The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 64
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 64 Sir William Muir, who was a famous English Historian, and whose book on the life of the Holy Prophet sa is perhaps most widely circulated among all western literature on this subject, writes in his book ‘The Life of Mahomet’: “ We may upon the strongest presumption affirm that every verse in the Corân is the genuine and unaltered composition of Mahomet himself. ” Then he writes: “To compare (as the Moslems are fond of doing) their pure text, with the various readings of our Scriptures, is to compare things between the history and essential points of which there is no analogy. ” Then he writes: “There is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we possess a text the same as that which Mahomet himself gave forth and used. ” 1 It should be remembered that Sir William Muir is not from among the friends of Islām, rather, on countless occasions, he has made grave attacks upon Islām and the Founder of Islām. The Qur’ān however, is of such lofty grandeur as cannot be tainted by the prejudice of a single person. Nöldeke who was a very renowned German-Christian orientalist, and who is accepted as an authority in this field, writes with regards to the Qur’ān: “The Qur’ān present today is exactly the same as in the time of the companions of the Prophet. ” Then he states: “All efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of latter interpolation in the Koran have failed. ” 2 This is the testimony of the people of the West as regards to the general authenticity of the Holy Qur’ān. However, particularly from a historical 1 The Life of Mahomet, By Sir William Muir, Appendix (Sources for the Biography of Mahomet) - The Corân, p. 561, Published by Smith, Elder & Co. London (1878) 2 The Encyclopedia Britannica (11th Edition) , Volume 15, p. 905, Under the word ‘Koran’, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. , New York (1910-1911)