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Members of Submitters community are replacing the Hadith and Sunnah of Muhammad with Rashad's Appendices, footnotes, subtitles, audio and video tapes, while replacing the title "Final Prophet" with "the Messenger of the Covenant." What a regression! 
 
The message of the Quran has not gotten stale since centuries. It is one of the miraculous nature of this Book that the verses addressing medieval Arabs and their neighbors do not remain as historical accounts of a particular population lived in the past, but a guide for generations to come. The message of the Quran is universal....

In the April, 1997 issue of Submitters Perspective, an article titled "Pilgrimage: Hajj and Umrah" made me concerned about the direction of this community. The author, in that article repeatedly asked the reader to REMEMBER "the duties of the Messenger of the Covenant," a messenger who repeatedly asked people to remember that accepting anything besides the Quran as a religious source was shirk. Where could a person find the duties of "the Messenger of Covenant?" Sure, the students of the Quran know well that there is no such list of duties in the Quran. The author, in his article written on religious matters, was repeatedly asking his reader to REMEMBER a source besides the Quran.  

A messenger might have had many duties and he might have listed them somewhere, but it is not the duty of Muslims (Submitters) to memorize or keep remembering the list of a particular messenger's duties. Their duty is to follow God's word alone and reject any other source or authority besides it.  It does not matter if the associated source is in written or oral. They are supposed to dedicate the religion to God alone (98:5).  

If we keep reminding each other of the words and writings of the late messenger, our children and grandchildren would most likely follow our advise and would remind each other of religious authorities besides the Quran, and as the sign of hypocrisy or ignorance, they might also be perroting the motto, "The Quran, the whole Quran, and nothing but the Quran."  

Distinguishing their messenger's hadith (words) from that of the previous messenger's through pseudo differences does not change the fact that accepting anything besides the Quran as another authority is shirk. Period. There is no difference between orally narrated hadiths that we cannot verify and those that were transmitted in print or by video tapes, which presumably we might be able to verify. Sayings or writings of messengers might be treated differently regarding their authenticity, but our rejection of Hadith and Sunnah was not based merely on their unreliability, but primarily on the fact that messengers or religious scholars were  not other authorities or even teachers of God's religion. We are commended to devote the religion to God Alone (98:5; 9:31; 6:114). 

Abusing the authority of prophets and messengers, and presenting their words or writings as an other authority besides God's word is one of the most common and repeated blunders of "Submitters" of many generations. Unfortunately, our community has not been different. We have witnessed some so-called Submitters claiming the infallibility of "the Messenger of the Covenant." We have witnessed published articles claiming that "Kitab" (The Book) mentioned in the Quran refers to BOTH the Quran and Rashad's translation. We have seen people claiming that the video and audio tapes of "the Messenger of the Covenant" are necessary sources besides the Quran, in addition to his three versions of translation, footnotes, subtitles, appendices and articles, thereby making him a "prophet" with new revelations.  We have seen "Submitters" promoting  ridiculous interpretations to justify clear errors and contradictions in Rashad's translation. We have heard outrageous misinterpretations of the claim "authorized translation" as if it meant that every word and letter of Rashad's translation were divine, including the revised and re-revised versions. Attributing human errors and contradictions to our Lord, the Omniscient, is not something to take lightly (6:21; 6:93; 6:144; 7:37; 10:17; 11:18; 29:68). We have seen people trying to freeze God's universal message with snap-shot understanding of a human messenger. We have seen people disoriented because of their insistence on following the Sunnah of "the Messenger of the Covenant" instead of indisputable facts.  

Despite all this mass reversion to shirk (associating partners to God), sure with a different idol and a different excuse, we have yet to see a single article in the Submitters Perspective criticizing this popular trend in this small community.  Muhammedans who idolized Muhammad after his departure did exactly the same. While they repeatedly reminded each other of the duties and the words of "the Final Prophet" they focused their criticism on Christians and Jews. In fact, they were repeating the same great blunder with a few minor changes. They ignored the warnings of monotheists who soon became a minority and they oppressed or suppressed their voice. Unfortunately, our community has not taken heed from this history and it is failing the divine test designed for every generation (29:2). While we criticize Muslim's addiction with mentioning Muhammad besides God in their religious articles and books, we also feel a compelling urge to insert Rashad's title "the Messenger of the Covenant" in our speeches and writings.  

