Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

(Jacob Rumans) #1

In fact, in classical Arabic, omeyeen never referred to
illiterates or to illiteracy. It refers to non-Jewish people: the
verse says that Allah has sent a Gentile apostle to the
Gentiles. Omeyeen is an adjectival form of the Arabic noun
for Gentiles, and not all Gentiles were illiterate during the
time of Muhammad.


29. Did Muhammad write the Koran?


No, he did not. But although Muhammad himself did not
write any of it, the Koran very much reflects the concerns of
the Prophet and his seventh century community. During his
lifetime, his followers recorded his revelations on any
material they had handy, but most of all they committed
them to memory in what was primarily an oral culture. The
collection of all of Muhammad’s alleged revelations into
one volume only began in earnest when the ongoing holy
wars, or jihads, being waged by Muslims raised the real
possibility that the only person who had committed an
important revelation to memory might be killed in battle,
and the revelation would be lost forever.


30. How is the Koran different from


the Bible?


In content, the closest books to the Koran in the Bible are
the five books of Moses — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Muslim holy book has the

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