Written compilation of the Qur'an

Had a "wow that's quite freaky" moment whilst reading on the coach into London from Stansted airport yesterday. Read a bit of Chris Kuzneski's novel 'Sword of God' (not all that great a book but will write a full-er review when I get to the end) and a bit of Mufti Muhammad Shaafi's 'Ma'aariful Qur'an' from where I last left off in both books. And, strangely, the exact topic of both passages I read was the written compilation of the Qur'an initiated by the third caliph of Islam, Uthman ibn Affan.

Great to see in 'Sword of God' first hand what Mufti Muhammad Shaafi sets out to clarify in his 'Ma'aariful Qur'an'. That is, the Qur'an in the early generation of Muslims was hardly, if at all, spread by the written word. There were many many individuals around the Prophet who had committed the entire Qur'an to memory and this is what the Qur'an is (something to be spoken, recited rather) and how the Muslims of the time functioned. And these individuals were still around when the first caliph, Abu Bakr, assigned Zayd Ibn Thabit the task of collecting all the parchments (materials) on which verses of the Qur'an had been written in the presence of the Prophet. And many of these individuals (and many more) who had committed the Qur'an to memory/heart were still around when Uthman ibn Affan commissioned a group of four individuals (Zayd Ibn Thaabit, 'Abdullah ibn Zubayr, Sa'eed ibn al-'Aas, Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Harith ibn Hishaam) to put together a single-volume surah-ordered written copy of the Qur'an which incorporated all the different possible readings which the Prophet taught.

Quite an achievement in my opinion to put together a single written copy which served as an authority and incorporated and unified the multiple readings which the revelation allowed. Shame the point of it got missed and it clarified one misunderstanding for those of the time (i.e. the different readings the Qur'an allowed) only to give birth to another years later (i.e. none of the copies compiled at the time of Uthman ibn Affan can be found so there's no guarantee that the Qur'an we have is the unaltered version as taught by the Prophet). I guess there's no pleasing all. To each his goal.

H2O and The Trinity

On my way home last night, I bumped into two gentlemen standing outside a Church handing out leaflets and inviting people in for coffee. I got talking to them on the topic of the Trinity which I struggle to get my head around. And, despite the lengthy discussion, I still cannot get my head around it. So: God is composed of three elements – the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost – just like water is composed of three elements – two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. And: God changes form – sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son and sometimes the Holy Ghost – just like water changes form – sometimes liquid, sometimes solid and sometimes gas.

I cannot understand how people who are otherwise brilliant, smart and intellectual feed on this. I mean: if water changes to liquid, solid or gas, it's still always wholly water, just in a different form (i.e. liquid, solid or gas). Likewise, if God were to change form to be the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost, God is still God, just in a different form. However, if God is wholly the Father, wholly the Son or wholly the Holy Ghost, then God cannot simultaneously be a fractional composition of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This is like saying one hydrogen or oxygen atom is water. It's not the case. The simile doesn't work.

Lastly, there's the question which I can never find a convincing response to: if Jesus is God or a fraction of God even, is it not a bit strange that Jesus (when on this earth) was supplicating and praying to God? And by "convincing response" I mean consistent with sense and reason. Because: whilst we find that revelation from God is oftentimes outside the realm of sense and reason (e.g. being taught that we have a soul or how to make ablution for prayer), it is never inconsistent with sense and reason. Well, at least I haven't been able to find an example of revelation which is inconsistent with sense and reason. I am happy to retract this belief of mine if there is a counter-example. It is not central to my argument about the Trinity being a mathematical absurdity. It's just a side point.

Ma'ariful Qur'an: Wahy - The divine revelation

Man has his senses,
and reason,
and then there is revelation.
Men inspired by God
to teach what is beyond us,
what is beyond this world.