A Response to a Christian And a Demonstration of the Koran's Distillation of the Psalms

- Content:

An Introduction and Response to C.R.O.W.

The Christian evangelist C.R.O.W., at http://faithful-cat.4t.com/, one of the anti-Islamic sites I link you to on the home page, seems to be puzzled or by the Islamic belief that the Psalms were given to the blesed David and inspired by God when (according to him):

The Psalms, to the average Christian, are not all "a revelation" as such, but a collection of Songs, Poems, Repentance and Thankfulness from a group of believers of God. Psalms are not a new Torah / Law nor are they constructed in the same style as the Torah.

As a matter of fact, there are laws in the Psalms, but I’ll get to that later. C.R.O.W. also mentions the fact that many of the Psalms are not attributed to the blessed David. Well, that’s the thing: the Koran speaks of God giving the Psalms to the blessed David, and no one else, so that means that, from an Islamic point of view, the psalms by the other people were not inspired. The real psalms, the inspired ones, were given to the blessed David, not Asaph or any of those other guys. About this claim of ours C.R.O.W. said:

Reading the Psalms brings comfort and brings a sense of a deep-peace; that only comes from God; to the soul of a man or woman that is desirable for a believer in God, and it is hardly offensive.

The imprecatory psalm which I will quote later is indeed offensive, very offensive, and the rest of the above quote from C.R.O.W. is irrelevant. There are any number of writings which bring comfort and a sense of deep peace, and which are also inoffensive. I find Dickens’s novel A Christmas Carol, for instance, to be like that. The Psalms don’t strike me as bringing comfort and deep peace that come only from God; on the other hand, Surah 16 of the Koran does bring me such a feeling. I can understand, though, if the Psalms bring C.R.O.W. such a feeling, since, as I have said, we Muslims believe that many of them were inspired by God.

As for the one allegedly written by the blessed Moses, I am suspicious of it, since there was quite a gap of time between his life and the Psalms. Could it have really been passed on through tradition for so long without being hopelessly distorted? Even if it were originally written, could it have survived that long? And as for the ones C.R.O.W. says are attributed to the blessed Solomon (although the translation I prefer, the Revised Standard Version, attributes none to him), I’m sure that they were good prayers and praises to God, the kind C.R.O.W. speaks of, but when the Koran says that the Psalms given by God were given to David, it isn’t kidding.

In this document I am going to show you many the key points in the Davidic psalms, ones not bound by their immediate historical context and thus irrelevant to the seventh century Arabs, are contained in the Koran, and also the key passage from the famous “imprecatory psalm” which is not to be found in the Koran (nor any other command to kill an infant or infants; see also 1 Samuel 15:3). In other words, this article is going to offer yet another example on this page of how the Koran offers a perfected, polished version of the earlier teachings and scriptures, free from corruptions both textual and moral. Christians and Judaists alike should take note, as this article will provide another example of how the Koran offers a distilled, succint and purified version of their scriptures.

One more subject I have to discuss before we begin is the Koranic verses which C.R.O.W. claims indicate that other people besides the blessed David had psalms revealed to them by God:

"And if they deny thee (O Mohammad), even so did they deny messengers who were before thee, who came with miracles and with the Psalms."

(- 3:184 -)
Noble Quran

"And if they deny thee (O Mohammad), those before them also denied. Their messengers came unto them with clear proofs, and with the Psalms"

(- 35:25 -)
Noble Quran

- C.R.O.W. comments:

These two references mention that the generations before them [Mohammad's audience] had denied their prophets who came to them with "clear proofs and with Psalms".

No, C.R.O.W., they don’t. First, here are the whole verse from Surahs 3 and 35 which you quoted only in part (and I will use Arberry’s translation, of course):

But if they cry lies to thee, lies were cried to the Messengers before thee, who came bearing clear signs, and the Psalms, and the Book Illuminating.

(- 3:184 -)
Noble Quran

If they cries thee lies, those before them also cried lies; their Messengers came to them with the clear signs, the Psalms, the Illuminating Book.

(- 35:25 -)
Noble Quran

What was the “Illuminating Book”? Why, it was the Koran:

Even so We have revealed to thee a Spirit of Our bidding. Thou knewest not what the Book was, nor belief; but We made it a light, whereby We guide whom We will of Our servants. And thou, surely thou shalt guide unto a straight path.

(- 42:52 -)
Noble Quran

How many people wrote the Koran? One. Its consistency of style and repeated references to its Spirit being sent to “you” (the “you” unmistakably being the blessed Muhammad, because of all the references to events of his life adressed to him) betray that, and as I show in my article “Qur’an: A Work of Multiple Hands? My Answer” on this site’s “Criticisms on Islam” page, there are really no grounds for considering it a work by multiple authors, despite the attempts of some skeptics to do so. So if only one person wrote the Koran, and it was mentioned in the same verses with the Psalms which C.R.O.W. cited only portions of, then there’s no reason to think that the revelation of the Psalms was any different, and that should especially be clear from this verse:

We have revealed to thee as We revealed to Noah, and the Prophets after him, and We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, Jesus and Job, Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and We gave to David Psalms.

