Muslims believe in the infallibility of the real bible but say the present texts are corrupt, and therefore to be ignored. It turns out that the text of the Koran is at least as doubtful as that of the bible.
Divine Downfall Written by Sujit Das Sunday, 21 June 2009
Ancient Qur anic Manuscripts of Sana a and Divine Downfall Respect for the faith of sincere believers cannot be allowed either to block or deflect the investigation of the historians ... One must defend the rights of elementary historical methodology .
Maxime Rodhinson, 1981; p. 57
Muslims often say that both Old Testament and New Testament are corrupted and seriously changed. TPuin's Parchmenthey say, for a Holy Scripture to be authoritative, it has to be preserved without any changes at all, and point to their Qur an, which claims to have been revealed word by word and letter by letter to Muhammad by Allah. Qur an claims, no change there can be in the words of God (10:64) and, there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of God (6:34).
But then how ridiculous the doctrine of abrogation is, by which later revelations cancel previous ones, as Qur an (2:106) confirms, revelations We abrogate or cause to be forgotten . Also, a Hadith (6:558) from Sahih Bukhari confirmed that Muhammad forgot many verses. Again Sunaan ibn Majah, (3: 1944) recorded that after Muhammad s death some revelations were eaten by a goat. How divine words can be eaten, changed, cancelled or abolished, in spite of Allah s specific claim in 10:64 and 6:34?
Are not all these claims of Allah self-contradictory? But amazingly; these plain truths do not bother the Muslims at all. Probably, if we can present another authentic Qur an which is different from existing standard form, Muslims will give way to logical thinking.
The devastating truth is that a large number of ancient Qur anic manuscripts, dating from first century of Hijra were discovered in the Great Mosque of Sana a (Yemen) which significantly differs from the present standard one. Carbon dating system confirmed that these Qur ans are not forged one by religious rivalries. Moreover these Qur ans were discovered by Muslims, not infidels.
Probably this is the most embarrassing event in Islamic history of 14 centuries.
The Great Mosque of Sana a is one of the oldest Mosques in Islamic history. The date of building goes back to 6th year of Hijrah when Muhammad entrusted one of his companions to build a Mosque at Yemen, which was extended and enlarged by Islamic rulers from time to time.
In 1972, during the restoration of this Great Mosque (heavy rain had caused the west wall of the Mosque to collapse), laborers working in a crown space between the structure s inner and outer roofs, stumbled across a amazing grave site, which they did not realize at that time because of ignorance. Mosques do not accommodate graves, and this site contained no gravestone, no human remains and no funeral relics. It contained nothing more, in fact, apparently looking an unappealing mountain of old parchment and paper documents, damaged books and individual pages of Arabic text, fused together by rain and dampness for over a thousand year. Quranic mess The ignorant laborers gathered up the manuscripts, pressed them carelessly into some 20 potato sacks, and set them aside on the staircase of one of the Mosque s minarets, where they were locked away. The manuscripts would have been forgotten once again, were it not for Qadhi Isma il al-Akwa, then the President of Yemeni Antiquities Authority, who realized the potential importance of the find. Al-Akwa sought international assistance in examining and preserving the fragments, because no scholar in his country was capable of working on this rich find. In 1997, he managed to interest a visiting non-Muslim German scholar, who in turn persuaded the German government to organize and find a restoration project.
Soon after the project began, it became clear that the paper grave is a resting place for, among other things, tens of thousands of fragments from close to a thousand different codices of the Qur an, the Muslim holy scripture. Muslim authorities during early days cherished the belief that worn out and damaged copies of the Qur an must be removed from circulation leaving only the unblemished editions of the scripture for use. Also such a safe place was required to protect the books from looting or destruction if invaders come and hence the idea of a grave in the Great Mosque in Sana a, which was a place of learning and dissemination of the Qur an and was in existence from the first century of the Hijrah.
Restoration of the manuscript has been organized and supervised by Gerd R. Puin of Saarland University, Germany. Puin is a renowned specialist on Arabic calligraphy (the study of fine and artistic handwriting) and Qur anic paleography (the study of ancient writing and documents). For ten years he extensively examined those precious parchment fragments. In 1985, his colleague H. C. Graf V. Bothmer joined him.
