According to the traditional view, the Koran was spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mohammad, who in turn repeated what was said word for word. The words of Mohammed were then memorized, and later written down, and then gathered together, each step faithfully, so that what we have today is exactly what was spoken by the angel Gabriel.
With regard to the Hebrew scriptures (or Old Testament) and the New Testament, these are viewed as written by men inspired by God. The truth of their message has been preserved through the ages by the community of believers. Among Christians, the fact that Jesus read from the Septuagent (a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, by scholars gathered together by the Library of Alexandria) validates that source. Otherwise, the books of the Hebrew scriptures and of the Bible are those determined by councils of scholars circa the 3rd century AD. Jews and Christians are generally comfortable with seeming contradictions in minor details, and multiple interpretations of their scriptures.
Returning to the Koran, because of its dogmatic characteristic, there remain to this day Muslims who believe in nonsense such as the world is flat. It has been known to all educated people that the world is round since the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, even how big was its circumference. (Columbus’ voyages were predicated on a mistaken calculation of circumference, not on the world being round.)
Although I do not speak Arabic, I am told that the Koran is very difficult to read. We know the Bible contains exaggeration, allegory, parables, and other such teaching devices. But, in the Koran, where the literal truth ends and the such teaching devices begin cannot even be discussed under penalty of death. You must go along with the nonsense that it is all literally true.
With the Bible, from time to time, we discover ancient manuscripts and these generally conform to what we have, although not in every detail. We’re comfortable with this. Indeed, we are excited by such discoveries. Nowadays, with modern archeological methods, we are discovering ancient manuscripts that differ from the Koran as promulgated by Uthman, proving that version to be merely an edited compendium of statements attributed to Mohammed. Previously, the Muslims has been able to destroy such evidence in order to protect the argument that the Koran is a mere transcription of what the angel Gabriel whispered to Mohammed.
This nature of the Koran versus the nature of the Bible is reflected in the following: Jews and Christians accept that the truth is for us to decide as a community and as individuals, and that it is normal and maybe even good that there are differences of opinion. We are suspicious of cults under dogmatic leaders. Muslims, on the other hand, are inclined to be authoritarian. They have a book of literally true revelation that ordinary people cannot read (even if they know Arabic) and need an authority to tell them what it means.
>>Muslims, on the other hand, are inclined to be authoritarian
Ask Galileo and Giorandano Bruno, two original (albeit posthumous) members of the “Infidels of every denomination” club - about the inclination towards being authoritarian.
According to the traditional view, the Koran was spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mohammad,
Mohammad who, unlike his wife Khadijah's uncle - "Waraqah ibn Nawfal. This scholar reportedly had translated the Bible from Hebrew into Arabic."... was illiterate.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=was+the+prophet+muhammad+illiterate
"Islam did not rise except through Ali's sword and Khadijah's wealth,"
Thank you! Very illuminating.
