Page 361 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

CHAPTER TWENTY

CLOSING REMARKS

Anyone writing about Islam must initially decide whether or not he believes
in Muhammad as a prophet. Scholars who acknowledge him as a genuine
messenger, the noblest of all prophets, enjoy an incredible library of hadiths
and divine revelationsfrom which to draw their inspiration. Bynecessitythey
willshare innumerable similarities, even total agreement on fundamental
issues; whatever minor variations arise due to shifting circumstances are
entirely natural and human. Those refusing this viewpoint however, must
by extension see Muhammad as a deluded madman or a liar bearing false
claimsof prophethood. This isthe adopted stance of allnon-Muslim scholars,
through which their efforts are ftltered: if they did not set out to prove
Muhammad's dishonesty or the Qjir'an's fallacy,what would hinder them
from accepting Islam?
In Islamic affairs,Western research transcends mere subjectivity to mani-
fest itself as anti-Islamic dogma. Its view is born in regal ancestry: intense
rivalry of religions, centuries of crusades, the colonisation of Muslim lands,
and a colonial pride that blossomed into an overt contempt for the customs,
beliefs, and the very history of Muslims. To this we may add the more recent
motives: encouraging secularism to promote globalJewish assimilation and
ensure Israel's territorial integrity.And along these ancestral lines their efforts
may well continue, attacking the Qur'an as a communal work just as their
forefathers made much use of the enlightened term 'Muhammadans', as
though Muslims prostrated before a golden idol of that name.
The maxim of Ibn Slrin (d. 110 A.H.) holds greater urgency today than
ever before:

Thisknowledge [of religion] constitutes faith,sobe waryof whomyou
acquire your knowledge from. 1

This means that on Islamic issues - whether the Qur'an, tqfs'ir, badTth,
fiqh, history, ... etc. - only the writings of a practising Muslim are worthy of
our attention. These may then be accepted or rejected according to their

I Muslim, $al:zl~, i:14.