Carbon-14 tests date some of the parchments to 645-690 AD. Their real age may be somewhat younger, since C-14 estimates the year of the death of an organism (parchment is animal skin), and the process from that to the final writing on the parchment involves an unknown amount of time. Calligraphic dating has pointed to 710-715 AD. Some of the parchment pages seemed to date back to the seventh and eighth centuries, or Islam s first two centuries, perhaps the oldest Qur an in existence.
In 1984, the House of Manuscripts (Dar al Makhtutat) was founded close to the Great Mosque, as part of a cooperation project between Yemeni and German authorities. An enormous endeavor began to restore the Qur anic fragments. Between 1983 and 1996, approximately 15,000 out of 40,000 pages were restored, specifically 12,000 fragments on parchment and manuscripts dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.
Dar al-Makhtutat Library where the newly acquired Manuscripts and cataloguing are stored. (Photo Source: Dreibholz, 1999. p. 22)
Until now, only three ancient copies of the Qu ran are found. The one preserved in the British Library in London, dates from the late seventh century and was thought to be the oldest one. But the Sana a manuscripts are even older. Moreover, these manuscripts are written in a script that originates from the Hijaz - the region of Arabia where prophet Muhammad lived, which makes them not only the oldest to have survived, but one of the earliest authentic copies of the Qur an ever. Hijazi Arabic is the script (Makkan or Madinan) in which the earliest Qur'an was written. Although these pieces are from the earliest Qur'an known to exist, they are also palimpsests (manuscripts on which the original writing has been effected for re-use).
The rare style of fine and artistic handwriting had fascinated both Puin and his friend Bothmer but more surprise was waiting for them. When these ancient Qur ans were compared with the present standard one, both of them were stunned. The ancient texts were found to be devastatingly and disturbingly at odds with the existing form. There are unconventional verse ordering, small but significant textual variations, different orthography (spelling) and different artistic embellishment (decoration).
It scattered the orthodox Muslim belief that the Qur an as it has reached us today is quite simply the perfect, timeless, and unchanging Word of God . It means Qur an has been distorted, perverted, revised, modified and corrected, and textual alterations had taken place over the years purely by Human hands.
The sacred aura surrounding this Holy Scripture of Islam, which remained intact for over 14 centuries is gone with this astonishing discovery and the core belief of billion plus Muslims that the Qu ran is the eternal, unaltered word of God is now clearly visible as a great hoax, a totally downright falsehood. Not only this; the Qur anic claim that nobody can alter the words of God is also a fake. Qur an is supposed to be, if we borrow words from Guillaume (1978, p. 74), The holy of holies. It must never rest beneath other books, but always on top of them, one must never drink or smoke when it is being read aloud, and it must be listened to in silence. It is a talisman against disease and disaster . Muslims call the Qur an Mother of Books and believe no other book or revelation can compare (Caner & Caner, 2002. p.84). However, it s all gone now. The end result of whole Islamic struggle for fourteen centuries is a big zero.
As if it is not enough, many manuscripts showed the sign of palimpsests, i.e., versions very clearly written over even earlier washed off versions. The under-writing of palimpsest is, of course, often difficult to read visually, but modern tools such as ultraviolet photography can highlight them. It suggests that the Sana a manuscripts are not the only variants, but, even before that, Qur anic text had been modified and re-written on the same paper. It means, Allah s claim (Q 56: 77-78; 85:21-22) that original text is preserved in heaven on golden tablets, which none can touch except angels is also a fairy-tale.
Puin after extensively studying these manuscripts came to the conclusion that the text is actually an evolving text rather than simply the word of God as revealed in its entirety to Muhammad (Warraq, 2002, p. 109). He is thrilled, So many Muslims have this belief that everything between the two covers of the Qur an is just God s unaltered word. They
...
> Muslims believe in the infallibility of the real bible but say the > present texts are corrupt, and therefore to be ignored. It turns out > that the text of the Koran is at least as doubtful as that of the bible.
