RationalWiki:Annotated Qur'an/The Scatterers

Annotated Qur'an
Sura 51: The Scatterers
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Qur'an 51:1 By the spreaders spreading.	Qur'an 51:1 Notes I can understand the original Arabic verses having some poetic beauty to them, but why does this, by itself, need to be its own verse?

Qur'an 51:2 And those carrying loads.	Qur'an 51:2 Notes Other translations state that the load in question is specifically rain. Is this going to be the coherent theme throughout the entire chapter?

Qur'an 51:3 And those moving gently.	Qur'an 51:3 Notes I would be surprised if this book actually has a theme and sticks with it for a whole chapter, and this might actually come close to doing that.

Qur'an 51:4 And those distributing as commanded.	Qur'an 51:4 Notes Another ambiguous verse lies here.

Qur'an 51:5 What you are promised is true.	Qur'an 51:5 Notes Allah must be really patient to wait until verse 5 of this chapter to assert that his claims are true. Would he really need to continuously remind us that his claims are true if they could actually stand on their own?

Qur'an 51:6 Judgment will take place.	Qur'an 51:6 Notes This same cruel tyrant is judge, jury, and executioner.

Qur'an 51:7 By the sky that is woven.	Qur'an 51:7 Notes The sky is woven? What metaphorical sense does that make? Not all translations mention a woven sky, but this just shows the imperfect ambiguity in the original Arabic wording.

Qur'an 51:8 You differ in what you say.	Qur'an 51:8 Notes People disagree on things. People specifically disagree on an ambiguous, contradictory message.

Qur'an 51:9 Averted from it is he who is averted.	Qur'an 51:9 Notes What an insightful and not just tautological statement...

Qur'an 51:10 Perish the imposters.	Qur'an 51:10 Notes Sus...

Qur'an 51:11 Those who are dazed in ignorance.	Qur'an 51:11 Notes Allah is the one who dazed them in ignorance according to his own words in his own truthful message.

Qur'an 51:12 They ask, “When is the Day of Judgment?”	Qur'an 51:12 Notes This is a valid question. Many people, including believing Muslims, ask that question with only the best of intentions.

Qur'an 51:13 The Day they are presented to the Fire.	Qur'an 51:13 Notes This threat is meant for the disbelievers who don't even believe in an all-powerful sadist.

Qur'an 51:14 “Taste your ordeal. This is what you used to challenge.”	Qur'an 51:14 Notes Translation: "You were skeptical of these threats? You deserve the absolute worst for it! Skepticism is not allowed, even when Allah forced your hearts to reject the truth!"

Qur'an 51:15 But the pious are amidst gardens and springs.	Qur'an 51:15 Notes This stick also comes with a carrot to motivate the believers.

Qur'an 51:16 Receiving what their Lord has given them. They were virtuous before that.	Qur'an 51:16 Notes This may be true if faith and obedience are virtues, but faith in the wrong religions or obedience to the wrong authorities are still problematic, as are skepticism.

Qur'an 51:17 They used to sleep a little at night.	Qur'an 51:17 Notes Allah created the night for rest while also designing humans in such a way that they need to spend approximately a third of their time sleeping.

Qur'an 51:18 And at dawn, they would pray for pardon.	Qur'an 51:18 Notes Why specifically at dawn?

Qur'an 51:19 And in their wealth, there was a share for the beggar and the deprived.	Qur'an 51:19 Notes This is good, but why does this gets lumped with some awful morality.

Qur'an 51:20 And on earth are signs for the convinced.	Qur'an 51:20 Notes Signs for those already convinced that they have the truth? Are signs not supposed to lead people from doubts *to* the truth?

Qur'an 51:21 And within yourselves. Do you not see?	Qur'an 51:21 Notes Allah constantly talks about disbelievers in the most vile ways imaginable. However, the signs inside me point to the sheer inaccuracy for these claims. This verse could talk about the complexity of human biology, which the Quran also gets wrong multiple times.

Qur'an 51:22 And in the heaven is your livelihood, and what you are promised.	Qur'an 51:22 Notes Allah's promises mean nothing.

