The Islamic Awareness cite has kindly posted Estelle Whelan's article, Forgotten Witness: Evidence For The Early Codification Of The Qur'ân. In it, Whelan makes the case that the Dome of the Rock cited a collection of verses that are also to be found in the Qur'an. She goes on to cite hearsay evidence, albeit ancient, that there was a scriptorium in Medina with a Qur'an in Uthman's order. She claims that this scriptorium created the Qur'an pretty much as we have it now, and implies that Abd al-Malik used it.
This project will look at Whelan's ayat and evaluate them. Then I will judge whether Abd al-Malik's "Qur'an" can be identified with the modern Cairo recension. For this purpose I do not need to evaluate what may or may not have been done in Medina in 71 A.H. Perhaps in a later project.
Whelan proposes the following order and translation for the reading of the Dome inscriptions.
"The basic text presented here is that given by Kessler. The recent publication for the first time of a complete and clearly readable set of photographs (though misidentified and presented in incorrect order) has, however, necessitated a few corrections and alterations in her version; for the photographs, see S. Nuseibeh and O. Grabar, The Dome of the Rock (New York, 1996), 82-105. The translations of the Qur'ânic passages are those of M. M. Pickthall, with substitution of "God" for "Allah" and "Book" for "Scripture."
"
I have further removed parentheses, improved the citations, added "Q" tags,
added Arabic transcriptions (from Nevo and the Qur'an),
altered translations that assumed the modern Qur'an,
split the inner text into blessings and doctrinal statements,
and even corrected some mistakes
(yaum al-qiyama is "Day of Resurrection", not "Day of Judgement";
also tamtarûna is pointed with "t", not with "y" as the Qu'ran).
Starting from inside:
"
In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate (lâ ilâha illa Allâh wahdahu lâ sharîka lahu)" [beginning of the shahâdah]. "Unto Him belongeth sovereignity and unto Him belongeth praise. He quickeneth and He giveth death; and He is Able to do all things" [a conflation of 64:1b and 57:2b]. "Muhammad is the servant of God and His messenger" [variant completion of the shahâdah], "L//o! God and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation" [33:56 complete]. "The blessing of God be on him (sallâ Allâh 'alayhi); and peace be on him, and may God have mercy (wa al-salâm 'alayhi wa-rahmat Allah)" [blessing, not in the Qur'ânic text]."
O, People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your // religion (dîni//kum) nor utter aught concerning God save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not 'Three' - Ce//ase! (it is) better for you! - God is only One God. Far be it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And God is sufficient as Defender. The Messiah will never scorn to b//e a servant unto God, nor will the favoured angels. Whoso scorneth His service and is proud, all such will He assemble unto Him" [4:171-72 complete]."
Allahumma, incline toward Your messenger and Your servant Je//sus son of Mary (Allahumma salli 'alâ rasûlika wa-'abdika 'Îsâ b. Maryama)" [interjection introducing the following passage]. "And peace be upon him the day of his birth, the day of his death, and the day of his resurrection alive (wa al-salâm 'alayhi yawm wulidtu wa-yawm yamûtu wa-yawm yub'athu (or yab'athu) hayyâ/-an)" [19:15 - in Whelan's words, "19:33 complete, with change from first to third person" - but note the Dome text has no vowels and need not imply the Qur'an's future tense]."
Such was Jesus, son of Mary, a statement of the truth concerning which you dispute (tamtarûna)" [19:34 complete, with change from third to second person]. "It befitteth not God that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him!" [19:35a complete] "Wh//en He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is" [19:35b // 3:47c].Lo! God is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path" [3:51 - in Whelan's words, "19:36 complete, except for initial 'and'"]. "God (Himself) is witness that there is no God save H//im. And the angels and the men of learning (too are witness). Maintaining His creation in justice, there is no God save Him, the Almighty, the Wise. Lo! religion with God (is) concord, and those who received the Book differed only after knowledge came unto them, disputing among themselves. Whoso disbelieveth the revelations of God (will find that) lo! God is swift at reckoning" [3:18-19 complete; I removed some parenthetical "explanations"].
And outside:
"
In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate" [beginning of the shahâdah]. "Say He is: Allah the One! Allah al-tzamad! He begetteth not nor was begotten! And there is none comparable unto Him" [112 complete except for the introductory basmalah]. "Muhammad is the Messenger of God" [completion of the shahadâh], "the blessing of God be on him" [blessing].//"
In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Muhammad is the Messenger of God" [shahâdah, complete]. "Lo! God and His angels shower blessings on the Pro//phet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation" [33:56 complete]."
In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One" [beginning of the shahâdah]. "Pra//ise be to God, Who hath not taken unto Himself a son, and Who hath no partner in the Sovereignty (wa lam yakun la-hu sharikun fi 'l-mulki), nor hath He any protecting friend through dependence (wa lam yakun la-hu waliyyun mina 'dh-dhulli). And magnify Him with all magnificence" [17:111 complete except for the initial "And say"]. "Muhammad is the Messenger of G//od" [completion of the shahâdah], "the blessing of God be on him and the angels and His prophets; and peace be on him, and may God have mercy" [blessing]."
