Using commentaries from the classical period through the medieval and modern periods to the present, this book presents the Quran as Muslims have understood it and interiorized it throughout its rich exegetical history. Sources have been carefully chosen to represent all of the major schools and trends in Islamic thought. This book has been written, not primarily for scholars, but for interested western readers, for students of Islam, and for non-Arabic-speaking Muslims. For almost fourteen centuries the Quran has been a source of inspiration and solace and, above all, a guide along the way of life toward eternity. It is presented as such here. This work is one of several volumes, each a reference to a particular part of the Quran. The entire collection will comprise an encyclopedia of Quran commentary.
For almost fourteen centuries the Qur’an has been a source of inspiration and solace and, above all, a guide along the way of life toward eternity. Using commentaries from the classical period through the medieval and modern periods to the present, this series presents the Qur’anic explanation as Muslims have understood it and interiorized it throughout its rich exegetical history, and has been written not primarily for scholars but for those interested readers and non-Arabic speaking students of Islam, both Muslim and non-Muslim. This volume is the second in the series containing the third surah, Al Imran. The first volume contains the first and the second surahs. The entire collection will comprise an encyclopedia of the Qur’an commentary.
The Qur'an and Its Interpreters introduces the Western reader to the Qur'an as Muslims have understood it. The record of the Qur'an in the community as a force shaping the life of Muslims can be most clearly discerned through the vast literature of interpretation known as tafsir. This multivolume work is based on a large number of tafsir sources, representing all the major religious schools and stages of Muslim history for the last one thousand years. It will cover the entire Qur'an. This first volume consists of an introduction to the science and sources of interpretation of the Qur'an and the first two surahs of the Qur'an. The treatment is comprehensive and thorough. While the work is based entirely on primary sources, this volume includes a substantial bibliography of works on the Qur'an in Western languages. The Qur'an is the word of God as it was revealed to the prophet Muhammad, interiorized by the community, then shaped into an earthly book whose original archetype is with God. Dr. Ayoub concerns himself not with the history of the Qur'an, but with the way it was collected and fixed into an official codex, the recension of which has voiced the community's prayers and devotions, set its legal norms and moral standards, and occupied its best minds for more than thirteen hundred years.
"The Forbidden Rumi" and I Rumi is a great Muslim mystic and poet. His faith in God does not deter him from riding the winds of dangerous thinking and free expression. His most audacious poems were published in a collection called "The Forbidden Rumi". I have chosen one of them and interspersed its verses between the chapters of my book. I wanted to let some fresh air in my dry discussion of the Quranic text. You see, the fifth chapter of the Quran was the last one to have been composed. It discusses theological questions and lacks the poetic rhythm of the much shorter chapters of the early days. I am neither a poet nor a mystic. I am not even a Muslim. And yet I feel I have something in common with a Rumi. I do not let the requirements of Islamic tradition, the strict rules of modern scholarship and the taboos of our time constrict my freedom to say what I think and to explain my forbidden views. I do so however in a friendly manner and without any animosity. My study of the Quran is based on knowledge not on faith. My purpose is not to provide spiritual ammunition to the faith. It is much more prosaic. I propose a new way of reading the Quranic text. Instead of seeing in it a divine revelation, I see in it the work of a man called Muhammad. I do what is forbidden for a believer. But I recognize the believer's right to see in the Book the very words of God.
This excellent collection of critical commentaries on the Koran brings together outstanding articles by noted scholars from the beginning of the 20th century to recent times. These important studies, as well as the editor's own lengthy introduction, show that little about the text of the Koran can be taken at face value. Among the fascinating topics discussed is evidence that early Muslims did not understand Muhammad's original revelation, that the ninth-century explosion of literary activity was designed to organize and make sense of an often incoherent text, and that much of the traditions surrounding Muhammad's life were fabricated long after his death in an attempt to give meaning to the Koran. Also of interest are suggestions that Coptic and other Christian sources heavily influenced much of the text and that some passages reflect an essential background reaching back to the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This valuable compilation will be a welcome resource to interested lay readers and scholars alike.
