Jonny, please get your facts straight

Submitted by Jason (United States), Mar 22, 2006 at 13:33

First, nowhere in the Koran does it say that Muhammed was illiterate. I know because I have read through it repeatedly over the last 30 years. Muhammed's illiteracy is told to us by hadiths, which are not even worth the paper they are written on. Even the Prophet himself warned us NEVER to use hadiths as a basis for faith, even those that were written by him. Nothing I said was a lie. It is based on a carefully studied analysis of history, law, and the Koran. The statements I made have absolutely nothing to do with my being a Christian.

In addition, the only reason you threw out that "fact" is to try to smear me. I'll have you know that I have probably done more studying of the Koran, over a longer period of time, than most of the Muslims trash-talkers in this forum. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that my level of study and understanding of the Koran, and Islamic history, probably places me in the top 10% of all Muslims. I am no enemy of Islam with an axe to grind. I have always viewed it as a great philosophy and religion, even if it isn't the most correct one. I also understand, unlike most Muslims, that Islam was hijacked by a bunch of pyschotic freaks almost as soon as Muhammed was cold in his grave. What is preached and practiced today bears only a faint resemblance to what Muhammed actually taught.

Now, for some of your other statements:

"The stages of human development in the womb (embryology)" are the same as any other mammal. Nothing revealed in that particular passage of the Koran was outside the knowledge of that period of time.It was something that would have been well understood by farmers and other animal breeders, and had been since ancient Babylon and Persia. These were both part of the history and tradition of Muhammed's people. As a successful caravan runner (and history indicates that Muhammed was indeed a successful businessman), Muhammed would have been as familiar with the physiology of of his animals as any farmer. So there is no "miracle" here.

"Why are you surprised dear that there were contract writers" I never said I was surprised. I know, from my study of history and law, what the expected standards would have been for a successful businessman in Muhammed's day. Reading and writing would have been among those required skills. Given Muhammed's level of success as a businessman, he obviously had those skills. He could not have succeeded without them.

The fact is that the "fact" of Muhammed's "illiteracy" comes from sources outside the Koran. Since even Muhammed stated that we are not to use hadiths, even those written by him, we have no documented history of said illiteracy. When this lack of documentation is placed side-by-side with an analysis of the known history of that part of the world at that time, it becomes quite clear that Muhammed was quite literate.

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