Freethought & Rationalism Archive

09-15-2007, 05:04 PM

Has anything substantial been published fairly recently on the contents of the archaic Qur'ans found at Sana'a? Puin's original work was almost a decade ago and I haven't been able to find anything more recent.
Des anyone know if the work is still progressing or has it been stopped?

ETA: If one of the mods wants to edit the typo in the title that'd be good. Should be a single apostrophe in Qur'an.

Toto · 09-15-2007, 05:35 PM

What this is about:

Prophet of Doom (2003)

Quote:

More than 15,000 sheets of the Yemeni Qur'an's have been flattened, cleaned, treated, sorted, and assembled. They await further examination in Yemen's House of Manuscripts. Yet that is something Islamic authorities seem unwilling to allow. Puin suggests, "They want to keep this thing low-profile, as we do, although for different reasons."

Puin, and his colleague Graf von Bothmer, an Islamic historian, have published short essays on what they discovered. They continue to feel that when the Yemeni authorities realize the implications of the find, they will refuse further access. Von Bothmer, however, in 1997 shot 35,000 microfilm pictures of the fragments, and has brought the pictures back to Germany. The texts will soon be scrutinized and the findings published freely - a prospect that pleases Puin. "So many Muslims have this belief that everything between the two covers of the Qur'an is Allah's unaltered word. They like to quote the textual work that shows that the Bible has a history and did not fall straight out of the sky, but until now the Qur'an has been out of this discussion. The only way to break through this wall is to prove that the Qur'an has a history too. The Sana'a fragments will help us accomplish this."

In his article on the Yemeni fragments, Toby Lester quoted many of the same scholars Jay Smith referenced in his Cambridge debate. A second perspective on their insights, and what this find might mean for Islam, is important as we are navigating perilous waters. One such expert was Andrew Rippin, a professor of religious studies at the University of Calgary, and a man at the forefront of Qur'anic studies. He said, "The impact of the Yemeni manuscripts is still to be felt. Their variant readings and verse orders are all very significant. Everybody agrees on that. These manuscripts say that the early history of the Qur'anic text is much more of an open question than most have suspected. The text was less stable, and therefore had less authority, than has been claimed."

What is the Koran by Tony Lester

Qur'an_in_the_House_of_Manuscript_in_Sana'a

09-15-2007, 05:46 PM

Yeah I suppose I should have provided some backgound. I assumed people would know about it.
This link is good too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd-R._Puin

09-15-2007, 05:04 PM	#1
mung bean Guest Posts: n/a	Gerd R. Puin and the Sana'a Qur"ans. Has anything substantial been published fairly recently on the contents of the archaic Qur'ans found at Sana'a? Puin's original work was almost a decade ago and I haven't been able to find anything more recent. Des anyone know if the work is still progressing or has it been stopped? ETA: If one of the mods wants to edit the typo in the title that'd be good. Should be a single apostrophe in Qur'an.

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09-15-2007, 05:46 PM	#3
mung bean Guest Posts: n/a	Yeah I suppose I should have provided some backgound. I assumed people would know about it. This link is good too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd-R._Puin

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