Who Authored the Qur?an??an Enquiry
Abul Kasem
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
?If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if
he
will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties??
Francis
Bacon (1561-1626) [Quoted from Milestones of Science by Curt Suplee,
p.70, published by the National Geographic Society, 2000]
[A note of caution: The content of this article may offend some
readers.
The writer will not take any responsibility in the event of any hurt
feeling or damage caused as a result of reading this essay. Read this
article at your own risk]
Abstract
This article delves into the very authorship of the Holy Qur?an. It
is a
new way of looking at the Holy Qur?an. An enquiry is made using
logical
reasoning and historical references on the authorship of the Qur?an.
Thus,
this methodology is totally opposed to the blind believers who accept
the
authenticity of the Qur?an unquestionably. By analysing, dissecting
and
carefully interpreting the contents of the Qur?an, the Ahadith
(Muhammad?s
traditions) and Sirah (Muhammad?s biography) the author has
identified
several parties who had undoubtedly contributed to the composition of
the
Qur?anic verses. It was not Allah who wrote the Qur?an; it was not
even
Muhammad alone who did this either. The Qur?an is not the creation of
a
single entity or a single person. There were several parties involved
in
the composition, scribing, amending, inserting and deleting the Qur?
anic
verses. The most important personalities involved in the creation of
the
Qur?an were: Imrul Qays, Zayd b. Amr, Hasan b. Thabit, Salman,
Bahira, ibn
Qumta, Waraqa and Ubayy b. Ka?b. Muhammad, himself, was involved in
the
make-up of a limited number of verses, but the most influential
person who
motivated Muhammad in the invention of Islam and the opus of the Qur?
an,
perhaps, was Zayd b. Amr who preached ?Hanifism?. Muhammad later
metamorphosed Zayd?s ?Hanifism? into Islam. Therefore, the assertion
that
Islam is not a new religion stands to be true. However, the important
finding is that the Qur?an is definitely not the words of Allah?it is
a
human-made scripture which Muhammad simply passed up as Allah?s final
words
to mankind. Another important aspect of this essay is that among the
ancient religions that the writers of the Qur?an incorporated in it,
perhaps the practices of the Sabeans is crucial. In fact, the rituals
of 5
prayers and the 30-day fasting were actually adapted from the
Sabeans.
Qur?an, thus, is a compilation of various religious books that
existed
during Muhammad?s time. Muhammad, not Allah, simply adopted, picked
and
chose from various sources and created the Qur?an. While many parties
contributed to the Qur?an, Muhammad became its chief editor?to say it
plainly.
Introduction
According to Islam, questioning the Allah?s absolute authorship of
the
Qur?an is a serious blasphemy. A Muslim may face death sentence
simply for
nurturing an atom of doubt on Qur?an?s authenticity. The Qur?an is
above
all. Nothing in the creation of Allah is holier than the Qur?an.
However,
human being what he is?ever inquisitive, I started doubting Qur?an?s
authorship in my very childhood--when I was introduced, in a very
formal
manner, in the recitation of this Holy Scripture. I spent a couple of
years
learning a few introductory verses under the tutorship of a local ?
Hujur?
(Islamic religion teacher) in the local mosque. This ?Hujur? taught
the
Qur?an to a group of us by holding a rattan cane that looked quite
shiny as
he used to oil the cane every day before his ?Murid? (learners)
arrived in
the mosque. I can vouch that none of us ever liked to study the Qur?
an?it
was the most boring and the most painful task during our childhood.
We
simply memorised like parrots certain verses without understanding a
single
word of them The ?Hujur? also did not know the meanings of those
verses.
Whenever we asked any question about any verse, the answer was a few
stroke
of the cane from the ?Hujur?. The learning of the recitation of the
Qur?an
became associated with corporeal punishment and child-abuse. Thus, we
developed a deep disdain towards the Qur?an recitation in particular
and a
profound dislike for the Mullahs in general.
Later, after I left my university and started working, a colleague of
mine
presented me with a copy of the English translation of the Holy Qur?
an by
Abdullah Yusuf Ali. My colleague was a diehard ?Tabligi? (a religious
proselytiser) and exhorted me to read the translation carefully. He
vouched
that after I had comprehended the true messages of the Holy Scripture
my
life would change for ever?for the better, he insisted. Reluctantly,
I
started to read the English translation?verse by verse, passage by
passage.
The more I read, the more I was shocked, disturbed, astonished,
bewildered
and resentful. I could not believe that a book which is supposed to
be the
handiwork of the most compassionate, the most merciful and the most
forgiving Allah could contain such a terrible amount of hate, terror,
call
for murder, war, vengeance and most of all a blanket plea for the
destruction of all those who do not subscribe to the Qur?anic view of
the
world. Of course, there were a few verses which were very poetical,
beautifully crafted, rhythmic and sometimes rich in spirituality.
