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The basmala revisited

Reader comment on item: The Afghan War's Dismal End; Blame Bush Too
in response to reader comment: divine copyright notice

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Jun 10, 2014 at 07:25

Myth you wrote

dhimmi no more, the line you quote is a divine copyright statement in arabic language.

Far from the truth the term Bishm Alaha in Syriac or in the name of God pre-dates Islam by a very long time and as a matter of fact if you read the Quranic Bism Allah al-Rhaman al-Raheem as an Arabic language sentence and if you know your Arabic you will realize that this is either very poor Arabic or it is another language after all how can Allah make such mistakes

And indeed the proper Arabic would be Bi'Ism Allah al-Rahmaan al-Rahem and if you wish that I provide you with more explanation then just let me know

Now if we read it as a Syriac formula then it makes sense and it would be Bishm Alaha Rahmana wa Raheema

The real disaster here is the very early Quranic tafseer was written by Persians and their mother tongue was not Arabic and their command of Syriac was mediocre at best

Just imagine if a Spanish speaker living in let us say South America writing a book about his exegesis of let us say the first ever written German classic that was written some 200 years ago in distant Germany with no access to German dictionaries or to other literary sources

I'm sure you will agree with me this exegesis would not be very pretty or accurate and this is indeed what we have here in the case of the Qur'an

Now if we translate the Basmala from its Syriac form to English it would be: In the name of God the loving and beloved and compare this with what the Persian Ulama tell us that it means: In the name of THE God the compassionate the merciful which is indeed a very poor translation and indeed the Qur'an tells us in Q5:54 that Allah is loving and beloved and this is indeed the meaning in the Basmala

And more evidence that the Qur'an is an opaque revelation

it opens every chapter of the koran to indicate these are actually god's words.

Not true you will not find it in Surat al-Tauba or Q9 and it is very clear that the Basmala was a late addition to the text which means that it was added by those that composed and edited the Qur'an and it did not drop from the sky and the reason is very obvious how could this formula be the words of Allah? If it would have had the introductory Qul or say then I can agree that this is a formula coming from Allah

I expect every muslim to literally know the phrase. I compare the usage to the opening formula in a court verdict indicating the underlying authority with "in the name of the people".

No it is not the same

Muslims would also use it to open a private letter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basmala explains the meaning.

So? And if you read letters by Christian Arabs many start their letters with بسم الاب والابن والروح القدس اله واحد امين or Bism al-Abb wa al-Ibn wa al-Ruh al-Qudus Ilah wahid ameen or in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy spirit one God Ameen

The only thing that Muhammad did was to plagiarize very old formulas he was for sure not original or even a smart theologian

Speaking the formula undermines the authority of the American president in Mr Bergdahl's speech for the formular points at a divine authority.

If you say so

Submitting....

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Reader comments (40) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Bush's limited responsibility [268 words]Rob A.Jun 18, 2014 12:22215476
Mistakes [47 words]Kepha HorJun 11, 2014 21:03215336
1The strange case of Bowe Burgdahl and his father the erstwhile hippie [137 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
dhimmi no moreJun 2, 2014 08:27215198
1The great Michael Hastings and Bowe Burgdahl and his strange family [107 words]dhimmi no moreJun 4, 2014 07:01215198
divine copyright notice [97 words]mythJun 6, 2014 06:36215198
1The basmala revisited [586 words]dhimmi no moreJun 10, 2014 07:25215198
for the sake of communication [138 words]mythJun 16, 2014 08:54215198
1The Qur'an is text with no context [321 words]dhimmi no moreJun 19, 2014 09:11215198
Bergdahl is not a deserter, he was naive. [42 words]JaneJan 24, 2016 13:27215198
2Bowe Bergdhal is not naive [28 words]dhimmi no moreJan 25, 2016 08:03215198
Iraq nuclear drive? [143 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PezDispenserJun 1, 2014 12:48215164
Republican credibility on foreign policy [65 words]FrankzMay 31, 2014 17:01215142
4We're fighting the wrong wars [343 words]Halal McKosherSteinMay 30, 2014 20:49215128
1Prescience [131 words]y Brandstetter MDJun 1, 2014 08:50215128
1Prescience - As it is Written, So it is Happening [285 words]M. ToveyJun 4, 2014 14:12215128
1right on -add 1 more [17 words]Michael Hanni MorcosJun 9, 2014 02:11215128
1One mistake, however, was all Obama's [324 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Malcolm LoweMay 30, 2014 17:39215123
terrorists started the Iraq and Afganistan wars. [40 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
rodney allsworthMay 30, 2014 17:22215122
1Agree and Disagree [100 words]Luke LloydMay 30, 2014 10:43215121
1the grand fallacy in the Afghanistan region [62 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
mythMay 30, 2014 06:10215117
Access to Afghanistan [102 words]Gene TagliaJun 1, 2014 00:37215117
supply through Russia [34 words]mythJun 3, 2014 06:37215117
Pakistan has always been a part of the supply line. [130 words]Gene TagliaJun 6, 2014 04:50215117
no total failure [387 words]mythMay 30, 2014 05:31215116
1Reply to Daniel Pipes on President Bush [567 words]Joe WillinghamMay 29, 2014 19:20215108
Blame Bush [299 words]ChloeMay 29, 2014 16:44215106
1GWB vs BHO [189 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
YaleMay 29, 2014 12:43215103
What next? [154 words]dhimmi no moreMay 29, 2014 11:46215100
1Sanctity of precious Lives - is Key [149 words]Michael Hanni MorcosJun 9, 2014 02:51215100
RESPONSE TO THE AFGHAN WAR'S DISMAL END... [209 words]Ameer Labeeb HassanMay 29, 2014 10:34215099
1Re: Afghanistan [75 words]OLD DESERT RATMay 29, 2014 09:49215098
Cause rather than blame [35 words]John BMay 29, 2014 03:16215091
1Plenty of blame to go around [309 words]Gene TagliaMay 28, 2014 23:53215082
1Wanted: Islam Savvy Leader [95 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveMay 28, 2014 21:09215079
1Truth, Knowledge and Wisdom [120 words]Mark WerfelMay 28, 2014 21:05215078
I was disappointed [52 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Philip WitriolMay 28, 2014 19:59215074
Bush 43 was not the Creator of the Problem [309 words]M. ToveyMay 28, 2014 19:08215071
The problem seems to be ours and we are stuck with it [148 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Jacques HadidaMay 28, 2014 18:56215069
1honesty [12 words]LewisMay 28, 2014 17:42215066
1Americans don't understand... [14 words]Robin RosenblattMay 28, 2014 17:11215064

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