(- 4:163 -)
Noble Quran

Moving on, C.R.O.W. then says:

If you say, 'Yes this is referring to David and his Psalms', than ask yourself this question, "since when was David a rejected prophet?”

The passages cited don’t say that the blessed David was rejected by everyone, but only that there were people who cried him lies. This fits with the grain of the entire Koran, where everyone was cried lies by some of the people to whom they preached, and others believed. Remember that our book is the Koran, not the Bible, and they may differ over that issue as they do over many.

Now, with that said, let me get down to showing that the Psalms are not all praises and prayers, that the Davidic ones contain important information about God and humans as well as laws (yes, laws) and other instructions for us to live by, and these are contained in the Koran, and finally, that the Koran is free from the evil of the famous imprecatory psalm.

Psalmic Laws Contained in the Koran

Psalms 15:2 - He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart; who...

Psalms 15:5 - Does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

Consume not your goods between you to vanity; neither proffer it to the judges, that you may sinfully consume a portion of other men’s goods, and that wittingly.

(- 2:188 -)
Noble Quran

God blots out usury, but freewill offerings He augments with interest. God loves not any guilty ingrate.

(- 2:276 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 122:8 - For my brethren and companions’ sake I will say, "Peace be within you!”

And when those who believe in Our signs come to thee, say, “Peace be upon you.”

(- 06:54 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 24:3 - Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?

Psalms 24:4 - He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully.

But if it be discovered that both of them have merited the accusation of any sin, then two others shall stand in their place, these being the nearest of those most concerned, and they shall swear by God, “Our testimony is truer than their testimony, and we have not transgressed, for then we would assuredly be among the evildoers.”

(- 5:107 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 26:4 - I do not sit with false men, nor do I consort with dissemblers;

Psalms 26:5 - I hate the company of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.

Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends, rather than the believers--for whoso does that belongs not to God in anything--unless you have a fear of them.

(- 03:28 -)
Noble Quran

Other Instructions and Good Examples Set Forth by the Psalms and Contained in the Koran

Psalms 128:1 - Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!

Thou only warnest him who follows the Remembrance and who fears the All-merciful in the Unseen.

(- 36:11 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 63:5 - My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat, and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips

Psalms 63:6 - When I think of thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the watches of the night.

The servants if the All-merciful are those who...

(- 25:63 -)
Noble Quran

pass the night prostrate to their Lord and standing

(- 25:64 -)
Noble Quran

Psalmic Information About Us and Our Future Contained in the Koran

Psalms 130:3 - If thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

Psalms 130:4 - But here is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

If God should take men to task for their evildoing, He would not leave on the earth one creature that crawls; but He is deferring them to a term stated; and when their term is come they shall not put it back by a single hour nor put it forward.

(- 16:61 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 37:29 - The righteous shall possess the land, and dwell upon it for ever.

For We have written in the Psalms, after the Remembrance, “The earth shall be the inheritance of My righteous servants.” Surely in this is a Message delivered unto a people who serve.

(- 21:105 -)
Noble Quran

Psalmic Information About God Contained in the Koran

Psalms 145:8 - The LORD is gracious and merciful....

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. (Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation)

(- 1:1 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 139:16 - Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalms 56:8 - Thou hast kept count of my tossings; put thou my tears in thy bottle! Are they not in thy book?

With Him are the keys of the Unseen; none knows them but He. He knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the earth’s shadows, not a thing, fresh or withered, but it is in a Book Manifest.

(- 06:59 -)
Noble Quran

Psalms 98:8 - Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together

Psalms 98:9 - Before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

To every people (was sent) an apostle: when their apostle comes (before them), the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged.

(- 10:47 -)
Noble Quran

Evil from the Psalms Which Is Left Out of the Koran

Psalms 137:8 - O daughter of Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall he be who requites you with what you have done to us!

Psalms 137:9 - Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

Conclusion

The Koran is, as I keep demonstrating with my articles on this site, a polished, perfected version of many parts of the Bible. It can be thought of as a final draft of the Bible which cleans up the corruptions (such as textual variants), evil or unrealistic passages, and blasphemous depictions of God, and gives you a wonderfully polished, perfected text with an unparalleled sense of devotion to monotheistic doctrine and worship. In this article I have demonstrated how the Koran contains a beautifully concise yet full distillation of the laws, facts and sunnah of the Davidic Psalms, the context of which can apply to all people at all times, not just Jews oppressed by Babylonians or seventh century Arabs, and leaves out the infamous blemish in Psalm 137, nor has any equivalent to any passage like that or 1 Samuel 15:3. The Koran and the Bible will never compare, since the Koran is so unmistakably superior to the other even as it contains the best of it.