Introduction

As is true of any scripture, the Qur’an is a vital part of understanding Islam both as it is practiced today and as its origins are described. Since most non-Muslims have never read the Qur’an, a brief introduction is in order. The word “Qur’an” means “recitation” in Arabic and is thought to be derived from the Syriac word “Quryana,” which refers to “lectionary, or liturgical, readings.”^[1] As the holy scripture of Islam, the Qur’an is the main source of guidance for Muslims, though much of the sharia law is derived from other sources (namely the Hadith, which records the traditional sayings of Muhammad, the Sira, which contains biographical material on Muhammad, the Tafsir, which contains commentaries on the Qur’an, and Fiqh, which is Islamic Jurisprudence).^[2] The 114 chapters, or Surahs, in the Qur’an contain instruction on a variety of topics, including the greatness of Allah, relationships with Jews and Christians, interactions with non-Muslims, and how Muslims ought to conduct themselves in everything from prayer and alms to marriage and military conflicts. Unlike the Christian or Jewish scriptures, the Qur’an is organized by chapter length rather than chronology. It also contains a number of stories about Old Testament figures such as Moses, David, and Abraham, as well as narratives about Jesus (known as “Isa” in the Qur’an) and his mother, Mary.

This chapter will examine several key concepts that must be understood about the Qur’an, with an emphasis on how Muslims believe it establishes itself as trustworthy and divinely inspired. First, this chapter records the traditional view of what the Qur’an is and where it came from; second, it explains how Muslims defend the truth and accuracy of the Qur’an; and finally, it considers the various arguments from non-Muslim scholars who use historical and manuscript evidence to challenge the traditional view about the origins of the Qur’an. In closing, a section on how these various claims and arguments affect Christians and their witness to Muslims is included for discussion and further reflection.

Traditional Muslim View

The Qur’an is the most important and often the only book Muslims will have. It not only prescribes how they view and worship God, but it also instructs them on how they should treat other Muslims as well as those who reject Islam. A number of key details about the Qur’an are important to understand. First, Muslims claim that the Qur’an is the most perfect book of all time. They maintain that it was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, and then shortly after Muhammad’s death scribes wrote it down. This is believed to be the very version that has been passed on to us today. As God’s final revelation, Muslims argue that it supersedes and corrects previous scriptures, such as the Bible, all of which they contend have been corrupted by men. Second, Muhammad’s direct experience in the process of receiving the Qur’an is foundational to the whole religion of Islam. This section recounts what Muslims affirm regarding the nature of the Qur’an and the reasons they declare that it can be trusted as the infallible and uncorrupted word of Allah.

The traditional account of the Qur’an’s transmission from Allah to man is as follows: Muhammad received revelations from Gabriel over a 23-year period (between the years 610 and his death in 632).^[3] Unlike the Bible, which was written by men who were inspired by God, the Qur’an is considered a word-for-word dictation to Muhammad and an original message from God. Muhammad, who was unable to read or write, began receiving revelations through the angel Gabriel in a cave outside Mecca. He was forced to memorize the words and then recite them to the people in the city. After his death, his successors realized that they would need to record the oral recitations in a book in order to preserve the exact wording of God’s message. At this point, they began to collect whatever portions had been written down on scraps of bone, leaves, and cloth and to combine these verses with those recorded from the ones who had memorized portions of the Qur’an. Muslims believe this was completed around 650 AD during the time of Uthman, who was the third Caliph, or successor of Muhammad.^[4] Tradition asserts that copies of this final compilation were then made and sent out to the various new centers of the growing Islamic sphere of influence.^[5] Through all of these transitional phases —from Muhammad to Muhammad’s followers, to their transmission to the scribes, to the scribes’ various compilations, to the final compilation by one single scribe — Muslims believe that the exact words of Allah have been faithfully recorded in the Qur’an that we have today.

Muslims present several beliefs that they feel support the authenticity and divine origin of the Qur’an. First, they point out several verses within the Qur’an itself which attest to the nature of the revelation as being gradual, perfect in both its original form and its preservation, and the final word of Allah to man. Three elements of this internal evidence should be noted.

1. The Qur’anis literally “sent down from heaven”

Muslims believe that the original Qur’an is written on a tablet that is eternally kept in heaven. In Surah 39:41, the text describes how the revelation was sent down and why it was given:  “Verily, We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Book for mankind in truth. So whosoever accepts the guidance, it is only for his own self; and whosoever goes astray, he goes astray only for his own loss.” This emphasizes the sacred purpose of the Qur’an. Another verse reiterates the unique nature of the revelation: “And this Qur’an is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah” (Qur’an 10:37).

