Opus 2026-484: Koran Klarifications II: Some Background

I read through the Koran in 2005, during vacation, in my spare time.  It took me 15 days.  It was not because I felt a sudden interest in Islam.  I had finally worked my way up to teaching American History at my middle school.  I had been looking forward to this because it included the Constitution and since I love my country this was a real chance to introduce young minds to the great documents of our time.  Our principal was a left winger who did not appreciate me or anything I believed in so she did a little manipulating.  She transferred a teacher into my position and gave me his.  

He was born in Lebanon and was raised a Catholic.  He would consider himself agnostic at best.  He was not Muslim but was fluent in Arabic and told me that the Koran was some of the most beautiful poetry in the world.  He also hated America and was at best an extreme socialist.  That is why she had him teach American history.  I was stuck with the grade that covered Islam.  Welcome to public education.  I figured that if I was going to teach it, the least I could do was read what the Muslims considered their holy book.  So I bought and read the Koran.

Reading the introductory comments in the Muslim published Koran was like reading the comments of a dispensational Calvinist in a Bible commentary on the book of Romans.  You know that they believe what they are telling you but you are not sure that they are right.  For instance,

“In the Caliphate of Othman, all existing copies of surahs were called in, and an authoritative version, based on Abu Bakr’s collection and the testimony of those who had the whole Koran by heart, was compiled exactly in the present form and order, which is regarded as traditional and as the arrangement of the Prophet himself,...”, QII, p. 18

(What is a surah?  It is a division in the Koran which you can think of as a chapter or like a book of the Bible.  They vary from seven lines to twenty eight pages.  There are 114 surahs.  You will find a similar word in the book of Psalms where it is used in what they think of as a musical notation.

(Psalms 3:2 KJV)  Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

Its meaning in Hebrew is given as “to life up, to exalt”.  You an see how that might have a similar connotation in Arabic.  This is totally my speculation, so take it for what it is worth.)

Sounds good and is similar to what I hear from Christians who believe the KJV is the only real translation.  The problem is that I have talked to scholars who know of several different versions of the Koran and I know of at least two different orders of the surahs.  It seems like the scholars working on the Koran have a lot of the same issues that Bible scholars face.  Keep in mind that they are just as sincere as Bible scholars which means that some are devout searchers after truth and some are agnostic hacks looking for a paycheck.  Ultimately it comes down to what you understand and the conclusions you come to.  I will be following the order of surahs laid out in the Muslim translation. 

QII, The Glorious Qur’an Translation.  Translated by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall.  New York:  Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., No date.

homo unius libri