mansio
Either the Quran is the Word of God for all humankind and for all times or it is the work of men that knew only about their surroundings.
If such an important saying, that Jews believed Ezra was the son of God, refers to local Jewish heretical beliefs, then it is one more proof of what I said about the origins of the Quran.(posts #65 and #93).
I am sorry if what is written in the Quran has to be corrected by Muslim scholars. Much of it has already been bettered by hadith to such an extent that one can think that Muslims have not only the Quran but two or three other Holy Books.
These two statements of yours makes your igorance of a fundamental Islamic principle painfully obvious.
It is generally known among Muslims that the Qur'an can't be understood without the interpretation of the Prophet and his companions. It is actually a part of the islamic 'aqeedah that the Qur'an wasn't revealed to the Prophet without also the explanation of the particular verse.
So, it is rather amusing to see that you - some kind of "expert" that is surprised by the lack of knowledge Muslims have about some verses that allegedly copied of of Jewish legends and what not - don't understand this fundamental part of Islam.
The reason for the fact that the verses of the Qur'an was revealed along with the explanation (while He could've revealed them so everyone could understand the verses from the beginning) is so that we Muslims know that everything has to be explained by the Prophet. We can't interpret aspect of Islam without checking with the Sunnah of the Prophet and his companions. When someone doesn't know this, he is confused by some verses because he interprets them in his own way. So this statement of yours:
I knew the link about Uzayr before. God could have said "the Jews from Arabia say Uzayr is son of God". God decided to say "the Jews". My discussions rest on the words of the Quran and not on what the Quran could have said.
Asad's opinion on Ezra may be true but I prefer to stick with the Quran and not with the opinion of an apostate.
reeks with ignorance.
The Qur'an does say that it refers to the Jews in Arabia at that time, but because you don't know that there is an explanation to the verse makes you say something like that, i.e. "My discussions rest on the words of the Quran and not on what the Quran could have said."
Again, the Qur'an is explained by the Sunnah. This is the Qur'an. The words + the explanation. The one goes with the other. So of course you are dumbfound when you don't know this and try to find your own explanation.
It wasn't Asad's opinion by the way, he was mentioning what was said by ibn Abbas (the Prophet's uncle).
Some verses in the Quran are taken from books invented by men and not from the Bible.
I'm a little bit surprised than you seem not to know those verses. Here are a few of them: 5:31 is from Jewish legends, 3:49 from the Gospel of Thomas, 27:17-44 from Jewish legends, 19:29-33, 3:37 from the Protevangelion of James.
Refuted here:
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/
You and me do not agree with their opinion. What we think is one thing and what they think is another. We think what we think and they think what they think. My God I'm now speaking in Quranic style!
It is really pathetic to see someone make fun of a literally masterpiece that he hasn't got a clue about. Do you even know classical arabic? Do you even know the tafsir behind the verse? It is like if I were to make fun of Shakespear's litterature without knowing the English language.
Let me tell you something about the background for the verse.
Since Muhammad's message was beginning to attract more and more people, and the efforts from the Pagans to stop him weren't working, they came up with the idea of worshipping Allah alone one year, and the Pagan gods during the next year.
Allah then revealed:
Say: Oh Kafirûn (meaning: Say to these unbelievers that came up with this proposition)
I do not worship what you worship, nor do you worship that which I worship (meaning: I am not worshipping what you are worshipping. I worship Allah alone, while you are worshipping Pagan gods besides Him)
And I shall not worship that which you worship nor will you worship that which I worship (meaning: And it will stay like that. Your proposition is rejected, I will keep worshipping Allah alone and you will keep worshipping your gods)
To you be your religion, and to me my religion (meaning: You keep your religion to yourself without trying to mix it with mine, and I'll do the same)
In other words, the verse is saying:
I reject your proposition. I worship Allah and you worship others beside Him. We will keep it that way.
There's nothing wrong with the surah, it is your ignorance of the arabic and the background of the verse that is lacking.
The fact that you make fun of this and imply that the surah lacks in beauty is pathetic, since you don't even have knowledge of the language of the surah. It is as if I was to complaing about the grammar in an English grammar book, without knowing English.