2. The Qur’anis the final revelation

One essential aspect of Islamic beliefs is that the revelation from Allah is the last word of God, and thus is the corrected version of truth. All other “scriptures” from other religions should defer to it whenever there is a conflict. In Surah 4:47 of the Qur’an, the text specifically warns: “O you who have been given the Scripture! Believe in what We [sic] have revealed confirming what is (already) with you…”

3. Allah will preserve the Qur’an

The Qur’an today is believed to be the actual word of Allah because he promised to preserve it intact – and he will certainly be able to do so in his power. The verse which addresses this is Surah 15:9 – “We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will certainly guard it (from corruption).”

Secondly, the writing process itself of the Qur’an is believed to further ensure its authenticity. Although the finalization of the Qur’an did not occur until several decades after Muhammad’s death, Muslims still consider Uthman’s collection to be a faithful rendition of the eternal revelation. Muslims believe that some verses were written down during Muhammad’s lifetime but that the majority of them were never recorded until after his death.^[6] However, as mentioned earlier, the traditional account holds that the full version of the Qur’an was carefully written down about 20 years after Muhammad’s death under the guidance of Uthman (by 650 AD).^[7] During his reign, many of the warriors who had memorized the Qur’an were killed in battle, and Uthman realized that preserving the Qur’an in an oral form alone was a dangerous prospect. He took it upon himself to order all the portions and testimonies of all who memorized the words of Muhammad to be sent to him so that he could collect and preserve the perfect and original words of Allah’s revelation. Afterward, Uthman is said to have destroyed all other manuscripts, as he considered them to be defective. Thus, his work and the resulting version of the Qur’an are considered to be a perfect recollection of the words of Muhammad, exactly as the prophet first uttered them to his followers during his lifetime.^[8]

In addition to the internal evidence and the careful compilation process, the Qur’an is considered to be above all error because it is the latest and the most correct of all scriptures. Its basic message was given to various peoples in the past, but it was always corrupted in some way. Therefore, Allah gave this message to Muhammad in order to preserve the true explanation of his law and his nature. Although Muslims believe that the Jews and Christians had once received the same revelation, over time their carelessness and even deliberate alterations changed the true words of Allah, substituting them with man’s words. For example, the Qur’an holds Jesus up as an example of a true messenger of Allah but describes him as a prophet who supported the Law of Moses and foretold the coming of a messenger who would be named Ahmed (a form of Muhammad). All other claims about Jesus Christ, especially regarding any claims to divinity, are considered to be falsehoods added by Christians who wanted to create superior beliefs of their own. This action by people in the past is explained in the Qur’an as a “knowing perversion” of the word of Allah in writing. Surah 2:75, 79 says that men “deliberately twist [the words of Allah], even when they understood them” and declares: “woe to those who write something down with their own hands and then claim, ‘this is from Allah,’ in order to make some small gain.” A final revelation was needed to correct these corruptions, and Muslims believe that the Qur’an, which calls its words “a universal message” to all people, fulfills this purpose (Q. 80:11).

A fourth reason Muslims give for the perfect authenticity of the Qur’an is the special status of Muhammad. He was the last prophet, giving the final word of Allah, and because of his trustworthiness, he was the only one who could faithfully convey this revelation. The Qur’an describes Muhammad as “the seal of the prophets,” referring to the fact that he has given the most perfect and complete copy of Allah’s message, and therefore is raised above the status of all other messengers (Q. 33:40).

Finally, the Qur’an’s authenticity is defended on the basis of the unsurpassable beauty of its writing. When the Jews in Medina criticized Muhammad for saying his revelation was from God, his defense was that the beauty of the verses verified that only God could author it. One scholar, Karen Armstrong, comments that the Qur’an was “a masterpiece of Arab prose and poetry” which marked the beginning of a new genre of Arabic literature and that many were converted simply through an overpowering sense of wonder and admiration of the text.^[9] According to this view, the Qur’an was not only intellectually riveting, but its aesthetic content was also captivating. In fact, the Qur’an several times challenges unbelievers to create something as elegant as its own Surahs. It is believed that no one has ever been able to meet that challenge and offer a Surah equal to the original (Q. 10:38, 11:13, 17:88). Since man cannot produce these words, it is therefore considered evident that the Qur’an must have had a divine origin.

