“Many a verse of the Koran goes directly back to Christian liturgy”.
Uwe Topper
Uwe Topper wrote (badly translated, 2009, from original German, 2005):
http://www.ilya.it/chrono/pages/rezlulingen.html
Lüling – an orientalist against the mainstream
Introduction into the writings of the theologian and philologist Günter Lüling, Erlangen
Berlin · 2005 Uwe Topper
Dr. Günter Lüling, one of the most erudite orientalists in Germany (see his biography) terms his own work as ‘liberal-theologian dogma-critical intention’ starting off at the point theologians left the discussion when World War I was at its hight [sic] which somehow strangled all dispute. At least as far as the discussion between Christiandom and Islam at our universities is concerned – that has ceased since then and could not be revived after World War II, as Lüling himself had to suffer in his own career. The basic theological antagonies [sic] were silenced since decades for reasons of ‘political correctness’.
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Let us have a look at the most important of his books, the “Urqoran”, recently translated into English and published in India under the title A Challenge to Islam for Reformation (Motilal Banarsidas Publ., Delhi).
Its main object is … to restore the original meaning of the Koran as it might have been used before Islam. At first Lüling explains that at the moment of proclamation of Islam by the prophet Muhammad the region of Central Arabia had long since been intensively christianized, a fact known and worked out by many orientalists since several generations – as for Spain I only mention Miguel Asín Palacios. The main temple in Mekka originally was a church of Lady Maria, the frescos which Muhammad after his conquest ordered to be destroyed showed this clearly, and the architectural form as well (see Lüling 1992). The dogma of angeology in the Koran has been found of very similar structure in the New Testament by the forementioned theologians Schweitzer and Werner.
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Lüling discovers in the Koran important changes of reading and interpretation similar to those pointed out by Christian researchers in the Bible, and he strongly advocates a return to the original text. In its present form the Koran turns the basic intention of the prophet into its opposite, and this can only be reversed by a thorough reconstruction.
The means Lüling uses in this task are the same scientific tools the best European erudites had applied in the 19th century : philological knowledge of Aramaic, Syriac and Aethiopian texts where he finds surprisingly many parallels to chapters of the Koran so that he can conclude : Many a verse of the Koran goes directly back to Christian liturgy.
To attain this aim it is necessary to analyse the basic structure of the koranic terms which on account of the missing vowels and punctuation of the consonnants [sic] can be read in very differing ways and even sometimes with just the opposite meaning. Only for this reason was a fundamental change of the koranic text in postmuhammedan time possible. The result is a new koranic text which emerged after 150 to 200 dark years of early Islam of which we have no certain knowledge. That means, the handing down of the Koran must have happened in a different way then tought [sic] at present. Opposite to the official version an unbroken oral succession of the wordings of Koran did not take place, instead the Koran must have been passed on by literal means only because by that way the words could have been altered graphically. New problems arise by this revolutionary view which might eventually be solved by our new chronological thesis.
With this strictly philological approach Lüling finds that many Christian hymns must have underlied [sic] the koranic verses. For example, the first five verses of chapter 97 (see note 1) go back to a Christmas carol. The figure of an angel and a spirit descending from heaven and bringing peace until dawn (an apocalyptic term) remind one of the Evangile. The koranic form by evoking the end of time has surpassed the supposed pattern and created something different ….
The “Night of Majesty” (Leilat al Qadr) as this Sura is called, can only refer to Christmas while modern interpretation applies it to the predication of Koran.
Transformations of this type are not rare … I have experienced several similar among Berber traditions in the High Atlas (Morocco). French poet and photographer René Euloge records a popular song that has the refrain: “He stood up, went forth, and they found his shroud”. This can only refer to the resurrection of Jesus, as a learned man of the tribe explained to me. Yet Euloge had not recognised this obvious meaning because the people from whom he transcribed the wording did not know the background and thought this to be a romantic poem of a shattered love affair (see Topper 1998-2, S. 198 ff).
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Lüling resumes his results this way: Compared to the original Koran the modern version of the holy book of Islam is the product of total rearrangement by changing the value of the consonnants ending up in a text void of essence. The underlyeing [sic] Christian hymns have been emptied of their sense. Additional there is the damage done to Islam by the Persian culture in the time of the Abbassides.
Damien Mackey’s comment: On the Abbasides, though, see my articles:
Melting down the fake Golden Age of Islamic intellectualism
(8) Melting down the fake Golden Age of Islamic intellectualism | Damien Mackey – Academia.edu
and:
Original Baghdad was Jerusalem
(DOC) Original Baghdad was Jerusalem | Damien Mackey – Academia.edu
Uwe Topper continues:
And finally, by avoiding the discussion about the Christian sources the Islamic theology has darkened itself : “The simplicity to alter the text by changing consonnants and vowels graphically … and the artificial language (Arabic) that defines its own rules … as well as the inflexible religious domination have made Islam a monstre that lives its proper life beyond all religions ever thought of by mankind.”
In the end Lüling avowes what has moved him to deliver this enormous effort which can stand side by side to all achievements of German philology: The discovery of the Christian bases shall be a memento to both religions, Christians and Muslims alike, to stop their fights and reach a peaceful mutual understanding of the prophetical texts. This is a praiseworthy undertaking although it may be doubtful wether the two dominions will exept it. ….
Philosophy and Theology 