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145-637: This mountain range has been home to an Alawite population since the Middle Ages . Classically, this range was known as the Bargylus , a name mentioned by Pliny the Elder . The Greek : Μπάργκυλος , romanized :  Bargylus ) had its roots in the name of an ancient city-kingdom called Barga most probably located in the vicinity of the mountains; it was a city of the Eblaite Empire in

290-626: A Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries." In 1971, al-Assad declared himself president of Syria, a position the constitution at the time permitted only for Sunni Muslims. In 1973, a new constitution was adopted, replacing Islam as the state religion with a mandate that the president's religion be Islam, and protests erupted. In 1974, to satisfy this constitutional requirement, Musa as-Sadr (a leader of

435-603: A bell" and A'isha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)." Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power," the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he

580-500: A bodily resurrection . In the Quran belief in the afterlife is often referred in conjunction with belief in God: "Believe in God and the last day" emphasizing what is considered impossible is easy in the sight of God. A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and warn people to be prepared for the "imminent" day referred to in various ways. It

725-487: A book of guidance for humankind ( 2:185 ). It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. Supplementing the Quran with explanations for some cryptic Quranic narratives, and rulings that also provide the basis for Islamic law in most denominations of Islam, are hadiths —oral and written traditions believed to describe words and actions of Muhammad. During prayers ,

870-633: A campaign against Saleh al-Ali's forces in the Alawi Mountains. His forces entered al-Ali's village of Al-Shaykh Badr, arresting many Alawi leaders; however, al-Ali fled to the north. When a large French force overran his position, he went underground. Despite these instances of opposition, the Alawites mostly favored French rule and sought its continuation beyond the mandate period. When the French began to occupy Syria in 1920, an Alawite State

1015-500: A complete code of conduct across all facets of life. This has led Muslim theologians to fiercely debate whether the Quran was " created or uncreated ." According to tradition, several of Muhammad's companions served as scribes, recording the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled on the order of the first caliph Abu Bakr ( r.  632–634 ) by the companions, who had written down or memorized parts of it. Caliph Uthman ( r.  644–656 ) established

1160-542: A concession by the French to the National Bloc (the party in power in the semi-autonomous Syrian government). The law went into effect in 1937. In 1939, the Sanjak of Alexandretta (now Hatay ) contained a large number of Alawites. The Hatayan land was given to Turkey by the French after a League of Nations plebiscite in the province. This development greatly angered most Syrians; to add to Alawi contempt, in 1938,

1305-472: A direct translation of the text. The word qur'ān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun ( maṣdar ) of the Arabic verb qara'a ( قرأ ‎ ) meaning 'he read' or 'he recited'. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā ( ܩܪܝܢܐ ), which refers to 'scripture reading' or 'lesson'. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from

1450-431: A highly secretive and esoteric sect, Nusayri religious priests tend to conceal their core doctrines, which are only introduced to a chosen minority of the sect's adherents. Alawites have also adopted the practice of taqiya to avoid victimization. Alawite doctrine incorporates elements of Phoenician mythology , Gnosticism , neo-Platonism , Christian Trinitarianism (for example, they celebrate Mass including

1595-623: A major role in uniting the Alawite province with Syria. He was executed by the Syrian government in Damascus on 12 December 1946, only three days after a political trial. Syria became independent on 17 April 1946. In 1949, after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , Syria experienced a number of military coups and the rise of the Ba'ath Party. In 1958, Syria and Egypt were united by a political agreement into

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1740-464: A plot to absorb their ethno-religious identity into Iran's Twelver Shia umbrella and spread religious extremism in the country. Alawites and their beliefs have been described as "secretive" (Yaron Friedman, for example, in his scholarly work on the sect, has written that the Alawi religious material quoted in his book came only from "public libraries and printed books" since the "sacred writings" of

1885-409: A possessed man, a soothsayer , or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia . Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood. The Quran describes Muhammad as " ummi ", which is traditionally interpreted as 'illiterate', but the meaning

2030-455: A separate Alawite nation, and tried to convert their autonomy into independence. The French Mandate Administration encouraged Alawites to join their military forces, in part to provide a counterweight to the Sunni majority (which was more hostile to their rule). According to a 1935 letter by the French minister of war, the French considered the Alawites and the Druze the only " warlike races " in

2175-616: A significant Alawite presence developed in the mountains east of Latakia and Jableh during the Mamluk period (1260s–1516). According to Bar Hebraeus , many Alawites were killed when the Crusaders initially entered Syria in 1097; however, they tolerated them when they concluded they were not a truly Islamic sect. They even incorporated them within their ranks, along with the Maronites and Turcopoles . Two prominent Alawite leaders in

2320-643: A significant minority in the Hatay Province of Turkey and northern Lebanon . There is also a population living in the village of Ghajar in the Golan Heights , where there had been two other Alawite villages ( Ayn Fit and Za'ura ), before the Six-Day War . The Alawites form the dominant religious group on the Syrian coast and towns near the coast, which are also inhabited by Sunnis , Christians , and Ismailis . They are often confused with

2465-631: A single folio of a very early Quran , dating back to 1370 years earlier, was discovered in the library of the University of Birmingham , England. According to the tests carried out by the Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, "with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645". The manuscript is written in Hijazi script , an early form of written Arabic. This possibly

2610-522: A square is set up and the king or lord of the day ;( māliki yawmi-d-dīn ) comes and shows his shin; looks are fearful, are invited to prostration; but those invited in the past but stayed away, cannot do this.( Al-Qalam 42-43) Some researchers have no hesitation that many doomsday concepts, some of which are also used in the Quran, such as firdaws , kawthar , jahannam , maalik have come from foreign cultures through historical evolution . According to M. Shamsher Ali , there are around 750 verses in

2755-587: A standard version, now known as the Uthmanic codex , which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings , with some differences in meaning. The Quran assumes the reader's familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical and apocryphal texts . It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as

2900-519: A surah dedicated to his mother Mary in the Quran. According to As-Saff 6, while he is a harbinger of Muhammad, Sunnis understand that Jesus continues to live in a sky layer , as in the stories of ascension , preaches that he will return to the earth near apocalypse , join the Mahdi , will pray behind him and then kill the False Messiah ( Dajjal ). While belief in God and obedience to

