'AL-QUR'AN - Radical Truth

1 'AL-QUR'AN, , ,S.,.'- ~'lInnurn' " ~rArrBor18 LAM,' '1' ,' EIB4 YBOlfIBL!K,'IISLA. ,-' !Ui:N'l'O.'l'BJIQOB'!It ~D milUC&IQUON8 OPTB:8 Qua'!II,0tTHECHRISTIANLITERATURESOCIETYL ONDON, ,VEPI:BY,IU,D~81909 PREFACEINtheIndianInterpreterofJuly,1909 ,aninter-estingarticleontheQur'an,writte nfromtheorthodoxMtUllimstandpoint,wascon tributedbyMunshiMal; ,oftheFergussonCollege, , ,ofMadras,wasinvitedtowriteanotherarticl eforthenextnumberoftheMagazine(October,1 909) ,October18, 'ANI,TheKoran,translatedfromtheArabiobyJ , ,lI,A"London,1909,i,TheIlistor~alDevelop mentoftheQUT'dn'byCanonSell, ,ThirdEdition, , 'u'l-Islam,Lahore, ~awi,IIVols., , ,Leipsic,1848."faErepublicationofRodwell 'sEnglishtransla-tionoftheQur' ;butre-arrangesthewholeinchronologi-calo rder,sofarasthatcannowbeascertained,'The remaybedifferencesofopinionamongstOrient alscholarsandMuslimcommentatorsastotheex actpositionofsomeBuras,orofsomeverses,bu tRodwell'sarrangementisapproxi-matelyina ccordancewiththatofJalalu'd-dlnas-SylWan dofNoldeke,andmaybeacceptedasasuccessful attempttogivetheEnglishreaderagoodideaof thegradualgrowthofthebookandofthedevelop mentintheProphet' 'ANAL-QUR'A:!

2 '19'l'heorthodoxviewisthattheQur' :-Itisaglorious(,Jur' 'l-Burtij(luxv) ~thehonourableQur'an, 'lT:lotu'l-Waqi'a(lvi) (theQur'sn) 't-Tln(xcv) ;thofaithfulSpirit(RtU;lU'I-Amln) 'sh-Shu'ant'(xxvi) , :-Say,whosoistheenomyofGabrielforheitisw hobyGod'sIOlLvehathcausedthoQur', 'I-Baqara(ii) ' ~eredundertheformofideas;buttheQur'anisf arsuperiortothemall, ;-Movenotthytongueinhastetofollowandmast ertherevelation,Forwewillseetothecollect ingandrecitalofit;Butwhenwehaverecitodit ,thonfollowthoutherecital;Andverilyitsha llheourstomakeitcleartothee,-Suratu' (Inv) , reciteitandrepeatittillitremainsinthymem ory.'Theexternalmodeinwhichitcameisrefer redtointheverse:-Wehavesentdownto'theean ArabicQur' (xx) : 'fheQur' ,versebyverse,asitwasneeded,whetherforma ni-festingthedoctrineoftheUnityofGod,orf orexpoundingtheobligationstowhichlllenou ghttosubmitinthisworld.)

3 'ITherevelation,then, ,thelatterwa1).LImamGhazullthusdefinesth em:(1) Therecipientreceivesinformationfromanunk nownsourceand ,d'ibnK,baldun(deSlane'stranslation) , 'A'NAL-QUR'AN11thebreathingintotheheart( nafakhaffqalb).Thisistheinspirationofl; (2)TherecipientknowsthemediuJUbywhichher eceivesinformation, , :11andistheinspirationofpro-phets.'1 TherevelationoftheQur' ~ :1imethod, ,itsborrowingfromothersources, ,asweshallsec, ' , < 'Z-tAriJin,\' , ' ~hisviewfullyitwouldbenecessarytoenterup onanexplanationofthedivineattributes,esp eciallyoftheoneknownas'kalam" 'll;1ya''uhimu'd-dfn'says:'Hedothspe:~ ,promiseandthreatenbyaneternalancientwor d(kallim) 'an,indeedisread withtongues,writteninbooksandiskeptinhea rts,yet,assuhsistingintheessenceofGod,it dothnotbecomeliabletoseparationanddivisi onwhilstitistransfer-redintotheheartsand ontopaper.

