Muhammad Questioned

[MorphRC]

[b] Muhammad's Sources [/b]

[b]Chapter 10

Mohammed's Claims for the Koran Questioned[/b]

In his book [i]Islam and Christian Theology[/i], J.W. Sweetman gives evidence that Mohammed depended on human sources for the Koran, and that its claim to be pure Arabic is not founded on fact. Amongst other information he says that:

[b]A[/b] The name used for the Deluge(tufan), is a foreign word and is found in the Tarmgum of Onkelos (Gen 7).

[b]B[/b] We are told that Abraham's father was an idolator whom he wished to convert to Monotheism. This addition may be traced to the Midrash Rabba on Genesis (para38).

[b]C[/b] Like the Koranic Account, the Rabbis recorded how the hand of Moses became leprous before Pharah, which is not biblical.

[b]D[/b] The Koran claims that Pharah claimed divinity, this being in line with Jewish legend contained in Midrash Rabba on Exodus, para 5.

[b]F[/b] The references to seven heavens, circles, strongholds and courses (Suras 2:29; 23:17, 86etc) have great affinity with the Talmud (Chagiga 96:12). Reference should also be made to the Slavomic Enoch 3:21.

[MorphRC]

[b]H[/b] The special use of 'Kaffara' in Sura 47:2, importing 'absolution', is associated with Jewish and Christians ideas of atonement.

[b]I[/b] Solomon was a great magician who had control of demons, spirits and winds (Sura 38:34-37). This should be compared with the account in the Second Targum of the Book of Esther, and is possibly derived from a mistaken interpretation of Ecclesiastes 2:8.

[b]J[/b] The account in Sura 3 opens with the story of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, as found in the [i]Protevangelium of James.[/i] The [i]Protevangelium of James[/i] is an apocryphal book of the second century AD.

[b]K[/b] After this we find the Miracles of the Infancy - that Jesus spoke in His cradle, and made clay birds and breathed into them. These are parallel to the stories in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy (32), and in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas.

[b]M[/b] No clear distinction is made between angels and Jinn. In Sura 2:30, Satan appears as one of the angels, and as one of the jinn in Surah 18:50. A similar conclusion appears in the 'Book of Jubilee' 2:22 (Jewish pseudepigraphia where we read that the jinn were made of fire).

[b]P[/b] Mohammed's usage of language such as 'nabi' (prophet) and 'nabuwwa' (prophecy) are borrowed from the older religions. Wright, in [i]Comparative Grammar (page46),[/i] states that they are of Jewish-Arabic origin. Yet again this refutes Mohammed's claim that the Koran is pure Arabic.

[phatcatholic]

do you have a quote from Mohammed where he specifically states that the Koran is purely Arabic?

[MagiDragon]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Jul 30 2004, 01:56 PM'] do you have a quote from Mohammed where he specifically states that the Koran is purely Arabic? [/quote]
That's not entirely necessary for this argument: The vast majority of Islamic Fundamentalists consider Arabic to be the Holy language. It would probably be wrong for them to even consider taking a non-Arabic word and putting it into their sacred book.

Peace,
Joe

[MorphRC]

[url="http://www.truthnet.org/islam/Qurangil4.html"]http://www.truthnet.org/islam/Qurangil4.html[/url]

Look through that. Some good stuff