Who wrote the Muslim "holy" book called Qur'an?

Before you say the Quran is a "word of God" READ these!

• Quran - from Wikipedia
• History of the Quran - from Wikipedia
• Criticism of the Quran - from Wikipedia
• Historical Errors of the Quran - from Answering Islam
• Contradictions in the Quran - from Answering Islam
• Criticism of Islam - from Wikipedia
• Criticism of Muhammad - from Wikipedia
• Islamic Terrorism - from Wikipedia

Who wrote Quran?: Muslims be ready!

By Sister Alicia

Muslims say that Bible is not the word of God because it has no known author or that most of the books of the Bible say, "author - unknown". But careful study of the Bible suggests that there are many evidences which indicate that the writers of the Bible were prophets and apostles themselves. For example the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses.

Moses writes instructions for the kings of Israel in Deu 17:18-20, "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel."

Joshua confirms that there were written Laws with them which was given by God to Moses. In Joshua 1:7-8, "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

Further we read that Joshua made an altar of the LORD God as it was written in the Book of the Law of Moses in Josh 8:30-31, "Now Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: "an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings."

Joshua also made a copy of the Book of Law when they reached the promised land as we read in Josh 8:32, "And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written."

Further it was confirmed in 2 Chr 17:9 So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them." And throughout the Bible we read about the confirmation that Bible was written by prophets and apostles who had direct contact with God.

Now the question is, who wrote Quran or who was the author of Quran?

Hadith tells us that Muhammad was illiterate and was unable to read or write. So of course Muhammad did not write Quran. Muslims claim that Muhammad dictated the whole Quran to his followers and many of them memorized the Quranic verses word by word and later they wrote it down. The bottom line is that no one knows for sure who wrote the Quran.

After the death of Muhammad there was a time when Uthman the third Caliph of Islam ordered to burn all the copies of Quran except one. It was believed that there were variations in text and recitation practice of Quran at that time and so Uthman took this step. According to Quran and Hadith, Muhammad was the last prophet of Islam. So Uthman was not a prophet and we do not know whether he kept the valid and original Quran or destroyed it? We also do not know how he determined which one was the correct version of Quran?

Muslims claim that Quran was directly given by Allah and Sheikh Ahmed Deedat the Muslim Scholar and other Muslims have claimed that Quran is the word of God because it was written in first person speech unlike Bible, where third person speech is used. But the very first chapter of Quran is written in the third person speech.

Surah 1:1-7. "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray."

This is not the only one example but there are many Surahs which are written in third person speech. So if we take the word of Muslim Scholars, Quran is not the word of God.