Who really wrote the Qur’an?
The debate about eating Iftar meals concluding week highlights the demand for a better understanding of Islam amongst many Christians. Here, Will Jones explores one important expanse of misunderstanding.
Who wrote the Qur'an? You may think the answer to this is obvious: Muhammad wrote the Qur'an. And the crucial difference between Muslims and not-Muslims is whether they believe he was inspired by God to do information technology. But if you did give that answer, you'd be completely wrong.
For one affair, not fifty-fifty Muslims think that Muhammad wrote the Qur'an. They believe that God wrote it and then revealed it to Muhammad. A technicality you might call back. But actually, they don't even believe that Muhammad, once it had been revealed to him, wrote it down either. He spoke it, preached it, recited information technology (qur'anliterally translates as 'recitation'). And those effectually him, his followers, then memorised information technology, and some noted information technology downwardly on anything to paw, like palm leaves and stones. And so how did it become a volume? According to Islamic tradition, not until after Muhammad had died (in Advertisement 632), under the first caliph Abu Bakr, were these parts all gathered together and arranged into a book. The scribe Zaid was charged with the task of locating all the parts and compiling them into one volume. And around twenty years subsequently, under the third caliph Uthman, the aforementioned scribe was charged with gathering all the variant versions that still existed, determining the right one and burning the rest. You might think this haphazard procedure is not ane which would accept inspired confidence that the terminal product independent the authentic words, and merely the accurate words, of Muhammad. But this is the official story, and Muslims seem happy enough with it.
What do modern scholars think of this story? Not very much, as it happens. There are all sorts of potential bug with the traditional Islamic account, which is derived from sources but compiled centuries later on Muhammad. Maybe the most significant, and worth leading with here, is that in that location is mounting bear witness that the Qur'an, or at least the bulk of it, predates Muhammad. A number of manuscript fragments take been found which can be dated (by carbon dating of parchment) to well earlier the time Muhammad was active. It is also packed with agricultural and geographical references which are out of place in the barren Arabian Peninsula, and written in a dialect of Arabic which even early on Muslim scholars agreed was not the dialect of Muhammad'due south tribe in Mecca. Current thinking is still far from settled, but some testify suggests it may have originated in the southern Levant or northern Arabia.
So how did it come up to be associated with the prophetic vocation of Muhammad of Mecca? That is a question which scholars are actually only but beginning to explore, and information technology is still much likewise early days to give answers with any kind of certainty. An of import dimension of the problem is that the Qur'an consists of two distinct layers, 1 earlier and one later. Muslim tradition accounts for this in terms of Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 (the Hijra), when his emphasis shifted markedly from peaceable coexistence with those of other beliefs to a vehement intolerance and imperial ambition. However, the ii layers, A and B, are of and then completely different a grapheme that it seems difficult to aspect them to the same writer or authors. They make utilise of a very different vocabulary and style, are worlds autonomously in their rhetorical quality, and evince some very different priorities.
Layer A (which approximates to the 86 suras (chapters) 'revealed earlier Hijra', though there is some mixing upward) is a finely written theological work of high rhetorical skill. It is general in scope, with much of information technology devoted to recounting biblical (and apocryphal) stories (specially those of Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses) equally encouragements and warnings, and referring to the events in them every bit Signs and those involved in bringing God'southward word equally Messengers. It shows an intense interest in reconciling biblical traditions with its own theological narrative, and contains very few detailed ethical prescriptions.
Layer B (approximating to the 28 'after Hijra' suras) is completely different: it has a much clunkier rhetorical style (on the most part, though with some effectively passages), longer verses, and has many fewer biblical references, makes heavy use of the second person (addressing the hearer directly) and includes many references to the Messenger (atypical) who is reciting the Qur'an as a Prophet, emphasising the demand to obey him. It includes various specific local references to Muhammad, Mecca, the Mosque, and Yathrib (Medina), a host of detailed moral and legal prescriptions, some personal guidance for the Prophet and special dispensations for him (especially almost his wives), numerous anti-Christian and anti-Jewish polemics, and many exhortations to fight against the enemy and unbeliever.
Scholars are still investigating explanations for the origin of these ii layers. 1 of the more probable possibilities is that the commencement layer somehow came into the possession of Muhammad's community in Mecca, where they began their monotheistic Qur'anic sect, and where they after recognised a prophetic vocation for Muhammad in the Qur'anic tradition. The second layer was then added subsequently by Muhammad (and possibly those around him) following the move to Medina, where the Qur'anic organized religion and Muhammad's prophetic vocation apace became tools for gaining power and building empire. This is non to say that Muhammad and his companions did not sincerely believe in his prophetic vocation – they may well have done. But those who were aware of the true origin of the Qur'an may have been quite happy to allow Muhammad, seen every bit the last and greatest of the Messengers and Prophets, to co-opt it to his vocation and incorporate information technology as he accounted fit.
Alternatively in that location may be a quite dissimilar explanation, such as one in which Muhammad is not involved in the product of the Qur'an at all (such ideas have certainly been entertained by some scholars, referred to equally 'revisionists'). Whatever the truth though, one affair is looking increasingly probable: that well-nigh of the Qur'an originated somewhere quite different from with someone quite other than Muhammad of Mecca. And that alone threatens some fundamental Islamic claims near the origins of their religion.
If this data was more widely known amidst Muslims, it would surely have the potential to steer some away from a devotion to the life and example of Muhammad. For how could information technology not moderate the appeal of the Prophet of Islam, if information technology became accustomed that he could not have been the original messenger of most of Islam's most sacred text?
For too long have Muslims been cossetted from exposure to the bracing winds of historical-critical scholarship, and the result has been that Islam's origin mythology has been able to maintain a concord over the minds of Muslims. So many of the radical groups who have waged jihad against the world in the name of their Prophet have looked to his example as a model and inspiration in their struggle. In our time, when many Muslims are already questioning Islam because of the trigger-happy and destructive fruit born of the global Islamic awakening, modern scholarship tin play a part in guiding hearts towards a more peaceful path.
(This article was first published in Crisis Magazine and is reproduced here with permission.)
Colin Chapman has written a fascinating account of the expectations that Muslims have of holy scriptures, how they view the Bible, and a Christian response to their questions.The Bible Through Muslim Eyes can be bought at the Grove Books website for £three.95 mail gratis.
Follow me on Twitter @psephizo.Like my page on Facebook.
Much of my work is done on a freelance basis. If you have valued this post, would you considerdonating £1.twenty a month to back up the production of this blog?
If you enjoyed this, do share it on social media (Facebook or Twitter) using the buttons on the left. Follow me on Twitter @psephizo. Like my page on Facebook.
Much of my work is done on a freelance footing. If you have valued this post, you can make a single or echo donation through PayPal:
Comments policy: Adept comments that engage with the content of the post, and share in respectful debate, can add existent value. Seek outset to sympathize, and so to be understood. Make the near charitable construal of the views of others and seek to learn from their perspectives. Don't view debate as a conflict to win; address the argument rather than tackling the person.
Source: https://www.psephizo.com/life-ministry/who-really-wrote-the-quran/
0 Response to "Who really wrote the Qur’an?"
Post a Comment