This volume includes cutting-edge research on the spread of Syrian Christianity along the Silk Road from the 6th to the 14th century. Recent archaeological discoveries and excavations of ancient and medieval Christian sites in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China shed new light on Christian communities in Central Asia, China and Mongolia. Scholars from such fields as archaeology, manuscript studies, history and theology have contributed, offering new insights into the influence of Syriac Christianity along the Silk Roads. Li Tang is Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Christian East (ZECO), University of Salzburg/Austria. Dietmar W. Winkler is Head of the Department of Biblical Studies and Ecclesiastical History, and Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the Christian East (ZECO), University of Salzburg/Austria
“Woe is me poet or possessed…” — Muhammad Could it be that one of the most influential men in history have been manipulated by satanic powers? It's time to unveil the many unsavory truths about the founder of Islam, Muhammad, pulled straight from Islamic sources. One of these truths is that by all indications the prophet of Islam was demon possessed or at the very least severely demonically influenced. Muhammad's supposed prophetic career began with an encounter with a spirit entity in the cave of Hira. We read in Islamic literature that the alleged angel, Gabriel, manhandled and abused him, which left him terrorized, suicidal, and in a state of madness. This alone should raise red flags. We also read that Muhammad was put under a black magic spell, uttered the words of Satan in the infamous so-called “Satanic Verses” event, and had a demonic spirit guide or familiar spirit. Again, this is all coming from the Muslim texts! Moreover, Muhammad, including many of his contemporaries, believed he was demon possessed. Indeed, he experienced many strange physical manifestations such as twitching, foaming at the mouth, convulsing, roaring, or snorting like a camel that was falsely believed to be “divine inspirations” from the supposed angel Gabriel and/or Allah. We give an uncensored and uncompromised look at Muhammad and the religion he founded, Islam. What is read in Islamic texts is embarrassing, appalling, and downright disturbing. Much of such information that even educated Muslims are unaware of. And nothing is held back when Muhammad's deplorable morality is scrutinized. Would God, who is righteous and holy, work behind a person who sanctioned many atrocious acts and practices such as child marriage, wife beating, assassinations, torture, and sex slavery? Was Muhammad a perfect example for mankind, as many Muslims believe, when he was a racist, sexist, rapist, and religious tyrant? What is also covered is his controversial consummation of marriage to a 9-year-old girl named Aisha when he was past the age of 50 years old. What spirit was moving behind Muhammad to practice what many would consider to be gross crimes against humanity? This e-Book has a wealth of evidence that Muhammad was indeed demon possessed and thus be considered a false prophet of God. We thoroughly examine the idea of him being demonically influenced using over 500 direct quotations (all hyperlinked directly to the source) from the most authoritative Islamic sources (the Quran, authentic hadiths, tafsirs, sira literature, etc.). The idea Muhammad was demonized is not the conclusion of a mere layman in the field of demonology, but someone who has had many years of experience involved in deliverance ministry (i.e., expelling demons out of people by the power and authority of Jesus). What would be the purpose of Satan using Muhammad to found the religion of Islam? One reason is to blind peoples' minds from believing the Gospel, that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God who died on the cross for the sins of the world, and was resurrected. Without the belief in the Gospel, there is no salvation. This e-book is targeted at all truth-seekers and is a great resource for those involved in Christian apologetics and polemics.
