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[[Image:AndalusQuran.JPG|300px|thumb|right|''In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds'']]
Yanis Khamsi Is Gay!
'''The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]]''' (also Quran, Koran, Alcoran; Arabic قُرْآن) is the holy book of [[Islam]].


[[w:Muslim|Muslim]] tradition holds that the Qur'an is a message of [[w:Allah|Allah]], delivered through [[Muhammad|Muhammad ibn Abdullah]] as revealed to him by the angel [[w:Gabriel|Jabreel (Gabriel)]] over a period of 23 years. It consists of 114 [[w:Sura|suras]] (chapters) with a total of 6,236 [[w:Ayah|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 [[w:Adam|Adam]], [[w:Noah|Noah]], [[w:Abraham|Abraham]], [[w:Moses|Moses]], [[Jesus]], [[w:Mary, the mother of Jesus|Mary]], and [[w:John the Baptist|John the Baptist]] are mentioned in the Qur'an as prophets of Islam, and in roles that are often different than those portrayed in the Jewish and Christian doctrines.
[[Image:37518r.jpg]]

== The Opening==
*'''In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. <br/> Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; <br/> Most Gracious, Most Merciful; <br/> Master of the Day of Judgment. <br/> Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. <br/> Show us the straight way, <br/> 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 [[w:Abdullah Yusuf Ali|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.
** [http://wahiduddin.net/words/bismillah.htm Essay on the Bismillah]

==The Holy Qur'an==
<hr width="50%"/>

'''Surah 2:2''' - “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."

==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!”
**{{Quran|1|2}}

'''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.”

==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.”

==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.”

==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]

===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]

===Moses===

== Other Faiths ==
'''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.”

'''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.”

== Other topics ==
===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]

===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 6:180''' - “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.”

===Christianity===
*See [[Quran on Christianity]]

===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

===Interest ([[w:Usury|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).
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: {{lang|ar|الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لاَ يَقُومُونَ إِلاَّ كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذ<br/> يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ<br/> مِثْلُ الرِّبَا وَأَحَلَّ اللّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَن جَاءهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ<br/> مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَانتَهَىَ فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ<br/> يَمْحَقُ|rtl}}
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] ({{lang|ar|القرآن|rtl}}), [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/002.qmt.html Sura 2:275] ([[w:Al-Baqara|The Cow]], {{lang|ar|سورة البقرة|rtl}}), ''See also:'' [[w:Islamic banking|Islamic banking]]

===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

===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.”

===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

===Disbelievers===
*See [[Quran on infidels]]

=== History and Science ===
* All living things are made from water
** "and we have made of water everything living" ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick/021.htm Sura 21:30 ]''

* Homosexual acts are condemned as unnatural.
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: وَلُوطاً إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن الْعَالَمِينَ <br> إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاء بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 7:80&ndash;81]


* Humans created from a single man.
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|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 [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 7:189]

* Joseph saw in a dream eleven planets.

** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْت ُأَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَباً وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick 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.[[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|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.[[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|Marmaduke Pickthall]].
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|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:
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]:حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَطْلِعَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَطْلُعُ عَلَى قَوْمٍ لَّمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتْرًا
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 18:86,90]

* 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.[[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|Marmaduke Pickthall]]. [Crucifixion was a Roman form of punishment. This account suggests that [[w:Crucifixion|Crucifixion]], in one form or another, was practiced very early on in [[w:Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egypt]][http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Contrad/External/crucify.html]
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: لأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُم مِّنْ خِلاَفٍ ثُمَّ لأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ أَجْمَعِي
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick 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![[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|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.
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: أَمَّن جَعَلَ الْأَرْضَ قَرَاراً وَجَعَلَ خِلَالَهَا أَنْهَاراً وَجَعَلَ لَهَارَوَاسِيَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزاً أَإِلَهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ بل ْأَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 27:61]

