PROPOSITION 3
Muhammad is reported to have said that his greatest miracle was the Divine Inspiration he received, i.e. the Quran:
The Prophet said, "Every Prophet was given miracles because of which people believed, but what I have been given, is Divine Inspiration which Allah has revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will outnumber the followers of the other Prophets on the Day of Resurrection."
(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 504)
This means that Muhammad stands or falls on the veracity and authenticity of the Quran. Yet the Quran is actually one of the best evidences that Muhammad wasn’t a true prophet since it contains gross factual errors showing that it did not originate from God. Some examples include:
1 Which Came First: Heaven or Earth?
The Quran claims that the earth and its provisions were created before the heavens:
It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth; THEN (thumma) He turned to the heavens, and made them into seven firmaments; and of all things He hath perfect knowledge. S. 2:29
Say: Is it that ye deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do ye join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds. He set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measure therein its sustenance, in four Days, alike for (all) who ask. THEN (thumma) He turned to the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come (together), in willing obedience." So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge. S. 41:9-12
Traditions attributed to Muhammad and his first followers claim that the Arabic word thumma meant a sequential act, that the heavens came after the earth:
"Abu Huraira reported that Allah's Messenger (mpbuh) took hold of my hands and said: Allah the Exalted and Glorious, created the clay on Saturday and He created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He created the things entailing labour on Tuesday and created light on Wednesday and He caused animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam (pbuh) after 'Asr on Friday; the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, ie. Between afternoon and night." (Sahih Muslim, Book 039, Number 6707)
This Hadith places the creation of light on Wednesday, after the creation of the earth and its provisions. Light presumably refers to the sun. If so, this would be in clear contradiction with modern scientific theories on the origin of the universe which places the creation of the sun before vegetation.
2 The orbit of the sun
“And the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise.” S. 36:38 Pickthall
The Prophet asked me at sunset, "Do you know where the sun goes (at the time of sunset)?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." He said, "It goes (i.e. travels) till it prostrates Itself underneath the Throne and takes the permission to rise again, and it is permitted and then (a time will come when) it will be about to prostrate itself but its prostration will not be accepted, and it will ask permission to go on its course but it will not be permitted, but it will be ordered to return whence it has come and so it will rise in the west. And that is the interpretation of the Statement of Allah: ‘And the sun Runs its fixed course for a term (decreed). That is The Decree of (Allah) The Exalted in Might, The All-Knowing.’" (36.3 (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number 421)