The Quran learning made mandatory for university students in Punjab

[krash]

How where since when?

"And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion." (2:120)


"And you will certainly find the nearest in love to those who believe to be those who say: We are Christians". (5:82)


Seems like a clear contradiction, doesn't it?

 

[El Sidd]

You are going off on a tangent. This is nothing to do with criticism of Muslims, it's about the value of making university students learn Qur'an whilst studying for a BEng or BSc

Unless proven that they turn out lesser engineers because they were busy learning the Muslim holy book whilst doing BEng.

"And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion." (2:120)


"And you will certainly find the nearest in love to those who believe to be those who say: We are Christians". (5:82)


Seems like a clear contradiction, doesn't it?

No.

Even for someone who has rudimentary English skills like me.

It's a 1500 year old book. Were there contractions, people would have given up on it.

 

[krash]

No.

Even for someone who has rudimentary English skills like me.

Yes, it does.

It's a 1500 year old book. Were there contractions, people would have given up on it.

You've missed the entire discussion. Starts from here.

 

[El Sidd]

Yes, it does.

as per Cambridge definition of the word, contradiction? if i may ask how?

You've missed the entire discussion. Starts from here

I did go through the discussion. I don't disagree with your post about the need for systematic concentrated approach towards seeking knowledge from the book. I only took exception to a statement which I don't agree with.

The book has a statement challenging the reader to find any contradictions in it itself.

 

[krash]

as per Cambridge definition of the word, contradiction? if i may ask how?

I did go through the discussion. I don't disagree with your post about the need for systematic concentrated approach towards seeking knowledge from the book. I only took exception to a statement which I don't agree with.

The book has a statement challenging the reader to find any contradictions in it itself.

Then you didn't get it.

1) "And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion." (2:120)

Says the Christians will never approve of you (Muslims), i.e. be your friends, be your allies, so on and so forth. This is a very famous Ayat used by every illiterate to peddle hate against the Christian minority in Pakistan.

2) "And you will certainly find the nearest in love to those who believe to be those who say: We are Christians". (5:82)

Says the Christians will be the "nearest in love", i.e. best friends, allies, well-wishers to those who believe (Muslims).

One says the Christians will never be the friends of the Muslims, the second says the Christians will be the friends of the Muslims. Very explicit and clear contradiction (the fact of something being the complete opposite of something else or very different from something else, so that one of them must be wrong - Cambridge). That is, if you only take the literal meanings of the Ayaat. In reality, both the Ayaat are speaking in completely different contexts which once understood and realized show that they are not in contradiction at all. Hence, the Quran cannot be studied just by itself and/or literally. It needs contextual explanation and elaboration which are both documented in the Sirah either through direct teachings of the Prophet (S.A.W) or historical documentation. If you reject the Sirah then you stand a good chance of misunderstanding and misinterpreting the text in the Book. And that's the debate we're having here. Not that the Quran has contradictions in it.

Makes better sense now?

 

[El Sidd]

One says the Christians will never be the friends of the Muslims, the second says the Christians will be the friends of the Muslims.

1) "And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion." (2:120)

Says the Christians will never approve of you (Muslims), i.e. be your friends, be your allies, so on and so forth. This is a very famous Ayat used by every illiterate to peddle hate against the Christian minority in Pakistan.

2) "And you will certainly find the nearest in love to those who believe to be those who say: We are Christians". (5:82)

One talks about approval the other talks about closest nearest to submission or devotion to God. If the second had gone on to say that due to this similarity, christians may approve you. that would have been a contradiction.

Makes better sense now?

It does.

 

[krash]

the other talks about closest nearest to submission or devotion to God. If the second had gone on to say that due to this similarity, christians may approve you. that would have been a contradiction.

You misunderstood it. The second is talking about the Christains' love for "those who believe", i.e. Muslims. Not devotion to God. The metrical composition of the Quran is hard to grasp through a word for word translation and I deliberately posted it to make the issue more evident. The complete stanza makes it more obvious. In most translations it is simplified to, for example,

And you will certainly find that the people most hostile against the believers are the Jews and the ones who ascribe partners to Allah. You will certainly find that the closest of them in friendship with the believers are those who say, “We are Christians.” That is because among them there are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant. - (5:82) - Mufti Taqi Usmani