Muslim Scripture

8/4/2019 Muslim Scripture

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/muslim-scripture 1/22

MUSLIM SCRIPTURE

Note: The Qur'an is a perfect book so says the Muslim god allah. Qur'an 2:1-4 I, Allah, am the best Knower. This Book, there is no doubt in it , is aguide to those who keep their duty, who believe in the Unseen and keep up prayer and spend out of what We (demons) have given them, and who believe in that whichhas been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you, and of theHereafter they are sure. Note: The Qur'an is a book that verifies the accuracy of the Holy Bible. Qur'an 6:93 And this is a Blessed Book We (demons) have revealed, verifying thatwhich is before it, and that you may warn the mother of the towns and those aroundher. And those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they keep a watch over their prayers. 1) The Qur'an has no structure per Western and Islamic scholars. Western: The matter of the Koran is exceedingly incoherent and sententious, the

book evidently being without any logical order of thought either without any logicalorder of thought either as a whole or in its parts. This agrees with the desultory andincidental manner in which it is said to have been delivered. McClintock and Strong'sEncyclopedia, Volume 5, page 151. Islamic: Unfortunately the Qur'an was badly edited and its contents are veryobtusely arranged. All students of the Qur'an wonder why the editors did not use the



natural and logical method of ordering by date of revelation. 23 Years, Ali Dashti,page 28. 2) The Qur'an was revealed in perfect Arabic so says the Muslim god alla h. Qur'an 12:2 Surely We (demons) have revealed it - an Arabic Qur'an - that you mayunderstand. Qur'an 13:37 And thus have We (demons) revealed it, a true judgment, in Arabic. Correction: The Qur'an contains over 100 foreign (non -Arabic) words.The Qur'an contains sentences which are incomplete and not fully intelligible withoutthe aid of commentaries; foreign words, unfamiliar Arabic words, and words usedwith other than the normal meaning; adjectives and verbs inflected withoutobservance of the concords of gender and number; illogically and ungrammaticallyapplied pronouns which sometimes have no referent; and predicates which inrhymed passages are often remote from the subjects. 23 Years, Ali Dashti, page 48. 3) Mo-ham-mad claims his god created everything in eight days. (2+4+2=8) Qur'an 41:9 Say: Do you indeed disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in twodays, and do you setup equals with Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. Qur'an 41:10 And He made in it mountains above its surface, and He ble ssed thereinand ordained therein its foods, in four days; alike for all seekers. Qur'an 41:12 So He ordained them seven heavens in two days, and revealed inevery heaven its affair. Correction: The Holy Bible states that everything was made in six days. Genesis 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was verygood. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea,

and all that is in them, and rested the sev enth day. Exodus 31:17 "It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in sixdays the LORD made the heavens and the earth , and on the seventh day Herested and was refreshed." 4) Mo-ham-mad claims that Abraham and Ishmael built the Kabah in Mecca. Qur'an 2:125 And when We (demons) made The House a resort for men and a placeof security. And: Take you the place of Abraham for a place of prayer. And We(demons) enjoined Abraham and Ishmael, saying: Purify My House for those whovisit it and those who abide in it for devotion and those who bow down and thosewho prostrate themselves. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Abraham did not dwell in Mecca. Genesis 12:5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired inHaran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of

Canaan. Genesis 13:12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan , and Lot dwelt in the cities of

the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. G

enesis 17:8 "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in whichyou are a stranger, all the land of Canaan , as an everlasting possession; and I willbe their God." 5) Mo-ham-mad claims that Abraham settled some of his offspring in the valleyof Mecca. Qur'an 14:37 Our Lord, I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductiveof fruit near Your Sacred House, our Lord, that they may keep up prayer; so makethe hearts of some people yearn towards them, and provide them with fruits; happilythey may be grateful.



Correction: The Holy Bible states Ishmael never dwelt in Mecca. Genesis 21:20-21 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the

wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran ; and hismother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Abraham sent his other sons easttoward Ur. Genesis 25:6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abrahamhad; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Isaac never dwelt in Mecca. Genesis 25:11 And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessedhis son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi. Genesis 26:6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. Genesis 26:17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valleyof Gerar, and dwelt there. Genesis 35:27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that

is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 6) Mo-ham-mad claims that Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's wife. Qur'an 28:9 And Pharaoh's wife said: A refreshment of the eye t o me and to you -slay him not; maybe he will be useful to us, or we may take him for a son. And theyperceived not. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's

daughter. Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter,

and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drewhim out of the water." 7) Mo-ham-mad claims that Haman served Pharaoh in Egypt. Qur'an 28:8 So Pharaoh's people took him up that he might be an enemy and a grief for them. Surely Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts were wrong -doers. Qur'an 29:39 And Korah and Pharaoh and Haman! And certainly Moses came tothem with clear arguments, but they behaved haughtily in the land; and they couldnot outstrip Us. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Haman served in a Persian courtcenturies later. Esther 3:1-2 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman , the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princeswho were with him. And all the king's servants who were within the king's gatebowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning

him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. 8) Mo-ham-mad claims that Mary was disobedient to her parents. Qur'an 19:16-17 And mention Mary in the Book. When she drew from her family to

an eastern place; so she screened herself from them.T

hen We (demons) sent to her Our spirit and it appeared to her as a well -made man. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Mary was in her home town of Nazareth. Luke 1:26-27 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 9) Mo-ham-mad claims that Mary was in a remote place during her pregnancy. Qur'an 19:22 Then she conceived him; and withdrew with him to a remote place. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Mary was in a city in Judah.



