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THE AUTHORITY OF THE QUR’AN
by Jay Smith

INTERNAL CRITIQUE
INIMITABILITY PROBLEMS
	-Hadith (Mishkat al Masabih III, pg.664) says:The Qur'an is the greatest wonder among the wonders of the world...  This book is second to none in the world according to the unanimous decision of the learned men in points of diction, style, rhetoric, thoughts and soundness of laws and regulations to shape the destinies of mankind.
	‘Bring therefore a chapter like unto it...’ Suras 10:37-38, or 2:23, or 17:88:
	Holiness: “Mother of Books” (sura 43:3)
	Superior literary STYLE: disjunctive, repetitive, vs. Bible = 66 books +30 writers, +1500yrs. = chronological uniform theme.
   a) sura 76:29-30 (or sura 16:93) versus I Timothy 2:4, Luke 15:3-4, John 10:14,18.
   b) sura 111 versus Francis of Assisi's prayer (see Nehls, Christians Ask Muslims, 1987, pg.75, no.11)
   c) suras 4:74,84; 5:33; 48:16-17 versus Matthew 5:3-12.
   d) sura 109 versus Psalm 23.
   e) sura 24:2 versus John 8:3-12.
   f) suras 2:222-223; 4:11,24,34,176 versus Ephesians 5:22-25.
   g) sura 9:29 versus I Corinthians 13:4-7.
   h) sura 33:53, 56-57 versus Matthew 20:25-28.
   i) suras 55:46-60; 56:22-26,35-38 versus Revelation 21:1-8, 22-27; 22:1-6.
	Theodore Nöldeke: “Chaotic Confusion...prosaic...stiff in style...tedious sermonizing...rhetorical...never metrical...and the rhyme on the whole a burdensome yoke...superfluous verbiage...syntax betrays great awkwardness...tiresome effect of its endless iterations...[so that dogma] turns a defective literary production into an unrivalled masterpiece in the eyes of the believers” (Nöldeke 1998:36,44-47)
	Salomon Reinach: From the literary point of view, the Koran has little merit.  Declamation, repetition, puerility, a lack of logic and coherence strike the unprepared reader at every turn.  It is humiliating to the human intellect to think that this mediocre literature has been the subject of innumerable commentaries, and that millions of men are still wasting time in absorbing it (Reinach 1932:176).
	McClintock & Strong's Encyclopedia: The matter of the [Koran] is exceedingly incoherent and sententious, the book evidently being without any logical order of thought either as a whole or in its parts.  This agrees with the desultory and incidental manner in which it is said to have been delivered (McClintock & Strong 1981:151).
	Grammar: 1) 2:177, the word Sabireen should be Sabiroon; 2) 3:59, the words Kun feekunu should be written, Kun fakaana; 3) 5:69, the title al Sabioon, should be written al Sabieen (see also sura 2:62 & sura 22:17; 4) 7:160, Uthnati (feminine) Ashrat (feminine) Asbaataan. should be Uthnaiy (masculine) Ashara Sibtaan.
“Arabic Qur’an”: Suras 12:2; 13:37; 41:41,44 (Yet: Egyptian, Hebrew, Syriac, Christian Aramaic, & Ethiopic words throughout)
-Accadian (No.Iraq) words: Adam and Eden repeated 24 times.  A more correct term for “Adam” in Arabic would be basharan or insan, meaning “mankind.”  “Eden” would be the word janna in Arabic, which means “garden.”
-Assyrian words: Abraham (sometimes recorded as Ibrahim).  The correct Arabic equivalent would be Abu Raheem.
-Persian words: Sirat meaning “the path” has the Arabic equivalent, Altareeq.  Hoor meaning “disciple” has the Arabic equivalent, Tilmeeth.  Firdaus meaning “the highest or seventh heaven" has the Arabic equivalent, Jannah.
-Greek words:  Injil, which means “gospel” was borrowed, yet it has the Arabic equivalent, Bisharah.
	Universal qualities: Position of women Suras 2:224-230; 4:11,34,24-25,176; 55:56; 56:36; 78:33 vs. Ephesians 5
	Violence: Suras 4:74,84; 5:33; 8:39; 9:5,29; 33:49; 47:4; 48:16-17 vs. Matthew 5:38-44; 26:52
COLLATION:
	16 Codices: Zaid ibn Thabit (Mecca), Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (Kufa - no Fatiha, or S.113-114, differences in S.3:19, 39 & S.9-Bismillah, Shi’ite readings), Abu Musa (Basra,116 Suras), Ubayy ibn Ka'b (Damascus,116 Suras) Missing Vss = 24:32 (stoning), 33:23 (Refer to Page 4 to see what the Traditions tell us about the Collation of the Qur’an)
CONTRADICTIONS: 
		1) If Allah’s words cannot be changed (6:34,115; 10:6), then how does Allah “substitute one revelation for another” (2:106, 16:101)?
