About this video

• Video Title: Why the Foundations of Islam Are Now Crumbling with Dr. Jay Smith @pfanderfilms
• Channel: Cross Examined
• Speakers: Frank Turek, Dr. Jay Smith
• Duration: 00:49:44

Overview

This video features a discussion between Frank Turek and Dr. Jay Smith about the historical and textual foundations of Islam. Dr. Smith argues that the core tenets of Islam – the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad, and Mecca – face significant historical and critical challenges, suggesting these foundations are "crumbling." He contrasts this with Christianity and explains his approach to critiquing Islam, which has evolved from internal critique to an external critique focusing on historical evidence. The conversation also touches upon the historical development of the Quran, the reliability of Islamic traditions, and the perceived challenges faced by Muslims in defending their faith against historical criticism.

Key takeaways

• Islam's "Three-Legged Stool": Islam is presented as being dependent on three core elements: the Quran (the book), Muhammad (the man), and Mecca (the place). The argument is that if one of these is undermined, the others become unsustainable.
• Historical Challenges to Mecca: Dr. Smith questions the historical existence and significance of Mecca in the 7th century, citing a lack of contemporary documentation, inscriptions, maps, and its unfavorable geographical location without a water source.
• Quranic Textual Issues: The video highlights the existence of multiple, divergent Arabic Quranic texts (referred to as "getat" or readings) and questions the claim of Quranic immutability, noting that the standardized Quran widely used today was only established in the mid-20th century.
• External vs. Internal Critique: Dr. Smith advocates for an "external critique" of Islam, focusing on historical and textual evidence outside of Islamic tradition, rather than solely relying on "internal critique" which examines interpretations within the Islamic framework.
• Historical Criticism of Islamic Traditions: The video argues that the biographies (Sira) and sayings (Hadith) of Muhammad, which form the "Standard Islamic Narrative" (SIN), were compiled centuries after Muhammad's death (200+ years) and rely on manuscripts that are themselves late and not demonstrably linked to earlier, lost sources.
• Comparison with Christian Apologetics: The discussion contrasts the historical critical methods applied to Islam with those used in Christian apologetics, suggesting that Christianity has been more successful in historically substantiating its core claims and figures.
• Shifting Islamic Scholarship: Dr. Smith points to recent statements by prominent Muslim scholars and figures, like Dr. Yasar Kadi and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who acknowledge the historical weaknesses in Islamic traditions and emphasize reliance solely on the Quran.

Dr. Smith explains that the issue isn't 30 separate books, but rather 30 different Arabic readings or variations of the Quran, known as "getat." These variations arose because early Arabic script lacked vowels and precise diacritics, leading to different ways of pronouncing and thus understanding the same consonantal text.

He highlights that these variations were compiled and canonized over centuries, with the current standardized Quran (the Hafs version) only being officially adopted in Cairo in 1924 and later by Saudi Arabia in 1985 for worldwide use.

The implication for the Islamic claim of textual immutability is significant. Muslims believe the Quran is the literal, unchanged word of God revealed to Muhammad. However, the existence of numerous historical variations, and the fact that the current standardized text is relatively recent, challenges this notion of an eternally preserved, unadulterated text. Dr. Smith argues that this historical development and the existence of these variant readings create a dilemma for Muslims seeking to defend the Quran's claim to divine, unchanging preservation.