According to Muslims, then, the Qur’an’s perfect nature and divine origin are supported in the traditional Muslim view by what the Qur’an says about Allah’s role in its revelation, the divine beauty of that revelation, the unique role of Muhammad, and the careful way its final version was compiled. For Muslims, this creates a strong defense for the superiority of the Islamic scriptures over and against any other holy book, regardless of the similarities of certain elements among those scriptures. This is why Muslims believe that the Qur’an is clearly the correction for all other messages, and Muhammad is his final messenger.

Counterview from Revisionist and Neo-Revisionist Scholars

Since the Qur’an is a work of literature, most of the arguments presented against its authenticity as a divinely revealed 7^th-century document are literary critiques. A few historical arguments against its authenticity should also be considered. Revisionist scholars who question the date of its true creation usually highlight the slow development of the Arabic script, the developmental nature of the written language itself, the lack of specificity in early manuscripts, and the possibility of many different sources. Each of these criticisms will be examined in the following sections.

The first argument that revisionist scholars bring up is the precise appearance of the Arabic script in the 7^th-century. Andrew Rippin, a scholar of Islam, for example, argues that “the emergence of a fixed and explicit script for the Arabic language”^[10] would most likely have still been in its intermediate stage of development. He points to a large body of evidence that Arabic was largely only a spoken language in the 7^th century. It would thus have also been too much in flux to have been used only twenty years after Muhammad’s death when Caliph Uthman would have been gathering and compiling his final version of the revelations. This is because, as a written language, Arabic is a consonantal language. Some of the letters used were still not specific to any one sound,^[11] and the vowel markings had not yet been invented.^[12] For an oral culture, this type of writing worked more as a reminder to the reader of content that had already been memorized or at least was very familiar. Fixed or formal correlations between speech and writing did not develop until much later, in the 8^th century.^[13] Thus, these scholars express doubt that the Qur’an could have existed in any format – much less a complete and perfect form – at the date, it claims to originate from (648 AD).

A similar issue is the literary language of the Qur’an. The Qur’an uses a type of Arabic known as classical Arabic, and scholars argue that this advanced literary form of Arabic developed from an earlier “chancery” or business Arabic. The late 8^th century would have been the first time that the more basic version of the language developed the sophistication needed for fine literature and poetry – not merely for basic communication and trade. The classical Arabic of the Qur’an, these scholars argue, would, therefore, have culminated from an artistic flowering of Arabic literary forms, which fits with the rise of the caliphate culture in the late 8^th and early 9^th centuries. This, as scholar John Wansbrough points out, would be a logical explanation for why no Arabic source material from the 7^th century has been located: “it never existed in the first place.”^[14] Since the date of Wansbrough’s writing (1977), Arabic manuscripts such as the “Birmingham Qur’an” and some of the early fragments from a mosque in Sana’a, Yemen, have been dated to the late 6^th or early 7^th century AD. Although this at first seems to contradict Wansbrough’s theory, upon closer inspection the dating could indicate that these manuscripts contain material that pre-dates Muhammad’s life and was later incorporated into the Qur’an.

Physical evidence from the time of the Qur’an’s traditional date of origin also casts doubt on the veracity of its claims. Where exactly did the early manuscripts that scholars study today ­– assumed to be from early copies of the Qur’an — originally come from? The manuscripts do not say who wrote them or when or where. Scholars argue, then, that these first copies are not adequate for proving whether the Qur’an’s current meaning is derived from these texts or whether instead, the texts had a separate context that was later woven into the Qur’an. The incomplete form of these documents means that they could have originally been part of a larger work that was not the Qur’an. There is not enough specificity to definitely attach them to the Qur’an. Without context, it is only possible to conclude that the early manuscripts praise, describe, or comment on some type of monotheistic faith. These manuscripts could very well have been some other religious texts that were later incorporated into the final version of the Qur’an. As some scholars point out, even when early fragments do match a part of the established Qur’an, this does not mean that it is known where or through what process the early text originated.^[15]

The sources of these fragments are thus a topic of significant scholarly discussion. Revisionist and Neo-Revisionist scholars have brought a textual-critical approach to studying the first two centuries of Islam, which involves the study of archeological sites, epigraphic and numismatic material,^[16] and 7^th-century non-Muslim eyewitness written accounts. These sources suggest several ways that the Qur’an could have been developed gradually and as a compilation of a variety of religious texts (primarily Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian). Yehuda Nevo, a Middle Eastern archaeologist, for example, concludes from an exhaustive study of early inscriptions and seventh-century historical documents that the Qur’an is an amalgamation of various literary texts and scriptures, created around the early 8^th or even 9^th centuries.^[17] John Wansbrough agrees, adding that sectarian controversies in this same time period could have spurred the creation of Islamic literature (including the Qur’an). Eighth and ninth century Muslim leaders who sought to justify an earlier date for authenticity would then have later attributed these eighth and ninth century documents to the seventh century.^[18]

