robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)

telling indications that it has been altered. This evidence makes it extraordinarily unlikely that the text
was the product of one man, whether a historical person named Muhammad or someone else; rather, it
indicates that the text has undergone extensive revision, consistent with the likelihood that it was
developed over time by a series of people.
The pioneering Qur'anic scholar Richard Bell (1876–1952) closely examined the Qur'anic text and
identified numerous signs that the text had been changed. Lack of continuity and inherent contradictions
are two of the most common indications. One curious passage Bell highlighted comes in a polemic against
the Jews and Christians (2:116–21):
116. And they say, “God has taken to Him a son.” Glory be to Him! Nay, to Him belongs all that is in
the heavens and the earth; all obey His will—
117. The Creator of the heavens and the earth; And when He decrees a thing, He but says to it “Be,”
and it is.
118. And they that know not say: “Why does God not speak to us?, Why does a sign not come to us?”
So spoke those before them as these men say; their hearts are much alike. Yet We have made
clear the signs unto a people who are sure.
119. We have sent thee with the truth, good tidings to bear, and warning. Thou shalt not be questioned
touching the inhabitants of Hell.
120. Never will the Jews be satisfied with thee, neither the Christians, not till thou followest their
religion. Say: “God's guidance is the true guidance.” If thou followest their caprices, after the
knowledge that has come to thee, thou shalt have against God neither protector nor helper.
121. Those to whom We have given the Book and who recite it with true recitation, they believe in it;
and whoso disbelieves in it, they shall be the losers.
Bell points out that all the polemical assertions in verses 116 and 117 answer the claim in verse 120,
that the Jews and Christians will never be satisfied with the Muslim believers until they convert to their
religions. He suggests that these verses were inserted later and were originally intended to follow verse
120. 31 It also appears that verses 118 and 119 introduce some other argument, against those who demand
miracles of the Muslim prophet, whose only miracles are the verses of the Qur'an themselves. As
presented in the Qur'an we know today, these verses unaccountably interrupt the polemic against the
People of the Book. The passage reads much more logically in this order:
120. Never will the Jews be satisfied with thee, neither the Christians, not till thou followest their
religion. Say: “God's guidance is the true guidance.” If thou followest their caprices, after the
knowledge that has come to thee, thou shalt have against God neither protector nor helper.
116. And they say, “God has taken to Him a son.” Glory be to Him! Nay, to Him belongs all that is in
the heavens and the earth; all obey His will—
117. The Creator of the heavens and the earth; And when He decrees a thing, He but says to it “Be,”
and it is.
121. Those to whom We have given the Book and who recite it with true recitation, they believe in it;
and whoso disbelieves in it, they shall be the losers.
Bell also sees considerable manipulation of the text in this passage from sura 4: