The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Qur'an
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| Author | Christoph Luxenberg |
|---|---|
| Original title | Die Syro-Aramäische Lesart des Koran |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Philology, Koran studies |
| Genre(s) | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Hans Schiler Publishers |
| Released | 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | ISBN 3-89930-088-2 |
The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Koran: a contribution to the decoding of the language of the Qur'an (Die syro-aramäische Lesart des Koran: Ein Beitrag zur Entschlüsselung der Koransprache) is a book by German philologist Christoph Luxenberg. It is considered a major work in the field of Qur'anic philology.
Using exhaustive and rigorous philological methodology the book's thesis is that the Qur'an was not originally written in Arabic but in Syriac, the dominant spoken and written language in the Arabian peninsula through the 8th century. A notable trait of Syriac which would later form into Arabic was that the script lacked vowel signs or diacritic points which would later distinguish b, t, n, y, etc and thus was prone to misinterpretation of meaning, particularly on the part of semi-illiterate Arabian interpreters. Thus the Arabs tribes of the 8th century were not able to correctly decipher the original script of the Qur'an, from the written manuscripts, and gave philologically erroneous meaning to ambiguously difficult passages of the manuscripts.
[edit] Examples of purported errors of interpretation in the Qur'an
- One of Luxenberg's finding was that the term huri, traditionally interpreted by Islamic commentators to mean the wide-eyed virgins reward promised to the faithful in paradise in suras 44:54, 52:20 ,55:72, 56:22 actually translates to white grapes, this being one of the symbolic elements of the Christian paradise commonly represented in Christian murals in the region in the first 6 centuries of the millennium. The interpretive errors are probably connected to the male monopoly in Qur'anic commentary and interpretation
- The command for a woman to cover herself is actually a call to "snap their belts around their waists" Sura 24.
- Rather than being the "seal" of the prophets , Muhammad was the "witness of the prophets" , one who bears witness to established Judeo-Christian texts. Sura 33
[edit] Further reading
- The Transmission Of The Qur'an" Alphonse Mingana 1916
- Syriac Influences On The Style Of The Kur'an, Alphonse Mingana 1927
- An Ancient Syriac Translation Of The Kur'an Exhibiting New Verses And Variants Alphonse Mingana 1925
- The Foreign Vocabulary Of The Qur'an, Arthur Jeffery 1938,
- Leaves From Three Ancient Qur'âns Possibly Pre-`Othmânic With A List Of Their Variants, Alphonse Mingana & A. S. Lewis (eds.) 1914
- Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, Patricia Crone 1980
- A Challenge To Islam For Reformation - Günter Lüling (Motilal Banarsidass 2003)
- The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an Gabriel Sawma 2006
