Muslim Response: Allah is the Best of Deceivers in Surah 3:54

Introduction

1. Most, if not all, Muslims have a printed Qur’an in Arabic at home with some having the translations as well, while most Christians have their printed Bible not in its original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Aramaic and Greek (New Testament) but in translation (Filipinos who know English, and English-speaking countries generally, go for the KJV, NKJV, NIV, ESV, and so on).
2. All Muslims are required to recite verses from the Qur’an in Arabic at least five times a day when they pray. Most Christians pray in church in their own language, so those who do not speak Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek will not recite the Bible in those languages.

Both points above can easily be verified by attending a church service, or by searching for church worship on YouTube. Do the same for how Muslims pray and you will find that no Muslim prays using a translation, so respectfully, it is pointless to hide a meaning under a translation. And I am not putting Christianity in a bad light here: non-Jewish, non-Greek, and non-Aramaic Christians pray and study the Bible in a translation in their own language for ease of understanding, and no part of their service requires them to recite the Bible in its original language. That brings a risk, though — the risk of never reading, hearing, or studying the original wording, because a translation stands in its place. A hidden meaning therefore has a high probability of being widely disseminated before it is detected; and once it is detected and corrected, the old version of the translation usually remains in heavy use among those who are not yet aware.

This is not to say that Christians are content to have a meaning hidden in their translations; they do sincerely want to make sure everything is correct. What I am saying is that there is a high risk of spreading an incorrect meaning when no one is required to read, recite, or study the original texts, and everyone simply uses the translation they are comfortable with.

Ibn Kathir’s English-Translated Tafsir Uses ‘Deceiving’

Ibn Kathir was an Arab writing commentary in Arabic. Here is Ibn Kathir’s tafsir of Surah 3:54, translated into English, where the English translation itself says that Allah deceived the evil plotters. So Ibn Kathir or the translator of his tafsir did not try to avoid (or, to put it strongly, to hide) the word ‘deceiving’ in favor of ‘planning’ only.

Here is another English translation of Surah 3:54, which does not use ‘Best of Planners’ but ‘Best of Schemers’.

القرآن Al-'Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:54

وَمَكَرُوا۟ وَمَكَرَ ٱللَّهُ وَٱللَّهُ خَيْرُ ٱلْمَٰكِرِينَ

“The [disbelievers] schemed but God also schemed; God is the Best of Schemers.”

So why does this translator use ‘Best of Schemers’? If the aim were concealment, would they not all have worked to use ‘Best of Planners’ throughout? The answer is that it is pointless to hide a meaning in a translation when the Arabic is required of all Muslims for prayer, learning, and study. The original word will always be exposed, but we use reason to make sense of it — see the questions that follow.

We can also look into the technical meaning of ‘mkr’, which can simply be checked in an Arabic–English dictionary, but let’s just grant the asker the ‘deceiver’ meaning and use logic and reasoning to explain this.

Question 1: Should we think of you as bad for saving your mother and sister?

Suppose your mother was kidnapped by a criminal who also planned a deception to trick your sister into being kidnapped, and suppose you made a plan of your own to outwit him. Both of you made a deceptive plan — the criminal to kidnap, you to rescue — and you won and saved your mother and sister. That would make you the Best of Planners, or the Best of Deceivers in a limited sense, because your deception was carried out in good faith to save your mother and sister. No reasonable police officer, and no reasonable person, would come after you and think you bad for deceiving the kidnappers in order to save them.

Question 2: Should we think of God as bad for saving Jesus?

If you assume the Qur’an is true, and your problem is that God in the Qur’an is the Best of Deceivers, then by the explanation in the previous section, Question 1, there is no problem here — unless we set reason aside.

Whether or not Christians believe that God saved Jesus, to think badly of someone for saving Jesus — or for saving the innocent from a wrongdoer — is, respectfully, either a failure of reasoning or simply inhumane.