3045-462: A third of 250,000 young Alawite men of fighting age has been killed in the conflict by 2015, due to being disproportionately sent to fight in the frontlines by the Assad government. In April 2017, a pro-opposition source claimed 150,000 young Alawites had died. Another report estimates that around 100,000 Alawite youths were killed in combat by 2020. Many Alawites feared significant danger during

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3190-580: Is "a sign of the hour." Despite the uncertainty of the time is emphasized with the statement that it is only in the presence of God,(43:61) there is a rich eschatological literature in the Islamic world and doomsday prophecies in the Islamic world are heavily associated with "round" numbers. Said Nursi interpreted the expressions in the Quran and hadiths as metaphorical or allegorical symbolizations and benefited from numerological methods applied to some ayah/hadith fragments in his own prophecies. In

3335-637: Is "widespread and well-funded". Individuals connected with the movement include Abdul Majeed al-Zindani , who established the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah ; Zakir Naik , the Indian televangelist; and Adnan Oktar , the Turkish creationist. Ismail al-Faruqi and Taha Jabir Alalwani are of the view that any reawakening of the Muslim civilization must start with the Quran; however,

3480-732: Is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction', 'the Day of the Gathering' or 'the Day of the Meeting'. "Signs of the hour" in the Quran are a " Beast of the Earth " will arise (27:82); the nations Gog and Magog will break through their ancient barrier wall and sweep down to scourge the earth (21:96-97); and Jesus

3625-536: Is a forgery. Even during this time of increased Alawite rights, the situation was still so bad for the group that many women had to leave their homes to work for urban Sunnis. In May 1930, the Alawite State was renamed the Government of Latakia in one of the few concessions by the French to Arab nationalists before 1936. Nevertheless, on 3 December 1936, the Alawite State was re-incorporated into Syria as

3770-400: Is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with religious beliefs. This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Quran is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this idea – causing them to believe that scientific truths must appear in

3915-413: Is a prominent prophet and messenger of God and the most frequently mentioned individual in the Quran, with his name being mentioned 136 times and his life being narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. Jesus is considered another important prophet with his fatherless birth,( 66:12 , 21:89 ) special with the expressions used for him, such as the "word" and "spirit" from God and

4060-463: Is a way and method of reciting the Qur'an was developed sometime afterwards. There are ten canonical recitations and they are not to be confused with ahruf. Shias recite the Quran according to the qira'at of Hafs on authority of ‘Asim , which is the prevalent qira'at in the Islamic world and believe that the Quran was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime. It is claimed that

4205-692: Is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The term mus'haf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books. Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in 610 CE in the Cave of Hira on the Night of Power during one of his isolated retreats to

4350-453: Is approved because of its familiarity for a certain society and its antithesis munkar means what is disapproved because it is unknown and extraneous. It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. A number of practices, such as usury and gambling, are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of Islamic law ( sharia ). Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in

4495-406: Is claimed that the provisions and contents in sources such as the Quran and hadith, apart from general purposes , are contents that reflect the general understanding and practices of that period, and it is brought up to replace the sharia practices that pose problems in terms of today's ethic values with new interpretations . The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of

Syrian Coastal Mountain Range - Misplaced Pages Continue

4640-527: Is interesting to note that in the above-mentioned petitions of 1892 and 1909 the Nuṣayrīs called themselves the 'Arab Alawī people' (ʿArab ʿAlevī ṭāʾifesi) 'our ʿAlawī Nuṣayrī people' (ṭāʾifatunā al-Nuṣayriyya al-ʿAlawiyya) or 'signed with Alawī people' (ʿAlevī ṭāʾifesi imżāsıyla). This early self-designation is, in my opinion, of triple importance. Firstly, it shows that the word 'Alawī' was always used by these people, as ʿAlawī authors emphasize; secondly, it hints at

4785-723: Is likely the Alawite presence in Latakia dates to Tabarani's lifetime, it is unclear if Alawite teachings spread to the city's mountainous hinterland, where the Muslim population generally leaned toward Shia Islam, in the eleventh century. In the early part of the century, the Jabal al-Rawadif (part of the Syrian Coastal Mountains around Latakia) were controlled by the local Arab chieftain Nasr ibn Mushraf al-Rudafi, who vacillated between alliance and conflict with Byzantium. There

4930-519: Is nothing in the literary sources indicating al-Rudafi patronized the Alawites. To the south of Jabal al-Rawadif, in the Jabal Bahra, a 13th-century Alawite treatise mentions the sect was sponsored by the Banu'l-Ahmar, Banu'l-Arid, and Banu Muhriz , three local families who controlled fortresses in the region in the 11th and 12th centuries. From this southern part of the Syrian coastal mountain range,

5075-464: Is now generally regarded as antiquated, and has even come to have insulting and abusive connotations. The term is frequently employed as hate speech by Sunni fundamentalists fighting against Bashar al-Assad 's government in the Syrian civil war , who use its emphasis on Ibn Nusayr in order to insinuate that Alawi beliefs are "man-made" and not divinely inspired. Nekati Alkan argued in an article that

5220-535: Is rather more complex. Medieval commentators such as al-Tabari ( d.  923 ) maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi , if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied

5365-507: Is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty." Islam regards Abraham as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad via Ishmael and mentioned in 35 chapters of the Quran , more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses . Muslims regard him as an idol smasher, hanif , an archetype of

5510-598: Is seen in a number of passages, for example: "So when al-qur'ān is recited, listen to it and keep silent." The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel . The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qur'ān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb ('book'), āyah ('sign'), and sūrah ('scripture');

5655-426: Is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature , and has significantly influenced the Arabic language . It is the object of a modern field of academic research known as Quranic studies . Muslims believe the Quran was orally revealed by God to the final Islamic prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel incrementally over a period of some 23 years, beginning on the Night of Power , when Muhammad

5800-529: The Alawi ethnoreligious group which has traditionally lived there, though the former term is based on an antiquated label for the community that is now considered insulting. The western slopes catch moisture-laden winds from the Mediterranean Sea and are thus more fertile and more heavily populated than the eastern slopes. The Orontes River flows north alongside the range on its eastern verge in

