To Muslims: Should the qur’an be open to textual and literary criticism the way the bible is?

Question

Bibi sounds just like a Christian who lived 1000 when they couldn't question the bible.

Answer 1

There is no way Islamic clerics will allow an open public forum on the Koran, they know it would be death for the Koran, and then Mohammedanism. They know they can not defend it in the open public in front of critics.

Answer 2

Sure can, Quran actually asks you to find contradictions and ask to not just criticize but also ask questions if you have any doubts about it.

For example, if you think there is a scientific error is Quran, an Islamic priest may not be able to answer that so go to a scientist.
If you think there is a mathematical error, go to a math professor.
And use your common sense and be open minded.

Then we have few sisters and brothers who are not in Islam talk about 2 verses.
One talks about slaying the non believers and other about these is no completion in Islam.
About slaying the disbelievers who ragged a war against Muslims was meant this one war during Mecca's quest and if you read the whole surah (chapter), you will see what does it say.

Also, I have come across no less than 10 verses in Bible (OT and NT) about the treatment against disbeliever and here is a hint: There is no mercy.

2nd one about there is no compulsion in Islam means that a Muslim can not talk to a pagan and say "hey dude, you pray sun? I tell you what, you say my God is your God and I will say sun is also my God" just like the Church did in early days under Roman empire and changed their day to pray from Saturday to Sunday because Romans of that time prayed to sun as god and have that day of the week as the prayer/off day.

Answer 3

Muslims believe that qur'an is the exact words of God dictated to their prophet Muhamed. In certain verse of the qur'an ,God defied skeptics that the contents of this book are protected by God himself from being changed forever which is a miracle in itself. As if oneday the qur'an is changed, the credibility of the book and the whole religion will fall apart. If Muhammed was the one who wrote this book or made it up, i don't think he'll ever put himself in such a delicate situation by assuring something that's going to happen in the future. So as qur'an hasn't changed(not even a letter) almost 1400 years so far, its credibility is still untouchable.

About your question, Qur'an has always been open to textual and literary criticism since day one by skeptics everywhere and all time. You can't stop people from doubting as it's the first step to true knowledge.

cheers :)

Answer 4

The christians rewrote the bible sooo many times. I can prove it if you like but not in this post. (contact me)

It seems that the only people changing the Quran are the non muslims. There are new different versions of the Quran. And every muslim detests them and spot their fakeness from a mile away. But the point is WHY IS WINEPRESS AND OMEGA2000 trying to write new versions of the quran. they are just morans thinking that muslims can be changed like the christians.

Answer 5

Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the literal word of God (Arabic Allah) as revealed to Muhammad, over a period of twenty-three years by the angel Gabriel and regard it as God's final revelation to mankind.

Muslims also call the Qur'an the "Final Testament", "The Book", "Book of God" and "The Revelation."

The Qur'an has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication. As discussed earlier, later Muslims did not always understand the Qur'an's Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims, and they were extremely concerned to reconcile apparent contradictions and conflicts in the Qur'an. Commentators glossed the Arabic, explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, decided which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "abrogating" (nāsikh) the earlier text. Memories of the occasions of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), the circumstances under which Muhammad had spoken as he did, were also collected, as they were believed to explain some apparent obscurities. It should be noted that not all Muslims believe that there are abrogations in the text of the Qur'an, and insist that there are no contradictions or unclear passages to explain.

Most commentators considered it extremely important for commentators to explain how the Qur'an was revealed -- when and under which circumstances. Much commentary, or tafsir, was dedicated to history. The early tafsir are considered to be some of the best sources for Islamic history. Famous early commentators include at-Tabari and Ibn Kathir.

(These classic commentaries usually include all common and accepted interpretations; modern fundamentalist commentaries like that written by Sayyed Qutb tend to advance only one of the possible interpretations.)

Commentators feel fairly sure of the exact circumstances prompting some verses, such as surat Iqra, or many parts, including ayat 190-194, of surat al-Baqarah. In other cases (eg surat al-Asr), the most that can be said is which city the Prophet was living in at the time (dividing between Makkan and Madinan suras.) In some cases, such as surat al-Kawthar, the details of the circumstances are disputed, with different traditions giving different accounts.

The most important external aid used in interpreting the meanings of the Qur'an are the hadith — the collected oral traditions upon which Muslim scholars (the ulema) based Islamic history and law. Scholars sifted the many thousands of hadith, trying to discover which were true and which were fabrications. One method, extensively used, was a study of the chain of narrators, the isnad, by which the tradition had been passed.

While certain hadith — the hadith qudsi — are thought to reflect noncanonical words spoken by God to Muhammad, Muslims do not consider these to form any part of the Qur'an.

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Similarities between the Qur'an and the Bible
Main article: Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
The Qur'an retells stories of many of the people and events recounted in Jewish and Christian sacred books (Tanakh, Bible) and devotional literature (Apocrypha, Midrash), although it differs in many details. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and John the Baptist are mentioned in the Qur'an as Prophets of Islam (a list with additional people is in Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an). Muslims believe that differences between Quranic versions and Christian or Jewish texts (both of which are considered divine) are due to the Christian and Jewish texts having been corrupted (tahrif) and changed over time, and believe that the Qur'an presents the correct version.

Answer 6

The Quran is the Word of God and God Will Defend himself and his words not man so if anyone want to study critism then go right ahead you would not be the first infact during the time of the Prophet (P) it was criticised by people even the prophet's own family members

in the quran there is a chapter that says say to those who do not believe i do not worship the way you worship and you do not worship the way i worship and i will not worship they way you worhip and you will not worship the way i worship SO TO YOU BE YOUR WAY AND TO ME BE MINE

that is just to show that muslims did not go around beheading people if they did not believe or if they criticised the Quran they left them alone and they wanted to be left alone

Answer 7

Well all i wanna say is buddy im sure that you never watch religious programs on the t.v , Islam has been challenged many times before by the other religions and yet it stands strong in its test of time ... The words are simple but .... do think about it

Answer 8

Oh, I thought it already was open to criticism?!? Here is one site below that looks at various bibles and critiques them.

Answer 9

It has always been open for that. Moreover, the Quran itself listed many claims of its critics and responded to them.

Answer 10

it is open to criticism, but you're not going to find any. if you read it in english, it is not truly the word of god. but if you read the arabic (which IS the literal word of god) you will find no flaw. in addition, as with any book, including the bible, all things must be read in context!