Luke 1:39-40 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste,to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 10) Mo-ham-mad claims that Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ under a palm tree. Qur'an 19:23 And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. Shesaid: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! Correction: The Holy Bible states that Mary gave birth in a stable for animals. Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddlingcloths, and laid Him in a manger , because there was no room for them in the inn. 11) Mo-ham-mad claims that soon after giving birth, Mary returned to Nazareth. Qur'an 19:27 Then she came to her people with him, carrying him. They said: OMary, you have indeed brought a strange thing! Correction: The Holy Bible states that Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Matthew 2:13-15 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lordappeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the youngChild to destroy Him." When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother bynight and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it mightbe fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of

Egypt I called My Son." 12) Mo-ham-mad claims that true believers pray toward Mecca.

Qur'an 2:144 Indeed We (demons) see the turning of your face to heaven, so Weshall surely make you master of the qiblah which you like; turn then your facetowards the Sacred Mosque.Correction: The Holy Bible states that Jews prayed toward Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 6:34-35 "When Your people go out to battle against their enemies,wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which Youhave chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, then hear fromheaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause." Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. Andin his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem , he knelt down onhis knees three times that day, and prayed and gave tha nks before hisGod, as washis custom since early days. Note: Jesus Christ taught Christians not to pray towards a physical location. John 4:21-24 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming whenyou will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father . Youworship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of theJews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers willworship the Father in spirit and truth ; for the Father is seeking such to worshipHim. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit andtruth." 13) Is a day for allah 1,000 or 50,000 years for mankind?

Qur'an 32:5 He orders the Affair from the heaven to the earth; then it will ascend toHim in a day the measure of which is a thousand years as you count. Qur'an 70:4 To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of

which is fifty thousand years. 14) Mo-ham-mad claims that Jesus Christ did not die on a cross. Qur'an 4:157 And for their saying: We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,the messenger of Allah, and they killed him not, nor did they cause his death on thecross, but he was made to appear to them as such. Correction: The Holy Bible states that Jesus Christ died on a cross.



Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself andbecame obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 15) Mo-ham-mad claims that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God. Qur'an 9:30 And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah ; and the Christians say: TheMessiah is the son of Allah. These are the words of their mouths. They imitate thesaying of those who disbelieved before. Allah's curse be on them! How they are

turned away! Correction: The Holy Bible states that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 2 John 1:9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christdoes not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the

Father and the Son. 16) Mo-ham-mad claims that only white people will be saved and was a racist. Qur'an 3:105-106 On the day when faces turn white and faces turn black. Then as tothose whose faces are black: Did you disbelieve after your belief? So taste thechastisement because you disbelieved. And as to those whose faces are white, theyshall be in Allah's mercy. Correction: The Holy Bible states that salvation is found in Jesus Christ notskin color. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Ch rist Jesus. Note: The Holy Bible has been validated by the "Dead Sea Scrolls" andnumerous Greek manuscripts.

THE WORD LOVE DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE INDEX OF THE QUR'AN



THUS, STRIFE, HATE, AND DEATH ARE THE TRUE PILLARS OF ISLAM.

Muslims in Bahrain, Pakistan protest Quran burning By KHALID T ANVEER (AP) September 9, 2010 MULT AN, Pakistan ² A small American church's plan to burn copies of the Quran isstirring outrage in Muslim nations, with lawyers protesting in Pakistan and Bahrain's

government calling the burning a shameful attack on interfaith relations.

About 200 lawyers and civil society members marched and burned a U.S. flag in thecentral Pakistani city of Multan, demanding that Washington halt the burning of theMuslim holy book. "If Quran is burned, it would be beginning of destruction of America," read oneEnglish-language banner held up by the protesters, who chanted "Down with America!"



The Gainesville, Florida, fire department has denied Jones a required burn permit,but he said lawyers have told him he has the right to burn the Qurans, with or withoutthe city's permission. The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that speech deemedoffensive to many people, even the majority of people, cannot be suppressed by thegovernment unless it is clearly directed to intimidate or amounts to an incitement toviolence, legal experts say. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has denounced the planned burningand Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, hassaid it could lead to attacks on international troops there. "This is a plan by Zionists to put the entire world into trouble, so it should be foiled,"Tariq Naeemullah, the head of the Joint Civic Front, a coalition of non -governmentalorganizations in Multan. The foreign ministries of Pakistan and the Gulf nation of Bahrain issued some of thefirst official denunciations in the Muslim world, with Bahrain calling it a "shameful actwhich is incompatible with the principles of tolerance and coexistence." Bahrain is

home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has also senta letter to President Barack Obama asking him to stop the bonfire. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said images of the Quran in flames could"threaten world peace," Heru Lelono, a special adviser to the president, toldreporters Thursday. India's Home Ministry has asked the country's media to "exercise restraint" inreporting on the planned burning.

2 Afghans face death over translation of Quran By HEIDI VOGT February 6, 2009 KABUL (AP) ² No one knows who brought the book to the mosque, or at least noone dares say. The pocket-size translation of the Quran has already landed six menin prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to s pare their lives.They're accused of modifying the Quran and their fate could be decided Sunday incourt. The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of hardline clerics in

Afghanistan, a major hurdle as the country tries to establish a lawful society amidwar and militant violence. The book appeared among gifts left for the cleric at a major Kabul mosque after Friday prayers in September 2007. It was a translation of the Quran into one of Afghanistan's languages, with a note giving permi ssion to reprint the text as long asit was distributed for free. Some of the men of the mosque said the book would be useful to Afghans who didn'tknow Arabic, so they took up a collection for printing. The mosque's cleric asked Ahmad Ghaws Zalmai, a longtime friend, to get the books printed.