5945-588: The Alawite revolt (1834–35) against the Egyptian rule of the region, which was later suppressed by the Governor of Homs . By the mid-19th century, the Alawite people, customs and way of life were described by Samuel Lyde , an English missionary among them, as suffering from nothing except a gloomy plight. The 19th century historian Elias Saleh described the Alawites as living in a "state of ignorance" and having

Syrian Coastal Mountain Range - Misplaced Pages Continue

6090-710: The Alevis , a distinct religious sect in Turkey. Some Alawites identify as a separate ethnoreligious group while others see themselves as a part of the wider Muslim community . The Quran is only one of their holy books and texts, and their interpretation thereof has very little in common with the Shia Muslim interpretation but is in accordance with the early Batiniyya and other ghulat sects. Alawite theology and rituals sharply differ from Shia Islam in several important ways. For instance, various Nusayrite rituals involve

6235-635: The Arameans , Canaanites , Hittites , and Mardaites . Many prominent Alawite tribes are also descended from 13th century settlers from Sinjar . In his Natural History , Book V, Pliny the Elder said: We must now speak of the interior of Syria. Coele Syria has the town of Apamea , divided by the river Marsyas from the Tetrarchy of the Nazerini . The "Tetrarchy of the Nazerini" refers to

6380-641: The Byzantine Empire ). Al-Tabarani succeeded his mentor al-Jilli of Aleppo as head missionary in Syria and became "the last definitive scholar of Alawism", founding its calendar and giving Alawite teachings their final form, according to the historian Stefan Winter . Al-Tabarani influenced the Alawite faith through his writings and by converting the rural population of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range. Winter argues that while it

6525-542: The Coastal Mountains of Syria wherein they established a distinct community. Nusayri creed views Ali , companion of the Prophet Muhammad, as "the supreme eternal God" and consists of various gnostic beliefs. Nusayrite doctrine regards the souls of Alawites as re-incarnations of "lights that rebelled against God." Alawite beliefs have never been confirmed by their modern religious authorities. As

6670-648: The Ghab valley , a 64 kilometres (40 mi) longitudinal trench , and then around the northern edge of the range to flow into the Mediterranean. South of Masyaf there is a large northeast-southwest strike-slip fault which separates An-Nusayriyah Mountain from the coastal Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains of Lebanon , in a feature known as the Homs Gap . Between 1920 and 1936,

6815-683: The Ism , which in turn built the Bab . These beliefs are closely tied to the Nusayri doctrine of re-incarnations of the Trinity. Quran The Quran , also romanized Qur'an or Koran , is the central religious text of Islam , believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ( Allāh ). It is organized in 114 chapters ( surah , pl. suwer ) which consist of individual verses ( āyah ). Besides its religious significance, it

6960-682: The Quraysh who were taken prisoners at the Battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate . As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras (also usually transliterated as Surah) were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of

7105-490: The Syrian Civil War which began in 2011, the Ba'athist state imposed forced conscription of able-bodied men, mainly the youth. Due to the Assad government's fear of mass defections in military ranks, it prefers to send Alawite recruits for active combat on the frontlines and the conscriptions disproportionately targeted Alawite regions. This has resulted in a large number of 'Alawite casualties and Alawite villages in

7250-437: The Syrian opposition and preventing their community from being perceived as being associated with the Assad government. Some have claimed many Alawite loyalists fear a negative outcome for the government may result in an existential threat to their community. In May 2013, pro-opposition SOHR stated that out of 94,000 Syrian regime soldiers killed during the war, at least 41,000 were Alawites. Reports estimate that up to

7395-493: The United Arab Republic . The UAR lasted for three years, breaking apart in 1961 , when a group of army officers seized power and declared Syria independent. A succession of coups ensued until, in 1963 , a secretive military committee (including Alawite officers Hafez al-Assad and Salah Jadid ) helped the Ba'ath Party seize power. In 1966, Alawite-affiliated military officers successfully rebelled and expelled

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7540-403: The Uthmanic codex . That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. and the six other ahruf of the Qur'an fell out of use. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr. Qira'at which

7685-554: The culture of Arabs and many nations in their historical neighbourhoods, especially Judeo-Christian stories , are included in the Quran with small allusions, references or sometimes small narratives such as jannāt ʿadn , jahannam , Seven sleepers , Queen of Sheba etc. However, some philosophers and scholars such as Mohammed Arkoun , who emphasize the mythological content of the Quran, are met with rejectionist attitudes in Islamic circles. The stories of Yusuf and Zulaikha , Moses , Family of Amram (parents of Mary according to

7830-470: The " first Imam " in the Twelver school, as the physical manifestation of God. The group was founded by Ibn Nusayr during the 9th century. Ibn Nusayr was a disciple of the tenth Twelver Imam, Ali al-Hadi and of the eleventh Twelver Imam, Hasan al-Askari . For this reason, Alawites are also called Nusayris . Surveys suggest Alawites represent an important portion of the Syrian population and are

7975-450: The "Alawi" appellation was used in an 11th century Nusayri book and was not a 20th century invention. The following quote from the same article illustrates his point: "As to the change from "Nuṣayrī" to "ʿAlawī": most studies agree that the term "ʿAlawī" was not used until after WWI and probably coined and circulated by Muḥammad Amīn Ghālib al-Ṭawīl, an Ottoman official and writer of the famous Taʾrīkh al-ʿAlawiyyīn (1924). In actual fact,

8120-554: The Alawi "are kept secret" ); some tenets of the faith are kept secret from most Alawi and known only to a select few, they have therefore been described as a mystical sect. Alawite doctrines originated from the teachings of Iraqi priest Muhammad ibn Nusayr who claimed Prophethood and declared himself as the " Bāb (door) of the Imams " and attributed divinity to Hasan al-Askari . Al-Askari denounced Ibn Nusayr and Islamic authorities expelled his disciples, most of whom emigrated to

8265-571: The Alawites continued to play a significant role in the Syrian military and later in the Ba'ath Party . Since Hafiz al Assad's seizure of power during the 1970 coup ; the Ba'athist state has enforced Assadist ideology amongst Alawites to supplant their traditional identity. During the Syrian revolution , communal tensions were further exacerbated, as the country was destabilized into a full-scale civil war. In older sources, Alawis are often called "Ansaris". According to Samuel Lyde , who lived among