2) How can the Qur’an confirm the Bible (S. 4:136; 5:47-52,68; 10:95; 21:7; 29:46), yet contradict it (S. 5:73-75,116; 19:7; 28:9)?
3) Does Allah's day equal to 1,000 human years (22:47, 32:5) or 50,000 human years (70:4)?
4) Was the earth created in 6 days (7:54; 25:59) or 8 days (41:9-12)?
		5) If the Bible is considered authoritative (4:136; 5:47-52,68; 10:95; 21:7; 29:46), then why is so much of it contradicted by the Qur’an (5:73-75,116; 19:7; 28:9, etc...)? 
6) Is the punishment for adulteresses life imprisonment (4:15) or 100 strokes by flogging (24:2)?
7) Why are Homosexuals let off if they repent (4:16), but heterosexuals are not (24:2; 4:15)?
		8) Did Abraham confront his people and smash their idols (21:51‑59), or did he simply shut up and leave the area once he confronted them (19:41‑49, 6:74‑83)?
9) Were there 9 plagues, or signs (17:101), or only 5 plagues (7:133)?
		10) If Jesus is raised to Allah, (4:158), and stationed near to him (3:45), but worshiped by millions of Christians, will he not burn in hell, since “the (false) gods that ye worship besides Allah are (but) fuel for Hell!” (21:98)?
11) Did Jesus only rise (4:157-158) or did he die and rise again (19:33)? [note:sura 19:15, repeats the same words for Yahya]
		12) If wine is of Satan's handiwork. (5:90; 2:219); and there are rivers of wine in paradise (47:15; 83:25), then how does Satan's handiwork get into Paradise? 
ERRORS: (Historical Anachronisms and Scientific problems)
	1) Cross (S.7:124= Moses’s Pharaoh - 1447 BC, 12:41= Joseph’s Baker- 1800 BC) yet crucifixions first recorded by Darius 1 in 
	519 BC (thus 900 and 1,300 yrs later).
	2) Dirham (S.12:20) ‘counted out’ for Joseph, yet coins created in 7^th cent BC by Lydians. Drachmas from 590-650 AD, but Dirhams not minted till 642 AD by Caliph Omar; vs. Gen.37:28 = Shekels = 0.2 kgs. of silver!
3) (Sura 19:7) Yahya is a name unique to John the Baptist; what about (2Kings 25:23)?
	4) (S.19:28; 66:12; 20:25-30) How could Mary the mother of Jesus be the sister of Aaron and daughter of Imran, as she lived 1,570 years later?
5) (S.20:85-87, 95-97) Samaritan built ‘golden calf’ in 1447 BC, Samaritans began in 722 BC, or 725 years later.
	6) (S.28:38; 29:38; 40:25,38) How could Haman be an Egyptian who builds a tower to God, since this name is Babylonian, and the tower was built 750 years earlier?
7) (S.18:96) Where is Alexander the Great’s iron and brass wall between two mountains, in 330 BC? No Record!
	8) Mountains (S.16:15; 21:31; 31:10; 78:6-7; 88:19) used as tent-pegs to keep earth from shaking, goes against volcanic & tectonic plate movements.
	9) Bad Math (S.4:11-12) Inheritance for widow =1/8 + 3 daughter =2/3 +2 parents =1/3, totalling 1&1/8 or 112.5%!? Or (S.4:11-12 & 176) My mother = 1/3, my wife = 1/3, my two sisters = 2/3 totalling: 4/3rds, or 133%!!
10) (S.86:5-7) Does Semen really originate in the back or the kidney or is this simply borrowing from 5^th century Hippocrates?

EXTERNAL HISTORICAL CRITIQUE
MANUSCRIPT PROBLEMS
ISLAMIC TRADITION DIFFICULTIES:
-Late Dates: Nothing before 800 AD: Sira (Hisham=833AD), Hadith (Buhari=870AD, Mishkat al-Masabih 14^th C.), Tarikh, Tafsir (Tabari=923,al-Baladhuri=892, as-Suyuti=911, az-Zamakshari=1144, al-Baydawi=1282) Primary and Secondary revelation
-Credibility: reflect 9th-10th century bias and agenda based on ra’y (opinion), thus conflicting akhbars	
-Contradictions: Al-Tabari’s conflicting accounts (i.e.15 different accounts of child Muhammad meeting religious man)
-Proliferation: Ishaq & Waqidi on Abdallah; Bukhari -> from 600,000 down to 7,397 =1.2% (or 2,762 non-repetitive)
-Isnad: names of transmitters, begins with Sha’fi (820AD), yet no documentation till 9^th C., and science of Isnad begins in 10^th C.
