robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)
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The Unch<strong>an</strong>ging Qur'<strong>an</strong> Ch<strong>an</strong>ges<br />
The Qur'<strong>an</strong>: Muhammad's Book?<br />
The Qur'<strong>an</strong> is Muhammad's foremost legacy <strong>an</strong>d the primary source for knowledge of Islamic doctrine <strong>an</strong>d<br />
(to a lesser degree) history.<br />
According to the Qur'<strong>an</strong>, the sole author of the Muslim holy book is Allah, who delivered the book<br />
piecemeal but in perfect form through the <strong>an</strong>gel Gabriel to Muhammad: “It is We Who have sent down the<br />
Qur'<strong>an</strong> to thee by stages” (76:23). 1 Allah taunts the unbelievers with this fact: “It is surely a noble Kor<strong>an</strong><br />
in a hidden Book none but the purified shall touch, a sending down from the Lord of all Being. What, do<br />
you hold this discourse in disdain, <strong>an</strong>d do you make it your living to cry lies?” (56:77–82).<br />
Those who do not accept this claim generally assume that it was Muhammad who wrote the Qur'<strong>an</strong>.<br />
Certainly the book gives <strong>an</strong> immediate impression of originating from a single author, what with its<br />
repetitions, its stylistic tics (such as ending verses with a tagline such as “Allah is Mighty, Wise,” which<br />
appears with slight variations forty times in the Qur'<strong>an</strong>), <strong>an</strong>d its overall unity of message (despite<br />
numerous contradictions on particulars).<br />
For m<strong>an</strong>y, both Muslim <strong>an</strong>d non-Muslim, the Qur'<strong>an</strong> itself is the principal indication that the c<strong>an</strong>onical<br />
story of Islam's <strong>origins</strong> is essentially true. After all, if Muhammad never <strong>exist</strong>ed, or <strong>did</strong> little or nothing of<br />
what he is thought to have done, then where <strong>did</strong> the Qur'<strong>an</strong> come from? If Muhammad was not its author or<br />
conduit, then someone else must have been, for it speaks with a unified voice <strong>an</strong>d bears the imprint of a<br />
singular personality—or so it is generally assumed.<br />
For Muslims, the Qur'<strong>an</strong> is a perfect copy of the perfect, eternal book—the Mother of the Book (umm<br />
al-kitab)—that has <strong>exist</strong>ed forever with Allah in Paradise. The Qur'<strong>an</strong> testifies this of itself: “By the<br />
Clear Book, behold, We have made it <strong>an</strong> Arabic Kor<strong>an</strong>; haply you will underst<strong>an</strong>d; <strong>an</strong>d behold, it is in the<br />
Essence of the Book [umm al-kitab], with Us; sublime indeed, wise” (43:2–4). It contains, quite simply,<br />
the truth: “These are the signs [ayats, “signs” or “verses”] of the Book; <strong>an</strong>d that which has been sent<br />
down to thee from thy Lord is the truth, but most men do not believe” (13:1). Muslims throughout history<br />
have regarded the Qur'<strong>an</strong> as the unquestioned, unquestionable word of Allah, the supreme guide to hum<strong>an</strong><br />
behavior, the inexhaustible fount of knowledge, wisdom, <strong>an</strong>d insight <strong>into</strong> the inner workings of this world<br />
<strong>an</strong>d the next.<br />
What's more, Muslims believe that the Qur'<strong>an</strong>'s text as it st<strong>an</strong>ds today is the same as it was when the<br />
caliph Uthm<strong>an</strong> compiled <strong>an</strong>d published the st<strong>an</strong>dard c<strong>an</strong>onical text. Nothing has been ch<strong>an</strong>ged, nothing has<br />
been added, nothing has been lost. “The text of the Qur'<strong>an</strong> is entirely reliable,” says the modern-day<br />
Turkish Muslim political <strong>an</strong>d educational leader Fethullah Gülen. “It has been as it is, unaltered, unedited,<br />
not tampered with in <strong>an</strong>y way, since the time of its revelation.” 2 This view has been the st<strong>an</strong>dard in the<br />
Islamic world since at least the tenth century. The Mutazilites, alone among Muslims, believed the Qur'<strong>an</strong>