> Divine Downfall > Written by Sujit Das > Sunday, 21 June 2009
> Ancient Qur anic Manuscripts of Sana a and Divine Downfall > Respect for the faith of sincere believers cannot be allowed either to > block or deflect the investigation of the historians ... One must defend > the rights of elementary historical methodology .
> Maxime Rodhinson, 1981; p. 57
> Muslims often say that both Old Testament and New Testament are > corrupted and seriously changed. TPuin's Parchmenthey say, for a Holy > Scripture to be authoritative, it has to be preserved without any > changes at all, and point to their Qur an, which claims to have been > revealed word by word and letter by letter to Muhammad by Allah. Qur an > claims, no change there can be in the words of God (10:64) and, there > is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of God (6:34).
> But then how ridiculous the doctrine of abrogation is, by which later > revelations cancel previous ones, as Qur an (2:106) confirms, > revelations We abrogate or cause to be forgotten . Also, a Hadith > (6:558) from Sahih Bukhari confirmed that Muhammad forgot many verses. > Again Sunaan ibn Majah, (3: 1944) recorded that after Muhammad s death > some revelations were eaten by a goat. How divine words can be eaten, > changed, cancelled or abolished, in spite of Allah s specific claim in > 10:64 and 6:34?
> Are not all these claims of Allah self-contradictory? But amazingly; > these plain truths do not bother the Muslims at all. Probably, if we can > present another authentic Qur an which is different from existing > standard form, Muslims will give way to logical thinking.
> The devastating truth is that a large number of ancient Qur anic > manuscripts, dating from first century of Hijra were discovered in the > Great Mosque of Sana a (Yemen) which significantly differs from the > present standard one. Carbon dating system confirmed that these Qur ans > are not forged one by religious rivalries. Moreover these Qur ans were > discovered by Muslims, not infidels.
> Probably this is the most embarrassing event in Islamic history of 14 > centuries.
> The Great Mosque of Sana a is one of the oldest Mosques in Islamic > history. The date of building goes back to 6th year of Hijrah when > Muhammad entrusted one of his companions to build a Mosque at Yemen, > which was extended and enlarged by Islamic rulers from time to time.
> In 1972, during the restoration of this Great Mosque (heavy rain had > caused the west wall of the Mosque to collapse), laborers working in a > crown space between the structure s inner and outer roofs, stumbled > across a amazing grave site, which they did not realize at that time > because of ignorance. Mosques do not accommodate graves, and this site > contained no gravestone, no human remains and no funeral relics. It > contained nothing more, in fact, apparently looking an unappealing > mountain of old parchment and paper documents, damaged books and > individual pages of Arabic text, fused together by rain and dampness for > over a thousand year. > Quranic mess > The ignorant laborers gathered up the manuscripts, pressed them > carelessly into some 20 potato sacks, and set them aside on the > staircase of one of the Mosque s minarets, where they were locked away. > The manuscripts would have been forgotten once again, were it not for > Qadhi Isma il al-Akwa, then the President of Yemeni Antiquities > Authority, who realized the potential importance of the find. Al-Akwa > sought international assistance in examining and preserving the > fragments, because no scholar in his country was capable of working on > this rich find. In 1997, he managed to interest a visiting non-Muslim > German scholar, who in turn persuaded the German government to organize > and find a restoration project.
> Soon after the project began, it became clear that the paper grave is > a resting place for, among other things, tens of thousands of fragments > from close to a thousand different codices of the Qur an, the Muslim > holy scripture. Muslim authorities during early days cherished the > belief that worn out and damaged copies of the Qur an must be removed > from circulation leaving only the unblemished editions of the scripture > for use. Also such a safe place was required to protect the books from > looting or destruction if invaders come and hence the idea of a grave in > the Great Mosque in Sana a, which was a place of learning and > dissemination of the Qur an and was in existence from the first century > of the Hijrah.