Qur'an 51:23 By the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is as true as the fact that you speak.	Qur'an 51:23 Notes People have been demonstrated to speak. Meanwhile, this "truthful" message simply fails to speak for itself and needs way too many verses asserting that it is, in fact, the truth. When do honest people need to waste half their breath just saying "I am truthful!" to those who lack convincing evidence.

Qur'an 51:24 Has the story of Abraham’s honorable guests reached you?	Qur'an 51:24 Notes With the sheer repetitiveness of this book's fables, it must have reached me by now.

Qur'an 51:25 When they entered upon him, they said, “Peace.” He said, “Peace, strangers.”	Qur'an 51:25 Notes Does this book explain who the honorable guests even are?

Qur'an 51:26 Then he slipped away to his family, and brought a fatted calf.	Qur'an 51:26 Notes I am hungry right now, so I could definitely use a hearty meal.

Qur'an 51:27 He set it before them. He said, “Will you not eat?”	Qur'an 51:27 Notes I would definitely eat that.

Qur'an 51:28 And he harbored fear of them. They said, “Do not fear,” and they announced to him the good news of a knowledgeable boy.	Qur'an 51:28 Notes I feel like his fear of the guests should have been stated a bit earlier.

Qur'an 51:29 His wife came forward crying. She clasped her face, and said, “A barren old woman?”	Qur'an 51:29 Notes I would probably be less astonished and more skeptical if some people told me that I would have a child when I was infertile. However, this was probably a sensitive subject for her for any of a variety of reasons.

Qur'an 51:30 They said, “Thus spoke your Lord. He is the Wise, the Knowing.”	Qur'an 51:30 Notes How would anybody in Abraham's family know that they said the truth? People can lie in Allah's name all the time.

Qur'an 51:31 He said, “What is your business, O envoys?”	Qur'an 51:31 Notes Does their business involve proving what they said?

Qur'an 51:32 They said, “We are sent to a people guilty of sin.”	Qur'an 51:32 Notes According to the one who created us, that would be humanity as a whole.

Qur'an 51:33 “To unleash upon them rocks of clay.”	Qur'an 51:33 Notes Rocks of clay are apparently appropriate punishments.

Qur'an 51:34 “Marked by your Lord for the excessive.”	Qur'an 51:34 Notes Excessive in what? Specify the sins so that people reading these verses know how to avoid them.

Qur'an 51:35 We evacuated all the believers who were in it.	Qur'an 51:35 Notes Their sin was disbelief. Of course it was.

Qur'an 51:36 But found in it only one household of Muslims.	Qur'an 51:36 Notes Only one household? Really?

Qur'an 51:37 And We left in it a sign for those who fear the painful punishment.	Qur'an 51:37 Notes People need to already believe in the painful punishment to see this unproven fable as any sort of proof for this threat. This book talks a lot about believers quenching their doubts, but seriously doubting believers would look at the lack of evidence and often find their doubts growing. They read their holy book to put their doubts at ease and only find the doubts worsening.

Qur'an 51:38 And in Moses. We sent him to Pharaoh with a clear authority.	Qur'an 51:38 Notes This authority may seem clear to Moses his brother Aaron, but how can we tell that anyone else found it this way?

Qur'an 51:39 But he turned away with his warlords, and said, “A sorcerer or a madman.”	Qur'an 51:39 Notes Both "sorcerer" and "madman" are far more believable than "messenger from the all-powerful creator and ruler of the universe" at first glance. The snake trick especially would be possible for a masterful sorcerer who still has limits to his power and connection with this nebulous concept of a god, especially since Muslims already believe that magic is possible.

Qur'an 51:40 So We seized him and his troops, and threw them into the sea, and He was to blame.	Qur'an 51:40 Notes Allah provided little evidence for his existence, effectively forced Pharaoh to disbelieve, and blamed this very same Pharaoh for the brutal punishment which Allah chose. Seriously, who other than Allah determined that disbelief is a horrid offense in the first place? Allah chose the consequences for the disbelief which he himself forced upon most of his human creations.

Qur'an 51:41 And in Aad. We unleashed against them the devastating wind.	Qur'an 51:41 Notes There this loving god goes again.

Qur'an 51:42 It spared nothing it came upon, but rendered it like decayed ruins.	Qur'an 51:42 Notes This love is getting quite repetitive.

