Well? Does Qur’an 9:11 prophesy that “the wrath of the eagle” will cleanse the lands of the Arabs?

Does Qur’an 9:11 prophesy that “the wrath of the eagle” will cleanse the lands of the Arabs or “the lands of Allah” ?

No!

No, it doesn’t!

No!

I’ve encountered this utterly bogus claim many times before, and have just encountered it yet again.

Several years ago, a member of the Church shared this alleged Qur’anic passage with me, wondering what I made of it.  I pronounced it bogus.  He looked at me very sadly and commented that I shouldn’t rely on dishonest translations.

But, of course, I don’t.

Although, as I’m doing this very semester, I use an English translation of the Qur’an when I’m teaching the Qur’an in English — lately, I’ve been using M. A. S. Abdel Haleem’s version in the Oxford World’s Classics series — I generally read the Qur’an in Arabic, and I would never dream of making any argument from it or seriously discussing a passage in it without first consulting the relevant verse or verses in the original language.

Snopes does a solid and workmanlike job on the purported “eagle prophecy” of Qur’an 9:11:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/quran911.asp

As I say, I’ve been confronted with this alleged prophecy more times than I can count.  There is no merit in it.  None.  Zero.  Zilch.  Zippo.  Nada.  The word eagle (or, more precisely, its Arabic equivalent) never occurs anywhere in the Qur’an, let alone at 9:11.

Come on, folks.  Look at the reference.  It’s  9:11.  Or, in other words, 9/11.  Really?

***

Here’s a verse, however, that really does exist.  Indeed, some Muslim commentators, both classical and modern, single it out as the greatest verse in the entire Qur’an.  Calligraphic inscriptions of it adorn walls, parchments, and works of art around the Muslim world”

“God — There is no god but He, the Living, the Sustainer.  Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him.  To Him belongs everything in the Heavens and on Earth.  Who can intercede with Him, except by His permission?  He knows what is present before them and what will be after them.  They cannot comprehend a particle of His knowledge, except as He wills it.  His throne extends over the Heavens and the Earth, but preserving them doesn’t tire Him.  He is the Most High, the Most Great.”  (Qur’an 2:255; my translation)