But as some of the 1,000 copies made their way to conservative Muslim clerics inKabul, whispers began, then an outcry. Many clerics rejected the book because it did not include the original Arabic versesalongside the translation. It's a particularly sensitive detail for Muslims, who regardthe Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered aQuran itself, and a mistranslation could warp God's word. The clerics said Zalmai, a stocky 54-year-old spokesman for the attorney general,was trying to anoint himself as a prophet. They said his book was trying to replacethe Quran, not offer a simple translation. Translated editions of the Quran abound inKabul markets, but they include Arabic verses. The country's powerful Islamic council issued an edict condemning the book. "In all the mosques in Afghanistan, all the mullahs said, 'Zalmai is an infidel. Heshould be killed,'" Zalmai recounted as he sat outside the chief judge's chamberswaiting for a recent hearing. Zalmai lost friends quickly. He was condemned by colleagues and even by othersinvolved in the book's printing. A mob stoned his house one night, said his brother,Mahmood Ghaws. Police arrested Zalmai as he was fleeing to Pakistan, alo ng with three other men the

government says were trying to help him escape. The publisher and the mosque'scleric, who signed a letter endorsing the book, were also jailed. There is no law in Afghanistan prohibiting the translation of the Quran. But Zalmai isaccused of violating Islamic Shariah law by modifying the Quran. The courts in Afghanistan, an Islamic state, are empowered to apply Shariah law when there areno applicable existing statutes. And Afghanistan's court system appears to be stacked agains t those accused of religious crimes. Judges don't want to seem soft on potential heretics and lawyersdon't want to be seen defending them, said Afzal Shurmach Nooristani, whose Afghan Legal Aid group is defending Zalmai. The prosecutor wants the death penalty for Zalmai and the cleric, who have nowspent more than a year in prison. Sentences on religious infractions can be harsh. In January 2008, a court sentenceda journalism student to death for blasphemy for asking questions about women'srights under Islam. An appeals court reduced the sentence to 20 years in prison. Hislawyers appealed again and the case is pending. In 2006, an Afghan man was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. Hewas later ruled insane and was given asylum in Italy. Is lamic leaders and theparliament accused President Hamid Karzai of being a puppet for the West for lettinghim live. Nooristani, who is also defending the journalism student, said he and his colleagueshave received death threats. "The mullahs in the mosques have said whoever defends an infidel is an infidel,"

Nooristani said.

The legal aid organization, which usually represents impoverished defendants, isdefending Zalmai because no one else would take the case. "We went to all the lawyers and they said, ' We can't help you because all the mullahsare against you. If we defend you, the mullahs will say that we should be killed.' Wewent six months without a lawyer," Zalmai said outside the judge's chambers. The publisher was originally sentenced to five years in prison. Zalmai and the clericwere sentenced to 20, and now the prosecutor is demanding the death penalty for the two as a judge hears appeals.



Nearly everyone in court claims ignorance now. The mosque's mullah says he never read the book and that he was duped intosigning the letter. The print shop owner says neither he nor any of his employeesread the book, noting that it's illegal for them to read materials they publish. Zalmai pleaded for forgiveness before a January hearing, saying he had ass umed astand-alone translation wasn't a problem. "You can find these types of translations in Turkey, in Russia, in France, in Italy," hesaid. When the chief judge later banged his gavel to silence shouting lawyers and noddedat Zalmai to explain himself, the defendant stood and chanted Quranic verses asproof that he was a devout Muslim who should be forgiven. Shariah law is applied differently in Islamic states. Saudi Arabia claims the Quran asits constitution, while Malaysia has separate religious and secular courts. But since there is no ultimate arbiter of religious questions in Afghanistan, judgesmust strike a balance between the country's laws and proclamations by clerics or theIslamic council, called the Ulema council. Judges are "so nervous about annoying the Ulema council and being criticized thatthey tend to push the Islamic cases aside and just defer to what others say," said

John Dempsey, a legal expert with the U.S. Institute of Peace in Kabul. Deferring to the council means that edicts issued by the group of clerics caninfluence rulings more than laws on the books or a judge's own interpretation of Shariah law, he said. Judges have to be careful about whom they might anger with their rulings. InSeptember, gunmen killed a top judge with Af ghanistan's counter-narcotics court.Other judges have been gunned down as well. Mahmood Ghaws said that even if his brother is found innocent, their family willnever be treated the same. "When I go out in the street, people don't say hello to me in the w ay they used to," hesaid. "They don't ask after my family."