"Is God not sufficient for His servant?. . ." (39:36) 

Besides creating modern versions of Hadith and Sunnah, some are trying their best to distort, pervert and dilute the great mathematical miracle of the Quran. As we know that some members of this community abused the mathematical code of the Quran with the unforgettable May 19, 1990 doomsday prophecy and they keep abusing it with their mathematical illiteracy. Some of them did not take heed from their blunder. Now they employ the same childish numerical manipulations to find more mathematical evidence for the messengership of a dead person. One of those doomsday prophets even claimed a divine rank through his childish calculations. Incredibly, he finds followers and supporters within this community.  

We have become extremely tolerant to the mushriks (those who set partners to God) among us. Probably, because of being trapped in cult-syndrome: we share the same unifying symbol, Rashad Khalifa, or "the Messenger of Covenant," equivalent to Muhammedans' repeated expression "Muhammad Sallallahu Aleyhi Wasallam." This cult or sectarian syndrome is addressed by an interesting Quranic verse:  

"Are your disbelievers better than those disbelievers? Have you been absolved by the Scripture?" (54:43). 

In brief, members of this community are replacing the Hadith and Sunnah of Muhammad with Rashad's Appendices, footnotes, subtitles, audio and video tapes. Some of those who were addressing their messenger with his first name (Rashad) during his lifetime, soon after his departure, they developed a taboo against mentioning his first name. Muhammedans and those who repeat their blunder cannot commemorate their idols' names without words of praise or rank. Are we going to follow the footsteps of previous generations? What a miserable convergence! What a regression!:  

"Surely, those who slide back, after the guidance has been manifested to them, the devil has enticed them, and has misled them." (47:25) 

The following people are some of those who have expressed their endorsement for this ultimatum. 

Apameh Bashar 
Mahmoud Abib 
Shawki Hamdan 
Milan Sulc 
Saed Talari 
Sadruddin Currimbhoy 
Ali Fazely 
Cathryn Kolton 
Sanobar Tafazoli 
Maryam Jennah 
Barbara Jean 
Yasser Elkadi 
Hamid Baghdishi 
Fransisco Ley 
Daniel Ley 
Aisha Musa 
JOHN SPOONER 
Hossain Kowsary 
Jay Javey

The message of the Quran has not gotten stale since centuries. It is one of the miraculous nature of this Book that the verses addressing medieval Arabs and their neighbors do not remain as historical accounts of a particular population lived in the past, but a guide for generations to come. The message of the Quran is universal. It is shocking to witness the tragic fact that contrary to their lip service, "Muslims" have repeated the blunder of Meccan mushriks by transforming the monotheism to polytheism, by fabricating sects and religions in the name of God. The Quranic issues and arguments that was revealed more than 14 centuries ago are alive today. 

I could never imagine that the verses about the qibla (direction of the Salat prayer) would become alive in our time. The Submitters who accepted the message brought by Prophet Muhammad were tested by "qibla" and some of them failed. Interestingly, our community has been tested recently with the same test and many has failed. It is a wonder why people fail the same test twice even they have full warning in advance. 

Quran informs us that Muhammad, like all other Meccan mushriks, was turning his face to Ka'ba, the Sacred Masjid built by Abraham in Mecca. He was simply following the tradition. When he and his supporters were oppressed and tortured, they immigrated to Medina, a nearby city dwelled by Ehl-il Kitab (People of The Book: Nazarenes and Jews). Muslims and People of the Book formed a city-state under the leadership of Muhammad. They lived in accordance to the historical Medina Constitution which was accepted after consultation and consent of minorities. The city-state of Medina, in today's terminology, was an open society governed by the principles of republicanism and federal secularism. Muslims and the People of the Book established alliance against gentiles (ummies), their aggressive neighbors. They defended the city against several attacks orchestrated by the leaders of Meccan theocratic oligarchy. They even had to dig drenches around the city to defend themselves against the coalition of mushrik tribes of Arabia. This experience created solidarity and a sense of community between Muslims and their allies, People of the Book. 

Because of this political alliance and social proximity, Muhammad decided to change the direction of the prayer after consulting his supporters. There was no revelation besides the Quran that advised such a change as it is claimed by hadith literature. It was entirely a personal or community decision that was the product of changed circumstances and mass psychology. By changing their Qibla from Sacred Masjid (Ka'ba) to Jerusalem, Muslims declared their independence from Meccan oppressive regime and its allies. Monotheists were not a part of mushrik tribes of Arabia anymore. They were a new community with a new identity. 

