Islamic Holy Texts Say, "Allah Is The Best of All Deceivers"

From Muslim Hope:

"and [they] deceived and Allah deceived and Allah is the best of deceivers"

Sura 3:54

Sura 3:54 Arabic: Wa Makaru wa makara Allah wa Allah Amkaru al Makireen.

Likewise the phrase of Allah "being the best deceiver". kheir ol makarein, is also used of Allah in Suras 8:30 and 10:21. Sura 10:21 says Allah is the fastest in planning/deceit

Other references to the plotting/deceit/scheming of Allah are Sura 7:99; 27:50; 13:42; 14:46; 43:79; 86:15f.; 7:100; 4:142

Yet English translations of the Qur’an typically have a softer phrase, as Appendix I shows. So in these verses, specifically how should this word be more accurately translated, and generally, what is the role of deception in Islam?

Etymology of the Word Makara

Sura 3:54 says that Allah makara. The Arabic word makara means to deceive, scheme, or plan. The Arabic Bible in Genesis 3:1 uses the same word for Satan. However, the Vand Dyck and Jerusalem Bibles use the root word hayala.

This word "schemer" (maakir) is a very strong word which Wehr and Abdel-Nour define as "sly, cunning, wily". The Arabic-Arabic unjid defines it with khuda`a which means exactly the same thing (by Bill Campbell in his book The Qur'an and the Bible in the Light of History and Science p.217-218).

Interpretation of Sura 3:54

The person who is a makir (same form as the word kafir) speaking of the attribute of a person is one who would outwit someone else to cause them harm. It speaks of one who would reveal the opposite of what he plans to do. The reality is that he is scheming evil for that person. So yes there is the sense of planning and scheming but mostly it means to trick, outwit and deceive for the purpose of overpowering and conquering the other. A makir is one who devises a secret scheme against someone else. Synonyms would be cheating, defrauding, double-crossing, deceiving, tricking, in all cases makara has the sense of defeating the one you have tricked.

The Context of Sura 3:54

The context of this story is very important. Sura 3 is regarded to be the great dialogue of Muhammad with the Christians. Al-Tabari says here that the deceit of Allah applies to the time where the Jews wanted to kill Isa the son of Mary. In order not to be killed Allah put the appearance of Jesus’ face on someone else, who was crucified instead of Jesus. This is how Allah had everybody, even Jesus get deceived.

Strikingly when it comes to the cross, the very central part of biblical teaching, Allah is called khayr ulmakirin the most deceitful. Some one
wants to conceal that he lost the battle on the cross! Here the true nature of Allah is revealed!

”That Accursed Book” – Willam Gladstone*

The 200th birthday of former Prime Minister William Gladstone, praised for his attitude to the Muslim world, will be marked with the opening of an Islamic reading room at the library he established near his home in North Wales. Gladstone's great grandson Christopher Parish and Professor Richard Aldous, head of history at University College Dublin, discuss the prime minister's view of Islam.

Listen to BBC audio: Gladstone’s Thinking towards Islam >>>

*William Gladstone was one of the great Welsh prime ministers of the United Kingdom.

Hat tip: Jihad Watch >>>

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