I'm Still Not Ready.......

OK, in my quest to find a diversity of viewpoints I followed a link off LGF and eventually ended up at clearguidance.com on a page that gives 7 reasons to read the Qur'an. But their seven reasons left me with a few questions that I'd like answered before I buy my Qur'an off Amazon.

Here we go:
Seven Reasons to read the Qur'an
(and my questions/comments)

I. Inimitable

It dares you to disprove it. How? It says that humans cannot write a book like this even if they pooled all their resources together and got help also from the spirits. The Quran said this fourteen hundred years ago and yet no one has been able to disprove it. Billions of books have been written -but not another one like the Quran.

Disprove it? Religious books were generally written to be handbooks on day-to-day life. There has been another book written to fill exactly that same function - the Jewish Torah. What makes this handbook so much better?

2. Incorruptible

It is the only religious sacred writing which has been in circulation for such a long time and yet remains as pure as it was in the beginning. The Quran was kept intact. Nothing was added to it: nothing was changed in it; and nothing was taken away from it ever since it was completely revealed 1400 years ago.

The Torah hasn't been updated for many, many years now. Nothing has been added, nothing taken away. The only thing that has changed is the translation as we discover older versions.

3. Unsurpassable

The Quran is God's final revelation to humankind. God revealed the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, the Gospel to Jesus, and finally the Quran to Muhammad. Peace be upon Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad. No other book will come from God to surpass his final revelation.

I'm guessing that we Christians were saying the same thing for 600 years. What makes you so sure that this really is the final revelation? Just because the book says so, doesn't make it so.

4. Indisputable

The Qur'an withstands the test of time and scrutiny. No one can dispute the truth of this book. It speaks about past history and turns out right, It speaks about the future in prophecies and it turns out right, It mentions details of physical phenomena which were not known to people at the time; yet later scientific discoveries confirm that the Quran was right all along. Every other book needs to be revised to accord with modern knowledge. The Quran alone is never contradicted by a modern discovery.

They say the same thing about Nostradamus. Vagueness is not the same as correctness. I need some specifics here. Muhammad was a pretty bright guy, I'm sure that he did make observations that were advanced for the time. But again, I'd like specifics.

5. Your Roadmap for Life and Afterlife

The Quran is the best guidebook on how to structure your life. No other book presents such a comprehensive system involving all aspects of human life and endeavour. The Quran also points out the way to secure everlasting happiness in the afterlife. It is your roadmap showing how to get to Paradise.

Again, all religious texts are designed to be handbooks to living life. Are you implying that the Christian and Jewish versions are wrong? Am I going to Hell for taking the backroads of Christianity instead of the Superhighway of Islam?

6. God's Gift of Guidance

God has not left you alone. You were made for a reason. God tells you why he made you, what he demands from you, and what he has in store for you. If you operate a machine contrary to it's manufacture specification you will ruin that machine. What about you? Do you have an owner's manual for you? The Quran is from your maker. It is a gift for you to make sure you function for success lest you fail to function. It is a healing mercy from God. It satisfies the soul, and cleans the heart. It removes doubts and brings peace.

So again, the Christian and Jewish Bibles are not adequate owner's manuals? Are you also saying that I will never find satisfaction or peace in either of those two books?

7. Your Calling Card to Communicate with your God

Humans are social creatures. We love to communicate with other intelligent life. The Qur'an tells us how to communicate with the source of all intelligence and the source of all life - the One God. The Qur'an tells us who God is, by what name we should address God, and the way in which to communicate with God.

I've always had problems with calling cards. The connection fees rip me off ;-) But seriously, are you telling me that if I pray to God and not Allah, that he won't listen? I would think that if God is a forgiving god then he wouldn't much care what he was called.

Are these not seven sufficient reasons for reading the Qur'an?

Not yet. Good attempt, but there are still many more questions out there.

And while you're at it, could you explain to me why I should be required to follow laws that were written 1400 years ago - and never updated?