Soon the condition changed. The mushrik coalition collapsed and the political power of monotheists increased dramatically (13:41). Mecca, the hometown of many Muslims was getting ready to a peaceful surrender (48:27). The nostalgia in the heart of Muhammad and many believers were increasing. Muhammad had no more reason to insist on turning to Jerusalem. He was feeling a powerful urge to change the qibla back to the Sacred Masjid (2:144). Soon, for the first time he received a revelation regarding the qibla; God revealed Muhammad to turn back to the original qibla, that is the Sacred Masjid (2:144, 149, 150). Thus, the previous qibla (the Sacred Masjid, not Jerusalem) became a test to distinguish the hypocrites from those who follow the messenger, that is, his message. Hadith books misinterpret verse 2:142-3 and claim that the test was about changing qibla from the Sacred Masjid to Jerusalem. This claim has no Quranic basis. This misinterpretation perhaps was fabricated to create binding "revelations" that do not exist in the Quran. The followers of Hadith and Sunna abuses this misinterpretation to support the necessity of following other sources besides the Quran. Sure, there were revelations to Prophet Muhammad that were not part of the Quran (see 66:3), but they were personal; they were not intended to bind others. Claiming that God tested the faith of believers by a revelation that does not exist in the Quran is entirely wrong, since the Quran was the only message delivered by Muhammad (6:19, 38, 114-115). 

Indeed, verse 2:145 is a refutation to the traditional understanding. If the test was about changing the direction from Ka'ba (the Sacred Masjid) to Jerusalem, then the problem of those who failed the test would be their conformity with Meccan Arabs.  However, the problem was the opposite: their conformity with the People of the Book in Medina. They did not want to damage their relationship by turning back to their original qibla. Their alliance and personal relationship with Christians and Jews had created a psychological obstacle against such a change. But, God the Omnipotent had a different plan (2:148-150). Those who became disoriented after the knowledge had come to them were severely criticized in verse 2:145. 

The Perpetual Test 

When some people questioned our direction for prayers in the Masjid Tucson, the members of our community reacted differently. Those of us who were making fun of Muhammedans for disputing over the first day of Ramadan started disputing over a matter of similar simplicity. Finding the direction of Ka'ba was no more difficult than finding the first day of the crescent. Some members of our community who were comfortably asking astronomers when to start fasting developed allergy against the astronomers and experts. 

When we invited an astronomer to the Masjid to demonstrate the direction of Mecca on the GLOBE and to answer the questions, none of those who turn to the wrong direction asked a question nor challenged the accuracy of the demonstration. This visual demonstration, although took less than five minutes, was protested by some. They claimed that their Quranic study was interrupted by that "disbeliever" astronomer. Without knowing our guest, they insulted him and told him to get out of the Masjid. The hypocrisy of using the Quranic study as an excuse to avoid and suppress the truth was evident in the fact that the same people were not hesitating in spending dozens of minutes on personal stories or jokes during the Quranic studies. The direction of the prayer somehow became unQuranic after the truth of the matter became evident. 

After reading several articles written by experts and after talking with astronomers and those who are experts in Global Positioning Systems, it became evident that the direction of Ka'ba from Tucson was North-East. There is clear consensus among scientists and experts. Their argument is very clear and convincing for those who have open minds. Despite the scientific fact, many in our community, inspired by the flat map of Mercator's Projection, continued turning their face to a wrong direction. 

This issue was ignored for months. Finally, in a Quranic study, we discussed the issue. Those of us who changed the qibla based on the knowledge we have acquired, talked in unity. We said that facing something means facing the shortest line between you and the object. The shortest line on the GLOBE surely is the shortest curve. You might connect yourself and the object of your direction with many imaginary lines, but the only different ones are the shortest and longest ones. If you face the longest connecting line you will be turning your back, but if you face the shortest one you will be facing it. Thus, the shorterst curve connecting Tucson to Mecca shows the North-East direction. 

In fact, those who insist on turning to East or South-East also have employed the same "shortest line" principle, but on a FLAT EARTH. Connecting your location with Mecca with the shortest line on a MERCATOR'S FLAT MAP does not coincide with the reality of GOD'S ROUND PLANET. 

