A Saudi journalist says there are thousands of mistakes in the Quran that should be corrected to make “Allah’s book easier for Muslims to read.”
Ahmad Hashem made the provocative statement on the website Saudi Opinions, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Further, Jariis Gulizada, another Saudi writer and political analyst, wrote on the website Elaph that “flexibility” should be applied to Islamic texts to adapt them to modern perceptions.
All this is to benefit mankind at large, they explain.
Hashem said it’s well known that the Quran was put in written form during the period of the third caliph ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, who ruled after Muhammad’s death.
At the time, the ‘Uthmanic script, which is named after him, was used.
MEMRI explained: “Since this writing system is a human invention, argues Hashem, there is no reason to sanctify it, as many Muslims do. In fact, he says, it is time to correct some 2,500 errors of spelling and grammar that were made by the scribes in that period and remain part of the Quranic text to this day.”
Hashem said the objective is to make the Quran “more readable.”
Gulizada wrote that during the coronavirus pandemic, “for the first time in Islamic history,” changes to Islamic practices during worship were allowed. Muslims social distanced during prayer, rather that praying in tight rows.
He said that shows there is room for flexibility in Islam, and that the same flexibility can be applied to the Islamic texts.
MEMRI said it should be noted that Gulizada’s article “was removed from the Elaph website following furious reactions on social media, from users who accused the Saudis, and in particular Elaph chief editor ‘Othman Al-‘Omeir, of insolence and of insulting the Quran.”
One of the criticisms came from Kuwaiti academic Ahmad Al-Dhaidi, wrote on Twitter: “The Elaph website, directed by Saudi journalist ‘Othman Al-‘Omeir, calls to rewrite the Quran in order to fix the great mistakes of the ‘Uthmani script! Has their contempt reached the point of harming Allah’s book?”
