In Search of the Original Koran: The True History of the Revealed Text

MONDHER SFAR

TRANSLATED BY EMILIA LANIER

INTRODUCTION
9

CHAPTER
1. THE KORAN IS NOT THE ORIGINAL ONE
15

Transmission of Meaning
18

The Theory of Variants
20

The Variants of the Koran
22

From Variation to Manipulation
26

The Satanic Revelations
28

By the Prophet's Side
31

Other Ambiguities of the Mode of Revelation
31

The Whole Revelation?
34

Lost or Unretained Texts
36

Two Brief Prayers Removed from the Koran
39

On Interpolation
40

CHAPTER
2. THE COMPONENTS OF THE KORAN
49

The Verses: A Late Invention
49

The Surahs
52

The Preambles
54

The Mysterious Letters
57

The Division of Surahs
62

The Basmala and al-Rahman
64

The Titles of Surahs
67

CHAPTER
3. WRITINGS OF THE KORAN
69

The Difficulties of the Writing
75

The Myth of "Uthman"
78

The Manuscript of Samarkand
79

The Myth of Authenticity
81

The Scribal Function
82

Stereotypes and Phraseology
83

The Practice of Recomposition
84

Al-qur'an, a Scribal Work
85

CHAPTER
4. MYTHS AND PREJUDICES
87

The Myth of Originality
88

From the Kitab to the Qur'an
90

The Myth of the Collection
94

The Myth of Perfect Transmission
95

The Myth of Inimitability
96

Authenticity of the Wahy
98

CONCLUSION
101

APPENDIX: THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF JANUARY 27, 632 CE
105

The Sole Scientific Date
105

A Great Enigma
109

A Conjugal Psychodrama
111

The Eclipse and the Farewell Pilgrimage
114