Koran

"Koran" and "Quran"

"Koran" and "Quran" refer to the same text, and is the name of the holy book of Islam. The variation in spelling is due to the challenges of transliterating the Arabic word "قرآن" into English, with "Quran" generally considered a more accurate and scholarly rendering of the Arabic sounds.

Muslims believe the Quran was orally revealed by God to the last prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel incrementally over a period of some 23 years. In Islamic tradition Muhammad was 40 when he began writing and concluded around 632 in the year of his death.

Muslims regard the Quran as a proof of Muhammad's prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages starting with those revealed to Adam, then Abraham and the Torah, Psalms, and even the Gospel where all are Islamic prophet sharing God's divine speech providing His teachings.

This has led Muslim theologians to fiercely debate whether the Quran was "created or uncreated." According to tradition, several of Muhammad's companions served as scribes, recording the revelations.

Eventually the first caliph Abu Bakr ( 632–634) had his companions write recorded parts of the text.

Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656) established a standard version, now known as the Uthmanic codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with some differences in meaning.

Surah Maryam (19:33-36), which speaks about Jesus's birth and purpose, and Surah Al-Ahzab (33:33-36), which contains a commandment regarding believers' obedience. However, since the query mentions "Surah Jesus", Surah Maryam 19:33-36 is more relevant as it directly discusses Jesus.

Vowel points

The original Koran would not have been written with Arabic vowel points; it appears to have been initially recorded as a consonantal skeleton (rasm) without diacritics or vowels, similar to early Aramaic and Syriac Christian texts which also lacked vowel markings until a much later period.

Lack of dots and points

The early Arabic script used for the Koran was derived from Syro-Aramaic cursive models and lacked the diacritical dots (iʿjām) and vowel signs (ḥarakāt) which are considered necessary to distinguish between similar consonants or indicate short vowels. This was considered to be a defect shared by contemporary Syriac Bibles and also Aramaic homilies.

The Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 685–705 CE), after the death of Marwan (r. 684–685) ruled as the fifth Caliph of the Umayyad Empire. The Caliph ʿAbd had been the first generation of born Muslims, with his early life spent in Medina in religious pursuits.

Vowels and diacritical points were systematically introduced centuries later, primarily during the reign of this Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik but also through subsequent standardization efforts in the 8th to 10th centuries, whereas Syriac texts had already adopted similar vowel systems (like pṯāḥā) earlier in their liturgical history.

Christoph Luxenberg argue that these missing vowels led to systematic misinterpretations, suggesting that many enigmatic verses were originally Syro-Aramaic Christian lectionaries or homilies that were later vocalized as Arabic. The book The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran written in German in 2000 and translated into English in 2007, proposes that the early Qur'an was not exclusively classical Arabic but rather a Syro-Aramaic dialect and heavily influenced by Syriac Christian liturgy. He argues that some of the more obscure passages of the Koran become clear when interpreted as Syriac. This challenges the suggestion that the Koran is solely in the Arabic of the Quraysh tribe.

Some Quotes

• Surah Maryam, 19 Verses

19:27: She shakes the palm tree trunk, and fresh, ripe dates fall, as [

19:28: She is told to eat and drink and to put her heart at ease, as

19:29: She is instructed to remain silent and say, "I have vowed silence to the Most Compassionate,"

19:30-31: She returns to her people with the baby, and they are shocked, questioning her actions and her background, as recounts.

19:32-33: The baby Jesus speaks from the cradle, declaring, "I am truly a servant of Allah. He has destined me to be given the Scripture and to be a prophet. "

19:33 Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I will be raised back to life!”

19:34 That is Jesus, son of Mary. ˹And this is˺ a word of truth, about which they dispute.

19:35 It is not for Allah to take a son! Glory be to Him. When He decrees a matter, He simply tells it, “Be!” And it is!

19:36 And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him ˹alone˺. This is the Straight Path.

• Surah Az-Zumar, 39 Verse 33

"And the one who has brought the truth and those who embrace it—it is they who are the righteous."

The Surah was revealed in Mecca, ordered 46 in the Quran.

• Surah Al-Ahqaf, 46 Verse 33

"Do they not realize that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth and did not tire in creating them, is able to give life to the dead? Yes ˹indeed˺! He is certainly Most Capable of everything."

Other quotes

Don't lie (22:30) Don't spy (49:12) Don't exult (28:76) Don't insult (49:11) Don't waste (17:26) Feed the poor (22:36) Don't backbite (49:12) Keep your oaths (5:89)