Question 3: If God cannot outmaneuver Satan because Satan should be the Best of Deceivers, then would that mean that God in Christianity is deceived by Satan?

We have no problem with God outmaneuvering or deceiving the disbelievers in order to save the believers, because we do not consider God bad for showing mercy to the innocent. We believe God is all-powerful and can easily defeat the Best of Deceivers; and following the reasoning posted by the Christian, we would then have to call God the Best of the Best of Deceivers after defeating Satan — yet we never think of God in a bad light for it, because no reasonable person should think God bad for saving believers. Otherwise, if God cannot beat Satan because Satan is the Best of Deceivers, would that not suggest that God can be deceived by Satan?

Question 4: If God is all-knowing, then He knew that the angel He created would become the Best of Deceivers. Would that make God the God/Creator of the Best of Deceivers in Christianity?

In Islam, we believe that God created Satan and sent him down to earth as a test for humanity, and we do not consider God bad for doing so. Through this test, God distinguishes among His creation those who choose good and deserve Heaven from those who choose evil and deserve Hell. For us, that is fair.

It is similar to attorneys, teachers, engineers, and doctors having to take board examinations. The government does not require these examinations out of bad intentions, but to determine who deserves to practise these professions. This benefits citizens by ensuring that they receive qualified practitioners.

So is God in Christianity the Creator/God of Satan, the Best of Deceivers?

Question 5: God deceived people in the Bible; should we think of God in the Bible as bad?

In the book of Kings, God caused the Assyrian army to flee.

Since this topic is often raised by Christians (based on my research), some people also compare it with passages in the Bible that involve deception. For example, in 1 Kings 22:20–22:

الكتاب المقدس 1 Kings 22:20-22

“And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ Then one said one thing, and another said another, until a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘How?’ the Lord asked him. He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.’”

If we read the context starting from 1 Kings 21:1, we find that Ahab is the King of Israel who took possession of Naboth’s vineyard unfairly, which Ahab regretted, humbling himself after God’s warning. In 1 Kings 22:1–4, after three years without war, Ahab was visited by King Jehoshaphat, and Ahab invited the said king to fight at Ramoth-gilead, on the condition that Ahab ask the Lord whether this was favorable to God. Accordingly, Ahab gathered all of the prophets to prophesy, and all were in favor of fighting at Ramoth-gilead. However, King Jehoshaphat wanted to consult further, so Ahab consulted Micaiah, although Micaiah was known to Ahab as unfavorable to him. Micaiah’s vision in 1 Kings 22:20–22 then showed that God was not in favor of Ahab’s plan, and that the Lord permitted the lying spirit to make all of the prophets Ahab had consulted before Micaiah lie to him.

Conclusion

From the question posted, we therefore conclude that the asker has a problem with God deceiving, even if it is done to save the innocent or the believers. With that said, we respectfully conclude that the God in Christianity cannot defeat Satan in deception, because Satan is the Best of Deceivers and because they believe their God cannot deceive. Therefore, following this reasoning, we can conclude that the God in Christianity has been deceived all along. In addition, we see a lot of passages in the Bible where Yahweh deceives people, and Christians believe that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament as well. This leaves the asker to question his Bible and their God as well: why did their God deceive?

The above reasoning simply follows the logic of the question posted; it is not my intention to paint Christianity in a bad light. I also doubt that this is the picture the Christian brother wanted to paint of Christianity, but I understand if his intention is to find mistakes to prove the truth of his religion. However, this is not helpful for finding the truth. Truth can stand on its own even if we grant the opposing religion its judgement of our belief, because reasoning, logic, and scriptural evidence will always support the truth. If any of these do not support a claim, then that claim is likely to be false or too risky to believe in. And why would I stick to my religion if the other side has the truth? This is a constant reminder first and foremost for myself, and I encourage the asker to step back, study, and ponder their questions.

Finally, if you think I made a mistake, I’m happy to be corrected, and I hope you’ve read the entirety of this response. May God guide us all. Take care.