Those who were insisting on turning their face to the wrong direction had many different reasons. The five different reasons that were cited in one meeting were: 

1. "I turn to East, because turning to North-East is too complicated. I do not understand their argument." This person, while acknowledging her ignorance on the subject, neither read the articles on the subject nor asked any questions to clarify the issue. She arrogantly insisted on the wrong qibla claiming that it was easier from the correct qibla. She simply chose a distorted flat map to the globe. 

2. "I follow the Quran alone. There are only 'East' and 'West' in the Quran. So, I turn to East. There is no a direction called North-East." This person knowingly abused the verses of the Quran to justify the wrong qibla. She knew that there were plural forms of East and West in the Quran (7:137; 37:5; 70:40). She also knew that every direction could be defined in terms of only East and West. She could not answer how could people in Medina (a city North of Mecca) face Ka'ba according to her theory, but she insisted on turning to the wrong direction. 

3.  "I turn to East, for a spiritual reason." When we questioned what was the spiritual reason, that person acknowledged that it was the practice of the "Messenger of the Covenant." She knew that it was called Sunna and she was not ready to accept the fact that she has replaced the old Sunna with a newer version. When she was warned of creating another authority besides God's word, she tried to defend her position by suggesting digging a tunnel between Tucson and Mecca. When we challenged her by asking whether she would correct her direction if the tunnel she suggest showed the North-East, she could not answer. This incredible conversation sounded like a miraculous fulfillment of verse 6:35 that mentions a bizarre argument voiced by mushriks . 

4.  "I turn to North-East when I pray at home, but for the sake of unity I turn to East when I pray at Masjid." This person, ironically, was the same person who gave a khutba warning us against peer pressure just a week before. He was turning to the wrong direction to preserve the unity! 

5.  "Well, we follow the walls. The walls of the Masjid are lined up East-West, so we turn our face to East." Accepting the contractors and masons as the indicators of direction for the Salat prayer was the so bizarre idea that needs no further comment. This argument reminded me the psychological, economical and political walls in the minds of people. Interestingly, this "wall theory" closed the arguments and it was perhaps accepted as the best theory. 

There were others who tried to save their tradition by playing with linguistics. They claimed that if you turn to North-East, the qibla changes to South-East after passing the North Pole. This people are so ignorant of astronomy that they think the imaginary lines such as Parallels, or Poles that resulted from the rotation of the Earth or its magnetic force would have influence on the direction of locations on the Earth. If they could simply manage to imagine themselves on the North Pole, they would find out that they could not face each other according to their silly theory. 

And there were others who did not express any "reason" at all. Perhaps they just did not care. They did not try to justify the wrong direction by flimsy excuses and silly reasons. The comfort of following the majority and their "infallible" messenger was sufficient for them. 

The Real Reason 

Idolization of messengers and abuse of their words and practices is not new. The "test" we have experienced in the Masjid Tucson proved beyond doubt that our community was no better than previous generations. If you hear people claiming that they follow the Quran alone and self-righteously imply that they are the "elite of the elite," do not put your full trust in them. You might ask them what they mean by the Quran; their Quran might be a different Quran. Check whether they have replaced the Arabic hadiths with the English ones. Ask them whether they have replaced hadith books with subtitles, footnotes, appendices, video and audio tapes. Listen to them whether they commemorate the "Messenger of the Covenant" instead of Muhammad or Jesus. See whether they employ a linguistic trick to replace "Sunnah" of the previous messenger with "spiritual reasons." 

Finally, watch them while they are praying. If they are disoriented, be suspicious of their claim. If they have turned to a wrong direction by error, no problem. God forgives them. But, if they have intentionally chosen the wrong direction despite the clear evidence, then they are in deep trouble. They might tell you many different reasons, but the real reason of their disorientation is prophesied by the Quran (2:143). Ironically, deep in their heart they know the real reason. They are most likely those who pretend to be monotheists (6:23). They will be deserted by their idols in the hereafter as they have deserted the Quran after receiving its message (25:30). 

There is no difference between those Muhammedan's who get disoriented time-wise every Ramadan because of not accepting God's precise calculation in the rotation of heavenly bodies (55:5) and between Khalifites who get disoriented space-wise because of preferring a flat earth instead of a round one (79:30; 39:5). What a regress; both in religion and science! 

