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A fifth of the world’s population believe Jesus was not a Jew or a Christian but a Muslim. Dr Robert Beckford, The Hidden Story of Jesus, Channel 4 2007
The Koran mentions him too – thirty-six times. ibid.
Here in Kashmir there is a totally different story – one that claims that Jesus was 49. In Islam Jesus is regarded as one of God’s prophets – a precursor to Muhammad. ibid.
Much of the Bible and the Koran is life-destroying gibberish. Sam Harris, Believing the Unbelievable, Aspen Ideas Festival 2007
So what if our guys flushed copies of the Quran down the toilet? We hope they did. They probably did; we hope they flush more. Muhammad was a demon-possessed whoremonger and pedophile who contrived a 300-page work of Satanic fiction: the Quran! Like America's own whoremonger and pedophile wangled his own hokey Book of Mormon! Fred Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church
The most direct, the most uncritical statement in the Koran, is there is no compulsion in religion. Merryl Wyn Davies, director Muslim Institute London
What the Koran is very emphatic and explicit about is that the world will end. And there will be a cataclysmic eruption of the natural order. Sherman A Jackson, University of Michigan
The social fabric had been so shredded to the point that he did not feel that he would be able to physically continue in his mission in Mecca. And that he would have to begin to search for some kind of alternative base of operation. Sherman A Jackson
The Koran contains no guarantee of paradise except for those who slay and are slain in the cause of Allah. Robert Spencer
The Koran is not shy about explaining the explicit punishments that people will suffer in hell fire. Jonathan Brockopp, Penn State University
It’s not merely what God inspired his prophet to say, or say the history of some important event, it’s actually God’s own message to the world. Jonathan Brockopp
Muslims believe that the Koran is something that was revealed by God directly to the prophet of Islam. Akbar Ahmed, American University
The prophet never said, I bring a new religion for you. The prophet simply said I am a messenger bringing the same message which has been brought to you by dozens and dozens of these extraordinary figures of our mutual history. Akbar Ahmed
Muslims are asked, Well all right, what proof have you got that this is a divine revelation? And Muslims will answer, and they have answered this over a thousand years, the proof is the Koran itself. That is the miracle – that an illiterate man in the middle of nowhere suddenly produces this magnificent powerful document. Akbar Ahmed
The Koran is quite an elastic document. You can find things in it to justify one side or the other. But you know people often do it when they’re quoting from Lincoln or Washington – you can find things you’re looking for. And it’s the same with the Koran. Tariq Ali, author Clash of Fundamentalists
It’s one thing to have it written in the Koran, and another thing to implement it. Tariq Ali
There is this almost what we would describe in modern times a kind of stream of consciousness style to it. It’s a kind of mysteriousness. The curious reader on reading the text is left wondering. Andrew Rippin, University of Victoria
Jesus is the son of God is certainly understood within the Islamic context to mean that he is divine. And this would suggest from the Muslim point of view that Christians hold to different gods actually existing, whereas Muslims would hold that there can only be one God. Andrew Rippin
It’s a rule book about how to live one’s life. About how to define one’s morality. About how to experience the world and the struggles and the conflicts that the world brings about. Reza Aslan, author No God but God
He [Muhammad] would go into these convulsions; he would sweat; he would suddenly look off into the distance; he would be almost dead to the observer. And when he came out of these prophetic moments he would suddenly spew out these revelations. Reza Aslan
Suddenly he [Muhammad] felt this intense pressure in his chest; he was surrounded by this darkness; he felt as though he was being clasped by a giant hand and squeezed; he could barely breathe. And in his mind he heard this voice, and the voice said, Recite! Recite! Reza Aslan
It really doesn’t tell any stories at all. The Koran is essentially God’s dramatic monologue. Reza Aslan
As a Muslim you must believe what the Koran says. But the interpretation of what the Koran says could be different depending on who you listen to. Irfan Omar, Marquette University
The revelation that is in the Koran in chapter 2 verse 191 and again at 218 that persecution is worse than slaughter ... leads to a kind of elasticity of Islamic morality without any absolute other than what is good for Islam is good, and any kind of moral principle otherwise can be set aside. And so that as the basis for warfare and also Muhammad’s oft repeated dictum War is Deceit, which is found in numerous kadiff, it unfortunately lays the groundwork for a culture that is often quite marshal and belligerent towards its neighbours and others. Robert Spencer, author The Truth About Muhammad
The permission is only this in the Koran: if you are under oppression, people are attacking you, you have the right to resist. Professor Tariq Ramadam, Contemporary Islamic Studies, Oxford University
The verses are basically about a society that needs regulation. And therefore the most striking thing about the Medina period is the laws. Wada Kadi, University of Chicago