8410-405: The Alawites during the mid-19th century, this was a term they used among themselves. Other sources indicate that "Ansari" is simply a Western error in the transliteration of "Nusayri". Alawites historically self-identified as Nusayrites, after their religious founder Ibn Nusayr al-Numayri. However, the term "Nusayri" had fallen out of currency by the 1920s, as a movement led by intellectuals within

8555-816: The Arabic triliteral root n-ṣ-r such as the subject naṣer in Eastern Aramaic which means " keeper of wellness ". Ibn Nusayr and his followers are considered the founders of the religion. After the death of the Eleventh Imam, al-Askari, problems emerged in the Shia Community concerning his succession, and then Ibn Nusayr claimed to be the Bab and Ism of the deceased Imam and that he received his secret teachings. Ibn Nusayr and his followers' development seems to be one of many other early ghulat mystical Islamic sects, and were apparently excommunicated by

8700-535: The Ba’ath Party old guard followers of Greek Orthodox Christian Michel Aflaq and Sunni Muslim Salah ad-Din al-Bitar , calling Zaki al-Arsuzi the " Socrates " of the reconstituted Ba'ath Party. In 1970, Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a "Corrective Movement" in the Ba'ath Party. The coup of 1970 ended the political instability which had existed since independence. Robert D. Kaplan compared Hafez al-Assad's coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or

8845-410: The Bible conveyed from any source are called Israʼiliyyat and are met with suspicion. The provisions that might arise from them, (such as the consumption of wine ) could only be "abrogated provisions" ( naskh ). The guidance of the Quran and Muhammad is considered absolute, universal and will continue until the end of time . However, today, this understanding is questioned in certain circles, it

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8990-722: The Flood , struggle of Abraham with Nimrod , sacrifice of his son occupy a wide place in the Quran. The central theme of the Quran is monotheism . God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran 2:20 , 2:29 , 2:255 ). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran 13:16 , 2:253 , 50:38 , etc.). All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly. The Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to

9135-478: The French forces at Al-Shaykh Badr, inflicting more than 35 casualties. After this victory, al-Ali began organizing his Alawite rebels into a disciplined force, with its general command and military ranks. The Al-Shaykh Badr skirmish began the Syrian Revolt of 1919 . Al-Ali responded to French attacks by laying siege to (and occupying) al-Qadmus , from which the French had conducted their military operations against him. In November, General Henri Gouraud mounted

9280-472: The Mandate territories. Between 1926 and 1939, the Alawites and other minority groups provided the majority of the locally recruited component of the Army of the Levant —the designation given to the French military forces garrisoning Syria and the Lebanon. The region was home to a mostly-rural, heterogeneous population. The landowning families and 80 percent of the population of the port city of Latakia were Sunni Muslims; however, in rural areas 62 percent of

9425-401: The Ottoman Empire, the Alawites would again experience significant persecution; especially in Aleppo when a massacre occurred in the Great Mosque of Aleppo on 24 April 1517. The massacre was known as the "Massacre of the Telal" ( Arabic : مجزرة التلل ) in which the corpses of thousands of victims accumulated as a tell located west of the castle . The horrors of the massacre which caused

9570-424: The Ottomans employed a number of Alawite leaders as tax collectors under the iltizam system. Between 1809 and 1813, Mustafa Agha Barbar , the governor of Tripoli, attacked the Kalbiyya Alawites with "marked savagery." Some Alawites supported Ottoman involvement in the Egyptian-Ottoman Wars of 1831–1833 and 1839–1841 , and had careers in the Ottoman army or as Ottoman governors. Moreover, they even initiated

9715-435: The Qur'an as a crime of apostasy punishable by death under sharia , it seemed impossible to conduct studies on the Qur'an that went beyond textual criticism . Until the early 1970s, non-Muslim scholars of Islam —while not accepting traditional explanations for divine intervention— accepted the above-mentioned traditional origin story in most details. University of Chicago professor Fred Donner states that: [T]here

9860-407: The Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad in seven different ahruf (meaning letters; however, it could mean dialects, forms, styles or modes). Most Islamic scholars agree that these different ahruf are the same Qur'an revealed in seven different Arabic dialects and that they do not change the meaning of the Qur'an, the purpose of which was to make the Qur'an easy for recitation and memorization among

10005-500: The Quran and is an important part of Islamist / jihadist indoctrination today, as well as Shiite teachings, hence ma'ruf and munkar should be the key words in understanding the Quran in moral terms as a duty that the Quran imposes on believers. Although a common translation of the phrase is " Enjoining good and forbidding evil ", the words used by Islamic philosophy determining good and evil in discourses are " husn " and "qubh". The word ma’ruf literally means "known" or what

10150-400: The Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632 at age 61–62. There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation. Sahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of

10295-462: The Quran became popularized as ijaz (miracle) literature, also called " Bucailleism ", and began to be distributed through Muslim bookstores and websites. The movement contends that the Quran abounds with "scientific facts" that appeared centuries before their discovery and promotes Islamic creationism . According to author Ziauddin Sardar , the ijaz movement has created a "global craze in Muslim societies", and has developed into an industry that

10440-522: The Quran dealing with natural phenomena and many verses of the Quran ask mankind to study nature, and this has been interpreted to mean an encouragement for scientific inquiry, and of the truth. Some include, "Travel throughout the earth and see how He brings life into being" ( Q29:20 ), "Behold in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding ..." ( Q3:190 ) The astrophysicist Nidhal Guessoum writes: "The Qur'an draws attention to

10585-407: The Quran including the salat and fasting in the month of Ramadan . As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration . The term chosen for charity, zakat , literally means purification implies that it is a self-purification. In fiqh , the term fard is used for clear imperative provisions based on the Quran. However, it is not possible to say that

10730-456: The Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz . Ideally, verses are recited with a special kind of prosody reserved for this purpose called tajwid . During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, Muslims rely on exegesis , or commentary rather than

