Final Word:

The Quran?

  General James Green

T O MUSLIMS, the Quran is the final, unique, and fully authentic, manifestation of the Word of God addressed to all humankind, through their prophet, Muhammad. Surah 42:52 reads, “And thus have we inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of our command.” In the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation and commentary, we read, “And thus have We, by Our command, sent inspiration to thee: Thou knowest not (before) what was revelation, and what was faith; but We have made the (Quran) a light, wherewith We guide such of Our servants as We will; and verily thou dost guide (men) to the straightway.” Ali states that: “The Quran, and the inspired prophet who proclaimed it, are here identified. They were a guide to men, showing the straight way.”

The Holy Bible

ON THE OTHER HAND, we Christians totally DENY this, for we believe what Hebrews 1:1, 2 says: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds....” We read of no other prophets that were to come after Jesus the Christ, that were to be higher—NONE!

     Jesus Himself did speak of a comforter that was to come after Him, the Holy Spirit (Ghost) (read Acts 1:4, 5, 8). The “promise of the Father” was the baptism in the Holy Ghost (Joel 2:28, 29; Matt. 3:11). John 14:16 describes the Comforter (v. 16) and v. 17 calls Him “The Spirit of Truth.” This same Holy Spirit was to dwell with the Christian believer and “BE IN YOU” (v. 17). This same Holy Spirit was to teach us all things; no mention of a future Arab prophet, or a Quran—NONE!

     Surely, if God intended for a future prophet to lead and guide all men into Truth—as Muslims teach—right here in John 14 would have been the perfect place to mention it.

     Jesus, the first and last, stated in Jn. 14:6 that HE, not a future prophet, was “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Don’t ever let the Muslims convince you that Jesus was speaking of Muhammad as the “comforter.” Pray tell me how Islam’s prophet could “be in you” (v. 17)? Get serious here! I know what the Muslims teach—that Muhammad is the “parakletos” (Gk=”comforter”).

     This word is applied to the Lord Jesus in 1 John 2:1 also: “...And if any man sin, we have an ADVOCATE with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Both Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, distinct, yet one! The word “advocate” means “parakletos” in Greek; in 1 Jn. the context means that Jesus intercedes before God on our behalf, on the basis of HIS atoning death, our repentance of sin / sins, and our faith in Him (see also Rom. 8:34 and Heb. 7:25).

Jesus: The Word

CHRISTIANS DON’T NEED Muhammad. Jesus Christ is our High Priest, Prophet, Savior, Healer, Baptizer, and Advocate.

     Christians don’t need the Quran, for Jesus is our Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was (and IS!) God.” Jesus was, and is, the “Word” (Gk. “logos”). Our Scriptures declare that Jesus Christ is the manifestation of power and manifold wisdom of God (see 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 3:10, 11; Col. 2:2, 3). Not only this, Muhammad was a mere man—a SINNER!!—Jesus is our perfect revelation of the nature and person of God the Father (see Jn. 1:3-5, 14, 18; Col. 2:9).

People of the Book

ISLAM RECOGNIZES a privileged status for both Jews and Christians by calling them “people of Scripture (book).” Sadly, they call for war against them also. This is found in their Quran.

     For Muslims, the Word is the Quran itself, “...a revelation of the Lord of the worlds...in plain Arabic speech” (Surah 26:192, 195).

     The Muslims believe that the Word of God “became perfect Scripture”, namely the Quran—whereas Christians believe that the Word of God “became perfect flesh”—as a perfect man in the person of Jesus Christ.

     Ask a Muslim if Muhammad was a “perfect” man. Ask them if Jesus (Isa) is sinless. Now tell me this: why do Muslims choose a sinner like Muhammad over a SINLESS MAN like Jesus? DOES THIS MAKE SENSE TO YOU? Not to me.

     John 1:17 tells us that “...grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Grace is the power, presence, and blessing of God experienced by those who receive Christ—something Muslims know nothing about; but it is available to them, now! Salvation does not come by any effort (works) (EXCEPT REPENTANCE), but by the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives to re-birth our dead spirits and re-create us after Christ’s image.

