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…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 2
NOW IMAGINE MUḤAMMAD, after Jibrīl brought him the first sūra and he stood afraid and trembling, fancied that the devil had touched…