Another likely scenario has been put forth by the scholar Reuven Firestone, who suggests that much of the Islamic literature, including the Qur’an, may have evolved as “hybrid stories” as the legends of pre-Islamic Arabia merged with biblical stories from a Jewish and Christian context. These may have been further transformed by the emerging Islamic vision, which found its way into the Qur’an, the Tafsir (commentary) and the Hadith. According to Firestone, this means that,

[M]any of the legends in the Medieval Islamic exegetical literature that treat Qur’anic material parallel to the Bible derive from Jewish and Christian, orthodox or heterodox religious traditions. Originating in an oral milieu, the legends continually changed as they incorporated motifs and ideas reflecting the changes taking place in the cultures in and for which the legends themselves evolved. Those legends which were brought into the Arabian Peninsula by Biblicists gradually acculturated to pre-Islamic Arabia as they were repeatedly told and retold in that environment. They became partially “Arabized” as they took on some of the motifs and structures of indigenous Arabian legend, but also retained features of their Biblicist past as well.^[19]

Thus, according to Firestone’s comparisons of early Christian and Jewish literature present in pre-Islamic Arabia, the Hadith, Sirat, Tafsir, and even the Qur’an may have been derived, at least in part, from non-Islamic sources, and later changed by the Arabs in order to come up with their own similar, but unique stories. This argument thus presents Arabic literature in a more complex literary context, and questions the purity of traditional Muslim literature as well as some of the stories that are found in the Qur’an.

Even the inscriptions at the Dome of the Rock, these scholars argue, only attest to material similar to Qur’anic verses; they cannot prove that the verses already existed in a completed Qur’an.^[20] Revisionist scholars have suggested a number of possible sources of the written material. One is that the fragmentary manuscripts were originally from earlier Christian liturgy, which had been translated into an early Arabic script by Christian missionaries. Some may have been translations of the Jewish Psalms and commentaries into Arabic from a Syriac text (an older Middle Eastern language commonly in use during this time, especially for religious works), or simply bits of early poetry to a general monotheistic deity. One scholar has even suggested in a controversial argument that certain Qur’anic manuscripts may have come from a Syriac form of the Diatessaron, an early Greek compilation of a harmony of the Christian gospels.^[21] For example, part of Surah 48:29 resembles the combined stories of Mark 4:26-7 and Matthew 13:23 as they are in the Diatessaron.

Gerd Puin, a leading scholar in this field of Arabic manuscript study, summarized the general direction of these arguments in his own words: “My idea,” he wrote,

[I]s that the Koran is a kind of cocktail of texts that were not all understood even at the time of Muhammad. Many of them may even be a hundred years older than Islam itself. Even within the Islamic traditions there is a huge body of contradictory information, including a significant Christian substrate; one can derive a whole Islamic anti-history from them if one wants.”^[22]

His point demonstrates that considerations regarding these more dubious points can lead to a general wariness of taking the traditional account of the Qur’an’s accuracy seriously.

Conclusion of the Counterview

In summary, there are a number of reasons to doubt the idea that the Qur’an was written all at once and compiled in its final form only a few years after Muhammad’s death. Only fragments and portions of manuscripts of what is now the Qur’an are known to exist before the late 8^th century, and there is inadequate evidence of where those fragmentary manuscripts came from. The text of the fragments does bear witness overall to a clear monotheistic faith, but that does not necessarily mean that they are Islamic texts. There are also literary considerations to bear in mind, as Arabic as a written language was developing in key ways during the 7^th and 8^th centuries. This casts doubt on the truth of the Qur’an being such a literary marvel, and instead supports the gradual culmination theory. Finally, the fact that only fragmented source material exists from the century in which the Qur’an was supposed to have been written suggests that the traditional date may be inaccurate. One plausible explanation is that the Qur’an is made up of many different texts, some Christian and Jewish, that were gradually transliterated into Arabic as the script and alphabet developed. Later, after Muhammad’s death, scholars working under the caliph Abd al-Malik, around 700 AD, could have compiled these documents. There are indications that corrections continued to be made until a final version was completed somewhere around the latter half of the 8^th century.^[23]

