GodTube Questions for Islam #8: Why is Allah’s Communication Only One-Way in Nature?

John C. Rankin (April 8, 2011)

In the Qur’an, the communication of Allah is one-way and hortatory in nature. Namely, Allah tells Muslims and all others what to believe and how to act.

No questions are ever posed of Allah by men or women, and this means there is no sense that Allah “persuasion” involves critical thinking in his presence. This is in contrast to the Bible where questions are freely posed of the one true Creator, Yahweh Elohim, and of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God.

More deeply yet, there is no conversation or interaction between Allah and human beings in the Qur’an.

In this light, we can consider how the Qur’an is regarded by Muslims as faithful to Abraham as the father of Ishmael and Isaac. But it also has no sense of Genesis 18:16-37 where Yahweh Elohim invites Abraham to question and converse with him in view of the impending judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Thus, if the Qur’an only presents Allah’s communication as one-way, and his authority cannot be questioned, how then can religions and political freedom be possible in Islamic societies? What basis is there for representative government where political authority can be challenged?

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