Fragments of the Koran found inside the University of Birmingham in the U.K. last month are calling into questions Islam’s beliefs about the Koran’s true origins.
From GeoBeats News:
Recent discoveries about the Koran have led some scholars to question certain aspects of Islam’s origin. Based on analysis, fragments of the holy book discovered last month at the University of Birmingham in England have been carbon dated to 568 to 645 A.D.
The timing contradicts the belief that Muhammad’s third successor Uthman oversaw the final assembly of the text, which was first formally presented in 653 A.D. It also opens the door to the idea that the Koran was created as early as two years before the Prophet was born since his life is commonly believed to have spanned the years between 570 and 632 A.D.
It’s widely held that Muhammad began to receive the revelations later contained in the holy book in 610 and then until his death in 632 A.D. While some historians believe this calls into question Islam’s origins, scholars within the religion believe no material impact has been made. Mustafa Shah of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies commented, “If anything, the manuscript has consolidated traditional accounts of the Koran’s origins.”
The parchment had been mistakenly bound with Koran manuscript leaves dating back to the late 600s.