-Storytelling: Kussas responsible for stories of Biblical & Iranian legend, embellishment of Oral Traditions, much like Griots today.
QUR’ANIC MANUSCRIPT DIFFICULTIES:
Why in the 7^th century can we not find MSS for a Qur’an, or for the many traditions?  Mss. aged, disintegrated, or did early mss. exist?
UTHMANIC RECENSION: (claimed 650 AD)
	not Topkapi  / Sammarkand 
-must use ‘Accelerated Mass Spectrography’ (AMS) analysis and SCRIPT Analysis; but with no access must then analyse:
SCRIPTS:						
1. Ma'il 7th-9th century (Medina and Mecca).
2. Mashq 7th century onwards. 
3. Kufic 8th-11th century (needs landscape format).
4. Naskh 11th century till today.
COINS: 
Umayyad: Sufyani (651-685) = Byzantine icons & images.  Marwanid (685-750) = Mashq Arabic = from 697 up to 750
Abbasid: Kufic Arabic = 750AD onwards, same as Samarkand & Topkapi MSS, proving they are Abbasid!
	-Noldeke, Hawting, Schacht, Lings, Safadi all date Topkapi/Sammarkand to 9th century.
-Ma'il Qur’an in British Library, Lings = 790AD (thus present 690 dating is doubtful; now changed to 8^th C.)
	-Conclusion: no Uthmanic recension, so Qur'an is 1,200 years old, not 1400, giving us a 150 year gap!
TALMUDIC SOURCES:
  *Cain and Abel (Sura 5:31-32) : 
	Raven (vs. 31) = Targum of Jonathan-ben-Uzziah, Targum of Jerusalem, Pirke-Rabbi Eleazar
	Blood (vs. 32) =  the Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5
  *Abraham Sura 21:51-71: (smashed idols, fiery pit) = Midrash Rabah - Jewish Folktales & UR = "fire" =Jonathan Ben Uziel
  *Solomon and Sheba Sura 27:17-44: (hoopoo bird, mirrored floor) = II Targum of Esther
  *Mary-Imran-Zachariah Sura 3:35-37 = Proto-evangelion's James the Lesser
  *Jesus's birth:  -Palm Tree- S.19:22-26 = The Lost Books of the Bible = apocryphal fable
	  	-Baby Jesus talking- S.19:29-33 = The first Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
	  	-Creating birds from clay- S.3:49 = Thomas' Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ

DOCUMENTARY PROBLEMS
JEWS:
-split with Muhammad in 624 AD, in Medina (S.2:144-150), yet:
-Doctrina Iacobi = in 642AD warns Christians of Jews/Saracens, so they were still allied.
-Armenian Chronicler 660AD = says Jews & Ishmaelites allied in 640AD, due to common Abrahamic ancestry
-Hijra historical accounts show that it was from Arabia to the north and not from Mecca to Medina (Cröne 1996)
MECCA:
-(S.3:96)=1st sanctuary, Adam =1st city, Abraham & Ishmael rebuilt Kaaba, centre of Trade
-No reference till 724AD [Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius]
-Sources: Orientalists used Lammens, who used Periplus (50AD), Pliny (79AD) instead of Cosmas, Procopius, Theodoretus (5th-6th cent) closer to events in place & time:-note: Pliny’s “Makoraba” … Mecca, as different root letters [MKK vs. KRB, ‘ma’ = ‘place of’]
-No overland trade post-1st cent., as all international trade was maritime through the Red Sea.
-For obvious reasons, as it was cheaper 1,250 miles by ship than 50 miles by camel!
-Trade declined post-3rd cent, with Ethiopians not Arabians controlling trade (capital = Adulis)
-Mecca in a valley, little water, couldn’t support trade & off trade route unlike Taif 50 mi. away.
-If no mention of Mecca, then historical credibility eradicated, no sanctuary, Sura 2 dubious, as well as the later traditions.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
QIBLA 
-(S.2:144-150) says change of Oibla from Jerusalem to Mecca in 624AD (so all Qiblas should be to Mecca)
-Wasit, Baghdad & Kufa = West, Al ‘As = East; Syrian Caliphal Palaces = Jerusalem
-Jacob of Edessa 705 AD mentions in a letter that the Saracens prayed towards Jerusalem
DOME OF THE ROCK: 
-by Abd al-Malik in 691AD, yet nothing written about the Mi'raj on inner ambulatory
-Inscriptions Polemical & not quite the same as found in the Qur’an! (variant verbal forms, & extensive deviancies)
-no Qibla, octagonal, best suited for circumambulating, perhaps 1st sanctuary, or one of many?