Qur'an 51:43 And in Thamood. They were told, “Enjoy yourselves for a while.”	Qur'an 51:43 Notes I can't handle the completely non-sadistic love!

Qur'an 51:44 But they defied the command of their Lord, so the lightning struck them as they looked on.	Qur'an 51:44 Notes They disobeyed their lord even when they had no idea that these commands actually came from on high. Of course, that hardly matters. Thankfully, this book owns up to Allah's brutality and never calls him silly things like "Forgiving" or "Merciful" in a sickeningly contradictory way.

Qur'an 51:45 They could not rise up, nor could they find help.	Qur'an 51:45 Notes If a loving and merciful god did that, then this verse would suggest that sincere disbelief is a serious crime *so* worthy of destruction that not even infinite mercy would be enough to save them from their inevitable consequences.

Qur'an 51:46 And before that, the people of Noah. They were immoral people.	Qur'an 51:46 Notes Immorality is such a vague and poorly-defined concept. What specifically made them immoral on the grandest scale of all?

Qur'an 51:47 We constructed the universe with power, and We are expanding it.	Qur'an 51:47 Notes Allah just asserts that this universe is his own doing instead of proving anything.

Qur'an 51:48 And the earth—We spread it out—How well We prepared it!	Qur'an 51:48 Notes Allah probably put several impressions in the ground specifically for those puddles and lakes that fit so perfectly.

Qur'an 51:49 We created all things in pairs, so that you may reflect and ponder.	Qur'an 51:49 Notes I am mindful of way too many things that don't obviously come in pairs. How is one supposed to interpret this verse even at Muhammad's time?

Qur'an 51:50 “So flee towards God. I am to you from Him a clear warner.”	Qur'an 51:50 Notes Clarity is nowhere to be found here.

Qur'an 51:51 “And do not set up any other god with God. I am to you from Him a clear warner.”	Qur'an 51:51 Notes Allah is too petty to ever associate with those other gods!

Qur'an 51:52 Likewise, no messenger came to those before them, but they said, “A sorcerer or a madman.”	Qur'an 51:52 Notes What evidence does anyone have that these prophets came from Allah that does not also apply to sorcerers and madmen? Many of these previous prophets are so poorly documented that they might not even have existed.

Qur'an 51:53 Did they recommend it to one another? In fact, they are rebellious people.	Qur'an 51:53 Notes In order to rebel against a given authority, people need to acknowledge this authority whatsoever. Disbelievers have no idea that Allah is real because, by all appearances, he does not seem real.

Qur'an 51:54 So turn away from them; you are not to blame.	Qur'an 51:54 Notes If people seriously question this religion and cause you to question it too, you should run instead of confronting the very real possibility that this religion is wrong.

Qur'an 51:55 And remind, for the reminder benefits the believers.	Qur'an 51:55 Notes Instead, you can use some of that effort proving things.

Qur'an 51:56 I did not create the jinn and the humans except to worship Me.

Qur'an 51:56 Notes Allah says this while also acknowledging that many humans and jinn fail to worship Allah. This means that the supposedly perfect creator made beings for a purpose which most of them do not fulfill. Allah himself seals people's hearts, preventing them from accepting the truth. These people are created by Allah to worship him and are also prevented from doing that by this same Allah.

Qur'an 51:57 I need no livelihood from them, nor do I need them to feed Me.	Qur'an 51:57 Notes Allah still gets super angry whenever people disbelieve. He might not need them to believe in him, but disbelief clearly hurts him emotionally.

Qur'an 51:58 God is the Provider, the One with Power, the Strong.	Qur'an 51:58 Notes Allah loves to stroke his own ego so much and yet refuses to just let everyone freely choose to worship him. He repeatedly claims to prevent some of his creations, whom Allah created for the sole purpose of kissing up to him, from actually doing the thing which Allah created and commanded them to do.

Qur'an 51:59 Those who do wrong will have their turn, like the turn of their counterparts, so let them not rush Me.	Qur'an 51:59 Notes What a loving threat to end things off...

Qur'an 51:60 So woe to those who disbelieve because of that Day of theirs which they are promised.	Qur'an 51:60 Notes They disbelieve because you failed to open their hearts to the evidence which you did not even provide to them in the first place, Allah.