Is the Quran of today, the same as it was when it was first written? Muslims says that it is. But there is evidence to suggest that the reality is otherwise. In old books on Islam that I have acquired, I have found references to verses in the Quran which cannot be found in today’s copies.
For example, female circumcision, a notorious evil which has been inflicted on millions of girls throughout the Muslim world, is said not to be in today’s Quran, nor in the Hadith (the word of Muhammad). This is true, but only in regards to the versions which we have. John of Damascus who was writing in the eight century A.D., one of our earliest writers on Islam, wrote:
He [Muhammad] made it a law that they be circumcised and the women, too (1)The Renaissance author Riccoldo da Monte di Croce wrote in the early 14th century a refutation on the Quran, in which he references Islamic verses which are quite obscure today. Croce is not someone to ignore as non-authoritative, since he learned fluent Arabic, and lived in Iraq as a missionary where he spoke with numerous Islamic teachers. (2) He writes that in the Surah of the Cow in the Quran, Muhammad
seems to condone sodomy in men and women … though their successors cover this up with more honourable statements (3)De Croce also records a very bizarre and grotesque story in the Quran, in which Noah is told by Allah to worship the anus of an elephant while in the ark. As Noah observes this command, the elephant defecates and from the manure comes a pig. As the swine sniffs the fecal matter, a mouse arises from it. (4)
Also, the same author records that in the Quran there is an apocalyptic prophecy which states that Allah will destroy every living thing, including all of the angels, accept for Adriel [Uzrael], the Angel of Death. Allah will command Adriel to commit suicide and then he will declare, “Where are the governors and rulers of the world?” Upon this, everything on earth will rise up again. (5)
So the next time you hear Muslims talk about how well preserved the Quran is, and how it has been the same from the time of Muhammad, keep in mind that the version you see today is not necessarily what was written in it originally.
Theodore Shoebat is the author of the book, For God or For Tyranny.
References:
(1) John of Damascus, Heretics, 101, trans. Frederic H. Chase.
(2) See Ensis’ introduction to his translation of Croce’s Refutation of the Koran, p. iii.
(3) Croce, Refuation of the Koran, ch. i, p. 12, trans. Londini Ensis
(4) Croce, Refutation of the Koran, ch. ix, p. 60, trans. Londini Ensis.
(5) Croce, Refutation of the Koran, ch. ix, p. 60, trans. Londini Ensis.
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