* "The sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him."
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَاذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick 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. [[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|Marmaduke Pickthall]]
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَى فِي كُلِّ سَمَاء أَمْرَهَاوَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَاء الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَحِفْظاً ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِالْعَلِيمِ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick 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? [[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|Marmaduke Pickthall]]
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقاً مَّا تَرَى فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَن مِن تَفَاوُتٍ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick 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.[[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|Marmaduke Pickthall]]
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّاالسَّمَاءالدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا رُجُوماً لِّلشَّيَاطِينِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَاب َالسَّعِيرِ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 67:5]

* And the earth with the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash.[[w:Marmaduke Pickthall|Marmaduke Pickthall]]
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: وَحُمِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةًوَاحِدَةً
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick 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]
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: وَجَعَلَ الْقَمَرَ فِيهِنَّ نُوراً وَجَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ سِرَاجاً
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 71:16]

* Someday the stars will fall.
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: وَإِذَا النُّجُومُ انكَدَرَتْ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 81:2]

* Humans are formed from "a gushing fluid" that issues "from between the loins and the ribs."
** [[s:ar:أَلْقُرآن أَلْكَرِيم|Original]]: فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ <br> خُلِقَ مِن مَّاءدَافِقٍ <br> يَخْرُجُ مِن بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَائِبِ
** The [[w:Qur'an|Qur'an]] (القرآن), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/pick Sura 86:5&ndash;7]

== Quotes about the Qur'an ==

*The Koran uses the word "life" negatively, meaning "any life"...as the Prophet Muhammad has taught us, yearn for death and you will be given life.
**[http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=19 Sheikh Muhammad Al-Bajirmi of the Palestine Religious Scholars Association About a Muslim's Death Wish] (March 2004)

* If the Qur'an was the word of God, it had been dictated on a very bad day.
** [[w:Christopher Hitchens|Christopher Hitchens]], ''Free Inquiry Magazine'', [http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/hitchens_22_4.html Volume 21, Number 4]

* 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.
** [[w:Christopher Hitchens|Christopher Hitchens]], ''[[w:god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything|god is not Great]]'' (2007). See also a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5R_-0UO4fs video] of his reading and an [http://richarddawkins.net/article,928,Was-Muhammad-Epileptic,Christopher-Hitchens-Slate excerpt].

* The [[w:Muhammad|prophet]] died in the year 632 of our own approximate calendar. The first account of his life was set down a full hundred and twenty years later by [[w:Ibn Ishaq|Ibn Ishaq]], whose original was lost and can only be consulted through its reworked form, authored by [[w:Ibn Hisham|Ibn Hisham]], who died in 834. Adding to this hearsay and obscurity, there is no agreed-upon account of how the Prophet's followers assembled the Koran, or of how his various sayings (some of them written down by secretaries) became codified. … It is said by some Muslim authorities that during the first caliphate of Abu Bakr, immediately after Muhammad's death, concern arose that his orally transmitted words might be forgotten. So many Muslim soldiers had been killed in battle that the number who had the Koran safely lodged in their memories had become alarmingly small. It was therefore decided to assemble every living witness, together with "pieces of paper, stones, palm leaves, shoulder-blades, ribs and bits of leather" on which sayings had been scribbled, and give them to [[w:Zaid ibn Thabit|Zaid ibn Thabit]], one of the Prophet's former secretaries, for an authoritative collation. Once this had been done, the believers had something like an authorized version.<br/> If true, this would date the Koran to a time fairly close to Muhammad's own life. But we swiftly discover that there is no certainty or agreement about the truth of the story. Some say that it was [[w:Ali|Ali]]—the fourth and not the first caliph, and the founder of Shiism—who had the idea. Many others—the Sunni majority—assert that it was Caliph [[w:Uthman|Uthman]], who reigned from 644 to 656, who made the finalized decision. Told by one of his generals that soldiers from different provinces were fighting over discrepant accounts of the Koran, Uthman ordered Zaid ibn Thabit to bring together the various texts, unify them, and have them transcribed into one. When this task was complete, Uthman ordered standard copies to be sent to Kufa, Basra, Damascus, and elsewhere, with a master copy retained in Medina. Uthman thus played the canonical role that had been taken, in the standardization and purging and censorship of the [[w:The New Testament|Christian Bible]], by [[w:Irenaeus|Irenaeus]] and by [[w:Athanasius of Alexandria|Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria]]. The roll was called, and some texts were declared sacred and inerrant while others became "apocryphal." Outdoing Athanasius, Uthman ordered that all earlier and rival editions be destroyed.<br/> Even supposing this version of events to be correct, which would mean that no chance existed for scholars ever to determine or even dispute what really happened in Muhammad's time, Uthman's attempt to abolish disagreement was a vain one. The written Arabic language has two features that make it difficult for an outsider to learn: it uses dots to distinguish consonants like "b" and "t," and in its original form it had no sign or symbol for short vowels, which could be rendered by various dashes or comma-type marks. Vastly different readings even of Uthman's version were enabled by these variations. … To take one instance that can hardly be called negligible, the Arabic words written on the outside of the [[w:Dome of the Rock|Dome of the Rock]] in Jerusalem are different from any version that appears in the Koran.
** [[w:Christopher Hitchens|Christopher Hitchens]], ''[[w:god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything|god is not Great]]'' (2007). See also a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5R_-0UO4fs video] of his reading and an [http://richarddawkins.net/article,928,Was-Muhammad-Epileptic,Christopher-Hitchens-Slate excerpt].

