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The Qur'an reigns supreme in
Muslim hearts as the most sacred of texts: a profusion of exalted
ideas to rouse the mind, noble histories to stir the soul, universal
truths to awaken the conscience and precise injunctions directing
humanity to its own deliverance, all distilled into the melodious
essence that is the Word of Allah. Through fourteen centuries
Muslims have persevered in championing the text against corruption,
memorising its every word and contemplating its every phrase, so
that in our own times untold millions have enthusiastially committed
each letter to heart.
Beginning with a catalogue of ancient and contemporary attacks on
the Qur'an, this expansive book provides unique insights into the
holy text's immaculate preservation throughout its history, as well
as exploring many of the accusations levelled against it. The
reception of divine revelations, Prophet Muhammad's role in teaching
and disseminating these verses, the text's compilation under his
guidance and the setting of its final external shape shortly after
his death, are meticulously and scientifically examinded alongside
such topics as the origins of Arabic, its palaeography and
orthography, the so-called Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, and the strict
methodology employed in assembling textual fragments.
By way of comparison the author investigates the histories of the
Old and New Testaments, relying entirely on Judaeo-Christian sources
including the Dead Sea Scrolls and uncovers a startling range of
alterations that touch almost every fact of the Biblical Scriptures.
Using this as a springboard for assessing Western theories regarding
the Qur'an, he makes a sophisticated yet passionate case for
questioning the aims of Western scholarship in continuously
undermining Islam's holy book, and illustrates convincingly that
such research, motivated by more than mere curiousity, has no
scientific bearing on the Qur'an's integrity.
This monumental effort, a scholarly work composed in an impassioned
tone, provides a welcome foundation for sincere study at a time when
assailing the Qur'an has become all too common.
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