addressed as ‘‘Sister of Aaron,’’ the brother of Moses (Sura
19:28). St. Ann, Mary’s mother, is even called the wife of
Amram (see Sura 3:35). In fact, there were 1,500 years
between these two Maryams. This obvious historical blunder
should be a source of great consternation and difficulty for
the Muslim apologist. If the Koran is so obviously mistaken
on this point, why should it be considered reliable on other
points of history?
41. Does Islam have a teaching
authority similar to the Pope and
Bishops?
No, but there are several notable sources that are
considered authoritative in Islam. None of these sources,
though, has a definitive authority similar to the Magisterium
— that is, the Pope and the Bishops — of the Catholic
Church. It is important for Christians to be aware of these
sources of authority in Islam because occasionally they will
affect how an individual Muslim understands a particular
passage of the Koran or the Hadith. These authoritative
sources include:
a. Aconsensus (Ijma’) of Islamic scholars: if scholars
agree on a disputed matter, their opinion carries much
greater weight in an Islamic community than does the word
of just one scholar.
b. The method of reasoning by analogy (Qiyas).