11-22-2007, 07:39 PM
Questions and Answers
Q: How was the Qur'an revealed? Does the Qur'an claim to be pure Arabic, uncorrupted, inspired, no contradictions and unchangeable?
A: Muhammad claimed that the Qur'an was a series of revelations he received from Allah through the angel Gabriel. The inspirational experiences were described by Muhammad to be like a bell, clanging in his head, causing him to shake and sweat profusely. Qur'an 4:82 says, "Do they not consider and ponder the Qur'an? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy and incongruity." Qur'an 085:021 says, "Nay this is a glorious Qur'an, (inscribed) on a Preserved Tablet." Qur'an 043:003 informs us that, "A Scripture Book, whereof the verses are explained in detail; a Qur'an in Arabic. Further, 039:27 says, "We have coined for man in this Qur'an. (It is) a Qur'an in Arabic, without any crookedness (therein)." The Qur'an is considered to be an exact replica of the "Eternal Tablets" which exist in heaven. (085:022)
Muhammad admitted to have also received revelations directly from Satan. Known as the "Satanic verses," al-Tabari records in his History under "Muhammad at Mecca" that "Satan Cast a False Revelation on the Messenger of God's Tongue." Muhammad's admission that, "I have fabricated things against Allah and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken." confirms that Muhammad was demon possessed.
The only person who attempted to write down all of the Qur'anic revelations while Muhammad was still alive was killed by order of Muhammad. According to the Hadith, Abdallah bin Sa'd became concerned that some of the phraseology didn't sound godly, so he suggested enhancements. When Muhammad accepted his edits, Abdallah rejected Islam. He recognized that the Qur'an couldn't be from god if he, a scribe, could copyedit it. Tabari V888:178 goes on to report that "When the Messenger entered Mecca he ordered that the following men should be killed... first among them was Abdallah bin Sa'd." Clearly Abdallah bin Sa'd knew too much.
Allah says the Qur'an was Arabic because "the Pen" wrote the Qur'an before man was created. Qur'an 46:2 says, "And before it the Book of Musa [Moses] was a guide: and this [Qur'an] is a Book verifying (it) in the Arabic language." And in Qur'an 39:27 we find: "We have coined for man in this Qur'an every kind of parable in order that they may receive admonition. (It is) a Qur'an in Arabic, without any crookedness (therein): in order that they may guard (against evil)." Qur'an 41:3 tell us that: "A Scripture Book, whereof the verses are explained in detail; a Qur'an in Arabic, for people who have knowledge." Then in Qur'an 41:44 we find that: "Had We sent this as a Qur'an (in the language) other than Arabic, they would have said: 'Why are not its verses explained in detail? What! (a foreign tongue, a Book) not in Arabic and (a Messenger) an Arab?' Say (unto them, Muhammad): 'It is a Guide to those who believe; and for those who do not believe it, there is a deafness in their ears, and it is blindness in their (eyes)!'" There are problems with the Arabic theory, however. The oldest Qur'an fragments date to around 725 A.D. - a century after they were first recited. Arabic, especially in written form, is a recent phenomenon linguistically. Not only wasn't it one of man's earliest languages, it was derived from a language that predated it by at least 3,000 years, having evolved among Syrian Christians as a stylistic derivative of Aramaic in the 6th century A.D. There is no evidence that written Arabic even existed in Mecca until after the Qur'an was revealed. Therefore, it couldn't have been the language of Allah if, as the Qur'an and Hadith attest, written scrolls were given to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus prior to the time written Arabic was even conceived. Even then, the Qur'an is filled with many non-Arabic words and phrases, including the word "qur'an," which the Syrian Christians defined as "to recite" or "to preach." Arthur Jeffrey, in his book Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur'an devoted 300 pages to this study. One must wonder why these words were borrowed, as they refute the "pure Arabic" claim and put doubt on whether "Allah's language" was sufficient to explain what he intended. Thus the assertion that the Qur'an is pure Arabic and was thusly written on "Eternal Tablets" in Heaven is false.
In addition, during the Qur'an's first century, the emerging Arabic alphabet did not have diacritical points, and some of its letters were omitted. The text that Uthman canonized, if this actually occurred, was a bare consonantal text with no marks to show verse endings, to distinguish consonants, or vowels. And without them it is impossible to comprehend the intended meaning of the text.
|