Beyond the Qur'an

Another holy war, for no less than the very soul of Islam, is looming out of the maze of cyberspace. The dispute centers over the authenticity of the Qur’an, as the uncreated Word of God, saw both bloggers and Facebook members engaged in furious debates often descending into obscene abuse and rage.

One such blog “ The Season of Migration from Islam”(Moussim Al Hijra min Al-Islam), by Zohair Salem, openly accuses Prophet Muhammad of falsehood, violence and of authoring the Qur’an.

One of the points that Salem brings to the fore is the apparent discrepancy between the early peaceful commandments of the Qur’an in Mecca, when Islam was weak, and those revealed in Medina calling for aggression, as Islam came to dominate the entire Arab peninsula.

The gravity of such allegations could only be fathomed, in light of the centrality of the Qur'an, considered as the definitive word of God, to the Islamic faith. The Qur’an is traditionally seen as an uncreated text revealed to Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel over a period of some twenty three years. *

The impasse posed by the apparent contradictions in the Qur’anic injunctions was resolved by adopting a system of abrogation with the latter aggressive commandments abrogating the earlier verses calling for peace and freedom of belief.

The contradictions in the Qur’an are especially acute in dealing with non-Muslims and women. Whereas the verses revealed in Mecca, over the first thirteen years of revelations, call for peace, freedom of belief and equality between men and women; those revealed in Medina, in the latter period, are violent in nature and reduce women to half beings created for the pleasure of men.

With heresy accusations being historically attached to any attempt to go beyond the Qur’an, there is very little hope that the likes of Salem could prevail any time soon. In the meantime, those that are looking to live by laws allowing for co-existence, tolerance and equality can only find solace in following Salem’s call for a “ Season of Migration from Islam” in the virtual world of Facebook.

* for information on the Qur’an see http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ISLAM/QURAN.HTM