10875-505: The Quran were considered mutashabihat -"no one knows its interpretation except God" (Quran 3:7 )- by later scholars stating that God was free from resemblance to humans in any way. In Islam, God speaks to people called prophets through a kind of revelation called wahy , or through angels .( 42:51 ) nubuwwah ( Arabic : نبوة 'prophethood') is seen as a duty imposed by God on individuals who have some characteristics such as intelligence, honesty, fortitude and justice: "Nothing

11020-594: The Quran) and mysterious hero Dhul-Qarnayn ("the man with two horns") who built a barrier against Gog and Magog that will remain until the end of time are more detailed and longer stories. Apart from semi-historical events and characters such as King Solomon and David , about Jewish history as well as the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt , tales of the hebrew prophets accepted in Islam , such as Creation ,

11165-414: The Quran. The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, known as a sūrah . Each sūrah consists of verses, known as āyāt , which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from sūrah to sūrah. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the most popular Hafs Quran is 6,236; however, the number varies if

11310-462: The Quran. Muslim critics of the movement include Indian Islamic theologian Maulana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanvi , Muslim historian Syed Nomanul Haq , Muzaffar Iqbal , president of Center for Islam and Science in Alberta, Canada, and Egyptian Muslim scholar Khaled Montaser. Taner Edis wrote many Muslims appreciate technology and respect the role that science plays in its creation. As a result, he says there

11455-561: The Shia had more than 1,000 hadiths ascribed to the Shia Imams which indicate the distortion of the Quran and according to Etan Kohlberg, this belief about Quran was common among Shiites in the early centuries of Islam. In his view, Ibn Babawayh was the first major Twelver author "to adopt a position identical to that of the Sunnis " and the change was a result of the "rise to power of

11600-525: The Shia representatives of the 12th Hidden Imam. The Alawites were later organised during Hamdanid rule in northern Syria (947–1008) by a follower of Muhammad ibn Nusayr known as al-Khaṣībī , who died in Aleppo about 969, after a rivalry with the Ishaqiyya sect, which claimed also to have the doctrine of Ibn Nusayr. The embrace of Alawism by the majority of the population in the Syrian coastal mountains

11745-561: The Sunni ' Abbasid caliphate ," whence belief in the corruption of the Quran became untenable vis-a-vis the position of Sunni "orthodoxy". Alleged distortions have been carried out to remove any references to the rights of Ali, the Imams and their supporters and the disapproval of enemies, such as Umayyads and Abbasids. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud 's and Ubay ibn Ka'b 's codex, none of which exist today. Since Muslims could regard criticism of

11890-493: The Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qara'a itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the 'act of reciting', as reflected in an early Quranic passage: "It is for Us to collect it and to recite it ( qur'ānahu )." In other verses, the word refers to 'an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]'. Its liturgical context

12035-507: The Syrian Civil War; particularly from Islamic groups who were a part of the opposition , though denied by secular opposition factions. Alawites have also been wary of the increased Iranian influence in Syria since the Syrian civil war , viewing it as a threat to their long-term survival due to Khomeinist conversion campaigns focused in Alawite coastal regions. Many Alawites, including Assad loyalists, criticize such activities as

12180-782: The Turkish military went into İskenderun and expelled most of the Arab and Armenian population. Before this, the Alawite Arabs and Armenians comprised most of the province's population. Zaki al-Arsuzi , a young Alawite leader from Iskandarun province in the Sanjak of Alexandretta who led the resistance to the province's annexation by the Turks, later became a co-founder of the Ba'ath Party with Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher Michel Aflaq and Sunni politician Salah ad-Din al-Bitar . After World War II, Sulayman al-Murshid played

12325-671: The Twelvers of Lebanon and founder of the Amal Movement , who had unsuccessfully sought to unite Lebanese Alawites and Shiites under the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council) issued a fatwa that Alawites were a community of Twelver Shiite Muslims. Throughout the 1970 ‘s the Muslim Brotherhood led anti-Ba'athist Islamic revolts , culminating in the 1982 Hama massacre . After the outbreak of

12470-567: The apocalyptic scenes, clues are included regarding the nature, structure and dimensions of the celestial bodies as perceived in the Quran: While the stars are lamps illuminating the sky in ordinary cases, turns into stones ( Al-Mulk 1-5) or (shahap; meteor, burning fire) ( al-Jinn 9) thrown at demons that illegally ascend to the sky; When the time of judgment comes, they spill onto the earth, but this does not mean that life on earth ends; People run left and right in fear.( At-Takwir 1-7) Then

12615-596: The biggest obstacle on this route is the "centuries old heritage of tafseer and other disciplines which inhibit a "universal conception" of the Quran's message. Author Rodney Stark argues that Islam's lag behind the West in scientific advancement after (roughly) 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to formulate systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with " natural laws ." He claims that they believed such laws were blasphemous because they limit "God's freedom to act" as He wishes. Enthusiasts of

12760-488: The book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit ( d.  655 ) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to

12905-479: The books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as W. Montgomery Watt prefer the second meaning of ummi —they take it to indicate unfamiliarity with earlier sacred texts. The final verse of the Quran was revealed on the 18th of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 10 A.H. , a date that roughly corresponds to February or March 632. The verse was revealed after the Prophet finished delivering his sermon at Ghadir Khumm . According to Islamic tradition,

13050-441: The coastal areas have suffered immensely as a result of their support for the Assad government. Many Alawites, particularly the younger generation who believes that the Ba'athists have held their community hostage, have reacted with immense anger at Assad government's corruption and hold the government responsible for the crisis. There have been rising demands across Alawite regions to end the conflict by achieving reconciliation with

13195-504: The community during the French Mandate sought to replace it with the modern term "Alawi". They characterised the older name (which implied "a separate ethnic and religious identity") as an "invention of the sect's enemies", ostensibly favouring an emphasis on "connection with mainstream Islam"—particularly the Shia branch. The French also popularised the new term by officially categorising them as "Alawites". As such, "Nusayri"

13340-470: The community had commonly self-identified as "Nusayris", emphasizing their connections to Ibn Nusayr . French administration prescribed the label "Alawite" to categorise the sect alongside Shiism in official documents. French recruited a large number of minorities into their armed forces and created exclusive areas for minorities, including the Alawite State . Alawite State was later dismantled, but

