Questions to Ask a Muslim

From WikiIslam, the online resource on Islam http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Questions_to_Ask_a_Muslim This page is a list of questions to ask a Muslim. The Qur'an refers to alcohol as an "abomination" and "Satan's handwork",[1] so why does the Qur'an also praise[2] alcohol and emphasize the point[3] that it is something found in heaven? When used in moderation, there are numerous benefits in the consumption of alcohol.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Rather than giving us an outright ban,[1] shouldn't Allah have only prohibited its abuse? The Qur'an encourages people to drink milk[16] and tells us it is something being served in the Muslim Paradise,[17] but if you claim the potential health risk of alcohol was enough to cause its prohibition, why not also ban the drinking of milk which is potentially more harmful due to most of the world's population, past[18] and present,[19][20] not being biologically designed to digest milk? If life is a test, isn't banning alcohol in Muslim countries the same as interfering in Allah's affairs? Muhammad claimed Zamzam (Islamic holy water) is miraculous and it could heal any disease.[21] So why does it contain arsenic levels three times the legal limit, high levels of nitrate, and other potentially harmful bacteria?[22] Does Allah want to poison his followers? The Qur'an says Allah cannot have a son without a consort,[23] yet claims Mary had a son without a consort.[24] Is this not limiting Allah's omnipotence,[25] and why is Mary capable of doing something Allah cannot? Is Allah the god of the Old Testament? 1 of Allah's 99 names translates as the Deceiver.[26] Why would you believe in any such deity? Why does almost every description of Allah also equal non-existence? (i.e. incorporeal, immaterial, ineffable, unfathomable, incomprehensible, etc.) If no one has seen Allah,[27][28] its sex cannot be determined. Why do you still address it[27][28] as a male? Why would Allah have to bribe his followers[29][30] by promising them loot? Would you trust a political party which does not allow ex-members to speak out? If not, why would you trust Islam, and why should anyone convert to a religion which kills[31] apostates and does not[31][32] allow criticism? Why do so many people still leave Islam[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] even though they receive death threats for doing so? Why is there "no compulsion" in religion when the punishment for apostasy, both "normal" apostasy and "treason",[42] is death? Classic Arabic is missing vowels and dots. If the Qur'an is the "words of God" only in its original language, why didn't Allah reveal it in a language that was fully developed? There are only 150 million native Arabic speakers in the world today.[43] Why did Allah not reveal the Qur'an in a language more widely spoken on earth such as English[44] (350 million), Mandarin[45] (800 million), Spanish[46] (358 million), Hindi[47] (200 million) or Russian[48] (160 million)? Why is Arabic only difficult to understand or translate when a non-Muslim criticizes the Qur'an? And why do Muslims claim critics mis-translate words when it is often their own scholars and their most authoritative Arabic to English dictionaries[26] that confirm otherwise? There are many Arabic dialects such as Egyptian, Gulf, Eastern Arabic, Maghrebi and dozens of others.[49] Which one did Allah want us to use to interpret the Qur'an? Muslims believe that our body parts will testify our sins in the hereafter.[50][51] Is that true for donated body parts as well? If circumcision is a command from Allah, shouldn't it be mentioned in the Qur'an? And why did Allah not create us circumcised if he wants us that way? Why does Allah forbid silk for men?[52] Why does he care what clothing material you have on? Why does Allah care what type of clothes you wear when going on Hajj? (namely the ihram) Why do some Muslims ridicule the Old Testament rendition of Eve's creation, when the Qu'ran[53][54] also tells us that she was made from Adam, and Sahih hadith[55][56] tell us it was specifically from Adam's rib? Isn't making all women menstruate, suffer pregnancy and become stupid as a punishment for Eve's transgressions in the garden[57] (a view which is confirmed by the Qur'an and sahih hadith)[58] a little sexist? What about Adam? He ate the fruit too. Why does Allah mostly target Muslim majority countries[59] in major earthquakes? If this is a test of faith, doesn't the indiscriminate killing of innocent women and children make him unworthy of worship? While non-Muslims provide most of the aid after a natural disaster, Allah does nothing. Does he abandon his people on purpose and wish to humiliate them? Why doesn't Allah prevent Mosques from being desecrated during earthquakes in Muslim countries? Allah tells you not to take non-Muslims as “friends and protectors”.[60][61][62] So why do Muslims accept aid from non-Muslims? Kashmir is divided between India, Pakistan, and China. Why did Allah destroy the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir[63] rather than the Hindu and Buddhist majority regions in the 2005 earthquake? Fatimah was born 5 years after Hijra. Muhammad married Khadijah when he was 25 and she was 40. Muhammad claimed prophet hood when he was 40, therefore Khadijah would have been 60 when she gave birth to Fatimah. Isn't this a miracle? Little children may believe in Cinderella talking to birds and mice and stuff. What makes you smarter than a child if you believe that Suleiman, as the Qur'an says,[64] was talking to ants? The Qur'an says the Earth is like a rug.[65][66][67] No one has ever seen a spherical rug. Why did Allah not use the word "Kurah" (Arabic for spherical) before the word "Earth" like all Arabic texts do today? Why is it that every year Muslims on opposite sides of Earth can't agree when Ramadan starts? Did Allah use outdated astronomical calculations because he thought the Earth was flat? Why do Muslims pray to the East (or West) when the shortest distance to Mecca is through the Earth (if you want to go through the earth) or through the poles (if you want to travel along the surface)? A Muslim must pray facing Mecca, and to pray with their back to Mecca would be sacrilegious. From a flat-earth viewpoint, this makes sense. But the earth is spherical, so if you pray facing Mecca, you also have your back to Mecca at the same time (and vice-versa). How do you explain this? After death, non-Muslims will be tortured by a bald snake.