Scriptures Falsified?

IT IS IRONIC that Muslims believe the Christian’s Bible: “We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender” (Surah 29:46). Here, we find Muslims believing in the revealed Word of God (our Bible), and at the same time, believing in their Quran as well.

     But on the other hand, we read in Surah 4:46 this: “Some of those who are Jews change words from their context.” We also find in Surah 5:13 “...forget a part of that whereof they were admonished.” The hearers of the Quran are asked, “Have you any hope that they will be true to you when a party of them used to listen to the Word of Allah, then used to change it after they had understood it, knowingly?” (Surah 2:75).

Please Prove To Me!

SINCE MUSLIMS CLAIM THAT OUR BIBLES HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED, I CHALLENGE ANY AND ALL OF THEIR CAMP TO PRODUCE THE ORIGINAL, I.E. WITHOUT ERROR. Surely you Muslims must have a copy of our Scriptures—don’t you?

     When I first went to Africa and Asia back in the early 1980s, I had this accusation thrown at me: “Your Bible is corrupted!.” Well, over the last 25 years now, I have done my own research into your Quran and Hadiths, and found THEM to be with plenty of error.

The Bible

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES were written by a wide variety of authors, over a period of more than 1,200 years; not written as a single work, but a collection of sacred books.

     The final cannon of the N.T. was not set until the late third century. Later, the sacred texts had to be copied and recopied, and great care had to be taken to establish texts that were free from scribal errors (not always done), and to translate those texts into languages that others could read. NO doubt this did cause some MINOR ERRORS, BUT NOTHING LIKE WHAT THE MUSLIMS CLAIM.

     I’m not going to give a lengthy history lesson here, for I am not really qualified. There are plenty of good books available that have already done this.

From the First Scriptures to the Days of Muhammad.

ONE MIGHT WANT to compare the DEAD SEA SCROLLS (written before Christ) to say, 1,000 years after His death—they HAVE NEVER BEEN CHANGED AT ALL! This period would include the Surahs I’ve quoted from the Quran. The O.T. Scriptures have remained the same. Starting with 250-0 B.C., when Semitic people from Arabia first appeared in the Fertile Crescent, to the “deification” of 7th century Arabian culture, much transpired; from oral word of mouth, to words written on scrolls; records have been kept: parchment, papyrus, and finally, paper.

It is Really Silly!

TO DENY that Islam found their source in earthly pre-Islamic custom, culture, and religion, is really silly. Yet, Muslims claim that their religion / culture that Muhammad brought, was a faith brought down from Heaven, without human origin. SORRY, I DON’T BUY THIS.

     Archaeological and linguistic work proves that Muhammad constructed “his” cultish religion and the Quran from pre-existing material in Arabian culture.

Islam?

Dr. M. BROVMANN, Middle East scholar, has documented the background of early Islam and found out that “Islam” originally meant, “a secular concept, denoting a sublime virtue in the eyes of the primitive Arab; defiance of death, heroism; to die in battle” (“The Spiritual Background of Early Islam” by M. Brovmann, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1972).

     So, “Islam” did not mean “submission” originally—as they all claim. IT REFERRED TO A STRONG CHARACTER, THAT OF A DESERT WARRIOR.

     Dr. Jane Smith of Harvard University tells us that the word “Islam” slowly developed into the current meaning of “submission” (“An Historical and Semitic Study of the Term Islam As Seen In A Sequence of Quran Commentaries,” by Jane Smith, Univ. of Montana Press, for Harvard Univ. Dissertations, 1970). Now, who changed what, dear Muslims?

     It is interesting to note that when Western scholars ask, “Why does the Quran NEVER explain its ideas or rites? Why does it NEVER define the words Allah, Islam, Mecca, Kaaba, jinn, and pilgrimage?” Well, it proves what we all know:’‘ Islam was not a heavenly religion / culture, but an EARTHLY ONE—Muslims already were familiar with pre-Islamic culture, religious life, and customs. So, Islam is a man’s invention, not God’s.