Radical New Views of Islam and the Origins of the KoranNew York Times March 2, 2002By ALEXANDER STILLE (N ote from the editors of RIM.ORG: this article is reproduced here as printed in theN ew York Times, for non-profit educational purposes; it presents insight into ongoing academic studies of Quranic manuscripts by Western scholars; it is written from asecular perspective. Biblical manuscripts and parchments have been studied critically with great freedom for centuries of the history of the West, and theenormous number of manuscripts, and manuscript families up to the recent Dead

Sea Scrolls attest to the unique veracity of the Bible. Openess and critical scholarship, debate and discussion are a part of Western tradition -- and asChristians in the West realize, present nothing to fear, for God's truth will stand firmand sure. Islam by contrast has maintained the image of the Quran's indubitability through fear and intimidation, a traditio n dating back to the work of caliph Uthmanwho by the power of the sword sought to eliminate variant forms of the Quran.) To Muslims the Koran is the very word of God, who spoke through the Angel Gabrielto Muhammad: "This book is not to be doubted," the K oran declares unequivocally atits beginning. Scholars and writers in Islamic countries who have ignored that



warning have sometimes found themselves the target of death threats and violence,sending a chill through universities around the world. Yet despite the fear, a handful of experts have been quietly investigating the originsof the Koran, offering radically new theories about the text's meaning and the rise of Islam.Christoph Luxenberg, a scholar of ancient Semitic languages in Germany, argues

that the Koran has been misread and mistranslated for centuries. His work, based onthe earliest copies of the Koran, maintains that parts of Islam's holy book are derivedfrom pre-existing Christian Aramaic texts that were misinterpreted by later Islamicscholars who prepared the editions of the Koran commonly read today.So, for example, the virgins who are supposedly awaiting good Islamic martyrs astheir reward in paradise are in reality "white raisins" of crystal clarity rather than fair maidens.Christoph Luxenberg, however, is a pseudonym, and his scholarly tome ""The Syro - Aramaic Reading of the Koran" had trouble finding a publisher, although it isconsidered a major new work by several leading scholars in the field. Verlag Das Arabische Buch in Berlin ultimately published the book.The caution is not surprising. Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses" received a fatwa

because it appeared to mock Muhammad. The Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouzwas stabbed because one of his books was thought to be irreligious . And when the Arab scholar Suliman Bashear argued that Islam developed as a religion graduallyrather than emerging fully formed from the mouth of the Prophet, he was injured after being thrown from a second- story window by his students at the University of Nablus in the West Bank. Even many broad-minded liberal Muslims become upsetwhen the historical veracity and authenticity of the Koran is questioned.The reverberations have affected non -Muslim scholars in Western countries."Between fear and political correctness, it's not possible to say anything other thansugary nonsense about Islam," said one scholar at an American university whoasked not to be named, referring to the threatened violence as well as thewidespread reluctance on United States coll ege campuses to criticize other cultures. While scriptural interpretation may seem like a remote and innocuous activity, closetextual study of Jewish and Christian scripture played no small role in loosening theChurch's domination on the intellectual and cultural life of Europe, and paving theway for unfettered secular thought. "The Muslims have the benefit of hindsight of theEuropean experience, and they know very well that once you start questioning theholy scriptures, you don't know where it will stop," the scholar explained.The touchiness about questioning the Koran predates the latest rise of Islamicmilitancy. As long ago as 1977, John Wansbrough of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London wrote that subjecting the Koran to "analysis by theinstruments and techniques of biblical criticism is virtually unknown."Mr. Wansbrough insisted that the text of the Koran appeared to be a composite of

different voices or texts compiled over dozens if not hundreds of years. After all,scholars agree that there is no evidence of the Koran until 691 - 59 years after Muhammad's death - when the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem was built,carrying several Koranic inscriptions.These inscriptions differ to some degree from the version of the Koran that has beenhanded down through the centuries, suggesting, scholars say, that the Koran mayhave still been evolving in the last decade of the seventh century. Moreover, much of what we know as Islam - the lives and sayings of the Prophet - is based on textsfrom between 130 and 300 years after Muhammad's death.



In 1977 two other scholars from the School for Oriental and African Studies atLondon University - Patricia Crone (a professor of history at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton) and Michael Cook (a professor of Ne ar Eastern historyat Princeton University) - suggested a radically new approach in their book"Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World."Since there are no Arabic chronicles from the first century of Islam, the two looked at

several non-Muslim, seventh-century accounts that suggested Muhammad wasperceived not as the founder of a new religion but as a preacher in the OldTestament tradition, hailing the coming of a Messiah. Many of the early documentsrefer to the followers of Muhammad as "hagarenes," and the "tribe of Ishmael," inother words as descendants of Hagar, the servant girl that the Jewish patriarch Abraham used to father his son Ishmael.In its earliest form, Ms. Crone and Mr. Cook argued, the followers of Muhammadmay have seen themselves as retaking their place in the Holy Land alongside their Jewish cousins. (And many Jews appear to have welcomed the Arabs as liberatorswhen they entered Jerusalem in 638.)The idea that Jewish messianism animated the early followers of the Prophet is notwidely accepted in the field, but "Hagarism" is credited with opening up the field.

"Crone and Cook came up with some very interesting revisionist ideas," says FredM. Donner of the University of Chicago and author of the recent book "Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing." "I think in trying toreconstruct what happened, they went off the deep end, but they were asking theright questions."The revisionist school of early Islam has quietly picked up momentum in the la st fewyears as historians began to apply rational standards of proof to this material.Mr. Cook and Ms. Crone have revised some of their early hypotheses while stickingto others. "We were certainly wrong about quite a lot of things," Ms. Crone said. "Bu tI stick to the basic point we made: that Islamic history did not arise as the classictradition says it does."Ms. Crone insists that the Koran and the Islamic tradition present a fundamentalparadox. The Koran is a text soaked in monotheistic thinking, filled with stories andreferences to Abraham, Isaac, Joseph and Jesus, and yet the official history insiststhat Muhammad, an illiterate camel merchant, received the revelation in Mecca, aremote, sparsely populated part of Arabia, far from the centers o f monotheisticthought, in an environment of idol -worshiping Arab Bedouins. Unless one acceptsthe idea of the angel Gabriel, Ms. Crone says, historians must somehow explain howall these monotheistic stories and ideas found their way into the Koran."There are only two possibilities," Ms. Crone said. "Either there had to be substantialnumbers of Jews and Christians in Mecca or the Koran had to have been composedsomewhere else."Indeed, many scholars who are not revisionists agree that Islam must be pla ced

