Korede Olawoyin

One of the claims the Muslim make for the divine origin of the Qur’an is that, the Qur’an does not contradict itself in anyway, shape or form. In fact, Muslim often cite a verse of the Qur’an to back up their assertions that the Qur’an has given a challenge to mankind 1400 years ago which is yet to be met, the challenge to prove there is (are) contradictions within the pages of the Qur’an. Here is the verse the Muslim alludes to;

Do they not then consider the Quran carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradictions. – Qur’an 4:82 [Muhsin Khan’s Translation] 

Tafsir Ibn Kathir, one of Sunni Muslims most trusted and widely consulted tafsir stated this concerning the verse of the Qur’an:

The Qur’an is True. Allah commands them to contemplate about the Qur’an and forbids them from ignoring it, or ignoring its wise meanings and eloquent words. Allah states that there are no inconsistencies, contradictions, conflicting statements or discrepancies in the Qur’an, because it is a revelation from the Most-Wise, Worthy of all praise. Therefore, the Qur’an is the truth coming from the Truth, Allah. This is why Allah said in another Ayah,.. (Tafsir of Ibn Kathir on Qur’an 4:82)

From this, we glean that the Muslim understanding of this verse is that, there is no contradiction, conflicting statement or discrepancies in the Qur’an. This, I think is very clear for anyone to understand. However, going through the pages of the Qur’an, we not only find one contradiction, but many contradictions, one of which we shall be looking at in this article.

Before showing forth this contradiction and refuting how some Muslims tend to defend it, I do like to point out a very important part of the verse in the Quran we read above, please take note of the part with bold text;

Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradictions. – Qur’an 4:82 [Muhsin Khan’s Translation] 

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