Whereas—

WHEREAS THE BIBLE is of heavenly origin. A good book to get hold of is, “The Bible Throughout The Ages,” an illustrated book about the history of the Bible. It shows many fascinating pictures of fragments thousands of years old.

     One might wonder what Bible did Muhammad possess that he “supposedly” compared one against another? It surely was not a King James!

Birth of Muhammad

IN A.D. 570 Muhammad was born in Mecca of the Quraysh tribe. As he grew, he experienced religious “visitations.” It is said at the age of 40, as a result of one of these “visitations,” he claimed that Allah had called him to be a prophet and an apostle. It is pointed out by scholars that there was NO TRADITION of being A “PROPHET” OR “APOSTLE” in the religion of Arabia.

Conflicting Versions

WE CHRISTIANS can read of only one version of how our Lord received His Heavenly Call, NOT 4—AS THAT OF MUHAMMAD. Which, dear Muslims, do we believe? FIRST, we are told that Allah personally appeared to the prophet (see Surah 53:2-18; 81:19-24). These two Surahs tells us that Allah, in the form of a man, appeared. In Surah 16:102 and 26:192-194, we read where the call was issued by the Holy Spirit. We’re not told who this “Holy Spirit” is, but it was not the same as the “man” in the first version. THEN, we are told in Surah 15:8 that “angels” called Muhammad to his prophet and apostleship. It has been pointed out by scholars that this THIRD VERSION WAS LATER AMENDED in Surah 2:97, making it to be the angel Gabriel who called him. This of course is the most popular.

     When we read of the account of Jesus Christ, we find only one version, NOT 4! “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him; And lo, a voice from heaven saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I (God) am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16, 17). (See also Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21, 22 and John 1:31-34.) All 4 accounts written in our Bibles give the same account, only worded differently.

The Test

NOW, MY DEAR Muslim friends, let us compare which book is true: the Holy Bible or your Quran.

     The bibliographical test is an examination of the textual transmission by which documents read us. Since we do not have the “original” texts, we can study the “originals” off the “original.” Some of the best Christian scholars in the world point out to us that on the basis of manuscripts alone, the works that made up the Christian’s N.T., were the most frequently copied and widely circulated books of antiquity.

Manuscript Evidence

IT IS A WELL KNOWN FACT that there are more than 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the N.T. If we add 10,000 Latin Vulgate manuscripts and at least 9,300 other early versions, we have more than 24,000 manuscripts copies of portions of the N.T. in existence.

     The books of the N.T. were written in the latter part of the first century. The Quran didn’t come into existence until centuries later. The earliest extant manuscripts are of the 4th century.

     The O.T. manuscripts were completed around 400 B.C. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars have been able to compare manuscripts with them and found no changes made, not so with the Quran!

     Now if Muhammad claimed “corruption” in the Bible 100 years ago, I might agree—for some of our new versions certainly have been added to and taken away from...changed to fit into the Politically Correct era of time.

Faith of Islam

WITH THE ARAB CONQUEST of Jerusalem—by the sword! in 638, Palestine and its pilgrimage sites fell into the hands of Muslims. The conquerors, who traced their ancestry to Abraham, venerated many of the Christian and Jewish sites in the Holy land. But it was, and is, Mecca in Saudi Arabia that Muhammad “supposedly” received his Islamic call (which account? 1, 2, 3, or 4?). The Islamic party line tells us that it was Gabriel (#4). So, over the next 22 years, Muhammad spoke, and his words eventually were compiled, recorded, and organized into the 114 chapters (Surahs) of the Islamic Scriptures, known as the Quran.

Quran: The True Book?

MUSLIMS CLAIM the Quran to be the “unaltered” Word of God—since they claim the Holy Bible to be corrupted. What Bible did Muhammad have in his day? There were many versions, in different languages.

     Like Bible scholars point out to us, the Holy Bible was carefully preserved—from the earliest Hebrew and Aramaic versions of the O.T., to the translations of the N.T. from Greek, into the Latin and the Vernacular languages of Europe; Martin Luther’s modern language rendering became the central text of the Protestant Reformation, the King James Version came later.