back into the wider historical context of the religions of the Middle East rather thanseeing it as the spontaneous product of the pristine Arabian desert. "I think there isincreasing acceptance, even on the part of many Muslims, that Islam emerged ou t of the wider monotheistic soup of the Middle East," says Roy Mottahedeh, a professor of Islamic history at Harvard University.Scholars like Mr. Luxenberg and Gerd- R. Puin, who teaches at Saarland Universityin Germany, have returned to the earliest known copies of the Koran in order tograsp what it says about the document's origins and composition. Mr. Luxenbergexplains these copies are written without vowels and diacritical dots that modern



Arabic uses to make it clear what letter is intended. In th e eighth and ninth centuries,more than a century after the death of Muhammad, Islamic commentators addeddiacritical marks to clear up the ambiguities of the text, giving precise meanings topassages based on what they considered to be their proper contex t. Mr. Luxenberg'sradical theory is that many of the text's difficulties can be clarified when it is seen asclosely related to Aramaic, the language group of most Middle Eastern Jews and

Christians at the time.For example, the famous passage about the virgins is based on the word hur, whichis an adjective in the feminine plural meaning simply "white." Islamic tradition insiststhe term hur stands for "houri," which means virgin, but Mr. Luxenberg insists thatthis is a forced misreading of the text. In both ancient Aramaic and in at least onerespected dictionary of early Arabic, hur means "white raisin."Mr. Luxenberg has traced the passages dealing with paradise to a Christian textcalled Hymns of Paradise by a fourth-century author. Mr. Luxenberg said the wordparadise was derived from the Aramaic word for garden and all the descriptions of paradise described it as a garden of flowing waters, abundant fruits and whiteraisins, a prized delicacy in the ancient Near East. In this context, white raisins ,mentioned often as hur, Mr. Luxenberg said, makes more sense than a reward of

sexual favors.In many cases, the differences can be quite significant. Mr. Puin points out that in theearly archaic copies of the Koran, it is impossible to distinguish betw een the words"to fight" and "to kill." In many cases, he said, Islamic exegetes added diacriticalmarks that yielded the harsher meaning, perhaps reflecting a period in which theIslamic Empire was often at war. A return to the earliest Koran, Mr. Puin and others suggest, might lead to a moretolerant brand of Islam, as well as one that is more conscious of its close ties to bothJudaism and Christianity."It is serious and exciting work," Ms. Crone said of Mr. Luxenberg's work. JaneMcAuliffe, a professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University, has asked Mr.Luxenberg to contribute an essay to the Encyclopedia of the Koran, which she isediting.Mr. Puin would love to see a "critical edition" of the Koran produced, one based onrecent philological work, but, he says, "the word critical is misunderstood in theIslamic world - it is seen as criticizing or attacking the text."Some Muslim authors have begun to publish skeptical, revisionist work on the Koranas well. Several new volumes of revisionist scholarship, "The Origins of the Koran,"and "The Quest for the Historical Muhammad," have been edited by a former Muslimwho writes under the pen name Ibn Warraq. Mr. Warraq, who heads a group calledthe Institute for the Secularization of Islamic Societ y, makes no bones about havinga political agenda. "Biblical scholarship has made people less dogmatic, more open,"he said, "and I hope that happens to Muslim society as well."

But many Muslims find the tone and claims of revisionism offensive. "I think thebroader implications of some of the revisionist scholarship is to say that the Koran isnot an authentic book, that it was fabricated 150 years later," says Ebrahim Moosa, aprofessor of religious studies at Duke University, as well as a Muslim cleric whoseliberal theological leanings earned him the animosity of fundamentalists in South Africa, which he left after his house was firebombed. Andrew Rippin, an Islamicist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia,Canada, says that freedom of speech in the Islamic world is more likely to evolvefrom within the Islamic interpretative tradition than from outside attacks on it.



Approaches to the Koran that are now branded as heretical - interpreting the textmetaphorically rather than literally - were widely practiced in mainstream Islam athousand years ago."When I teach the history of the interpretation it is eye -opening to students theamount of independent thought and di versity of interpretation that existed in the earlycenturies of Islam," Mr. Rippin says. "It was only in more recent centuries that there

was a need for limiting interpretation."

Iran's Culture Minister: Quran is Muslims' Manifesto 10/11/2005 Tehran, IQNA- "Quran is the manifesto of Muslims and they should try to bring itsteachings into their daily lives". "Preserving Quran was crucial for the religion to liveon, and Muslims did what they could to preserve Quran throughout history," saidIran's Culture Minister in the opening ceremony of the 13th international Quran fair.

"What we have today as Quranic works reflects innumerable concerns Muslims have

had for preserving Quran and safeguarding it throughout history".

Commenting on the effect of Quran on all aspects of Muslims' lives, he added:"Quran has been present in all moments of Muslims' lives since its revelation. Amuslim always has Quran with him, at the birth of his children, when his childrenmarry, when he's moving form a house to another and at last, when he is to leavethis world for the World After.

