Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

beowulf wrote:Could we examine the evidence for Petra?

Yes.

http://muhammadbiography.blogspot.com/2007/01/life-of-muhammad.html The English translation is 690 pages long, not counting introduction, endnotes and indices. What appears below is an 18 page summary of Ibn Ishaq’s The Life of Muhammad. (Ibn Ishaq. The Life of Muhammad. New York : Oxford University...

This seems to be the best English-language online version of Ibn Hisham, but I'm not sure. Are there any better versions?

http://hraic.com/hadith/ibn_ishaq.html

beowulf wrote:Could we examine the evidence for Petra?

This one, for example:

http://searchformecca.com/timeline.html

Ummayad palace in Amman faces Petra (82 AH)

beowulf wrote:By how many degrees are these mosques off the correct axis?

By a lot. These are not mere astronomical errors. Some are intentionally oriented in directions that are not Mecca, such as Petra.

Here's another case of mosques not facing Mecca.

http://www.historyofmecca.com/historica ... .htm#qibla
http://nabataea.net/dedan.html

beowulf wrote:Is that important?

Yes, because it contradicts traditional Muslim accounts.

beowulf wrote:Jerusalem

The website shows evidence that some mosques are not oriented towards Jerusalem either.

http://searchformecca.com/timeline.html

The only logical answer is that the author(s) was the Abbasid Arab empire of Baghdad which had the MEANS, MOTIVE and OPPORTUNITY. According to Ohlig the proto-Koran was written by Syro-Aramaic-liturgy antitrinitarian Christian Arab monks from Merv in Margiana in opposition to the Assyrian Church of...

I see Peter Kirby wrote a summary of Hoyland. When you look at these sources ask yourself this: is this the same Mohammed as in Ibn Hisham? In all cases the answer is no. The point here is that Hoyland is not worth taking at face value. For example, if and when the words "mahmet"/"muh...