Page 43 - World Religions I - Islam

them enmity and hatred to the day of resurrection; and Allah will inform them of what they did." -Al-
Ma'idah (The Table Spread) 5:13-14
o "There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (As they read) you would think
it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say, 'That is from Allah,' but it is not from Allah:
It is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it!" - Al-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:78
• The Qur'an, by God's perfect wisdom and power, restores and clarifies the truth as it was originally given to Moses
(in the Tawrat) and Jesus (in the Injil).
o "O people of the Book [Jews and Christians]! There hath come to you our Messenger, revealing to you
much that ye used to hide in the Book, and passing over much (that is now unnecessary). There hath
come to you from Allah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book..." - Al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread) 5:15
• To seek to delve behind the revealed words of the Qur'an is to disbelieve in their divine source and so to dishonor
Allah.
• Translations of the Qur'an are to be regarded with suspicion. The true words are impossible to fully understand
except in their Arabic original.

The Qur'an's Self-Proclaimed Exalted Status
• Since Muhammad was opposed early on by many who claimed his revelations were counterfeit, a number of his
messages are defensive in nature, claiming exalted, divine status.
o "If the whole of mankind and jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could
not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support." - Al-Isra'' (The Night
Journey) 17:88
o "And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a
surah like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (if there are any) besides Allah, if your doubts are
true." - Al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:23
o "Or do they say, 'He forged it'? Bring then a surah like unto it, and call to your aid anyone you can besides
Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!" - Yunus (Jonah) 10:38

And the Word Became...Paper?
During his lifetime Muhammad made no preparation for the compilation of his revelations. The work of collecting the
revelations fell to Muhammad's compatriots after his death. Verses were continually subject to abrogation, so compiling
the revelations before Muhammad's death would be foolish. Soon after Muhammad's death, a handful of Arabian tribes
declared their independence from the Islamic community. Abu Bakr, Muhammad's successor, sent an army to subjugate
them in what became known as the Battle of Yamama.
• During the Battle of Yamama (AD 632/11 AH), a significant number of Muhammad's companions who knew large
portions of his recitations were killed.
o Those who knew the Qur'an by heart were known as qurra'.
o Of significance of those who were killed was Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa, whom Muhammad
had named as one of the four best reciters of the Qur'an.4
• Realizing that the revelations of Muhammad might die out with the demise of the first generation of converts,
Umar petitioned Abu Bakr, Muhammad's successor, to gather the existing revelations/ recitations into a single
collection.
o Abu Bakr had to be persuaded to compile the revelations, as he was initially unwilling to do what
Muhammad himself had never sought to do. He eventually relented after much pressure by Umar.5
• Abu Bakr commissioned Muhammad's secretary, Zaid ibn Thabit, one well known as having memorized the bulk of
the revelations, to collect the sayings.6 The accounts of the initial collection of recitations can be found in Al-
Bukhari 6:60:201; 6:61:509; 9:89:301.
o Zaid ibn Thabit initially rejected the commission on the same grounds as Abu Bakr: Muhammad himself
had never sought to collection the revelations into a single text.

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