NEVO’S INSCRIPTIONS: 
-first post-Muhammad inscriptions in Arabic, religious after 661 AD, yet no ‘Muhammad formula’ until 690 AD 
-then Tawhid, Muhammad rasul Allah (Muhammad formula) Jesus = man, basically polemical 
-Muhammad formula found on Protocols suddenly in 691AD, but not accepted until 724AD.
Note: compared to the Biblical archaeological  evidence, there is no archaeological evidence for Adam, Abraham, or Ishmael in Arabia!
CONCLUSION:  What does this evidence tell us concerning the historicity of Islam?:
	1) that the Hijra in 622AD was more-than-likely not towards Medina, but towards Palestine, or places in the north;
2) that the Qibla was not fixed towards Mecca until the eighth century, but to an area further north, and possibly Jerusalem;
	3) that the Jews still retained a relationship with the Arabs until at least 640 A.D.;
4) that Mecca was not only unknown as a viable city until the end of the seventh century, but was not even on the trade route;
	5) that the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was a possible position of a sanctuary in the late 7^th cent.;
	6) that Muhammad was not known as God’s ‘universal prophet’ until the late 7th century;
7) that ‘Muslim’/‘Islam’ terms weren’t used until end of the 7^th C.; used instead Saracen, Mahgraye, Muhajirun, Hagarene
	8) that five daily prayers as well as the Hajj were not standardized until after 717 A.D.; 
	9) that the earliest we even hear of any Qur'an is not until the mid‑eighth century;
	10)that the earliest Qur'anic writings don’t coincide exactly with the current Qur'anic text (also from Sa’na MSS).
THE QUR’AN GIVES AUTHORITY TO THE BIBLE:
-argument of corruption began with Ibn Hazam (1064), so a much later polemic.
 “God's word does not change” =(Suras 3:2,78; 4:135; 6:34; 10:64; 18:26; 35:42; 50:28-29).  Deut. 4:1-2; Is. 8:20; Matt. 5:17-18; 24:35; Revelation 22:18-20.
2:136; 3:2-3 ‘no difference between Taurat, Injil & the Qur'an’
		10:94; 21:7 ‘Muslims, if in doubt ask those who read the book before thee, they possess the message..’
		29:46 ‘Dispute not with the Christians, believe in their scriptures’
4:136  ‘Muslims are to Believe in preceding scriptures’
5:46-47, 68 ‘Christians must believe in their scriptures & judge by them’
	-Qur'an emphatically endorses the Torah and the Gospel.  Why is there is no warning?  Because it’s an 11^th Century Polemic!
2:140 says (of the Jews), “...who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have from Allah...?”
-not a challenge of corruption but a ringing endorsement to the Bible’s credibility!
IS NOT THE QUR’AN SUPERIOR SINCE IT CAME AFTER?
-*Does an older man have more authority than a younger man? Sha’afi’s rule for source authority should apply to previous scriptures.
-Are not the eyewitnesses account superior to that which comes 600-700 years later?  Isnad chains suggest this.
-Which is more historical, the Bible or Qur’an?  Which is corroborated by Manuscript, Documentary, and Archaeological Evidence?
-*What about further revelations which came after Muhammad (Ahmadiyya, Joseph Smith, Charles Russell, Sun-Yung-Moon)?
-*Ask why the two greatest laws (love God with all your heart, & love your neighbours) are not in the Qur’an?
 -If the Qur'an is God’s Word, does the Qur'an present God as holy, & does it present Jesus as salvation for us?  No answer for sin!
WHAT THE TRADITIONS TELL US ABOUT THE COLLATION OF THE QUR’AN: 
1.	Some Qur’anic verses were lost.
Many (of the passages) of the Qur’an that were sent down were known by those who died on the day of Yamama...but they were not known (by those who) survived them, nor were they written down, nor had Abu Bakr, Umar, or Uthman (by that time) collected the Qur’an, nor were they found with even one (person) after them. (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif p.23).
2.	Much of the Qur’an has disappeared.
It is reported from Ismail ibn Ibrahim from Ayyub from Naafi from Ibn Umar who said: “Let none of you say ‘I have acquired the whole of the Qur’an’.  How does he know what all of it is when much of the Qur’an has disappeared? Rather let him say ‘I have acquired what has survived.’ (as-Suyuti, [d. 911AD] Al-Itqan fii Ulum al-Qur’an, p.524).
