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, 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.

Open Question #1: Was Ibn Kathir trying to favor ‘planner’ over ‘deceiver’?

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 I doubt that Ibn Kathir or his translators were trying to avoid (or, to put it strongly, to hide) the word ‘deceiving’ — why would the English translator use ‘deceiving’ at all if it was meant to be hidden behind ‘planner’? To verify this, click the link, press Ctrl+F, type ‘deceiv’ and press Enter, and you should find that the English translation of Ibn Kathir uses both ‘deceiving’ and ‘planning’.

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

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, so we use reason to make sense of it — see the questions that follow.

Open Question #2: 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.

Open Question #3: 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 Open Question 2 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.

Open Question #4: If God cannot outmaneuver Satan because Satan should be the Best of Deceivers, then would that would mean that God in Christianity is deceived by Satan?

We have no problem with God outmanoeuvring 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?

Open Question #5: 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?

Open Question #6: 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.

May the God of Jesus (peace be with him) guide us all.

Take care.