On banning the Koran

Submitted by Seamus MacNemi (United States), Jan 19, 2009 at 19:10

I do not believe it is necessary or even proper to ban the Koran in total. It must be remembered that Mohamed did not write the Koran. Much of it was written down some years after his death from oral traditions surrounding the life of the Prophet. As with all such literature including the Bible, scribes and transcribers would often insert their own ideas as part of the original text, some as an effort to clarify some obscure passage but as well, some as an attempt to effect some desired political outcome in localized disputes. This was especially the case where there was a factional dispute over matters of religious authority. This is specifically the case in the present day dispute between Sunni and Shiite Islam. It also applies to the relations between main stream Islam and the various subsects and branches of Islam such as the Suffi mystics and some other not mentioned groups who presently inhabit the Middle East.

The problem lies in revealing those words and passages which express exactly the ideas and beliefs of the Prophet as he expressd them uncomtaminated by the confusion of later much more removed ages. The further we move away from an original experience the more blurred that experience becomes in our perception and the more confused its meanings become in our minds.

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