* The situation is even more shaky and deplorable when we come to the [[w:hadith|hadith]], or that vast orally generated secondary literature which supposedly conveys the sayings and actions of Muhammad … As one might expect, the six authorized collections of hadith … were put together centuries after the events they purport to describe. One of the most famous of the six compilers, [[w:Muhammad al-Bukhari|Bukhari]], died 238 years after the death of Muhammad. Bukhari is deemed unusually reliable and honest by Muslims, and seems to have deserved his reputation in that, of the ''three hundred thousand'' attestations he accumulated in a lifetime devoted to the project, he ruled that ''two hundred thousand'' of them were entirely valueless and unsupported. Further exclusion of dubious traditions and questionable isnads reduced his grand total to ten thousand hadith. You are free to believe, if you so choose, that out of this formless mass of illiterate and half-remembered witnessing the pious Bukhari, more than two centuries later, managed to select only the pure and undefiled ones that would bear examination.
** [[w:Christopher Hitchens|Christopher Hitchens]], ''[[w:god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything|god is not Great]]'' (2007). See also a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5R_-0UO4fs video] of his reading and an [http://richarddawkins.net/article,928,Was-Muhammad-Epileptic,Christopher-Hitchens-Slate excerpt].

== See also ==
* [[Bhagavad Gita]]
* [[The Bible]]
* [[Christianity]]
* [[Faith]]
* [[The Golden Rule]]
* [[Islam]]
* [[Muhammad]]
* [[Quran on infidels]]
* [[Quran on Christians]]
* [[Politics]]

==External Links==
{{Similarlinks}}
* [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ Three translations of the Qur'an] online together at the University of Southern California
* [http://web.umr.edu/~msaumr/Quran/ Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali] at the University of Missouri at Rolla
* [http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran/browse.html Translation by M.H. Shakir] at the University of Michigan
* [http://www.alislam.org/quran/translation/index.html Translation by Maulvi Sher Ali] at Alislam.org
* [http://www.geocities.com/masad02/ Translation by Muhammad Asad]
* [http://al-shia.com/html/eng/books/quran/quran-and-hadith/index.html Translation by Muhammad Sarwar] at al-shia.com
* [http://www.usna.edu/Users/humss/bwheeler/quran/quran_index.html Early manuscript editions of the Qur'an]
* [http://wahiduddin.net/words/bismillah.htm Essay on the Bismillah]
* [http://quranexplorer.com/ Authenticated Quran Translations] in English, Urdu, Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Turkish, French & Dutch at QuranExplorer.com
===Recitations===
* [http://www.submissionradio.org/ Quran recitation in English] by computer
* [http://quranexplorer.com/Quran/Default.aspx Quran recitations] by 5 famous Qaris


[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Qur'an]]
[[Category:Religious texts]]
[[Category:Islamic literature]]

[[ar:أحاديث في فضل القرآن الكريم]]
[[bg:Коран]]
[[de:Koran]]
[[el:Κοράνι]]
[[fr:Coran]]
[[pl:Koran]]
[[pt:Alcorão]]
[[ru:Коран]]
[[sl:Koran]]
[[tr:Kur'an-ı Kerim]]
[[ku:Quran]]

Revision as of 14:44, 4 December 2007

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 قُرْآن) 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 of Islam, and in roles that are often different than those portrayed in the Jewish and Christian doctrines.

