Ibn Warraq and is the Qur'an a Christian Qeryana (lectionary)?

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Sep 28, 2014 at 12:19

Dr. Pipes

I just want to remind the readers that they can download the Syriac script in-order to be able to view the Syriac texts in this post

And anyone who is interested there are many very good Syriac dictionaries available on line. Luxenberg uses Manna (Syriac Arabic)

https://archive.org/details/SyriacArabicDictionary

The reader can also check for a word in the Peshitta.org (the Syriac Bible) and follow the Masoritic exegesis of the word available at dukhrana.com (The Peshitta predates the Qur'an)

The reader can also check a Syriac word and compare it with the same word in Arabic and Hebrew at wiktionary.org

Luxenberg believes that the word Qur'an is not an Arabic word after all if the meaning of the word as we are told is recitation then it should be al-Qiraa' or القراءة

Well this brings us to the confused and confusing story of Jesus in the Qur'an

1. Luxenberg provides a Syriac reading of Q97 or Surat al-Qadr and indeed he believes that this is the Nativity or Christmas in the Qur'an and it has nothing to do with the Qur'an being sent down by Allah after all it is either that the Qur'an was sent and all of it at the same time or it was sent down to Muhammad over a period of 23 years and it cannot be both

2. Jesus in the Qur'an is really a deity as he creates life and raise the dead and cure the blind and the leper and he also can predict the future and he does not die

3. The last supper in the Qur'an? It is Surat al-Ma'ida Q5:112-115

4. Eucharist in the Qur'an? It is Surat al-3Alaq or Q96

5. The Qur'an says that Jesus indeed died in the following three verses Q19:33 and Q3:55 and 5:117

And here is an example in 19:33

والسلام علي يوم ولدت ويوم اموت ويوم ابعث حيا

Or and peace upon me (Jesus is speaking) the day I was born and the day I die and the day I will be resurrected

The other two verses are variant traditions of this verse but it is very important to read what Ibn Kathir tells us about Q3:55

أَمَاتَهُ اللَّه ثَلَاثَة أَيَّام ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ ثُمَّ رَفَعَهَا

Allah made him (Jesus die) for three days then he raised him from the dead and then he lifted up (to heaven)

It is as clear as it can be that the Qur'an indeed tells us that Jesus died and was resurrected

Now notice the translation of Yusuf Ali of the word متوفيك (or I make you die) he wrote:

I will take thee

And this is why his translation is a disaster because it is very clear that he either does not know what the word متوفيك really means or he is trying to do his best to hide the real meaning of the word

So it is very clear that author of the Qur'an mentions that Jesus dies

6. As for resurrection we have to turn to Q72:19 and this is from an old post of mine

وانه لما قام عبد الله يدعوه كادوا يكونون عليه لبدا

Which really means and when he the slave of Allah (read the word slave here as servant) stood up (read this as resurrected) calling upon him they were almost upon him in LBDA

Notice that the word LBDA was left untranslated and the reason is the ulama had no clue how to read this word or what it really means and it is one one those words in the Qur'an that has no clear meaning not back then or now

Now this is what Luexnberg is saying:

1. The term 3Abd Allah in the verse must be Jesus after all it says in Q19:30 اني عبد الله or I'm the slave (read this as servant) of Allah therefore the 3Abd Allah in the above verse must be Jesus

2. The word لبدا or LBDA which I left untranslated must be a misreading of the Syriac word ܥܒܕܐ or 3bda and he believes that the Syriac letter ܥ which is the Arabic letter ع or 3ayn was misread as the Syriac letter lam or ܠ (which would become Arabic lam or ل which is the letter we find in this very strange word) because the morphology of both letters is Syriac is very close but now if the text is translated to Arabic this mistake changes the reading of the word in Arabic so instead of Syriac 3Bda it becomes Arabic LBDA and this is what it would have been like in Syriac ܠܒܕܐ so you can see that such mistake is easy to make

3. So the Quranic Arabic word لبدا should be read as Arabic عبدا and indeed if you read it this way then one unlocks the meaning of this strange aya

4. So this is how he reads it وانه لما قام عبد الله يدعوه كادوا يكونون عليه عبدا

And this is how he would read it:

And when the servant of god (read this as Jesus as per Q19:30) was resurrected all the while calling upon him (that is contiuning to worship god) they (the people) would almost have worshiped him (as god)

5. Now the aya makes sense but in the process the Qur'an declares that Jesus indeed was resurrected

And again Luxenberg makes sense

And more evidence that the Qur'an is really not the Arabic القران or al-Qur'an but it is the Syro-Arabic lectionary ܩܪܝܢܐ or Qeryana

Next? Well let us read Q108

انا اعطيناك الكوثر فصلي لربك وانحر ان شانءك هو الابتر

Or and truly we gave you the kawthar (notice that I did not translate this word becuase it does not have a clear meaning) therefore pray to your Lord and SLAUGHTER truly he who is your hater is STERILE (read this as he cannot have babies)

It just does not make any sense

Luxenberg reads the strange word al-Kawthar as the Syriac word ܟܘܬܪܐ or Kuttara or persistence also constancy and steadfastness

He reads the second strange word in the sura or انحر Inhar or SLAUGHTER as Syriac ܢܓܪ or Ngar which means to wait or to hold out or to persist and this is what the Arabic word انجر means

The third strange word or Shani'ak was read correctely as you hater and in Syriac it is ܣܢܐܟ or Sanak or your hater or enemy

The last strange word is al-Abtar or he who cannot have babies he reads it as a metathesis of the Syriac word ܬܒܪ or Tbar or be destroyed

And this would be his Arabic reading of the verse

انا اعطينك الكوثر فصل لربك وانجر ان سانيك هو الابتر

Or

We have given you the (vertue of) constancy

So pray to your Lord and persevere (in prayer)

Your adversary (the devil) is (then) the loser

Now the meaning is very clear

Luxenberg reminds the readers that this is Peshitta the First Epistle General of Peter Chapter 5 verses 8-9

Wake up brothers and be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith

As was pointed out by Wansbrough: The author of the Qur'an assumed that those reading the Qur'an must be familiar with the Bible and what is in it and that the author of the Qur'an must have been refereing to the verses in Peter 5:8-9

But those reading and explaining what the Qur'an is saying in the 3rd century in distant Mesopotamia were Persians and not Arabs

Indeed islam must be the product of a sectarian milieu

Next post it will be about the Kathisma Church in Jerusalem and linking the Arabic language Syro-Arabian Christianity and history

Kudos to Luxenberg

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