Islam and Scripture: Difference between revisions

As a way of life, there is a lot more to the adherence of [[Islam]] than the Qur'an, and, initially, the Qur'an itself can be hard to comprehend. This page contains easy-to-read summaries of articles discussing Islam and the understanding of its various scriptures and texts.

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==Qur'an==

The ''Qur'ān'' (القرآن) is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind. They also consider the text in its original Arabic, to be the literal word of Allah<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|2|23}} Qur'ān, Chapter 2, Verses 23-24]</ref> revealed by the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) to Prophet Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years<ref>''Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths,'' Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, page 338,  I.B. Tauris Publishers, </ref><ref>[{{Quran-url-only|17|106}} Qur'an, Chapter 17, Verse 106]</ref>, and view the Qur'an as God's final revelation.<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|33|40}} Qur'an, Chapter 33, Verse 40]</ref><ref>Watton, Victor, (1993), ''A student's approach to world religions:Islam'', Hodder & Stoughton, pg 1. ISBN 0-340-58795-4</ref>

===Origins===

Taken from Ibn Warraq's book ''The Origins of the Koran, Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book'', this article discusses the following points:

===Organization===

Except for the first surah, Al-Fatiha, the Qur'an is organized by descending length of the sura. That is the longest sura is Sura 2 and the shortest is Sura 114. This organization prevents recovery of any chronology by a simple examination of the text. Muslims believe that the Qur'an was revealed in two phases: before and after the Hijrah from Mecca to Medina. Thus, the terms Meccan Surahs and Medinan Surahs arose.

===Revelational Circumstances===

When discussing the present-day commands of the Qur'an, you will often be told that many of the less agreeable verses apply only to its original revalational circumstance. Although the logic behind this is [[Uswa Hasana|fatally flawed]] (unless you accept that the Qur'an and Islam are both out-dated and no longer relevant to the modern world), it does make for some interesting reading. This in-depth article lists many revelational circumstances behind the Qur'anic verses, as recorded in the major Hadith collections.

===Corruption===

Muslims say the Qur'an has been perfectly preserved, but is this claim true? The textual integrity of scripture is an important topic in Muslim circles and will be brought up by both Islamic scholars and non-scholars alike. Muslims claim the text of the Qur'an today is identical to that received by Muhammad. However, there are many problems with this argument making it an untenable position.

These pages discuss a few of the more popular ones, and provides you with their correct meanings.

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*[[Corruption of Previous Scriptures (Qur'an 2:79)]]

*[[Dealing Justly with Wives and Orphans (Qur'an 4:3)|Dealing Justly with Wives & Orphans (Qur'an 4:3)]]

These pages discuss a few of the more popular ones in detail, and provides you with the correct translations.

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*[[The Meaning of Qatal|When Fight Means Murder (Qur'an various)]]  

===Statistical Analysis===

This page quotes statistical analyses of Muslim scriptures from various sources. A few examples of the statistics include:  

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