4 '1An-Nasaff,wholivedintheearlypartofthes ixthcenturyoftheHijrasays:'Hewhosemajest yismajesticspeakswithaword(kalam). 'anistheuncreatedwordofGod."Manyotherpas sagesfromMuslimdivinesofrecognizedauthor itymightbequotedonthesubject, \lookupontheQur'snastheeternalwordinhere ntinGod'sessence.'TheMu'tazilas, ~IacdonaId'8 MUllil1~Theology, ,for8translationofthesoctionoft~eIbya',w hichdealRwiththi8subject. ,J6J.'''',JIll'f" '~,,-llSl'I:!AL-QUU'ANAL-QUR'AN13theolog y,tookupanuncompromisingpositionagainstt hiscrudenotionofthecternalnatureoftheQur 'an.'l'heirohjectionsmaybethussummarized ;I(1)TheQur' ,itdescended,isread,isheardandiswritten, (2)Evcntsaredescribedinthepasttense,buti ftheQlIr'anhadbeeneternalthefuturetensew ouldhavebeenuse<1,(3)TheQur"lncontainscO lllHlandsandprohibitions;ifitwereeternal ,whowerecommandedandwhowereadmonished'I( 4)Ifithasexisted{romalleternity,itmustex isttoeternity,andsoeveninthelast d:Lyandinthenextworldmenwillbeundertheob ligationofperformingthesamereligiousduti esastheydonow, :Lrdpreceptsofthelaw.}

5 (5)IftheQlIr'liniseternal,thenthere:u'et woeternals,(G) \'Iu'tazilasbytheirassertingthesubjectiv enatureoftheinspirationoftheQur'anbrough titwithinreachofcriticism,Theybelievedth ebooktobearevelationofGod'swill, ,secSharh-i-IAqtl'id-Jdm~( ), 'anandcouldlookuponthingswhichneededchan georremovalaspartofthehumanelement, ' ,ThiscriticalattitudetowardstheQur'snrai sedupagreatconflict,andperhapsitmaybepla cedtothecreditoftheconsistencyofthebelie fheldbytheorthodoxthat,althoughtheKhalfC aal-Ma'munintheyearA,H,212issuedafatvsde claringallwhobelievedintheeternityoftheQ ur'sntobeheretics, ' 'oftheiropinions,SotheMu' beenarevivalofMu' !r'Allhasopenlydeclaredthathebelongstoth isschoolofthought,'andtheaccomplishedand learnedwriter,thelateCheragh'All$al;1ib, byhisdeclaredviewsoninspiration,clearlyr angedhimselfonthesameside,Hesays:'Aproph etisneitherimmaculatenorinfallible,Aprop hetfeelsthathismindIS, ~o",nud< , ' ' , ,Thisilluminationofthemind,oreffectofthe nivineinfluence,differsintheprophetaccor d-ingtothecapacityoftherecipient,oraccor dingtothecircumstances-religiousandmoral -inwhichheisplaced.

6 ' ' ' ,I1ndhantheypossessedthecriticalskilland theknowledgerequisiteforaninvesti-gation ofitsorigins,theywouldhavefoundapowerful argumentinsupportoftheirview,Adistinguis hedmodernMu'tazilaadmitsthatthe(Jur'snow essomething' :'theHourisarecreaturesofZoroastrianorig in;soisparadise;whilsthellintheseverityo fitspunishmentisTalmudic.'Hespeaksalsoof the eclecticfaithofMol:Jammed.' ItisnowgenerallyacceptedbyallOrientalsch olarswhohavemadeacriticalinvestigationof thesourcesoftheQur'anthattheProphetderiv edmuchofhismaterialfromthcmanylegendsofh istimeandcountry,namely,'Jewish1 Cnli< <mofJiMd, , ,. '1 ' (XXV) > 'n-Nu~l(xvi) ,however,tbeviewsofthePro-phet' ,thecefore, ' ,theMuslimParadisewithitsI:Iurls,theligh tofMul;llunmad(nur-i-MuJ:1ammad)anda~-f? :-PraisehetoHimwhocarriedHisservantbynig htfrom'hesacredtempletothetemplethatismo reremote,whosoprecinctllwehave.)

7 Blessed, '11(xvii) '.Kora", 'an<lbi'u' <ldm, Hisloru, 'dn(3rdcd,),pp.' , ~ ,seeTisdall'. 'U"dn, , ,butSirSyedAl;1madandotherintelligentl\ ,recordedinthebookof'ArtaVirM',theprobab ledateofwhichisabout400yearsbeforeMul; ;ll~mmad'sascensionareclose.'Inthel\ : !TheoriginoftheProphet' ' , 'lightofMul; 'iswellknown, ' ~u' ,(t'f\ndthollaud(Jtu'l A~bdb.' 'enintheYandbi'u'l ]aldm, '2' ,however,mentionedIIItheQm' ,unlessthewords;-FainwouldtheyputoutGod' 't-Tauba(ix) 'Khulasatu't-Tafislr' ;1madareper-manentandCllonnotbeabolished ;butareferencetothenur-i-MuJ:1ammadisdou btful.'l'heexist-enceofthelight,however, ,Min'ikhirad'andthe'Khashlta'asimilarac- countisgivenofthelightofJamshid'whichpas sedon'fromgenerationtogeneration, ,orthebridgeoverhell,isreferredtointhefo llowingverses;-Ifwepleased,wewouldsurely putouttheiroyes;yoteventhenwouldth'eyspo edonwithrivalryintheirpath(l;)irl1t).)