Implications of the Historical Development of the Qur’an

A significant number of textual scholars have questioned the divine origin of the Qur’an, and they have closely studied the currently existing manuscript fragments to discover more concrete details on the Qur’an’s origins. However, the task of accurately dating the Qur’anic manuscripts which survive today is a complex and difficult one, as was demonstrated in a recent effort to date the manuscript known as the Birmingham Qur’an. A radiocarbon dating of the parchment (the physical page material, not the ink) using the Oxford Radiocarbon lab dated the pages to 568-645 AD, within a 95% range of accuracy. Since parchments are generally used soon after their manufacture, these results suggest a possibility that the content of this manuscript could have predated Muhammad himself. However, Saudi Arabian scholars argue that the ink and calligraphy used on the parchment date to the late 600’s or early 700’s, which would support either the idea of the manuscript being made in Muhammad’s lifetime or the idea of the manuscript being a later revision decades after Muhammad’s death!

Thus, even interpreting a clear piece of textual evidence is a thorny issue and can often suggest support for more than one viewpoint. It is important to note, though, that such sources can trigger as many questions as they answer. This should sound a clear note of caution to scholars and readers alike not to accept traditional accounts of the facts unquestioningly since such accounts do not by any means have ironclad support from physical, scholarly evidence. Multiple possibilities must be considered. The weightiest of these possibilities is that the Qur’an that is read today is unverifiable or perhaps even a mere collection of poetry, commentary, Arabized narratives, and liturgical texts. Steven Humphreys, a professor of Islamic Studies, emphasized that the Qur’an is the document that gives Islam its reason for existence. If the Qur’an is not directly from God, Humphreys points out, then it is by logical necessity a human document – and since it claims a perfect, divine source, any human authorship would undercut its authority.^[24] At any rate, the lack of definitive answers on these issues makes a strong case for Christians not to accept the Qur’an as the final word of God, even though it is a more recent religious text than the Jewish and Christian scriptures.

Apologetic Conclusions

Discussing the origins of the Qur’an with a Muslim is a conversation which is both delicate and important. It should be remembered that the actual dates for the manuscripts (especially the late date for their canonization) opens the door to scholarly arguments that much of the Qur’an was borrowed from other religious sources, and that historical evidence from 8^th-century writers and Qur’anic manuscripts offers support for this view. Christians should be concerned about these dates and the evidence of late canonization because it throws the historicity of the Qur’an into doubt: if it came from other sources, then it cannot be assumed to be from God. In the Christian view, this makes Islam a fallacious religion, presenting a false picture of Christ, which encourages Muslims to view Jesus Christ differently from the way that he is portrayed in the Bible and first century sources. Since understanding Jesus’ identity as the source of man’s salvation is integral to Christianity, the true apologetic implication of the Qur’an’s origin is that the Qur’an cannot be trusted to give an accurate account of Jesus Christ’s nature and mission. This different portrayal confuses the central message of Christianity for Muslims – a confusion which can be addressed by discussing the origins of both the Qur’an and the Bible.

Building Bridges to Understand

Creating a bridge where Christians can discuss the true identity of Jesus would involve a discussion of the Christian scriptures. Christians can show that the tests of scholarship – the internal and external consistency tests, as well as the reliability of the earliest manuscripts – have long demonstrated that the Bible has distinct marks of authenticity and truth. Based on how well the Bible has passed these types of historical and literary tests, Christians can demonstrate to Muslims why the Bible’s account of Jesus Christ, and especially its claim that he is God the Son, can be trusted and followed.

A particularly helpful way to demonstrate to Muslims the differences between the Bible and the Qur’an is to initiate a “Book Study” where the two texts can be compared. Then, the Christian can first use the Qur’an to highlight the verses that refer to Jesus, or Isa, as well as his mother Mary. Next, upon the invitation to view what the Bible says about Jesus, the Christian can go through various parts of the Gospels in order to contrast the biblical Jesus with the Isa of the Qur’an. These differences can then be used to demonstrate that the God of Muhammad is not the Father of Jesus.

This is a good approach because the Qur’an itself allows such comparison between scriptures. In Sura 10:94, the Qur’an tells Muslims that if they are in doubt about anything in the Scriptures, they should ask those who have received the book that was given before, such as the Tauret (the books of Moses), the Zabur (the psalms of David), and the Injil (the Gospels). If Muslims should reply that they cannot read those books because they have been corrupted, then show them Sura 10:64, which reminds Muslims “there is no change in the word of God.” Therefore, if God can preserve the Qur’an, then he certainly can preserve the Bible as well. The goal of this Bible study, as well as most apologetic bridges illustrated in this book, is to help our Muslim friends encounter the historical and risen Lord. He is the one who will bring them home.