"Pattering Quran pages and calligraphy encourages the reader. Good reciting of theQuran can also have a profound effect in the hearts of listeners. Exegeses greatlyhelp understanding the Quran. There have been great interpreters of the Quranwhose methodology has cultivated the art of interpretation of the Quran in the

Muslim world", said Saffar Harandi.

"We, as the guardians of the Quran, must go to the depths of the contents of theHoly Book, to read between the lines and bring quranic awareness into our dailylives, while caring about the external and apparent beauties. If we manage to do so,even to a limited extent, we will soon achieve a great success".

Reporter afraid to reject Islam Carroll agrees to study the Quran, but realizes it's a mistake. She pondersescape. By JILL CARROLL and PE

TER

GRIEF

The Christian Science Monitor Tuesday, August 22, 2006 Um Ali ± the wife of Abu Ali, my stubble-bearded captor ± was my constantcompanion during the first three weeks of captivity. She was about 25, very prettywith big eyes.Wherever I was moved, she came, too, along with some of her children. At first, I thought she might be an ally or at least sympathetic. She wasn't.



One night ± one of the first nights in a new house in Abu Ghraib ± Um Ali and I hadlain down on the thin mattresses that served as beds by night and seats by day. Ihad just taken off my head scarf when suddenly a guard rattled the key violently inthe lock and burst into the room, flipping on the light. In a frenzy, using very basic English, he ordered me up. I leapt up, my handsshaking so much I couldn't get my head scarf re-pinned. The guard started wrapping a red-and-white-checked kaffiyeh around my mouth andhead, violently and tightly. I opened my eyes wide in terror, silently pleading for helpto Um Ali, who was standing next to me. Her gaze returned no sympathy. The guard whispered o rders to her in Arabic that Icouldn't understand. "Hurry, hurry, quickly, quickly," the guard hissed angrily in Arabic. "They're going to haul me out and shoot me in the head," I thought in panic. He was so angry.His hatred was obvious from the violence with which he wrapped the kaffiyeh aroundmy head. He didn't know me, but I was an American, a symbol. Um Ali had my glasses. As they moved me to a chair in the hall, I heard a "click,click." Terrified, I thought it was a gun being cocked. "If an American soldier comes here, you don't speak," he said. That was the reason for the frenzy! He thought there were soldiers nearby. He thendemanded that I recite the Quran. "I just have to live through this. I just have to live through this," I thought, sitting, headbowed, blind, and breathing with difficulty. I was terrified. After about 20 minutes it appeared no soldiers were coming.He led me back into the room and barked a command to sleep. There were no whispered words of comfort or explanation from Um Ali. In my early days of captivity, at one of the first houses I'd been held, an elderlywoman who'd been visiting turned to Um Ali and sighed that my captivity wasthuloum, or an injustice. "This is not thuloum," Um Ali snapped back. My female companion/jailer/suicide-bomber-wannabe grew more irritated anddespondent as the days wore on. Um Ali was stuck with me in a dim little room. Then one evening she bounded in with a grin. She was delighted by the newsreports that thousands of homes in California had been destroyed by forest fires. "This is justice" wrought by God, she said, "because the soldiers destroy our houses." Part of Um Ali's growing hardness toward me came as I tried to let her know that,despite the many hours of reciting the Quran with her, I didn't plan to convert toIslam. In the beginning I was an eager student, as I saw how much it pleased themwhenever I showed an interest in learning. But I soon realized I had made a

dangerous mistake.

The more I let my captors teach me, the more they expected me to convert. After afew weeks, the question was always, "Why haven't you come to Islam yet?" I tried to put the brakes on delicately, afraid of what they might do if they thought Iwas rejecting Islam. One afternoon, when I was exhausted from listening to Um Ali repeat verses of theQuran over and over so I could memorize them, I said, "I don't understand the Arabicin the Quran, and so I can't understand what it really means."



"We'll bring you an English Quran," said Abu Ali, who had overheard m e. "You wantthis?" "Oh, sure," I said. Abu Ali whipped out his cell phone, and made a call. "You have a Quran in English?"he said. "Quickly, quickly, bring it." He sounded almost frantic as he gave the person on the other end of the line

directions about where to meet him. After about 20 minutes he returned, bearing a small, green Quran.Emblazoned in gold on the cover was "Le Qur'an." It was a French translation ± notan English one. Later, I tried telling Um Ali, gently, that I probably wasn't going to convert after all. She said she would be angry if I didn't convert, given the time she had spentteaching me. I thought about escape from the beginning and made several elaborate plans. At one of the first places I was held, there was a small window in t he bathroom,about six feet up. If I reached up, I could peek out, just a little bit. I looked out two or three times. Each time, I would do it a little bit longer.I saw a field of tall grass that stretched for about half a kilometer. Behind that was a

