It is a new book on the market, and the author has made the same mistake as most other, question the words without paying to its wisdom.
Religion is driven by belief. Whether it is Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or any faith - It is what we believe. Religion makes sense to the believer, but if you sit down to tear it apart, no religion, none whatsoever will stand the tests of rhyme or logic.
Prophet Muhammad's splitting the moon, Jesus' walking on the water, Moses walking through the Nile or talking with God on Sinai, Hanuman's carrying the mountain, or How Buddha was conceived sound like stunts to those who do not believe in the others' faith.
Since all faiths have the same bottom line - we must enjoy what we have, so what if it does not make sense to the rationalists? Even rationalists go by their own set of beliefs.
Through the ages Petty Muslim clergy and Petty Christian clergy (same with other petty people of other faiths) were bent on proving the other one to be false. If they spend the time in how to care for each other, all of us would be better off. What you believe works for you, and what I believe works for me.
If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
God willing, I am working on my book on Quran, and how it was used by the politicians of all faiths for their gains, it will be out next year.
There is more about different Quran translations including the two bad ones at www.QuraanToday.com
Mike Ghouse committed to nurturing the pluralistic values embedded in Islam.
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In search of Original Quran
Orthodox Muslims venerate the Koran as the sacred word of God, which they believe was literally revealed by dictation from the angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad. This fundamentalist attitude toward the Muslim holy book denies the possibility of error in the Koran - even though there are some fairly obvious self-contradictions, inconsistencies, and incoherent passages in the text. To justify the claim that the Koran is inerrant, the orthodox have simply pointed to centuries of hidebound tradition and the consensus view of conservative leaders who back up this interpretation. But does the very beginning of the Muslim tradition lend support to the orthodox view?
In this fascinating study of the origins of Islam, historian Mondher Sfar reveals that there is no historical, or even theological, basis for the orthodox view that Muhammad or his earliest followers intended the Koran to be treated as the inviolable word of God. With great erudition and painstaking historical research, Sfar demonstrates that the Koran itself does not support the literalist claims of Muslim orthodoxy. Indeed, as he carefully points out, passages from Islam's sacred book clearly indicate that the revealed text should not be equated with the perfect text of the original "celestial Koran," which was believed to exist only in heaven and to be fully known only by God.
This early belief helps to explain why there were many variant texts of the Koran during Muhammad's lifetime and immediately thereafter, and also why this lack of consistency and the occasional revisions of earlier revelations seemed not to disturb his first disciples. They viewed the Koran as only an imperfect copy of the real heavenly original, a copy subject to the happenstances of Muhammad's life and to the human risks of its transmission. Only later, for reasons of social order and political power, did the first caliphs establish an orthodox policy, which turned Muhammad's revelations into the inerrant word of God, from which no deviation or dissent was permissible.
This original historical exploration into the origins of Islam is also an important contribution to the growing movement for reform of Islam initiated by courageous Muslim thinkers convinced of the necessity of bringing Islam into the modern world.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1591025214/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk
Product Details
" Hardcover: 152 pages
" Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1St Edition edition (July 3, 2007)
" Language: English
" ISBN-10: 1591025214
" ISBN-13: 978-1591025214
" Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 6.1 x 9.2 inches
" Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
" Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
" Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,298,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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