13485-443: The consecration of bread and wine); blending them with Muslim symbolism and has, therefore, been described as syncretic . Alawite Trinity envisions God as being composed of three distinct manifestations, Ma'na (meaning), Ism (Name) and Bab (Door); which together constitute an "indivisible Trinity". Ma'na symbolises the "source and meaning of all things" in Alawite mythology. According to Alawite doctrines, Ma'na generated

13630-433: The danger of conjecturing without evidence ( And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge of... 17:36 ) and in several different verses asks Muslims to require proofs ( Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful 2:111 )." He associates some scientific contradictions that can be seen in the Quran with a superficial reading of the Quran. Starting in the 1970s and 80s, the idea of presence of scientific evidence in

13775-487: The date of writing of the text. For example, sources based on some archaeological data give the construction date of Masjid al-Haram , an architectural work mentioned 16 times in the Quran, as 78 AH an additional finding that sheds light on the evolutionary history of the Quran mentioned, which is known to continue even during the time of Hajjaj , in a similar situation that can be seen with al-Aksa , though different suggestions have been put forward to explain. In 2015,

13920-500: The different Arab tribes . While Sunni Muslims believe in the seven ahruf , some Shia reject the idea of seven Qur'anic variants. A common misconception is that The seven ahruf and the Qira'at are the same. Following Muhammad's death in 632, a number of his companions who memorized the Quran were killed in the Battle of al-Yamama by Musaylima . The first caliph, Abu Bakr ( r.  632–634 ), subsequently decided to collect

14065-429: The dominant tradition over the lifetime of Muhammad c.  570 to 632 CE and used as evidence to support conventional wisdom and to refute the revisionists' views that expresses findings and views different from the traditional approach to the early history of the Quran and Islam . The Quranic content is concerned with basic Islamic beliefs including the existence of God and the resurrection . Narratives of

14210-641: The drinking of wine and the sect does not prohibit the consumption of alcohol on its adherents. As a creed that teaches the symbolic/esoteric reading of Qur'anic verses , Nusayrite theology is based on the belief in reincarnation and views Ali as a divine incarnation of God. Moreover, Alawite clergy and scholarship insist that their religion is also theologically distinct from Shi'ism . Alawites have historically kept their beliefs secret from outsiders and non-initiated Alawites, so rumours about them have arisen. Arabic accounts of their beliefs tend to be partisan (either positively or negatively). However, since

14355-640: The early prophets , ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. The style of the Quran has been called " allusive ", with commentaries needed to explain what is being referred to—"events are referred to, but not narrated; disagreements are debated without being explained; people and places are mentioned, but rarely named." While tafsir in Islamic sciences expresses

14500-496: The early 2000s, Western scholarship on the Nusayrite religion has made significant advances. At the core of the Alawite creed is the belief in a divine Trinity, comprising three aspects of the one God. The aspects of the Trinity are Mana (meaning), Ism (Name) and Bab (Door). Nusayrite beliefs hold that these emanations underwent re-incarnation cyclically seven times in human form throughout history. According to Alawites,

14645-488: The effort to understand the implied and implicit expressions of the Quran, fiqh refers to the efforts to expand the meaning of expressions , especially in the verses related to the provisions , as well as understanding it. Quranic studies state that, in the historical context, the content of the Quran is related to Rabbinic , Jewish-Christian , Syriac Christian and Hellenic literature, as well as pre-Islamic Arabia . Many places, subjects and mythological figures in

14790-539: The existence and unity of God , they may have adopted different attitudes that have changed and developed throughout history regarding his nature (attributes) , names and relationship with creation. Rabb is an Arabic word to refers to God meaning Lord and the Quran cites in several places as in the Al-Fatiha ; "All Praise and Gratitude is due to God, Lord of all the Universe". Mustafa Öztürk points out that

14935-626: The fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria and Lebanon were placed by the League of Nations under the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon . On 15 December 1918, Alawite leader Saleh al-Ali called for a meeting of Alawite leaders in the town of Al-Shaykh Badr , urging them to revolt and expel the French from Syria. When French authorities heard about the meeting, they sent a force to arrest Saleh al-Ali. He and his men ambushed and defeated

15080-502: The first Muslims believed that this god lived in the sky with the following words of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal : "Whoever says that Allah is everywhere is a heretic, an infidel. He should be invited to repent, but if he does not, be killed." This understanding changes later and gives way to the understanding that "God cannot be assigned a place and He is everywhere." Also actions and attributes suh as coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sadness etc. similar to humans used for this God in

15225-424: The following centuries, credited with uplifting the group, were Shaykhs al-Makzun (d. 1240) and al-Tubani (d. 1300), both originally from Mount Sinjar in modern Iraq. In the 14th century, the Alawites were forced by Mamluk Sultan Baibars to build mosques in their settlements, to which they responded with token gestures described by the Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta . During the reign of Sultan Selim I , of

15370-451: The holy book. In 1983, Keith L. Moore , had a special edition published of his widely used textbook on Embryology ( The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology ), co-authored by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani with Islamic Additions, interspersed pages of "embryology-related Quranic verse and hadith" by al-Zindani into Moore's original work. Ali A. Rizvi studying the textbook of Moore and al-Zindani found himself "confused" by "why Moore

15515-722: The immigration of the survivors to the coastal region are documented at the National and University Library in Strasbourg . The Ottoman Empire took aggressive actions against Alawites, due to their alleged "treacherous activities" as "they had a long history of betraying the Muslim governments due to their mistrust towards Sunnis." The Alawis rose up against the Ottomans on several occasions, and maintained their autonomy in their mountains. In his book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom , T. E. Lawrence wrote: The sect, vital in itself,

15660-436: The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article ( al- ), the word is referred to as the waḥy ('revelation'), that which has been "sent down" ( tanzīl ) at intervals. Other related words include: dhikr ('remembrance'), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning; and ḥikmah ('wisdom'), sometimes referring to

15805-418: The manuscripts, which he dated to the early part of the 8th century. Puin has noted unconventional verse orderings, minor textual variations, and rare styles of orthography, and suggested that some of the parchments were palimpsests which had been reused. Puin believed that this implied an evolving text as opposed to a fixed one. It is also possible that the content of the Quran itself may provides data regarding

