A New Reading of the Qur'an

An attempt to reform Islam makes a new reading of the Qur’an an imperative task. It is, however, by no means, an easy one.

One of the main difficulties surrounding an understanding of the Qur’an relates to its compilation which does not agree with the chronology of the revelation of its verses. Short passages of the Qur’an, which were revealed to Muhammad over some 23 years, were subsequently joined together into chapters of various lengths that did not necessarily belong to the same period.

Traditional accounts of the occasions on which some passages were revealed are preserved. Some of these are, however, improbable and do not agree with historical events, according to early biographies of the life of the Prophet. For the most part, ambiguity surrounds the historical context of many of the Qur’an’s verses.

Scholarly work revealed that the text of the Qur’an shows signs of revisions. Recent media reports * revealed that parchments of an early copy of the Qur’an, found in Sanaa, show evidence of revisions with some verses being washed off and overlaid by others.

The Sanaa fragments, which date to some 70 years following the death of the Prophet, show sheer differences in the written language of the Qur’an which can potentially revolutionise our understanding of its text. The lack of vowel markings in the Sanaa parchments makes it possible to derive as many as some thirty different meanings to some words of the Qur’an, according to a German scholar.

This finding makes it all the more difficult to accept the traditional interpretation of the standard Cairo text of the Qur’an. It is evident that the standardised written language of the Qur’an, as we know it today, is a product of a much later stage than the Sanaa texts.

One must, therfore, wonder if the original text bears any resemblance at all to the standard copy of the Qur'an today.

* see link to Atheist Media Blog provided in my blog list