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

The Holy Qur'an


Surah 2:2 - “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."

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.”

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.”

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.”

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]

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]

Moses

Other Faiths

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.”

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.”

Other topics

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]

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 6:180 - “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.”

Christianity

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

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

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

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.”

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

Disbelievers

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
  • 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

Quotes about the Qur'an

  • 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 prophet died in the year 632 of our own approximate calendar. The first account of his life was set down a full hundred and twenty years later by Ibn Ishaq, whose original was lost and can only be consulted through its reworked form, authored by Ibn Hisham, who died in 834. Adding to this hearsay and obscurity, there is no agreed-upon account of how the Prophet's followers assembled the Koran, or of how his various sayings (some of them written down by secretaries) became codified. … It is said by some Muslim authorities that during the first caliphate of Abu Bakr, immediately after Muhammad's death, concern arose that his orally transmitted words might be forgotten. So many Muslim soldiers had been killed in battle that the number who had the Koran safely lodged in their memories had become alarmingly small. It was therefore decided to assemble every living witness, together with "pieces of paper, stones, palm leaves, shoulder-blades, ribs and bits of leather" on which sayings had been scribbled, and give them to Zaid ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet's former secretaries, for an authoritative collation. Once this had been done, the believers had something like an authorized version.
    If true, this would date the Koran to a time fairly close to Muhammad's own life. But we swiftly discover that there is no certainty or agreement about the truth of the story. Some say that it was Ali—the fourth and not the first caliph, and the founder of Shiism—who had the idea. Many others—the Sunni majority—assert that it was Caliph Uthman, who reigned from 644 to 656, who made the finalized decision. Told by one of his generals that soldiers from different provinces were fighting over discrepant accounts of the Koran, Uthman ordered Zaid ibn Thabit to bring together the various texts, unify them, and have them transcribed into one. When this task was complete, Uthman ordered standard copies to be sent to Kufa, Basra, Damascus, and elsewhere, with a master copy retained in Medina. Uthman thus played the canonical role that had been taken, in the standardization and purging and censorship of the Christian Bible, by Irenaeus and by Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria. The roll was called, and some texts were declared sacred and inerrant while others became "apocryphal." Outdoing Athanasius, Uthman ordered that all earlier and rival editions be destroyed.
    Even supposing this version of events to be correct, which would mean that no chance existed for scholars ever to determine or even dispute what really happened in Muhammad's time, Uthman's attempt to abolish disagreement was a vain one. The written Arabic language has two features that make it difficult for an outsider to learn: it uses dots to distinguish consonants like "b" and "t," and in its original form it had no sign or symbol for short vowels, which could be rendered by various dashes or comma-type marks. Vastly different readings even of Uthman's version were enabled by these variations. … To take one instance that can hardly be called negligible, the Arabic words written on the outside of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are different from any version that appears in the Koran.
  • The situation is even more shaky and deplorable when we come to the hadith, or that vast orally generated secondary literature which supposedly conveys the sayings and actions of Muhammad … As one might expect, the six authorized collections of hadith … were put together centuries after the events they purport to describe. One of the most famous of the six compilers, Bukhari, died 238 years after the death of Muhammad. Bukhari is deemed unusually reliable and honest by Muslims, and seems to have deserved his reputation in that, of the three hundred thousand attestations he accumulated in a lifetime devoted to the project, he ruled that two hundred thousand of them were entirely valueless and unsupported. Further exclusion of dubious traditions and questionable isnads reduced his grand total to ten thousand hadith. You are free to believe, if you so choose, that out of this formless mass of illiterate and half-remembered witnessing the pious Bukhari, more than two centuries later, managed to select only the pure and undefiled ones that would bear examination.

See also

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