Here's my response to the Qur'anic claim that Jesus didn't die on the cross. You can see the original challenge here.
Comments
I have been talking on and off with a Muslim from Pakistan. We have discussed authority ad nauseam. He claims, and he seems knowledgeable concerning Islam and it's origins.
About a year ago we were discussing eye-witness sources and he claimed that what was revealed by what they believe to be the angel Gabriel to Muhammed, was written down on by Mohammed's friends on whatever was laying around such as bone fragments, skins, etc. But they relied heavily on recitation of the revealed word of Allah. Then you have Uthman who later came in and, according to the Muslim I have been speaking with (and other sources i've read), destroyed all the written variations in pronunciation (he claims there were no variations in text even though there is proof of at least one that is still in existence today: The Tashkent manuscript). And there was a lively disagreement concerning Uthman's edict and one of Mohammed's first converts in Mecca: Abdallah. It was over the future removal of the Quran (or according to my Muslim friend: the recitation) that Abdallah was using.
None-the-less, I digress back to the point. He states that as soon as it was revealed to Muhammed, an illiterate man, he repeated it to his friends who wrote it down. He would trace the one Quran all the way back to Uthman and he believes (this is where he has to take this on faith) that from Uthman back there was only one Quran with different pronunciations of recitations. He takes this view to show that the Quran is superior to the Bible as the copies we have today are at least decades, if not more, removed from the original authors.
But back to my rabbit trail, when I pushed him on the Tashkent manuscript, he said that he does not believe it, at least the differing part, to be legitimate but a tactic of someone or some group looking to discredit Islam. I then asked him why it was given back to Muslims (who sought its return to them) and housed in a mosque? Did you believe those Muslims to not be true Muslims. His answer to this was that they believe a bit differently than the majority of Muslims be he is not one to say they are not Muslims.
Thanks for takgin the time to post this video, but what would you say to the Muslim who holds a view similar to my Muslim friend?
By the way, here is a link he sent me concerning a history of the Quran. I have found it helpful in understanding how (and why) he thinks what he does. And this book is his attempt at showing me, what you are saying (and I agree) is the crux of the argument: authority.
http://www.kalamullah.com/Books/history_of_quranic_text.pdf
Invite him to read the Bible with you, but instead of arguing with him, guide him to begin to take action based off of what he reads. Muslims, despite the fact they believe the Bible is corrupted, believe that it is still Holy. Teach him to start doing what the Bible teaches (you yourself do it too), hold each other accountable. Start in Genesis, and work your way through important passages. When he begins to live as God's word teaches, he will begin to think differently. If he is not willing to live as God's word teaches, then you are wasting your time with a Muslim. He is not ready.
I have been talking on and off with a Muslim from Pakistan. We have discussed authority ad nauseam. He claims, and he seems knowledgeable concerning Islam and it's origins.
About a year ago we were discussing eye-witness sources and he claimed that what was revealed by what they believe to be the angel Gabriel to Muhammed, was written down on by Mohammed's friends on whatever was laying around such as bone fragments, skins, etc. But they relied heavily on recitation of the revealed word of Allah. Then you have Uthman who later came in and, according to the Muslim I have been speaking with (and other sources i've read), destroyed all the written variations in pronunciation (he claims there were no variations in text even though there is proof of at least one that is still in existence today: The Tashkent manuscript). And there was a lively disagreement concerning Uthman's edict and one of Mohammed's first converts in Mecca: Abdallah. It was over the future removal of the Quran (or according to my Muslim friend: the recitation) that Abdallah was using.
None-the-less, I digress back to the point. He states that as soon as it was revealed to Muhammed, an illiterate man, he repeated it to his friends who wrote it down. He would trace the one Quran all the way back to Uthman and he believes (this is where he has to take this on faith) that from Uthman back there was only one Quran with different pronunciations of recitations. He takes this view to show that the Quran is superior to the Bible as the copies we have today are at least decades, if not more, removed from the original authors.
But back to my rabbit trail, when I pushed him on the Tashkent manuscript, he said that he does not believe it, at least the differing part, to be legitimate but a tactic of someone or some group looking to discredit Islam. I then asked him why it was given back to Muslims (who sought its return to them) and housed in a mosque? Did you believe those Muslims to not be true Muslims. His answer to this was that they believe a bit differently than the majority of Muslims be he is not one to say they are not Muslims.
Thanks for takgin the time to post this video, but what would you say to the Muslim who holds a view similar to my Muslim friend?
By the way, here is a link he sent me concerning a history of the Quran. I have found it helpful in understanding how (and why) he thinks what he does. And this book is his attempt at showing me, what you are saying (and I agree) is the crux of the argument: authority.
http://www.kalamullah.com/Books/history_of_quranic_text.pdf
Posted by: Jeremy Rasnic | October 17, 2013 at 12:07 PM
Jeremy, why not try this?
Invite him to read the Bible with you, but instead of arguing with him, guide him to begin to take action based off of what he reads. Muslims, despite the fact they believe the Bible is corrupted, believe that it is still Holy. Teach him to start doing what the Bible teaches (you yourself do it too), hold each other accountable. Start in Genesis, and work your way through important passages. When he begins to live as God's word teaches, he will begin to think differently. If he is not willing to live as God's word teaches, then you are wasting your time with a Muslim. He is not ready.
Posted by: Jared Berryman | October 24, 2013 at 04:15 PM