Idols in the Qur’an and the Bible – Sura 68 – Part 3

[68:41] Do they have idols? Let their idols help them, if they are truthful.

1Ki 18:24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

Both the Qur'an and the Bible warn about false gods and idols.  However - while the Bible places a heavy emphasis on miracles, the Qur'an does not.  Although - Muslims do consider the Qur'an itself to be a miracle.

We'll take a look at this, based on another section of Sura 68, compared with 1 Kings from the Old Testament and The Gospel of Mark from the New Testament.

 Sura 68 - The Pen

Order of Revelation - 2
Traditional order in Qur’an - 68

Sura 68 addresses the following:

1.  The sense from the Prophet that his first revelation was actually from an evil spirit. This appears to be confirming what his wife told him - that Muhammad was not crazy / hallucinating / etc.
2.  Confirms that God can see what people are doing.
3.  Compares the revelations to the Prophet to what others are told by their idols (gods).
4.  Says that God can take care of Himself.
5.  Tells Muhammad not to be like Jonah.

Part 1 was covered in introduction to Sura 68.

Part 2 was covered in God can see what people do.

3. Compare revelations to the Prophet to what others are told by their idols

[68:37] Do you have another book to uphold?
[68:38] In it, do you find anything you want?
[68:39] Or, have you received solemn assurances from us that grant you whatever you wish on the Day of Resurrection?
[68:40] Ask them, "Who guarantees this for you?"
[68:41] Do they have idols? Let their idols help them, if they are truthful.
[68:42] The day will come when they will be exposed, and they will be required to fall prostrate, but they will be unable to.
[68:43] With their eyes subdued, humiliation will cover them. They were invited to fall prostrate when they were whole and able.
[68:44] Therefore, let Me deal with those who reject this Hadith; we will lead them on whence they never perceive.
[68:45] I will give them enough rope; My scheming is formidable

We now get to an area of some controversy.

No miracles performed by Muhammad

During the life of Muhammad, he was often asked to do miracles.  After all - the prophets of the Old Testament performed miracles - and Isa and His followers in the Injil also performed miracles.  So there was naturally an expectation on the part of many that as a prophet of God, Muhammad would also have the ability to perform miracles.

In response to the Arabs who requested such things - we see from islamawareness.com -

There are some seventeen places in the Quran, in which the Prophet Muhammad is challenged to work a sign, and he answered them all to the same or similar effect: Allah has the power of working miracles, and has not been believed; there were greater miracles in nature than any which could be wrought outside of it; and the Quran itself was a great, everlasting miracle. The Quran, the Prophet used to assert to the disbelievers, is a book of blessings which is a warning for the whole world; it is a complete guidance and explains everything necessary; it is a reminder of what is imprinted on human nature and is free from every discrepancy and from error and falsehood. It is a book of true guidance and a light to all.

As to the sacred idols, so much honored and esteemed by the pagan Arabs, the Prophet openly recited: They are but names which you have named - you and your fathers - for which Allah has sent down no authority. (CH 53:23 Quran)

And so - he never performed any miracle.  He gave the reason - because previously God's miracles had not been believed, so there was apparently no point to performing any more.  He also pointed out that Allah had given no authority to any of the hundreds of idols / false gods that Arabs currently believed in.

However - for the Jews and Christians, they are used to their prophets being able to perform some sort miracles - through the power of God.  So they were concerned about Muhammad's lack of miracles.

One example of an Old Testament Miracle

For example -
We see in 1 Kings 18:16-30 an example of God’s prophet Elijah calling out for those who worshiped false idols to try to prove their power (the power of the false idols)

1Ki 18:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”