In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate" [beginning of the shahâdah]. "Unto // Him belongeth sovereignty and unto Him belongeth praise. He quickeneth and He giveth death; and He is Able to do all things" [conflation of 64:1b and 57:2b]. "Muhammad is the Messenger of God" [completion of the shahâdah], "the blessing of God be on him" [blessing]. "And may He accept his intercession on the Day of Resurrection on behalf of his people (wa-taqabbal shafâ'atahu yaum al-qiyâma fî ummatihi)" [prayer].//"
In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Muhammad is the Messenger of God" [the shahâdah complete], "the blessing of God be on him" [blessing]."
The servant of God 'A//bd [Allah the Imam al-Ma'műn, Commander] of the Faithful, built this dome in the year two and seventy. May God accept from him and be content with him. Amen, Lord of the worlds, praise be to God" [foundation notice].
Nevo and Koren note that the inside and outside inscriptions'
"content, literary structure, and design differ considerably
".
They label the inside the "Christological text" and the outside the
"Allah text" (p. 275).
Eliot claimed, in email to
Disaffected Muslim,
that in the context of the Dome of the Rock
"the first recorded instance of the shahada does not mention Muhammad
".
(Scroll to entry May 02, 2003.)
But what is meant by this instance?
The outside of the Dome repeats a credal formula, whose elements appear in the modern shahadah:
These elements in that order appear on the Dome in each of its six Allah pericopes. The last of these holds the creed in full with no additions or substitutions.
The "no associate" is replaced by 17:111 in one case. The "messenger" is replaced by "messenger and servant" in the inner text, also the home for a parallel blessing on Jesus. The pause between the first and second elements can be filled with praise for God (the Dome chooses 64:1b+57:2b, or 112). The third element can be replaced or expanded with 33:56.
33:56 represents a shift in narrator from an impersonal speaker,
who may be the worshipper in the Marwanid-era mosque, to the voice of God
speaking to all believers. It therefore originated outside the creed;
I think Nevo and Koren were too hasty in dismissing all "existing pericopae
" from the "Allah text" (p. 276).
33:56 commands that the believer bless the Prophet (nabi). The Dome's creed, then, takes nabi to mean the rasûl Muhammad; and insists on blessing Muhammad in the course of its recital.
But the reciter as a witness does not appear anywhere in the Dome. In the Dome's quotes, it is only God who is a witness (shahida Allâha), and that outside the creed. So it is not that the first shahada does not mention Muhammad; it is that the first Mohammedan creed is not a shahada!
In the same year as the Dome of the Rock, a certain 'Abassa bint Juraij was buried with an inscription ending with a creed that was shahada:
confessing (t-sh-h-d) -
The Dome employs a number of polemical and benedictory formulae.
Whelan holds that they precede the Dome, and concludes that they come from the Qur'an
as it exists today, and also from sources that existed outside the Qur'an:
"the Prophet is introduced, with a blessing that, though not directly quoted from the Qur'ân, was clearly already in use in 72 / 694.
" In context, this is the blessing that 33:56 requires.
Even Koren admitted that the Christological side at least stemmed from a "preexisting written
" body
of work. As an example, she pointed out it was written with diacritical marks
(p. 275).
Nevo and Koren did not speculate over what that preceding body of work was.
The problem is that the Dome never cites Muhammad nor his Book as its authority for Qur'anic quotes, which apart from a few blessings - some of which are polytheistic - are anti-Christian polemics. The Dome does not differentiate between its source formulae, whether they are Qur'anic or non-Qur'anic.
More: Abd al-Malik scoffed at the idea that true believers even needed a canon, using "People of the Book" as his pejorative for Christians (and Jews and Samaritans). It follows that, even assuming a proto-Qur'anic literature, there is no evidence the Dome treated it as Holy Writ. The Dome on the contrary set out to create a canon, not (yet) of literature but of statements of faith.
The Qur'an, presenting itself as a revelation of God to man and to Muhammad in particular, often introduces a saying with qul - "Say:" in the singular. Two examples are paralleled in the Dome inscription: 112 with the qul, and 17:111 without.
Read on its own, the Dome does not claim to be the direct word of Allah, but an argument of 'Abd al-Malik on Allah's behalf. In particular, its take on 17:111 does not ask the reader (or the Prophet) to say "Magnify Him with all magnificence", but to do it. 112 must therefore be taken in the context not of 17:111, but of the other pericope with the word qul in it: 4:171-72.
In the Dome and Qur'an both, 4:171-72 asks the reader to "cease!" saying something, in this case, Trinitarian slogans. qul is thus the link between 4:171-72 and 112.
Instead of "three" the reader is to say "he is one".
This commandment became crucial to Islam: there is a Bukhari hadith that has Muhammad claim that 112:1 (with qul huwa) is "one third the Qur'an
" (9:471).
Where the Qur'an uses qul in a revelatory sense, the Dome uses it for instruction to all mankind, especially Christians.