row of tall palm trees running roughly east, toward Abu Ghraib. I'd overhead themtalking about the prison. And the prison meant a bazillion U.S. Marines. But I'd been too brazen. After several days, a guard came in after breakfast and said,"A man told me yesterday you were looking out the bathroom window. "You know, I have a very dark place under the ground. It's cold, with a very smalldoor," he said, repeating a warning I'd been given my first night in captivity. "There'sno light. I have this place." They hammered a tarp across both the bathroom and bedroom windows. The loss of sunlight was devastating. It may not seem like much, but it was hugely demoralizing. Escape looked impossible. All the things I had imagined about the future ± marriage,children ± they were just gone. They were just gone, and not going to happen. One day, Ink Eyes, my chief captor, arrived for a chat. He sat just outside thedoorway, out of my field of vision. I leaned against the wall, knees up, head down. Iwas afraid to even move. He started by telling me about Abu Musab al -Zarqawi, the Jordanian who was theleader of al-Qaida in Iraq. He called al-Zarqawi his "good friend." "He's such a good man. ... If you met him, you would like him so much," Abu Nour said warmly. But al-Zarqawi wasn't the head of the mujahedeen any more, Abu Nour told me, hewas simply one member of something new: the Mejlis Shura Mujahedeen Fil Iraq. The Americans were constantly saying that the mujahedeen in Iraq were led byforeigners, he said. So, the Iraqi insurgents went to al-Zarqawi and insisted that anIraqi be put in charge. Al-Zarqawi agreed, the story went. An Iraqi named Abdullah Rashid was the newhead of the council. "You don't know who is Abdullah Rashid?" said Ink Eyes. No, I indicated, I didn't. "I am Abdullah Rashid!" he said. I sat there in absolute panic. I couldn't even move. This man was telling me he wasfriends with al-Zarqawi ± someone who personally beheaded hostages! And this guy was al-Zarqawi's boss? What did this mean?



But as I saw in coming weeks, al-Zarqawi remained the insurgents' hero, and themost influential member of their council, whatever Nour/Rashid's position. At various times, I heard my captors discussing changes in their plans because of directives from the council and al-Zarqawi, including one in Arabic I only partiallyunderstood: something about how my case should be resolved "without money andwithout killing." But that night ± with the nature of those who held me spelled out for the first time ± Ilay on my bed motionless in the dark. "Come, come pray," I heard Ink Eyes, aka Abu Nour, aka Abdullah Rashid, say inthe next room. Someone else recited the call to prayer. They must all be in there,gathered together. "Allahu Akbar," the mujahedeen said. "Allahu Akbar," they repeated. "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," they said, with everymovement. I listened, afraid to breathe. I had to cough, but I suppressed it. I thought, "If I coughduring their prayer, maybe they'll kill me." I lay on my back, hands clasped across my stomach. Eventually I dozed off. Next morning, I woke up in the same position. That's the way I woke up every morning in that house ± frozen in the position I'dassumed after crawling into bed. I was too afraid to move, even in my sleep.

New translation of Quranic verse ignites controversy By Khalid Hasan March 26, 2007 Daily Times

WASHINGTON: A ³feminist´ translation of a Quranic verse by a US-based Iranian- American woman scholar is being denounced as inaccurate and misleading.

The academic, Laleh Bakhtiar, who has spent seven years on a translation of theQuran is under fire because of her rendition of Verse 34 of the Surah Al Nisa. Theverse as translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali says, ³As to those women on whose partye fear disloyalty or ill conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds (and last) beat them (lightly) but if they return to obedience, seek not againstthem means (of annoyance) for God is most high, great (above you all)´.

Bakhtiar says the most common translation for the Arabic word ³daraba´ is not hit or smite but to ³go away´. She said when she came upon the verse she could notbelieve that God would sanction harming another human being except in war. Her translation is due for publication in April. There are at least 20 English translations of

the Quran in which the word ³daraba´ has been translated as ³beat, hit, strike,scourge, chastise, flog, make an example of, spank, pet, tap and even seduce´.

According to a report in the New York Times, ³When she reached the problematicverse, Ms Bakhtiar spent the next three months on ³daraba´. She does not speak Arabic, but she learned to read the holy texts in Arabic while studying and working asa translator in Iran in the 1970s and 80s.

Her eureka moment came on roughly her 10th reading of the Arabic -English Lexicon



by Edward William Lane, a 3,064-page volume from the 19th century, she said. Among the six pages of definitions for µdaraba¶ was µto go away¶. ³I said to myself,Oh, God, that is what the prophet meant,´ said Ms Bakhtiar, speaking in the officesof Kazi Publications in Chicago, a mail -order house for Islamic books that ispublishing her translation. ³When the prophet had difficulty with his wives, what didhe do? He didn¶t beat anybody, so why would any Muslim do what the prophet did

not?´

³The µbeat¶ translation contradicts another verse, which states that if a woman wantsa divorce, she should not be mistreated. Given the option of staying in the marriageand being beaten, or divorcing, women would obv iously leave,´ she said. There havebeen similar interpretations, but none have been incorporated into a translation.Debates over translations of the Quran ± considered God¶s eternal words ± revolvearound religious tradition and Arabic grammar.

Critics fault Ms Bakhtiar on both scores. Ms Bakhtiar said she expected opposition,not least because she is not an Islamic scholar. Men in the Muslim world, she said,will also oppose the idea of an American, especially a woman, reinterpreting the

prevailing translation.

The NYT report said that verse 4:34, with its three -step programme, is often called areform over the violent practices of seventh century Arabia, when the Quran wasrevealed. The verse was not a licence for battery, scholars say, with other interpretations defining the heaviest instrument a man might employ as a twigcommonly used as a toothbrush. Sheik Ali Gomaa, the Islamic scholar who servesas Egypt¶s grand mufti, said Quranic verses must be viewed through the prism of theera. He said, ³In our modern context, hitting one¶s wife is totally inappropriate associety deems it hateful and it will only serve to sow more discord´.

