القرآن
al-qurʾān
Possibly the most influential channelled text doesn't even have a real name.
We know it as القرآن (the Quran), which simply means “the recitation”,
It is regarded by most Muslims as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language.
Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed through the angel Jibril (Gabriel) from God to Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death.
Furthermore, Muslims believe that the Qur'an was precisely memorized, recited and exactly written down by Muhammad's companions, called Sahabas, after each revelation have been dictated by Muhammad.
Shortly after Muhammad's death the Quran was compiled into a single book by order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and at the suggestion of his future successor Umar.Hafsa, who was Muhammad's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted with that Quran text after the second Caliph Umar died.
When Uthman, the third Caliph, began to notice slight differences in Arabic dialect he asked Hafsa to allow him to use the text in her possession to be set as the standard dialect, the Quraish dialect - the Qurash being Muhammed's tribe.
Before returning the text to Hafsa Uthman made several thousand copies of Abu Bakr's redaction and, to standardize the text, invalidated all other versions of the Quran.
This process of formalization is known as the "Uthmanic recension".
The present form of the Quran text is accepted by most scholars as the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.
It is clear that this is also a commandment.
God stresses the importance of literacy in the very first revelation.
Furthermore, the second revelation (Sura) is "The Pen", which indicates again the importance of written communication.
This makes the importance of literacy even more compelling.
If indeed Muhammad was an illiterate man when the Quran was first revealed to him, how could he not make himself learn to read and write during the twenty some years of his mission ?
Perhaps a more poignant question should be, "How dare he not to obey his Lord’s clear commandment to read and write?" Being a messenger of God, of course he would not dare disobeying his Lord.
Also, in the Quran 25:4-5 there is a verse, where Muhammad’s opponents, who rejected the divine source of the Quran, accused him of fabricating narrations. "Tales from the past that he wrote down; they were dictated to him day and night," or so they alleged.
This is a clear Quranic evidence that Prophet Muhammad was a literate man.
CHANNELLING THE QURAN
Muhammed is unusual in that there are detailed and confirmed descriptions of his beheviour when he claimed to receive communications from the entity he called جبريل (Jibrīl)*.
'The Revelation is always brought to me by an angel: sometimes it is delivered to me as the beating sound of the bell - and this is the hardest experience for me; but sometimes the angel appears to me in the shape of a human and speaks to me.'
'Those who saw the Prophet in this state relate that his condition would change.
Sometimes he would stay motionless as if some terribly heavy load was pressed on him and, even in the coldest day, drops of sweat would fall from his forehead. At other times he would move his lips.'
'He fell to the ground like one intoxicated or overcome by sleep; and in the coldest day his forehead would be bedewed with large drops of perspiration.
Inspiration descended unexpectedly, and without any previous warning.'
'Then Allah's Apostle returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, "Cover me !".
They covered him, and when the state of fear was over'.
All these are symptoms of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
The following is a partial list of the Temporal Lobe Seizure Symptoms & Signs as defined in health.allrefer.com
Hallucinations or illusions such as hearing voices when no one has spoken, seeing patterns, lights, beings or objects that aren't there.
Rhythmic muscle contraction. Muscle cramps are involuntary and often painful contractions of the muscles which produce a hard, bulging muscle.
Abdominal pain or discomfort. Sudden, intense emotion such as fear. Muscle twitching (fasciculation) is the result of spontaneous local muscle contractions that are involuntary and typically only affect individual muscle groups. This twitching does not cause pain.
Abnormal mouth behaviors. Abnormal head movements. Sweating. Flushed face. Rapid heart rate/pulse.
Changes in vision, speech, thought, awareness, personality
Loss of memory (amnesia) regarding events around the seizure (partial complex seizure).
Muḥammad himself could not at first identify the spirit that possessed him, and the Qurʾān mentions him by name only three times.
Jibrīl, however, became Muḥammad’s constant helper.
He and the archangel Mīkāl purified Muḥammad’s heart in preparation for the Prophet’s ascension to heaven (miʿrāj), and then Jibrīl guided him through the various levels until they reached the throne of God.
When Muḥammad recited a supposed revelation acknowledging the pagan goddesses al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt, (the Satanic Verses) Jibrīl chastised him for presenting as divine a message inspired by the devil.
Jibrīl also helped Muḥammad in times of political crises, coming to his aid at the Battle of Badr (624) with thousands of angels, then telling him to attack the Jewish tribes of Banū Qaynuqāʿ and Banū Qurayẓah.