> Restoration of the manuscript has been organized and supervised by Gerd > R. Puin of Saarland University, Germany. Puin is a renowned specialist > on Arabic calligraphy (the study of fine and artistic handwriting) and > Qur anic paleography (the study of ancient writing and documents). For > ten years he extensively examined those precious parchment fragments. In > 1985, his colleague H. C. Graf V. Bothmer joined him.
> Carbon-14 tests date some of the parchments to 645-690 AD. Their real > age may be somewhat younger, since C-14 estimates the year of the death > of an organism (parchment is animal skin), and the process from that to > the final writing on the parchment involves an unknown amount of time. > Calligraphic dating has pointed to 710-715 AD. Some of the parchment > pages seemed to date back to the seventh and eighth centuries, or > Islam s first two centuries, perhaps the oldest Qur an in existence.
> In 1984, the House of Manuscripts (Dar al Makhtutat) was founded close > to the Great Mosque, as part of a cooperation project between Yemeni and > German authorities. An enormous endeavor began to restore the Qur anic > fragments. Between 1983 and 1996, approximately 15,000 out of 40,000 > pages were restored, specifically 12,000 fragments on parchment and > manuscripts dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.
> Dar al-Makhtutat Library where the newly acquired Manuscripts and > cataloguing are stored. (Photo Source: Dreibholz, 1999. p. 22)
> Until now, only three ancient copies of the Qu ran are found. The one > preserved in the British Library in London, dates from the late seventh > century and was thought to be the oldest one. But the Sana a manuscripts > are even older. Moreover, these manuscripts are written in a script that > originates from the Hijaz - the region of Arabia where prophet Muhammad > lived, which makes them not only the oldest to have survived, but one of > the earliest authentic copies of the Qur an ever. Hijazi Arabic is the > script (Makkan or Madinan) in which the earliest Qur'an was written. > Although these pieces are from the earliest Qur'an known to exist, they > are also palimpsests (manuscripts on which the original writing has been > effected for re-use).
> The rare style of fine and artistic handwriting had fascinated both Puin > and his friend Bothmer but more surprise was waiting for them. When > these ancient Qur ans were compared with the present standard one, both > of them were stunned. The ancient texts were found to be devastatingly > and disturbingly at odds with the existing form. There are > unconventional verse ordering, small but significant textual variations, > different orthography (spelling) and different artistic embellishment > (decoration).
> It scattered the orthodox Muslim belief that the Qur an as it has > reached us today is quite simply the perfect, timeless, and unchanging > Word of God . It means Qur an has been distorted, perverted, revised, > modified and corrected, and textual alterations had taken place over the > years purely by Human hands.
> The sacred aura surrounding this Holy Scripture of Islam, which remained > intact for over 14 centuries is gone with this astonishing discovery and > the core belief of billion plus Muslims that the Qu ran is the eternal, > unaltered word of God is now clearly visible as a great hoax, a totally > downright falsehood. Not only this; the Qur anic claim that nobody can > alter the words of God is also a fake. Qur an is supposed to be, if we > borrow words from Guillaume (1978, p. 74), The holy of holies. It must > never rest beneath other books, but always on top of them, one must > never drink or smoke when it is being read aloud, and it must be > listened to in silence. It is a talisman against disease and disaster . > Muslims call the Qur an Mother of Books and believe no other book or > revelation can compare (Caner & Caner, 2002. p.84). However, it s all > gone now. The end result of whole Islamic struggle for fourteen > centuries is a big zero.
> As if it is not enough, many manuscripts showed the sign of palimpsests, > i.e., versions very clearly written over even earlier washed off > versions. The under-writing of palimpsest is, of course, often difficult > to read visually, but modern tools such as ultraviolet photography can > highlight them. It suggests that the Sana a manuscripts are not the only > variants, but, even before that, Qur anic text had been modified and > re-written on the same paper. It means, Allah s claim (Q 56: 77-78; > 85:21-22) that original text is preserved in heaven on golden tablets, > which none can touch except angels is also a fairy-tale.
>> Muslims believe in the infallibility of the real bible but say the >> present texts are corrupt, and therefore to be ignored. It turns out that >> the text of the Koran is at least as doubtful as that of the bible.
