Qur'an

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds

The Qur'an (also Quran, Koran, Alcoran; Arabic: القُرْآن) is the holy book of Islam.

Muslim tradition holds that the Qur'an is a message of Allah, delivered through Muhammad ibn Abdullah as revealed to him by the angel Jabreel (Gabriel) over a period of 23 years. It consists of 114 suras (chapters) with a total of 6,236 ayats (verses) that were rendered in Arabic, and all attempts at translation into other languages are deemed inadequate to proper transmission. The Qur'an includes stories of many of the people and events of the Jewish and Christian traditions although differing in both substance and detail. Well-known Biblical characters such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist are mentioned in the Qur'an as prophets sent by Allah (guiding Muslims to the right path), and in roles that are often different than those portrayed in the Jewish and Christian doctrines.

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Contents

[edit] The Opening

  • In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
    Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds;
    Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
    Master of the Day of Judgment.
    Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
    Show us the straight way,
    The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.
    • The Opening of The Quran (Surah al-Fatiha) as translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. In Arabic the opening words read: Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, and the entire passage is often referred to as "the Bismillah". It opens every sura of the Qur'an except Sura 9.
    • Essay on the Bismillah

[edit] The Holy Qur'an

Surah 2:2-7 - “This Divine Writ – let there be no doubt about it – is [meant to be] a guidance for all the God-conscious who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance; and who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee, [O Prophet,] as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time: for it is they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come!...Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth – it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or dost not warn them: they will not believe. God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil  ; and awesome suffering awaits them.”

Surah 14:1 - "A divine writ [is this - a revelation] which we have bestowed upon thee from on high in order that thou might bring forth all mankind, by their Sustainer's leave, out of the depths of darkness into the light: onto the way that leads to the Almighty, the One to whom all praise is due - to God, unto whom all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth belongs."

[edit] Allah (God)

  • “All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds…Guide us the straight way – the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, not of those who have been condemned [by Thee], nor of those who go astray!”

Surah 2:115 - “And God’s is the east and the west: and wherever you turn, there is God’s countenance. Behold, God is infinite, all-knowing…His is all that is in the heavens and on earth; all things devoutly obey His will. The Originator is He of the heavens and the earth: and when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, “Be” – and it is.”

Surah 2:186 - “And if My servants ask thee about Me – behold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way.”

[edit] God's Presence

Surah 2:164 - “Verily, in the creation of the heavens and of the earth, and the succession of night and day: and in the ships that speed through the sea with what is useful to man: and in the waters which God sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless, and causing all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon: and in the change of the winds, and the clouds that run their appointed courses between sky and earth: [in all this] there are messages indeed for people who use their reason.”

Surah 33:70 - “Be careful of Allah and speak the right word.”

[edit] The Spirit of Islam

Surah 2:177 -“True piety does not consist in turning your faces to the east or the west – but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angels, and revelation, and the prophets; and spends his substance – however much he himself may cherish it – upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer , and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage  ; and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God.”

[edit] Prophets

Surah 3:84 - "Say: We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam)."

  • [Yusuf Ali translation]

[edit] Issa (Jesus)

Surah 3:55 - "Behold! Allah said: O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute."

  • [Yusuf Ali translation]

[edit] Other Faiths

Surah 2:38-2:39 - "We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. But they who disbelieve, and deny Our revelations, such are rightful Peoples of the Fire [of Hell]. They will abide therein."

Surah 2:62 - “Verily, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians – all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds – shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

Surah 2:111 - “And they claim, “None shall ever enter paradise unless he be a Jew” – or, “a Christian”. Such are their wishful beliefs! Say: “Produce an evidence for what you are claiming, if what you say is true! Yea, indeed: everyone who surrenders his whole being to God, and is a doer of good withal, shall have his reward with his Sustainer; and all such need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve.”

Surah 48:29 - "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves."

[edit] War

Surah 9:29 - “Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.”

Surah 9:5 - “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. And if one of the idolaters seek protection from you, grant him protection till he hears the word of Allah, then make him attain his place of safety; this is because they are a people who do not know. ”

Context for Surah 9:5 (Al-Taubah Surah 9: 1 – 5) - The first point that needs to be considered is the opening of Surah Al-Taubah. The opening of the Surah may be translated as:

“A declaration of the dissolution of agreements from God and His messenger to the idolaters with whom you have made [no-war] agreements. Thus, you [O polytheists] may freely traverse in the land for four months, but know that you shall not escape God’s judgment and that God shall surely humble the unbelievers. A proclamation [should be made] to these people from God and His messenger on the day of Hajj-e-Akbar, [declaring] that God and His messenger are no longer under any obligation toward these polytheists. If you repent, [O polytheists,] it shall be better for you but if you turn your backs [paying no heed], then know that you shall not be able to escape God’s judgment. Give these rejecters the glad tidings of a painful punishment, except those polytheists who have not dishonored their treaties with you and have not aided anyone against you. With these, fulfill your treaties till the appointed term. Indeed, God loves the righteous. When the sacred months are over, slay the polytheists wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them and lie in ambush for them.”