     According to the Quran (Surah 10:64), “No changes can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme triumph.” So, since the Holy Bible has been “corrupted” (according to Islam!), Muhammad went about making a NEW BOOK, or at least getting the contents for this replacement for the Holy Bible. One problem! there are many changes in the Quran itself!!

Check This Out...

“WE HAVE, without a doubt, sent down the Message; and we will assuredly guard it from corruption” (Surah 15:9).

     Yusuf Ali comments on this Surah. The Words of Allah were to be guarded against “corruption.” Ali praises the purity of the Quran over the centuries because it has been guarded against “corruption.” Really? He states that “All corruption, inventions, and accretions pass away, but God’s pure and holy Truth will never suffer eclipse even though the whole world mocked at it and were bent on destroying it.”

     One wonders why THE QURAN CLAIMS, on the other hand that THE TORAH, PSALMS, AND GOSPELS WERE GIVEN BY ALLAH, then they must, according to Surah 15:9, have still been intact in Muhammad’s day.

New Light

ACCORDINGLY, RESEARCHERS with a variety of academic and theological interests are proposing controversial theories about the Quran and Islamic history. Those experts are working to reinterpret Islam for the modern world.

     In 1972, during the restoration of the Great Mosque of Sana’a, in Yemen, laborers working in a loft ran across a grave site (not normally in lofts). But this was no ordinary human grave site; it was that of old parchment and paper documents—damaged books in the Arabic texts. All were gathered up and placed in sacks and long forgotten—UNTIL Qadhi Isma’il al-Akwa’, who was then president of the Yemeni Antiquities Authority (YAA).

     In 1979, al-Akwa’ turned these sacks of documents over to a visiting German scholar, who later started a project to examine this “paper grave.” What they were found to be was tens of thousands of fragments from close to a THOUSAND DIFFERENT PARCHMENT CODICES OF THE QURAN.

     I am sure, by now, what our readers have guessed is: the discovery was discarded Qurans, removed from circulation. Scholars agreed that the “grave” both preserved the sanctity of the texts, and ensured that only complete and unblemished editions of the Quranic texts could be read.

     The findings date back to the 7th and 8th centuries A.D.. What could be better? Here we have the FRAGMENTS OF THE OLDEST QURANS IN EXISTENCE. But to the Muslim dismay, these fragments reveal SMALL BUT INTRIGUING ABERRATIONS from the standard Quranic text.

     The textual aberrations are at odds with the orthodox Muslim beliefs. This comes as no surprise to me, for I do not know, and never did believe, that the Quran remains unaltered—here is proof!

     Gerd-R. Puin, a specialist in Arabic calligraphy and Quranic paleography, found many things that today’s Quran does not have. Puin believed that the early Quranic texts and the altered texts were not the same; THE LATER WERE AN “EVOLVING” TEXT, rather than the Word of God—as first revealed (?) in its entirety to Muhammad. Should we be surprised?

     To date, it is said that only 2 scholars have been granted extensive access to the Yemeni fragments. Why? The Muslims are AFRAID of what will be said and done if the TRUTH is revealed.

     If you need to know more about this, write us.

Christ vs. the Quran

CHRIST WAS THE WORD OF GOD IN FLESH, the Quran is the Word of God (distorted) in text. We don’t find in the Holy Bible any mention of abrogation, but in the Quran, we do. Why the changing? Because, the Quran covers up lies and half-truths. There are no “original” manuscripts written by Muhammad, for he never wrote down his version or words in a manuscript; he did not write or prepare the final manuscript for the Quran. It was his followers who did this (one might want to read the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, especially page 231).

Quran! Perfect Arabic?

REALLY NOW! This claim is found in Surah 12:2; 13:37; 41:41, 44. But, this is not true of course. Muslims also claim that because the Quran is “perfect” that there are no variant readings, lost verses, or conflicting manuscripts on the Quranic texts. The Muslims tell us with absolute confidence, that the “original” manuscript, which the prophet gathered and constructed is still in existence—all Qurans came from this ONE single manuscript. REALLY NOW!?

