Which Koran?: Variants, Manuscripts, And the Influence of Pre-islamic Poetry (Hardcover)

~ (Author, Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Few Muslims realize that there are several Korans in circulation in the Islamic world, with textual variations whose significance, extent, and meaning have never been properly examined. Ibn Warraq has here assembled important scholarly articles that address the history, linguistics, and religious implications of these not-trifling variants in Islam’s sacred book. In a lengthy introduction, Warraq notes that historical and linguistic evidence suggests that there was considerable confusion regarding what should be included in the Koran in the early years of Muslim history. Although the caliph Uthman canonized a specific text some fifteen years after the death of Muhammad, variant readings of certain passages have persisted to the present. This can be seen in discrepancies between the two main printed versions of the Koran available today (the Warsh transmission found in West and Northwest Africa and the Hafs transmission, stemming from Kufa, and widely available through the standard Egyptian edition of 1924). This, coupled with the fact that Muslim secondary literature (the Hadiths) discusses missing Koranic verses and even Muhammad’s sometimes faulty memory, strongly indicate that the Koran cannot be considered an inerrant revelation. Warraq organizes the articles in this volume into subsections dealing with the language of the Koran; pre-Islamic poetry and its possible influence on the writing of the Koran; influences from Jewish and Christian sources and from Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls); problems of obscure vocabulary and orthography; variant readings in different Koranic manuscripts; and questions surrounding the biography of the prophet Muhammad. As a visual aid, Warraq has compiled a unique and valuable chart of thirty-two Koranic variants found in Korans available in the Islamic world, along with remarks on their significance. In-depth yet accessible to nonspecialists interested in Islam, Which Koran? raises important questions about Islam’s holy book.

About the Author

Ibn Warraq is the highly acclaimed author of Why I Am Not a Muslim, Leaving Islam, What the Koran Really Says, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, and The Origins of the Koran.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (November 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591024293
• ISBN-13: 978-1591024293
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,422,128 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard-Hitting, January 2, 2008

By	A. Peter - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A great book that reveals many myths about the quran, especially details as to its varying manuscripts and readings. Takes apart claims that the quran today is the unadulterated version from the time of muhammed himself. The famous Tokapi version is also discussed here along with others, known and not so well known.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ibn Warraq keeps trying, but fails miserably, February 25, 2009

By	Munawar Ali "Munawar - blog.munawarali.com" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was glad to see that Ibn Warraq realizes that his words lack any serious weight in the intellectual community and brought in other scholars to do his work for him in this text. But in the end, it's just a rehash of the same arguments that have made their rounds several times, and have been proven incorrect time and again.

Nothing here except nice binding.