My rebuttal to Jochen Katz' "What will be the food for the people in Hell?" article:

The following is my rebuttal to Jochen Katz' article that is located at: http://www../Quran/Contra/food_in_hell.html.

He wrote:

Qur'an Contradiction:

What will be the food for the people in Hell?

The Qur'an makes the following statements regarding the food that unbelievers will have in hell:

No food will there be for them but a bitter Dhari   S. 88:6 Y. Ali

Nor hath he any food except the foul pus from the washing of wounds,   S. 69:39 Y. Ali

In a footnote, Yusuf Ali gives the following explanation for Dhari:

It is a plant, bitter and thorny, loathsome in smell and appearance, which will neither give fattening nourishment to the body nor in any way satisfy the burning pangs of hunger. ...

Other translators render the term as "bitter thorn-fruit" (Pickthall) "dry, bitter and thorny herbage" (Sher Ali), "cactus thorn" (Arberry), "the foul thorn" (Palmer).

Obviously, both kinds of ‘food’ are chosen to evoke a feeling of horror when thinking about Hell. However, the contradiction is in the double claim that this or that will be the only food, i.e.

• No food except Dhari (88:6).
• No food except foul pus (69:39).

My response:

First of all, here is how Noble Verses 88:6 and 69:39 above read from the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation that Jochen Katz used:

"No food will there be for them but a bitter Dhari'  (The Noble Quran, 88:6)"
"Which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.  (The Noble Quran, 88:7)"

"And what ye see not,  (The Noble Quran, 69:39)"

The second Noble Verse, 69:39, is wrong.  I believe he meant Noble Verse 69:36, which he deliberately twisted its quote from the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation as clearly shown below:

30. (The stern command will say): "Seize ye him, and bind ye him,
31. "And burn ye him in the Blazing Fire.
32. "Further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits!
33. "This was he that would not believe in God Most High.
34. "And would not encourage the feeding of the indigent!
35. "So no friend hath he here this Day.
36. "Nor hath he any food except the corruption from the washing of wounds,  (not "foul pus" as he stated above)
37. "Which none do eat but those in sin."
38. So I do call to witness what ye see,
39. And what ye see not,
40. That this is verily the word of an honoured apostle;
(The Noble Quran, 69:30-40)

I have the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation of the Noble Quran on my site.  The quotes I provided above can be easily verified using my Noble Quran's search engine. 

Now, let us look closely at Jochen Katz' ludicrous logic here (similar to his polytheist trinity paganism one).  He raised his contradiction/objection on the following key words:

1-  bitter Dhari.  "Daree" (in Arabic)
2-  foul pus  -- OR -- the corruption from the washing of wounds (as correctly stated above)  "Ghisleen" (in Arabic)

Let's first look at some examples of different Names for single Entities in the Noble Quran:

It is important to know that Allah Almighty on different occasions gave several Names and Attributes to single Entities in the Noble Quran.  Let us look at few examples:

1-  Allah Almighty Gave Himself 99 different Names/Attributes.

2-  The Noble Quran was called:   Al-Quran, Al-Furqan, Al-Kitab and Al-Thikr, and perhaps other Names.

3-  Hell Fire was called:  Jahannam, Jaheem, Saqar, Hawiya, and other Names.

4-  The Day of Judgement was called:   Al-Aakhira, Al-Saa-aa, Al-Yaum Al-Mawood, Al-Qariaa, Al-Waqiaa, and other Names.

The Noble Quran contains many mysteries and hidden codes that only time can explain.   Life in Hell is definitely unknown to us.  Our physical perspective does not explain how Hell is.  For instance, will the inhabitants of Hell breath Oxygen like we do here on earth?  Will they be burning in a literal fire?  What type of bodies will they have in Hell that will enable them to resist and endure the Great Heat and punishment of Hell?, etc....

In regards to Dhari or Daree above, it is clear from the Noble Verse after it, 88:7 that I provided above, that it is a descriptive or categorical Naming for the type of food that the inhabitants of Hell will have.  Similar to the different Namings in the examples above, Allah Almighty Named the food of Hell as Dharee, "Which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger." (88:7).  It is not necessarily a different type of food that they will have. 

Our food here on earth is a good example for this.  An apple, for example, is called both a "fruit" and an "apple".  The Daree and Ghisleen above are similar to the "fruit" category that contains different type of sub categories.

All of the food of Hell is foul and dirt.  Allah Almighty Gave it different Names to further describe their evil and severity.

He wrote:

There is yet another passage that is relevant to this discussion:

Is that the better entertainment or the Tree of Zaqqum?
For We have truly made it (as) a trial for the wrong-doers.
For it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of Hell-Fire:
The shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the heads of devils:
Truly they will eat thereof and fill their bellies therewith.
Then on top of that they will be given a mixture made of boiling water.
Then shall their return be to the (Blazing) Fire.   S. 37:62-68 Y. Ali; cf. 56:52

Thus, regarding this one topic alone, the Qur'an contains three contradictions:

1. "Eating of the tree of Zaqqum" (37:66) contradicts "eating only Dhari" (88:6).
2. "Eating of the tree of Zaqqum" (37:66) contradicts "eating only foul pus" (69:39).
3. "Eating only Dhari" (88:6) contradicts "eating only foul pus" (69:39).

My response:

Again, seeing the examples that were provided above about how Allah Almighty Gave different Names to different Entities, it is clear that there is no contradiction in the Noble Verses that Jochen Katz gave.  Like I mentioned above, life in Hell is mysterious, and our earthly human perspective does not explain it.

The "Tree of Zaqqum" is no different.  Will it be a literal tree?  Or is this a metaphoric term?  This is similar to the "Tree of Life" and the "Forbidden Fruit" that our father and mother Adam and Eve ate from which caused all of humanity to be thrown out of Heaven:

"Behold! We told thee that thy Lord doth encompass mankind round about: We granted the vision which We showed thee, but as a trial for men,- as also the Cursed Tree (mentioned) in the Quran: We put terror (and warning) into them, but it only increases their inordinate transgression!  (The Noble Quran, 17:60)"

"We said: "O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression."  (The Noble Quran, 2:35)"

"O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and enjoy (its good things) as ye wish: but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression.  (The Noble Quran, 7:19)"

"Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them, bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them (before): he said: "Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever."  (The Noble Quran, 7:20)"

"So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?"  (The Noble Quran, 7:22)"

"But Satan whispered evil to him: he said, "O Adam! shall I lead thee to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?"  (The Noble Quran, 20:120)"

"In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced.  (The Noble Quran, 20:121)"

So was the Tree a literal one?  Was the fruit something similar to the fruits that we have here on earth?  Or do they perhaps mean something completely different?  Only time might tell us, and we might never know.  But anyway, as I proved before, both the Noble Quran and the Bible contain metaphoric speech and expressions in them.  See sections 1 & 2 in the article.

Back to My Rebuttals, and exposing the lies of the Answering Islam team section.

Rebuttals to Jochen Katz' articles.

Responses to all of the so-called "contradictions" in the Noble Quran.

The Scientific Miracles in the Noble Quran section.

The Dumpster section.

More deliberate and preposterous lies by Jochen Katz and another clown of his, Quennel Gale!

Rebuttal to Jochen Katz' 2 Samuel 1:2-16 about justifying David's selective murders.  Further exposing his ridiculous bias and cover-ups to the Bible's unjust murders.