Iqra/ Read OR Recite:-
The Oxford Dictionary makes a very important DISTINCTION between Reading & Reciting-
Read: 1. Look at and comprehend the meaning of (written or printed matter) by mentally interpreting the characters or symbols of which it is composed.
2. Speak (the written or printed matter that one is reading) aloud, typically to another person.
Recite: Repeat aloud or declaim (a poem or a passage) from MEMORY before an audience.
In the Arabic language also, there are TWO distinct words describing the two actions of Reading & Reciting-
IQRA means to Read. That is to read from a DOCUMENT or from WRITINGS.
Yatloo on the other hand, means to Recite. That is to declaim words from memory.
IQRA is actually the first word of the first verse/aya of the first chapter/sura of the Quran but for INCOMPREHENSIBLE reasons of constructing the Quran, it was relegated to the 96th Sura instead.
96:1 "Proclaim! (or Read!) [Iqra] in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher Who created
2 Created man out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood (Leech):
3 Proclaim! [Iqra] And thy Lord is Most Bountiful
4 He Who taught (the use of) the Pen
5 Taught man that which he knew not".
Isaiah 29: 10 " For HaShem (God) hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets, and your heads, the seers, hath He covered. 11 And the vision of all this is become unto you as the words of a writing that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying: 'Read this, I pray thee'; and he saith: 'I cannot, for it is sealed';12 and the writing is delivered to him that is not learned, saying: 'Read this, I pray thee'; and he saith: 'I am not learned.' "
Isaiah 40: 6 " A voice says, 'Proclaim' [Qra] and (the prophet) asks, 'What shall I proclaim [Iqra] ? "
*** As usual in hundreds of important verses in the Quran, Muhammad, once more, plagiarised and used the story of a vision in the Bible - Isaiah 29:11 & 40: 6 - that was taught to him by either a learned Jew or a Christian to dramatic effect as the first of his Quranic 'revelations' in his alleged meeting with the angel Gabriel as depicted in the altered version of events in...
Bukhari Hadith 1.3:"……suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read [Iqra]. The Prophet replied,
"I do not know how to read."
The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied,
'I do not know how to read.'
Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied,
'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?'
Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said,
'Read [Iqra] in the name of your Lord, who has created man from a clot. Read! [Iqra] And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1-3)
This version of the story of 'revelation' produces TWO extremely contentious and important question marks that have to be pointed out that require some logical answers:
a) It is INCONCEIVABLE to accept, based on theological grounds alone, that the angel Gabriel, the supreme messenger of Allah, DID NOT ALREADY KNOW that Muhammad could not READ.
b) It goes even beyond CREDIBILITY or logic, that the angel Gabriel could have 'revealed' to Muhammad a completely DIFFERENT version of the creation of MAN to that found in its ORIGINAL in the BIBLE.
It is a measure of the complete lack of VERACITY and ACCURACY of the Quran that its first verse ever, displays a remarkable ignorance of the Biblical story of the CREATION of Mankind/Man; after all, he was created from DUST and NOT a CLOT.
The same Torah, that the Quran itself repeatedly asserts to have been the word of Allah, is perverted and given a completely different version.
Why would Allah give TWO completely and utterly incompatible versions of His own creation story to two different messengers of His (Moses and allegedly
Muhammad)?
In the Quranic version as 'revealed' to Muhammad by Gabriel (NOT directly by Allah, but SECOND HAND information), Man was created from Congealed Blood/Leech.
Genesis 2: 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
It is utter BLASPHEMY to imply that Allah - if Allah is the God of Israel & Jesus - could be inconsistent about the method of His own creation.
Once more I have to repeat that in the original version of creation as given in the Torah DIRECTLY to Moses, Man was created from 'DUST', and not from a CLOT.
According to the Ahadith (stories about the sayings and way of life of Muhammad), he was unable to read and write. This is totally contradicted by the report mentioned in
Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat Rasullullah" the first biographer of his life (c 130AH), about 120 years after his death.
In this very first and ORIGINAL version of the alleged encounter between Muhammad and the angel Gabriel, the angel produced
"a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing".
(A. Guillaum's 'The Life of Muhammad' p106).
Hence, verse 96:1 can ONLY make sense if Muhammad could READ what was written on the coverlet. This would obviously change the whole state of affairs
- as depicted by the later Muhammadans - dramatically and fundamentally.
The reader should be aware that, since Ibn Ishaq was both an Arab and a Muhammadan and historically the nearest to the sources of information, his report should have obviously greater reliability than the ones that were
MASS PRODUCED much later.
He cannot be accused of fabrication as a foreigner or as an enemy of Muhammadan Islam.
When Gabriel ordered him to Read/Iqra, Muhammad asked him correctly and sensibly, " What shall I read"?.
Since the coverlet had writings on it, as Muhammad himself asserts, then it is obvious and totally rational to assume that Gabriel wanted him to read the writing on the coverlet. Why else would Muhammad, on three consecutive occasions reply by asking Gabriel
"What shall I read?".
The astoundingly SIMPLE conclusion, based upon Muhammad's answer by asking Gabriel with "What shall I read?" instead of the altered versions of
"I cannot read", ASSERTS the fact that he COULD READ.
