the divine hiddenness argument against the divinity of the qur’an, a formulation and critique

While the divine hiddenness argument is typically raised against the justification of believing in the existence of god, i will suggest a new version that can be taken up to challenge the divinity of the qur’an. it can be called the divine hiddenness argument against the divinity of the qur’an (dhaq for short): introduction 1: the qur’an asserts its divine origin. introduction 2: assuming its divine nature, the qur’an has to contain true claims. introduction 3: implicit in the qur’anic claim of divine origin is the promise of providing clear (mubīn) guidance. introduction 4: a book of guidance should offer unambiguous direction to all. introduction 5: however, the qur’an is fraught with ambiguity and enigmatic passages and, hence, has been subject to irreducibly diverse interpretations. conclusion 1: the qur’an cannot fulfill its role as a guiding scripture due to its persistent lack of clarity. conclusion 2: the assertion that the qur’an serves as a guiding light must be denied. conclusion 3: since the qur’an systematically fails to guide as claimed, its divine origin must be denied. i will argue that dhaq is a new problem of evil. god (of abrahamic monotheism), if he/she exists, is expected to guide humanity, but the persistent lack of clarity of the qur’an systematically hinders the promise of guidance. the result is systematic misguidance, which is evil. i will argue that dhaq can be critiqued by challenging its underlying assumption that unambiguity proves perfection while diversity is seen as a flaw. one could argue to the contrary, as ibn arabi did, that the diversity of understating the qur’anic verses is an esoteric blessing pre-requisite of guidance. furthermore, unveiling, needed for divine guidance, comes in absolute and conditional forms. no revealing, not even revealing via sense perception, is unconditional; all revealing is subject to certain conditions for their comprehension. this principle also applies to revealing the required guidance that the qur’an offers. i will then argue that absolute unambiguity could be the source of much more evil than conditional ambiguity. finally, i will argue that although mubīn in the qur’an means ‘clear,’ it does not mean ‘clarifying.’