The Qur’an further says:

“How can there be any responsibility of these agreements on God and His messenger, except those with whom you made agreements at the Sacred Mosque? Thus, so long as they uphold their part of the treaty, you should uphold yours. Indeed God loves the righteous.” (Al-Taubah 9: 7)

A close look at the above verses shall suffice as evidence to the fact that the directive, “Arrest them, besiege them and lie in ambush for them” is given against those polytheists with whom the Muslims, under the leadership of the Prophet (pbuh), had entered into an agreement and who had disregarded this agreement and aided others against the Muslims. Obviously, these qualities cannot be generalized on all the polytheists of the world.

The Qur’an further says:

“Will you not fight against those who have broken their oaths and have conspired to banush the messenger? They were the first to attack you.” (Al-Taubah 9: 12)

Thus, a further qualification of those against whom the directive is given is that besides breaking their oaths with the Muslims, they conspired to banush the Prophet (pbuh) and were the first to attack the Muslims. It is obvious that the referred directive implies to take action against a particular people. It cannot be generalized to the whole world and to all times to come.

[edit] Other topics

[edit] Aging

  • It is Allah who creates you and takes your souls at death; and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.
    • Sura 16:70 [Yusuf Ali translation]

[edit] Charity

Surah 2:110 - “And be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues; for, whatever good deed you send ahead for your own selves, you shall find it with God: behold, God sees all that you do.”

Surah 2:261 - “The parable of those who spend their possessions for the sake of God is that of a grain out of which grow seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains: for God grants manifold increase unto whom He wills; and God is infinite, all-knowing. They who spend their possessions for the sake of God and do not thereafter mar their spending by stressing their own benevolence and hurting [the feelings of the needy] shall have their reward with their Sustainer, and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. A kind word and the veiling of another’s want is better than a charitable deed followed by hurt. O you who have attained to faith! Do not deprive your charitable deeds of all their worth by stressing your own benevolence and hurting [the feelings of the needy], as does he who spends his wealth only to be seen and praised by men, and believes not in God and the Last Day….Such as these shall have no gain whatever from all their [good] works: for God does not guide people who refuse to acknowledge the truth. And the parable of those who spend their possessions out of a longing to please God, and out of their own inner certainty, is that of a garden on high, fertile ground: a rainstorm smites it, and thereupon it brings forth its fruit twofold; and if no rainstorm smites it, soft rain [falls upon it]. And God sees all that you do.”

Surah 2:267 - “O you who have attained to faith! Spend on others out of the good things which you may have acquired, and out of that which We bring forth for you from the earth; and choose not for your spending the bad things which you yourselves would not accept without averting your eyes in disdain...Satan threatens you with the prospect of poverty and bids you to be niggardly, whereas God promises you His forgiveness and bounty…If you do deeds of charity openly, it is well; but if you bestow it upon the needy in secret, it will be even better for you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds…And whatever good you may spend on others is for your own good, provided that you spend only out of a longing for God’s countenance; for whatever good you may spend will be repaid unto you in full, and you shall not be wronged…Those who spend their possessions [for the sake of God] by night and by day, secretly and openly, shall have their reward with their Sustainer, and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

Surah 6:160 - “Whoever shall come [before God] with a good deed will gain ten times the like thereof; but whoever shall come with an evil deed will be requited with no more than the like thereof; and none shall be wronged.”

[edit] Christianity

[edit] Comfort

  • By the morning hours and by the night when it is stillest, thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee; and verily the latter portion will be better for thee than the former, and verily thy Lord will give unto thee so that thou wilt be content. Did He not find thee an orphan and protect (thee)? Did He not find thee wandering and direct (thee)? Did He not find thee destitute and enrich (thee)? Therefore the orphan oppress not; therefore the beggar drive not away; therefore of the bounty of thy Lord be thy discourse.
    • Sura 93

[edit] Freedom of Religion

  • There is no compulsion in religion.
  • Say : O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine.

