.... Leading Oxford academics this week said carbon dating of the parchment, which suggested it dated from between 568-645 AD, may change our understanding of the way in which Islam’s holy book was compiled.
But the assertion that the document, kept at Birmingham University, is part of one of the world’s oldest Korans – and could possibly date from the early years of the Prophet Mohamed’s life, which is generally thought to have been between 570 to 632 – is strongly disputed by other scholars
It is a tenet of Islam that Mohamed received the divine revelations that form the Koran between 610 and the year of his death. But it has long been maintained that the articles of the Muslim faith were not written into book form until about 650, having hitherto been passed on in the “memories of men” or written piecemeal on materials from palm leaves to the shoulder blades of camels. [The Independent] Read more
