BobfromMichigan
PROBLEMS WITH THE RELIABILITY OF THE KORAN
Mon Jun 30 16:07:43 2003
205.188.209.139

THE NEXT TWO ARTICLES BELOW ARE ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF THE RELIABILITY OF THE KORAN, THIS IS DEEP, BUT WELL WORTH READING AND SAVING IN YOUR WORD PROCESSOR.

Koran - Many versions cast doubt on reliability -
Two Articles
Article #1 - Diacritical Points & The Arabic Quran's Dilemma
Article #2 - Newly discovered Ancient texts cast doubt on reliability of the Koran

http://web.archive.org/web/20010305202849/www.tarrnet.com/prophet/finished.htm/koran.htm 

http://www.tarrnet.com/prophet/finished.htm/koran.htm 

The Arabic Quran's Dilemma

Dear Friends,

May you allow me to share with you this short study on the grammatical problems
in the Arabic text of the Quran. The English reader may not fully recognize the
importance of diacritical points in the Arabic language. We will cover this in
our study. To begin, it must be emphasized (as has been done) that the Quran was
originally written in the Arabic language WITHOUT DIACRITICAL POINTS, as this
was the nature of Arabic writings at the inception of Islam.

The diacritical points were added to the text of the Quran many years after what
is called the "Divine Inspiration" of the Quran. So, many years passed seeing a
Quran without diacritical points. The importance of this fact will be adequately
recognized as we study the relationship of the diacritical points to the Arabic
language.

In the many examples that follow, you will see that the addition or subtraction
of diacritical points RADICALLY ALTERS the meaning of the entire text.
Therefore, those men who added the diacritical points to the Quran long after it
was first written assumed the responsibility of interpreting the entire book,
and were in the position to change and rewrite anything that they did not agree
with. This occurrence is unique to Islam and its holy book. The Bible is widely
available in its original texts, both Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, for any and all
who want to research it. To read the Quran as it was originally written would
leave the reader to interpret and choose for themselves from the thousands of
possible meanings available in the Arabic when it is without diacritical points.

We begin by looking closely at the nature of several Arabic words and how the
diacritical points change their meanings. The English word "girl" in Arabic is
"bent". The Arabic word "bent" is composed of three letters which are "Ba",
"non", and "Ta". When these three letters are written connected to each other
without the diacritical points they will appear quite identical. They will look
like three adjacent crescents facing upwards. The difference between them is
nothing. Only the diacritical points can differentiate between them. Here is how
it works:

* If you put one point below any one of them, it's "Ba"

* If you put two points below any one of them, it's "ya"

* If you put one point above any one of them, it's "non"

* If you put two points above any one of them, it's "Ta"

* If you put three points above any one of them, it's "Tha"

Therefore one can imagine the multitude of possible alternatives that could
arise from the varying arrangements of diacritical points on each of the three
letters. Many of these alternatives are meaningful. For example:

1. If you put one point below the first, one above the second, two above the
third, it's "bent" which translates as "girl" in English.

2. If you put one point below the first, two points below the second, two above
the third, it's "Bayt" which translates as "home" in English.

3. If you put two points below the first, one below the second, and two above
the third, it's "yabet" which translates as "he makes a decision" in English.

4. If you put one point above the first, one below the second and two above the
third, it's "nabat" which translates as "was planted" in English.

5. If you put one point below the first, two below the second and one above the
third, it's "Bayn" which translates as "between" in English.

6. If you put one point below the first, three points above the second and two
points above the third, it's "Bathat" which translates as "she broadcast" in
English.

7. If you put two points below the first, one below the second, and three above
the third, it's "yaboth" which translates as "he broadcast" in English.

8. If you put two points above the first, two points below the second, one point
above the third, it's "teen" which translates as "figs" in English.

9. If you put two points above the first, one below the second, and one point
above the third, it's "tebn" which translates as "hay" in English.

10. If you put three points above the first, one below the second, two above the
third, it's "thabbat" which translates as "strengthens" in English.

11. If you put three above the first, one above the second and two above the
third, it's "thanat" which translates as "shy bent" in English.

12. If you put two above the first, one above the second, one below the third,
it's "tannob" which translates as "to prevent" in English.

13. If you put two points below the first, three above the second, and one below
the third, it's "yatheb" which translates as "he jumps" in English.

14. If you put one point above the first, three above the second and one below
the third, it's "natheb" which translates as "we jump" in English.

