I have seen these falsfications back in 1999 and actually got a copy of the so-called reasearch. Frankly, the author made numerous spurious assmuptions in this regard. For example, he claimed that Arabic was not a written language during the Prophet Muhammed. This is of course unture. Arabic was a written language well before the Prophet. The Mua'alaqat, the epics of Arabic poetry were posted inside the Ka'aba. Also, the "boycott document", whereby the idolaters of Quraish pledged to boycott the Muslims, was also posted in the Ka'aba until it was eaten out by roaches and other insects. Furthermore, it is historically well-known that the Hudaibiya treaty between the Muslims and Qurayesh was written down on. More to the point, it is well known that the Prophet wrote "letters" to the Kings of persia, Egypt and Byzantize empre , declaring his Prophethood.
Needless to say, the German author bases his entire theiss on the premises that Arabic was not a written language during the time of the Prophet, a premises that is absolutely and totally wrong. Thus that which is based on falsehood is false. Khalid Amayreh Hebron, Palestine. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abdul-Rahman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <islamcity@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 9:37 AM Subject: [IslamCity] Refutation of those who try to prove that the Qur'aan is not true > 5105: Refutation of those who try to prove that the Qur'aan is not true > > Question: > > Recently I became aware of some scholarly research done by German scholars > into the inerrancy of the Quran. Some of their findings are discussed in > an Atlantic Monthly article entitled "What Is the Koran?" written by Toby > Lester, published in the January 1999 issue of that magazine. The gist of > their research is that some very old fragments of the Quran found in a > mosque in Yemen show small but significant aberrations from the standard > Quranic texts. In some cases, the writing on the fragments found had been > washed off and different writing substituted overtop. The article tries to > cast doubt on the Muslim view of the Quran as being absolutely reliable, > and tries to show instead that it is a literary text that has been subject > to change just like any other. > > I am not a Muslim, but I know that the Quran holds a position in Islam > that is similar to that of Christ in Christianity. In view of this, sir, > how would you respond to these attempts to dispute the absolute inerrancy > of the Quran? In your view, do these scholars have false motives that > render their findings untrustworthy? Or do you have another response to > these attacks on the verity of the Quran?. > > > Answer: > > Praise be to Allaah. > > 1 _ The proof that the copies of the Holy Qur'aan that we have before us > is not just one or two pieces of evidence, rather it is proven by a vast > amount of evidence that no fair-minded person can study without becoming > convinced that it is exactly as Allaah revealed it to Muhammad (peace and > blessings of Allaah be upon him). > > 2 _ There have been generations coming one after another, reciting the > Book of Allaah and studying it, memorizing it and writing it down. They > have not omitted a single letter, and no one can change even the vowel > point of a single letter. Writing is just one means of preserving it; > basically it is preserved in their hearts. > > 3 _ The Qur'aan has not come down to us on its own, such that the > so-called alterations could be made. Rather the interpretation of its > verses, the meanings of its words, the reasons for its revelation, the > grammar of its words and the commentary on its rulings have all been > transmitted. When such care has been given to this Book, how could sinful > hands find a way to distort even one letter of it, or add a word, or take > away a verse? > > 4 _ The Qur'aan speaks of matters of the unseen, in the future, which > Allaah revealed to His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah > be upon him) to show him that they came from Allaah. If a human being > wants to write a book, he can describe an event or express a point of > view, but if any human being were to speak about matters of the unseen, in > this field he can only base that on speculation and lies. But the Qur'aan > told of the defeat of the Romans by the Persians, at the time when there > was no means of communication to inform the Arabs of this event. The same > verses also foretold that they (the Persians) would be defeated after a > certain number of years. If what the Qur'aan said was not accurate, then > the kaafirs would have had a great opportunity to criticize the Qur'aan. > > 5 _ If you read any verse of the Qur'aan, then you go to America or Asia > or the jungles of Africa, or to the deserts of Arabia or any place where > there are Muslims, you will find that all of them have the exact same > verse, memorized by heart or in their books; not a single letter of it > will have been altered. > > So what is the importance of this unknown manuscript in Yemen which we > have not seen, and in which some ignorant may have altered, in recent > times, one verse or one word? > > Does this argument carry any weight when properly researched and > discussed? Especially when the people claim to be fair-minded and > objective in their research. > > What would be their response if we went to one of their most trusted books > by a well-known author, a book of which there are many copies in the > world, all of them exactly the same, and we claimed that there was a copy > of this book in some country or other in which there was extra material > and alterations, and it was different from what is in their copies? Would > they pay any attention? > > Their answer would be the same as ours. > > 6 _ The manuscript copies which are in the Muslims' possession cannot be > proven to be authentic in this simplistic manner, for we have experts who > know the history of calligraphy and we have principles and guidelines > through which we may determine whether a manuscript is genuine, such as > the names and signatures of the people who heard it and read it. > > We do not think that these features are present in this so-called copy of > the Qur'aan in Yemen or in others. > > 7 _ We are happy to conclude our answer with this true story that happened > in Baghdad during the `Abbasid era, when a Jew wanted to find out how true > are the books attributed by their followers to God, namely the Torah among > the Jews, the Gospel among the Christians and the Qur'aan among the > Muslims. > > He went to the Torah and added and took away a few minor things that were > not very obvious, then he gave it to a scribe from among the Jews and > asked him to make copies of it. It did not take long before these copies > were placed in the synagogues of the Jews and were in circulation among > their major scholars. > > Then he went to the Gospel and added and took away a few things as he had > done with the Torah, and he gave it to their scribes and asked them to > make copies of it. It was not long before it was being read in their > churches and was in circulation among their scholars. > > Then he went to the Qur'aan and added and took away a few things as he had > done with the Torah and the Gospel. Then he gave it to a Muslim scribe to > make copies of it. > > When he went back to get his copy, the scribe threw it in his face and > told him that this was not the Qur'aan of the Muslims! > >>From this experiment the man came to know that the Qur'aan is the true >>Book of Allaah and that all other books were the works of human beings. > > If the scribes of the Muslims could tell that this copy had been tampered > with, then how could it go into circulation among the Muslim scholars > undetected? > > If the questioner wants to repeat this ancient experiment nowadays, all > she has to do is to do the same as that Jewish man did, who later became > Muslim; she can add and take away things from these three books and see > what happens as a result. > > But we do not tell her to show her copy of the Qur'aan to a scribe, rather > we tell her to show it to Muslim children, and they will tell her where > the mistakes are in her copy! > > Some Muslim states have printed Mus-hafs in which there were mistakes, and > young children found them before the grown-ups did! > > And Allaah is the Guide to the Straight Path. > > Click, or cut and paste this url in your browser: > http://www.islammuslims.com/islam-qa/Volume_3/Chapter_1.htm#_RWTOC-12 for > source of material and 1000s of other Questions and Answers > ----------------------------------------------------- > Whether you're a Muslim, a Muslim Revert, or a non-Muslim > seeking info about Islam and Muslims, we have auhentic > books, ebooks, audios, videos, and much more for you at > http://www.islammuslims.com > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > *************************************************************************** > {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with > wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair > preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord > knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of > those who are guided.} > (Holy Quran-16:125) > > {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah > (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His > Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does > righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) > > The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if > Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types > of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] > > The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, > "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the > one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened > at all." > [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not > in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or > approved otherwise. > > If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a > daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to > change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! 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