>> Divine Downfall >> Written by Sujit Das >> Sunday, 21 June 2009
>> Ancient Qur anic Manuscripts of Sana a and Divine Downfall >> Respect for the faith of sincere believers cannot be allowed either to >> block or deflect the investigation of the historians ... One must defend >> the rights of elementary historical methodology .
>> Maxime Rodhinson, 1981; p. 57
>> Muslims often say that both Old Testament and New Testament are corrupted >> and seriously changed. TPuin's Parchmenthey say, for a Holy Scripture to >> be authoritative, it has to be preserved without any changes at all, and >> point to their Qur an, which claims to have been revealed word by word >> and letter by letter to Muhammad by Allah. Qur an claims, no change >> there can be in the words of God (10:64) and, there is none that can >> alter the words (and decrees) of God (6:34).
>> But then how ridiculous the doctrine of abrogation is, by which later >> revelations cancel previous ones, as Qur an (2:106) confirms, >> revelations We abrogate or cause to be forgotten . Also, a Hadith >> (6:558) from Sahih Bukhari confirmed that Muhammad forgot many verses. >> Again Sunaan ibn Majah, (3: 1944) recorded that after Muhammad s death >> some revelations were eaten by a goat. How divine words can be eaten, >> changed, cancelled or abolished, in spite of Allah s specific claim in >> 10:64 and 6:34?
>> Are not all these claims of Allah self-contradictory? But amazingly; >> these plain truths do not bother the Muslims at all. Probably, if we can >> present another authentic Qur an which is different from existing >> standard form, Muslims will give way to logical thinking.
>> The devastating truth is that a large number of ancient Qur anic >> manuscripts, dating from first century of Hijra were discovered in the >> Great Mosque of Sana a (Yemen) which significantly differs from the >> present standard one. Carbon dating system confirmed that these Qur ans >> are not forged one by religious rivalries. Moreover these Qur ans were >> discovered by Muslims, not infidels.
>> Probably this is the most embarrassing event in Islamic history of 14 >> centuries.
>> The Great Mosque of Sana a is one of the oldest Mosques in Islamic >> history. The date of building goes back to 6th year of Hijrah when >> Muhammad entrusted one of his companions to build a Mosque at Yemen, >> which was extended and enlarged by Islamic rulers from time to time.
>> In 1972, during the restoration of this Great Mosque (heavy rain had >> caused the west wall of the Mosque to collapse), laborers working in a >> crown space between the structure s inner and outer roofs, stumbled >> across a amazing grave site, which they did not realize at that time >> because of ignorance. Mosques do not accommodate graves, and this site >> contained no gravestone, no human remains and no funeral relics. It >> contained nothing more, in fact, apparently looking an unappealing >> mountain of old parchment and paper documents, damaged books and >> individual pages of Arabic text, fused together by rain and dampness for >> over a thousand year. >> Quranic mess >> The ignorant laborers gathered up the manuscripts, pressed them >> carelessly into some 20 potato sacks, and set them aside on the staircase >> of one of the Mosque s minarets, where they were locked away. The >> manuscripts would have been forgotten once again, were it not for Qadhi >> Isma il al-Akwa, then the President of Yemeni Antiquities Authority, who >> realized the potential importance of the find. Al-Akwa sought >> international assistance in examining and preserving the fragments, >> because no scholar in his country was capable of working on this rich >> find. In 1997, he managed to interest a visiting non-Muslim German >> scholar, who in turn persuaded the German government to organize and find >> a restoration project.
>> Soon after the project began, it became clear that the paper grave is a >> resting place for, among other things, tens of thousands of fragments >> from close to a thousand different codices of the Qur an, the Muslim holy >> scripture. Muslim authorities during early days cherished the belief that >> worn out and damaged copies of the Qur an must be removed from >> circulation leaving only the unblemished editions of the scripture for >> use. Also such a safe place was required to protect the books from >> looting or destruction if invaders come and hence the idea of a grave in >> the Great Mosque in Sana a, which was a place of learning and >> dissemination of the Qur an and was in existence from the first century >> of the Hijrah.
