The Eternal Qur’an or a Tribal Manifesto?
If It Existed Before Creation, Why Doesn’t It Contain Only Timeless, Universal Truths?
Muslim theology traditionally holds that the Qur’an is uncreated, eternal, and preserved on a heavenly tablet (al-lawh al-mahfuz) before time itself began. According to this belief, the Qur’an is not just a product of history—it is outside of history, part of God’s eternal word.
But here lies the fatal contradiction:
If the Qur’an truly existed before creation, why is it so deeply embedded in tribal, temporal, and 7th-century Arabian concerns? Why does it dwell on Muhammad’s marital disputes, local Jewish tribes, Meccan politics, and ritual minutiae?
This post examines that contradiction and argues that the Qur’an’s historical provincialism decisively undermines its claim to eternality and divine universality.
📜 1. Eternal Message or Local Legislation?
An eternal book, written before the cosmos, would presumably contain universal moral principles applicable to all people, all times, and all cultures.
Instead, we find the following:
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Verses addressing the spoils of war after specific battles (Q 8:1–41).
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Instructions about the turn Muhammad should take with his wives (Q 33:51).
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A scandal involving Muhammad’s adopted son’s wife, justifying his marriage to her (Q 33:37).
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Legal minutiae about iddat (waiting period for divorced women), ritual ablutions, and how to handle menstruating wives.
Why would a pre-creation book care about whether someone bathed before prayer or how long to wait after a divorce?
These are not eternal metaphysical truths. They are societal regulations, specific to a context, grounded in a very particular moment.
🕰️ 2. Bound to the 7th Century: Historical and Political Embeddedness
Consider how many Qur’anic verses respond to momentary events:
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After being mocked by his enemies, Muhammad receives comforting verses.
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After battlefield confusion, new strategies are revealed.
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When Muhammad is accused of impropriety, Allah intervenes to clear his name.
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The change of Qibla (direction of prayer) from Jerusalem to Mecca is justified not on theological grounds, but on political-religious expediency (Q 2:144).
These reactions show the Qur’an developing in real time.
But how can an eternal text respond to events that—by definition—didn’t exist when it was allegedly written?
🔥 3. Theological Crisis: Timeless God, Time-Bound Book
If the Qur’an is uncreated, then it wasn’t composed in response to anything—it predated all events.
But the entire structure of the Qur’an contradicts that:
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It is filled with commands based on specific incidents.
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It adapts and changes over time (e.g., abrogation Q 2:106).
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It reflects Muhammad’s evolving needs, relationships, and battles.
So either:
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The Qur’an is not eternal—it was composed in time, like any other book.
OR
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God wrote an eternal book that just happened to correspond exactly to the career and domestic life of a 7th-century Arab man.
The latter is not only implausible—it’s logically incoherent.
🧩 4. Missing Universals, Present Particulars
Strikingly, the Qur’an lacks core philosophical and moral universals found in other religious traditions:
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No developed theology of agape love, divine adoption, or self-sacrifice.
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No real exploration of human dignity, universal brotherhood, or conscience.
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No timeless concept of grace or redemption beyond reward-and-punishment.
Instead, we get:
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Laws about fasting, zakat, length of beards, and slave management.
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Approval of concubinage and war spoils.
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Detailed instructions about how to divide inheritance among male and female relatives.
This is a book clearly shaped by the needs of a community, not the transcendent mind of God.
📉 5. A Book of Its Time—Not Beyond Time
Let’s be honest: if the Qur’an had never been declared eternal, few would read it and conclude it must be. Its form, language, style, and concerns are deeply earthly, particular, and culturally bound.
It reads like:
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A record of a man’s ministry.
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A manual for forming a religious community.
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A justification of wars, policies, and marriages.
It does not read like something composed outside of time, with full knowledge of the past, present, and future.
✅ Conclusion: The Emperor Has No Timeless Clothes
If the Qur’an existed eternally before creation, then its content should transcend time, tribe, and personal convenience. But it doesn't. It is:
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Historically anchored.
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Politically responsive.
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Religiously self-serving.
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Culturally specific.
The doctrine of the Qur’an’s uncreatedness creates a fatal tension: either the book is eternal, and its tribal content is absurd, or it is earthly, and its divine timelessness is a theological fiction.
You can’t have it both ways.
So we are left with a question Muslims cannot answer without contradiction:
If the Qur’an existed before creation, why does it look exactly like a product of 7th-century Arabia?
The only honest answer is the simplest:
Because that’s exactly what it is.
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