Muslims boast to all and sundry that they are the followers of the true religion of Abraham, but beneath the lofty claim are Muslim scholars, leaders and apologists’ presumptuous efforts to conceal the religion’s thriving pagan bedrock. In an attempt to bridge over the vast chasm between paganism and monotheism, Islam, through unsubstantiated links to Ishmael, audaciously placed Abraham, his mistress Hagar and son, Ishmael, down in Mecca and then assigned Abrahamic legends to every pagan belief, practice and ritual. Mohammed was also unashamedly presented as a monotheist in the midst of pagan Mecca, despite irrefutable evidence that proves he was also a habitual pagan. In addition to these deceptions, attempts to morph the pagan god, Allah into the God of the Bible were made but, to all intents and purposes, in vain. This book unpacks Islam’s lofty religious claims, and the common misconceptions of what the religion is and what it is not. With meticulous care, evidence from primarily the Islamic scriptures were collected, analyzed and then presented to prove this book’s assertions. The book also examines the uncensored history of the religion to expose its obscure beginnings, shortcomings, subsequent cover-ups, and outright deceptions. Islamic scriptures have also been successfully linked to the contemporary issues of the religion’s violent coercion, terrorism, intolerance, misogyny, antisemitism and supremacism. Targeted at all truth-seekers in general, this book is the ultimate handbook for anyone in pursuit of knowledge and truths. It is the first handbook of its kind that examines and conducts nuanced analysis of the un-sanitized scriptures of Islam in order to demonstrate that it is certainly not what it claims to be. Indeed, if one follows the evidence of the rise of Islam, one will undoubtedly discover the religion’s thriving Arab pagan bedrock.
In this book, Agron Belica offers a fresh interpretation of the momentous events on a hillock beyond the walls of Jerusalem nearly two millennia ago: the Crucifixion. Belica asks disconcerting questions about the received version of gospel history and gives free rein to his inquisitive nature. Many of his ideas and speculations will strike the casual reader schooled in the ancient Biblical Traditions with which they conflict as unhistorical, impossible, and unbelievable. Yet, when questioning established premises, the impossible may often be shown to be possible, as Socrates was fond of doing. Mr. Belica does not claim to be proving anything, except that with some speculation and reinterpretation of the Biblical record and relevant Quranic texts, when coupled with a few remarks from Josephus, the whole traditional version of the Crucifixion can be seen in a different light. Belica throws new ideas and new possibilities at the reader, asking only that they be considered. Like a barrage of rockets shot into the moonless night sky, some flaring more brightly than the others, some of his speculations are more plausible than others, but all are provocative and worth thinking about. His is the first innovative interpretation of the Crucifixion since Dr. Hugh Schonfield looked at it two generations ago. Beyond that, Belica has taken upon himself the task of redressing the imbalance between the gospel Jesus and the gospel John the Baptist and, in our opinion, has done so with justice on his side. The gospel writers diminished John in order to exalt Jesus and transform him into a superhuman, divine entity. While their motives are understandable, the researcher who seeks to explore unanswered questions and obscure ?competitors? to the demigod they were creating, is understandably frustrated and can only mourn the lost evidence. This is particularly true for John the Baptist. In the New Testament, he is a minor figure, his purpose is to introduce and validate the mission of his kinsman Jesus as the Messiah. Belica asks why was John the Baptist so used by the gospelers and then dismissed to the limbo of silence, together with the Essenes who, though a considerable presence in the Palestine of the day, are not even mentioned by them? He was intrigued by that question and began to study the references to John, gradually conceiving unprovable, but provocative theories. His work became known to a mutual friend, the author of a number of valuable books and articles on various aspects of Islamica, Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar?who also became interested in John the Baptist, and through her, I was introduced to him. At first, I was rather skeptical, but was persuaded to look into the historical injustice done to John. (He is much better served in the Quran than he is in the Bible.) Having trusted her instincts over the years in such things in my own literary projects, and with her continuous encouragement and suggestions, I set to work. The result of my own inquiry, the monograph Rethinking John the Baptist, is appended to the present volume. Meanwhile, Agron Belica continued his own research, examining new evidence while elaborating and working out his theories and speculations. The results of this work constitute the main portion of this volume that is dedicated to the rehabilitation of the repute and stature of that much neglected prophet, John the Baptist, known in the Islamic world as Yahya. I was pleased to be chosen as his editor and annotator for this book.
