Revelation and reality in Islam

Inaugural lecture--Department of Semitic Languages, Rand Afrikaans University, 27 August 1979The prophet Mohammed intended to bring no other message to the Arabs than that of the Bible. When Jews and Christians rejected his message Islam gained the universal mission to clear up the confusion. The Koran is, however, in Arabic, compiled in such a way that semantic content and outward structure is combined to portray a powerful visual image of its message, as can be illustrated from Sura 92:1-13. The Koran emphasizes that Mohammed's message was not inspired by poetic genius (madjnQn); it is the reality of God's Word. The downfall of the Islamic empire of the Ottomans at the beginning of the twentieth century and colonial rule was a serious challenge to traditional Islam. Reformers like ai-Afghani initiated a modernist approach, but there are today signs of a resurgence of conservatism where the complete authority of the Koran and shari ca is recognized. The richness of Moslem civilization, the significance of Islam in Africa, "the Moslem continent", and not the least its powerful opposition to Marxism, are some of the reasons why Arabic and Islamic studies merit their place in the academic structure of the University