A very brief outline of the history of the Qur'an (Koran) describing Muhammad's interaction with an angelic spirit identifiying himself as Gabriel, his visions, his followers writing down the visions, and the compilation into the Qur'an by Uthman.

1. Islam –The Qur’an
Dr. Robert Patton

2. The Qur’an
 ,
 The word means: Recitation
 It was a record of Muhammad’s
revelations over 23 years
 It is not chronological, but organized
with the longest chapters (except
chapter 1) first, and the shortest last

3. The Qur’an
 Muhammad began to retire for
meditation in caves outside Mecca
about age 40
 One day he was confronted with a
spirit being who identified himself as
Gabriel

4. The Qur’an
 He seized Muhammad and commanded
3 times to recite – which the prophet,
being illiterate, could not do
 With further visions, Muhammad would
sweat, go unconscious, foam, roar like
a camel, hear bells

5. The Qur’an
 The time of the visions was
unpredictable
 His followers would write what he said
on whatever was nearby, or memorize
orally what he said to write it later

6. The Qur’an
 The Qur’an is poetic in form in Arabic
 It is apparently striking, especially read
by an experienced reader
 Some say that there are grammatical
errors in it

7. The Qur’an
 One scribe rejected Islam after
Muhammad accepted some
suggestions he made about changing
wording.
 He felt that if it was Allah’s word, it
could not be changed

8. The Qur’an
 Most of the writings were in one of two
periods – in Mecca or Medina
 The Meccan period had more to do with
religion, against idolatry, and reform.
They were shorter

9. The Qur’an
 The longer writings of the Medina
period had more politics and fighting in
them
 Any conflicts were considered OK by
the law of abrogation
 Allah promised if he changed anything,
it was for the better

10. The Qur’an and
contradictions
 This means that a more recent writing
supersedes an earlier one.
 Thus the warlike Medinan verses may
take precedence over the Meccan
verses – but they may use either
depending on the situation

11. The law of abrogation
 The Qur’an uses Surah 2:106.= nasikh
 Contrast with Christian graduated revelation.
It never contradicts the former one.
 Problems – Muslims may deny
 The accuracy of a translation
 The relevance of an earlier statement
 Don’t focus on Qur’an but the truth of the
Bible

12. The Qur’an
 The Qur’an is used differently
depending on the circumstances of the
Muslim
 When the Muslim is in the minority, he
tends to use the Meccan verses
 When in the majority – the Medinan
verses

13. Conflicts between the
Qur’an and the Bible with
the Bible
 Noah’s son drowned in Qur’an
 Abraham sacrificed Ishmael, not Isaac
 Jesus spoke as an infant; as a child,
he made a clay bird come to life
 Jesus never died on the cross; the
Jews only thought that they crucified
him

14. Collection of the Qur’an
 After many of those hafiz (those who
have memorized the entire Qur’an) died
in battle or with age, Umar ordered
collection of the data

15. Collection of the Qur’an
 The following caliph, Uthman ordered
Zayd to hold only those written in
Quraysh dialect; he codified them and
destroyed all other copies. Bukhari
Hadith 4:book 56; #709; Hadith 6: Book
61; #510

16. The Qur’an
 The book itself is considered holy
 Highest place in the home
 Hands must be holy to handle it
 Do not hold below the waist
 Muslims may react negatively to
how Christians handle the Bible

17. Special schools
 Schools set up to memorize it
 Those who do are hafiz

18. Qur’an is difficult for
western persons to
understand
 Why it is hard to understand
 In Arabic
 Rarely translated (now translations
available in many languages)
 Not in time sequence
 Need to know the situation around it
 Sometimes there is no
consistency within the Surah
itself

19. Qur’an
 Shiites claim Uthman omitted
25% of the original Qur’an.
 Aisha said Surah 33 had over 200
verses, but in the Qur’an, only 73

20. The Qur’an
 We, us as well as I = Allah
 Say = recite to the people
 Verses = sentences, not a complete
idea. Often clearer if grouped into a
paragraph

21. Chrislam
 There is a tendency among
missionaries to seek a common ground
 Some will say
 Stay in the mosque, keep your Muslim
name
 Do your regular Muslim prayers, alms, etc
 But you are a believer in Isa
 We will discuss this later

22. “Muslim-friendly” Bible
translations
 Certain groups which use dynamic
equivalent methodology focus on
receptor, not text
 They change terms
 Son of God – substitute messenger of
Allah, Isa, Messiah
 God the Father = substitute Allah
 Holy Spirit is not a person

23. Chrislam and the Muslim-
friendly Bible
 This will be a separate discussion later
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