Grammatical Errors In The Quran?
More sophisticated critisims of the Quran have been raised by Arabic speaking non muslims. They claim the Quran has grammatical errors. A coptic christian raised this objection recently in a paltalk room, he claimed that the Quran has a mistake in grammer in Surah 3:59 which in english reads
'Error 1'
Surah 3:59
"the likeness of Jesus, in God's sight, is as Adam's likeness; He created him of dust, then said He unto him, 'Be,' and he was."
إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِندَ اللّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
'qaala lahuu kun fa-yakuun'
Critics claim that The word yakuun ('is' in English) should be kana ('was') to be correct with the past tense of the previous verb 'said'
Response To Error 1
This claim just shows the ignorance of this Critic, because this verse is speaking of when Allah wants to create something in the future, not just in the past; the verse uses the word idha which means 'if', this obviously refers to something in the future. Therefore the verb Qul (says) is in the present tense, and its then followed by the verb yakoon (it is), which is in the present tense but also refers to something in the future.
Allah says 'He created him of dust, then said He unto him, Be, and he is', meaning 'and he was' (past tense), and the future form 'yakoon' is used in place of the past tense, because it is describing Gods power in the Future, Present & Past.
'Error 2'
Surah 41:11
"Then He lifted Himself to heaven when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth, 'come willingly, or unwillingly!' They said, 'we come willingly.'"
ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ اِئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ
'... faqal laha wa lel-Arad 'iteya taw'aan aw karha qalata atayna ta'e'een'
Critics claim Heaven and earth in Arabic are feminine nouns, the verb said in 'they said' is accordingly feminine and dual (qalata), but the adjective 'willing' at the end of the verse is masculine and plural (ta'e'een), being at variance with the rule that the adjectives should match their nouns in number in gender, thus ta'e'een which is used for plural, should be ta'e'atain which is used for feminine dual.
Response To Error 2
There are several Heavens and serveral Earths. In classical Arabic they can be refered to as masculin or feminine. This so called error is just a change that has occured in modern Arabic. In classical Arabic it is correct to say 'qaala al-nisa’ & qaalat ar-rijal' both of which sound incorrect in modern Arabic. This is a simplification of modern Arabic. Using modern Arabic grammar as the standard is like criticising Shakespeare because of his grammar differs from modern English. The Quran is the highest form of Arabic, it cannot be wrong