15. If you put one point above the first, one below the second and three above
the third, it's "nabath" which translates as "utters few letters" in English.

The list could go on. The number of Arabic letters that need diacritical points
are 22 out of a total 28 Arabic letters. They are "Ba, ta, Tha, Geem, Ha, Kha,
Dal, Zal, Ra, Zeen, Seen, Sheen, Sad, dzad, Ta, dza, 'ein, ghein, Fa, Gaf, non,
and ya when it is the first or middle letter in a word". 22 letters out of 28
have no possible sound without diacritical points!! Remember, the Quran was
first written without any diacritical points on these 22 letters!!

OTHER VOCALIZATION MARKS AFFECT MEANINGS

The second important point is: In addition to the diacritical points, there are
other forms of vocalization marks that change the pronunciation and the meaning
of the given word. These marks are Damma, Fathha, kassra, shadda, scoon, madda,
and other less important marks. They are put above or below the letter to affect
its pronunciation. Please realize that the same word will vary in its
pronunciation and meaning according to the positioning of these marks. For
example:

1. The same form of the word "bent" (A girl in English) will become "banat" by
putting "Fathha" on the second letter, which means "she built" in English.

2. The same form of the word "bayn" (between in English) will become "bayan" if
we add "shadda" on the first and the second letters, which means "He manifests"
in English.

3. The same form of the word "Bayt" (home in English) will become "bayat" if we
add "shadda" on the second letter, which means "he intends" in English.

4. The same form of the word "nabath" (utters some letters) will become "naboth"
if we add "shadda" to the second letter, which means "we broadcast" in English.

5. The same form of the word "nabat" (was planted) will become "nabot" if we add
"shadda" to the second letter, which means "we make a decision" in English.

Therefore even after adding diacritical points above and below the Arabic
letters, the meaning of the word will not be explicit with certainty except
after adding the vocalization marks. Both the diacritical points and the
vocalization marks were not used in the ancient Arabic writings of the pre-,
post-, and Quranic period. For a matter of simplification to the English reader,
you may ponder the difference between (to & too) (too & two) (girls & girl's)
(its & it's), although in Arabic things are even more complicated.

After this hurried analysis of the formulation of Arabic words, it may become
clear to the reader to what extent the words will be meaningless without these
points and marks. And that any attempt to add these diacritical points and
vocalization marks to non-punctuated text of the Quran may result in countless
numbers of readings.

This is the language in which the Quran was first written and we can imagine the
enormity and scope of the problems that faced the later Muslims, many years
after the early beginning of Islam, when they started putting diacritical points
and vocalization marks on every letter in the Quran. They may have been experts
in the Arabic language, experts in Arabic grammar, but they definitely did not
receive Divine Inspiration to guard them against making mistakes, or to ensure
that the original wordings and meanings of the Quran were unchanged.

These ideas that have drawn my attention are not merely an offensive attitude
against the Quran. No. There is a very explicit example that manifests the
dangers of the issue under discussion. There is a Quranic verse that states:
"ALM Sabbeh Raboka Al Azzaam", which translates as: "ALM praise your glorified
God". We ask the question what is ALM? Nobody answers. The scholars say it's
just a divine symbol that has no definite meaning and it should be accepted as
such. In an attempt to explain it some claim that it may be a part of the
succeeding word "Sabbeh" which translates as "praise", but then the formulation
of the sentence will not be grammatically correct. If we remembered the previous
facts about the diacritical points and apply them to this verse we shall find
that the letter "Ba" in the word "ALM saBBeh" was originally not punctuated. So,
it may be "Ba" if one point is put below it, or it may be "ya" if you add a
second point below it. This second point below the letter "Ba" would only
slightly change the form of the sentence but it would radically change the
meaning 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Changing this one letter would
turn the whole story, history, and faith of Islam upside down! Do you know why?
Let's read the sentence after adding just one point below the letter "Ba",
changing it into "ya". The sentence will be, "ALMsyyh Raboka Al 'Azzaam." Just
this one diacritical point will turn over the entire Islamic religion because
the sentence now means: THE CHRIST IS YOUR GLORIFIED GOD!!!

