Why I Read "Literature" . . .

[Perknose]

Because I tend to learn more by serendipity than by someone of any stripe trying to tell me how to think.

From a NYT review of "Dear American Airlines", a first novel by one Jonathan Miles:

The jihadists who flew planes into the World Trade Center believed they?d be rewarded with a bevy of virgins ? a mistranslation, Bennie tells us, from the original Syriac, which promises not virgins but white raisins, a significant difference.

Just saying. <shrug>

 

[Moonbeam]

What the hell is wrong with black raisins?

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What the hell is wrong with black raisins?

That's how you know you are in Hell, not Heaven.
Also hell is still on dial-up.

 

[Albatross]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...eading_Of_The_Qur%27an

"Luxenberg argues that scholars must start afresh, ignore the old Islamic commentaries, and use only the latest in linguistic and historical methods. Hence, if a particular Quranic word or phrase seems meaningless in Arabic, or can be given meaning only by tortured conjectures, it makes sense -- he argues -- to look to the Aramaic and Syriac languages as well as Arabic.

Luxenberg also argues that the Qur'an is based on earlier texts, namely lectionaries used in the Christian churches of Syria, and that it was the work of several generations who adapted these texts into the Qur'an we know today

Luxenberg himself claims to have chosen a pseudonym "...upon the counsel of Arab friends, after these became familiar with my work theses"[3], to protect himself against possible violent repercussions[4], since Suliman Bashear, who voiced similar theories at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, was thrown out of the window by his scandalized Muslim students"

these stupid scholars don`t they know the Quaran is the literal word of God
dictated to Mohammed ba an angel?

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What the hell is wrong with black raisins?

Apostate! :|

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: albatross
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...eading_Of_The_Qur%27an

"Luxenberg argues that scholars must start afresh, ignore the old Islamic commentaries, and use only the latest in linguistic and historical methods. Hence, if a particular Quranic word or phrase seems meaningless in Arabic, or can be given meaning only by tortured conjectures, it makes sense -- he argues -- to look to the Aramaic and Syriac languages as well as Arabic.

Luxenberg also argues that the Qur'an is based on earlier texts, namely lectionaries used in the Christian churches of Syria, and that it was the work of several generations who adapted these texts into the Qur'an we know today

Luxenberg himself claims to have chosen a pseudonym "...upon the counsel of Arab friends, after these became familiar with my work theses"[3], to protect himself against possible violent repercussions[4], since Suliman Bashear, who voiced similar theories at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, was thrown out of the window by his scandalized Muslim students"

these stupid scholars don`t they know the Quaran is the literal word of God
dictated to Mohammed ba an angel?

Thanks, albatross!

Author's conclusions

The word Qur'an itself is derived from 'qeryana', a Syriac term from the Christian liturgy that means ?lectionary? ­ a book of liturgical readings. The book being a Syro-Aramaic lectionary, with hymns and Biblical extracts, created for use in Christian services. This lectionary was translated into Arabic as a missionary effort. It was not meant to start a new religion, but to spread an older one. [8]

5th Century Christian mural representing the white grapes symbolism located in the Coptic monastery Deir al-Suryan ("The Syrians") in the Wadi Natrun in EgyptThe word huri, usually interpreted by generations of readers as white-eyed virgins (who will serve the faithful in Paradise; Qur'an 44:54, 52:20 ,55:72, 56:22) actually means white grapes. He says that many Christian descriptions of Paradise describe it as abounding in pure white grapes. This sparked much joking in the Western press; suicide bombers would be expecting beautiful women and getting grapes.[9]

The Quranic passage in Sura 24 commanding women to cover themselves, one of the texts on which the doctrine of hijab is based, actually commands women to "snap their belts around their waists".

The passage in Sura 33 that has usually been translated as "seal of the prophets" actually means "witness". By this reading, Muhammad is not the greatest of the prophets, but only a witness to those prophets who came before him.

The Qur'an was composed in a mixed Arabic-Syriac language, the traders' language of Mecca.

The interpretative mistakes that were made by the first commentators suggests that there must have been a gap in the oral transmission of the Qur'an.

 

[DerekWilson]

wow ... thats interesting.

i hope more philologists and historians look into this. even with all the translations of the christian bible around, having a concordance, a literal translation and a transliteration around can help make a whole lot more sense of things than just reading an english text.

many christians (and unfortunately even christian scholars) are not willing to look very deep into the original meaning of texts and prefer to use a loose interpretation of an english translation to support whatever they already believe -- standing by the bible as the infallible and exact Word of God is one thing -- but even if this is true (and especially really) it seems a huge error in my mind not to realize that these words are in Hebrew and Aramaic.

while i'd love to see muslims interested in the true original meaning of their holy text, i rather have to believe that they will be like most christians and ignore it .... whether this particular guy is right or wrong.