Context of the Text

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Oct 5, 2011 at 11:28

Though this reader is not a student of Arabic, being only moderately adept at my home language and variously able to read a few others, your dissertations on the language of the Quran are interesting, taking on sometimes the nuances of interpretations like that of "Genesius' Hebrew Grammar." Having read some other works on how the Quran should be treated leaves one with the variously opinionated understandings of just what is trying to be conveyed in thought.

And isn't that the point, of the thought that is trying to be conveyed?

In example, 'thou shalt not kill,' 'do not kill,' do not murder' are but a few phrases that convey one message. The language in this case is enough to convey the intent. In Biblical parlance, it's the thought that counts-if you hate, then murder is already in your heart and the act is but an extension of the thought.

The Messiah, Yeshua, says to love; and yet there are those that will take Scripture out of its context and use the name of Christ in vain, to dishonor their parents, steal, murder, lust and covet because the love of God is not understood. Jesus says, if you love Him, be obedient: love God; love one another. No matter how one wants to dissect the Bible grammatically, in hermeneutics or apologetics, Jesus Christ always says to love one another.

But this message was blurred so much at the time of the initial writing of the Quran, that it was easy to dictate the Quran in opposition to the Hebrew Holy Scriptures, no matter in which language the Quran might have been written. So, the question: where in the Quran does the most important quote of the Prophet Issa get recorded? No one speaks of it; all who speak of the Quran affectionately say that what Issa says is corrupted in the Bible, but nowhere has any of them shown conclusively why Issa is not correctly quoted.

So let us put this in the context of this forum, that of Middle Eastern studies in upheaval: why are they in upheaval? Simple, there is so little that is agreed upon because one opinion must be debated until it's proven one way or another. Simple truth gets lost in the complications of humanist rationale.

So, here is a litmus test. If this proves out, then the study should be how much more is going to be proved out. Again and again, this reader says if one wants just one thing to show the truth of, say Israel; try and disprove its existence as it was written in the Hebrew Holy Scriptures thousands of years ago. Where in the Quran does the re-emergence of Israel come into play? And finally, just as it was written, the upheavals seen today are part and parcel of the unrest spoken of by the Hebrew prophets. In anyone's study, how is that being accounted for except as the Hebrew Scriptures say?

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".