>> Restoration of the manuscript has been organized and supervised by Gerd >> R. Puin of Saarland University, Germany. Puin is a renowned specialist on >> Arabic calligraphy (the study of fine and artistic handwriting) and Qur anic >> paleography (the study of ancient writing and documents). For ten years >> he extensively examined those precious parchment fragments. In 1985, his >> colleague H. C. Graf V. Bothmer joined him.
>> Carbon-14 tests date some of the parchments to 645-690 AD. Their real age >> may be somewhat younger, since C-14 estimates the year of the death of an >> organism (parchment is animal skin), and the process from that to the >> final writing on the parchment involves an unknown amount of time. >> Calligraphic dating has pointed to 710-715 AD. Some of the parchment >> pages seemed to date back to the seventh and eighth centuries, or Islam s >> first two centuries, perhaps the oldest Qur an in existence.
>> In 1984, the House of Manuscripts (Dar al Makhtutat) was founded close to >> the Great Mosque, as part of a cooperation project between Yemeni and >> German authorities. An enormous endeavor began to restore the Qur anic >> fragments. Between 1983 and 1996, approximately 15,000 out of 40,000 >> pages were restored, specifically 12,000 fragments on parchment and >> manuscripts dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.
>> Dar al-Makhtutat Library where the newly acquired Manuscripts and >> cataloguing are stored. (Photo Source: Dreibholz, 1999. p. 22)
>> Until now, only three ancient copies of the Qu ran are found. The one >> preserved in the British Library in London, dates from the late seventh >> century and was thought to be the oldest one. But the Sana a manuscripts >> are even older. Moreover, these manuscripts are written in a script that >> originates from the Hijaz - the region of Arabia where prophet Muhammad >> lived, which makes them not only the oldest to have survived, but one of >> the earliest authentic copies of the Qur an ever. Hijazi Arabic is the >> script (Makkan or Madinan) in which the earliest Qur'an was written. >> Although these pieces are from the earliest Qur'an known to exist, they >> are also palimpsests (manuscripts on which the original writing has been >> effected for re-use).
>> The rare style of fine and artistic handwriting had fascinated both Puin >> and his friend Bothmer but more surprise was waiting for them. When these >> ancient Qur ans were compared with the present standard one, both of them >> were stunned. The ancient texts were found to be devastatingly and >> disturbingly at odds with the existing form. There are unconventional >> verse ordering, small but significant textual variations, different >> orthography (spelling) and different artistic embellishment (decoration).
>> It scattered the orthodox Muslim belief that the Qur an as it has reached >> us today is quite simply the perfect, timeless, and unchanging Word of >> God . It means Qur an has been distorted, perverted, revised, modified >> and corrected, and textual alterations had taken place over the years >> purely by Human hands.
>> The sacred aura surrounding this Holy Scripture of Islam, which remained >> intact for over 14 centuries is gone with this astonishing discovery and >> the core belief of billion plus Muslims that the Qu ran is the eternal, >> unaltered word of God is now clearly visible as a great hoax, a totally >> downright falsehood. Not only this; the Qur anic claim that nobody can >> alter the words of God is also a fake. Qur an is supposed to be, if we >> borrow words from Guillaume (1978, p. 74), The holy of holies. It must >> never rest beneath other books, but always on top of them, one must never >> drink or smoke when it is being read aloud, and it must be listened to in >> silence. It is a talisman against disease and disaster . Muslims call the >> Qur an Mother of Books and believe no other book or revelation can >> compare (Caner & Caner, 2002. p.84). However, it s all gone now. The end >> result of whole Islamic struggle for fourteen centuries is a big zero.
>> As if it is not enough, many manuscripts showed the sign of palimpsests, >> i.e., versions very clearly written over even earlier washed off >> versions. The under-writing of palimpsest is, of course, often difficult >> to read visually, but modern tools such as ultraviolet photography can >> highlight them. It suggests that the Sana a manuscripts are not the only >> variants, but, even