3.	Parts of the Qur’an have been forgotten.
We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara’at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it: “If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust”. (Sahih Muslim, [d. 875 AD] Vol. 2:2286, p.501).
4.	Parts have been canceled.
We used to read a verse of the Qur’an revealed in their connection, but later the verse was canceled. It was: “convey to our people on our behalf the information that we have met our Lord, and He is pleased with us, and has made us pleased”. (Sahih al-Bukhari, [d. 870AD] Vol. 5:416, pg.288).
5.	While others are now missing.
Allah sent Muhammad (saw) with the Truth and revealed the Holy Book to him, and among what Allah revealed, was the Verse of the Rajam (the stoning of married persons, male and female, who commit adultery) and we did recite this Verse and understood and memorized it. Allah’s Apostle (saw) did carry out the punishment of stoning and so did we after him. I am afraid that after a long time has passed, somebody will say, ‘By Allah, we do not find the Verse of the Rajam in Allah’s Book’, and thus they will go astray by leaving an obligation which Allah has revealed. (Sahih al-Bukhari, [d. 870AD] Vol. 8:817, pg.539).
6.	There are some verses which have been overlooked.
Khuzaimah ibn Thabit said: “I see you have overlooked (two) verses and have not written them”. They said “And which are they?” He replied “I had it directly (tilqiyya - ‘automatically, spontaneously’) from the messenger of Allah (saw) (Surah 9, ayah 128): ‘There has come to you a messenger from yourselves. It grieves him that you should perish, he is very concerned about you: to the believers he is kind and merciful’, to the end of the surah”. Uthman said “I bear witness that these verses are from Allah”. (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif p.11).
1.	Some verses which have been changed.
7	Some verses which have been changed.
Abu Yunus, freedman of Aishah, Mother of Believers, reported: Aishah ordered me to transcribe the Holy Qur’an and asked me to let her know when I should arrive at the verse Haftdhuu alaas-salaati waas-salaatiil-wustaa wa quumuu lillaahi qaanitiin (2.238). When I arrived at the verse I informed her and she ordered: Write it in this way, Hafidhuu alaas-salaati waas-salaatiil-wustaa wa salaatil ‘asri wa quumuu lillaahi qaanitiin. She added that she had heard it so from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him). (Muwatta Imam Malik, [d.795 AD] p.64).
1.	And others which have been modified.
8.	And others which have been modified.
Altogether al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf made eleven modifications in the reading of the Uthmanic text. ... In al-Baqarah (Surah 2.259) it originally read Lam yatasanna waandhur, but it was altered to Lam yatasannah ... In al-Ma’ida (Surah 5.48) it read Shari ya’atan wa minhaajaan but it was altered to shir ‘atawwa minhaajaan. (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif p.117).

FURTHER ODDITIES:
Zaid bin Thabit, initially commissioned by Abu Bakr to compile the Qur‘an, still did not know it all himself and therefore was dependent on a number of sources in order to compile his first copy:(Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6:509, pg. 478-479).

It seems that the last two verses of Surat at-Tauba would not be in the Qur’an today if they had not been found with the sole person who knew them, Abi Khuzaima al-Ansari:(Sahih al-B ukhari, Vol. 6:509 & 511, pg.478)

Curiously Uthman still did not have the entire corrected text at hand, for he then orders the three: Abdullah bin az-Zubair, Sa’id bin Al-’As and ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Harith bin Hisham, to help Zaid bin Thabit revise the codex, and correct it where necessary, even recalling a verse (33:23) which had been missing from the original text!  So a Second copy was made which was not as the first!:(Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol.4:510 & 507, pg.466; & Vol.6:510, pg.479; as-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fii Ulum al-Qur’an, p.138).

Besides the codex commissioned by Uthman (that of Zaid bin Thabit), there were other accepted and well known codices being compiled which were considered superior (i.e. Abdullah bin Mas’ud, Ubayy ibn Ka’b), yet they were all BURNT by the Caliph Uthman!:(Sahih alBukhari, Vol. 5, p.96; Vol. 6:510, pg.479; 6:521-524, pg.488; 6:527, pg.489; Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif pp.13-15,22,83; Sahih Muslim, Vol. 4:6022, p.13 12; Vol. 4:6032, p.1313; ibn Sa’d, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 2, p414, 441)

The governor of Iraq under the caliph Abd al-Malick, aI-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf considered Uthman’s canon imperfect, and is said to have made eleven direct changes to the Qur’an during his time:(Ibn Abi Dawud,Kitab al-Masahif p.117)