15950-542: The material" Abu Bakr worked with "had already been assembled", which since he was the first caliph, would mean they were collected when Muhammad was still alive. Around the 650s, the Islamic expansion beyond the Arabian Peninsula and into Perisa , the Levant and North Africa , as well as the use of the seven ahruf , had caused some confusion and differences in the pronunciation of the Qur'an, and conflict

16095-494: The mountains formed parts of the eastern border of the Alawite State within the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon . Alawites The Alawites , also known as Nusayrites , are an Arab ethnoreligious group that live primarily in the Levant and follow Alawism , a religious sect that splintered from early Shia Islam as a ghulat branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate Ali ibn Abi Talib ,

16240-402: The mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith (traditions ascribed to Muhammad) and Muslim history , after Muhammad and his followers immigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of

16385-416: The movement argue that among the miracles found in the Quran are "everything, from relativity , quantum mechanics , Big Bang theory , black holes and pulsars , genetics , embryology , modern geology , thermodynamics , even the laser and hydrogen fuel cells ". Zafar Ishaq Ansari terms the modern trend of claiming the identification of "scientific truths" in the Quran as the "scientific exegesis" of

16530-493: The name 'Alawī' appears as early as in an 11th century Nuṣayrī tract as one the names of the believer (…). Moreover, the term 'Alawī' was already used at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 the Belgian-born Jesuit and Orientalist Henri Lammens (d. 1937) visited a certain Ḥaydarī-Nuṣayrī sheikh Abdullah in a village near Antakya and mentions that the latter preferred the name 'Alawī' for his people. Lastly, it

16675-424: The negative traits of "laziness, lying, deceitfulness, inclination to robbery and bloodshed, and backstabbing." By the 1870s, Alawite bandits were impaled on spikes and left on crossroads as a warning, according to the historian Joshua Landis . Early in the 20th century, the mainly-Sunni Ottoman leaders were bankrupt and losing political power; the Alawites were poor peasants . After the end of World War I and

16820-543: The perfect Muslim, and revered prophet and builder of the Kaaba in Mecca. The Quran consistently refers to Islam as 'the religion of Abraham' ( millat Ibrahim ). Besides Isaac and Jacob , Abraham is commonly considered an ideal father by Muslims. In Islam, Eid-al-Adha is celebrated to commemorate Abraham's attempt to sacrifice his son by surrendering in line with his dream,( As-Saaffat ; 100–107) which he accepted as

16965-557: The population were Alawite. According to some researchers, there was considerable Alawite separatist sentiment in the region, their evidence is a 1936 letter signed by 80 Alawi leaders addressed to the French Prime Minister which said that the "Alawite people rejected attachment to Syria and wished to stay under French protection." Among the signatories was Sulayman Ali al-Assad , father of Hafez al-Assad. However, according to Associate Professor Stefan Winter , this letter

17110-502: The prophets (Khidr-Moses story Quran 18:65–82 ) and even employ jinn (Dhulqarnayn). Those who "spend their wealth" on people who are in need because they devoted their lives to the way of Allah and whose situation is unknown because they are ashamed to ask, will be rewarded by Allah. ( Al Baqara ; 272-274) In the story of Qārūn , the person who avoids searching for the afterlife with his wealth and becomes arrogant will be punished, arrogance befits only God. ( Al Mutakabbir ) Characters of

17255-427: The prophets are the main emphasis in the prophetic stories, there are also non-prophetic stories in the Quran that emphasize the importance of humility and having profound-inner knowledge ( hikmah ) besides trusting in God. This is the main theme in the stories of Khidr , Luqman and Dhulqarnayn. According to the later ascriptions to these stories, it is possible for those with this knowledge and divine support to teach

17400-461: The reformation of the Nuṣayrīs, launched by some of their sheikhs in the 19th century and their attempt to be accepted as part of Islam; and thirdly, it challenges the claims that the change of the identity and name from 'Nuṣayrī' to 'ʿAlawī' took place around 1920, in the beginning of the French mandate in Syria (1919–1938)." The Alawites are distinct from the Alevi religious sect in Turkey, although

17545-404: The relevant verses are understood in the same way by all segments of Islamic commentators; For example, Hanafis accept 5 daily prayers as fard. However, some religious groups such as Quranists and Shiites , who do not doubt that the Quran existing today is a religious source, infer from the same verses that it is clearly ordered to pray 2 or 3 times, not 5 times. About six verses adress to

17690-409: The revelation or part of it. The Quran describes itself as 'the discernment' ( al-furqān ), 'the mother book' ( umm al-kitāb ), 'the guide' ( huda ), 'the wisdom' ( hikmah ), 'the remembrance' ( dhikr ), and 'the revelation' ( tanzīl ; 'something sent down', signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). Another term is al-kitāb ('The Book'), though it

17835-410: The seventh incarnation of the trinity consists of Ali, Muhammad and Salman al-Farisi . Alawites, considered disbelievers by classical Sunni and Shi'ite theologians, faced periods of subjugation or persecution under various Muslim empires such as the Ottomans, Abbasids, Mamluks, and others. The establishment of the French Mandate of Syria in 1920 marked a turning point in Alawite history. Until then,

17980-406: The standard copy from her. According to historian Michael Cook , early Muslim narratives about the collection and compilation of the Quran sometimes contradict themselves: "Most ... make Uthman little more than an editor, but there are some in which he appears very much a collector, appealing to people to bring him any bit of the Quran they happen to possess." Some accounts also "suggest that in fact

18125-477: The stories can be closed-mythical, (khidr) demi-mythologic or combined characters, and it can also be seen that they are Islamized. While some believe he was a prophet, some researchers equate Luqman with the Alcmaeon of Croton or Aesop . Commanding ma’ruf and forbidding munkar (Ar. ٱلْأَمْرُ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱلنَّهْيُ عَنِ ٱلْمُنْكَرِ) is repeated or referred to in nearly 30 verses in different contexts in

18270-463: The task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones (collectively known as suhuf , any written work containing divine teachings) and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. In 644, Muhammad's widow Hafsa bint Umar was entrusted with the manuscript until the third caliph, Uthman ( r.  644–656 ), requested

