An external critique of the Quran
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Many of these conclusions will not be unfamiliar to most of you. The writer is Jay Smith, a Christian propagandist, who has drawn these conclusions following the use of various sources (which mostly consist of two words Crone and Cook)
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that the Hijra was more-than-likely not towards Medina, but towards Palestine;
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that the Qibla was not fixed towards Mecca until the eighth century, but to an area much further north, and possibly Jerusalem;
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that the Jews still retained a relationship with the Arabs until at least 640 A.D.;
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that Jerusalem and not Mecca was more-than-likely the city which contained the original sanctuary for Islam, as Mecca was not only unknown as a viable city until the end of the seventh century, but it was not even on the trade route;
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that the Dome of the Rock was the first sanctuary;
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that Muhammad was not classified as God's universal prophet until the late seventh century;
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that the terms Muslim'/ Islam' were not used until the end of the seventh century;
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that five daily prayers as well as the Hajj were not standardized until after 717 A.D.;
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that the earliest we even hear of any Qur'an is not until the mid-eighth century;
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and that the earliest Qur'anic writings do not coincide with the current Qur'anic text.
http//debate.org.uk/topics/history/debate/part3.htm#D8
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