There is evidence that Muhammad, as he grew older, was less effected by his temporal lobe epilepsy.
The early channelled communications, commonly called the 'Meccan Suras' (sura - chapter), are very different when compared to the later suras, usually reffered to as the 'Medinan Suras'.
The Meccan Suras have a beauty and an imaginative quality that is often found in genuine channelled texts (Crowley's 'Book of the Law for example).
The Medinan Suras are lifeless in comparisson, (and much longer on average), and primarily concerned with the military and political scheming that preoccupied Muhammad when he became a general and political leader.
It has been suggested, therefore, that the early suras were channelled, while the later suras (which were still claimed to be from Jibrīl), were, in fact, composed by Muhammad unaided.
The Meccan suras are the chronologically earlier suras of the Qur'an that were, according to Islamic tradition, revealed anytime before the Hijrah (pilgrimage of the Prophet Muhammed from Makkah to Medina). The other type of sura is the Madinan sura.
Meccan suras are typically shorter, with relatively short ayat, and mostly come near the end of the Qur'an.
The division of surahs into 'Meccan surahs' and 'Medinan surahs' is primarily a consequence of stylistic and thematic considerations. Classification of the surahs into these periods is based upon factors such as the length of the verse and the presence or absence of certain key concepts.
THE QURAN and ISLAM
The Quran has much in common with the Book of Mormon.Both books describe a basically eclectic, syncretic** religion.
Both Mormonism and Islam draw heavily on Judeo-Christian themes and orthodox Christian doctrine, while adding their own peculiar narratives, doctrines and practices.
Initially Islam, along with Mormonism at a later date, were considered to be heretical forms of Christianity - hence he Crusades with regards to Islam.
Later, however, they were both considered to be separate, non-Christian faiths.
In fact they are eclectic, syncretic amalgams of various Jewish, Christian and Gnostic narratives and doctrines.
The Quran recounts many of the stories of the Jewish Pentateuch (the Five Books of Moses), including the story of Adam and Eve, The Story of Abraham, and the Story of Moses and the Exodus.Also included, and coming from the Gospels is the Nativity Narrative, and details about the death of Jesus.
It is obvious that Muhammad obtained his information about Christianity from various Gnostic Christian groups - (he refers to the monks in the desert) - docetists*** who were active in the middle East at the time.
The question, of course, remains - who, or what, were Jibrīl and Moroni ?
* According to the Quran , Gabriel (Jibra'il) the angel who revealed the Qur'an to the prophet Muhammad, and sent a message to most prophets, if not all, revealing their obligations.
Gabriel is named numerous times in the Qur'an (II: 97, 98; LXVI: 4); and, in II: 97, the Qur'an expressly narrates:
'Who is an enemy to Gabriel! For he it is who hath revealed (this scripture) to thy heart by God's leave, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, and a guidance and glad tidings to believers.'
He is called the chief of the four favoured angels and the spirit of truth.
He is called the created Holy Spirit (Islam), which is not to be confused with the Holy Spirit of God in Christianity who is revered as God Himself.
In Muslim tradition, Gabriel occupies the role of one of the primary archangels and all historical commentaries build upon Gabriel's role as the transmitter of the Qur'an.
Exegesis narrates that Muhammad saw Gabriel in his full angelic splendor only twice, the first being when he received his first revelation.
Muslims also revere Gabriel for a number of historical events predating the first revelation.
Muslims believe that Gabriel was the angel who informed Zachariah of John's birth as well as Mary of the future birth of Jesus and that Gabriel was one of three angels who had earlier informed Abraham of the birth of Isaac.
These events of Zachariah and Mary can be found also in the Quran, mentioned in surah Maryam.
Syncretism is also common in literature, music, the representational arts and other expressions of culture. (Compare the concept of eclecticism.) There also exist syncretic politics, although in political classification the term has a somewhat different meaning.
*** Docetism (from the Greek δοκεἲν/δόκησις dokein (to seem) /dókēsis (apparition, phantom), is defined narrowly as "the doctrine according to which the phenomenon of Christ, his historical and bodily existence, and thus above all the human form of Jesus, was altogether mere semblance without any true reality."
The Qur'an has a docetic or gnostic Christology, viewing Jesus as a divine illuminator rather than the redeemer of Pauline Christianity.
In Sura 4:157–158 we read:'And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger — they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise'.
The Qur'an was compiled in the mid-seventh century AD (around 650 CE), corresponding to the period when docetism was still commonly accepted and taught among some Christian sects.
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