Are Muslims the "Chosen People" of GOD?

With no contemporary Muslim sources to refer to, a group of young historians working under the brilliant linguist Professor John Wansbrough at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the seventies developed new scholarly techniques, drawing heavily on earlier biblical scholarship. Following Wansbrough's lead, they decided to look at the Koran as a literary text, to compare it to other devotional writings of the period and to look at internal clues to its origin. They found that it owed much to Judaism, especially the Talmud, a collection of commentaries and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. They concluded, tentatively, that in the form that survives, the Koran was compiled, if not written, decades after the time of Mohammed, probably by converts to Islam in the Middle East, who introduced elements from the religions previously dominant in the region. Drs PC and MC, also working at SOAS at the time, provided an even more devastating analysis by looking at the only surviving contemporary accounts of the Islamic invasion, written in Armenian, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac by Middle Eastern witnesses to the rise of Islam. They found that Islam, as represented by admittedly biased sources, was in essence a tribal conspiracy against the Byzantine and Persian empires with deep roots in Judaism, and that Arabs and Jews were allies in these conquering communities.

Apparent support for their conclusions came from finds made during the restoration of the Great Mosque of Sana'a in Yemen, where labourers working in the roof discovered fragments of Korans that are among the oldest in existence. German scholars who studied the manuscripts discovered that some of the Koranic writing diverges from the authorised version, which by tradition is considered the pure, unadulterated word of God. What's more, some of the writing appears to have been INSCRIBED OVER EARLIER, "RUBBED-OUT" VERSIONS OF THE TEXT. This editing supports the belief of Wansbrough and his pupils that the Koran as we know it does not date from the time of Mohammed. AP, professor of Islamic history at the University of Victoria in Canada, and the author of a revisionist history of Islam published by Routledge, said: "The Sana'a manuscripts [are] part of the process of filling in the holes in our knowledge of what might have happened".

echi
It depends on which side of the fence you sit. Some of the posts extolling Christianity are no different from that which ali has delivered. Proselytizing is as offensive to me whether it be by Christians, Moslems and I would say Jews except that we do not proselytize

This is worth repeating. Jesus himself said it best about clowns like Muhammed (pbullshit):

Quote:

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

The fruits of I-slam are writ large in the pages of history books, maps, and newspapers alike. Nobody should need to be Albert Einstein to figure it out.

Ali on another thread not sure where, you asked me what was found at the Great Mosque at Sana'a. My post got lost so I post it again

My initial reaction is two fold. First my suggestion (to find out) was to Raul not Ali. Secondly I dont like being shouted at (WHY THE CAPS?). But as you did use the word 'please', I will type out for your elucidation a couple of paragraphs from the Newstatesman magazine dated 10th Dec 2001.

Quote:

With no contemporary Muslim sources to refer to, a group of young historians working under the brilliant linguist Professor John Wansbrough at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the seventies developed new scholarly techniques, drawing heavily on earlier biblical scholarship. Following Wansbrough's lead, they decided to look at the Koran as a literary text, to compare it to other devotional writings of the period and to look at internal clues to its origin. They found that it owed much to Judaism, especially the Talmud, a collection of commentaries and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. They concluded, tentatively, that in the form that survives, the Koran was compiled, if not written, decades after the time of Mohammed, probably by converts to Islam in the Middle East, who introduced elements from the religions previously dominant in the region. Drs PC and MC, also working at SOAS at the time, provided an even more devastating analysis by looking at the only surviving contemporary accounts of the Islamic invasion, written in Armenian, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac by Middle Eastern witnesses to the rise of Islam. They found that Islam, as represented by admittedly biased sources, was in essence a tribal conspiracy against the Byzantine and Persian empires with deep roots in Judaism, and that Arabs and Jews were allies in these conquering communities.