[edit] Interest (Usury)

  • Those who devour usury will not stand except as stand one whom the Evil one by his touch Hath driven to madness. That is because they say: "Trade is like usury," but Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for Allah (to judge); but those who repeat (The offence) are companions of the Fire: They will abide therein (for ever).
    • Original: الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لاَ يَقُومُونَ إِلاَّ كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذ
      يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ
      مِثْلُ الرِّبَا وَأَحَلَّ اللّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَن جَاءهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ
      مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَانتَهَىَ فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ
      يَمْحَقُ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 2:275 (The Cow, سورة البقرة), See also: Islamic banking

[edit] Life

  • By the declining day, man is a state of loss, save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.
    • Sura 103
  • As for those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one thinks it to be water until he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing; but he finds Allah with him, Who will pay him his due.
    • Sura 24:39

[edit] Death

  • Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.
    • Sura 3:185 [Yusuf Ali translation]

Surah 2:180 - “It is ordained for you, when death approaches any of you and he is leaving behind much wealth, to make bequests in favor of his parents and [other] near of kin in accordance with what is fair: this is binding on all who are conscious of God.”

[edit] Day of Judgment

  • Surely they think it to be far off, and We see it nigh: on the day when the heaven shall be as molten copper, and the mountains shall be as tufts of wool, and friend shall not ask of friend (though) they shall be made to see each other.
    • Sura 70:6-11
  • When the sun is overthrown, and when the stars fall, and when the camels big with young are abandoned, and when the wild beasts are herded together, and when the seas rise, and when souls are reunited, and when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked for what sin she was slain, and when the pages are laid open, and when the sky is torn away, and when hell is lighted, and when the Garden is brought nigh, (then) every soul will know what it hath made ready.
    • Sura 81:1-14

[edit] Disbelievers

[edit] History and Science

  • All living things are made from water
    • "and we have made of water everything living" Sura 21:30
  • Homosexual acts are condemned as unnatural.
    • Original: وَلُوطاً إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن الْعَالَمِينَ
      إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاء بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 7:80–81
  • Humans created from a single man.
    • Original: هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا فَلَمَّاتَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلاً خَفِيفاً فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ فَلَمَّا أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَااللّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ آتَيْتَنَا صَالِحاً لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 7:189
  • Joseph saw in a dream eleven planets.
    • Original: إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْت ُأَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَباً وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 12:4
  • Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness.Marmaduke Pickthall. And
  • Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.Marmaduke Pickthall.
    • Original: حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا قُلْنَا يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ إِمَّا أَن تُعَذِّبَ وَإِمَّا أَن تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمْ حُسْنًا
  • And:
    • Original:حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَطْلِعَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَطْلُعُ عَلَى قَوْمٍ لَّمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتْرًا
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 18:86,90
  • Quoted from the Pharoah of Moses
  • Now surely I shall cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and ye shall know for certain which of us hath sterner and more lasting punishment.Marmaduke Pickthall. [Crucifixion was a Roman form of punishment. This account suggests that Crucifixion, in one form or another, was practiced very early on in Ancient Egypt[1]
    • Original: لأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُم مِّنْ خِلاَفٍ ثُمَّ لأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ أَجْمَعِي
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 20:71
  • Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any Allah beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not!Marmaduke Pickthall.
  • Fixed abode does not suggest that planet earth is stationary! It merely states that the surface of the earth, as perceived by living creatures, is firm and stable, and therefore, habitable.
    • Original: أَمَّن جَعَلَ الْأَرْضَ قَرَاراً وَجَعَلَ خِلَالَهَا أَنْهَاراً وَجَعَلَ لَهَارَوَاسِيَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزاً أَإِلَهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ بل ْأَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 27:61
  • "The sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him."
    • Original: وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَاذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 36:38
  • Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower. Marmaduke Pickthall
    • Original: فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَى فِي كُلِّ سَمَاء أَمْرَهَاوَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَاء الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَحِفْظاً ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِالْعَلِيمِ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 41:12
  • Who hath created seven heavens in harmony. Thou (Muhammad) canst see no fault in the Beneficent One's creation; then look again: Canst thou see any rifts? Marmaduke Pickthall
    • Original: الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقاً مَّا تَرَى فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَن مِن تَفَاوُتٍ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 67:3
  • And verily We have beautified the world's heaven with lamps, and We have made them missiles for the devils, and for them We have prepared the doom of flame.Marmaduke Pickthall
    • Original: وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّاالسَّمَاءالدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا رُجُوماً لِّلشَّيَاطِينِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَاب َالسَّعِيرِ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 67:5
  • And the earth with the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash.Marmaduke Pickthall
    • Original: وَحُمِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةًوَاحِدَةً
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 69:14
  • And hath made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp. [The Qur'an calls the sun a lamp, since it produces its own light, but calls the moon a light, because it merely reflects light from the sun]
    • Original: وَجَعَلَ الْقَمَرَ فِيهِنَّ نُوراً وَجَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ سِرَاجاً
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 71:16
  • Someday the stars will fall.
  • Humans are formed from "a gushing fluid" that issues "from between the loins and the ribs."
    • Original: فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ
      خُلِقَ مِن مَّاءدَافِقٍ
      يَخْرُجُ مِن بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَائِبِ
    • The Qur'an (القرآن), Sura 86:5–7

[edit] Peace

  • Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loveth not transgressors.
  • For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.
  • But if the enemy Incline towards peace, Do thou (also) incline Towards peace, and trust In God.
  • We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another.
  • Say : O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine.

