UI – Part 194 – Quran The Book

Quran

As you read the Quran, if you do or ever will, there are numerous references to the Book itself.  When it refers to ‘People of the Book’ it is followers of the Bible that are noted.  But it also refers often to itself – the Quran.

My curiosity is such I ask how and when did Muhammad, in reciting what Allah informed him through the angel Gabriel, know what the Quran or the Book was.  How could he reference that which was not written or recorded, and did not happen until many years after his death.  How could he reference that which he was reciting that had never before been known, used or of value? Some verses are said to have been written down during his lifetime but as for a compilation, a codex of all that he recited, it was not complete, and never actually completed. Many of the Memorizers or Companions  that could regurgitate verses died in a civil war after Muhammad’s death. These verses never made it to parchment.

References to ‘Book’

Some references in the Quran as the Book:

From Sura 2.85, “…do you then believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in the other…?”

Sura 2.177, “…righteous is the one who believes in Allah, and the Last Day, and the angels and the Book and the prophets….”

Sura 3.78, “…and there is certainly a party of them who lie about the Book that you may consider it to be (a part) of the Book while it is not (a part) of the Book; and they say, It is from Allah….”  This addresses the Bible vs the Book

Sure 5,15, “….Indeed, there has come to you from Allah, a Light and a clear Book.”

Sura 10.37, “And this Quran is not such as could be forged by those besides Allah, but it is a verification of that which is before it and a clear explanation of the Book, there is no doubt in it, from the Lord of the worlds.”

Important

What is important to notice in the last reference (Sura 10:37) is the usage of the term ‘verification’, saying what Muhammad was sharing was confirmation of the Bible.

And such references to the Book continue.  How did Muhammad know about a Book, or what would become the Scripture of Islam?  It came later.

What is Reality?

Thus I offer the reader one of my skeptical views of the Scripture of Islam, which translates into doubts about the reality of Islam. Biblical reality is more plausible, having a greater foundation in history and fact.

Grace and Peace