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Historical Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
→Unknown words in the Quran: Added another academic reference on the issue of unknown words and their ambiguity to commentators on the Quran.
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===Ancient Mosque in Jerusalem=== | ===Ancient Mosque in Jerusalem=== | ||
Muslim scholars maintain that a long extant, ancient mosque was present in Jerusalem during Muhammad's life time. Historical research has, however, found this not to be the case.{{Quote|{{Quran|17|1}}| | Muslim scholars maintain that a long extant, ancient mosque was present in Jerusalem during Muhammad's life time. Historical research has, however, found this not to be the case.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dome-of-the-Rock Dome of the Rock] | Britannica Entry | ||
Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things). }} | |||
''Dome of the Rock, shrine in Jerusalem built by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān in the '''late 7th century CE'''.''</ref> {{Quote|{{Quran|17|1}}| | |||
Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things). }}This was also not the furthest place of Abrahamic monotheistic worship at the time of Muhammad.<ref>For example, many ancient synagogues have been found further from Mecca than the Al-Aqsa mosque in Israel/Palestine in e.g. Aleppo, Syria from the 5th century. (''See:'' [https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Maq%C4%81m_and_Liturgy/_Sg2rGjBswgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA24&printsec=frontcover Kligman, Mark L. ''Maqām and liturgy: ritual, music, and aesthetics of Syrian Jews'' in Brooklyn. p. 24.]) | |||
As have many churches and cathedrals such as Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey the 6th century. (''See:'' [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hagia-Sophia Hagia Sophia | Britannica Entry])</ref> | |||
=== Haman in ancient Egypt === | === Haman in ancient Egypt === | ||
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Each such item is a puzzle. Somebody must once have known what it meant, and yet that knowledge did not reach the earliest commentators whose views have come down to us, let alone ourselves. It is only natural that modern scholars should continue to search for solutions. | Each such item is a puzzle. Somebody must once have known what it meant, and yet that knowledge did not reach the earliest commentators whose views have come down to us, let alone ourselves. It is only natural that modern scholars should continue to search for solutions. | ||
But the larger puzzle is why obscurities of this kind should be so salient a feature of the Koran. It is not in general surprising that scriptures and classics should be like this. Often a long period separates the culture in which such a work originated from that of the oldest scholarly traditions which interpret its meaning for us. But on any conventional account of the early history of Islam, there should not have been such a gap in the case of the Koran.}} | But the larger puzzle is why obscurities of this kind should be so salient a feature of the Koran. It is not in general surprising that scriptures and classics should be like this. Often a long period separates the culture in which such a work originated from that of the oldest scholarly traditions which interpret its meaning for us. But on any conventional account of the early history of Islam, there should not have been such a gap in the case of the Koran.}}It should be noted that even in the cases that Cook notes may be used for rhyme, this purpose and meaning is still debated, as one can see in Angelika Neuwirth's 2022 commentary on the Qur'an. | ||
{{Quote|Neuwirth, Angelika. The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 1: Early Meccan Suras: Poetic Prophecy (p. 61-62). Yale University Press.|V. 3 wa-arsala ʿalayhim ṭayran abābīl] <b>Abābīl</b>, a word that is not attested elsewhere, cannot be explained etymologically (for the hypotheses up to now, see FVQ, 44f.). An instance in Umayya ibn abī l-Ṣalt (Schulthess 1911: fragment 4.3) appears to draw from the Qur’an, and therefore should be considered inauthentic. The translation “herds, swarms” would correspond most probably to the intended sense of the verse (cf. Bell 1991: 585). | |||
V. 4 tarmīhim bi-ḥijāratin min sijjīl] The defense of the opponents from Mecca, which is presented in the Qur’an as a miracle, has no parallels in the historical tradition. <b>Sijjīl</b>, another hapaxlegomenon in the Qur’an, is a loan formation according to Jeffery (FVQ, 164), derived from Liat sigillum (cf. Robinson 2001; Frolov 2005). The recourse to a loan word serves to enigmatize, and thus heighten the significance of, the act of annihilation, which is presented in sura’s text as a miraculous intervention by the God worshipped in the local sanctuary.}} | |||
== External Links == | == External Links == | ||