     It has been pointed out that there are grammatical errors, like Surah 2:177, 192; 3:59; 4:162; 5:69; 7:160; 13:28; 20:66; 63:10, to start with. Even one of their scholars, Ali Dashti, says that the Quran has sentences which are incomplete and not fully intelligible. He also points out that NON-ARABIC WORDS ARE FOUND, and that adjectives and verbs are used without observance of the concords of gender and number. He also states that pronouns are illogically and ungrammatically applied which sometimes have no referent. He further states that there are more than 100 Quranic aberrations from the normal rules and structure of Arabic! (“Dashti, 23 years: A Study of The Prophetic Career of Muhammad,” George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985, pg. 48.)

     ANOTHER SCHOLAR, ARTHUR JEFFERY, DOCUMENTS OVER 100 FOREIGN WORDS IN THE QURAN. (“The Foreign Vocabulary of the Quran,” Arthur Jeffery, Oriental Inst., Baroda, 1938, no. 79). Even Canon Sell, a middle Eastern scholar, writes that “there are a number of foreign words in the Quran.” He quotes the Mutawakkil by Jalaki’s, Din as-Syuti, who says that there are 107 words that are not Arabic (see Sell, “Studies In Islam,” p. 226).

     Jeffery has also pointed out that there are 90 pages of variant readings on the text. He tells us that Surah 2 has over 140 conflicting and variant readings on the text of the Quran. Both Western and Muslim scholars agree on this (see Dashti, p. 28; Mandudi, pgs. 17, 18; McClintock and Strong, v.152). Who then tells the Muslims all these lies?

     Sadly, even scholarly Muslim journals are acknowledging this fact (see “A Study of Seven Quranic Variants, Seleh al-Wahaihu,” Int’l Journal Of Islamic and Arabic Studies, vol. V, 1989, no. 2, pgs. 1-57).

Pre-Uthman Texts

THESE ARE VERY dangerous to today’s Muslims—they destroy all lies quickly! Frankly, in the Archives at the Egyptian Library (Azhar), one can find (if they haven’t now hid them!) early Kufic Codices which certainly are NOT consistent with today’s orthodox texts. NO doubt there are efforts to suppress these texts.

     Also, it is noted that the Surah Al-Saff had 200 verses in the days of Ayesha. What happened to them? When the Uthman standardized Quran replaced the earlier texts, 52 verses were left out; a total of 128 had been lost! LOST?! Not only this, but Uthman’s version left out certain verses. Why? Probably because they were PROBLEMATIC. (See “Shorter Ency. of Islam,” pgs. 278-282; Guillaume, Islam, pg. 191; Wherry, pgs. 110-111.) Also, you might look into John Burton’s book, “The Collection of the Quran” (Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1977, pgs. 117 f.). Burton cuts no slack in saying that “The Muslim account of the history of the Quran texts are a MASS of CONFUSION, CONTRADICTION, and INCONSISTENCIES.” I totally agree.

Dear ol’ Uthman

HE TRIED to HIDE the Truth that the Quran was everything but “perfect.” This Caliph standardized a common text. It has been asked why he had to do this if a standard text was already in existence? Good question! If one reads the history of this event, one will see that Uthman tried to DESTROY all texts in his day. Why? Because, dear ones, they were conflicting with each other. He even went so far as to issue DEATH THREATS to FORCE Muslims to accept “his” text. This proves that there were earlier ones that were DIFFERENT in content and context.

Survived!!

YES, some of the earlier texts survived Uthman (this is to say, the older ones). A careful study of both the pre-Uthman and Uthman shows that the texts were different. This also proves that the Quran was never handed down from heaven, neither is Muhammad the author. In fact, it is said that the Arabic of the Quran is in the dialect and vocabulary of the Quraysh tribe (see The Concise Ency. of Islam, pg. 228).

     Thus, my dear Muslims, your book and prophet need to be reconsidered. We find too many fables and not enough facts...the Quran is of HUMAN origin.