Islams Beginning and Evidence Contents 1. The Quran 2. Historical Sources THE QURAN The Quran Angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad in the year 610 C.E. and commanded him to read, although the command was also forceful to the extent that is was physical (Source), whereby Gabriel strangled Muhammad as shown from the earliest biographies as follows [1]: One day, while Muhammad was asleep in the cave, an angel approached with a sheet in his hand. The angel said to Muhammad, Read. Muhammad answered in surprise, What shall I read? He felt as if the angel had strangled and then released him and heard once more the command, Read. Muhammads reply was, What shall I read? Once more he felt the angel strangling and then releasing him, and he heard him repeat the command, Read. For the third time Muhammad answered, What shall I read? fearful that this time the strangling would be stronger. The angel replied, Read in the name of your Lord, the Creator, Who created man of a clot of blood. Read! Your Lord is most gracious. It is He who taught man by the pen that which he does not know [Quran, 96:1-5.], Muhammad recited these verses, repeating them after the angel who withdrew after they were permanently carved upon his memory. Thus the earliest of the biographies reported, and so did ibn Ishaq. Now the way in which the revelation came to Muhammad varied as shown from the following sources: “He became distressed, foaming at the mouth and closing his eyes. At times he snorted like a young camel” (Ahmad b. Hanbal I, 34, 464, VI. 163)... Umar b. al-Khattab said: “When revelation descended upon Muhammad, one could hear it near his face like the humming of bees” (Ahmad b. Hanbal, I. 34). Also Muhammad said it came ‘like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says. (Source) So this shows that although Muhammad understood the revelation he received, none of his companions or any bystanders witness the revelation being given to him by the angel Gabriel, but one companion named Ya’la wished to see it descending upon Muhammad. (Source) From this it is important to note that because there is no evidence that the Quran was revealed by the Angel Gabriel, how can it be determined that the Quran is from God and not man? Especially as Muhammad withdrew some verses from the Quran due to some confusion over the stoning verses, which was explained by ibn Hajar, whereby he concluded that the reason for the withdrawal of the wording of the verse was conflict of opinion among the Companions. He reports that `Umar addressed the people saying: ‘Do not complain about stoning. It is a just claim and I was minded to write it into the mushaf, so I consulted Ubayy. But he said, Didnt you come to me once before, when I was asking the Prophet for permission to recite the verse? You shoved me in the chest with the words, Are you asking him to permit the recitation of the stoning verse when the people are randy as donkeys? (p. 81, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, Fath al Bari, 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 12, p. 131; Jalal al Din `Abdul Rahman b. abi Bakr al Suyuti, al Itqan fi `ulum al Quran, Halabi, Cairo, 1935/1354, pt 2, p. 26-7). Now with regards to the Quran, the original one was destroyed according to the following account: After Othmans death, Marwan the Governor of Medina sent to Hafsa and demanded it. She refused to give it up so it stayed with her until she died. But Marwan was so concerned to have it that as soon as he returned from her funeral, he immediately sent to get it. The story is recorded by Ibn Abi Dawud in his Kitab Al-Masahif. He gives the Isnad down to Salim ibn Abdullah who said, When Hafsa died and we returned from her funeral, Marwan sent with firm intention to Abdullah ben Omar (Hafsas brother) that he must send him those pages, and Abdullah ben Omar sent them to him, and Marwan ordered it and they were torn up. And he said, I did this because whatever was in it was surely written and preserved in the (official) volume and I was afraid that after a time people will be suspicious of this copy or they will say there is something in it that wasnt written. (William Campbell, The Quran and the Bible in the Light of History and Science, Section Three, III.C). From this it is important to note that because the original Quran was destroyed, it is not possible to compare later manuscripts to the original. Also there is no justification for Marwans actions when he said, I was afraid that after a time people will be suspicious of this copy or they will say there is something in it that wasnt written, makes his actions suspicious, and gives reasons to think that verses are missing from the standardised version. Surely it would have been better to preserve the original Quran for a reference in case of suspicion or copying errors. HISTORICAL SOURCES The following sources contain a biography, sayings, teachings and actions of Muhammad: 765 Ibn Ishaq (Siratul Rasu’allah) (?) 790 Sahifah of Hammam bin Munabbih 833 Ibn Hisham (Siratul Rasu’allah) 870 Al Bukhari (Hadith) [Muslim, Tirmidhi…) 923 Al Tabari (Tafsir, Ta’rikh) [Baidawi, Zamakshari…) Now with regards to the above sources, because the first revelation was given to Muhammad in the year 610 C.E., this shows that the period of these written accounts spans between 155 - 313 years, and is therefore far to late to be taken as a authentic source of information. From this it is important to note that with regards to the oldest Hadith known is called Sahifah of Hammam bin Munabbih, the compiling of this collection is only 138 hadith, of which 98 of them are witnessed in the later collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, both through narrations of Abu Hurrairah. But is the collection the original? Where was it discovered? Because the source of this collection comes from a person known as Hamidullah’s, whereby apparently this collection was found in his apartment in Paris! Please note that Hamidullah translated this collection into English between 1993-94. How did this collection get there and where is the authentic Arabic script? Are any Muslims able to produce a copy or a copy of a copy in Arabic that pre-dates Hamidullah’s finding? Because apparently the Arabic collection was burnt after it was translated in to English. References (1). Muhammad H. Haykal, The Life of Muhammad Translated by Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, Islamic Book Trust, 2002, Pg. 73
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 22:50:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015