Study Questions

1. How can both the Bible and the Qur’an be true if they give conflicting messages?
2. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the most perfect book of all time. What are some of the arguments Muslims use to defend this position?
3. What are some arguments Christian scholars bring up that indicate that the Qur’an is a man-made book?
4. In a number of Suras, the Qur’an tells Muslims to ask the Christians and Jews about their scriptures, the Old and New Testaments (5:36-38; 35:31; 3:3; 12:111; 29:46; 20:37; 5:66; and 10:94). How can these verses from the Qur’an be used to form a bridge between Christians and Muslims? (Would Allah command people to obey a corrupted Scripture)?
5. How would you witness to a Muslimwho says, “We believe that the Qur’an is the pure Word of God and teaches us the truth from God? Since the Qur’an rejects the Bible, how can we trust the Bible?”

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[1] Christoph Luxenberg, The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Koran (Berlin: Verlag Hans Schiler, 2007), 70-72.

[2] Arthur W. Diamiond Law Library Research Guides. Retrieved from “http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/library/files/guides/islamic_law_research_guide.pdf”

[3] See Ali Dashti, Twenty Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad, (Mazda, 1994), 47-58.

[4] A religious successor to Muhammad who was also the leader of the entire Muslim community.

[5] Muslims also claim that the earliest copy of the Qur’an was written out by Muhammad’s secretary, Zayd ibn Thabit, who collated the Qur’an from various written and oral sources during the time of Abu Bakr, the first Caliph who served from 632-634. After this volume was completed Umar, the second caliph, left the book with his daughter Hafsah, who stored the Qur’an under her bed. Then, under the guidance of Uthman (644-656), Zayd ibn Thabit was summoned again to take the earlier Qur’an and, together with some other companions, make copies to deliver to the other provinces.

[6] Some Muslims believe instead that 40 scribes followed Muhammad during his life and recorded all of his words from Allah, but this is not generally accepted.

[7] Muslims also claim that an earlier copy of the Qur’an was written out by Muhammad’s secretary, Zayd ibn Thabit, who collated the Qur’an from various written and oral sources during the time of Abu Bakr, the first Caliph who served from 632-634. After this volume was completed Umar, the second caliph, left the book with his daughter Hafsah, who stored the Qur’an under her bed.

[8] Peter Riddell and Peter Cotterell, Islam in Context: Past, Present, and Future (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2003), 58-9.

[9] Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History, 5.

[10] John Wansbrough, Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (New York: Prometheus Books, 2004), xv.

[11] For example, the five distinct letters in medial form,  ـبـ‎, ـتـ‎, ـثـ‎, ـنـ‎, ـيـ‎  (Bāʾ  Tāʾ  Ṯāʾ  Nūn  Yāʾ) are indistinguishable when all the dots are omitted. Without the dotting, which developed later, it was difficult to discern which letter was being referenced.

[12] This was probably accomplished by al-Hujjaj, the governor of Iraq under Abd al-Malik, during the last decade of the seventh century or the early eighth century.

[13] Wansbrough, Qur’anic Studies, 85-91.

[14] Ibid., 85-91.

[15] See Andrew Rippin in Wansbrough, Quranic Studies, xvii.

[16] epigraphic refers to writing on stone, metal or wood, and numismatic refers to the study of ancient coins.

[17] Nevo, Crossroads to Islam, 10.

[18] Ibn Warraq, Introduction: What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary (New York: Prometheus Books, 2002), 24.

[19]  Ibid., 17–18.

[20] Patricia Cone, and Michael Cook, Hagarism; The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge University Press, 1977), 3, 18.

[21] Claude Gilliot, “Reconsidering the Authorship of the Qur’an: Is the Qur’an Partly the Fruit of a Progressive and Collective Work?” in Towards a New Reading of the Qur’an, Gabriel Said Reynolds, ed. (Indiana: Notre Dame, 2005), 99.

[22] Gerd Puin, “What Is the Koran?” Chapter in Ibn Warraq, What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary (New York: Prometheus Books, 2002), 109-110.

[23] Wansbrough, Quranic Studies, xv; Yehuda Nevo, Crossroads, 11.

[24] Toby Lester, “What Is the Koran?” Chapter in Ibn Warraq, What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary (New York: Prometheus Books, 2002), 110.