Discovery of 'oldest' Quran fragments could resolve history of holy text
(CNN) -- For the world's 1.6 billion Muslims, the idea that the Quran is a seventh century text disseminated by Islam's founder, the Prophet Mohammed, is neither news, nor particularly controversial.
But in academia the history of this holy text is much more opaque.
For researchers in Islamic studies, historical evidence dating the Quran back to Islam's foundational era has proved elusive. This has led to hotly contested academic debates about the early or late canonization of the Quran, with a small handful of scholars claiming that the book is a product of a much later (mid-eighth century and after) age of compilation or even confabulation, when 'Abbasid-era scholars rationalized and expanded the Muslim religious corpus.
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Before Malala
By WILLIAM DALRYMPLE Published: October 25, 2013
NEW DELHI — Ever since Malala Yousafzai recovered from her shooting by the Taliban last year, she has been universally honored: As well as a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, she has been given everything from the Mother Teresa Award to a place in Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
Malala’s extraordinary bravery and commitment to peace and the education of women is indeed inspiring. But there is something disturbing about the outpouring of praise: the implication that Malala is a lone voice, almost a freak event in Pashtun society, which spans the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan and is usually perceived as ultraconservative and super-patriarchal.