"Wherever you go, you shall turn your face (during  Salat) towards the Sacred Mosque; wherever you might be, you shall turn your faces towards it. Now the people have no argument against you, except the transgressors among them. Do not pay attention to them; you shall devote your attention to Me. I will then perfect My blessings upon you, that you may be guided." 
(2:150)

A: This is the Quran. We have to follow this book alone as the source of guidance. 

B: The book that you are waving in your hand is the revised translation of the Quran with many footnotes, subtitles, introduction and appendices. Quran as the word of God contains 114 chapters and 6346 verses. It has an intricate mathematical code which proves its divine nature. 

A: But the footnotes, subtitles, introduction and appendices are from the messenger of God. We have to obey the messenger, and accept all of them as the explanation of the Quran. 

B: Well, you may read them and benefit from them. You may benefit from many other books and encyclopedias for better and deep understanding of certain verses. You can also ask questions to knowledgeable people and accept their study after verifying them. However, the only SOURCE of the religion is the Quran alone. 

A: But, Dr. Rashad Khalifa claimed that his translation, including all appendices and footnotes were authorized by God. 

B: So far we had three translations bearing this claim on their cover. You can see some serious errors being corrected in the following revised versions. Now, there are three ways to interpret this: 

1. The mistakes in previously authorized translations are not important. 

2. The last translation is the ultimate one. God deliberately allowed him to make mistakes in the firs two authorized ones. 

These two interpretation have many logical and practical problems. The only sound interpretation is the third one: 

3. The authorization does not entail every statement or every word of the translation, it does not include appendices and footnotes, but it is the overall message delivered by it. 

Please reflect on the fact that Rashad did not receive a book, even not a single verse. 

A: I am not saying that the messengers are infallible. But I am  saying that God will not allow the messenger to contaminate the message with falsehood. Any errors will be minor ones that do not effect the belief and salvation of believers. 

B: This is an invalid conclusion, since the premise does not necessarily warrant the conclusion. Do you mean that if we find any error we should automatically label it as a minor one? Or, do you mean that whenever we realize that it is an important error, then, we should defend the error and blame our understanding, since the messenger cannot have committed big errors? The only important message of messengers is to worship God alone, believe in the day of judgement and advocate righteousness. 

The origin of the problem is not the mistake of the messengers. If we believe that a messenger, as a human being, is not perfect, and can make mistakes like us, even big ones, then, that messenger cannot mislead us. On the other hand, if we are scared to see the errors and cover our mind with false assumptions, then, the "messenger" will mislead us. Let me summarize it. It is not that the messenger guides or misleads us, it is how we perceive the messenger that determines our guidance. Besides, if the Quran can mislead certain people, why not the messenger (17:82)? 

For instance, according to the Quran, to each confirmed disbeliever a devil is assigned as a condemnation (7:27; 43: 36; 26:222-223); but some footnotes claim that every human being, including believers, are born with an assigned devil. Another example: According to the Quran, Adam's body became visible in the heaven (7:22), however, in the appendices it is written that his body became visible on the earth not in the heaven. One more example: Appendix 1 claims that the number 19 looks the same in all languages of the world, and both components, 1 and 9, are the only numerals that look the same in all languages. This is simply not correct. I believe that if Rashad was alive, he would have immediately corrected these mistakes. In fact, in a Quranic study close to his last day he was reminded of 7:22. He immediately acknowledged his mistake. But, he was martyred before the publication of third edition. Now, should we put him in a position which he never claimed? 

A: Don't you see that God explained many verses through Dr. Khalifa? We could not understand those verses without him. 

B: Rashad was a pioneer in accepting the Quran alone. By this way he tore down the veil that covered the true meaning of God's word. Thus, he had the advantage of starting ahead of us. He had devoted his time to understanding the Quran. Nevertheless, he was in a learning process which was witnessed by many of us and which is also obvious in his writings. None can claim that he reached the perfect point just before his departure. 

Besides, he was not the only one who got the correct understanding of many verses either. There were some students of the Quran who reached the same understanding simultaneously. There were even some scholars who lived centuries before Rashad, who stated certain points which you may think that was originated by Rashad.  Moreover, I recommend the "Quran, Hadith and Islam." Please read that book again; but this time for yourself. Just replace Muhammad's name with Rashad's name and see the crystal clear point: Quran is explained and fully detailed by God. 