8 -StlratuYtLBCn(xxxvi) \'oMorodbesideGod,Qnd!(uidethemtotheroad (Sirat) 's Blill"at(xxxvii) 'ANAL-QUR'AN1018AL-QUR'ANAL-QUU'AN19$ 'anbutal- :'itisabridgestretchedoverthebackofhell, tiharperthanasword, ;butthefeetofbelieversstandfirmuponitbyt hegraceofGod,andsotheypassintotheabiding abode.'ITheword$ 'Dln-kart'wherethespeakersaysthatheworsh ipstheLordinorderthatheDlaynotarriveatth eseverepunishmentofhell,butmaycrossoverC hinvatandmayattaintotheblessedabode. ~houghMul:iammadspeaksoftheGospel(InJl\) asabookofdivineauthority, ,andsaysthattheQllr'anwaesentdown' '[Suratu'I-IVU'ida(v)52J;yetheseemstohav ehadverylittleacquaintancewiththeJcwi~ 'WhathehasstatedabouttheChristianandJewi shreligionisgatheredmainlyfromthemythica lstoriesintheApocryphalJIhyc1''ul,imtt'd -di,,,,qllo~dinMacdonald' ,Yandbi'u'/-l31dm, '3 Rodwell',Koran, 'Thus,thelegendoftheInmatesoftheCaveisgi veninSumtu'I-Kahf(xviii) ( )givessomeaccountofthemythwhichwasknowna sthestoryofthe'SevenSleepers' ;iammadforacceptingthisstorythantothecre dulousChristianswhogavecredencetoit;buti tisditliculttobelievethatitwaswrittenfro malleternityonthepreserved'rabIe, ,thoughevenhereMul;1ammadwasnotaccurate, forhecon-fusesherwithMiriam, :-oMary, (xix) ' 'l'al;lfim(Ixvi)32.)]

9 ' 'MosesandAaronandMiriamtheirsister.'( ).TheaccountofthebirthofMaryisgiveninSur atuAli'Imran(iii) ('scommentsonthisaretakenfromthE.''Prote vangeliumJacobi1 TheB:\hylooianGcmarawa.~ ;thoJeru~lem(; ::10:ondthe~ ~ ".20AL-QUH'AI\'AL-QUlt'AN21 Minoris'.1 Inversethirty- 'istoen-forcethefactofitsbeingarevelatio n';butthatseemsunnecessaryforthemythwasw ellknown,Inthe'Protevangelium'alre(Ldyre ferredtoweread:'He( )glwetoeachonehisrodandadovecameforthfro llltherod(LndflewupuponJoseph' ;receiveheruntothysclftoguard."'.InSllmt ul\L11'yall1(xix)16-35wefindanILC-counto fthebirthof, :thoutthepalmtreeisfoundintheApocryphalw orks,the' ',(Lndthe'Inf,LneyoftheSaviour'.3 ThelegendsaboutChristspeakingtomeninthec radle[SuratuAli'Imran(iii) )and[SllratuMaryam(xix) )comefromaCopticsourcethroughthe'Injflu' t-Tufuliyah'.)))]]

10 MarytheCoptwasaf,wouriteconcubineofthePr ophet( !tomath;aBai,4mvialla, ,159. ,Seetheori~illalGreekinYalltl6i'u' , ,Ibid., {Stlratu'l-Ma'ida(v)109-110) ,whichgivesthenamekJthethirdSllra( ' ), ,infavourofwhl~hviewitmaybeurgedths.~the wordusedIntheQur'anicaccountforApostlesi sl:Iawariyun, , ~~ ,thenitseemstobea.~onfusedmixtureoftheac countsoftheLord'sSupper( )lIondofPeter'svisions(Actsx.\l 'n-Nisa'(iv)156itissaidofthe-crucifixion ofChristthat:-TheyslewhimDotandtheycruci fiedhimnot,huttheyhadonlyhislikeness.'l' houghtheQur'tinaswehaveseen( )wasthesafegU(LrdofpreviousScripturesith ereadoptsthe viewofagnosticheretic,Basi lidesandofManesorManl.'TheProphetwasenti :elyignorantofthetrueChristiandoctrineof ISeeY(Jndbi'u / , , 'tln, ,3 Rodwell'sKaran, ,Dote~;BeoYanAbi1u' ,lc1m, , ~~~m~ , ~igan~ ,IVa"hotMohammedau", ~n.)))}