Islam claims itself to be a strictly monotheistic religion which believes in the one supreme power called ALLAH. But when you read the QURAN, you can find singular "I" pointing to ALLAH and many other times "we" indicating ALLAH. This discrepancy is not widely noted by the readers of the Quran. The Islamic scholars have no valid answer for it, because they lack logic and facts.

Dear readers, have a look at this. This material appeared on the website www.irf.net  Dr. Zakir Naik's official website containing FAQs and other information.  You can also find this answer given Dr. Zakir Naik in many Islamic websites including his own Islamic Research Foundation.

4. QUR'AN USES 'WE' FOR ALLAH

Question:

Does Islam believe in several gods because the Qur'an uses the word 'We' when God speaks in the Qur'an?

Answer:

Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion. It believes in and adheres to uncompromising monotheism. It believes that God is one, and unique in His attributes. In the Qur'an, God often refers to Himself using the word 'We'. But this does not mean that Islam believes in the existence of more than one God.

Two types of plural

In several languages, there are two types of plurals; one is a plural of numbers to refer to something that occurs in a quantity of more than one. The other plural is a plural of respect.

1. In the English language, the Queen of England refers to herself as 'We' instead of 'I'. This is known as the 'royal plural'.
2. Rajiv Gandhi, the ex-Prime Minister of India used to say in Hindi "Hum dekhna chahte hain". "We want to see." 'Hum' means 'We' which is again a royal plural in Hindi.
3. Similarly in Arabic, when Allah refers to Himself in the Qur'an, He often uses Arabic word 'Nahnu' meaning 'We'. It does not indicate plural of number but plural of respect.

Tawheed or monotheism is one of the pillars of Islam. The existence and uniqueness of one and only one God is mentioned several times in the Qur'an. For instance in Surah Ikhlas, it says:

"Say He is Allah the One and Only."

[Al-Qur'an 112: 1]

 
Comments and Inference:

Anyone who is trained in linguistics will tell you that in both Hebrew and Arabic, there is no such thing as a royal plural.  First of all if Rajiv Gandhi said" We want to see" It means he speaks in terms of his PARTY/ORGANIZATION. If suppose I belong to Microsoft, I say "We made windows" . It means collectively as an organization we did it.

Why would God identify Himself/Herself in the plural form? One of the ways these Muslim scholars escaped the clear suggestion of the plurality of persons in the Godhead, as found in the word Elohim, was to claim that this expression was simply an example of the "royal plural form" used by kings and queens to express their royal nature. The famous Rabbi Aben Ezra, writing around a.d. 1100, suggested this as a solution. The "royal plural" is an unusual plural form of speech used by such royalty as Queen Victoria when she uttered her famous line, "We are not amused."

While this evasion regarding "Elohim" as a "royal plural" appears in numerous Jewish and Islamic commentaries on the Scriptures, it does not solve the problem. There is no evidence that this royal plural form of speaking was ever used in ancient biblical days. The kings and leaders of Israel and the leaders of surrounding pagan nations, such as King Nebuchadnezzar or King Cyrus, never used this form of speech. In fact, it is a comparatively modern invention that was created by medieval monarchs to emphasize their elevated status to rule their kingdoms in accordance with the theory of the "divine right of kings." However, all of the leaders and kings in the Scriptures speak in the singular form, never in the plural form of address. The normal mode of royal speech in biblical times was always the same singular form used by King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel: "Therefore I make a decree . . ." (Daniel 3:29). Therefore, the plural name for God Elohim Myhla must refer to the mystery of the plurality and unity of God in the Trinity.

When the QUEEN said "we are not amused" it means, the entire royalty is not amused which means the entire clan of royal people were not amused!!  "Royal plural" is a colloquial aspect and is usually not accepted. Somehow or the other, the royal plural is just an invention and i don't think it takes a significant place in standard accepted English. There is no ROYAL PLURAL in Arabic. If Zakir Naik is sure enough to justify that the English grammar is applicable to Arabic grammar then he or any Muslim should not say QURAN CANNOT BE TRANSLATED EXACTLY. This shows that ISLAM either actually has a group of GODS and together they are called as ALLAH, an entity or, muslim scholars lie for justifying the individuality of Allah. Somehow or the other Muslims lie!! Muslims should refrain from justifying the flaws and rather look forward to rectify the blemish in their religion.

"Growing Old is mandatory, but growing up is optional."

Regards
S. Prasadh

 

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