Posted: Mar 17, 2010 7:48 pm
Nor was I saying that. I'm saying that it was changed almost as soon as it was first written and it's been changed again since then. I haven't had time to find quotations, but it goes roughly like this:Aurlito wrote:I wasn't saying that. it's not changed a bit. if they wanted to divert Quran they had to knock every door from Arabia to Kharasm and ask the residents: "Would you kindly give us your version of Quran so we can change it and deceive you?"
1) Mohammed recited it to people
2) some remembered it, some wrote parts of it down
3) details of it began to vary in different parts of Arabia
4) every copy or part of a copy that could be was gathered together. A human being decided which bits were the right bits and wrote them down. All the originals were then destroyed. Several copies of this authorised version were made - and even some of these differed slightly.
That much, so far as I am aware, is agreed by Islamic scholars.
5) Now at the time of those first writings, the Arabic script in use was "defective". That means that what was written down wasn't exactly what was spoken. Some consonants were ambiguous and there were no vowels. So it was possible for things written to be spoken in different ways and so have alternative meanings.
6) Over centuries, the Arabic script was improved - first with more distinct consonants and then with vowels added.
7) To make the transition from the original book to what is now used, the words had to be clarified. This required human intervention and changes.
So what is supposed to have been recited by Mohammed has been changed in the process of being converted into the book on the family shelves. (Even these vary slightly according to country, by the way.)
I hope that explains what I'm about. Please feel free to correct me if you can show that I'm wrong - I don't claim to be an expert.