Apart
from this handful ?good? stuff I found the vast part of the Qur?an
simply
nonsensical and not-to-talk about those incriminating verses
exhorting the
believers to murder and wage an unrelenting war (Jihad) against the
unbelievers. I started questioning: How could a merciful,
compassionate
Allah write such a cranky book that is nothing more than a trash and
an
ultimate manual of terror, war and plunder? When my ?Tabligi?
colleague
asked me how I was doing with the Qur?an, I simply told him I was
doing
fine?elaborating further that I discovered plenty of new astonishing
materials in the Qur?an which I never thought existed in it. He
simply
smiled and said, ?The Qur?an is wonderful, isn?t it?? I replied, ?You
said
it! It is mind-boggling, no doubt.?
A few years later, I started to ponder deeply on the Qur?an. Using
the
works of other translators, as well as the Tafsirs (explanation), I
read
and re-read the Holy Scripture--several times to make sure that what
they
translated and explained were absolutely correct. The more I learned
about
the Qur?an the more I became distraught, disturbed and angry?angry,
because
I felt that I was utterly let down by a killer religion which was
imposed
on me due to my birth. The stuff I read in the Qur?an jolted me so
much
that I wanted to find the answer to my perennial question??Who really
authored the Qur?an?? It took me a long time and many years of
painstaking
work to arrive at the answer to that question. This article tries to
answer
that question. I had been planning this essay for a long time, and
now,
after writing it I feel it is for you to ponder too??Who authored the
Qur?an??
During my investigative phase I found that a lot of people were
involved in
the compilation and the construction of the Qur?an. Unknown to the
vast
majority of Muslims, and buried deep inside the Qur?an, Ahadith and
Sirah
there are copious evidence to reject, out of hand, the contention
that the
Qur?an is the creation of Allah. Making Allah the author of the
Quran, I
think, is the prime lie perpetrated on mankind for more than a
millennium.
We can, with certainty, say that it was not even Muhammad alone who
authored the Qur?an. In fact, the major part of the Qur?an was either
composed by or inspired and written by a few other individuals. The
most
notable among them were:
* Imrul Qays?an ancient poet of Arabia who died a few decades
before
Muhammad?s birth
* Zayd b. Amr b. Naufal?an ?apostate? of his time who preached
and
propagated Hanifism
* Labid?another poet
* Hasan b. Thabit?the official poet of Muhammad
* Salman, the Persian?Muhammad?s confidante? and an advisor
* Bahira?a Nestoraian Christian monk of the Syrian church
* Jabr?a Christian neighbour of Muhammad
* Ibn Qumta?a Christian slave
* Khadijah?Muhammad?s first wife
* Waraqa?Khadijah?s cousin brother
* Ubay b. Ka?b?Muhammad?s secretary and a Qur?an scribe
* Muhammad himself
There were other parties involved too. They were:
* The Sabeans
* Aisha?Muhammad?s child bride
* Abdallah b. Salam b. al-Harith?a Jewish convert to Islam
* Mukhyariq?a Rabbi and another Jewish convert to Islam
Of course, my list of the possible authors of the Qur?an is not
exhaustive.
There may be many other parties involved that I might not have even
heard
of. But for a concise discussion the above list should be ample
enough, I
guess. In this article I have simply enumerated the contribution of
the
above sources in the authorship of the Qur?an.
Now, to understand the Qur?an and its writer/s, we must, first of
all,
recognise the background of Muhammad, purportedly the ultimate and
the best
creation of Allah.
The Pagan origin of Muhammad
It is an absolute fact that Muhammad was born of pagan parents. His
father,
Abdullah and his mother, Amina were both pagans and they used to
worship
many idols. His entire childhood (probably up to his teen) was spent
in
paganism. To day, many Muslims will find it extremely hard to digest
this
fact. However, Muhammad?s pagan origin is disclosed by Hisham ibn al-
Kalbi.
On page 17 of his important work, Kitab al-Asnam (The Book of Idols)
he
writes (Hisham al-Kalbi, Kitab al-Asnam, p.17):
?We have been told that the Apostle of God once mentioned al-Uzza
saying,
?I have offered a white sheep to al-?Uzza, while I was a follower of
the
religion of my people.? ?
In the statement above Muhammad clearly admits of his past adherence
to
paganism?the then religion of the Quraysh.
Initially, Muhammad even eulogized the important gods (or idols) of
the
pagans by agreeing with the Quraysh at some point that these gods
were the
intercessors of Allah. On the same page Hisham ibn al-Kalbi writes:
The Quraysh were wont to circumambulate the Ka?bah and say:
By Allat and al-?Uzza,
And Manah, the third idol besides.
Verily they are the most exalted females
Whose intercession is to be sought.
These were also called ?the Daughters of Allah,? and were supposed to
intercede before God. When the Apostle of God was sent god revealed
unto
him [concerning them] the following:
053.019 Have ye seen Lat. and 'Uzza,
053.020 And another, the third (goddess), Manat?
053.021 What! for you the male sex, and for Him, the female?
053.022 Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair!