Apparent support for their conclusions came from finds made during the restoration of the Great Mosque of Sana'a in Yemen, where labourers working in the roof discovered fragments of Korans that are among the oldest in existence. German scholars who studied the manuscripts discovered that some of the Koranic writing diverges from the authorised version, which by tradition is considered the pure, unadulterated word of God. What's more, some of the writing appears to have been INSCRIBED OVER EARLIER, "RUBBED-OUT" VERSIONS OF THE TEXT. This editing supports the belief of Wansbrough and his pupils that the Koran as we know it does not date from the time of Mohammed. AP, professor of Islamic history at the University of Victoria in Canada, and the author of a revisionist history of Islam published by Routledge, said: "The Sana'a manuscripts [are] part of the process of filling in the holes in our knowledge of what might have happened".

I have refered by initial only to certain people...I dont know why I should feel protective in this way...of course their work is in the academic domain.

"Zoroaster had one God and I find him to be a very interesting character indeed. "

YES HE WAS MY PROPHET WAAY BEFORE JESUS WAS BORN, AND HE TAUGHT HIS PEOPLE TO BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, but "PAUL" NOT "JESUS" TAUGHT IDOL WORSHIPPING, SO THERFORE ILL TAKE MY DEAR PROPHET THAT CAME BEFORE JESUS, RATHER THAN CHRISTIANITY. I WILL TELL YOU AGAIN PERSIANS HATED CHRISTIANITY SO MUCH BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS CORRUPT AND THEY WERE A CIVILIZED NATION, WHEN JESUS'S PEOPLE WERE LIVING ON TREES AS MONKEYS AND SWIMMING IN THEIR DADDY'S SACKS PERSIA WAS CIVILIZED, READ ABOUT BAGHDAD "THE CITY OF LIGHT" PERSIANS CAME AND FLOURISHED THAT CITY. THEY HAD KNOWLEDGE AND THEY SAW THE UGLY TRUTH IN CHRISTIANITY.


THEY HATED IT SO MUCH AND THEY EVEN HAD A "HOLY **** WAR" WITH THE ROMANS OVER IT.

THEN GO SUCK ON "THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE'S" GRAPES

Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

Ali on another thread not sure where, you asked me what was found at the Great Mosque at Sana'a. My post got lost so I post it again

My initial reaction is two fold. First my suggestion (to find out) was to Raul not Ali. Secondly I dont like being shouted at (WHY THE CAPS?). But as you did use the word 'please', I will type out for your elucidation a couple of paragraphs from the Newstatesman magazine dated 10th Dec 2001.

Quote:

With no contemporary Muslim sources to refer to, a group of young historians working under the brilliant linguist Professor John Wansbrough at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the seventies developed new scholarly techniques, drawing heavily on earlier biblical scholarship. Following Wansbrough's lead, they decided to look at the Koran as a literary text, to compare it to other devotional writings of the period and to look at internal clues to its origin. They found that it owed much to Judaism, especially the Talmud, a collection of commentaries and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. They concluded, tentatively, that in the form that survives, the Koran was compiled, if not written, decades after the time of Mohammed, probably by converts to Islam in the Middle East, who introduced elements from the religions previously dominant in the region. Drs PC and MC, also working at SOAS at the time, provided an even more devastating analysis by looking at the only surviving contemporary accounts of the Islamic invasion, written in Armenian, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac by Middle Eastern witnesses to the rise of Islam. They found that Islam, as represented by admittedly biased sources, was in essence a tribal conspiracy against the Byzantine and Persian empires with deep roots in Judaism, and that Arabs and Jews were allies in these conquering communities.

Apparent support for their conclusions came from finds made during the restoration of the Great Mosque of Sana'a in Yemen, where labourers working in the roof discovered fragments of Korans that are among the oldest in existence. German scholars who studied the manuscripts discovered that some of the Koranic writing diverges from the authorised version, which by tradition is considered the pure, unadulterated word of God. What's more, some of the writing appears to have been INSCRIBED OVER EARLIER, "RUBBED-OUT" VERSIONS OF THE TEXT. This editing supports the belief of Wansbrough and his pupils that the Koran as we know it does not date from the time of Mohammed. AP, professor of Islamic history at the University of Victoria in Canada, and the author of a revisionist history of Islam published by Routledge, said: "The Sana'a manuscripts [are] part of the process of filling in the holes in our knowledge of what might have happened".

I have refered by initial only to certain people...I dont know why I should feel protective in this way...of course their work is in the academic domain.

fair enough...