Koran 9:19-22

9:19 Have you made the providing of water for the pilgrim and the maintenance of al-Masjid al-Haram equal to [the deeds of] one who believes in Allah and the Last Day and strives in the cause of Allah?

They are not equal in the sight of Allah.

And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

20 The ones who have believed, emigrated and striven in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank in the sight of Allah.

And it is those who are the attainers [of success].

21 Their Lord gives them good tidings of mercy from Him and approval and of gardens for them wherein is enduring pleasure.

22 [They will be] abiding therein forever.

Indeed, Allah has with Him a great reward.

Koran 9:19-22

Let’s see what the scholars of Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 9:19 reveal:

The idolators said, “Maintaining Al-Masjid Al-Haram and providing water for pilgrims are better than embracing the faith and performing Jihad.”

They used to boast about being those who maintained the Sacred Sanctuary.

These actions – maintaining and serving Allah’s House – will not benefit them with Allah because they associate others with Him.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 9:19

As shown by Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 9:19 and Koran 9:19-22, the idolaters, the Quraysh, already maintained the Kaaba and Mecca and provided water for pilgrims, which shows that the pilgrimage or hajj is a pagan ritual. This also shows that the pagan Quraysh already worshipped Allah too. Thus we know from this that Allah is a dead, broken, stone idol on, beside or in the Kaaba. So from this, we know that Allah is an idol, which means that Allah is incompetent, incoherent, imaginary, fictional and false, which means Islamic doctrine and Islam are nonsensical and false.

Muhammad asks a rhetorical question, while not being able to discern the worth of providing water and maintaining the Kaaba and the idols involved.

Note verse 21 switches from “Allah” to “Their Lord”. Surely, if Allah was real and not a stone idol, then Muhammad should have recited “Allah” instead of “Their Lord”. This kind of implies that “Their Lord” is not Allah, but some evil supernatural being, perhaps Satan? Or it’s just a mistake by Muhammad. Either way, this shows that Allah is impotent, incompetent, incoherent, imaginary, fictional and false, which means Islamic doctrine and Islam are nonsensical and false.

Worse, this passage is revealed in reaction to one of the pagan Quraysh leaders:

Al-Abbas said, “By Allah! We used to maintain Al-Masjid Al-Haram, release the indebted, serve the House (or cover it, or maintain it) and provide water for pilgrims.” Allah revealed this verse,…

Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 9:19

Note that Al-Abbas performs an extra service: “release the indebted”, which seems to be a charity for slaves, perhaps, and this service isn’t mentioned by Muhammad. Looks like Muhammad missed that, in his haste.

These problems with the passage show that the best replacement for this passage is: “”, the empty sentence.