053.023 These are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and
your
fathers,- for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They
follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even
though
there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord! (Hisham ibn
al-Kalbi, ?Kitab al-Asnam,? p.17)
When Muhammad became an adult and started to attend the annual
assembly of
poets at Ukaz he was deeply impressed and moved by the thoughts,
eloquence,
sentiment, freethinking and humanism expounded by many of those
poets. He
started questioning the idol-worshipping and began to start preaching
a new
concept of one God, the creator?similar to the concepts of the Jews
and the
Christians of that time. Nonetheless, he was confused as to which God
ought
to be his God. Allah, a deity (a moon god--that is why the symbols
placed
at every mosque is a crescent moon) at that time, was the supreme God
of
the pagans. Their only fault was that besides Allah, they also used
to
worship, as the intercessors for Allah, the supreme, other smaller
gods/goddesses like: Hubal, Al-lat, Al-Uzza, Manat?etc. So, in the
beginning of his new concept of an almighty creator, Allah was out of
his
mind. Besides, at that time the magicians, the soothsayers, the
sorcerers,
and even the Satan worshippers used to vow by Allah. Thus, Muhammad
found
it utterly despicable to make Allah his God (ilah).
During those pagan days the people of Yemen used to worship another
deity
whose name was Ar-Rahman. Muhammad, for a while, adopted the name Ar-
Rahman
for God in place of Allah. Coincidentally, Ar-Rahman was also the
Jewish
word Rahmana which was a name for God in the Talmudic period
(Noldeke: The
Koran, The Origins of the Koran, p.53). Muhammad cleverly thought
that by
using the word Ar-Rahman he ought to be able to attract to his new
?religion?, the Jews as well as some pagans. Please note that nowhere
in
the Qur?an Allah says that He has 99 additional names including Ar-
Rahman.
So, when he declared himself to be the messenger of Ar-Rahman, the
Meccans,
too, were at a loss and confused. The Meccans did not know of any Ar-
Rahman
other than the Ar-Rahman of al-Yamamah (some writers say Ar-Rahman
was at
Yemen ). To verify Muhammad?s claim the Quraysh sent a delegation to
Medina
Jews, as they thought that Ar-Rahman, truly, was a deity in Yemen or
Yamamah. Islamic Historian Ibn Sa?d (Ibn Sa?d, vol.i, pp.189-190)
writes:
?The Quraysh sent al-Nadr Ibn al-Harith Ibn ?Alaqamah and ?Uqbah Ibn
abi
Mu?ayt and others to the Jews of Yathrib and told them to ask them
(Jews)
about Muhammad. They came to Medinah and said to them (Jews): We have
come
to you because a great affair has taken place amidst us. There is a
humble
orphan who makes a big claim, considering himself to be the messenger
of
al-Rahman, while we do not know any al-Rahman except the Rahman of
al-Yamamah. They said: Give the description before us. They gave his
description, on which they asked them who were his followers. They
said:
The lowly people among us. Thereupon a scholar of from them laughed
and
said: he is the Prophet whose attributes we find mentioned in our
Scriptures; we also know that his people will be most inimical to
him.?
When we read, with an unbiased mind, the first 50 Suras (in
chronological
order) of the Qur?an we note Muhammad?s confusion regrading Lord,
Allah and
Ar-Rahman. He was quite unsure of whom he should consider as his God
(ilah). Here is a summary of the first 50 Suras regarding Muhammad?s
idea
of his God:
Only Lord?68, 92, 89, 94, 100, 108, 105, 114, 97, 106, 75 (11 Suras)
Ar-Rahman, Lord?55, 36 (2 Suras)
Ar-Rahman, Allah, Lord?20
Allah, Lord?96, 73, 74, 81, 87, 53, 85, 50, 38, 7, 72, 25, 35, 56,
26, 27,
28, 17 (18 Suras)
This demonstrates Muhammad?s initial vacillation, confusion and
ignorance
of the affairs of his God (ilah).
The Qur?an also confirms that when he started to preach his brand of
faith
Muhammad was lost, confused and did not know much of religion. Here
is what
the Qur?an writes:
Muhammad was lost, then Allah guided him?93:7
093.007 And He found thee wandering, and He gave thee guidance.
In the past Muhammad was heedless?12:3, 42:52
012.003 We do relate unto thee the most beautiful of stories, in
that We
reveal to thee this (portion of the) Qur'an: before this, thou too
was
among those who knew it not.
042.052 And thus have We, by Our Command, sent inspiration to thee:
thou
knewest not (before) what was Revelation, and what was Faith; but We
have
made the (Qur'an) a Light, wherewith We guide such of Our servants as
We
will; and verily thou dost guide (men) to the Straight Way ,-
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