[edit] Quotes about the Qur'an

Alphabetized by author
  • In making the present attempt to improve on the performance of my predecessors, and to produce something which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which - apart from the message itself - constitute the Koran's undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind... This very characteristic feature - 'that inimitable symphony,' as the believing Pickthall described his Holy Book, 'the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy' - has been almost totally ignored by previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what they have wrought sounds dull and flat indeed in comparison with the splendidly decorated original."
    • Arthur J. Arberry, THE KORAN INTERPRETED, London: Oxford University Press, 1964, p. x
  • The Jewish and Christian Bibles were written by "inspired men of God" who immediately committed God's Word to writing. Islam doesn't even have either an original or inspired Qur'an. The Muslim Qur'an was made up supposedly from "memory" from those who supposedly committed the words of Muhammad to memory, and from a few scraps found under a bed. This was originally begun about 15-20 years after Muhammad died at his wife Ayish's home in Medina, and he was lowered into a hole in the ground, where he remains. The compilation was not finished until at least 150 years after Muhammad's death. This "hearsay" argument seriously brings the credibility of the Qur'an into question.
  • The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad as the author of the Qur'an untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary merits, in the whole of Arabic literature? How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human being could possibly have developed at that time, and all this without once making the slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject?"
    • Maurice Bucaille, THE BIBLE, THE QUR'AN AND SCIENCE, 1978, p. 125.
  • A totally objective examination of it [the Qur'an] in the light of modern knowledge, leads us to recognize the agreement between the two, as has been already noted on repeated occasions. It makes us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad's time to have been the author of such statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are part of what gives the Qur'anic Revelation its unique place, and forces the impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation which calls solely upon materialistic reasoning."
    • Maurice Bucaille, THE QUR'AN AND MODERN SCIENCE, 1981, p. 18
  • However often we turn to it [the Qur'an] at first disgusting us each time afresh, it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces our reverence... Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim is stern, grand, terrible — ever and anon truly sublime — Thus this book will go on exercising through all ages a most potent influence.
  • Islam in its origins is just as shady and approximate as those from which it took its borrowings. It makes immense claims for itself, invokes prostrate submission or "surrender" as a maxim to its adherents, and demands deference and respect from nonbelievers into the bargain. There is nothing—absolutely nothing—in its teachings that can even begin to justify such arrogance and presumption.
  • The Koran admittedly occupies an important position among the great religious books of the world. Though the youngest of the epoch-making works belonging to this class of literature, it yields to hardly any in the wonderful effect which it has produced on large masses of men. It has created an all but new phase of human thought and a fresh type of character. It first transformed a number of heterogeneous desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a nation of heroes, and then proceeded to create the vast politico-religious organizations of the Muhammadan world which are one of the great forces with which Europe and the East have to reckon today."
    • G. Margoliouth, in the Introduction to The Koran as translated by John Medows Rodwell, Everyman's Library edition (1977), p. vii.
  • The Qur'an cannot be translated. ...The book is here rendered almost literally and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the result is not the Glorious Qur'an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Qur'an — and peradventure something of the charm in English. It can never take the place of the Qur'an in Arabic, nor is it meant to do so...
  • A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seemingly incompatible emotions even in the distant reader - distant as to time, and still more so as a mental development - a work which not only conquers the repugnance which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse feeling into astonishment and admiration, such a work must be a wonderful production of the human mind indeed and a problem of the highest interest to every thoughtful observer of the destinies of mankind."
    • Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes' DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, pp. 526-527.
  • Here, therefore, its merits as a literary production should perhaps not be measured by some preconceived maxims of subjective and aesthetic taste, but by the effects which it produced in Muhammad's contemporaries and fellow countrymen. If it spoke so powerfully and convincingly to the hearts of his hearers as to weld hitherto centrifugal and antagonistic elements into one compact and well-organized body, animated by ideas far beyond those which had until now ruled the Arabian mind, then its eloquence was perfect, simply because it created a civilized nation out of savage tribes, and shot a fresh woof into the old warp of history."
    • Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes' DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, p.528.

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