Whelan accounts for differences between the Dome's and the Qur'an's text, by fingering
the Dome as the editor:
"Within this context it is clear that the minor textual variations noted have been introduced to fit the sense.
" This assertion can be tested with literary analysis.
112 is a commandment in the Dome and a prophetic word in the Qur'an. But it did not start out that way.
The two most important textual traditions after the Uthmanic are the so-called "codices" of ibn Mas'ud and Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Both of these omitted the initial qul although they seem to have accepted the huwa. (This is cited by Gilchrist from Fihrist S.26 Z.26 - cf. Nöldeke 3.77; Jeffery, pp. 113 and 180.) So did the Syriac translation the Christian apologists Bar Hebraios and Bar Salibi used; as a result someone in that translation's chain of transmission felt free to omit additionally (subtractionally?) the "Allahs" and the "huwa". The qul adds to the statement of doctrine, the demand that the statement be recited out loud - that is, in public.
As for the remainder of 112 in the Dome: the second verse rhymes and rattles with the first, mostly; and the third verse has an internal rhythm, and ends with the same rhyme. 112:1-3 is tailor-made for chanting. The Dome demands the reader confess that Allah is one, but leaves ambiguous whether the reader ought to recite the entire chant.
Allah al-tzamad exists in rhyme to "Allah the One", which the Dome has already started exhorting believers to quote. Second, from that day to this, no-one knows the meaning of the tz-m-d root in Arabic. 112:1 is a two-word summary of the Jewish Shema, and 112:3 is a creed agreeable to Jews and Ishmaelites both. Given the language of 112:1-3 - Arabic - that implies "Allah samad" was to the Arabs what "God is One" is to Jews. Franz Rosenthal thought it may be a survival of a pre-Ugaritic honorific for Ba'al (Warraq pp. 327-337), which seems far-fetched to me. Koren mused, from Akkadian, that it might mean "indivisible" (p. 277). I must admit to having no better ideas.
As it happens, the following Bukhari hadith has one of the Prophet's generals recite at least 112:1 prior to battle (9:472). It is most likely 112:1-3 was the battlecry of the Jewish-Hagarene alliance against Byzantine Christianity, an alliance we already know about.
In the case of 112, Whelan is correct that the Dome deftly altered the sura to make it into a commandment. In Syria, the local editors assimilated the qul into their Qur'an and aligned their recension with the Umayyads. Outside, the editors remembered the verse had not been revealed with the literal qul, and felt free to omit it.
If the main part of sura 112 predated the Dome, why not the other parallel passages?
Another saying that must have been current prior to the Dome is 33:56.
The Dome cited it twice, both times in the context of Abd al-Malik's creed.
33:56 was also cited in Ta'if, albeit undated.
Since the angels are here helping God shower blessings on the Prophet, 33:56 runs against the
central theme of Abd al-Malik's creed: that "God is sufficient as Defender
".
(Even the Iraq inscription a decade prior to the Dome knew better than to allow the angels independent action.)
Of similar sentiment is the declaration of faith, lâ ilâha illa Allâh, leaving aside the so-called "tawhid". Its alliteration and assonance approach perfection. The Dome's variant, in the 3:18 portion, may or may not also predate the Dome; but even if it does, it is probably preceded by the original, poetic declaration.
Now, I find it unlikely the Prophet claimed blessings on himself in the manner of 33:56. lâ ilâha illa Allâh and 112, on the other hand, I would not put past the archaising leader of a desert tribe. But that much is beyond this project's scope. Thus far Whelan and I are in agreement: those verses preceded the Dome.
The Dome stands athwart the collection of the Qur'anic ayat. Into the Dome came a jumble of blessings, attributes of God, and polemics. The Dome made of these a semi-coherent plea for Christian apostasy. As one example, a battle-cry became a creed, the creed became a pledge-of-allegience, and then the pledge was re-canonised as an additional creed.
The Dome is therefore an important witness for the blessings and polemics available to Abd al-Malik in 72 AH / 694 CE. But it were better for Islamic Awareness, and for their enablers such as Whelan, not to confuse these logia with the Qur'an as edited and transmitted to us in 2003 CE.
Any thoughts? e-mail me :^)
zimriel@sbcglobal.net4 Feb 2004: brought in a contemporary shahada.
20-21 Feb 2003: started. 26 Feb: proofread. 27 Feb: more arguments for 19:33-36. 28 Feb - 2 March: expanded, then removed, 64:1b+57:2b. 20 March: More Arabic, for 19:33 and 112. Also Rosenthal. 22 March: more Arabic from Nevo, "Says Who" section. 23 March: rhyme and reason. 26 March: found the other codicies, created new section for 112, moved 19:33-36 out. 27 March: revised my argument in light of sura 3:45-55. 7 April: went "Bar"-hopping. 4 May: shahadah section, inspired by "Eliot". The blessing of God be on him and on Disaffected Muslim, who printed him. 24 July: Nevo. 11 October: this page is no longer speculating on 4:171-2 & 19:33's origin.