The Qur'an is a Flawed Text

I will put my proofs forward one by one. Hopefully my opponent will share this format as it is easier and quicker. Either way, let us continue. I would also like to first state the Muslim idea of the Qur'an, which is that it is flawless, and is from God. So, if there are any contradictions found in said document then it clearly can't be from God. (1. ) In Surah 20:85-88, 95 we read: "He [Allah] said, "We have tempted thy people since thou didist leave them. The Samaratin has led them into error. " Then Moses returned"and we cast them [(gold) ornaments], as the Samaritan also threw them, into the fire. " (Then he brought out for them a Calf, a mere body that lowed; and they said, "This is your god, and the god of Moses, whom he has forgotten. ")"Moses said, "And thou, Samaritan, what was thy business? "" Now, let us consider this for just a moment. How can a Samaritan have led the Israelites astray at the time of Moses (approx 1400 B. C. ) when the city of Samaria was founded by King Omri about 870 B. C. ? The Samaritans did not exist until after the exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the resettlement of the area under King Sargon II in 722 B. C. with non-Israelites who then adopted a syncretism (mixture) between the religion of the Jews and their own polytheistic background. The Samaritans did not exist until 530 years after Moses. By this mistake alone, the Qur"an can be rendered unreliable and certainly not an inerrant work of God. (2. ) One of the questions which puzzled the ancient Arabs was, "Where did the sun go when night time came? " The Qur'an gave them Allah's answer. He [i. e. Zul-qarnain] followed, until he reached the setting of the sun. He found it set in a spring of murky water. (Surah XVIII ( Kahf) vs. 85-86) So, I do agree with Muslim scholars that Zul-qarnain refers to Alexander the Great (see Yusuf Ali's appendix on this subject in his translation of the Qur'an). According to this surah, Alexander the Great traveled west until he found out what happened to the sun. It went down into and under the murky waters of a pond. When it was completely covered by the water, darkness fell upon the earth. To the early Muslims, this surah gave the divine answer as to why darkness fell when the sun set in the West. They assumed that the sun, like the moon, was the size perceived by the human eye, about the size of a basketball. Darkness came when with a mighty hissing roar it went down under the dark waters of a pond. They boldly and proudly proclaimed that this marvelous answer proved that the Qur'an was indeed the Word of God. Today, modern Muslims are quite embarrassed by this passage and try to ignore it or to quickly dismiss it as poetry. But the passage is not part of a poem. Thus it cannot be dismissed as figurative language or poetic license. In the context, it is part of a historical narrative which relates several historical incidences in the life of Alexander the Great. The mistake was based on the erroneous assumption that the earth was flat. The authors of the Qur'an did not know that the earth was a sphere which revolved around the sun. So, Con. Are you prepared to believe and to defend the Qur'an in this passage> Either the sun sets in a pond or it doesn't. It is either one way or the other. There can be no middle ground, no compromise, no evading the issue. If you agree with us that the sun is shining on the other side of the earth and thus it does not go down into murky water, then you must also agree with us that the Qur'an contains scientific errors. (3. ) The Qur'an states, incorrectly, that semen originates from a spot between the backbone and ribs. Today we know sperm comes from the testicles and semen from the pelvic region, which is not between the spine and ribs. "He is created from a drop emitted- Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs" Qur'an 86:6-7 (4. ) When a fresh water river flows into the sea or ocean, there is a transition region in between. This transition region is called an estuary where the fresh water remains temporarily separated from the salt water. However, this separation is not absolute (thus cannot be described as a "barrier"), is not permanent, and the different salinity levels between the two bodies of water eventually homogenize. The Qur'an however erroneously says that the seperation between the two types of water is absolute and permanent. "It is He Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter; yet has He made a barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden to be passed. " Qur'an 25:53 (5. ) It took thousands of years of domestication and cross-breeding before horses were domesticated approximately 4,000 years ago in East Europe and Central Asia. Prior to this, horses were wild animals though the Qur'an neglects to mention this important fact. Even today feral horses are descendants of once domesticated horses that aren't tamed or used for human transportation. "And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and He has created (other) things of which ye have no knowledge. " Qur'an 16:8 I have plenty of more contradictions, and scientific errors that I can bring up. However, I would like to give CON a chance to disprove what I am saying. Seeing as how Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the word of Allah there should be no contradiction in it whatsoever. Therefore, just one little error will result in the entire book crashing down. I eagerly await Con's statements defending his position.