Quran question

[No Good Boyo]

After a lengthy discussion with a Muslim lady on another forum I asked the following:

Rather than implant the Quran in an illiterate mans head, and have him dictate the words to men who could write them, but leave the prophet unable to proof read the works. Would it not have been a more rational solution for an intelligent designer to either a) Hand the prophet the Quran directly, or b) Provide the prophet with an education so that he could write and proof read the works himself.

Unfortunately, rather that receiving a reply I was offered something else. But it still left me curious as to why the more logical choice was not made by the god.

Would be grateful to anyone who can satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks

 

[Cordoba]

Hello there NGB

The Qur'an has been preserved intact through two main ways:

1) The first is memorization of the full text

2) The second is the written Qur'an

These two means have allowed over the centuries for the Qur'an to remain error free, as there are millions of Muslims who know the Qur'an by heart and can therefore identify any mistake in a printed version of the Qur'an and thereby ensure such error is not spread

Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him received the Qur'an from God through angel Gabriel over a duration of 23 years, and he memorized each group of verses which were revealed to him, and his scribes wrote them down, then later all was compiled in book format

For this process to take place, there was no need for the Prophet to be literate. In fact, one of the proofs that he himself did not invent the Qur'an or borrow it from earlier divine revelations, is that he could neither read nor write

The "proof reading" phase by the Prophet was done on the oral recitation of the Qur'an, not the written version, as the oral transmission was the origin, while the written copy was the "backup" version

For more background on how the Qur'an was compiled in book format, you may wish to check this URL by German scholar Ahmad Von Denffer:

Ulum al Qur'an

(Chapter 2)

 

[No Good Boyo]

Hello there NGB

The "proof reading" phase by the Prophet was done on the oral recitation of the Qur'an,

Thanks Cordoba, that is the answer that the other person was unable to deliver.

Although, for my money, it is still far fetched. But at least I now know the story behind it.

Much obliged

 

[sandandfoam]

The Quran is a book dedicated to hate and control.

no that's willy wonkas chocolate factory you're thinking of

 

[No Good Boyo]

The Quran is a book dediacted to hate and control.

I think there is a degree of hate and control in all religious books. But it's not the books that makes evil people do evil things, it's the people who take them to the extremes that cause the problem. On the upside, as the education standards of the average person increases, the number of extreme followers drops. On the down side, as time goes on the extremists have more advanced and devastating means to kill people.

 

[Shahzad]

You understand your question is unanswerable right? It would require someone to know why Allah did what he did, such knowledge is not possibly available so the question is pointless.

 

[No Good Boyo]

You understand your question is unanswerable right? It would require someone to know why Allah did what he did, such knowledge is not possibly available so the question is pointless.

Read it again. "Would it not have been a more rational solution..." is a question any person can answer. I did not say "Why didn't god...". That is a question no one can answer.

 

[Shahzad]

Read it again. "Would it not have been a more rational solution..." is a question any person can answer. I did not say "Why didn't god...". That is a question no one can answer.

Well your question assumes the Quran needed to be proof read, Muhammad had the entire Quran committed to memory, according to Islamic tradition. Oh I see Cordoba already said that anyway, nevermind!

 

[No Good Boyo]

Well your question assumes the Quran needed to be proof read, Muhammad had the entire Quran committed to memory, according to Islamic tradition. Oh I see Cordoba already said that anyway, nevermind!

yup, that's why I came here and asked the question. I knew I'd get an answer

 

[No Good Boyo]

Well your question assumes the Quran needed to be proof read, Muhammad had the entire Quran committed to memory, according to Islamic tradition. Oh I see Cordoba already said that anyway, nevermind!

Although, it would still have been far more logical for the god to have given the prophet the written text himself. Thereby presenting a miracle of an ilitererate showing up with a freshly written book.

 

[YmirGF]

I can only echo Cordoba's comments. As far as my understanding goes, the text was preserved via oral recitation for some time and then years later written down. The recitations were checked one to the other to ensure the integrity of what was given.

As to your question about the foibles of an allegedly intelligent designer, the method chosen did have its merit. By its nature, the Qur'an is fairly easy to remember, via the rhythms and cadence of the original Arabic text. It is easier to memorize than say a book on physics, that was designed to be read and not necessarily spoken, one person to another. Given that most people of his day could neither read nor write, it would seem to be a reasonable method of dissemination.

Also, take into consideration that the Qur'an was revealed over a period of 28 years and was not revealed in the order that the verses now find themselves in (from longest to the shortest).