18415-404: The terms share a common etymology and pronunciation. The origin of the genetics of Alawites is disputed. Local folklore suggests that they are descendants of the followers of the eleventh Imam, Hasan al-Askari (d. 873) and his pupil, Ibn Nusayr (d. 868). During the 19th and 20th centuries, some Western scholars believed that Alawites were descended from ancient Middle Eastern peoples such as

18560-447: The terms to prove the existence of God . Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?" Even though Muslims do not doubt about

18705-530: The text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again—a practice which was common in ancient times due to the scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text ( scriptio inferior ) is still barely visible. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 CE with a 99 percent probability. The German scholar Gerd R. Puin has been investigating these Quran fragments for years. His research team made 35,000 microfilm photographs of

18850-458: The text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based. In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a , Yemen , manuscripts "consisting of 12,000 pieces" were discovered that were later proven to be the oldest Quranic text known to exist at the time. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsests , manuscript pages from which

18995-816: The third millennium BC, and then a vassal kingdom of the Hittites , who named the mountain range after Barga. In the medieval period were known as the Jabal Bahra ( جبل بهراء ) after the Arab tribe of Bahra’ . They are also sometimes known as the Nusayriyah Mountains or the Ansarieh Mountains ( جبال النصيرية Jibāl an-Nuṣayriyah ) or the Alawiyin Mountains ( جبال العلويين Jibāl al-‘Alawīyin ); both of these names refer to

19140-457: The universe) may be considered the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time. The Quran does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul , since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in

19285-638: The way a woman should dress when walk in public; Muslim scholars have differed as how to understand these verses, with some stating that a Hijab is a command ( fard ) to be fulfilled and others say simply not. Research shows that the rituals in the Quran, along with laws such as qisas and tax ( zakat ), developed as an evolution of pre-Islamic Arabian rituals. Arabic words meaning pilgrimage ( hajj ), prayer ( salāt ) and charity (zakāt) can be seen in pre-Islamic Safaitic-Arabic inscriptions, and this continuity can be observed in many details, especially in hajj and umrah . Whether temporary marriage , which

19430-484: The western region, between the Orontes and the sea, which consists of a small mountain range called Alawi Mountains bordered by a valley running from south-east to north-west known as Al-Ghab Plain ; the region was populated by a portion of Syrians, who were called Nazerini. However, scholars are reluctant to link between Nazerini and Nazarenes . Yet, the term "Nazerini" can be possibly connected to words which include

19575-485: The will of God. In Judaism, the story is perceived as a narrative designed to replace child sacrifice with animal sacrifice in general or as a metaphor describing "sacrific[ing one's] animalistic nature", Orthodox Islamic understanding considers animal sacrifice as a mandatory or strong sunnah for Muslims who meet certain conditions, on a certain date determined by the Hijri calendar every year. In Islam, Moses

19720-557: Was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer." The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being

19865-417: Was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as Muhammad's most important miracle , a proof of his prophethood , and the culmination of a series of divine messages starting with those revealed to the first Islamic prophet Adam , including the Islamic holy books of the Torah , Psalms , and Gospel . The Quran is believed by Muslims to be God's own divine speech providing

20010-520: Was a pre-Islamic Arabic tradition and was widely practiced among Muslims during the lifetime of Muhammad, was abolished in Islam is also an area where Sunni and Shiite understandings conflict as well as the translation / interpretation of the related verse Quran 4:24 and ethical - religious problems regarding it. Although it is believed in Islam that the pre-Islamic prophets provided general guidance and that some books were sent down to them, their stories such as Lot and story with his daughters in

20155-497: Was a very early attempt to establish a uniform consonantal text of the Qurʾān from what was probably a wider and more varied group of related texts in early transmission.… After the creation of this standardized canonical text, earlier authoritative texts were suppressed, and all extant manuscripts—despite their numerous variants —seem to date to a time after this standard consonantal text was established. Although most variant readings of

20300-416: Was arising between different Arab tribes due to some claiming to be more superior to other Arab tribes and non-Arabs based on dialect, which Uthman noticed. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard text of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death in 632, the complete Quran was committed to written form as

20445-526: Was clannish in feeling and politics. One Nosairi would not betray another, and would hardly not betray an unbeliever. Their villages lay in patches down the main hills to the Tripoli gap. They spoke Arabic, but had lived there since the beginning of Greek letters in Syria. Usually they stood aside from affairs, and left the Turkish Government alone in hope of reciprocity. During the 18th century,

20590-605: Was created in the coastal and mountain country comprising most Alawite villages. The division also intended to protect the Alawite people from more powerful majorities, such as the Sunnis. The French also created microstates , such as Greater Lebanon for the Maronite Christians and Jabal al-Druze for the Druze . Aleppo and Damascus were also separate states. Under the Mandate, many Alawite chieftains supported

20735-621: Was likely a protracted process occurring over several centuries. Modern research indicates that after its initial establishment in Aleppo, Alawism spread to Sarmin , Salamiyah , Homs and Hama before becoming concentrated in low-lying villages west of Hama, including Baarin , Deir Shamil , and Deir Mama , the Wadi al-Uyun valley, and in the mountains around Tartus and Safita . In 1032, al-Khaṣībī's grandson and pupil, Abu Sa'id Maymun al-Tabarani (d. 1034), moved to Latakia (then controlled by

20880-456: Was one of the earliest extant exemplars of the Quran, but as the tests allow a range of possible dates, it cannot be said with certainty which of the existing versions is the oldest. Saudi scholar Saud al-Sarhan has expressed doubt over the age of the fragments as they contain dots and chapter separators that are believed to have originated later. The Birmingham manuscript caused excitement amongst believers because of its potential overlapping with

21025-603: Was so 'astonished by'" the Quranic references, which Rizvi found "vague", and insofar as they were specific, preceded by the observations of Aristotle and the Ayr-veda , or easily explained by "common sense". Critics argue, verses that proponents say explain modern scientific facts, about subjects such as biology , the origin and history of the Earth, and the evolution of human life , contain fallacies and are unscientific. As of 2008, both Muslims and non-Muslims have disputed whether there actually are "scientific miracles" in

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