the ultimate source of religious authority.
Surah 4:64-65 does not intend to say that the Prophet forgave them but asked for forgiveness. See Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Tafsir Tabari
Most of the translations state this except for Pickthal's, which Shamoun conveniently chose for his agenda.
|
Pickthall
|
We sent no messenger save that he should be obeyed by Allah's leave. And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of Allah, and asked forgiveness of the messenger, they would have found Allah Forgiving, Merciful.
|
|
Yusuf Ali
|
We sent not an apostle, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of God. If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked God's forgiveness, and the Apostle had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found God indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful.
|
|
Hilali-Khan
|
We sent no Messenger, but to be obeyed by Allah's Leave. If they (hypocrites), when they had been unjust to themselves, had come to you (Muhammad SAW) and begged Allah's Forgiveness, and the Messenger had begged forgiveness for them: indeed, they would have found Allah All-Forgiving (One Who accepts repentance), Most Merciful.
|
|
Shakir
|
And We did not send any apostle but that he should be obeyed by Allah's permission; and had they, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Apostle had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful.
|
|
Sher Ali
|
And WE have sent no Messenger but that he should be obeyed by the command of ALLAH. And if they had come to thee, when they had wronged their souls, and asked forgiveness of ALLAH, and the Messenger also had asked forgiveness for them, they would have surely found ALLAH Oft-Returning with compassion, and Merciful.
|
|
Khalifa
|
We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed in accordance with GOD's will. Had they, when they wronged their souls, come to you and prayed to GOD for forgiveness, and the messenger prayed for their forgiveness, they would have found GOD Redeemer, Most Merciful.
|
|
Arberry
|
We sent not ever any Messenger, but that he should he obeyed, by the leave of God. If; when they wronged themselves, they had come to thee, and prayed forgiveness of God, and the Messenger had prayed forgiveness for them, they would have found God turns, All-compassionate.
|
|
Palmer
|
We have never sent an apostle save that he should be obeyed by the permission of God; and if they, when they have wronged themselves, come to thee and ask pardon of God, and the Apostle asks pardon for them, then they will find God easy to be turned, compassionate.
|
|
Rodwell
|
We have not sent any apostle but to be obeyed, it God so will: but if they, after they have sinned to their own hurt by unbelief, come to thee and ask pardon of God, and the apostle ask pardon for them, they shall surely find that God is He who turneth unto man, Merciful.
|
|
Sale
|
We have not sent any apostle, but that he might be obeyed by the permission of God: But if they, after they have injured their own souls, come unto thee, and ask pardon of God, and the apostle ask pardon for them, they shall surely find God easy to be reconciled and merciful.
|
Plus, even if the verse does intend to say that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) could forgive people, this in no way suggests that he is the ultimate forgiver of sins, just like God.
Indeed, we human beings can forgive people's shortcomings, but that doesn't make us God.
Lastly, Surah 33:36 only shows how Allah and His Messenger are sources of authority. When it says Allah, it refers to the Qu'ran, and when it refers to the Messenger, it refers to the Sunnah communicated through the Prophet's actions and statements.
God is the ultimate source of authority since the Qur'an and Sunnah come from Him, not from the Prophet.
So it's pretty simple. These verses can easily be reconciled. Yes, human beings could be judges in certain matters and forgive people for specific actions committed against them. However, the ultimate judge and forgiver of sins is God.
With this understanding, there is no contradiction between these verses.
I can do the same technique with the Bible.
I can show that in one place, the Bible says that God is the only judge and lawgiver (James 4:12), yet we have the disciples having the ability to judge (Matthew 19:28), and obviously, we have countries today instituting their own laws and constitutions.
I can also show that in one place, the Bible says that God is the only one who forgives sins (Mark 2:10), yet we see that the disciples could forgive sins (John 20:23) and ordinary people as well (Matthew 6:14)
The Christian would reply, reconciling these verses like we had in this article. So why the double standard?
The debate continues.
Return to Refuting Sam Shamoun
Return to Homepage
