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Carbon dating suggests early Quran is older than Muhammad
By Brian Booker
Carbon dating suggests that the Quran, or at least portions of it, may actually be older than the prophet Muhammad himself. If the findings are proven true, it could rewrite early Islamic history and shed doubt on the "heavenly" origins of the holy text.
Scholars now believe that a copy Quran held by the Birmingham Library was actually written sometime between 568 AD and 645, while the Prophet Mohammad was believed to have been born in 570 AD and to have died in 632 AD. The copy of the widely used holy text held by the library is known for being one of the oldest in the world.
Scholars came to this conclusion after researchers carbon dated a small piece of parchment from the Islamic holy book. The carbon dating, which is considered to be extremely accurate, suggests that the Quran may have actually been written before Muhammad was alive, or during the early years of his childhood.
The Quran held by the Birmingham Library is believed to be the oldest known copy in the world. It should be noted, however, that the documents held at the library are not a complete copy of the holy text, instead containing text only for suras (chapters) 18 to 20.
If the carbon dating analysis proves to be accurate, it would raise serious questions as to the origin of the Islamic holy book. It should be noted, however, that the dating was only conducted on the parchment, rather than the ink, so it is possible that the Quran was simply written on old paper.
The Quran was not officially written down until 653 AD, under the orders of the Caliph Uthman, though it is believed that partial written scripts of the Quran were in circulation beforehand. Before the Quran was inked onto paper it was passed along orally, with some devout believers choosing to memorize the entire text by heart.
Some scholars believe, however, that Muhammad did not receive the Quran from heaven, as he claimed during his lifetime, but instead collected texts and scripts that fit his political agenda.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/reli ... z3kbLExEvn
Kewell35 wrote:The paper used was probably older...but not the ink. Carbon dating should be run on the ink and the paper.
It is not entirely unreasonable that the paper is significantly older than the ink.
nemesis12 wrote:In before ruffneck
supercharged turbo wrote:In before AdamB
Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:the salient point here is how did the British end up with this artefact? They looted it from somewhere during their conquest?
Scholars now believe that a copy Quran held by the Birmingham Library was actually written sometime between 545 AD and 568, while the Prophet Mohammad was believed to have been born in 570 AD and to have died in 632 AD.
Experts from the University of Oxford conducted carbon-dating on the pages, revealing that the ancient manuscript may have been written between 568 and 645 AD. This makes the newly-discovered pages possibly the oldest copy of the Quran in existence.
The Prophet Muhammad, who is recognized as the founder of the Islamic faith, was said to have received the revelations that eventually came to form the Quran. He lived around 570 to 632 AD.
Radiocarbon analysis has dated the parchment on which the text is written to the period between AD 568 and 645 with 95.4% accuracy. The test was carried out in a laboratory at the University of Oxford. The result places the leaves close to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, who is generally thought to have lived between AD 570 and 632.
It is believed that the Birmingham Koran was produced between 568AD and 645AD, while the dates usually given for Muhammad are between 570AD and 632AD.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3kgDKOzhu
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MobSpec wrote:Not everything that is written may be true. This fact hasn't changed so be careful about personal subjectivity when reading articles my friends.
RASC wrote:God wrote the Quran?
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