The mysteries of the Qur'an and early Islam

Imagine the Qur'an - the holiest book of Islam, which is considered a divine gift from heaven and is therefore believed to be "uncreated" and thus "unchangeable" for Muslims - was given as revelation to only one man, Muhammad, by the angel Gabriel during a time span of 22 years. But this man - in contradiction to all biblical books and prophets - could neither read nor write. This means: An illiterate person was handed down Islam's holiest book!? This alone makes the writing of the Qur'an extremely strange. Furthermore this book has been written down some 24 years after Muhammad's death. This was in 656 AD. It was the 4th Khalif, Uthman, who initiated this compilation by commissioning Zaid ibn-Talib (along with three other men) for this monumental task. After completion, a total of four copies were made, and these four copies were sent to different cities. To this day, it is claimed that two of these copies - called 'Mushafs' - have been preserved in Istanbul (Turkey) and Tashkent (Usbekistan). But investigations from 2002 onwards could not confirm their authenticity.

This is just the beginning of all the strange things. The first comprehensive biography of Muhammad, 'Sira', was written by Ibn-Ishak in 765 AD - a full 133 years after the Prophet's death. This biography was then improved by ibn-Hisham in 833 AD, 200 years after the death of Muhammad. Only this last biography has been preserved. And what about the 'Hadith', the sayings of the Prophet? These were collected by al-Bukhari in 870 AD, 240 years after Muhammad's death. He discarded 90% of the original material to ensure "authenticity". The Quranic Interpretations, called 'Tafsir', was also written by al-Tabari only in 923 AD - 267 years after Muhammad's death.

But the mystery continues. There is no mention of Islam in historical records before 691 AD. Mecca, now considered the heart of Islam, is not mentioned for the first time until 741 AD. The most frequently mentioned places in the Qur'ran are all 1000 kilometers north of Mecca, near Petra.

The direction of prayer ('kibla') of the early mosques was initially directed towards Petra. Then for the next 100 years there was a “confusion” about this, before finally all mosques were uniformly aligned with Mecca – 200 years after the Prophet’s death.

All of these fascinating details raise many questions about the real origin of Islam. To all appearances, the true birthplace and birth of the Islamic religion seems not to be in Mecca, but in Petra, the Nabataean trading center of antiquity.