Some transcription errors in the Qur’ān
WORKS IN THE HERITAGE tell us that when Muḥammad received the Revelation he asked one of the few who knew how…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 8
THE QUR’ĀN IS MOSTLY dependent on natural phenomena that were not understood by the pre-Islamic Arabs. It thus swears by…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 7
THIS ENTIRE SŪRA is in rhyming saj‘[2] and replete with claims that cannot be proved. The sūra in addition contains verses which imply a plurality of…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 6
THIS PART OF THE SŪRA is almost a mirror image of the sermon of the priest Ibn Sā‘ida al-Ayādī[1] in which he intones…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 5
FIRSTLY, THIS SŪRA IS NOT a Qur’ān sent down by the Lord of Heaven, but a thanksgiving and praise that Muḥammad addresses…
Islam and respect for the intellect – 3
MUSLIMS BEGAN TO PREOCCUPY themselves with trivial matters. In the fourth chapter of his work Iḥyā ‘Ulūm al-Dīn (The Revival of the…
Islam and respect for the intellect – 2
RIGHT FROM THE OUTSET, the Qur’ān has not respected the Muslim mind. It has forced him to believe in what…
Islam and respect for the intellect – 1
THE TWO WORDS are yatafakkarūn (‘they think’) and ya‘qilūn (‘they reason’). The Qur’ān uses both words to assure the believer that God created the…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 4
ALTHOUGH THE VERSES symbolize Muḥammad as ‘the one enveloped in a cloak, which Muḥammad duly was on the first day that Jibrīl came…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 3
The third sūra ‘revealed’ to Muḥammad was Sūrat al-Muzzammil. This sūra came while Muḥammad was still afraid of Jibrīl when he saw him in the…