A: Actually, God is the one who explains the Quran. Did God send a messenger to explain things? If we accept Rashad Khalifa as a messenger, clearly He did: " O people of the scripture, our messenger has come to you to explain things to you, after a period of time without messengers, lest you say, 'We did not receive any preacher or warner.' A preacher and warner has now come to you. God is Omnipotent." (5:19). We know from his footnote, that Rashad Khalifa was that messenger. This whole issue goes back to whether we accept God as the Doer of everything. If we accept this principle that God is doing everything, it follows easily that He explains the Quran through His messenger. It is not the messenger who is doing the explaining, it is God. The messenger is just the means of communication--he is jest delivering the message from God to us. 

B: This is exactly what the followers of Hadith and Sunna keep claiming by misinterpreting the verses. During Rashad's lifetime you were not saying this. You were saying just the contrary. Just read the "Quran, Hadith, and Islam," and especially the Appendix 19. If you are using an argument which you have rejected two minutes ago, it is self-contradiction, or double-standard. We used to say that the Quran is the messenger of God, that is, after the departure of the human messenger, the Quran continues to deliver God's message. Do you retreat from this position now? 

A: We know that Satan advocates idol worship and pushes it as hard as he can. He has duped millions upon millions into this trap. We must be very careful of it. However, that is not his only trap. God uses the Children of Israel as examples again and again in the Quran. Their problem was not idolizing their messengers, but minimizing and rejecting them. They followed their scholars and their own egos rather than what came through their messengers. "We have taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and we sent to them messengers. Whenever a messenger went to them with anything they disliked, some of them they rejected, and some they killed." (5:70). Therefore, we must equally be careful of this trap. 

B: Do you mean that if I don't read appendices and footnotes and subtitles etc. of this translation, and satisfy with the Quran alone, I will be considered like the Jews who rejected their messengers? Do you claim that Rashad's mission was to bring a supplement to the Quran? Or advocate the Quran alone? If you notice that the verse 5:70 is about the people who rejected or killed the messengers while they came to them. Why? Because they have idolized their previous messengers or scholars. For instance, please read 40:34 and 9:31. 

The Quran informs us regarding the existence of hypocrites among believers (4:88). Since believers are advised to have an open society, there will always be hypocrites and idol worshipers who pretend to be believers or Submitters. They serve a function. And this forum serves a function to expose them (4:179). 

Disagreement among monotheists are categorically different from the disagreement between monotheists and idol worshipers. Monotheists can reconcile their differences after acquiring more knowledge, and they can respect each other’s differences after realizing the linguistic permission of the Quran for such differences. However, even a little difference between a true monotheist and a pretender is categorically different, because of the underlying premises. Even if the pretender is correct on a certain issue, he/she will be loser ultimately, because of idol worship. 

Some are surprised and frustrated after observing hostile arguments on this list. Why? They are probably thinking that every person on this forum is a believer. There is no reason to expect that ALL the people on this list are upholding the Quran alone, since the list is open to everyone who pretends so. We see those who claim that they are Muslims and follow the Quran on SRI. But, we realize that their claim is just a lip service. This forum is no different. 

The problem arise when this fact is denied by those who gullibly expect peace with those misguided and deluded people. When we gullibly expect that every one on this forum is a monotheist, then, we will force ourselves to treat hypocrites, advocates of man-made teachings and  fabricators of lies as our brothers and sisters. This create a problem which eventually help the agents of Satan. 

Muslims, soon after the departure of the prophet Muhammad started following hadith and sunnah. They had some “reasonable excuses” for their position. There were new ideas and arguments, and they thought they can prevent the CONFUSION of Submitters by sticking with the words spoken by Muhammad that were witnessed by many trustworthy companions. They forgot about the clear warnings that the Quran was sufficient for them. They thought if they substantiate the authenticity of a hadith through evidence, such as by multiple trustworthy witnesses, then they could shed light on controversial issues. Instead of studying the Quran on their own, they chose the apparently easy way of perroting the messenger. They created new theories to establish another source besides the Quran. 