The Atlantic Opinion Section July 15, 2008 A priest writes: A person in a free society is at liberty to burn his own Torah scrolls, to tear up hisown copy of the New Testament, to plunge his own copy of the Koran in his owntoilet, and to trample his own stock of communion wafers. That should be recognizedas protected religious or anti -religious expression under the Fi rst Amendment.However, no one is free to break into a synagogue, to take the Torah scrollsenshrined there, and to burn them. Or to do that with a Koran belonging to a mosquewhere he is visiting, or to take the Bible or the Blessed Sacrament from a church anddesecrate them. If a particular religion gives its sacrament or sacred things only to its

own members and someone deceives the adherents of that religion in order todesecrate their sacred rituals or objects, then that is a fraud and a violation of thereligious liberty of others.Religions are entitled to make rules for their own members and to demand thatoutsiders leave religious adherents in peace within their own sacred precincts. TheCatholic Church clearly did NOT intend to give communion to someone like thi sfellow and did not invite him to receive. Non -adherents are entitled to criticize or oppose from outside but not to disrupt worship, to commit fraud against religious



believers they dislike, or to take religious goods from religious institutions under fa lsepretences.For example, I regard Muhammad and Joseph Smith as false prophets and say soopenly. I regard the Koran and the Book of Mormon as being of merely human origin.If I want to oppose Islam or Mormonism and even to burn their allegedly inspiredwritings, I am free to do so. But I am not free to go into Muslim or Mormon places of

worship, deceive the worshipers there, and then desecrate what they regard assacred.It's not a matter of punishing blasphemy but of the civil and religious right to b e leftalone.

SHOULD THE QUR'AN HAVE SPECIAL STATUS IN AMERICA? MUSLIM FANATICISM OVER THE QUR'AN

HELLFIRE FOR NON-MUSLIMS

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is insane.



Interpretation: "Muslims will rebel against sanity and move closer to

death." Christianity vs. Islam debate between pastor, imam draws 3,000 By PETE BISHOPMonday, August 25, 2008Naples Daily News FORT MYERS ² The theological disagreements weren¶t resolved but theatmosphere remained civil during a debate between a Muslim imam and a Christi anevangelist at First Assembly of God Church in Fort Myers on Sunday night.



³It went better than I expected,´ Imam Mohamed Al -Darsani said after the two-hour debate. ³We connected with people, we started a conversation and I hope we cankeep that conversation going.´ About 3,000 attended the event, which was organized by the church and WRXY, alocal Christian television station. The debate was scheduled after Al -Darsani saw one of Pastor Reza Safa¶s

programs on WRXY and approached station manager Paul Lodato to ask for equaltime. Based in Tulsa, Okla., Safa is a former Shiite Muslim who converted to Christianityabout 20 years ago. He is founder of World Harvest Ministries and TBN Nejat TV. Al-Darsani is the founder and imam of the Islamic Center for Peace in Fort Myers. He regularly organizes interfaith programs at the center and with Christian churchesand Jewish temples in this region. During the debate, Safa used his personal experience to stress the lack of ³salvation´ in Islamic theology and the religion¶s emphasis on earning entryinto heaven through good works. Using verses from the Koran as evidence, he also said the religion is hostiletoward Christians. ³If there¶s so much love for Christians, how come there is not a single Islamicnation that allows Christians to practice their faith in freedom?´ he asked. Darsani said Safa was using a ³cut and paste´ approach with the verses, tomisrepresent a peaceful religion. (Muslim clerics are habitual liars) He also stressed that Islam is a religion that shares core beliefs with Judaism andChristianity, and that acts fueled by political feuds should not be used to judge thereligion. ³Yes, there are acts of violence and crime, but does that mean Islam is behind it?Crimes are crimes no matter where they happen and who commits them,´ he said. Each clergyman presented his case for one-half hour, then each was given 15minutes for rebuttal. Both Safa and Al-Darsani also answered three questions from the audience. The audience was polite and attentive, appla uding only at the end of eachpresentation and rebuttal. ³I think overall it was very balanced,´ said Jim Rusnell, a Fort Myers resident andFirst Assembly congregant. ³Both sides presented their theology well, and left theaudience with many things to think about. They kept things civil, dealing with a verycontroversial topic.´ Abdalla Kishta, an Egyptian immigrant and member of Al -Darsani¶s congregation,said the debate was informative but that Safa misrepresented some aspects of Islam. ³He selected a way to go, becoming a Christian, and that¶s OK,´ said Kishta. ³Hetries to convince people to follow those footsteps, but why didn¶t he find any truth in

the Koran? (Answer:T

here is no truth in the Qur'an) And how did he know hisprayers weren¶t being answered when he was a Muslim? I would like to ask himthose questions.´ Stephen and Olinka Blevins attended the debate after hearing about it on the radio. ³We are both Christians but my wife has a Middle Eastern background,´ saidStephen Blevins. ³She knew about Pastor Reza and I wanted to see what this is allabout.´ Olinka Blevins is Syrian but also lived in Iran. After the debate, both Safa and Al -Darsani were happy with the results.



³We didn¶t meet in order to come to any conclusions,´ said Safa. ³It¶s mor e a matter of exposing our differences and discussing them. A meeting like this would be

impossible in a Muslim country. ´ ³Hopefully we¶ll have more programs like this, more dialogues,´ said Al -Darsani.³Then we can go more into the theological proofs ² why we believe this and why webelieve that, and why we don¶t agree.´

Muslim Scripture

Documents

Transcript of Muslim Scripture