Exposing Islam

How Can the Qur’an Be Uncreated If It Describes Temporal Events?

Subtitle:

A Timeless Book That Talks Like a Newspaper

🔍 Introduction: A Foundational Dilemma in Islam

One of the most central doctrines in classical Sunni Islam is that the Qur’an is uncreated—the eternal, unchanging Word of God. According to this belief:

The Qur’an is co-eternal with Allah.
It exists beyond time and space.
It is not subject to change, development, or historical context.

As articulated in Qur’an 85:21–22:

"Nay, this is a Glorious Qur'an. [Inscribed] in a Preserved Tablet (Lawh Mahfuz)."

But the very text of the Qur’an shatters this claim. Why?

Because it’s full of time-bound, situational, historical references.

If the Qur’an is eternal and uncreated, it should transcend time, yet:

It reacts to current events in 7th-century Arabia.
It contains responses to questions, political developments, and personal disputes.
It includes abrogations of earlier verses.

So, we must ask: How can something eternal describe what is temporal?

📖 What “Uncreated” Supposedly Means

Sunni Islam (particularly Ash‘arite and Hanbalite theology) defines the Qur’an as:

Qadim (eternal): It has always existed with Allah.
Uncreated: It is not a product of time, not like human speech.
Immutable: It does not evolve or react.

This doctrine is so central that denying it was once a death-worthy heresy (e.g., under Abbasid rule during the Mihna in reverse).

But let’s pause here:

A truly uncreated, eternal document would contain timeless truths, not event-driven commentary.

So why does the Qur’an read like a live transcript of Muhammad’s life?

🕰️ Qur’anic Evidence of Time-Bound Content

📌 1. Responses to Specific Questions

“They ask you concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin...” (Q 2:219)
“They ask you about menstruation. Say: It is harm...” (Q 2:222)

Why does the eternal word of God wait for humans to ask before it speaks?

📌 2. References to Political Events

“Allah has already given you victory at Badr...” (Q 3:123)

Badr occurred in 624 AD. Is God’s eternal word referencing a battle that wouldn’t happen until 13.8 billion years after creation?

📌 3. Domestic Disputes in the Prophet’s Home

“When the Prophet confided a matter unto one of his wives...” (Q 66:3)

If this “eternal” revelation existed before creation, it knew Muhammad’s wives would gossip?

📌 4. Real-Time Legal Adjustments

“It is not for a prophet to have captives until he has thoroughly subdued the land...” (Q 8:67)

→ Revealed after the Battle of Badr, when Muslims took captives for ransom. Why would a timeless message change due to a military decision?

📌 5. Explicit Contextual Anchoring

“This day have I perfected your religion...” (Q 5:3)

→ Revealed during Muhammad’s Farewell Pilgrimage in 632 AD.

How can an eternal book be “completed” at a specific moment in history?

⚖️ Logical Contradiction: Timeless or Temporal?

Let’s apply the Law of Non-Contradiction:

Claim A	Claim B	Conflict
The Qur’an is uncreated and eternal	The Qur’an describes events in 7th-century Arabia	A timeless text cannot describe time-bound events unless it’s reacting
God’s Word is beyond time	It references people, questions, scandals, and battles of a specific era	Impossible unless the “Word” is responsive to time—thus created
The Qur’an is immutable	It includes verses that abrogate (cancel or override) previous ones	Change implies temporality, not eternity

🤯 The Implication Muslims Avoid

If the Qur’an:

Was revealed gradually over 23 years,
Responds to incidents and questions,
Contains historical revision of earlier verses,
Ends at a moment in Muhammad’s life ("this day I have perfected…"),

Then it is definitionally:

Time-bound. Reactive. Historical. Created.

You cannot have it both ways:

If the Qur’an is eternal, it cannot reference events that hadn’t happened yet.
If it does reference such events, then it was clearly composed in real-time.

This is not a minor theological tension—it is a category error in the foundation of Islamic belief.

🧠 5 Devastating Questions Muslims Must Answer

How can an uncreated book refer to events that occurred after the universe was created?
Why does the Qur’an read like a live commentary on Muhammad’s life if it’s eternal?
If the Qur’an is timeless, why are verses sent down “in response” to specific questions or problems?
Why would an eternal book contain abrogated verses—implying revision?
If Allah’s word is perfect and eternal, why does it adapt to changing circumstances in Arabia?

🧨 The Collapse of the “Uncreated Qur’an” Doctrine

The content of the Qur’an refutes its own theological claims. The more you examine its:

Chronological dependencies
Context-specific rulings
Shifting tone and responses
Evolution in legal frameworks

…the clearer it becomes:

The Qur’an is not eternal, not uncreated, and not divine in the way Islam claims.

It is a historically embedded text that reflects the needs, interests, and crises of Muhammad and his followers during a 23-year span in the 7th century.

In short:

The Qur’an cannot be uncreated, because it reads like it was written in real time.

🔚 Conclusion: The Qur’an Created Its Own Undoing

Islam's boldest claim—“This is the eternal Word of God”—collapses under the evidence of the text itself.

The Qur’an says too much about what just happened to plausibly have existed before anything ever happened.

The moment you strip away blind faith and read the Qur’an critically, the contradiction becomes overwhelming:

A book cannot be both beyond time and bound by it.

And so, Islam's core theological pillar falls apart—by the words of the Qur’an itself.