Remember, the original Quranic language was not punctuated. Punctuation was
added later by non-divinely inspired laymen who were fluent in the Arabic
language and nothing more. This confession is very logical for us, the
Christians. But if this was the confession of Muhammad and his Quran, what would
then be the outcome? Ponder, think, then decide. It is fascinating to consider
that the story of the Quran can be given a completely different direction and
the history and religion of Islam can be turned over by just one diacritical
point. Only one point can turn the entire Islamic world upside down. Not one
Muslim scholar, teacher or Mullah in the entire world can attest to the presence
or absence of this little point in the original text of the Quran before Muslims
started to punctuate it. Oh God, just one diacritical point can vanquish an
entire religion with its holy book and prophet.

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ATLANTIC MONTHLY ARTICLE RE: Studying The Koran, New Ancient Scrolls cast doubt
on reliability of Koran, challenging the idea that the Koran is literally the
absolute and unchanging Word of God

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99jan/koran.htm

OR IF THIS LINK ABOVE IS DEAD YOU MAY TRY THIS LINK BELOW

http://web.archive.org/web/20000229222721/theatlantic.com/issues/99jan/koran.htm


Researchers with a variety of academic and theological interests are proposing
controversial theories about the Koran and Islamic history, and are striving to
reinterpret Islam for the modern world. This is, as one scholar puts it, a
"sensitive business"

by Toby Lester
(The online version of this article appears in three parts. Click here to go to
part two. Click here to go to part three.)



IN 1972, during the restoration of the Great Mosque of Sana'a, in Yemen,
laborers working in a loft between the structure's inner and outer roofs
stumbled across a remarkable gravesite, although they did not realize it at the
time. Their ignorance was excusable: mosques do not normally house graves, and
this site contained no tombstones, no human remains, no funereal jewelry. It
contained nothing more, in fact, than an unappealing mash of old parchment and
paper documents -- damaged books and individual pages of Arabic text, fused
together by centuries of rain and dampness, gnawed into over the years by rats
and insects. Intent on completing the task at hand, the laborers gathered up the
manuscripts, pressed them into some twenty potato sacks, and set them aside on
the staircase of one of the mosque's minarets, where they were locked away --
and where they would probably have been forgotten once again, were it not for
Qadhi Isma'il al-Akwa', then the president of the Yemeni Antiquities Authority,
who realized the potential importance of the find. Discuss this article in Post
& Riposte.


Al-Akwa' sought international assistance in examining and preserving the
fragments, and in 1979 managed to interest a visiting German scholar, who in
turn persuaded the German government to organize and fund a restoration project.
Soon after the project began, it became clear that the hoard was a fabulous
example of what is sometimes referred to as a "paper grave" -- in this case the
resting place for, among other things, tens of thousands of fragments from close
to a thousand different parchment codices of the Koran, the Muslim holy
scripture. In some pious Muslim circles it is held that worn-out or damaged
copies of the Koran must be removed from circulation; hence the idea of a grave,
which both preserves the sanctity of the texts being laid to rest and ensures
that only complete and unblemished editions of the scripture will be read.

Some of the parchment pages in the Yemeni hoard seemed to date back to the
seventh and eighth centuries A.D., or Islam's first two centuries -- they were
fragments, in other words, of perhaps the oldest Korans in existence. What's
more, some of these fragments revealed small but intriguing aberrations from the
standard Koranic text. Such aberrations, though not surprising to textual
historians, are troublingly at odds with the orthodox Muslim belief that the
Koran as it has reached us today is quite simply the perfect, timeless, and
unchanging Word of God.

The mainly secular effort to reinterpret the Koran -- in part based on textual
evidence such as that provided by the Yemeni fragments -- is disturbing and
offensive to many Muslims, just as attempts to reinterpret the Bible and the
life of Jesus are disturbing and offensive to many conservative Christians.
Nevertheless, there are scholars, Muslims among them, who feel that such an
effort, which amounts essentially to placing the Koran in history, will provide
fuel for an Islamic revival of sorts -- a reappropriation of tradition, a going
forward by looking back. Thus far confined to scholarly argument, this sort of
thinking can be nonetheless very powerful and -- as the histories of the
Renaissance and the Reformation demonstrate -- can lead to major social change.
The Koran, after all, is currently the world's most ideologically influential
text.

Looking at the Fragments

THE first person to spend a significant amount of time examining the Yemeni
fragments, in 1981, was Gerd-R. Puin, a specialist in Arabic calligraphy and
Koranic paleography based at Saarland University, in Saarbrücken, Germany. Puin,
who had been sent by the German

• PART 2 of article about Koran's Reliability — BobfromMichigan, Mon Jun 30 16:13
• PART 3 Reliability of Koran — BobfromMichigan, Mon Jun 30 16:15

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