The answer above, contradicts the deliberate falsifications of the original story by the later followers of Muhammad for obvious doctrinal and theological reasons as depicted in the altered and corrupted texts of Bukhari Hadith 1:3 & 9:111.
In their version of the story, the answer "I cannot read" is totally meaningless implying the utter stupidity and ignorance of Gabriel regarding Muhammad's ability to read or not.
The reader should be aware that for doctrinal and theological reasons, the later followers of Muhammad had done their best to OBFUSCATE and CONFUSE their followers as to the real meaning of the words depicting to READ and to RECITE.
Hence, in our analysis and investigation to discover the FACTS, we must address the meanings of both words individually and thoroughly even if we have to repeat certain ideas more than once.
A.1) Let us assume to start with, that the Bukhari version of events is the factual one and that Iqra does mean READ; that is to read from the words from a document or writings. Hence the logical question would be: how is it possible that the angel of Allah did not know that Muhammad was unable to read? That he was an illiterate?
Moreover, according to the above version of the event, the Hadith does NOT mention any item or document that was displayed by Gabriel for Muhammad to READ from.
I repeat again, why would Gabriel ask Muhammad three times, with force, to read, WITHOUT having shown him anything to READ from?
Or is it logical or possible that the angel of Allah DID NOT KNOW that Muhammad could not read?
A.2) Now we take Bukhari's version and assume that Iqra means RECITE, that is to repeat from memory.
In this manner also, Muhammad's answer "I cannot read", or in this instance,
"I cannot recite" makes absolutely no sense since Gabriel had not YET informed him of the Quranic verses and Muhammad was obviously at a loss as to what he was supposed to recite and hence he should have replied
" What should I recite"?
Once more, we have to come to the unavoidable conclusion that, Gabriel, Allah's messenger was yet again, being depicted as IGNORANT and CLUELESS.
B.1) Now, let us investigate, in the same manner, Ibn Ishaq's ORIGINAL version of the events and that Iqra means to READ, to start with.
When Gabriel ordered him to Read/Iqra - implying the writing on the coverlet - Muhammad asked him correctly and sensibly, " What shall I read" ? because maybe he was not sure. In this case Gabriel obviously and correctly, knew that Muhammad could read.
B.2) But, if Iqra in this instance was to mean RECITE, Gabriel's command and Muhammad's answer " What shall I recite" ? become meaningless and irreconcilable since Gabriel had, once more, not told Muhammad the Quranic verses that he wanted him to RECITE, rendering Gabriel, once again, as IGNORANT and CLUELESS.
We have now covered all the possible versions of the event resulting in only ONE version that can possibly make any sense whatsoever, which is
B.1,
Ibn Ishaq's ORIGINAL, wherein IQRA means to READ.
Hence Muhammad was able to READ.
What is most important in all of the above analysis and investigation, is the fact, that the original story as given by Ibn Ishaq - who was after all the first and nearest writer to the events that transpired during the life of Muhammad - had been materailly, linguistically and grammatically, deliberately altered and tampered with to suit the subsequent theological arguments to suit the dogma of the 'divine' source of the Quran.
Moreover in the Quran
29: 48 "And thou wast not (able) to recite (tatloo) a Book before this (Book came) nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: in that case indeed would the talkers of vanities have doubted"!.
*** This is a very illuminating verse which implies that Muhammad, before these 'revelations', could neither Recite nor Write them down since he was ignorant of them.
In this verse the Arabic word used to represent Recite is Tatloo and not the incorrect Taqraa (which only means to read) because this is the true representation of what Muhammad could or could not do ***
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 1.3 Narrated byAisha
(the mother of the faithful believers) The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright daylight, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food likewise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied,
"I do not know how to read."
The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied,
'I do not know how to read.'
Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied,
'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?'
Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said,
'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3)
Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija replied, "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones."
*** Muhammad's encounter with Gabriel producing terror in him is contrary to all of Gabriel's earlier appearances to Zacharia and Mary who were not afraid of him since he introduced himself in a gentle and calm manner.
Only Muhammad had such violent and scary encounters. Waraqa - who supposedly knew the Bible - was definitely incorrect in his assertion that Gabriel appeared to Moses since the name of this angel was only mentioned in Daniel and not in the Torah.
Why were Gabriel's encounters with Muhammad so violent and scary to him?
Why did Gabriel change his usually gentle method of intoroducing himself?
Why would Gabriel who predicted to Mary that her son Jesus would be the Redeemer of humanity, change allegiance to another alleged 'redeemer' in the person of Muhammad?
How is it possible to conceive and believe that Allah who revealed the Injil to Jesus, changed his mind and replaced him with Muhammad?
The answers reside in the simple conclusion that it was only in Muhammad's fertile imagination that his 'inspirations' came from Gabriel like most of the conveniently 'descended' Quranic 'revelations' over a period of almost twenty three years.
Every letter, every word, every verse/aya and every chapter/sura in the Quran could NOT have been revealed by ANY Omniscient, Compassionate and Merciful Divinity becaus in reality, the whole of the Quran is the product of Muhammad's own imagination but cleverly projected into the unsuspecting mouth of Allah, the Supreme Pagan rock god of the Quraysh, embedded in the corner wall of the Ka'ba, called the BLACK STONE ***