During this state of confusion they needed to claim the infallibility of messenger to bring comfort to those who do not think for themselves. Unfortunately, this backward and ignorant movement attracted many mindless people and distorted the original message of the messenger. They turned God’s religion (98:5; 6:114) to God plus Messenger’s religion. Later some other groups were added as other sources of this “company religion.” They labeled those who rejected other sources besides the Quran. They accused them of hating the messenger, or trying to replace messenger’s inspired opinion with their little opinions, etc. They used the psychological tactic that is well diagnosed in the Quran: 39:36. 

We are witnessing the same pattern. Sure, there are more factors that contribute to the emergence of religious movements strolling backward to the days of ignorance. The Quranic fact that people, after receiving the divine message are invariably falling into idol worship is well analyzed by Muhammad Abu Rayye in his critical book on hadith: “Adva ‘ala es-Sunnetil Muhammadiyya.”  It is a great historical analysis of the creation of hadith and sunnah. I think you can find its English translation from libraries. (Check under the name of the author. Try different spellings too.) After reading that book you will be surprised how it accurately describes our current problems in this community. We are repeating the sad history foot by foot, inch by inch. 

I am personally grateful to God for leading me to His message through Rashad. I admired his faith, sincerity, and humbleness. He sacrificed his worldly life to promote the truth. He was correcting his errors and learning continuously. He had some weaknesses as all we do. I participated, like some others, in the re-vision of his translation and contributed substantially. I was on his list of acknowledgment not because of my proofreading (as some started claiming so), but because my harsh criticism of his translation and my principle of searching for the best understanding  of God’s word (17:36; 60:12). I think that Rashad’s translation is categorically different than all other translations, because it promotes worshipping God alone and following the Quran alone. 

But, as a work of human being, it contains errors and limited understanding of God’s word which is designed for all generations until the last day. Defending Rashad’s errors by any means possible is an insult to Rashad who always sought the truth even if it was used against him by his enemies to portray him as an unstable person. Those who read Rashad’s translation without idolizing him will be guided, inshallah. But those “believers” who consider Rashad’s translation  as a divine inspiration and as an infallible source of knowledge will be misguided by the very translation. They will be confused by contradictions created by wrong choice of words or personal interpretations or missing phrases. Those “disbelievers” who expect messengers to  be infallible demigods will dismiss his translation entirely upon finding errors in it, and they will never  pay attention to its message. 

There are those who now deny the fact that Rashad was consulting believers for his translation, a fact that was acknowledged by Rashad in Muslim Perspective and in his brief acknowledgment  which was deleted from his translation after his departure. Rashad followed the Quranic advice and learned from others (42:38). The deletion of the acknowledgment serves the purpose of those who are trying hard to present Rashad’s translation as an infallible inspired book. I know that this point will be abused by those who want to distract the issue by insulting me as if I am bringing this issue because of my name. If I cared about what would they think of me I would not have raised this issue at all. But, this has nothing to do with my name or the name of others. Rashad acknowledgment exposes their new fabrications regarding the nature and purpose of his translation. 

The Questions 

I am presenting several questions to demonstrate that there are some people who pretend to follow the Quran alone, but in fact they do not. Here are my questions: 

1. Who did originally use the word Islam, or Muslim? In other words, who did first coin the name of the only religion acceptable by God? 

a) God (98:5; 3:19; 3:85; 10:72; 22:78). 

b) Abraham. 

2. Did God create the earth in four days (periods) because the complexity of its design REQUIRED longer period, or HE chose to create it in four days for certain reasons? 

a) God is NOT required by anything; He can create anything He wants by merely saying “be” and it “becomes” as the case in Big Bang (2:117; 3:47; 6:73; 36:82; 40:68).  But, He might have CHOSEN evolution for some reasons. 

b) The complexity of Earth’s design REQUIRED longer time for its creation in 4 days. 

3. Does the Quran advocate consultation among believers or consensus? Do they mean the same thing? 

a) The Quran advises us to consult each other (42:38). 

b) The Quran advises us to have consensus. 

4. Do believers have devil companions (qareen)? (Companions; not whisperers). 

a) No, devil  companions are assigned by God to ardent disbelievers after they have proven that they are fanatic disbelievers (4:38; 43:36) 

b) Yes, WE ALL have DEVIL COMPANIONS from jinns. 

5. Can Satan be God’s representative on earth? 

a) God's arch enemy cannot represent God and there is no such thing as "a temporary god" (43:45). Humans are born with God's "revelation" (ruh) (32:9) embedded in their conscious mind (nafs), thus they are able to represent God on earth by submitting to His will (38:26; 6:165; 10:14; 10:73; 35:39) 

b) Satan was appointed by God as His representative. 

