A secret archive of ancient Islamic text which could challenge the very core of the truth value of Islam’s claim of Allah has surfaced after 60 years of suppression.
It is written in Asia Times Online that
No one is going to produce proof that Jesus Christ did not rise from the grave three days after the Crucifixion, of course. Humankind will choose to believe or not that God revealed Himself in this fashion. But Islam stands at risk of a Da Vinci Code effect, for in Islam, God’s self-revelation took the form not of the Exodus, nor the revelation at Mount Sinai, nor the Resurrection, but rather a book, namely the Koran. The Encyclopaedia of Islam (1982) observes, “The closest analogue in Christian belief to the role of the Koran in Muslim belief is not the Bible, but Christ.” The Koran alone is the revelatory event in Islam.
What if scholars can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Koran was not dictated by the Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Mohammad during the 7th century, but rather was redacted by later writers drawing on a variety of extant Christian and Jewish sources? That would be the precise equivalent of proving that the Jesus Christ of the Gospels really was a composite of several individuals, some of whom lived a century or two apart.
It is speculated in the Asia Times that these ancient texts were hidden away during WWII by the Nazis, who were motivated to maintain good relations with the Islamic leaders with whom they shared anti-semitic alliances.
The Asia Times reports that there has long been strong pressure against free inquiry into the authorship of the Koran. Jobs have been lost, research funding cut, and international and interfaith dialogue has been strained by this resistance. Apparently, it has long been the case that one probes the history of the Koran at their own risk, and the risk is substantial.
Speaking of international and interfaith dialogue and relations, the Asia Times says that
The Islamic world is forced to adopt an openly irrational stance, employing its power to intimidate scholars and frustrate the search for truth. It is impossible for Muslims to propose a dialogue with Western religions, as 38 Islamic scholars did in an October 13 letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders, and rule the subject of text criticism out of the discussion.
Precisely for this reason, Church leaders see little basis for a dialogue with Islam. Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, who directs the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, told the French daily La Croix, “Muslims do not accept discussion about the Koran, because they say it was written under the dictates of God. With such an absolutist interpretation, it’s difficult to discuss the contents of the faith.”
The report concludes with the following statement:
Throughout the Internet, Islamist sites denouce the work of a handful of marginalized scholars as evidence of a plot by Christian missionaries to sabotage Islam. What the Muslim world cannot conceal is its vulnerability and fear in the face of Koranic criticism.
While it would not stun me if this was some sort of conspiracy against Islam, it also does not stun me that many Islamic bloggers are immediately jumping to this conclusion.
(Hat Tip: GBG Atheist News)
January 17, 2008 at 4:12 pm
in the “hadid” is reported, that M. went out into the wilderness for meditation and to him happened, what does to all meditators (even Jesus ) Evil spirits, the devil appears and tries to get them. M. got revelations by a spirit calling himself Gibril and telling him a lot of things. M. went home and reported to his wife Fatima, who persuaded him to believe. M. found contradictions to Judaism and Christian belief and his angel told him that the later revelation is always the better( conceding that this angel himself brought erring messages)
Islam has been a suspicious message from its very beginnings!
January 17, 2008 at 4:34 pm
And by “M.” 1arabella is referring to MUHAMMED. There. I said it.
January 17, 2008 at 4:43 pm
[...] genuinely oppressive subset of the Muslim population has entered The Frame Problem. In response to The Koran in Question? Powerful new evidence against Islam?, a reader submitted the following comment: in the “hadid” is reported, that M. went out into [...]
January 19, 2008 at 11:24 am
After Satanic verses it’s hard to think of any Koranic investigation as offensive… but then they did call of his death. It is kinda sad since many Muslims and Arabic speaker regard the Koran as the “best” Arabic and so whomever wrote it was quite talented (at least to them). But with an irrational view that it was dictated by an angel (how you tell an angel from a demon who is trying to trick you is actually simple by using the ACME demon detection kit) this would convince no one just as the christian evangelicals think the bible was magically put together despite historical evidence.
It would also not surprise any educated person who knows anything of the Koran since the beginning (likely written when Mohammad was not in power) is very kind and conciliatory but farther on is where all the nasty stuff is and is from when Mohammad was in power. For a really interesting fictional analogy see the tale of the Muad’Dib in Dune.