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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Was There a Koran before Mohammad?

Here is an interesting tidbit that could cause a stir among Muslims. Carbon dating on the world's oldest known copy of the Koran suggests it may pre-date the Prophet Mohammad-who supposedly received the verses from Allah via the angel Gabriel.


http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/09/01/carbon-dating-suggests-fragments-world-oldest-korean-may-predate-muhammad/?intcmp=hplnws

I wonder if this story really has legs or will it be quickly hushed up? After all, this could turn Islam on its head although the outside date given could still accommodate the period of Mohammad-though Koranic productions were thought to have come after his death. The truth of Islam basically stands or falls on whether Mohammad was truly the Messenger of Allah and received the Koran verses as revelations from Allah. Of course all the major religions have supernatural aspects to them and to be fair, the truth of Christianity rests with whether Jesus was truly the Son of God.

It would be interesting to see this inquiry continue, however because it has the potential of scientifically refuting the major foundation of the faith. For that reason given the current climate, I doubt this inquiry will gain many supporters.

Kind of like those scientific tests that refute Global Warming.

5 comments:

Siarlys Jenkins said...

the fragments were produced between the years 568 A.D. and 645 A.D. Muhammad is generally believed to have lived between 570 A.D. and 632 A.D. The man known to Muslims as The Prophet is thought to have founded Islam sometime after 610 A.D.

I don't know why you would be so obsessed with minutiae like this -- are you a fan of the Jesus Project also? But the conclusion is ludicrous. Radio carbon dating is notoriously non-specific for recent periods like this, and all they've shown is the manuscript dates to a period up to two years prior to Mohammed's birth, and up to 13 years after his death, with the year he is believed to have started preaching smack dab in the middle of the dated period.

What IS interesting about the volume known as the Qu'ran is that it was assembled AFTER Mohammed died, from whatever scraps and notes and recollections could be assembled from his contemporaries. That makes it, if anything, a little less authoritative than if he had written it all down himself, or if a scribe had taken it down as he was relating his latest revelation.

Gary Fouse said...

I did not describe this as an absolute refutation of Mohammad. I think I used the term, "may".

No irresponsible reporting here.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Even "may" is a stretch. As carbon 14 dating goes, this basically places the manuscript right in Mohammed's life time. Its like today's headline reading "Sun may not rise due east on days other than the equinox." And your obsession with the subject is what really stands out. What difference does it make to you?

"I didn't lie, I just make a huge mountain out of a very small molehill."

Gary Fouse said...

I did not jump to conclusions, rather I said this may be significant if it turns out that the document predated Mohammad. I didn't claim that it did.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Oh, I see, you had a dry news day, and this was the best you could come up with... you did think it had some significance worth posting... and it doesn't add up to diddly squat.