6. Is there water-dependent life on other planets? 

a) Yes, life dependent creatures (dabba) are distributed on both earth and in the universe (24:45; 42:29; 16:49). 

a) No, life is only on earth. 

7. Did God Almighty send messengers to every community? 

a) No, God did not send messenger to every community; but to every nation (35:24; 25:51 & 36:6). 

b) Yes God sent messengers to every community. 

8. Is the so-called “authorized English translation”  the word of God which is free of contradictions (4:82) and unimitatable (2:23); or is it word of a human messenger which contains contradictions (4:82) and lacks miraculous evidence of its divine source (2:23)? 

a. All the translations of the Quran carry the characteristic of their human translators: fallible, limited in information, containing contradictions, and lack the divine evidence and guarantee of preservation. As an example, see the contradiction created by translating two different Arabic word with one English word: 29:12 x 29:13. Also the verses mentioned above in the question number seven. 

b. The divine statement “Authorized English Version” means that Rashad’s translation is the same as the word of God. 

9. Which direction is the qibla in Tucson? 

a. North-East, since the shortest curve that connects Tucson to Mecca on a round Earth shows North-East. All astronomers and experts in navigation are in agreement. You can verify this easily on a  globe by connecting Tucson with Mecca with a piece of string. 

b. Though we come up with various reasons, we all follow the shortest line that connects Tucson to Mecca on a flat map.. Nevertheless, the practice (not Sunnah!) of the "Messenger of the Covenant" is the real reason. Unfortunately, some of us are confused between East and South-East. Again, the words and practice of the Messenger of Covenant is different than hadith and sunnah. 

10. Why don't you follow Muhammedan hadiths besides the Quran? 

a. Because the Quran is detailed, complete and the only source of God's law (6:19;38;114). We should devote our religion to God alone (98:5), not God + messenger + ulama, etc. Accepting any authority besides God as another source of God's religion is shirk, the only unforgivable sin. 

b. We do not follow hadith because they are not authentic. Otherwise, we would be glad to follow other sources besides the Quran. In fact, we follow many teachings of the Messenger of the Covenant besides the Quran. BTW, we are trying to call them with a different name, even some of us tried to call them as "part of the Quran." We know that hadith and sunnah are satanic teachings. 

I chose "a" as the correct answer for all the 10 questions above. I believe that if you pick "b" as your answer for all or most of the questions you are fooling yourself by claiming that you are following the Quran alone. 

Rasahad Khalifa was a courageous monotheist and there are still some monotheists affiliated with this mutating and evolving cult. Though Rashad Khalifa strongly objected to the idolization of humans and invited Muslims to follow the Quran alone,  Submitters  consider Dr. Khalifa's work infallible and  treat his translation as inspiration, a deceptive word used to avoid the use of the word revelation. The  site also demonstrates numerous examples of arbitrary mathematical manpulations as mathematical miracle, thereby discrediting the extraoridinary mathematical system in the Quran. 

The evolution of this baby cult should be observed, since it provides a contemporary laboratory to witness the progsress of corruption in religious organizations. The short history of this organization provides excellent clues how messengers who called to worship God alone are transformed to partners with God by clergymen and their ignorant followers. The cult claims to follow a person who gave his life to promote monotheism and who fought against sectarian divisions and idolizations of religious heroes. Rashad Khalifa, a person in continuous search of truth and self-correction, soon after his death, was turned to an infallible prophet who allegedly received English revelations from God. Rashad Khalifa, a person who considered following any religious teaching besides God's word idolworship (for instance, see Appendix 19 of his translation), soon after his death was turned to a cult leader with "authorized" teachings besides God's word. Rashad's writings in Appendicies, footnosets of the tarnsaliton and news letters are introduced as supplement to the Quran. The obvious erors and contradiction in those wiritings are sanctified and authorized in the name of God.  

Though there are some monotheists still afilliated with the cult, the new comers are introduced to a distorted message that contradicts the real teaching of Rashad Khalifa, that is, the Quran ALONE as the source of islam. Abdullah Arik, the official leader of the cult, is a very nice felow who is trying hard to keep the unity of the congregation, unfortunately at the cost of compromising with idol-carvers. 
 

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